You know, they get a flight bonus of almost 500 marks in addition to their salary.
And those helmets they wear...
- I saw one once... - Most of them crash.
You can fly and see everything, but you can't be seen.
And the responsibility they have
with the bombs and the whole napalm stuff...
You need the appropriate qualifications, Abitur. That's the difference.
Oh, well.
We just hang about here getting our feet wet.
- Are you cold? - Yes.
That's the kind of car I like, fast with four doors.
Around here we'll drive a Polo or maybe an Audi.
But we'll catch them all in the end.
- Are you married? - No.
I see.
Come here, miss.
That isn't you, by any chance?
The chin and the hair...
No, you don't have the fanatical eyes.
No, don't be afraid, I know it's not you.
But it could be you.
It's all right, miss. You can go.
The German Military - Railroading during the World War 1914-1918
"From the Maas to the Memel, from the Etsch to the Belt,
"Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world. "
From a thick, narrowly printed book, the history teacher Gaby Teichert learnt
that since 1918, Deutschland lied had been sung with the words,
"From the Maas to the Memel... "
What fairy tales my people tell.
There stands a man, a man As strong as an oak
He has certainly, most certainly experienced so much
Perhaps by tomorrow he too will be a corpse
Like so many freedom fighters
Perhaps by tomorrow he too will be a corpse
Like so many freedom fighters
To battle, to battle For battle we were born
To battle, to battle For battle we are ready
To Karl Liebknecht we swore it
To Rosa Luxemburg we offer a hand
"I was, I am, I will be. "
Rosa Luxembourg said before her death,
"Germany faces two possibilities: socialism or barbarism. "
I'm not really afraid.
- You're not afraid. Why not? - Well, if we...
Autumn manoeuvres of the Bundeswehr.
In 1977, the manoeuvres are called Steadfast Chatten.
"Chatten ", the old German name for Hesse at the time of Christ,
is mentioned by Tacitus.
The division commander.
Eight. Stop. Correction.
Hold on a second.
I wonder if anything is going on.
That can't be...
I'm standing in front of the thing.
Gentlemen, up until now we have been able to carry out this operation on time
despite the loss of the 4th Rifle Brigade.
An extra delay of about three hours
will not throw our plan out of whack.
The 34th, I hope, and let me stress its importance to me,
will take all measures necessary to ensure
that, by dawn, the 34th is prepared for defence.
Is that clear, Burmeister?
And, G-1, tell G-4 that the whole supply battalion
is running around without camouflage nets on their helmets.
Go on, laugh about my pickiness,
but when it's an order, then the damn thing has to be worn.
And the gentlemen from the signals battalion, Mr Carstens,
have no nets on their helmets either.
Why bother to give orders if they're not going to be followed?
That's the signals unit over there on the helipad.
Hanns Martin Schleyer, Friday-Saturday, September 9-10, 1977,
addressed to von Brauchitsch.
"If Bonn refuses to give in, they should do it soon.
"Even though, as during the war, one would like to survive.
"It is never sweet or pleasant to die for the fatherland. "
...an ideological presentation of which, in the conflict of mid-September...
Late autumn, 1977.
The party meeting of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in Hamburg.
...the jailed terrorists
in their criminal conspiracy,
with terrorists on the outside,
through certain people and certain methods,
could plan further crimes, as already mentioned,
by talking, writing, exchanging opinions and signalling for more crimes.
Preventing this exchange as far as it is humanly possible,
that's what this was all about!
Hasn't this all been seen before?
And on top of that there's the other nuisance, the young Leftist in college...
The Swiss author Max Frisch participating as a guest speaker at the party meeting.
...therefore, great in theory,
but incomprehensible to the working class.
As to one of these two phenomena, the police will not be able to,
regardless of their increasing strength and specialisation,
and have gotten closer to the people through telephone bugging,
which is dubious in terms of law,
they will not be able to eliminate this general feeling of resignation.
Besides the invitation to cheerful consumerism as a condition for economic growth,
what do the youth find?
What meaning does an individual's existence have? What goal?
I do not speak of Germany in particular.
Democracy should not just be saved,
it needs to be established.
But that means more democracy, and that would be a goal
beyond the goals of a self-centred consumer.
- Good morning! - Good morning.
Could we start? I have an important appointment at 11:00.
Are the people from MAZ ready?
Please take your seats.
Good morning, sir.
Proclaiming with power, but not of power.
Ismene, my dear little sister,
tell me of one curse from Oedipus
which Zeus has failed to bring about in our own lives?
Any suffering, any outrage, any sorrow, any disgrace
which we have not experienced ourselves, you and me.
Some dark secret stirs thy breast.
Creon has graced one brother with funeral rites,
but condemns the other to shame?
They say Eteocles has had his burial according to our customary rites
so he will be honoured by the dead below.
But as for Polyneices, who perished so miserably,
an order has gone out throughout the city
that he's to have no funeral or lament, but to be left unburied and unlamented.
A sweet treasure for the birds to look at, for them to feed on to their heart's content.
That's what people say the noble Creon has announced to you and me.
I mean to me.
For Creon this matter's really serious.
What are you planning?
Will you help these hands take up Polyneices' corpse and bury it?
You're going to bury Polyneices when it has been declared a crime?
Yes. He is still my brother,
and yours as well.
I won't be caught betraying him.
Has Creon not expressly banned that act?
But he has no right to keep me from what's mine.
No, no, we must remember we were born women, not meant to strive with men.
The strong have power over us, we must obey their decrees, no matter how cruel.
So I'll ask those below to forgive me.
Since I am so compelled,
I will obey those in control.
Excessive involvement is senseless.
I wouldn't pressure you.
Even if you were willing to do this, doing this with you would bring me no joy.
Make sure you do not reveal your intentions to anyone.
Keep it closely hidden. I'll do the same.
No. Announce it! If you don't let everybody know,
I'll despise your silence even more.
Your heart is too hot for cold deeds.
When my strength is gone, then I'll give up.
Impossible. A human heart...
- I can't stand it. I'll wait outside. - Should I come?
But the costumes are excellent.
For Eteocles,
who fell like a true soldier defending his native land,
there duly shall be a funeral
with all those purifying rituals which accompany the noblest of corpses as they go below.
As for his brother, Polyneices,
who returned from exile
eager to wipe out his ancestral city
and its native gods in an all-consuming fire,
keen to seize upon his family's blood and lead men into slavery,
the proclamation of the state declares
that he will have no burial mound, no funeral rites and no lament.
He'll be left unburied,
his body there
for birds and dogs to eat,
a clear reminder of his shameful fate.
This is my decision.
- Do you want a cup of coffee? - No, thank you.
There is the culprit. She buried him. But where is Creon?
What's the matter?
- I was just in time. - She is the one who buried him. Now you know.
Did you know that it was forbidden?
I'd heard. How could I not? It was public knowledge.
And yet you dared to break those very laws?
The disclaimer is not clear enough.
It's too classical. It must be clearer.
- It doesn't set itself apart enough. - The term "power" is easily misunderstood.
Under "power" one could understand "greatness" or "fatefulness",
that will get us into big trouble.
This rebellious woman, this Antigone, the disclaimer sounds too noble.
"Proclaiming with power, but not of power. "
Did you write those lines?
It struck me as appropriate
to adapt the disclaimer to Sophocles' text, thus introducing
a stylistically correct chorus-like piece at the beginning.
But it's exactly because of that that the disclaimer is not clear.
The innuendo, the denied funeral, female terrorists...
The play is set in 500 BC. Sophocles.
It's little consolation to find out
that there were already female terrorists in the fifth century BC.
I have another version of the disclaimer.
We were not destined to proclaim powerful things.
But power itself obliged us to proclaim powerful things.
Thank you, that's enough.
At the very least, it should say "forceful" instead of "powerful".
That would destroy the verse.
And what "power" is supposed to have forced the women to proclaim "power"?
The power of Creon who refused to permit Polyneices' burial.
The power of the law, then?
Ladies and gentlemen, I don't think that this is the place to discuss Sophocles.
What should be discussed is whether or not the disclaimer is credible.
It also seems to me that the expression "powerful" is misleading.
The word "forceful", however,
would make it clear that there is violence in the play,
but that the two women disavow it.
This stylistic harmonisation of Sophocles is confusing.
I've filmed a third version of the disclaimer.
It is unavoidable that in some plays,
even classical ones, there is a degree of violence.
We disassociate ourselves from any form of violence.
We say this in the name of the director, the administration,
the whole company, the stagehands, the cashier
and all those directly or indirectly associated with this production.
Ismene, my dear little sister,
tell me of one curse from Oedipus
which Zeus has failed to bring about in our own lives?
That sound s better.
Although I must say it almost humiliates Sophocles' text.
Yes, it appears to be a bit silly, artificial, almost ironic,
and irony is the one thing we can do without right now.
What if we abstain from the disclaimer entirely and just use the Sophocles text?
I mean, if we can no longer present Sophocles...
The next word will be "censorship" and after that "fascism".
Ladies and gentlemen, what is this madness?
May I remind you that in my youth there were clean editions of the classics for private schools?
They didn't have parts like those found in Ovid's and others' writings.
We've gotten past that.
Should we now review all classics for their political parts and purge them?
Please understand our position. Our backs are against the wall.
I wonder if it's really necessary at this time to produce Antigone.
Refusal of burial,
rebellious women.
And the gloomy oracle Tiresias,
a forerunner of the prophets, some sort of early intellectual.
The young will misunderstand it as a call to subversion.
The church especially should keep an eye out.
I'm sorry, I don't quite see the significance.
The title of the series is, "Youth Encounters the Classics. "
Exactly.
Then this means that the production will be shut down?
Despite the 800,000 marks already invested in it?
It's not a question of money. We must think of the viewers.
I would suggest finishing the film and then putting it on ice until calmer times.
It is simply too fresh in people's minds. The ending, too.
What will we show in its place?
A rerun of the dramatisation of Bellum Gallicum by Hockner,
which was a very educational play.
Violence against the Gauls, violence of the Gauls, Roman violence,
violence against the Gallic people, Gallic violence, Ceasar, Vercingetorix.
At least it's a play about war, not about terrorism.
I would still like to say that the play is a very good production.
Really. Very good. It's just not the right time to broadcast it.
The viewers out there wouldn't understand it.
Tell me, does Sophocles' play end exactly like yours?
Yes.
Perhaps it's better this way.
Don't hide the truth.
Why should I ease your mind with a report which will turn out to be wrong?
The truth is always best.
"I've just heard the voice of my own son.
"You servants, go ahead, get up there fast.
"Remove the stones piled in the entrance way, then stand beside the tomb and look in there
"to see if that was Haemon's voice I heard or if the gods have been deceiving me. "
Following what our desperate master asked, we looked.
In the furthest corner of the tomb, we saw Antigone
hanging by her neck, held up in a noose of fine woven linen.
He was embracing her and crying out in sorrow for the loss of his bride,
his father's act
and for his horrifying marriage bed.
The father saw him, let out a fearful groan, then went inside and called out anxiously,
"You unhappy boy, what have you done? What are you thinking?
"Have you lost your mind? Come out, my child, I'm begging you, please come. "
But the boy just stared at him with savage eyes,
spat in his face
and, without saying a word, drew his two-edged sword. The father moved, the son's blow missed.
Angry at himself, the ill-fated boy,
right then and there, leant into his own sword, driving half the blade between his ribs.
While still conscious he embraced the girl in his weak arms,
and, as he breathed his last,
he coughed up streams of blood on her fair cheek.
Now he lies there, corpse on corpse.
His marriage has been fulfilled in the chambers of the dead.
The graves were covered with corrugated tin the day before to protect them from the rain.
My sisters, Gudrun, Jan and Andreas, wished to be buried in one grave.
And, well,
when I came back from my holiday, the first thing I read in the paper was,
"Bury them in sewage!"
And I knew
that the people had already begun to call, for them to be left to rot.
Rommel decided for himself, without asking the city council,
that they would be buried in the Dornhald Cemetery, end of story.
Well, there also lie Bosch, Bosch the industrialist,
Entrance for cemetery vehicles, sculptors and cemetery custodians only
Theodor Heuss and Reinhold Meyer.
Regarding the burial of the three dead terrorists,
it was obvious that this question had to be decided quickly and cleanly.
Clean in what sense? Clean in the sense of the administration or in the human sense?
Clean in the human sense. It would have been unbearable for me
to be responsible, or collectively responsible,
for the burial of the terrorists being discussed for weeks and months.
Therefore, I decided quickly, and it was binding.
Ensslin's father tried hard,
full of despair, to find grave sites.
In Stuttgart he had a very hard time trying to convince the citizens,
people who might not even accept the marginalised,
to bury three terrorists within the city walls or within the community.
Outside on the land somewhere, okay, but not where so-called normal people are buried.
- I want to be there. - We need...
Yes, let's do it...
First, Andreas, then comes Gudrun and then Jan.
It is a double grave with the three together.
Can the wall in between be torn down?
That won't work. When you look down, you see that it's carefully carved out of the stone.
I can't just go and tear out the wall.
But now they lie on the same level,
next to each other, and Andreas and Jan are in one grave,
and this way Gudrun is not just shoved aside or something.
It's a unity. I think it works this way.
We should go, don't you think?
It's a funeral just like any other,
and I don't think it's okay when others refuse to take on that responsibility.
We often serve guests who aren't so desirable. A guest is a guest.
Exactly my point of view.
It was a spontaneous decision for me after I found out
that Mr Ensslin had been rejected for certain reasons.
How did you find that out?
I was told by a couple who owned a restaurant.
They made comments that made my blood boil so much,
I went straight to the telephone and called Mr Ensslin,
telling him that, I would serve food at his funeral dinner
for purely humanistic reasons.
March. October Angels
Once upon a time,
October Angels came in May as foreign October Angels
looking for the local November Angels. But they were shot.
Thursday, October 27, 1977, Dornhald Cemetery, Stuttgart.
THOSE WHO ATTACK THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
COMMIT SUICIDE
We need to get through.
The relatives should come forward.
Please let the relatives step forward.
The cemetery, previously a shooting range, is jeopardised by dirty ground water.
While it is true that we did not think that the path these comrades took was right,
in the face of their deaths and the circumstances surrounding them,
this is no longer the main issue.
This unity shall stand for a long time.
Only he who is outraged, who is deeply affected and mobilised
doesn't cry, but starts thinking about his options.
Clear the street, SA is marching!
Murderers!
The police, as you can see, are present.
The police was prepared.
But there was no actual plan.
The police had to intervene
because a car was damaged by participants.
For the murdered comrades.
Careful. The back door. Thank you.
Did you open it?
Slow down, slow down.
This is the checkpoint.
What's going on here?
"When cruelty reaches a certain level,
it is no longer important who initiated it, only that it be stopped. "