We Were the Lucky Ones (2024) s01e01 Episode Script
Radom
1
[SOFT, SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
Oh, good morning. Good morning.
♪
Morning.
[SPEAKER] Halina!
Halina! I'm sorry,
I'll just be a minute.
- Come here!
- Sorry. I'm sorry.
- Excuse me.
- [CHATTERING]
Sorry.
- Sorry.
- It arrived yesterday.
♪
[GASPS SOFTLY]
♪
Thank you.
♪
[MUSIC FADES]
[AMBIENT STREET NOISE]
- [GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING]
-
Selim? Test tubes arrived!
I'll sterilize them in the
morning if that's alright.
I can come early, although,
maybe not too early.
[SNIFFLES]
Oh, hello.
I didn't know lab assistants
make their own hours.
I don't usually
And please don't shout when you're here.
What if Selim was with someone?
The only thing back there
with Selim is blood
and the occasional urine.
Do you have to be so smart all the time?
[SIGHS] No, Mila.
I will try to be less smart.
[GROANS] You're impossible.
And where do you think you're going?
I have to meet Addy.
Because our brother can't
find his own way home?
[SIGHS] He's been in Paris a long time.
Who knows what all that
French wine does to a brain?
Could you at least pick up the matzo?
- I'm already late, Mila.
- Halina!
[SIGHS] You look beautiful, by the way.
The roundness really suits you.
♪
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
♪
- Addy!
- Halina!
[HALINA KURC] [SCREAMS] Addy!
[HALINA SCREAMS, GIGGLES]
[HALINA EXHALES]
You look shorter.
Oh, it's probably all
the high heels in Paris.
- Hello, Madam Jagoda.
- Hm.
We ran into each other on the train.
Caught me up on all the Radom gossip.
And your brother told me about
life as a famous composer.
- Oh. [CHUCKLES]
- Famous is generous.
- Been shopping?
- [MADAM JAGODA] Yes.
I've been indulging in
the Spring Paris fashions.
I think they may have
taken advantage of you.
Mother was carrying a similar
style of dress in the fall.
If only you had thought to stop in.
But I would not have had
the pleasure of Paris.
Of course.
- Enjoy your stay, Addy.
- Thank you.
What is wrong with you?
What's wrong with you? You were rude.
That woman used to fawn
all over mother's dresses,
and now she refuses
to come into the shop.
Maybe she's a snob.
No, no. The snobs love us,
unless they're snobs who hate Jews.
I'm sorry. I'm surprised.
She was nice to me.
She's only nice to you
because you're on the radio.
Minor celebrity softens
even the worst anti-Semite.
♪
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[SLIGHT CHUCKLE]
- It's time.
- Cheers.
Sol?
Sol?
[SIGHS] Ah!
- Sol, where are you?
- [SOL KURC] In here.
Why so far?
I needed to wear clothes for dinner.
- He'll be here any minute.
- So?
Nothing's where it's supposed to be.
Nechuma, we created him.
We don't have to perform for him, right?
[SOL CLAPS] Now, what can I do?
- Addy!
- Just me.
Ah, Jakob. Chag Sameach.
[JAKOB KURC] Chag Sameach.
- Is Bella coming?
- Uh, yes.
- Did I not say?
- You didn't.
- Ah, sorry.
- It's alright.
Dorota, Bella is coming!
- Another place setting!
- I thought I said she was coming.
You did. Classes good?
[DEEP BREATH]
- The law is the law.
- What does that mean?
Ah, Jakob.
- [SOL SPEAKS NATIVE DIALECT]
- [NECHUMA KURC] Is that Addy?
Just your oldest and best.
Genek, talk to your brother.
He's shrugging about his classes.
Hey, I am not.
- [GENEK KURC] You don't like them?
- I-I like them fine.
- What is wrong with the law?
- Nothing.
It's like a game, Jakob.
Always something to be solved and won.
Well, there's the problem.
I don't like games.
- [SOL] Ah!
- [GENEK] He doesn't like games?
Mother?!
- Mother, I have terrible news.
- What? What is it?
- I think Addy missed his train.
- No! He wouldn't!
It's Passover!
[GASPS] Ah!
And I would never dare miss Passover.
Addy! Oh!
You are a wicked girl.
- It was his idea!
- [NECHUMA] It's Passover.
All is forgiven.
- Jakob!
- Addy!
[LAUGHTER]
[ADDY/SOL SPEAKING NATIVE DIALECT]
Look at you. Ooh la la.
- [LAUGHTER]
- Ooh la la.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[SINGING PRAYER IN NATIVE DIALECT]
♪
[LAUGHTER]
[ALL SINGING IN NATIVE DIALECT]
[GROUP HAPPILY CHATTERING]
[BRIGHT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
You're disrespecting the holiday.
Drink. Recline. Relax.
Please.
The Tajchman's store was
vandalized last week on Sabbath.
Everybody knows our shop
will be empty tonight.
- Nie, it's empty every night.
- Passover is an opportunity
for those looking to make a point.
Tata, listen to the music.
Hm? Addy is desperate
for some attention.
Show him he's still the favorite.
Genek, I don't have a favorite.
So
it is me.
It's not you.
It's me. I understand.
You can't say it, but
So, the new boarder just happens to be
an eligible handsome architect?
[MILA KURC] Is that a bad thing?
He's old and serious.
He's only 31.
In other words, ready to marry.
[CHUCKLES] No one is saying
you have to marry him.
But the convenience of him,
he's just one room down.
[BOTH GIGGLE]
Jakob, stop. You're going
to get tired of my face.
Impossible.
[BRIGHT PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES]
Such a short trip, Addy. [CHUCKLES]
I know, but work is busy.
But your music is going so well.
Eh, one song on the radio
does not an income make.
It's a good song.
Wasn't it you who encouraged me
to get my engineering degree?
- [NECHUMA SIGHS]
- Have a real job?
You think you are so clever
using my words against me.
- [STOPS PLAYING PIANO]
- [BOTH LAUGH]
Enough with the jazz.
- We want to hear List.
- Not List!
By the famous Parisian
composer, Addy Kurc?
- [NECHUMA LAUGHS]
- Hey! I may live in Paris,
but I will always be Polish.
Sorry, I-I couldn't understand
you with the French accent.
- [LAUGHTER]
- Do you want the song or not?
- [HALINA] Yes!
- I don't need to play it.
- Play!
- [CROSSTALK]
- [MILA] Play it, play it for us.
- Okay.
[PLAYS ROMANTIC MUSIC ON PIANO]
♪
[DISHWARE CLINKING]
- You've done enough.
- [MILA SIGHS]
They all disappear the
minute there's washing up.
Mila I'll help your mother.
Rest.
Hm?
[MILA SIGHS]
[PLAYS ROMANTIC MUSIC ON PIANO]
[HALINA] Oh.
- Always fucking Chopin.
- [BELLA TATAR] I love Chopin.
Try listening to it
every day of your life.
- Mila practiced obsessively.
- More than me.
I don't know why, though.
All she ever cared about
was marriage and procreation.
- Hey, that's unkind.
- [HALINA] But it's true.
Mila never takes time to enjoy anything.
Maybe she doesn't take
pleasure in your pleasures.
- [HALINA] Hey!
- [GENEK CHUCKLES]
Who do you want as your ally
when you marry into this family?
Am I marrying into this
family? I was unaware.
Yes, good point. Jakob, why
haven't you proposed to Bella?
- [GENEK] Oh!
- [ADDY] Unless there's a ring I missed.
- [HALINA] Nope.
- [ADDY] It's been six years.
- You're not gonna do better.
- Yeah, Genek knows.
- He's dated everybody.
- Eh, I had no choice.
[LAUGHTER]
- Walk me home, Jakob
- Yeah.
before they try to find us a rabbi.
Um, you're all assholes.
- Oh.
- Oh, I highly recommend a shortcut,
uh, through Kosciuszko Park.
- It's [LAUGHS] very romantic.
- [LAUGHTER]
Am I missing something?
- [GENEK] Tell him, tell him.
- They always leave early,
and they're never home on time.
- In the park?
- [HALINA CHUCKLES]
- Jakob?
- It's always the quiet, soulful ones.
I better go, too. I promised
Father I'd check the shop.
Tonight? He's really that worried?
Oh, you know him. Everyone's grown up.
- He needs a new preoccupation.
- Genek, [GRUNTS] tell me
are things getting worse?
A little, in the last few months.
The Friedmans are leaving for Palestine.
- Really?
- Oh, come on.
They just don't like the competition.
There's 40 bakeries in town
and business is down.
But business is down for most Jews.
It'll pass. Radom is not Germany.
Don't worry so much, okay?
Who knows? Maybe I'll come give
you some competition in Paris.
- Come. I would like to see that.
- [GENEK CHUCKLES]
[GENEK] Goodnight.
[ADDY] Eh, he always
says he'll come to Paris,
and he never comes.
There's a girl.
- There's always a girl.
- [HALINA GIGGLES]
This is a serious one.
The only thing I could get out of him
was that they met on a
chairlift skiing in Zakopane.
- Must've been some ride.
- Mm-hmm.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[ADDY DRAGS ON CIGARETTE]
I'd like to come to Paris.
Maybe I'll stow away on
your train tomorrow.
But what do you want to do in Paris?
- D-Do you have a plan?
- You are doomed as an artist
if you insist on being so practical.
Easy to say before you have
to pay for food and rent.
Hm?
- I have plans.
- Such as?
Hm?
- That's unfair.
- How?!
You take for granted how
lucky it is to be sure.
Sure about what you love,
sure about what you want
to do with your life.
If I wait to be sure
I will get stuck.
[SIGHS]
Don't worry about it, Addy.
No, let me think, look
around for some work.
I will figure it out.
Halina
to future adventures.
I will be waiting,
whenever you decide to make the trip.
[GLASSES CLINK]
[BRIGHT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
Come on.
- It's always in the park?
- Always in the park.
♪
♪
[CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING]
[MUSIC SOFTENS]
I was looking for a
break from the smoke.
- Sorry.
- It's fine.
The hoarser I get,
the more Montmartre takes me seriously.
- [SINGER GIGGLES]
- You have a beautiful voice.
I make a point to come when you sing.
Is that why you're leaving so soon?
I'm afraid I'm not very
good company tonight.
Bad news? From your girlfriend?
My mother.
I'm sorry.
She's, um, disinvited me from Passover.
That stings.
She doesn't think it's safe to
travel across German borders.
But if you knew my mother,
to tell me to skip Passover, eh
You want my advice?
Always listen to your mother.
[BRIGHT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS IN CLUB]
[SNIFFLES]
[EXHALES]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING]
[ADDY] "Dear Mother I am coming home.
"Please do not worry.
"I will be there for
Passover, as always.
"Perhaps longer, if you
could stand to have me.
"My new composition is coming along.
"I cannot wait to play it for you.
"See you soon.
All my love Addy."
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[HALINA CLEARS THROAT]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
What can I get you?
Just a coffee.
- Sure.
- Thank you.
Two coffees, please.
I'm so sorry I was held up.
Held up or unwilling to be interrupted?
[CHUCKLES]
I suppose there is a distinction.
I had an overwhelming need to finish.
I am not sure who for.
Buildings are being
boarded up, not built.
[SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
Adam, it's
it's flawless.
I try to design "free of untruths".
♪
It's the lack of resistance.
The Czechs should be ashamed.
They manufacture the weapons,
but they don't know how
to use 'em, apparently.
The Führer isn't just targeting
German-speaking territories anymore.
- We could be next.
- Ah, impossible.
He might try, but he will be stopped.
- [LAWYER CHUCKLES]
- I'm certain of this.
- [MR. NOWAK] A word, Genek?
- Of course.
[GENEK CLEARS THROAT]
Oh, Szkop!
If you're tiptoeing for my sake,
you can stop before you kill yourself.
I thought you might be asleep.
- Rilke had other ideas.
- Ah, Rilke.
So, have you lost all of
our money at the table,
or did they kick you out?
Well, I am
[DEEP BREATH]
I was wondering if, um
and then, uh
[HERTA SEIFERT] Mm.
[GENEK] Mm.
Love [SIGHS] we should be careful.
I can be careful.
[HERTA LAUGHS]
- No, no, no.
- Yes.
No, we, we would be fools
[WHISPERS] to let it happen now.
Right?
The war.
The war, the war, the war.
I'm tired of it already
and it hasn't even begun.
[GENEK GRUNTS]
- Genek?
- I'm sorry.
Tell me.
Tell me.
Mr. Nowak was kind enough to
offer me a demotion today.
- What?
- Hm. Assistant.
I knew it was happening to others.
I was a fool for thinking I'd be spared.
You're not a fool.
I quit.
You were promised a
lawyer for a husband.
I'm sorry, my love.
I was promised you for a husband.
[CHUCKLES]
Here's a thought.
What if there is no war?
We have deprived
ourselves for nothing
and Hitler, the little
prick, will have won.
[CHUCKLES]
You're right. It would be tragic.
Fuck the war.
[HERTA LAUGHS]
They need soldiers in Poland.
-
- The French Army might as well,
- if your desire is to fight.
- I am Polish.
You are a Jew.
I have tried everything.
I just want to get home.
Mr. Kurc, keep trying
I'm an electrical engineer.
I have useful expertise.
I can f-fix anything.
R-Radios, equipment.
- Is there a worker's exemption?
- There is not.
Travel for you is a death sentence.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Perhaps tomorrow.
[SLIGHT CHUCKLE]
[SINGING PRAYER IN NATIVE DIALECT]
[ALL RESPOND]
[SINGING CONTINUES]
[BELLA CLEARS THROAT]
[BABY FELICIA CRYING]
[STOPS SINGING]
- I'm, I'm so sorry.
- Babies cry.
Some babies more than others.
Uh Just, uh, Felicia
doesn't believe in naps.
That's not true.
[FELICIA CRYING]
Please, keep going.
[RESUMES SINGING]
- Come on.
- [FELICIA CRYING]
Come on, my love.
It's alright. [SHUSHING]
- Is she wet?
- No, she's not wet.
She's not wet. She's not wet.
She's not hungry.
I don't know what's wrong.
[SHUSHING]
- [NECHUMA] Here, here.
- [SOFTLY] Yes.
Ohh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Yes. [SHUSHING]
[FELICIA CRYING]
Selim thinks everything
she does is a wonder.
[NECHUMA] And you?
Mm, I th I think she's very cute
Yeah.
and possibly hates her mother.
[LAUGHS] She doesn't hate you.
- I'm sorry.
- [SIGHS]
Your father and I have been thinking.
We talked to Dorota.
- What?
- [NECHUMA] Hear me out.
You all think I'm so terrible at this.
- Ugh, my darling.
- [MILA SIGHS]
I understand.
I do.
[SIGHS]
- [NECHUMA SIGHS]
- [FELICIA WHINES]
Dorota adores babies.
She raised five of her own.
She wants to help.
Cook a bit, let you get some rest.
[FELICIA WHINES]
Yes.
[CHUCKLES]
Mila, I promise there is
joy in being a mother.
Let us help you find it.
[FELICIA BABBLING]
Let us help you find it.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah.
[FELICIA BABBLING]
[NACHUMA] Hm?
♪
I'm so tired of looking
for dark corners of Radom
when we share a bedroom wall!
Yes, mm, and on the other side,
I share a wall with your parents.
[CHUCKLES]
Must you remind me of
my parents right now?
Sorry.
[HALINA SIGHS]
What?
Nothing.
Hm
are you worried
- about Addy?
- [HALINA SCOFFS]
God, I think everyone worries
about Addy too much.
Addy knows how to take care of himself.
I'm sure that he's in Paris,
and Paris is a free city.
We are free.
For now.
My family has the means.
We, we could leave and ride
things out somewhere else.
Would your parents consider?
My parents kept Genek, Addy,
and Mila alive on scraps
in a basement during the Great War.
If they did not leave then,
how do you [SIGHS] convince
someone things are bad
when they've already
experienced the worst?
We could go.
[CHUCKLES] What?
What a clever way to
get me to marry you.
I don't believe I asked you that.
War is not a good reason to marry.
Who said anything about marriage?
Or war, for that matter.
Wars eventually end,
- and then I'll be left with a husband.
- [CHUCKLES]
As awful as that.
I won't be trapped.
That's how you see me?
Yes.
- A very handsome trap.
- [CHUCKLES]
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[UNSETTLING MUSIC PLAYING]
[DOGS BARKING]
♪
[DISTANT EXPLOSIONS]
♪
[DEEP BREATH]
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
[QUIETLY] Jakob.
- My parents.
- [QUIETLY] I had to.
[WHISPERING] I'm leaving.
We're being sent east to Lvov to fight.
- [WHISPERING] What? Now?
- Yes.
Tonight.
We have to report to the
train station by midnight.
The Germans are coming.
- Fighting, Jakob?
- I know,
but they called up the reserves.
Genek's going and Selim.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
It's you and me
always.
Always.
[SNIFFLING]
[LIGHT, MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING]
If anything happens
please you must come find me in Lvov.
I will.
They're asking you to perform
a pointless act of patriotism.
My hope is that it won't be pointless.
Look at the city, Adam.
The Germans are already at our doorstep.
What do you want me to do?
Don't go.
- And do not let your feet get cold.
- Hm.
[SIGHS] I was always very
dismissive of my mother,
but she was right.
Cold feet will make the death
of even the strongest man.
And you're not even that strong.
[GENEK CHUCKLES]
- Halina
- All the men go to Lvov
and, and what? We're defenseless?
I don't have a choice.
I think there is a choice.
That's very easy to say when no
one is asking you a question.
[SELIM SINGING IN NATIVE DIALECT]
I'll be home before the snow falls.
[HERTA SNIFFLES]
And I'll take you back to
our chairlift in Zakopane
and you can seduce me all over again.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
You be good for Mama.
You're not always the easiest on her.
So sleep sometimes, okay?
And when you will sleep,
I'll come and visit your
dreams, every night.
I promise.
[SELIM SIGHS]
I promise.
[SOFT, SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GENEK] Selim!
♪
[ANNOUNCER HOLLERING]
[CROWD CHATTERING]
♪
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
What? Did I make such
a terrible breakfast?
[NECHUMA SIGHS]
I don't have much appetite.
Yes but you're going to
be at the shop all day.
We are not going in to the shop today.
Why not?
We want to stay here, in case.
In case what? Triumphant news from Lvov?
They're not even there yet.
Maybe we want a day at home.
Yes, I know, you want to worry,
and you want to mope,
and you want to worry some more.
Oh, my God, you give me a headache.
Then eat something.
I told you we should've stopped at four.
- This one is so bossy.
- Hush, hush, hush! Quiet.
[DISTANT CHANTING]
[TENSE, DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[SOLDIERS CHANTING]
♪
- [PEOPLE SCREAMING]
- [PANICKED CHATTER]
♪
[PEOPLE SCREAMING, SHOUTING]
♪
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[EXHALES]
Dorota?
[HEAVY BREATHING]
Dorota?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Felicia?
[PANTING]
[FELICIA COOS]
♪
[MILA] [WHISPERS] Mama's here.
♪
[RETCHING]
[COUGHING, GASPS]
[PANTING]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
♪
[HALINA] Mila, it's me!
[MILA PANTING]
[OUT OF BREATH] Please come home.
We have room.
We can all help with Felicia.
We should be together.
[PANTING]
Okay, okay.
♪
[DOG BARKING]
[BABY CRYING]
[DOG BARKS, GROWLS]
[SECRETARY] Mr. Addy Kurc?
[SIGHS]
- [TURNS ON RADIO]
- [STATIC CRACKLING]
["LIST" PLAYING ON RADIO]
♪
[SNIFFLES]
[ANNOUNCER] [OVER RADIO]
Good evening. This is the BBC.
Poland has fallen.
I repeat, Poland has fallen.
Following weeks of vicious fighting,
Hitler and Stalin, in a
pact of non-aggression,
have divided the country in two.
The German Army now occupies
Poland's western regions.
The Red Army, the east.
The Bug River will serve
as the line of demarcation.
[HALINA] Tata, what
can I grab? What else?
Are you leaving this one?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- Uh, not on top. Just that.
- Just this one?
- This one.
- [HALINA] Just this one?
[SIGHS] It's It's too heavy
- [SOL] Nechuma? Here.
- Huh?
♪
[POUND ON WINDOW]
[HALINA] "New administration."
Is that what they call stealing
someone's business?
Leave them the cheap shit.
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- Here, let me help you.
- Hm, thank you.
- Hello to you, darling girl.
- [MILA CHUCKLES]
I'll walk you home.
- No, it's out of your way.
- That's fine.
- We're at my parents' now.
- Mila it's a selfish act.
I just need you to take these
awful rations off my hands.
- Herta.
- I don't need them.
What good is a newlywed
without a husband?
You're going to Lvov?
Well, I don't want Genek to have
all the fun with the Soviets.
But how will you do it?
I'll take the train.
They'll stop you.
There are some advantages to growing
up in a German-speaking town.
Yes, I know it doesn't make me
popular with your parents,
but at least the Wehrmacht will
stay out of my fucking hair.
My parents love you.
[HERTA CHUCKLES]
Not yet
but they will grow to love me.
Okay. [GRUNTS]
Are you sure you can mask this?
- Of course, I can mask it.
- You're not the most precise.
- You wanna do it yourself?
- Not particularly.
I want to sew some
items into our clothes,
so we all have a little
something on hand hidden
at our work assignments.
- You think we need that?
- It can't hurt to be prepared.
Should I bring something
for the foreman tomorrow?
Make him sympathetic to Felicia?
And what if the Wehrmacht
don't let her in?
- I'll hide her under my coat.
- And if she makes a sound?
I'll make sure she's calm.
I think we should take turns
staying home with her.
- Ugh, Sol, we discussed this!
- No. Everyone must work.
They won't notice a day here and there.
- They notice everything.
- It's punishable by death, Papa.
Yes, but it's also illegal for her
to bring her to the factory.
I don't have a choice.
Okay. I'll stay home with her
while you all get settled
in your new jobs.
And when you don't report
to the factory? Huh?
When you don't report to the factory,
what do we tell them
when you're not there?
[SIGHS]
What? People should leave
their children at home
to fend for themselves?
She's a baby. That's barbaric.
[HALINA SIGHS]
I think that's the point.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MILA] [SOFTLY] Okay.
♪
- [FELICIA WHIMPERS]
- [MILA SHUSHES]
[MILA HUMS]
Papa's coat, huh? Nice and roomy.
It'll keep us safe tomorrow.
[QUIET CHATTER]
[TAILGATE SLAMS]
[HALINA STRUGGLING]
[EXHALES]
[PANTING]
- [WHISTLE BLARING]
- [PANTING]
[GERMAN OFFICER SHOUTS
IN NATIVE DIALECT]
- [SNIFFLES, GULPS]
- [OFFICER SHOUTS]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
- [OFFICER SHOUTING]
- [DOG BARKS]
[SNIFFLES, SIGHS]
Szkop.
[GROANS]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[WORKER] Please,
my children are starving.
[WORKER SCREAMING]
[WORKER GROANS]
- [OFFICER PUNCHING]
- [WORKER SCREAMING]
- [WORKER WAILING]
- [OFFICER] Dieb!
- [WORKER SCREAMS]
- [HALINA WHIMPERS]
♪
[GRUNTS]
[ENGINE RUMBLING]
- [PUNCHING CONTINUES]
- [WORKER SCREAMING]
♪
[PANTING]
♪
[RABBI SCREAMING]
[SOLDIERS LAUGHING]
♪
- [MILA] Halina?
- Hi. [CLEARS THROAT]
[SNIFFLES]
[STIFLED LAUGH] Oh, dear.
What happened?
[SIGHS]
I'm a farmhand.
What could be more natural?
[MILA CHUCKLES]
Maybe a different wardrobe
choice tomorrow?
Mm? [CHUCKLES]
[SOFTLY] Thank you.
[MILA] Mm.
Um, how did Felicia do?
Patient.
- Oh, thank you.
- And calm.
She played in a basket of fabric
at my feet, slept there.
Somehow, she seems to understand.
Halina. Just in time for soup.
[CHUCKLES]
With bread it counts
as an actual meal. Hm.
Soup?
[NECHUMA] Potato soup. [SIGHS]
- How?
- You want the recipe?
We are down to scraps
from our rations. How?
Oh, I pocketed a few potato
peels at the cafeteria.
Maybe peeled them a little thick.
Mm, maybe.
- [BABBLES GIBBERISH]
- [FELICIA COOS]
[VOICE BREAKING] You can't do that.
[GRUNTS] They were going to the garbage.
No, how could you be so stupid?!
- Halina!
- You are nothing to them.
They will kill you for much less.
[NECHUMA] Don't be so dramatic.
- I'm not.
- We need food.
We need more than food!
- Calm down. It's alright.
- It's not alright! It's not alright!
We can
- We should not be here!
- But we are.
People left. We could have left.
No, this is our home.
And we will wait
and it will pass, and we
will ignore the signs,
and we will follow the rules,
and we will jump if they tell
us to jump off the bridge,
and, and if we say,
"No, I don't want to jump.
That's crazy! Why would I jump?"
We realize that it's too late
because they're not giving
us a choice anymore
because they have a fucking
gun pointed at our heads!
That's enough!
- [FELICIA CRYING]
- [NECHUMA] Okay, okay.
- [MILA] Mm.
- [NECHUMA] Oh.
[FELICIA WAILS]
- Are you happy?
- [CRIES] I'm sorry! I'm sorry.
[FELICIA SCREAMS, CRIES]
- [KNOCKING ON DOOR]
- [GASPS]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- [HALINA CRYING]
- [NECHUMA SOFTLY SHUSHES]
[SNIFFLES]
[HALINA SIGHS WITH RELIEF]
[NECHUMA SIGHS]
I have news from Lvov.
Missing?
Jakob says he's been missing
since the night Lvov
fell to the Soviets.
- And the others?
- [SOFTLY] They're okay.
Herta made it safely.
They've all been assigned a-apartments.
- There's work. Hm.
- Work?
Life is relatively calm.
Calm?
I only mean compared to here.
If the fighting is over in Lvov,
I'm sure Selim was needed elsewhere.
As a doctor, he must've been reassigned.
He's not a doctor. He's a researcher.
In the context of war, it's all useful.
[MILA] Come to bed, my love.
[MILA SIGHS]
Um you can sleep in
Halina's room tonight.
There's no need. My parents will worry.
You want your parents
to worry tonight
or mourn a daughter that never returns?
It's not safe to walk
the city after curfew.
Okay.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS] I'm going to Lvov.
I need to be with Jakob.
- How will you do it?
- I don't know.
I'm not sure the trains
are safe anymore.
By wagon, perhaps?
[SIGHS]
There will be checkpoints.
Do ya think?
You'll need some money to get through
some provisions.
Will you come with me?
- Bella.
- Life sounds better in Lvov.
The Russians are no saints,
but they're not the Wehrmacht.
The men are working. They're paid.
We could get jobs, too.
Save money.
Get our families out of Radom.
[FELICIA CRYING]
[MILA SINGING IN NATIVE DIALECT]
Mila was so overwhelmed
when Felicia was born
always on the verge of breaking
but now
Selim missing,
she's she's just remarkable.
[BELLA] Halina
it's getting worse.
I know.
There will only be so
many chances to leave.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[WHISPERS] Okay.
♪
[SOFT, SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
[FANFARE PLAYING]
I cannot believe we were
celebrating Passover.
Worried about such little things.
Now, none of us know
what the future holds.
♪
All of Europe is a war zone.
♪
[MILA KURC] I thought I knew
something about human beings,
but I knew nothing.
[GUARD] This is your new home.
You will never see Poland again.
[HALINA KURC] Two of my
brothers are missing,
and my parents are starving in a ghetto.
We cannot spend our lives running.
[HALINA] Building a gun is
not the only way to fight.
If you get caught,
it jeopardizes all of us.
I'm aware of the stakes.
Our children are fighting
to keep us alive.
- Is this smart?
- It could be.
If I rescue them.
[JAKOB KURC] Together
from now on, alright?
No matter what.
We have come too far to give up hope.
Our families are out there.
♪
[SOFT, SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
Oh, good morning. Good morning.
♪
Morning.
[SPEAKER] Halina!
Halina! I'm sorry,
I'll just be a minute.
- Come here!
- Sorry. I'm sorry.
- Excuse me.
- [CHATTERING]
Sorry.
- Sorry.
- It arrived yesterday.
♪
[GASPS SOFTLY]
♪
Thank you.
♪
[MUSIC FADES]
[AMBIENT STREET NOISE]
- [GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING]
-
Selim? Test tubes arrived!
I'll sterilize them in the
morning if that's alright.
I can come early, although,
maybe not too early.
[SNIFFLES]
Oh, hello.
I didn't know lab assistants
make their own hours.
I don't usually
And please don't shout when you're here.
What if Selim was with someone?
The only thing back there
with Selim is blood
and the occasional urine.
Do you have to be so smart all the time?
[SIGHS] No, Mila.
I will try to be less smart.
[GROANS] You're impossible.
And where do you think you're going?
I have to meet Addy.
Because our brother can't
find his own way home?
[SIGHS] He's been in Paris a long time.
Who knows what all that
French wine does to a brain?
Could you at least pick up the matzo?
- I'm already late, Mila.
- Halina!
[SIGHS] You look beautiful, by the way.
The roundness really suits you.
♪
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
♪
- Addy!
- Halina!
[HALINA KURC] [SCREAMS] Addy!
[HALINA SCREAMS, GIGGLES]
[HALINA EXHALES]
You look shorter.
Oh, it's probably all
the high heels in Paris.
- Hello, Madam Jagoda.
- Hm.
We ran into each other on the train.
Caught me up on all the Radom gossip.
And your brother told me about
life as a famous composer.
- Oh. [CHUCKLES]
- Famous is generous.
- Been shopping?
- [MADAM JAGODA] Yes.
I've been indulging in
the Spring Paris fashions.
I think they may have
taken advantage of you.
Mother was carrying a similar
style of dress in the fall.
If only you had thought to stop in.
But I would not have had
the pleasure of Paris.
Of course.
- Enjoy your stay, Addy.
- Thank you.
What is wrong with you?
What's wrong with you? You were rude.
That woman used to fawn
all over mother's dresses,
and now she refuses
to come into the shop.
Maybe she's a snob.
No, no. The snobs love us,
unless they're snobs who hate Jews.
I'm sorry. I'm surprised.
She was nice to me.
She's only nice to you
because you're on the radio.
Minor celebrity softens
even the worst anti-Semite.
♪
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[SLIGHT CHUCKLE]
- It's time.
- Cheers.
Sol?
Sol?
[SIGHS] Ah!
- Sol, where are you?
- [SOL KURC] In here.
Why so far?
I needed to wear clothes for dinner.
- He'll be here any minute.
- So?
Nothing's where it's supposed to be.
Nechuma, we created him.
We don't have to perform for him, right?
[SOL CLAPS] Now, what can I do?
- Addy!
- Just me.
Ah, Jakob. Chag Sameach.
[JAKOB KURC] Chag Sameach.
- Is Bella coming?
- Uh, yes.
- Did I not say?
- You didn't.
- Ah, sorry.
- It's alright.
Dorota, Bella is coming!
- Another place setting!
- I thought I said she was coming.
You did. Classes good?
[DEEP BREATH]
- The law is the law.
- What does that mean?
Ah, Jakob.
- [SOL SPEAKS NATIVE DIALECT]
- [NECHUMA KURC] Is that Addy?
Just your oldest and best.
Genek, talk to your brother.
He's shrugging about his classes.
Hey, I am not.
- [GENEK KURC] You don't like them?
- I-I like them fine.
- What is wrong with the law?
- Nothing.
It's like a game, Jakob.
Always something to be solved and won.
Well, there's the problem.
I don't like games.
- [SOL] Ah!
- [GENEK] He doesn't like games?
Mother?!
- Mother, I have terrible news.
- What? What is it?
- I think Addy missed his train.
- No! He wouldn't!
It's Passover!
[GASPS] Ah!
And I would never dare miss Passover.
Addy! Oh!
You are a wicked girl.
- It was his idea!
- [NECHUMA] It's Passover.
All is forgiven.
- Jakob!
- Addy!
[LAUGHTER]
[ADDY/SOL SPEAKING NATIVE DIALECT]
Look at you. Ooh la la.
- [LAUGHTER]
- Ooh la la.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[SINGING PRAYER IN NATIVE DIALECT]
♪
[LAUGHTER]
[ALL SINGING IN NATIVE DIALECT]
[GROUP HAPPILY CHATTERING]
[BRIGHT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
You're disrespecting the holiday.
Drink. Recline. Relax.
Please.
The Tajchman's store was
vandalized last week on Sabbath.
Everybody knows our shop
will be empty tonight.
- Nie, it's empty every night.
- Passover is an opportunity
for those looking to make a point.
Tata, listen to the music.
Hm? Addy is desperate
for some attention.
Show him he's still the favorite.
Genek, I don't have a favorite.
So
it is me.
It's not you.
It's me. I understand.
You can't say it, but
So, the new boarder just happens to be
an eligible handsome architect?
[MILA KURC] Is that a bad thing?
He's old and serious.
He's only 31.
In other words, ready to marry.
[CHUCKLES] No one is saying
you have to marry him.
But the convenience of him,
he's just one room down.
[BOTH GIGGLE]
Jakob, stop. You're going
to get tired of my face.
Impossible.
[BRIGHT PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES]
Such a short trip, Addy. [CHUCKLES]
I know, but work is busy.
But your music is going so well.
Eh, one song on the radio
does not an income make.
It's a good song.
Wasn't it you who encouraged me
to get my engineering degree?
- [NECHUMA SIGHS]
- Have a real job?
You think you are so clever
using my words against me.
- [STOPS PLAYING PIANO]
- [BOTH LAUGH]
Enough with the jazz.
- We want to hear List.
- Not List!
By the famous Parisian
composer, Addy Kurc?
- [NECHUMA LAUGHS]
- Hey! I may live in Paris,
but I will always be Polish.
Sorry, I-I couldn't understand
you with the French accent.
- [LAUGHTER]
- Do you want the song or not?
- [HALINA] Yes!
- I don't need to play it.
- Play!
- [CROSSTALK]
- [MILA] Play it, play it for us.
- Okay.
[PLAYS ROMANTIC MUSIC ON PIANO]
♪
[DISHWARE CLINKING]
- You've done enough.
- [MILA SIGHS]
They all disappear the
minute there's washing up.
Mila I'll help your mother.
Rest.
Hm?
[MILA SIGHS]
[PLAYS ROMANTIC MUSIC ON PIANO]
[HALINA] Oh.
- Always fucking Chopin.
- [BELLA TATAR] I love Chopin.
Try listening to it
every day of your life.
- Mila practiced obsessively.
- More than me.
I don't know why, though.
All she ever cared about
was marriage and procreation.
- Hey, that's unkind.
- [HALINA] But it's true.
Mila never takes time to enjoy anything.
Maybe she doesn't take
pleasure in your pleasures.
- [HALINA] Hey!
- [GENEK CHUCKLES]
Who do you want as your ally
when you marry into this family?
Am I marrying into this
family? I was unaware.
Yes, good point. Jakob, why
haven't you proposed to Bella?
- [GENEK] Oh!
- [ADDY] Unless there's a ring I missed.
- [HALINA] Nope.
- [ADDY] It's been six years.
- You're not gonna do better.
- Yeah, Genek knows.
- He's dated everybody.
- Eh, I had no choice.
[LAUGHTER]
- Walk me home, Jakob
- Yeah.
before they try to find us a rabbi.
Um, you're all assholes.
- Oh.
- Oh, I highly recommend a shortcut,
uh, through Kosciuszko Park.
- It's [LAUGHS] very romantic.
- [LAUGHTER]
Am I missing something?
- [GENEK] Tell him, tell him.
- They always leave early,
and they're never home on time.
- In the park?
- [HALINA CHUCKLES]
- Jakob?
- It's always the quiet, soulful ones.
I better go, too. I promised
Father I'd check the shop.
Tonight? He's really that worried?
Oh, you know him. Everyone's grown up.
- He needs a new preoccupation.
- Genek, [GRUNTS] tell me
are things getting worse?
A little, in the last few months.
The Friedmans are leaving for Palestine.
- Really?
- Oh, come on.
They just don't like the competition.
There's 40 bakeries in town
and business is down.
But business is down for most Jews.
It'll pass. Radom is not Germany.
Don't worry so much, okay?
Who knows? Maybe I'll come give
you some competition in Paris.
- Come. I would like to see that.
- [GENEK CHUCKLES]
[GENEK] Goodnight.
[ADDY] Eh, he always
says he'll come to Paris,
and he never comes.
There's a girl.
- There's always a girl.
- [HALINA GIGGLES]
This is a serious one.
The only thing I could get out of him
was that they met on a
chairlift skiing in Zakopane.
- Must've been some ride.
- Mm-hmm.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[ADDY DRAGS ON CIGARETTE]
I'd like to come to Paris.
Maybe I'll stow away on
your train tomorrow.
But what do you want to do in Paris?
- D-Do you have a plan?
- You are doomed as an artist
if you insist on being so practical.
Easy to say before you have
to pay for food and rent.
Hm?
- I have plans.
- Such as?
Hm?
- That's unfair.
- How?!
You take for granted how
lucky it is to be sure.
Sure about what you love,
sure about what you want
to do with your life.
If I wait to be sure
I will get stuck.
[SIGHS]
Don't worry about it, Addy.
No, let me think, look
around for some work.
I will figure it out.
Halina
to future adventures.
I will be waiting,
whenever you decide to make the trip.
[GLASSES CLINK]
[BRIGHT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
Come on.
- It's always in the park?
- Always in the park.
♪
♪
[CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING]
[MUSIC SOFTENS]
I was looking for a
break from the smoke.
- Sorry.
- It's fine.
The hoarser I get,
the more Montmartre takes me seriously.
- [SINGER GIGGLES]
- You have a beautiful voice.
I make a point to come when you sing.
Is that why you're leaving so soon?
I'm afraid I'm not very
good company tonight.
Bad news? From your girlfriend?
My mother.
I'm sorry.
She's, um, disinvited me from Passover.
That stings.
She doesn't think it's safe to
travel across German borders.
But if you knew my mother,
to tell me to skip Passover, eh
You want my advice?
Always listen to your mother.
[BRIGHT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS IN CLUB]
[SNIFFLES]
[EXHALES]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING]
[ADDY] "Dear Mother I am coming home.
"Please do not worry.
"I will be there for
Passover, as always.
"Perhaps longer, if you
could stand to have me.
"My new composition is coming along.
"I cannot wait to play it for you.
"See you soon.
All my love Addy."
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[HALINA CLEARS THROAT]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
What can I get you?
Just a coffee.
- Sure.
- Thank you.
Two coffees, please.
I'm so sorry I was held up.
Held up or unwilling to be interrupted?
[CHUCKLES]
I suppose there is a distinction.
I had an overwhelming need to finish.
I am not sure who for.
Buildings are being
boarded up, not built.
[SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
Adam, it's
it's flawless.
I try to design "free of untruths".
♪
It's the lack of resistance.
The Czechs should be ashamed.
They manufacture the weapons,
but they don't know how
to use 'em, apparently.
The Führer isn't just targeting
German-speaking territories anymore.
- We could be next.
- Ah, impossible.
He might try, but he will be stopped.
- [LAWYER CHUCKLES]
- I'm certain of this.
- [MR. NOWAK] A word, Genek?
- Of course.
[GENEK CLEARS THROAT]
Oh, Szkop!
If you're tiptoeing for my sake,
you can stop before you kill yourself.
I thought you might be asleep.
- Rilke had other ideas.
- Ah, Rilke.
So, have you lost all of
our money at the table,
or did they kick you out?
Well, I am
[DEEP BREATH]
I was wondering if, um
and then, uh
[HERTA SEIFERT] Mm.
[GENEK] Mm.
Love [SIGHS] we should be careful.
I can be careful.
[HERTA LAUGHS]
- No, no, no.
- Yes.
No, we, we would be fools
[WHISPERS] to let it happen now.
Right?
The war.
The war, the war, the war.
I'm tired of it already
and it hasn't even begun.
[GENEK GRUNTS]
- Genek?
- I'm sorry.
Tell me.
Tell me.
Mr. Nowak was kind enough to
offer me a demotion today.
- What?
- Hm. Assistant.
I knew it was happening to others.
I was a fool for thinking I'd be spared.
You're not a fool.
I quit.
You were promised a
lawyer for a husband.
I'm sorry, my love.
I was promised you for a husband.
[CHUCKLES]
Here's a thought.
What if there is no war?
We have deprived
ourselves for nothing
and Hitler, the little
prick, will have won.
[CHUCKLES]
You're right. It would be tragic.
Fuck the war.
[HERTA LAUGHS]
They need soldiers in Poland.
-
- The French Army might as well,
- if your desire is to fight.
- I am Polish.
You are a Jew.
I have tried everything.
I just want to get home.
Mr. Kurc, keep trying
I'm an electrical engineer.
I have useful expertise.
I can f-fix anything.
R-Radios, equipment.
- Is there a worker's exemption?
- There is not.
Travel for you is a death sentence.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Perhaps tomorrow.
[SLIGHT CHUCKLE]
[SINGING PRAYER IN NATIVE DIALECT]
[ALL RESPOND]
[SINGING CONTINUES]
[BELLA CLEARS THROAT]
[BABY FELICIA CRYING]
[STOPS SINGING]
- I'm, I'm so sorry.
- Babies cry.
Some babies more than others.
Uh Just, uh, Felicia
doesn't believe in naps.
That's not true.
[FELICIA CRYING]
Please, keep going.
[RESUMES SINGING]
- Come on.
- [FELICIA CRYING]
Come on, my love.
It's alright. [SHUSHING]
- Is she wet?
- No, she's not wet.
She's not wet. She's not wet.
She's not hungry.
I don't know what's wrong.
[SHUSHING]
- [NECHUMA] Here, here.
- [SOFTLY] Yes.
Ohh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Yes. [SHUSHING]
[FELICIA CRYING]
Selim thinks everything
she does is a wonder.
[NECHUMA] And you?
Mm, I th I think she's very cute
Yeah.
and possibly hates her mother.
[LAUGHS] She doesn't hate you.
- I'm sorry.
- [SIGHS]
Your father and I have been thinking.
We talked to Dorota.
- What?
- [NECHUMA] Hear me out.
You all think I'm so terrible at this.
- Ugh, my darling.
- [MILA SIGHS]
I understand.
I do.
[SIGHS]
- [NECHUMA SIGHS]
- [FELICIA WHINES]
Dorota adores babies.
She raised five of her own.
She wants to help.
Cook a bit, let you get some rest.
[FELICIA WHINES]
Yes.
[CHUCKLES]
Mila, I promise there is
joy in being a mother.
Let us help you find it.
[FELICIA BABBLING]
Let us help you find it.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah.
[FELICIA BABBLING]
[NACHUMA] Hm?
♪
I'm so tired of looking
for dark corners of Radom
when we share a bedroom wall!
Yes, mm, and on the other side,
I share a wall with your parents.
[CHUCKLES]
Must you remind me of
my parents right now?
Sorry.
[HALINA SIGHS]
What?
Nothing.
Hm
are you worried
- about Addy?
- [HALINA SCOFFS]
God, I think everyone worries
about Addy too much.
Addy knows how to take care of himself.
I'm sure that he's in Paris,
and Paris is a free city.
We are free.
For now.
My family has the means.
We, we could leave and ride
things out somewhere else.
Would your parents consider?
My parents kept Genek, Addy,
and Mila alive on scraps
in a basement during the Great War.
If they did not leave then,
how do you [SIGHS] convince
someone things are bad
when they've already
experienced the worst?
We could go.
[CHUCKLES] What?
What a clever way to
get me to marry you.
I don't believe I asked you that.
War is not a good reason to marry.
Who said anything about marriage?
Or war, for that matter.
Wars eventually end,
- and then I'll be left with a husband.
- [CHUCKLES]
As awful as that.
I won't be trapped.
That's how you see me?
Yes.
- A very handsome trap.
- [CHUCKLES]
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[UNSETTLING MUSIC PLAYING]
[DOGS BARKING]
♪
[DISTANT EXPLOSIONS]
♪
[DEEP BREATH]
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
[QUIETLY] Jakob.
- My parents.
- [QUIETLY] I had to.
[WHISPERING] I'm leaving.
We're being sent east to Lvov to fight.
- [WHISPERING] What? Now?
- Yes.
Tonight.
We have to report to the
train station by midnight.
The Germans are coming.
- Fighting, Jakob?
- I know,
but they called up the reserves.
Genek's going and Selim.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
It's you and me
always.
Always.
[SNIFFLING]
[LIGHT, MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING]
If anything happens
please you must come find me in Lvov.
I will.
They're asking you to perform
a pointless act of patriotism.
My hope is that it won't be pointless.
Look at the city, Adam.
The Germans are already at our doorstep.
What do you want me to do?
Don't go.
- And do not let your feet get cold.
- Hm.
[SIGHS] I was always very
dismissive of my mother,
but she was right.
Cold feet will make the death
of even the strongest man.
And you're not even that strong.
[GENEK CHUCKLES]
- Halina
- All the men go to Lvov
and, and what? We're defenseless?
I don't have a choice.
I think there is a choice.
That's very easy to say when no
one is asking you a question.
[SELIM SINGING IN NATIVE DIALECT]
I'll be home before the snow falls.
[HERTA SNIFFLES]
And I'll take you back to
our chairlift in Zakopane
and you can seduce me all over again.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
You be good for Mama.
You're not always the easiest on her.
So sleep sometimes, okay?
And when you will sleep,
I'll come and visit your
dreams, every night.
I promise.
[SELIM SIGHS]
I promise.
[SOFT, SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GENEK] Selim!
♪
[ANNOUNCER HOLLERING]
[CROWD CHATTERING]
♪
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
What? Did I make such
a terrible breakfast?
[NECHUMA SIGHS]
I don't have much appetite.
Yes but you're going to
be at the shop all day.
We are not going in to the shop today.
Why not?
We want to stay here, in case.
In case what? Triumphant news from Lvov?
They're not even there yet.
Maybe we want a day at home.
Yes, I know, you want to worry,
and you want to mope,
and you want to worry some more.
Oh, my God, you give me a headache.
Then eat something.
I told you we should've stopped at four.
- This one is so bossy.
- Hush, hush, hush! Quiet.
[DISTANT CHANTING]
[TENSE, DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[SOLDIERS CHANTING]
♪
- [PEOPLE SCREAMING]
- [PANICKED CHATTER]
♪
[PEOPLE SCREAMING, SHOUTING]
♪
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[EXHALES]
Dorota?
[HEAVY BREATHING]
Dorota?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Felicia?
[PANTING]
[FELICIA COOS]
♪
[MILA] [WHISPERS] Mama's here.
♪
[RETCHING]
[COUGHING, GASPS]
[PANTING]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
♪
[HALINA] Mila, it's me!
[MILA PANTING]
[OUT OF BREATH] Please come home.
We have room.
We can all help with Felicia.
We should be together.
[PANTING]
Okay, okay.
♪
[DOG BARKING]
[BABY CRYING]
[DOG BARKS, GROWLS]
[SECRETARY] Mr. Addy Kurc?
[SIGHS]
- [TURNS ON RADIO]
- [STATIC CRACKLING]
["LIST" PLAYING ON RADIO]
♪
[SNIFFLES]
[ANNOUNCER] [OVER RADIO]
Good evening. This is the BBC.
Poland has fallen.
I repeat, Poland has fallen.
Following weeks of vicious fighting,
Hitler and Stalin, in a
pact of non-aggression,
have divided the country in two.
The German Army now occupies
Poland's western regions.
The Red Army, the east.
The Bug River will serve
as the line of demarcation.
[HALINA] Tata, what
can I grab? What else?
Are you leaving this one?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- Uh, not on top. Just that.
- Just this one?
- This one.
- [HALINA] Just this one?
[SIGHS] It's It's too heavy
- [SOL] Nechuma? Here.
- Huh?
♪
[POUND ON WINDOW]
[HALINA] "New administration."
Is that what they call stealing
someone's business?
Leave them the cheap shit.
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- Here, let me help you.
- Hm, thank you.
- Hello to you, darling girl.
- [MILA CHUCKLES]
I'll walk you home.
- No, it's out of your way.
- That's fine.
- We're at my parents' now.
- Mila it's a selfish act.
I just need you to take these
awful rations off my hands.
- Herta.
- I don't need them.
What good is a newlywed
without a husband?
You're going to Lvov?
Well, I don't want Genek to have
all the fun with the Soviets.
But how will you do it?
I'll take the train.
They'll stop you.
There are some advantages to growing
up in a German-speaking town.
Yes, I know it doesn't make me
popular with your parents,
but at least the Wehrmacht will
stay out of my fucking hair.
My parents love you.
[HERTA CHUCKLES]
Not yet
but they will grow to love me.
Okay. [GRUNTS]
Are you sure you can mask this?
- Of course, I can mask it.
- You're not the most precise.
- You wanna do it yourself?
- Not particularly.
I want to sew some
items into our clothes,
so we all have a little
something on hand hidden
at our work assignments.
- You think we need that?
- It can't hurt to be prepared.
Should I bring something
for the foreman tomorrow?
Make him sympathetic to Felicia?
And what if the Wehrmacht
don't let her in?
- I'll hide her under my coat.
- And if she makes a sound?
I'll make sure she's calm.
I think we should take turns
staying home with her.
- Ugh, Sol, we discussed this!
- No. Everyone must work.
They won't notice a day here and there.
- They notice everything.
- It's punishable by death, Papa.
Yes, but it's also illegal for her
to bring her to the factory.
I don't have a choice.
Okay. I'll stay home with her
while you all get settled
in your new jobs.
And when you don't report
to the factory? Huh?
When you don't report to the factory,
what do we tell them
when you're not there?
[SIGHS]
What? People should leave
their children at home
to fend for themselves?
She's a baby. That's barbaric.
[HALINA SIGHS]
I think that's the point.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MILA] [SOFTLY] Okay.
♪
- [FELICIA WHIMPERS]
- [MILA SHUSHES]
[MILA HUMS]
Papa's coat, huh? Nice and roomy.
It'll keep us safe tomorrow.
[QUIET CHATTER]
[TAILGATE SLAMS]
[HALINA STRUGGLING]
[EXHALES]
[PANTING]
- [WHISTLE BLARING]
- [PANTING]
[GERMAN OFFICER SHOUTS
IN NATIVE DIALECT]
- [SNIFFLES, GULPS]
- [OFFICER SHOUTS]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
- [OFFICER SHOUTING]
- [DOG BARKS]
[SNIFFLES, SIGHS]
Szkop.
[GROANS]
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[WORKER] Please,
my children are starving.
[WORKER SCREAMING]
[WORKER GROANS]
- [OFFICER PUNCHING]
- [WORKER SCREAMING]
- [WORKER WAILING]
- [OFFICER] Dieb!
- [WORKER SCREAMS]
- [HALINA WHIMPERS]
♪
[GRUNTS]
[ENGINE RUMBLING]
- [PUNCHING CONTINUES]
- [WORKER SCREAMING]
♪
[PANTING]
♪
[RABBI SCREAMING]
[SOLDIERS LAUGHING]
♪
- [MILA] Halina?
- Hi. [CLEARS THROAT]
[SNIFFLES]
[STIFLED LAUGH] Oh, dear.
What happened?
[SIGHS]
I'm a farmhand.
What could be more natural?
[MILA CHUCKLES]
Maybe a different wardrobe
choice tomorrow?
Mm? [CHUCKLES]
[SOFTLY] Thank you.
[MILA] Mm.
Um, how did Felicia do?
Patient.
- Oh, thank you.
- And calm.
She played in a basket of fabric
at my feet, slept there.
Somehow, she seems to understand.
Halina. Just in time for soup.
[CHUCKLES]
With bread it counts
as an actual meal. Hm.
Soup?
[NECHUMA] Potato soup. [SIGHS]
- How?
- You want the recipe?
We are down to scraps
from our rations. How?
Oh, I pocketed a few potato
peels at the cafeteria.
Maybe peeled them a little thick.
Mm, maybe.
- [BABBLES GIBBERISH]
- [FELICIA COOS]
[VOICE BREAKING] You can't do that.
[GRUNTS] They were going to the garbage.
No, how could you be so stupid?!
- Halina!
- You are nothing to them.
They will kill you for much less.
[NECHUMA] Don't be so dramatic.
- I'm not.
- We need food.
We need more than food!
- Calm down. It's alright.
- It's not alright! It's not alright!
We can
- We should not be here!
- But we are.
People left. We could have left.
No, this is our home.
And we will wait
and it will pass, and we
will ignore the signs,
and we will follow the rules,
and we will jump if they tell
us to jump off the bridge,
and, and if we say,
"No, I don't want to jump.
That's crazy! Why would I jump?"
We realize that it's too late
because they're not giving
us a choice anymore
because they have a fucking
gun pointed at our heads!
That's enough!
- [FELICIA CRYING]
- [NECHUMA] Okay, okay.
- [MILA] Mm.
- [NECHUMA] Oh.
[FELICIA WAILS]
- Are you happy?
- [CRIES] I'm sorry! I'm sorry.
[FELICIA SCREAMS, CRIES]
- [KNOCKING ON DOOR]
- [GASPS]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- [HALINA CRYING]
- [NECHUMA SOFTLY SHUSHES]
[SNIFFLES]
[HALINA SIGHS WITH RELIEF]
[NECHUMA SIGHS]
I have news from Lvov.
Missing?
Jakob says he's been missing
since the night Lvov
fell to the Soviets.
- And the others?
- [SOFTLY] They're okay.
Herta made it safely.
They've all been assigned a-apartments.
- There's work. Hm.
- Work?
Life is relatively calm.
Calm?
I only mean compared to here.
If the fighting is over in Lvov,
I'm sure Selim was needed elsewhere.
As a doctor, he must've been reassigned.
He's not a doctor. He's a researcher.
In the context of war, it's all useful.
[MILA] Come to bed, my love.
[MILA SIGHS]
Um you can sleep in
Halina's room tonight.
There's no need. My parents will worry.
You want your parents
to worry tonight
or mourn a daughter that never returns?
It's not safe to walk
the city after curfew.
Okay.
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS] I'm going to Lvov.
I need to be with Jakob.
- How will you do it?
- I don't know.
I'm not sure the trains
are safe anymore.
By wagon, perhaps?
[SIGHS]
There will be checkpoints.
Do ya think?
You'll need some money to get through
some provisions.
Will you come with me?
- Bella.
- Life sounds better in Lvov.
The Russians are no saints,
but they're not the Wehrmacht.
The men are working. They're paid.
We could get jobs, too.
Save money.
Get our families out of Radom.
[FELICIA CRYING]
[MILA SINGING IN NATIVE DIALECT]
Mila was so overwhelmed
when Felicia was born
always on the verge of breaking
but now
Selim missing,
she's she's just remarkable.
[BELLA] Halina
it's getting worse.
I know.
There will only be so
many chances to leave.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[WHISPERS] Okay.
♪
[SOFT, SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
[FANFARE PLAYING]
I cannot believe we were
celebrating Passover.
Worried about such little things.
Now, none of us know
what the future holds.
♪
All of Europe is a war zone.
♪
[MILA KURC] I thought I knew
something about human beings,
but I knew nothing.
[GUARD] This is your new home.
You will never see Poland again.
[HALINA KURC] Two of my
brothers are missing,
and my parents are starving in a ghetto.
We cannot spend our lives running.
[HALINA] Building a gun is
not the only way to fight.
If you get caught,
it jeopardizes all of us.
I'm aware of the stakes.
Our children are fighting
to keep us alive.
- Is this smart?
- It could be.
If I rescue them.
[JAKOB KURC] Together
from now on, alright?
No matter what.
We have come too far to give up hope.
Our families are out there.
♪