WEBVTT
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April 27th, 1943 marked episode 30 of NBC's Lights Out revival,
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with Arch Obler serving as writer and producer. In Execution,
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Obler brings us to a French village under German occupation,
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where a woman has fired upon a German patrolman. Captain
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Hans Mollick responds by seizing 50 women from the village
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and threatening their execution unless the shooter is surrendered. Mercedes McCambridge,
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Edgar Barrier, Hans Conrad, and Lou Merrill are featured in
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the cast. The play had first been heard the previous
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year on NBC's Plays for Americans as a wartime message
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for the Treasury Department. Ladies and gentlemen, Lights Out, Execution.
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Here is the original broadcast.
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Ironized Yeast presents Lights Out. Everybody.
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Everybody.
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It is later than you think.
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This is Arch Obler.
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Tonight, the makers of Ironized Yeast bring you a story
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not of imaginary terrors. No, ladies and gentlemen... Tonight's play
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will thrill and chill you beyond any part of the supernatural,
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because this story is based on cruel, grim reality. So
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tonight we urge you not to avoid this excitement and tension. Rather,
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we urge you to turn your radios up and listen
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as you've never did before.
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Herr Himmler!
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Hi, Hitler.
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I have the report. Now, look here, Hitler. It's no
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use getting so red in the face. That won't help anything.
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What happened, happened. And as long as we know why
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it happened, I'll see to it it won't happen again.
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So nothing is lost and something is gained.
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Now, here.
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I have the report here. It arrived by courier only
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five minutes ago. I rushed it right up. Didn't even
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stop to read it myself.
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So, I will read. Official report on the Renoir incident
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is made.
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By Captain Hans Mauchlich to Major Heinrich von Traberitz, Commanding Officer,
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3rd Division Army of Occupation at Headquarters Paris, Heil Hitler. I,
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Hans Mauchlich, Captain, member of Elite Guard assigned to 3rd
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Division Army Occupation, being in my right mind and in
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full realization of the consequences to me, make the following statement.
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On the day of April 7th, at 2 o'clock in
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the morning, Sergeant Carl Fishel, while on patrol duty in
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the town of Renoir, was shot at by an unidentified
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woman and slightly wounded in the left thigh.
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In accordance with orders radioed.
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From Paris headquarters, I had once placed the entire population
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of Renoir under arrest, and in accordance with further orders received,
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collected 50 female hostages to be hanged in the village
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square unless the criminal who had shot Sergeant Fishel was
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turned over to me at once. These French women were
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placed in the basement of the town hall, and precisely
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at sundown, having assembled the populace in the public square,
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I mounted the scaffold platform which had been erected there
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and spoke to this village of criminals.
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Attention! Attention!
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I warn you, no disturbances or I will give the
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order to fire. Now for the last time, who among
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you is guilty of this crime?
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Speak!
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Thorn!
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Very well.
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The next time, every.
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Man and woman in this town will be deported for
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hard labor in the Reich. This time, we will proceed
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with the executions.
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Silence!
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Sergeant, the first prisoner.
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At this point in my report, may I explain that
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the 50 women to be executed had been picked at
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random by squads sent through the town a few hours before.
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I personally knew none of them, but I personally counted
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them as they entered the place of imprisonment, and I
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personally posted the guard. That I know.
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The first prisoner, bind her hands up to the platform.
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Loose around her neck. Now, tighten the rope. Place her
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on the trapdoor. So, the prisoner will lift her head.
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Lift your head. Look at me.
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At this point in the report, may I describe the prisoner? Sex, female. Age, indeterminate. Clothes, indeterminate.
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She lifted her face as ordered. Then a strange thing happened.
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She smiled. Yes, smiled.
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You smile.
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Why do you smile? Very well, the trapdoor. Hang her.
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Herr Captain.
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Well?
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Her neck is broken.
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Do not cut her down yet. People of the town
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of Renoir, the first of your women hangs here. The
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first evidence that to harm a soldier of the Holy
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Reich means death.
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Certain death. Remove the body. Bring out the next prisoner.
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At this point in my report, may I explain my plan?
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To hang was not enough.
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No.
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These Frenchmen and their women and their children must learn
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their lesson in a way they would never forget. One
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by one, the women would be brought out. One by one,
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they would stand on the platform. One by one, the
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rope around the neck, the trap door, the body twisting
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and turning in death. Coming through that door, climbing then
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to the scaffold, and dying. Fifty of them. It would
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take hours. And these Frenchmen and these Frenchwomen and their
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children would never forget this lesson. Bring her here over
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the trapdoor. Rope around her neck. No, no, do not
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bind this one. It is better that they out there
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see her dance at the end of the rope. The
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other dive too quickly.
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Ready?
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Yes, Captain. The prisoner will lift her face. Lift your face.
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Your face. Your face.
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You are related to the one who just died. Answer me.
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Very well.
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People of Renoir, you see before you the second of
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you who is to die for the crime against the Reich.
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This one, I can see, is related to the first.
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A sister, perhaps. It will not save her. The crime
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must be avenged. You laugh. Hang her. Herr Captain. Her
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neck is broken. Broken? So small a woman? Why should... Sergeant,
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they dropped too far. Shorten the rope. Let them struggle
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before they die. The next prisoner....
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At this point in my report, may I state that
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all day it had been threatening rain. In spite of
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that fact, I had not felt it good psychology to
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postpone the executions. At this point, the time was 4.30,
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and the sky was getting quite dark, but I was
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determined to complete the executions. By the time the next
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woman stood on the scaffold, it was very dark.
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People of Renoir, the third criminal to die for the
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crime against the Reich. The crime must be avenged. You lot, too? Fine.
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You're going to die? Why do you lot?
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You will know.
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Hang her!
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At this point in my report, I will state that
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this woman did not die easily. I could tell that
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from the faces of the people and the animal cries
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that came to their lips as they watched this woman
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of theirs flinging about at the end of the rope.
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I was quite pleased.
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Silence!
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Silence!
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Well, people of Renoir, she thought she would not die.
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You see, she is dead. There is no escape from
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the vengeance of the Reich.
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Bring up the next one. Stop the throng!
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Yes, people of Renoir. There is no escape from the
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power of the Third Reich. Today over all Europe, tomorrow
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over all the world. What power is there to stop us?
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All right, bring the prisoner up here, quickly. At this
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point in my report, may I say it was darker
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than before. Clouds. There was a feeling of an electrical
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storm in the air.
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Hurry her up there, hurry her up. Sergeant, turn on
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the floodlights. Let no one move. Shoot down anyone who
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tries to leave the square. Do not think the storm
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will make any difference.
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Here you are and here all of you will stay
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until the last one.
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Of your criminals is hanged. All right, all right, soldier,
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do not stand there. The noose, put it around her neck.
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No!
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Soldier, are you out of your mind? Why do you
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stand there? What is it?
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Look at her.
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Look at her.
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At this point in my report, I wish to state
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that I am not sure if I am in my
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right mind completely now. But at the time I am
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speaking of, I knew exactly what I was hearing and seeing.
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Captain, look at her.
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I tell you, look at her.
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You. I.
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Sergeant. Sergeant.
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Yes, Captain.
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The bodies, are they down there? Yes, Captain. How many?
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Answer me, how many?
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Three.
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Three?
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Three.
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Four. You, woman, you think that you'll make jokes with me. You,
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you are of the same family. Yes, that is it.
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You are of the same....
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At this point in my report, I will state only
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that I immediately ordered the next prisoner up to the scaffold.
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Captain, this one, the same? You crazy fool, how can
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that be? Here, the searchlight, here.
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No, you, you are not. How can that be? Sergeant,
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how many now? The truth, tell me the truth.
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Four, four, Captain. The truth, I order you. Four bodies,
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I swear it, Captain. And their faces, look at their faces.
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Bats on me, they're faceless. All's the same, Captain.
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The same.
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Ladies and gentlemen, let's take a moment now to look
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around to reassure ourselves that we are where we are
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in the free America of today where thousands of people
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are able to say.
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Man, oh man, am I going good. Making more money
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than I ever did. Sure, taxes are tough, and I'm
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putting my 10% in war bonds. But even so, I've
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got plenty left to spend for fun.
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To spend for fun? You think our fighting men in
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Africa are having fun? Was it fun for our boys
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at Guadalcanal fighting off the Japs from foxholes? Being shot
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down in flames over Berlin, is that fun?
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I know, but like I said, I'm putting my 10%
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in war bonds.
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This is no 10% war, my friend. Our servicemen are
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fighting at 100%. And that's exactly why the news from
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Africa is good. why we won at Guadalcanal, why we're
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moving toward the offensive on other fronts. Do you want
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more American victories? Do you want our men to march
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into Berlin at the earliest possible moment?
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Why, yes, of course.
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Then back them up as they are fighting for us, 100%.
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Put that money you've got for fun into more war bonds.
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War is expensive, and if we hold back here on
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the home front, we'll needlessly prolong the war, thus throwing
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away thousands of American lives. Are dollars for fun more
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precious than the lives of American fighting men? Of your
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fighting man? You know they're not. And remember, friends, the
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quicker the victory, the fewer lives lost. And if we
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want victory sooner, every American of us must do more.
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So go to your nearest bank or post office, wherever
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war bonds are sold in your town, and put every
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cent you don't really need into bonds. Do it for
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your own sake.
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And.
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For the sake of our fighting men.
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They give their lives.
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We must lend our money.
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At this point in my report, I say only that
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it began to rain. A terrible rain. And we stood
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there in the rain. The people all round the scaffold.
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My soldiers. And on the platform, the hangman and I.
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And the woman. All the same.
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You hang for vengeance, don't you, Nazi? One German soldier
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shot at by a French woman who had the blessed
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right to kill him.
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Ha, ha, ha.
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And you think you will have the vengeance with 50? Laugh.
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It's always the same.
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Shall I tell you about vengeance, Captain? You Germans think
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you know all about it. But let me tell you
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of the real vengeance.
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At this point in my report, I will tell you
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of my thoughts. These women, the same, was not possible.
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I left the scaffold and went below to where the
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bodies lay. With my flashlight, I looked. Broken necks. Faces
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quite the same. Shut off the light. I climbed back
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to the scaffold. I was not disturbed. Because now I understood.
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The families of these French were large.
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And all these were sisters.
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Five sisters. Yes, trying to frighten me. Well, that was
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ended with their broken necks. I ordered out the next
253
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woman for her execution. People of Renoir, there will be
254
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no further demonstrations of any sort. You will stand there
255
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in the rain until all your women criminals are dead.
256
00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:55.210
Five sisters have died. And I am certain that is
257
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the end of that family. And who is this frightened
258
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one with her hands in front of her face? All right,
259
00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:02.370
keep them there.
260
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Corporal, get the new noose around her neck. Hang her quickly. What?
261
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Her face.
262
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Another one.
263
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You've rent such families. Worthy of we Germans. But we
264
00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:19.230
have men, and you give birth to useless women. Six women,
265
00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:20.929
and all of them born to be hanged.
266
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Shall I tell you about vengeance, Nazi? What? You Germans
267
00:15:26.730 --> 00:15:29.450
think you know all about it. But let me tell
268
00:15:29.490 --> 00:15:30.809
you of the real vengeance.
269
00:15:30.909 --> 00:15:33.600
Captain, the other one said those words. Shut your mouth.
270
00:15:34.750 --> 00:15:39.440
You, woman, how do you know the words your sister said?
271
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I said them. How could you?
272
00:15:42.809 --> 00:15:47.629
You think you know about vengeance, you Germans. Well, you don't. Vengeance, too,
273
00:15:47.690 --> 00:15:50.809
has to be based on truth. And what is your vengeance?
274
00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:54.610
You began a war once and lost it. To whom
275
00:15:54.669 --> 00:15:57.559
did you lose it? To these little people? To that
276
00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:00.539
little rabbi whose back you broke in a concentration camp?
277
00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.299
To that little child who suffocated under her mother's body
278
00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:04.879
in Poland?
279
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:14.049
And how... At this point in my report, I state
280
00:16:14.190 --> 00:16:16.909
only that I made sure this one hanged until she
281
00:16:16.950 --> 00:16:20.049
was dead. And then I waited a little while before
282
00:16:20.129 --> 00:16:23.320
I ordered the next one out. The rain was very heavy.
283
00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.340
All the people stood there in the square below the scaffold,
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heads bowed to the rain. And in the light of
285
00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:35.200
the searchlights, they and the soldiers guarding them were like
286
00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:38.490
living dead, standing there unburied.
287
00:16:39.789 --> 00:16:41.789
Captain, this one, she is the same.
288
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What?
289
00:16:42.570 --> 00:16:43.629
Maya, bring her up here.
290
00:16:43.690 --> 00:16:44.029
No.
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You hanged her.
292
00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:46.149
She is not dead.
293
00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:48.909
Not dead? Who is she? Run for your lives.
294
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Run.
295
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Run.
296
00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:52.120
Bring her up here. She is not the same. She
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00:16:52.139 --> 00:16:54.440
can't be the same one. Turn the searchlight on.
298
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The same one?
299
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Run.
300
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Stand where you are.
301
00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.639
Then open fire. Shoot them down. Sergeant Coppola, where are
302
00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:02.220
you running? Stand, soldier.
303
00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:02.700
Do not run.
304
00:17:02.779 --> 00:17:05.200
I order you.
305
00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.430
The lights. Why did you turn off the searchlights? Turn
306
00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:14.390
them on. I order you to turn them on. My soldiers.
307
00:17:15.349 --> 00:17:15.730
The army.
308
00:17:16.809 --> 00:17:21.009
Are you frightened, Captain? Put the rope around my neck.
309
00:17:22.170 --> 00:17:23.549
You are not sane.
310
00:17:25.009 --> 00:17:26.250
I saw you hang.
311
00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:28.329
Put the noose around my neck.
312
00:17:28.950 --> 00:17:31.329
The bodies. I can see them down there.
313
00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:36.779
Hang me. You want your vengeance. Fifty times the rope
314
00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:42.779
must stretch. Fifty bodies piled like cordwood. And you call
315
00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:49.160
that vengeance? Shall I tell you of vengeance, Nazi? The
316
00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:52.319
vengeance of the people of the murdered republics. What was
317
00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:57.319
their crime? They wanted freedom from poverty. And your battleships
318
00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:00.619
stood off their shores and your airplanes filled their skies
319
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:06.730
and gave them blood to drink. Their own. The vengeance
320
00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:10.289
of the people of Poland. What was their crime? They
321
00:18:10.309 --> 00:18:13.170
wanted to live, just to live. So the treads of
322
00:18:13.210 --> 00:18:15.369
your tanks ground them into the dirt and then your
323
00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:19.549
bombs lifted them out of the dirt. The vengeance of
324
00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:21.950
the people of Belgium whose crime was that they were
325
00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:24.599
weary of a battle they did not quite understand because
326
00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:28.039
you had given them confusion. And so you stripped them
327
00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.480
of human dignity and made them slaves to live on
328
00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:35.700
bloody knees before the masters of your Reich. The vengeance
329
00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:39.680
of Holland. Oh, that will be a horrible vengeance, Nazi.
330
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.980
For their crime was the crime of being men, of
331
00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:45.589
standing up and saying, this is our land and this
332
00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:49.750
is our freedom. Dare take them from us. So you
333
00:18:49.829 --> 00:18:52.430
swept over them. And when they could no longer fight,
334
00:18:52.470 --> 00:18:55.450
you took your vengeance by the murder of 40,000 of them.
335
00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:00.539
And the vengeance of Great Britain. Oh, that will be
336
00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:04.039
a terrible vengeance, Nazi. It will be a vengeance that will.
337
00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:10.400
I will hang you. Rope around your neck. Now talk!
338
00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:19.369
At this point in my report, I swear by the
339
00:19:19.410 --> 00:19:22.589
grave of my mother I tell the truth. I hanged
340
00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:25.690
this woman with my own hands. I made sure that
341
00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:28.569
she was dead. And then I reached down and cut
342
00:19:28.630 --> 00:19:31.990
the rope. I heard the body fall below in the dark.
343
00:19:33.190 --> 00:19:35.410
But when I got up off my knees and stood
344
00:19:35.470 --> 00:19:39.279
up on the scaffold again... Another woman was there.
345
00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:44.400
And it was she.
346
00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.750
The vengeance of Norway. Theirs too was the crime of
347
00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:52.089
free men content to live. on their own land and
348
00:19:52.130 --> 00:19:54.769
you put a swastika over their crosses and murdered their
349
00:19:54.829 --> 00:19:59.119
sons and starved their children and the vengeance of the
350
00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:04.119
Balkans so many vengeances Nazi did you ever think of
351
00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:08.319
them You with your little vengeances against the helpless, the women,
352
00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:11.339
the children. Did you ever think of this moving mountain
353
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:17.549
of great vengeance that is sweeping toward you? The vengeance
354
00:20:17.609 --> 00:20:20.710
of the Russians, whose crime was that they wanted their
355
00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:23.670
own freedom, their own way, and who saw the hard
356
00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:28.369
work of 20 years ground under your ponsors and your stukas. Oh, Nazi,
357
00:20:28.410 --> 00:20:30.099
theirs will be a terrible vengeance.
358
00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:31.259
Theirs will be.
359
00:20:38.549 --> 00:20:42.690
And then there was another one. Another, but the same.
360
00:20:45.990 --> 00:20:50.930
And the vengeance of the Americans. Their crime, that they
361
00:20:50.970 --> 00:20:53.589
were strong and they didn't like you and they laughed
362
00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:57.109
at you. And then their laughter turned to anger and
363
00:20:57.150 --> 00:20:59.769
you were afraid of their anger, so you lifted another
364
00:20:59.849 --> 00:21:02.650
one's hand and gave them the treachery of a knife
365
00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:05.700
thrust in the back. And you drowned their men in
366
00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:06.619
the seas and you.
367
00:21:14.609 --> 00:21:17.990
I can report only what I saw. The trapdoor fell.
368
00:21:18.789 --> 00:21:23.170
She too was gone. The rope twisting and turning. And
369
00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:25.650
I was alone on the scaffold.
370
00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:26.190
Alone.
371
00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.880
I was alone. Yes, the rope twisting and turning. And
372
00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:36.400
I was alone. And then, who shall I swear this on?
373
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.819
What do I believe in to swear this on? I
374
00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:44.859
heard footsteps coming up the steps to the scaffold. and
375
00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.119
I ran to the edge, and I looked. The lightning
376
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.059
flashes were quick one after the other, and by them
377
00:21:51.099 --> 00:21:53.740
I saw that I had hanged eight, and there were
378
00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:57.400
forty-two left, and now they were coming up the stairs,
379
00:21:57.619 --> 00:22:02.529
these forty-two, one after the other, one after the other,
380
00:22:02.789 --> 00:22:06.890
in a line that reached back across the square, coming
381
00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:26.009
to me. Who are you? What do you want? I
382
00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:29.589
report this. They came on the platform, one after the other,
383
00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:33.190
one after the other. The scaffold moved under the weight
384
00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:37.190
of them. And then the lightning came again. And I
385
00:22:37.269 --> 00:22:39.380
saw all of them.
386
00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:52.200
She....
387
00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:45.880
Paul and.
388
00:22:46.690 --> 00:22:57.200
Belgium, Holland, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia, Russia, Britain, America. I tell you, Nazi,
389
00:22:57.240 --> 00:22:59.200
no matter what the clever ones try to do at
390
00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.450
the peace tables, the people will not forget their vengeance.
391
00:23:04.210 --> 00:23:06.650
392
00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:09.369
393
00:23:09.430 --> 00:23:12.069
394
00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:16.930
They will not stop
395
00:23:16.950 --> 00:23:20.390
at the borders of your Germany this time. They will
396
00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:24.900
march into it. Into your Germany, the people. And their
397
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.539
vengeance will be on every one of you who traded
398
00:23:27.579 --> 00:23:30.759
the cross for a swastika. And the great God of
399
00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:34.210
humanity for the little man who thought he was God.
400
00:23:34.490 --> 00:23:35.730
Who are you?
401
00:23:35.750 --> 00:23:45.980
I report only this one last thing. As I asked
402
00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:49.599
the words, who are you? Suddenly, it was no longer
403
00:23:49.809 --> 00:23:53.049
all these women speaking with one mouth. But in the
404
00:23:53.109 --> 00:23:57.609
rain and the lightning, I saw them moving together. And
405
00:23:57.769 --> 00:24:01.630
all of them began to become one woman. A terrible
406
00:24:01.750 --> 00:24:04.400
thing that grew and grew into the air.
407
00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:06.799
I lifted my face to see.
408
00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:10.579
The lightning crashed about the top of her. And it
409
00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:14.549
was still that woman, towering higher and higher into the air.
410
00:24:15.589 --> 00:24:19.309
And when she spoke, her voice was the thunder.
411
00:24:21.859 --> 00:24:23.240
Listen to me, Nazi.
412
00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:27.160
When their vengeance comes, you shall not hide behind your
413
00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.539
little man. For his crimes are his crimes and your
414
00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:31.559
crimes are yours.
415
00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:33.440
And each must pay.
416
00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:34.099
For his crimes.
417
00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:36.039
Who are you?
418
00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:37.440
For the good people.
419
00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:39.740
Of this world will not die this time in vain.
420
00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:41.200
This time the.
421
00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:42.640
Vengeance will be their vengeance.
422
00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:44.970
And the everlasting peace their peace.
423
00:24:46.450 --> 00:24:51.769
Who are you?
424
00:24:52.849 --> 00:24:57.559
I report, I ask that. And suddenly, I was lifted
425
00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:01.140
in the air. There was thunder and lightning around me too.
426
00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:08.880
And up where I was, her voice was a whisper.
427
00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:13.529
I am a French woman who stayed away from my
428
00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:18.089
own land too long. So long that some of my
429
00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:23.250
countrymen had forgotten that even the memory of me lives
430
00:25:23.390 --> 00:25:25.299
only where men fight for me.
431
00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:34.559
Who are you?
432
00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:40.900
I close my report. This French woman told me her name,
433
00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:44.180
and she told me a place. Through the thunder crash
434
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:48.140
I heard her, and then the lightning struck, and I
435
00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:51.279
was falling through the air, and when I awoke it
436
00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:55.930
was morning, and she was not there, and the scaffold
437
00:25:55.990 --> 00:25:59.309
was burned to the ground, and there were no bodies,
438
00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:05.849
and the village square was empty. This is the end.
439
00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:06.650
Of my report.
440
00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:11.299
Can you imagine such a report, mein Führer? A woman
441
00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:14.990
who grows into the sky. Of course, the man will
442
00:26:15.009 --> 00:26:15.369
be shot.
443
00:26:16.769 --> 00:26:17.369
Wait a minute.
444
00:26:17.410 --> 00:26:22.490
There seems to be an addition to the report. It says, note,
445
00:26:22.769 --> 00:26:26.920
the French woman said she could be found at latitude
446
00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:32.970
41 degrees north and at longitude 74 degrees west. Investigation
447
00:26:33.109 --> 00:26:36.769
indicates this is a place in the Western Hemisphere known
448
00:26:36.930 --> 00:26:42.049
as Bedloe's Island. Further investigation indicates that there is only
449
00:26:42.210 --> 00:26:45.450
one French woman on this island. She is called.
450
00:26:47.490 --> 00:26:49.049
The Statue of Liberty?
451
00:26:56.660 --> 00:26:57.460
I see what you mean, Mr.
452
00:26:57.539 --> 00:26:57.859
Obler.
453
00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.069
The Nazis can kill people... but they can never kill
454
00:27:01.089 --> 00:27:02.089
the spirit of victory.
455
00:27:02.789 --> 00:27:04.710
Yes, we've seen that proved over and over again in
456
00:27:04.730 --> 00:27:07.440
this war. We know how men, women, and children in
457
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.920
France and Holland and Norway and every other country that's
458
00:27:09.940 --> 00:27:12.539
come under the Nazi heel are fighting back in every
459
00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:15.640
way possible. But we know equally well that the will
460
00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.369
to win is not enough. You can't fight the Japs
461
00:27:18.490 --> 00:27:21.710
or the Nazis with courage alone. The only way to
462
00:27:21.769 --> 00:27:24.789
fight these murderers effectively is in the language of bombs
463
00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:27.589
and bullets. Are we in the home front who sleep
464
00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:29.910
in our comfortable beds and eat good meals in spite
465
00:27:29.930 --> 00:27:32.529
of shortages? We're being asked only to send our money
466
00:27:32.549 --> 00:27:34.410
to back up those who are fighting for our freedom.
467
00:27:35.450 --> 00:27:37.710
If a Nazi isn't outside your door waiting to take
468
00:27:37.730 --> 00:27:40.670
you off to a concentration camp because you prayed to
469
00:27:40.690 --> 00:27:43.359
your God on Sunday, or if a Jap isn't waiting
470
00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:46.099
with an executioner's sword stained with the blood of an
471
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:49.359
American aviator to cut off your head, it's only because
472
00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:51.460
all over the world men and women of courage are
473
00:27:51.500 --> 00:27:54.369
fighting your battle. So the next time you take out
474
00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:56.650
a dollar and think, Oh, what can I buy now?
475
00:27:56.690 --> 00:27:59.789
Think again. Is there anything I want more than I
476
00:27:59.849 --> 00:28:03.349
want a world of peace and justice and security of
477
00:28:03.390 --> 00:28:06.490
loved ones back home again? And then do what your
478
00:28:06.529 --> 00:28:08.930
heart and mind tell you you must do. Put every
479
00:28:08.990 --> 00:28:11.569
dollar and dime you don't need for actual necessities into
480
00:28:11.609 --> 00:28:14.730
this fight by putting them into war bonds and stamps.
481
00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:18.900
This may be our last chance to buy the right
482
00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:20.019
to live as free men.
483
00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:21.740
Thank you, Mr. Obler.
484
00:28:22.869 --> 00:28:26.170
Friends, the makers of ironized yeast have been very happy
485
00:28:26.190 --> 00:28:30.170
to dedicate tonight's program to our government's second war loan drive.
486
00:28:31.490 --> 00:28:31.910
And now, Mr.
487
00:28:31.950 --> 00:28:34.380
Obler, can you tell us a little about next week's story?
488
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.079
Well, before I do that, I'd like to personally thank
489
00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:41.019
the ironized yeast folks for giving me the opportunity of
490
00:28:41.140 --> 00:28:44.049
presenting this play to you tonight. A word of thanks, too,
491
00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:48.289
to Edgar Barrier and Mercedes McCambridge and to Hans Conrad
492
00:28:48.329 --> 00:28:52.200
and Lou Merrill. As to next week, Well, if you've
493
00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:55.029
ever wished on a star, listen in. For the play
494
00:28:55.049 --> 00:28:58.670
has the provocative title of The Heavenly Jeep. To you
495
00:28:58.710 --> 00:29:02.410
lovers of the off-the-beat, a cordial invitation to be with
496
00:29:02.450 --> 00:29:05.710
us when The Heavenly Jeep takes off. Yes, tune in
497
00:29:05.730 --> 00:29:09.390
next Tuesday again for Arch Obler's eerie story, The Heavenly Jeep.
498
00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:13.230
And if you need more vitamin B1 and iron, be
499
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.940
sure to try ironized yeast. But remember, there's only one
500
00:29:17.259 --> 00:29:20.289
ironized yeast. You'll know it instantly by the yellow and
501
00:29:20.329 --> 00:29:23.230
orange package and by the big letters IY on the
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container and on each tablet.
503
00:29:29.980 --> 00:29:39.119
It is later than you think.
504
00:29:44.250 --> 00:29:47.119
Down south, it's white shoe season. And even up north,
505
00:29:47.150 --> 00:29:50.180
you're beginning to see white shoes around town. And because
506
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:52.960
of shoe rationing, lots of folks are giving their white
507
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:57.250
shoes the best of care with Energine Shoe White. Energene
508
00:29:57.289 --> 00:29:59.769
Shoe White is made with the whitest pigment obtainable. It
509
00:29:59.869 --> 00:30:03.829
spreads over shoes easily and dries evenly with a real white,
510
00:30:04.170 --> 00:30:08.549
never a dingy off-white. So, to keep white shoes looking
511
00:30:08.609 --> 00:30:13.779
better longer, buy Energene Shoe White. This is the Columbia
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00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:14.900
Broadcasting System.
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00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:20.160
Lights Out Execution has concluded. Good night, and thank you
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00:30:20.180 --> 00:30:22.220
for spending this time with Classic Radio.
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April 27th, 1943 marked episode 30 of NBC's Lights Out revival,
2
00:00:06.969 --> 00:00:11.539
with Arch Obler serving as writer and producer. In Execution,
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00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:15.199
Obler brings us to a French village under German occupation,
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where a woman has fired upon a German patrolman. Captain
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Hans Mollick responds by seizing 50 women from the village
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and threatening their execution unless the shooter is surrendered. Mercedes McCambridge,
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Edgar Barrier, Hans Conrad, and Lou Merrill are featured in
8
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the cast. The play had first been heard the previous
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00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:39.469
year on NBC's Plays for Americans as a wartime message
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for the Treasury Department. Ladies and gentlemen, Lights Out, Execution.
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Here is the original broadcast.
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Ironized Yeast presents Lights Out. Everybody.
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Everybody.
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It is later than you think.
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This is Arch Obler.
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Tonight, the makers of Ironized Yeast bring you a story
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not of imaginary terrors. No, ladies and gentlemen... Tonight's play
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will thrill and chill you beyond any part of the supernatural,
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because this story is based on cruel, grim reality. So
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tonight we urge you not to avoid this excitement and tension. Rather,
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we urge you to turn your radios up and listen
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as you've never did before.
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Herr Himmler!
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Hi, Hitler.
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I have the report. Now, look here, Hitler. It's no
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use getting so red in the face. That won't help anything.
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What happened, happened. And as long as we know why
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it happened, I'll see to it it won't happen again.
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So nothing is lost and something is gained.
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Now, here.
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I have the report here. It arrived by courier only
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five minutes ago. I rushed it right up. Didn't even
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stop to read it myself.
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So, I will read. Official report on the Renoir incident
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00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:20.939
is made.
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By Captain Hans Mauchlich to Major Heinrich von Traberitz, Commanding Officer,
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3rd Division Army of Occupation at Headquarters Paris, Heil Hitler. I,
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Hans Mauchlich, Captain, member of Elite Guard assigned to 3rd
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Division Army Occupation, being in my right mind and in
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full realization of the consequences to me, make the following statement.
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00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:42.259
On the day of April 7th, at 2 o'clock in
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the morning, Sergeant Carl Fishel, while on patrol duty in
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the town of Renoir, was shot at by an unidentified
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woman and slightly wounded in the left thigh.
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In accordance with orders radioed.
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From Paris headquarters, I had once placed the entire population
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of Renoir under arrest, and in accordance with further orders received,
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collected 50 female hostages to be hanged in the village
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square unless the criminal who had shot Sergeant Fishel was
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turned over to me at once. These French women were
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placed in the basement of the town hall, and precisely
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at sundown, having assembled the populace in the public square,
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I mounted the scaffold platform which had been erected there
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and spoke to this village of criminals.
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Attention! Attention!
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I warn you, no disturbances or I will give the
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order to fire. Now for the last time, who among
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you is guilty of this crime?
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Speak!
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Thorn!
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Very well.
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The next time, every.
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Man and woman in this town will be deported for
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hard labor in the Reich. This time, we will proceed
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00:03:45.849 --> 00:03:46.810
with the executions.
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Silence!
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00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:51.349
Sergeant, the first prisoner.
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At this point in my report, may I explain that
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00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.069
the 50 women to be executed had been picked at
70
00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:05.169
random by squads sent through the town a few hours before.
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I personally knew none of them, but I personally counted
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them as they entered the place of imprisonment, and I
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personally posted the guard. That I know.
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The first prisoner, bind her hands up to the platform.
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Loose around her neck. Now, tighten the rope. Place her
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on the trapdoor. So, the prisoner will lift her head.
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Lift your head. Look at me.
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At this point in the report, may I describe the prisoner? Sex, female. Age, indeterminate. Clothes, indeterminate.
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She lifted her face as ordered. Then a strange thing happened.
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She smiled. Yes, smiled.
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You smile.
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Why do you smile? Very well, the trapdoor. Hang her.
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Herr Captain.
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Well?
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Her neck is broken.
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Do not cut her down yet. People of the town
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of Renoir, the first of your women hangs here. The
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first evidence that to harm a soldier of the Holy
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Reich means death.
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Certain death. Remove the body. Bring out the next prisoner.
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At this point in my report, may I explain my plan?
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To hang was not enough.
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No.
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These Frenchmen and their women and their children must learn
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their lesson in a way they would never forget. One
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by one, the women would be brought out. One by one,
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they would stand on the platform. One by one, the
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rope around the neck, the trap door, the body twisting
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and turning in death. Coming through that door, climbing then
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to the scaffold, and dying. Fifty of them. It would
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take hours. And these Frenchmen and these Frenchwomen and their
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children would never forget this lesson. Bring her here over
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the trapdoor. Rope around her neck. No, no, do not
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bind this one. It is better that they out there
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see her dance at the end of the rope. The
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other dive too quickly.
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Ready?
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Yes, Captain. The prisoner will lift her face. Lift your face.
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Your face. Your face.
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You are related to the one who just died. Answer me.
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Very well.
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People of Renoir, you see before you the second of
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you who is to die for the crime against the Reich.
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This one, I can see, is related to the first.
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A sister, perhaps. It will not save her. The crime
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must be avenged. You laugh. Hang her. Herr Captain. Her
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neck is broken. Broken? So small a woman? Why should... Sergeant,
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they dropped too far. Shorten the rope. Let them struggle
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before they die. The next prisoner....
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At this point in my report, may I state that
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all day it had been threatening rain. In spite of
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that fact, I had not felt it good psychology to
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postpone the executions. At this point, the time was 4.30,
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and the sky was getting quite dark, but I was
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determined to complete the executions. By the time the next
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woman stood on the scaffold, it was very dark.
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People of Renoir, the third criminal to die for the
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crime against the Reich. The crime must be avenged. You lot, too? Fine.
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You're going to die? Why do you lot?
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You will know.
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Hang her!
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At this point in my report, I will state that
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this woman did not die easily. I could tell that
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from the faces of the people and the animal cries
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that came to their lips as they watched this woman
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of theirs flinging about at the end of the rope.
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I was quite pleased.
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Silence!
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Silence!
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Well, people of Renoir, she thought she would not die.
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You see, she is dead. There is no escape from
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the vengeance of the Reich.
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Bring up the next one. Stop the throng!
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Yes, people of Renoir. There is no escape from the
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power of the Third Reich. Today over all Europe, tomorrow
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over all the world. What power is there to stop us?
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All right, bring the prisoner up here, quickly. At this
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point in my report, may I say it was darker
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than before. Clouds. There was a feeling of an electrical
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storm in the air.
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Hurry her up there, hurry her up. Sergeant, turn on
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00:08:53.149 --> 00:08:56.389
the floodlights. Let no one move. Shoot down anyone who
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tries to leave the square. Do not think the storm
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will make any difference.
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Here you are and here all of you will stay
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until the last one.
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Of your criminals is hanged. All right, all right, soldier,
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do not stand there. The noose, put it around her neck.
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No!
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Soldier, are you out of your mind? Why do you
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stand there? What is it?
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Look at her.
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Look at her.
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At this point in my report, I wish to state
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that I am not sure if I am in my
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right mind completely now. But at the time I am
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speaking of, I knew exactly what I was hearing and seeing.
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Captain, look at her.
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I tell you, look at her.
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You. I.
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Sergeant. Sergeant.
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Yes, Captain.
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The bodies, are they down there? Yes, Captain. How many?
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Answer me, how many?
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Three.
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Three?
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Three.
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Four. You, woman, you think that you'll make jokes with me. You,
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you are of the same family. Yes, that is it.
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You are of the same....
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At this point in my report, I will state only
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that I immediately ordered the next prisoner up to the scaffold.
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Captain, this one, the same? You crazy fool, how can
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that be? Here, the searchlight, here.
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No, you, you are not. How can that be? Sergeant,
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how many now? The truth, tell me the truth.
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Four, four, Captain. The truth, I order you. Four bodies,
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I swear it, Captain. And their faces, look at their faces.
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Bats on me, they're faceless. All's the same, Captain.
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The same.
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Ladies and gentlemen, let's take a moment now to look
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around to reassure ourselves that we are where we are
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in the free America of today where thousands of people
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are able to say.
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Man, oh man, am I going good. Making more money
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than I ever did. Sure, taxes are tough, and I'm
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putting my 10% in war bonds. But even so, I've
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00:11:18.730 --> 00:11:20.129
got plenty left to spend for fun.
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To spend for fun? You think our fighting men in
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00:11:23.309 --> 00:11:26.210
Africa are having fun? Was it fun for our boys
201
00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:29.779
at Guadalcanal fighting off the Japs from foxholes? Being shot
202
00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:31.580
down in flames over Berlin, is that fun?
203
00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.120
I know, but like I said, I'm putting my 10%
204
00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:34.740
in war bonds.
205
00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:38.440
This is no 10% war, my friend. Our servicemen are
206
00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:42.309
fighting at 100%. And that's exactly why the news from
207
00:11:42.370 --> 00:11:45.590
Africa is good. why we won at Guadalcanal, why we're
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00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:48.690
moving toward the offensive on other fronts. Do you want
209
00:11:48.769 --> 00:11:51.710
more American victories? Do you want our men to march
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00:11:51.750 --> 00:11:53.549
into Berlin at the earliest possible moment?
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00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:54.889
Why, yes, of course.
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00:11:54.909 --> 00:11:59.539
Then back them up as they are fighting for us, 100%.
213
00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:03.000
Put that money you've got for fun into more war bonds.
214
00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.399
War is expensive, and if we hold back here on
215
00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:10.840
the home front, we'll needlessly prolong the war, thus throwing
216
00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:15.919
away thousands of American lives. Are dollars for fun more
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00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.200
precious than the lives of American fighting men? Of your
218
00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:24.039
fighting man? You know they're not. And remember, friends, the
219
00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:27.820
quicker the victory, the fewer lives lost. And if we
220
00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:32.019
want victory sooner, every American of us must do more.
221
00:12:33.129 --> 00:12:35.889
So go to your nearest bank or post office, wherever
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00:12:35.929 --> 00:12:38.509
war bonds are sold in your town, and put every
223
00:12:38.590 --> 00:12:42.490
cent you don't really need into bonds. Do it for
224
00:12:42.509 --> 00:12:43.149
your own sake.
225
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And.
226
00:12:44.669 --> 00:12:46.110
For the sake of our fighting men.
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00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:48.629
They give their lives.
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00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:51.570
We must lend our money.
229
00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:08.100
At this point in my report, I say only that
230
00:13:08.139 --> 00:13:12.250
it began to rain. A terrible rain. And we stood
231
00:13:12.259 --> 00:13:15.929
there in the rain. The people all round the scaffold.
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My soldiers. And on the platform, the hangman and I.
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And the woman. All the same.
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00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:37.679
You hang for vengeance, don't you, Nazi? One German soldier
235
00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.120
shot at by a French woman who had the blessed
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right to kill him.
237
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Ha, ha, ha.
238
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And you think you will have the vengeance with 50? Laugh.
239
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It's always the same.
240
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Shall I tell you about vengeance, Captain? You Germans think
241
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you know all about it. But let me tell you
242
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of the real vengeance.
243
00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:08.259
At this point in my report, I will tell you
244
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of my thoughts. These women, the same, was not possible.
245
00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:14.320
I left the scaffold and went below to where the
246
00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:18.879
bodies lay. With my flashlight, I looked. Broken necks. Faces
247
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.840
quite the same. Shut off the light. I climbed back
248
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to the scaffold. I was not disturbed. Because now I understood.
249
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The families of these French were large.
250
00:14:30.789 --> 00:14:32.029
And all these were sisters.
251
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Five sisters. Yes, trying to frighten me. Well, that was
252
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ended with their broken necks. I ordered out the next
253
00:14:41.049 --> 00:14:46.440
woman for her execution. People of Renoir, there will be
254
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no further demonstrations of any sort. You will stand there
255
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in the rain until all your women criminals are dead.
256
00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:55.210
Five sisters have died. And I am certain that is
257
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the end of that family. And who is this frightened
258
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one with her hands in front of her face? All right,
259
00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:02.370
keep them there.
260
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Corporal, get the new noose around her neck. Hang her quickly. What?
261
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Her face.
262
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Another one.
263
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You've rent such families. Worthy of we Germans. But we
264
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have men, and you give birth to useless women. Six women,
265
00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:20.929
and all of them born to be hanged.
266
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Shall I tell you about vengeance, Nazi? What? You Germans
267
00:15:26.730 --> 00:15:29.450
think you know all about it. But let me tell
268
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you of the real vengeance.
269
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Captain, the other one said those words. Shut your mouth.
270
00:15:34.750 --> 00:15:39.440
You, woman, how do you know the words your sister said?
271
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I said them. How could you?
272
00:15:42.809 --> 00:15:47.629
You think you know about vengeance, you Germans. Well, you don't. Vengeance, too,
273
00:15:47.690 --> 00:15:50.809
has to be based on truth. And what is your vengeance?
274
00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:54.610
You began a war once and lost it. To whom
275
00:15:54.669 --> 00:15:57.559
did you lose it? To these little people? To that
276
00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:00.539
little rabbi whose back you broke in a concentration camp?
277
00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.299
To that little child who suffocated under her mother's body
278
00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:04.879
in Poland?
279
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:14.049
And how... At this point in my report, I state
280
00:16:14.190 --> 00:16:16.909
only that I made sure this one hanged until she
281
00:16:16.950 --> 00:16:20.049
was dead. And then I waited a little while before
282
00:16:20.129 --> 00:16:23.320
I ordered the next one out. The rain was very heavy.
283
00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.340
All the people stood there in the square below the scaffold,
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heads bowed to the rain. And in the light of
285
00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:35.200
the searchlights, they and the soldiers guarding them were like
286
00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:38.490
living dead, standing there unburied.
287
00:16:39.789 --> 00:16:41.789
Captain, this one, she is the same.
288
00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:42.009
What?
289
00:16:42.570 --> 00:16:43.629
Maya, bring her up here.
290
00:16:43.690 --> 00:16:44.029
No.
291
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You hanged her.
292
00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:46.149
She is not dead.
293
00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:48.909
Not dead? Who is she? Run for your lives.
294
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Run.
295
00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:49.740
Run.
296
00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:52.120
Bring her up here. She is not the same. She
297
00:16:52.139 --> 00:16:54.440
can't be the same one. Turn the searchlight on.
298
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The same one?
299
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Run.
300
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Stand where you are.
301
00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.639
Then open fire. Shoot them down. Sergeant Coppola, where are
302
00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:02.220
you running? Stand, soldier.
303
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Do not run.
304
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I order you.
305
00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.430
The lights. Why did you turn off the searchlights? Turn
306
00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:14.390
them on. I order you to turn them on. My soldiers.
307
00:17:15.349 --> 00:17:15.730
The army.
308
00:17:16.809 --> 00:17:21.009
Are you frightened, Captain? Put the rope around my neck.
309
00:17:22.170 --> 00:17:23.549
You are not sane.
310
00:17:25.009 --> 00:17:26.250
I saw you hang.
311
00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:28.329
Put the noose around my neck.
312
00:17:28.950 --> 00:17:31.329
The bodies. I can see them down there.
313
00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:36.779
Hang me. You want your vengeance. Fifty times the rope
314
00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:42.779
must stretch. Fifty bodies piled like cordwood. And you call
315
00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:49.160
that vengeance? Shall I tell you of vengeance, Nazi? The
316
00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:52.319
vengeance of the people of the murdered republics. What was
317
00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:57.319
their crime? They wanted freedom from poverty. And your battleships
318
00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:00.619
stood off their shores and your airplanes filled their skies
319
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:06.730
and gave them blood to drink. Their own. The vengeance
320
00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:10.289
of the people of Poland. What was their crime? They
321
00:18:10.309 --> 00:18:13.170
wanted to live, just to live. So the treads of
322
00:18:13.210 --> 00:18:15.369
your tanks ground them into the dirt and then your
323
00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:19.549
bombs lifted them out of the dirt. The vengeance of
324
00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:21.950
the people of Belgium whose crime was that they were
325
00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:24.599
weary of a battle they did not quite understand because
326
00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:28.039
you had given them confusion. And so you stripped them
327
00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.480
of human dignity and made them slaves to live on
328
00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:35.700
bloody knees before the masters of your Reich. The vengeance
329
00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:39.680
of Holland. Oh, that will be a horrible vengeance, Nazi.
330
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.980
For their crime was the crime of being men, of
331
00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:45.589
standing up and saying, this is our land and this
332
00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:49.750
is our freedom. Dare take them from us. So you
333
00:18:49.829 --> 00:18:52.430
swept over them. And when they could no longer fight,
334
00:18:52.470 --> 00:18:55.450
you took your vengeance by the murder of 40,000 of them.
335
00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:00.539
And the vengeance of Great Britain. Oh, that will be
336
00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:04.039
a terrible vengeance, Nazi. It will be a vengeance that will.
337
00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:10.400
I will hang you. Rope around your neck. Now talk!
338
00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:19.369
At this point in my report, I swear by the
339
00:19:19.410 --> 00:19:22.589
grave of my mother I tell the truth. I hanged
340
00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:25.690
this woman with my own hands. I made sure that
341
00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:28.569
she was dead. And then I reached down and cut
342
00:19:28.630 --> 00:19:31.990
the rope. I heard the body fall below in the dark.
343
00:19:33.190 --> 00:19:35.410
But when I got up off my knees and stood
344
00:19:35.470 --> 00:19:39.279
up on the scaffold again... Another woman was there.
345
00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:44.400
And it was she.
346
00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.750
The vengeance of Norway. Theirs too was the crime of
347
00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:52.089
free men content to live. on their own land and
348
00:19:52.130 --> 00:19:54.769
you put a swastika over their crosses and murdered their
349
00:19:54.829 --> 00:19:59.119
sons and starved their children and the vengeance of the
350
00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:04.119
Balkans so many vengeances Nazi did you ever think of
351
00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:08.319
them You with your little vengeances against the helpless, the women,
352
00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:11.339
the children. Did you ever think of this moving mountain
353
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:17.549
of great vengeance that is sweeping toward you? The vengeance
354
00:20:17.609 --> 00:20:20.710
of the Russians, whose crime was that they wanted their
355
00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:23.670
own freedom, their own way, and who saw the hard
356
00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:28.369
work of 20 years ground under your ponsors and your stukas. Oh, Nazi,
357
00:20:28.410 --> 00:20:30.099
theirs will be a terrible vengeance.
358
00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:31.259
Theirs will be.
359
00:20:38.549 --> 00:20:42.690
And then there was another one. Another, but the same.
360
00:20:45.990 --> 00:20:50.930
And the vengeance of the Americans. Their crime, that they
361
00:20:50.970 --> 00:20:53.589
were strong and they didn't like you and they laughed
362
00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:57.109
at you. And then their laughter turned to anger and
363
00:20:57.150 --> 00:20:59.769
you were afraid of their anger, so you lifted another
364
00:20:59.849 --> 00:21:02.650
one's hand and gave them the treachery of a knife
365
00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:05.700
thrust in the back. And you drowned their men in
366
00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:06.619
the seas and you.
367
00:21:14.609 --> 00:21:17.990
I can report only what I saw. The trapdoor fell.
368
00:21:18.789 --> 00:21:23.170
She too was gone. The rope twisting and turning. And
369
00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:25.650
I was alone on the scaffold.
370
00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:26.190
Alone.
371
00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.880
I was alone. Yes, the rope twisting and turning. And
372
00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:36.400
I was alone. And then, who shall I swear this on?
373
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.819
What do I believe in to swear this on? I
374
00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:44.859
heard footsteps coming up the steps to the scaffold. and
375
00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.119
I ran to the edge, and I looked. The lightning
376
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.059
flashes were quick one after the other, and by them
377
00:21:51.099 --> 00:21:53.740
I saw that I had hanged eight, and there were
378
00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:57.400
forty-two left, and now they were coming up the stairs,
379
00:21:57.619 --> 00:22:02.529
these forty-two, one after the other, one after the other,
380
00:22:02.789 --> 00:22:06.890
in a line that reached back across the square, coming
381
00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:26.009
to me. Who are you? What do you want? I
382
00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:29.589
report this. They came on the platform, one after the other,
383
00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:33.190
one after the other. The scaffold moved under the weight
384
00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:37.190
of them. And then the lightning came again. And I
385
00:22:37.269 --> 00:22:39.380
saw all of them.
386
00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:52.200
She....
387
00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:45.880
Paul and.
388
00:22:46.690 --> 00:22:57.200
Belgium, Holland, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia, Russia, Britain, America. I tell you, Nazi,
389
00:22:57.240 --> 00:22:59.200
no matter what the clever ones try to do at
390
00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.450
the peace tables, the people will not forget their vengeance.
391
00:23:04.210 --> 00:23:06.650
392
00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:09.369
393
00:23:09.430 --> 00:23:12.069
394
00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:16.930
They will not stop
395
00:23:16.950 --> 00:23:20.390
at the borders of your Germany this time. They will
396
00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:24.900
march into it. Into your Germany, the people. And their
397
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.539
vengeance will be on every one of you who traded
398
00:23:27.579 --> 00:23:30.759
the cross for a swastika. And the great God of
399
00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:34.210
humanity for the little man who thought he was God.
400
00:23:34.490 --> 00:23:35.730
Who are you?
401
00:23:35.750 --> 00:23:45.980
I report only this one last thing. As I asked
402
00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:49.599
the words, who are you? Suddenly, it was no longer
403
00:23:49.809 --> 00:23:53.049
all these women speaking with one mouth. But in the
404
00:23:53.109 --> 00:23:57.609
rain and the lightning, I saw them moving together. And
405
00:23:57.769 --> 00:24:01.630
all of them began to become one woman. A terrible
406
00:24:01.750 --> 00:24:04.400
thing that grew and grew into the air.
407
00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:06.799
I lifted my face to see.
408
00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:10.579
The lightning crashed about the top of her. And it
409
00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:14.549
was still that woman, towering higher and higher into the air.
410
00:24:15.589 --> 00:24:19.309
And when she spoke, her voice was the thunder.
411
00:24:21.859 --> 00:24:23.240
Listen to me, Nazi.
412
00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:27.160
When their vengeance comes, you shall not hide behind your
413
00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.539
little man. For his crimes are his crimes and your
414
00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:31.559
crimes are yours.
415
00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:33.440
And each must pay.
416
00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:34.099
For his crimes.
417
00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:36.039
Who are you?
418
00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:37.440
For the good people.
419
00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:39.740
Of this world will not die this time in vain.
420
00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:41.200
This time the.
421
00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:42.640
Vengeance will be their vengeance.
422
00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:44.970
And the everlasting peace their peace.
423
00:24:46.450 --> 00:24:51.769
Who are you?
424
00:24:52.849 --> 00:24:57.559
I report, I ask that. And suddenly, I was lifted
425
00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:01.140
in the air. There was thunder and lightning around me too.
426
00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:08.880
And up where I was, her voice was a whisper.
427
00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:13.529
I am a French woman who stayed away from my
428
00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:18.089
own land too long. So long that some of my
429
00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:23.250
countrymen had forgotten that even the memory of me lives
430
00:25:23.390 --> 00:25:25.299
only where men fight for me.
431
00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:34.559
Who are you?
432
00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:40.900
I close my report. This French woman told me her name,
433
00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:44.180
and she told me a place. Through the thunder crash
434
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:48.140
I heard her, and then the lightning struck, and I
435
00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:51.279
was falling through the air, and when I awoke it
436
00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:55.930
was morning, and she was not there, and the scaffold
437
00:25:55.990 --> 00:25:59.309
was burned to the ground, and there were no bodies,
438
00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:05.849
and the village square was empty. This is the end.
439
00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:06.650
Of my report.
440
00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:11.299
Can you imagine such a report, mein Führer? A woman
441
00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:14.990
who grows into the sky. Of course, the man will
442
00:26:15.009 --> 00:26:15.369
be shot.
443
00:26:16.769 --> 00:26:17.369
Wait a minute.
444
00:26:17.410 --> 00:26:22.490
There seems to be an addition to the report. It says, note,
445
00:26:22.769 --> 00:26:26.920
the French woman said she could be found at latitude
446
00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:32.970
41 degrees north and at longitude 74 degrees west. Investigation
447
00:26:33.109 --> 00:26:36.769
indicates this is a place in the Western Hemisphere known
448
00:26:36.930 --> 00:26:42.049
as Bedloe's Island. Further investigation indicates that there is only
449
00:26:42.210 --> 00:26:45.450
one French woman on this island. She is called.
450
00:26:47.490 --> 00:26:49.049
The Statue of Liberty?
451
00:26:56.660 --> 00:26:57.460
I see what you mean, Mr.
452
00:26:57.539 --> 00:26:57.859
Obler.
453
00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.069
The Nazis can kill people... but they can never kill
454
00:27:01.089 --> 00:27:02.089
the spirit of victory.
455
00:27:02.789 --> 00:27:04.710
Yes, we've seen that proved over and over again in
456
00:27:04.730 --> 00:27:07.440
this war. We know how men, women, and children in
457
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.920
France and Holland and Norway and every other country that's
458
00:27:09.940 --> 00:27:12.539
come under the Nazi heel are fighting back in every
459
00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:15.640
way possible. But we know equally well that the will
460
00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.369
to win is not enough. You can't fight the Japs
461
00:27:18.490 --> 00:27:21.710
or the Nazis with courage alone. The only way to
462
00:27:21.769 --> 00:27:24.789
fight these murderers effectively is in the language of bombs
463
00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:27.589
and bullets. Are we in the home front who sleep
464
00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:29.910
in our comfortable beds and eat good meals in spite
465
00:27:29.930 --> 00:27:32.529
of shortages? We're being asked only to send our money
466
00:27:32.549 --> 00:27:34.410
to back up those who are fighting for our freedom.
467
00:27:35.450 --> 00:27:37.710
If a Nazi isn't outside your door waiting to take
468
00:27:37.730 --> 00:27:40.670
you off to a concentration camp because you prayed to
469
00:27:40.690 --> 00:27:43.359
your God on Sunday, or if a Jap isn't waiting
470
00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:46.099
with an executioner's sword stained with the blood of an
471
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:49.359
American aviator to cut off your head, it's only because
472
00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:51.460
all over the world men and women of courage are
473
00:27:51.500 --> 00:27:54.369
fighting your battle. So the next time you take out
474
00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:56.650
a dollar and think, Oh, what can I buy now?
475
00:27:56.690 --> 00:27:59.789
Think again. Is there anything I want more than I
476
00:27:59.849 --> 00:28:03.349
want a world of peace and justice and security of
477
00:28:03.390 --> 00:28:06.490
loved ones back home again? And then do what your
478
00:28:06.529 --> 00:28:08.930
heart and mind tell you you must do. Put every
479
00:28:08.990 --> 00:28:11.569
dollar and dime you don't need for actual necessities into
480
00:28:11.609 --> 00:28:14.730
this fight by putting them into war bonds and stamps.
481
00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:18.900
This may be our last chance to buy the right
482
00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:20.019
to live as free men.
483
00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:21.740
Thank you, Mr. Obler.
484
00:28:22.869 --> 00:28:26.170
Friends, the makers of ironized yeast have been very happy
485
00:28:26.190 --> 00:28:30.170
to dedicate tonight's program to our government's second war loan drive.
486
00:28:31.490 --> 00:28:31.910
And now, Mr.
487
00:28:31.950 --> 00:28:34.380
Obler, can you tell us a little about next week's story?
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Well, before I do that, I'd like to personally thank
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the ironized yeast folks for giving me the opportunity of
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presenting this play to you tonight. A word of thanks, too,
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to Edgar Barrier and Mercedes McCambridge and to Hans Conrad
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and Lou Merrill. As to next week, Well, if you've
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ever wished on a star, listen in. For the play
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has the provocative title of The Heavenly Jeep. To you
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lovers of the off-the-beat, a cordial invitation to be with
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us when The Heavenly Jeep takes off. Yes, tune in
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next Tuesday again for Arch Obler's eerie story, The Heavenly Jeep.
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And if you need more vitamin B1 and iron, be
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sure to try ironized yeast. But remember, there's only one
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ironized yeast. You'll know it instantly by the yellow and
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orange package and by the big letters IY on the
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container and on each tablet.
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It is later than you think.
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Down south, it's white shoe season. And even up north,
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you're beginning to see white shoes around town. And because
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of shoe rationing, lots of folks are giving their white
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shoes the best of care with Energine Shoe White. Energene
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00:29:57.289 --> 00:29:59.769
Shoe White is made with the whitest pigment obtainable. It
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spreads over shoes easily and dries evenly with a real white,
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00:30:04.170 --> 00:30:08.549
never a dingy off-white. So, to keep white shoes looking
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00:30:08.609 --> 00:30:13.779
better longer, buy Energene Shoe White. This is the Columbia
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Broadcasting System.
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Lights Out Execution has concluded. Good night, and thank you
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for spending this time with Classic Radio.