Denial Page #9

They have come to the edge of a large mass of crumpled and

shattered concrete. ROBERT JAN climbs cautiously onto the

remains of the roof. The others follow.

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4242.

ROBERT JAN (CONT’D)

Please watch your step. Tread

carefully. This is a shrine. What

we are standing on is all that

remains of the gas chamber itself.

This was the roof. The chamber was

right under here. The doors were

locked and cyanide crystals -

Zyklon B - were poured in on them

through holes in the roof.

They all look round the rubble at their feet. No-one speaks.

As RAMPTON turns to go, he trips on something sharp.

RAMPTON:

Sh*t!

The others turn, shocked. To cover the moment, RAMPTON lights

a Gitane. He gestures the others to move on. RAMPTON pulls

something from the sole of his shoe - a rusty twist of barbed

wire.

63 EXT. BIRKENAU. DAY 63

They arrive at a bare-brick building. RAMPTON impatiently

lights a second cigarette from the stub of the first.

ROBERT JAN:

Now here are the delousing

chambers. Typhus was a terrible

problem at the camp and the lice

that carried it had to be

destroyed.

RAMPTON:

Ah good, now we get to it. We need

to talk about Leuchter.

ROBERT JAN:

I’m coming to Leuchter.

64 INT. DELOUSING CHAMBERS. BIRKENAU. DAY 64

The group comes into the building.

ROBERT JAN:

This is the building in which the

prisoners’ clothes were deloused.

They used Zyklon B for that too. To

kill the lice.

RAMPTON:

We know that?

ROBERT JAN:

Yes.

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4343.

RAMPTON:

For sure? You can prove it? We

can’t take anything for granted.

I’m going to need to see the proof.

ROBERT JAN:

I can give you proof.

ROBERT JAN produces a copy of the Leuchter Report.

ROBERT JAN (CONT’D)

However, in February 1988, a

Holocaust denier called Ernst

Zundel sent Fred Leuchter, an

engineer and self-styled execution

expert, from America to test in

different parts of the camp for

evidence of traces of poison gas in

the brickwork. He brought a camera

man with him to document what he

found.

DEBORAH:

I’ve seen the footage.

ROBERT JAN puts his hand on the wall, as if to feel it.

ROBERT JAN:

He was testing for levels of

hydrogen cyanide. HCN. Look, the

blue stains. Here. And here.

DEBORAH:

He came with a chisel.

ROBERT JAN:

That’s right.

DEBORAH:

And hacked away...

ROBERT JAN:

Correct.

DEBORAH:

...illegally, without the

permission of the authorities...

ROBERT JAN:

Indeed.

DEBORAH:

... and then smuggled the pieces

out of Poland in his suitcase.

Wrapped in his dirty underwear.

DEBORAH is fierce, indignant. RAMPTON just looks.

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4444.

RAMPTON:

Be that as it may. We can criticise

his methods, but it’s his

conclusions we have to discredit.

ROBERT JAN:

He found higher levels of HCN here

in the delousing chambers than he

did in the gas chambers themselves.

From this he concluded that no

human beings were killed at

Auschwitz. Only lice were killed.

There’s a silence. DEBORAH shakes her head.

DEBORAH:

I don’t understand. Why are we

wasting our time? Leuchter’s not

worth the paper it’s written on.

RAMPTON:

So you say. You have to say why.

DEBORAH:

Well of course he found higher

concentrations in here. Think about

it:
It’s exactly what you’d expect.

It takes over twenty times more

cyanide to kill lice than it does

human beings. Twenty times!

Leuchter didn’t even know that!

RAMPTON still seems annoyed.

RAMPTON:

The whole thing’s infuriating.

ROBERT JAN:

I know.

RAMPTON:

It beggars belief. Why has no

proper scientific study been done

of the whole site? By reputable

scientists? Fifty years on? It’s

ridiculous. It’s unprofessional.

Where’s the proof? Where’s the

evidence? I need to know that.

DEBORAH:

Why do we need a study? We have the

evidence.

DEBORAH is furious. RAMPTON looks at her.

RAMPTON:

I need to ask some more questions.

Are you happier outside?

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4545.

65 EXT. BIRKENAU. DAY 65

DEBORAH is standing by herself, pacing. HEATHER is a little

way off. Some time goes by. Inside RAMPTON can be heard still

aggressively arguing small points with ROBERT JAN.

DEBORAH:

I thought we weren’t going to try

the Holocaust.

HEATHER:

We’re not.

DEBORAH:

We’re not going to debate ‘Did the

Holocaust happen?’ That’s what we

agreed.

There is a silence. DEBORAH paces.

DEBORAH (CONT’D)

That’s what we agreed!

HEATHER:

He’s asking questions. That’s all.

He has to ask questions. This is

not about memorialising, it’s

about forensics.

DEBORAH:

Do you know how many people died

here? And he’s asking questions

about what really happened?

66 INT. DELOUSING CHAMBERS. DAY 66

RAMPTON, still going at it inside with ROBERT JAN, has turned

to listen. The sound of DEBORAH’S anger drifting across to

him, discernible but indistinct. He looks at ROBERT JAN.

67 EXT. BIRKENAU. DUSK 67

Later. DEBORAH walks back alone to the remains of Crematorium

II. She stands, looking at the steps down to the rubble. She

closes her eyes.

68 EXT. BIRKENAU. DAY 68

In her mind's eye, a great mass of women's feet staggering

down the steps that led to the undressing room. Glimpsed in

between the legs, a small girl’s terrified face - like a

young RACHEL BLOCH. No longer than a second or two. Then

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4646.

69 EXT. BIRKENAU. DUSK 69

DEBORAH bows her head.

DEBORAH:

God, full of mercy, who dwells in

the heights,

Provide a sure rest upon the Divine

Presence's wings,

Within the range of the holy, pure

and glorious,

Whose shining resemble the sky's...

Hearing a voice join in beside her, DEBORAH looks to find

ROBERT JAN. He takes out a yarmulka from his pocket. They

exchange a look, then lower their heads and together start

the prayer again, this time in Hebrew. El Molei Rachamim...

Some way off, RAMPTON appears, looking towards them, silent,

thoughtful.

70 EXT. MARKET SQUARE. KRAKOW. NIGHT 70

The old town centre. The grim little GROUP, carrying their

bags, move across to their hotel. From the church towers, a

trumpeter sounds the hour from the belfry.

71 INT. HOTEL BAR. KRAKOW. NIGHT 71

DEBORAH in the corner at a basic wooden table. HEATHER and

ROBERT JAN at another banquette. RAMPTON appears above her

with a chilled bottle of vodka and two shot glasses.

RAMPTON:

I brought you a drink. I thought

you might need one.

DEBORAH:

Thank you. I do.

He sits down and pours, saying nothing.

DEBORAH (CONT’D)

Did you get what you wanted from

the visit?

RAMPTON looks up, stopped by her hostility.

RAMPTON:

Deborah, you mustn’t characterise

me without feelings. I have

feelings.

DEBORAH:

What did you feel today?

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