I Have a Message For You English Script Contact: Matan Rochlitz matanisafilmmaker@gmail.com 0039 3475833579 __ FADE IN Ext. House / TEXT: Tel Aviv, Israel Int. House Klara Szyper (VO) My mother told me that when I was a child I was very ill with Diptheria. There was a young man in my hospital room. And he told my mother: “Listen, I am going to die...” But the years I have left, I will give those to your daughter. Klara Szyper in vision. That’s why I’m 92. It’s the years the young man from the hospital gave me. Int. House Initially the Germans were not aggressive towards the Jews. They had their hands in velvet gloves. But when the gloves came off they were criminals. Animation sequence - 1 Photo of ‘humiliated’ jews. They were criminals. First they took the young, then the older ones. Then, they took parents. Their goal was to annihilate us. Animated photo of sister Edith. My sister received a notice telling her to report for work. I told her: “Edith, don’t go!” But she went anyway. And she never came back. And thinking about it still makes me cry. K in vision What else do you want to know? Photo of Klara and Philippe I met my husband in our political circle. I was twenty years old. Exactly one year after we got married we were arrested. Photo of Kazerne Dossin barracks / TEXT: Belgium, 1943 ANIMATION SEQUENCE - 2 Klara, Philippe and Father loaded into cattle wagon. My father was arrested too. Int. Train We knew we were headed towards our death. So we decided we’d jump from the train. The train was going from Belgium to Germany, from Germany to Poland and then to Auschwitz. God forbid we jump in Germany! Who would help us there? We had to jump in Belgium. Window view, then Klara in vision. A few days before knowing we were headed to Auschwitz my father fell ill. When he found out that we were going to leave… It’s like he ‘summoned’ a disease... He fell completely ill. ANIMATION SEQUENCE - 3 Holding unconscious father. Philippe tries to persuade K to jump. I was by my father in the train carriage. He was unconscious. In such a terrible state. Philippe kept saying: We have to jump while we are still in Belgium! I said I have to stay with my father. I can’t leave him. Animated picture frame. He said “You know that when we get to Poland your father will go one way and you will go another and I another still.” K in vision. So what I did then was close my eyes. I awoke all of a sudden and told Philippe. Ok, I’m jumping! If I think about it one more minute I won’t do it. Ext. Apartment There were people who didn’t want us to jump. Int. K walks to window and gazes out. The Germans had said “You are responsible for everyone” “If anyone is missing, you will be punished” Of course we were all punished. We were punished for being Jews. That was the great punishment. K in Vision There were Jews who collaborated with the Germans. They’d rat us out. A human being is a human being. Jewish, English, Swiss or Belgian....he wants to...to survive. He does not want to die. You know how those cattle wagons are made? There is a little window, like this. ANIMATION SEQUENCE - 4 The Jump. I put my legs through and turned around. I slid between the two carriages. The train kept going and going. It was very difficult because the SS would shoot at us. I waited a moment. Then I put my hands to protect my head. K in vision. Then I jumped from the train. And I left my father. And it was so painful. Photograph of father. I abandoned my father in such a terrible way. ANIMATION – 5 Falling figure. ELEVATOR. K STEPS OUT INTO STREET. WALKS TO HAIRDRESSER. I have to tell you I’m tired. It’s a mental tiredness. I love life. I always look for new things. But it’s too late. It’s over. I have lived. INT. K IN VISION. Philippe told me he would jump after me. I remember the train leaving. I was crying “Philippe, where are you...” And from far away I saw Philippe coming towards me. SHOT DRIFTS TO REVEAL PHILIPPE. It was such a joy to be alive. And here we are. In our own home. It was a terrible journey to get here. IN VISION. DIALOGUE WITH FILMMAKER. - What’s wrong? - Just something in my eye.... - He is crying. - Yes. - Me too. - Me too. - Did you hear what happened to me on Dizengoff street? - That’s why I’m here. - To hear that story? ANIMATION SEQUENCE - 6 TEXT: Tel Aviv, 1962 STREETS OF TEL AVIV. K AND P WALK DOWN THE ROAD. CAFE’ NOISES. One day we were visiting Israel We were walking down Dizengoff street And someone taps me on the shoulder. - Clairette? - Yes? K AND P MEET THE WOMAN. I’ve been looking for you for 20 years. You’ve been looking for me? You don’t know me. I do know you. I was there when your father opened his eyes. She said “I have a message for you.” FADE OUT / FADE IN. Int. Train Your father started calling for you.... Klechen! Klechen! We told him “Klechen...has jumped.” So my father said In an extraordinary moment of lucidity “Listen…If you ever meet my daughter again Tell her I’m the happiest father. I’m glad she jumped. K Fade into vision. That’s how I found out my father died without ever getting to Auschwitz. Thank God. He was dead by the time he got to Auschwitz. And still he sent this extraordinary message. Telling this woman to look for me. He had this...intuition to tell me “You did well.” I live with that. A weight fell off my chest. It’s amazing how some moments in life are just so important. It was so important for me to hear this woman pass on my father’s message to me. It’s so exceptional. It’s a gift I have received. From God. Except I don’t believe in God. But that’s another story.... Are you a God person? (Laughs). TEXT: Between 1942 and 1944 25,834 people were deported from Kazerne Dossin camp in Mechelen, Belgium. 1,395 survived. After the jump, Klara and Philippe were hidden by Belgian citizens until the end of the war. The identity of the woman who spoke to Klara on the streets remains unknown. She is believed to have been Dutch. K and P on the couch / CREDITS TEXT: In Memory Of Philippe Szyper END