Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven Page #3

And staying here won't bring Dad back.

I daren't risk a miscarriage,

the doctor said.

It's all too much for me anyway.

- Don't you understand?

- Yes, I understand you.

But, Ernst, you can't leave your mother

alone with all this.

We have to think of the baby, Mom.

You must understand.

Have you lost all sense of decency?

Mom...

we'll be back.

There's no alternative.

Helene's nerves are worn to a frazzle.

It's all right, my boy.

I'll be okay.

Go and help Helene pack.

Please!

- What's up here?

- Mom's sore because we're leaving.

- No one can understand that.

- It's easy for you to talk.

You don't care about us.

You come only on special occasions.

I was earning money.

I was singing.

Singing? You call that singing?

- I earn my money, too.

- Shut up, damn it!

It's true! All this commotion here!

My life's ruined.

My picture's in all the papers!

But you don't care!

About what?

About this business with Father.

I don't care? Why am I here, then?

God only knows.

I wonder what goes on

in that brain of yours.

Look who's talking!

How did it actually happen,

this business with Dad?

No idea!

Max Lders said there was talk of layoffs

and so on.

And that Dad wanted to inquire.

That's all anyone knows.

It probably led to an argument,

and then it happened.

Strange.

Dad was such a quiet type.

Oh, that'll be for me.

Bye!

Helene!

Yes?

Maybe we should stay.

Because of Mom and so on.

No, Ernst, we're going.

Or I'll go alone. But then...

I just meant, because of Mother.

She's not the youngest anymore.

Whose side are you on?

Mine or theirs?

Make up your mind!

O Lord, who in Thy mercy

forgiveth all sinners...

forgive Thy servant Hermann.

Deliver him from the sufferings

of purgatory.

Lead him, like all Thy children,

to the light of salvation...

forever and ever. Amen.

Miss Coren, what are your plans

for the future?

I have no firm plans.

Will you continue to sing?

Of course.

I'm at the start of my career.

I see no reason to break it off.

Will your father's actions

help or hinder your career?

I'd prefer not to answer that.

But this business has made

you known to a wider audience.

I will pursue my career as an artist.

Will you be performing here in Frankfurt?

I've had various offers,

which I'm looking into.

I may well perform here.

Hello, Mrs. Ksters!

Your daughter has left already.

Can we help you in any way?

Can we take you back to town?

Why don't you come

and have coffee with us?

You could probably use it.

It'll do you good.

Come along!

I hope...

you've found some peace of mind.

It was really a bit much for you.

All that agitation and so on.

It has been awful these past few days.

For years, nothing happens...

and then, overnight...

everything comes crashing down on you.

Yes, my dear Mrs. Ksters...

it can't be easy for you, but...

How should I put it?

There's a lesson in it for all of us to learn.

Lesson? What is there

left for you to learn?

You know everything, have everything...

Having something doesn't mean

you know everything.

We know so little.

And what we have...

Marianne inherited.

The house and...

Oh, I see.

What we can learn from this affair...

is that it's not so simple...

the business with your husband...

and his being "out of his mind,"

as they say in the papers.

That's not the real reason.

One must look for other explanations.

What your husband did is, in a sense...

revolutionary.

Revolutionary?

No...

not my Hermann.

He was always a quiet man.

There was never any of that.

Of course.

I said "in a sense."

One must realize that murder

doesn't solve any problems.

Your husband tried to solve his problem...

but by the wrong means.

He could have done it better...

by seeking a solution on another plane.

But...

his problem...

is the problem of all workers.

Only when they are strong

and united can changes occur...

that will be of benefit

to the whole of society.

An isolated deed...

especially a killing, doesn't help.

The working classes must unite...

and use the best means available...

to achieve socialism.

Hermann never said he was oppressed...

or exploited.

He always said

that's the way it is in the world.

There have to be masters...

and servants.

Yes, because he wasn't aware that

these conditions can be changed...

if everyone joins forces

and fights together.

Then he'd have known there don't

have to be servants and masters...

but that we must seek

to give everyone an equal share...

of what we all produce together.

You see...

throughout the country...

in all the factories...

there are people working,

making things that are sold for money.

But who pockets the money?

The workers are fobbed off

with a tiny share of the profits.

The lion's share goes

to the business owners...

to the capitalists.

And that is unjust.

It has to be changed.

Surely you agree?

But not everyone can have the same.

The people at the top

have more responsibility.

That's where you're wrong.

You see...

when there's a crisis, as we have now...

the capitalists push the burden

onto the workers.

Look at the situation now.

We've seen it time and again.

Whenever there's a crisis

in the capitalist system...

it's not the owner who's fired,

or the manager.

No! They start at the bottom.

The workers are the first to go.

They're put on short time.

Fringe benefits are cut. Taxes are raised.

That's what we're experiencing now.

And your husband refused to accept it.

In the wrong way, admittedly,

as my husband said...

but...

driven by a feeling

that something had to be done.

And he could have been helped...

if he had had the right people on his side.

Your husband must have been sensitive...

to the mood of crisis among the workers.

One thing I do know.

He didn't kill that man

just to liberate himself.

He wanted to help the others, too.

Oh, thank you, thank you.

You put that so nicely.

That's certainly how it was.

Hermann always stuck his neck

out for others.

He defended everyone and said

you have to see the good in people.

That's the kind of thing my Hermann said.

Not so long ago, he said,

"Now they'll be laying some of us off.

"The foreign workers

will be the first to go...

"and it hits them hardest."

He always thought of other people...

and of himself last.

Your husband had the right idea,

but went about it in the wrong way.

If he'd been one of us...

he'd have had people...

who could have explained things to him.

One of you?

I don't understand.

Yes, Mrs. Ksters. We are Communists.

We are members

of the German Communist Party.

But my Hermann was never a Communist.

He was always against them.

He said they're troublemakers

who ruin everything...

who are out to destroy

everything we've built up.

Yes...

that's what people are told about us.

We are depicted...

as villains and enemies of the state.

And why?

Because we say...

what everyone's thinking anyway.

Because we uncover the abuses

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