Anita B.

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"All that's not happening in reality, we dream at night.

It can happen to you, to another, tomorrow if not today,

in a hundred years or even next year."

Isaac Bashevis SINGER

May 1945, right after World War 2

Hungarian/Czech border.

Morning...

-Hi.

You must be tired with all this snow...

sign here.

How are you?

Anita?

Did the Red Cross treat you good?

Have you seen your old house in Budapest?

Why aren't you speaking?

You know who am I? I'm Eli,

Aron's brother, got it?

Aron, Monika's husband.

May I get a kiss?

Are you hungry?

When did you eat last time?

Stand down!

Are you ok?

See? You're safe with me.

Monika made these for us.

You want mine too?

Here...

Aren't you hot?

Why don't you take off your hat?

Come on, take it off...

Sorry...

How did you save yourself?

-I escaped before the nazis arrived...

Have you been hiding all this time?

In a farm....with my brother and

your aunt Monika.

Mom... I see Prague in front of me...

You wished to come here for your birthday,

with dad and me...

Remember?

Who are you talking to?

Mom always talked about Prague...

we dreamed of seeing it together.

Anita.... wake up, we have to get off.

Let me stay! I'm a carpenter, I can work!

We're Germans, we're not nazis!

There's kids, don't hurt them!

They're Sudetes... Czech Germans

that supported Hitler...

They send them back to Germany

and luckily we get their houses.

After what they've done, they deserved it.

See?

They're erasing the past.

War has changed everything.

I was born in Hungary, but now I'm Czech...

we all speak different languages here.

We don't know who we are anymore.

And me? Who am I?

Right now, no one.... later, we'll see...

Are you married?

I want to live...

When you're married you can't live?

Men only need to take off their pants,

but women....they want love...

You've never been in love?

You ask too many questions...

learn to bite life instead, like this...

Sorry...

Here we are.

Last floor, that's our home.

Don't tell Monika what I said about women...

I was only joking.

Anyway... leave Auschwitz out of this house.

Monika, we're home.

Aunt Monika...

Don't call me aunt... just Monika.

And don't cry, Roby's asleep.

Take off your shoes and these dirty clothes.

How was the trip?

Did your escort behave?

-I did.

Good.

I made a chicken soup, but...

You better wash first, and you as well...

those trains are filled with lice and fleas.

Yes

Wash... come on.

There's no much water,

but we're lucky just to have some.

Everything is rationed.

You better hide this...

communists are not kind to Jews.

Here... dry up.

And put this on.

Come.

This is Eli's bed...

You can sleep here.

Soon as we got some money

I'm gonna throw this furniture...

They belonged to the Sudetes that lived here...

it's all theirs, damn them....

Back in Budapest I saw our old house...

Do you remember our neighbor's son?

He helped you escape...

Mom thought he would have helped us all,

but they deported him too.

Did you know?

They took him the day after you escaped...

didn't you know?

Could you change subject?

Anybody home?

Something smells good.

Monika!

How's little niece?

-Dressing up...

Listen... don't tell her about her hair...

Look, uncle Jacob came as well.

Zulejka!

-Zulejka?

Aron has a nickname for everyone.

Eli is Rapa, Roby is Robika,

I am Viola... Violetta when he drinks...

Turn around and let me look at you...

What a pretty niece we got!

Like this I look like a scarecrow...

Complaining already?

No, the dress is beautiful...

but I'm too skinny.

Don't worry, we'll fatten you up good... right brother?

Zulejka... he is uncle Jacob, aka Jankele.

He isn't actually anybody's uncle,

but he's the uncle we all wish we had...

He's gonna take care of your papers.

Zulejka, do you know how we say scarecrow in Yiddish?

Shrek-foygl.

To life!

Roby!

-Wait... don't touch him, he doesn't know you yet.

Clean your room next, I'll clean Roby's myself.

Mom, I've been here in Zvikovske for 6 months now...

Now I'm truly fine, you know...

My hair has grown back and Aron

is making me eat so much that I could explode...

The only grief is not being able to talk to anyone

about what we've been through...

Besides Roby, but he's too young to understand...

In all this time, I never got out of the house...

I have to wait for my documents first,

or else, as Eli says...

I am no one.

No... that's not true...

I am Anita.

I'm Anita, even if my documents aren't ready.

This is the house where Anita lived

with her mom and dad.

And these are the kids with whom she played.

Say it with me... "kids"...

-Kids...

And here lived Anita after they took her away.

In the day she worked for the soldiers...

Then back to the camp to sleep.

Everyday the same...

day after day after day....

Then one morning different soldiers came

and told Anita she was free.

Though at first she didn't wanna leave...

You know why?

Cause her mom and dad were still in that camp.

Mom...

I dreamed Hitler was alive and on trial

for killing 6 millions Jews.

He complained and said that wasn't true...

He said he only killed 5,900,000....

So the judge absolved him.

Then I dreamed I became a wizard and

did resuscitate you and dad with a magic wand.

We hug and laughed...

Then we went for felafel, which dad loves so much...

We were so happy...

Done?

Finally some American music.

So, what do you think?

-About what?

Look for yourself.

Again the Russians...

What happened? Some interference?

Yea...always the Russians.

Look... I got the magic touch.

Stop it!

Stop it or I'll scream.

-You're in love with me, admit it.

No way!

Don't you wanna see me naked?

-Go to sleep, it's late...

No...

Women love to see me naked, you know?

But you're not a woman, what do you know....

You're just a little girl...

Nighty-night...

Anita!

What's that for?

-You can help me decorate it...

We'll put it in the landing so

the neighbors will see it.

It's better if they don't know we're Jewish.

What's wrong with being Jewish?

Nobody can know you're here until

you get your papers.

If Roby awakes, give him the milk that's left.

-Yes, don't worry Monika.

Thanks.

What's your name?

-Anita.

I'm Edith... do you like music?

Oh, yes...

-Can you play?

Anita!

Oh my God! Roby!

Anita would love to buy you a gift, Roby...

but she ain't got a dime.

You know who Anita is, right?

A-ni-ta.

Can you say Anita?

A-ni-ta!

Don't we wait for Eli?

-Of course not... he's always late.

Quit picking on Eli, you're getting boring.

Eat, Zulejka.

Delicious! You gonna be a great chef.

Did you see what a good painter Zulejka is?

Let's make her paint the whole house.

So we cancel all traces of Sudetes.

If she's got time...

Zulejka, what you wanna do when you grow up?

She says she wants to study.

She'll take a sewing class at most.

Monika...

Don't be so rude to her,

she's not as tough as she looks like.

She wouldn't have survived if

she wasn't tough.

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