The Reader Page #5

I wasn't sure what you had learned.

Well, I have learned, kid.

I've learned to read.

I'll pick you up next week, OK?

That sounds a good plan.

We can do it quietly

or we can make a fuss.

Quietly.

OK, quietly.

Quietly.

Take care, kid.

You too.

See you next week.

I've come to collect Hanna Schmitz.

Please take a seat.

She didn't pack.

She never intended to leave.

"The talk was that a new face"

"had appeared on the promenade".

"A lady with a little dog".

She left me a message.

A sort of will.

I'll read the bit

that concerns you.

"There is money

in the old tea tin".

"Give it to Michael Berg".

"He should send it, alongside

the 7,000 marks in the bank"

"to the daughter

who survived the fire".

"It's for her".

"She should decide

what to do with it".

"And tell Michael I said hello".

This way.

- Ms. Mather?

- Yes.

- You're Michael Berg?

- Yes.

I was expecting you.

- Please.

- Thank you.

So, you must tell me exactly what

brings you to the United States.

I was here already,

I was at a conference in Boston.

- You are a lawyer?

- Yes.

I was intrigued by your letter

but I can't say

I wholly

understood it.

- You attended the trial?

- Yes.

Almost 20 years ago.

I was a law student.

I remember you, I remember

your mother very clearly.

My mother died in Israel

a good many years ago.

I'm sorry.

Go on, please.

Perhaps you heard

Hanna Schmitz recently died.

She killed herself.

She was a friend of yours?

A kind of friend.

It's as simple as this.

Hanna was illiterate

for the greater part of her life.

Is that an explanation

of her behavior?

No.

- Or an excuse?

- No.

No.

She taught herself to read

when she was in prison.

I sent her tapes.

She had always liked

being read to.

Why don't you start

by being honest with me?

At least start that way.

What was the nature

of your friendship?

When I was young

I had an affair with Hanna.

I'm not sure

I can help you, Mr. Berg.

Even if I could, I'm not willing to.

I was almost 16

when I took up with her.

The affair only lasted a summer.

But...

But, what?

I see.

And did Hanna Schmitz

acknowledge the effect

she'd had on your life?

She had done much worse

to other people.

I've never told anyone.

People ask all the time

what I learned in the camps.

But the camps weren't therapy.

What do you think these places were,

universities?

We didn't go there to learn.

One becomes very clear

about these things.

What are you asking for?

Forgiveness for her? Or do you

just want to feel better yourself?

My advice:
Go to the theater

if you want catharsis.

Please, go to literature.

Don't go to the camps.

Nothing comes out of the camps.

Nothing.

What she wanted...

What she wanted was to leave you

her money.

I have it with me.

To do what?

I don't know...

As you think fit.

Here.

When I was a little girl,

I had a tea tin for my treasures.

Not quite like this, it had

Cyrillic lettering.

I took it with me to the camp,

but it got stolen.

- What was in it?

- Sentimental things.

A piece of hair from our dogs,

tickets to the operas

my father had taken me to.

It wasn't stolen for its contents.

It...

It was the tin itself

that was valuable.

What you could do with it.

There's nothing I can do

with this money.

If I give it to anything associated

with the extermination of the Jews,

then to me it seems

like absolution

and that's something

I'm neither

willing nor in a position to grant.

I was thinking maybe an organization

to encourage literacy.

Good.

Good.

Do you know if there is

a Jewish organization?

I'd be surprised if there isn't.

There is a Jewish organization

for everything.

Not that illiteracy

is a very Jewish problem.

Why don't you find out?

Send them the money.

Shall I do it in Hanna's name?

As you think fit.

I'll keep the tin.

Thank you.

Where are we going?

I thought you liked surprises.

I do.

I do like surprises.

Hanna Schmitz.

Who was she?

That's what I wanted to tell you.

That's why we're here.

So tell me.

I was 15.

I was coming home from school.

I was feeling ill.

And a woman helped me.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes