Ordeal 1945 by Anton Tomazic

Ordeal 1945 Draft script for feature film Author: Anton Tomažič

1. Introduction This film is to be both richly emotional, and something uniquely melding the relationship between content and form. It is intended for a wide, global audience, though written especially for patriots abroad with all too little familiarity with the criminal post-war executions and killings on the territory of Slovenia immediately at the end of The Second World War. Importantly, the message to foreign viewers is also how the British played a role as virtual accomplices in the mass killings (both knowing and unknowing), in surrendering the Home Guards to the murdering Partisans under Tito's command. The stylistic presentation of the film itself leads the interest of the viewers so that the story unfolds closely, secondarily as it progresses. It presents heavily naturalistic, cruel and bloody scenes. The most emotional impression is achieved primarily by the express leveraging of the following elements: CINEMATOGRAPHY: Photographic sequences in which Macro imagery predominates; a prominence of low to high EQ band buzzing, often for example accentuating pupils of the eye, drops of sweat, and blood; along also with the changing pace of the imagery, from varied slow motion to accelerated loops. MUSIC: thematically written, with some sequences also in complete silence. SET DESIGN: Precise representations of scenery at the end of the 2nd World War II; filmed particularly in the Northwestern countryside of Slovenia, near the Julian Alps, along the borders of Tuscany, Italy and Austria’s Carinthia; and finally, throughout the Karavanke, Kranj, Šentvid, Ljubljana, Kočevski regions.

Material — Set and Costume Design is to be drawn mainly from the publication "Documents and Testimonies About Post-war Concentration Camps in Slovenia, by Dr. Milko Mikola” . With Living Witnesses: Milan Zajec, Franko Kozina, Franko Dejak, Ciril Armeni, Joseph Debevec, Terezija Debevec, Anton Golež, Ivan Korošec, Franči Žarnič, roj. Bonač CAST: Many extras, mostly skinny in stature; shots will include up to hundreds of camp prisoners and inmates, simultaneously. DIALOG: Relatively very little will be required — general crowd noises: from commonly ordinary to heated exchanges, weighted by at turns a promising and then threatening atmosphere; with fear, subdued muttering, singing, and also prayers; with short rises in different languages (English, German, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian); well suited for the global audience, the film will require few subtitles to be understood. Main protagonists: Janez, Franko, Jacob, Joseph, Felix; Minka, Louis, Leo, Milko Special effects – The film's red thread is also a special short (a few second) recordings, accompanied by sound effects. They usually occur at the death or severe suffering of the victim, as the last content (thought) of the dying brain. They consist of three parts: 1. close(macro) image of the suffering (part) of the face or eye (as the last look); 2. a blackand-white photograph or (sepia) a snapshot of a loved one or a scene from the life of the victim; 3. a momentous (moving) body shot. Exceptionally, they also occur a few times at guards. FLASH DEVICE: The film’s red thread is an assortment of special shorts (3-6 seconds in duration); accompanied by sound effects. They usually occur at the death or severe suffering of the victim, as the last content (thought) of the dying brain. They consist of three parts: 1. Close (macro) image of the suffering (part) of the face or eye (as the last look); 2. Black and white or (sepia) footage (or photo stream) of a loved one, in a scene/s from the life of the victims; 3. A Momentous (moving) body shot. Exceptionally, they also occur a few times in concert with the blood flowing through veins and cells. TERMS IN THE SCRIPT: On the side of the victims (cca 12.000) , there were mostly members of the military formation of the Slovenian patriots (domobranci = Home Guards), but also other formations that were formed during The Second World War, like members of the SNV – Slovenian National Army, JVvD – Yugoslav army in the homeland, Slovenian legions, village guards, troops, and civilians of both sexes. For all of these the

term prisoners is used (unless they are officers). On the part of the mass killing, there was an ongoing transition from a war state to a peaceful time, led by communist with Tito at the helm, who had just taken power in Yugoslavia. Instead of terms such as partisans, officers of the Yugoslav army, knojevci, oznovci, Serbian corps, Dalmatian partisans, the uniform term guards is used (except in the case of officers).

1. OPENING SEQUENCE The original black-and-white footage - recording of Tito's speech when he declares in front of a crowd in Congress Square in Ljubljana - May 1945: "The hand of justice, the hand of the avenger of our people has already achieved an overwhelming majority. And only a small part of the traitors were able to escape under the auspices of patrons outside our country. This minority will never again look at our wild mountains, our flowering fields." Sweeping zooms from the camera into the winding hands of the crowd begin to mix with black-and-white hand-tapes from actual historical footage of the Home Guards (“DOMOBRANCI”) gathered at Vetrinjska field. [Musical passage: from revolutionary (e.g. "Hey brigade, rush to split...") to some Carinthian national (e.g. "Pa se sliš od svet’ga Vida zvon”) In what then follows, the historical footage begins to mix with the current frames, initially all black and white, worn and frayed, until the shot then increasingly fades away, from the insistently waving, sweeping hands…

2. SCENE TWO (Vetrinj) When the image turns from black and white to color, the viewer discovers that a large group of prisoners of war, the Home Guards, are trying to climb onto trucks. In the background you can see a large camp – as actually was in Vetrinj (Austria). Tents, many uniformed military persons — in remarkably diverse uniforms, even completely ragged; many also wounded and bandaged, including some civilians, women and the elderly; and right behind, the silhouette of the mountains, the Karavanke... In the background of the SCENE, a tall Home Guard officer Vuk can be seen talking to a group of English officers. He is trying to show them some papers, but they won't listen to him. The chief British officer pulls the papers out of his hands and rips them off and throws them away.

While soldiers try to climb trucks as soon as possible, they do not rise up too much in objection or resistance, because they help each other. There are many, hundreds, hundreds of soldiers, Home Guards. They are also being watched by a large crowd of civilians, but they are being held back by English soldiers. The picture brings us closer to some who have obvious concerns: they even pull back and warn... You can hear the words — "They're going to deceive us." "Don't go back to the slaughterhouse!" "Tito will kill us..."... There are some English soldiers who want to calm the situation and make order to make the boarding as smooth as possible... Soldiers say: »Come on! There is nothing to worry about! « »No partisans!« »No Tito!« The senior English officer raises his voice and clearly ensures: » You are going directly to Italy! We guarantee you! We'll just take you to another prisoner of war camp in Italy! In Palmanova! — Under our control! « These guarantees cause the tension to subside, and the trucks fill up. English soldiers still tie the tarpaulin from the outside, but many can push them away so they can look out. One of the soldiers - Feliks - peers out his head and exchanges some words with his wife Minka, who is primarily a civilian: Felix: »Minka, wait here! It's going to be okay... I'il see you later.…« Minka rolls out of the hands of an English soldier and runs to the truck: Minka: »No, Felix, I'm coming with you.!« Somehow, she manages to climb the vehicle, as some soldiers help her. Several other civilians in the area also managed to climb into the outward trucks. Inside the truck, Minka sneaks up to her husband Felix, then they hold each other tightly, whispering: Minka: "What if they take us back to Yugoslavia?" Felix: "We will believe the British, they are taking us to Italy!"

Minka: "What if they're lying to us?" Felix: "We will survive, you will see... They can't kill all of us." Minka: "Yes, God is merciful. Where the rest of us went, we're going. Will we see little Joseph again?" she weeps, Felix clutches her and caresses.

The column of trucks slowly pulls off, and the camera shifts to the beautiful surroundings and then shows "wild mountains, flowering fields" for quite some time. The longer sequence is taken from the vehicle, at the start, so you can see the disappearing road. Dimming.

3. SCENE (Transport to the Train) Lighting. The longer sequence is recorded from the vehicle in front, so that a repetitive road can be seen. Preferably the final SCENE should be filmed in front of the Podrožca train station (actual place where it all happened). The transport of trucks leads to a wide meadow, where vehicles are circled and stopped. Next to the meadow is a field of rye, and beyond you can see the roofs of railway cattle wagons and at the far end of the building – Podrožca station. In one truck, there are only armed English soldiers who get out first. Orders are heard in English, and other English soldiers come out of the cabins of the other trucks. While issuing orders, even as rough as they are, they take cover on the back of the trucks so that the prisoners can disembark. They refer the entire group to the middle of the meadow, where they can sit and snack, cans with dry bread. The English soldiers are deployed around. It seems that there has been a lot going on in the meadow before; there is debris lying everywhere, including clothes, torn photographs, identity cards—and officers’ epaulettes. The soldiers are hot in the sun, but the shadows cannot be reached. A lot of people are asking for water. For some, the English also allow it... Some of the fatigues take a nap. A few English officers are heading towards the train station. From the crowd of sitting people, questions are being asked: 6

"Are we going to move on any time soon?" As the camera approaches a group sitting, we can see Joseph removing the epaulettes from his uniform to mark his rank as an officer. He whispers to his neighbor: Joseph: "Something stinks to me... but not just food scraps..."

4. SCENE (At the Railway Station) From the direction of the railway station, English and Yugoslav (partisan) officers appear, with many armed soldiers behind them, most with machine guns. They circle the prisoners on the lawn, causing a lot of unrest and various alarmed shouts: "Betrayal! They're going to kill us! Oh, Holy God!..." British and Partisan officers exchange lists! Even before the Partisans make the round, at the farthest point a group of three prisoners run towards the nearby forest, across the rye... The nearest Partisans jump behind them and start shooting machine guns. They mow one immediately, the other makes a turn and bend but is hit just before reaching the woods line, the third manages to escape. There's a deathly silence for a moment. The military chaplain Jack from within the midst of a group of Home Guards stands up and calms them: Jacob: "Guys, we don't know what's coming, where our way is going. We have to be ready for anything. Come on, kneel down so you can offer a remorse and I can give you a final absolution”. Those who are close to him kneel and pray first, the others gradually follow them... "My God, I'm sorry..." "Virgin Mary, save us!" The chaplain blesses them... British officers still shake hands with Partisans, exchange lists and say goodbye, and drive away with all the other British soldiers. Immediately, the new Partisan guards interrupt the prayer by shouting in Serbo-Croatian language: 7

»Ajde, prestani, stoko jedna!« (Let's stop, cattle one!) »Izdajice!« (Traitors!) »Jebačemo vam mater ustašku!«… (We'll fuck your Ustasha mothers) Some start among the Home Guards, pushing them with rifle hooves and starting to claim from them: »Imaš sat? Daj ovamo!« (You have a watch? Give it to me!) »Gdje ti je penkalo?« (Where's your pen?) »Skini čizme! (Take off your boots!) »Daj mi taj oprtač!« (Give me that springer!) Young Milko secretly unties his watch from his arm and stuffs it against his leg. He whispers to a friend who saw it: Milko: "It's an expensive memory of my father." When they find good boots, they put on their own, and they throw the old ones to those robbed. Janez, who has almost new boots, quickly cuts off the top of each, sheltered by his colleagues so they’re not so attractive anymore, and throws the rest away...

5. SCENE (Hand-Over) A commanding partisan officer takes a mechanical megaphone and demands attention: »Nože napolje!« (Knives out!) Most soldiers immediately drop smaller knives, folding, edible... »Slušaj ovamo! Izađite svi oficiri!« »Eto tamo!« (Listen here! All the officers step out! There you go!) There's an even bigger murmur among the Home Guards. Slowly, the officers, who have an epaulette, start getting up. Some hesitate—

When the Serbian guards mix in among the Home Guards to start rushing them, the officers head to the required location, where they are further circled tightly by soldiers with machine guns. As he leaves his comrades, the highest-ranking Home Guard officer mutters to them: "It's over, guys... You're no longer part of the Home Guard Army... Whoever can save themselves..." One of the officers tries to protest: "Under the international convention, we are war prisoners..." A nearby Partisan officer immediately shoots him in the head with a gun. —>> FLASH (idyllic Gorenjska village with mountains in the background)

»Još neko?« (Someone else?) Until then, Minka had tried to hold Feliks, and at this time they quickly say goodbye with an outstretched handshake and a hopeless, loving gaze.

The looting of items of greater value continues. Prisoners are beaten.. »Imaš para?« (Do you have any money?) »Daj ovamo!« (Give it to me!) »Skini cipele!« (Take your shoes off!) In the background you can see the interrogation of the Home Guard officers and, as a result, their sorting into two groups. Of the 100, a third are chosen and sent to stand along the woodsline. Feliks is one of them. They line up there and are mown down, shot to death with rapid fire bursts. The camera approaches and holds on to the eye of the shocked Minka. FLASH (picture of Felix)

Shouting »Ajde ukrcavaj se!« (Come on, get on board!) Neighboring prisoners support and pull Minka on their way to cattle cars, where the Partisans are hinging prisoners. At least 10 open-door cars are visible; In driving them to enter, the Partisans hit them with rifle butts and leather belts, shouting at them: »Ajde izdajice! Fašistički kolaboranti…« (Come on, traiters! Fascist collaborators…) »Sad ćemo vam jebat mater…« (Now we will fuck your mothers…) »Idemo kući, da vam narod sudi!« (Let's go home, let the people judge you!)

6. SCENE (Boarding the Train) Three prisoners who are near the back of the car, suddenly run off after whispers. Some guards are preparing to fire their rifles behind them, but they are interrupted by one of the commanding officers, apparently already quite drunk, with a bottle in his hand and ordering the soldier, who has a mortar, to use it. The camera shows the mortar as it quickly fires a few mines behind the fleeing trio. A couple of times, the explosions miss them, but finally one mows down all three. The camera zooms in to show each one: FLASH (wedding picture) FLASH (little church) FLASH (sawing of fire woods) The commanding officer praises the mortar, while the other guards laugh and applaud.

====

They stuff so many prisoners in every car that there's not enough room to sit so they have to mostly stand and stoop. Some lose their modest luggage when they enter, but the guards won't let them pick it up. To some younger women the guards are also cheeky, and they are groped and objectified. The male partners of these captives try to somehow protect them, but do not meet with much success. All remaining officers board a special wagon. A lot of guards get on the only passenger car. When the freight wagons are filled, the Partisans close the sliding doors and lock them from the outside with the latch. A commanding partisan officer gives a signal for the train's departure. The image approaches the driver, who is in a very good mood, apparently also under the influence of alcohol, who first starts the train by shouting back and forth, shouting: "To make them a little!" What follows is an internal footage of the wagon in the dark, with standing bodies rolling back and forth, with shouts of pain, cries of suffering.

7. SCENE (On the Train, Moving) The camera stops on Franko's face, which is alternately illuminated and darkened as it is apparently mounted on the wall of the wagon, where there is also a narrow rift. In between, a picture emerges, as Franko sees it: exchanging views of beautiful nature. FLASH (Children's feet in booties, running through a flowery field) At the time, the sounds slowly change. Instead of screaming and crying, a silent prayer appeals to Holy Mother Mary for help. Then suddenly it's pure darkness. It's been a long time... There's a voice: »Tunnel.«

8. SCENE (Exit from the Tunnel) A pure darkness is suddenly replaced by a blinding light – exit from the tunnel. Slowly, the painting is exuding into the magically beautiful nature of the upper Sava Basin. The Jesenice station is approaching. On it freshly made stars, sickle with a hammer and inscriptions: "For Trieste, Klagenfurt," and "Trieste is ours! So is Gorizzia! Klagenfurt is ours!" This is where the guard exchange takes place. Serbian-speaking soldiers are replaced by Slovenian-speaking. Some of them are hugging each other. They sound like: »E, braćo Slovenci! Evo vam vaših izdajica!« (Well, Slovenian brothers! Here are your traitors!) »Smrt fašizmu! – Sloboda narodu!« (Death to fascism! "Freedom to the people!) »Idemo mi natrag: ima ih još puno!« (Let us go back: there are many more!) The train's moving on. In the cars, prisoners suffer greatly; some also vomit, some soil their pants.

9. SCENE (From the Train) The train stops at an open land, the Partisans open all the wagon doors and direct the inmates to disembark. If anyone's slow, they just pull them off the wagon... In doing so, they shout: "Get out, you white whores!" "Traitors!" »Schwaba-defendors!« A large group of Partisans and their officers are waiting nearby the train, some of them on horseback. Many have batons and sticks in their hands. They run against the prisoners and beat them. They also shout at them:

"Well, now we have you!"" "Now sing: "Mary help us!" Some prisoners try to sing religious songs: "You won the virgin famous, won the snake of hell... Forever..." Soldiers and officers break them up and beat them mercilessly with bullying. A lot of people get their mouths lacerated and their faces cut off. Some are forcing horses to rise to their hind legs, kicking them... One of the horses hits a prisoner’s head with a hoof, he collapses dead. FLASH (Horseman on a beautiful horse) An officer of a small stature on a horse tries to beat Janez with the reins, but he doesn't achieve enough. In doing so, he shouts: "Don't you know this is your last march to death?”

10.

SCENE (On the Plain)

Exhausted prisoners sit and lie on a short rest along the path on the Gorenjska plain. Some also ask: "Water!..." Finally, one of the guards from the military jeep offers them cannibal water. When they're poaing everyone's trying to catch some running water. Some of the backpacks quickly pull out canteens or canings. Polde (“Leo”, slightly older than others) pulls out an object that is made of an empty grenade, which he apparently uses to drink. One of the guards is terribly angry and the object is stripped out of his hands. He knocks Polde to the ground, joins two more Partisans and beats him together, lying on the ground. The incident is interrupted by a nearby officer, shooting Polde who is lying on the ground, at the back of his head. FLASH (Water flowing from the village well)

When a dead man is pushed off the road into a nearby ditch, the other prisoners are clearly terribly upset. When a senior Partisan officer senses this, he approaches and allows them to bury him in a nearby field for his service and to be buried for service. In the meantime, the Partisan guards are having fun and drinking from the bottles. But one distances himself, observing with some stir of conscience, and stares pensively… FLASH (Photo of a family with four children)

Then the rest is over, and the column goes on. The chief commanding officer, via megaphone, commands: "Now we're going to learn some new marching... Anyone who doesn't sing loud gets a shot in the head right away!""

11.

SCENE (Kranj)

When the column with prisoners reaches Kranj, a large population under the organization of Partisans on both sides of the road, is waiting for them. In between are children waving flags (with red stars, heart and hammer). Many spit on prisoners and throw smaller objects at them... Prisoners sing, as the hostile Partisan crowd sings: "We are traitors, we are arsonists" "We raised our hand against the sickle and the hammer" They shout paroles: "Long live the Soviet Union!" "Long live our leader Tito!" When a young Milko comes into frame, you see how hard it is for him to walk, obviously because of the watch he had hidden in his shoe. Individual prisoners secretly ask viewers for a sip of water... When an old woman with a basket has mercy on them and tries to give someone an apple, a Partisan forcefully prevents this and knocks the fruit to the ground with a thrust of his rifle.

The column is diverted from the city and stops in front of neglected and half-demolished shacks. The Partisans order the prisoners to lie face down with their arms stretched to the ground. Most of them are positioned on the roofs of the better shacks, while prisoners stay on the ground for a long time. They're threatened with shooting anyone who dares to get up. When it gets dark, it starts raining and the prisoners seem to be very cold.

12.

SCENE (Šentvid)

On the long hike, many prisoners are already completely exhausted. If someone falls, their colleagues try to pick him up, while the Partisans try to keep the column from stopping too much. In Šentvid, they pass the well, but the Partisans won't let anyone to quench his thirst. At the crossroads, this unfortunate column meets another procession –- in honor of the the Feast of the Holy Body of the Savior. First the bearer of the cross appears, then the bandera, then a group of girls in white, the choir can be heard in the back. When the two processions meet, there are views and SCENES: exhausted prisoners and astonished girls in white. A few consecutive close-ups of girls and prisoners! When one of the girls hesitates and pauses slightly, a few alarmed Partisans point to the girls: "Watch away! These are national traitors!"" Upon arrival at the military barracks, converted into a camp, the prisoners are first sorted in the courtyard. They are interrogated quickly and then distributed to groups, which will then be deployed to different premises. They're obviously especially minors and women.

13.

SCENE (Women Prisoners)

The room with the female captives has no furniture, and it's very crowded. Captives can only sit on the ground. They do not even let them out to carry out their needs. They bring them a can where they can do their necessaries in the corner. The can is soon full and flows from it to the floor of a smelly liquid mixture of urine and feces. Some women also vomit... FLASH (Happy company on a family trip) The women are knocking on the door in vain, begging full cans to be taken away from them. From the outside, the words are: "Just drown in shit, you fascist whores!" Minka takes out of her pocket-to-hand damaged photo of her, Felix and Joseph. She caresses with her fingers the image of her husband and son, and tears run down her cheeks.

14.

SCENE (Prisoners)

In a small hall, over 100 prisoners are packed, very tightly. Horrid circumstances... Some have bloody dysentery, some urinate right in the hall... When the door opens, a Partisan shouts, and he freaks out with the stench: »Come on! Who wants to shit??« "Two and two!" The camera monitors the duo descending into the basement accompanied by a guard and punches on their way... They come into a darker place where concrete cabbage tubs are built in, with a diameter of about 3 meters. A board is laid across, on which some are already draining them with bloody dysentery. Milko seems to be trying in vain, because he's locked up... The Partisan guard shouts at him:

"Come on! What are you making out with?" Because he's very weak, he spins in his head and falls into a slur. The guard pushes him even deeper into the liquid with his rifle's butt, and holds it, until he nearly doesn't drown. The last thing you see from him is a leg and a half-collapsed shoe from which the clock slips. The camera approaches the brown scum.

15.

SCENE (In the yard)

The camera moves away from the brown liquid in the military food container - which is said to be a kind of food that also contains bugs. It shows the state of the courtroom when it's already darkened. Most inmates lie or squat and sleep... Some people whisper to each other... They also scratch a lot because they have a lot of lice... Because the hall has a view of the courtyard, Miha can see what's going on in the courtyard. Janez warns him it's forbidden to look out the window. Still, Miha looks and sees: New view from the building to the courtyard: They board the inmates in the truck, their hands are tied up and connected by steel wire, so that they are connected together by two and two. The guards are fighting them until everyone gets on board and the truck leaves... New view from the courtyard to the building: Suddenly one of the guards notices Michael looking out the window. Aims carefully with the rifle and shoots. He hits Michael in the head with the first shot. Other guards in the courtyard greet and praise the shooter enthusiastically. New view in the room under the window: Miha collapses under the window with his head blown. FLASH (Sunset in the mountains)

16. SCENE (Seminary Chapel) Real ration; completely broken altar; no more cross, no bench, no sacred images and pot of the cross; organ whistles are all broken, and the wooden snail of the kora is broken... Among other objects is a bloodied photograph of Felix, Minka and Joseph on the floor. In the middle of the chapel is a large boiler that serves as a toilet, for a lot and a little need... They're called for questioning... When they come back, they're all beaten and bleeding... Peter asks one of them: "What were they asking you?" "First of all, where'd you come home?" "Why I fled to Carinthia is... Then I had to bang my head in the door." Peter worried: "Now it's my turn." FLASH (Holy Procession in the field)

17.

SCENE (Leaving Šentvid)

The inmates are close together and partly even above each other sleeping in the room when a screaming voice is heard: Officer: "Get up! We’re leaving!" The surprised inmates awaken in amazement. The guards are walking them out of the room, beating them with sticks; running down the stairs, shouting and lashing at the inmates. On a long snow, there are only legs running down the stairs. One of the inmates stumbles and falls to see his bleeding face, where the footage stops. A gunshot is heard when a guard shoots him in the head with a gun and pushes the body away. In the yard, they have to line up in rows of five.

The guards tie each one's hands together and tie up every five inmates together. Janez and Franko are tied up together. When a group of 50s are ready, they're being taken away from the station together. Each group is accompanied by their own few guards with bayonetted rifles. They're marching towards the railway station in Šetvid. Passers-by call them names and throw small objects at them. A rock hits Franko in his head that penetrates his forehead; he swells and nearly falls. FLASH (Children playing in the street) Janez backs him for a moment so he can continue on the road. Franko: "Where are we going?" Janez: "We'll see soon."

18.

SCENE (To the Train)

A freight train is ready at Šentvid train station. The doors of all wagons are open. The first one is a passenger car. A group of 50 inmates are boarded into each wagon. The guards beat them up. They're closing the wagon doors as they go. The passenger car is filled by guards. When all the wagons are filled and the doors closed, the chief shows the sign of departure. The train begins to pull out…

19.

SCENE (In the Wagons)

Footage of the downed inmates in the car. A little light. Janez and Franko are at the wall, where a little something can be seen out through the crack. 19

The final whistle for the departure of the train is heard. The locomotive's beehing. When the train moves, Janez is surprised to see that he's heading north. Janez: "Strange, we're heading north!" There's a surprise among the other inmates. Soon the train stops and begins to run in the opposite direction, heading south. From the outside, you can hear the roaring and even the cheerful commenting: Railway man: “We made good fun of them... They would like to go back to their Allies..." Janez and Franko are woefully crestfallen, as are the other prisoners.

20.

SCENE (Main Railway Station in Ljubljana)

Footage of a speeding train, a close-up of the locomotive wheel. A snapshot of the approaching city – Veduta of Ljubljana. At the main Ljubljana Railway Station, the train stops slowly. It is greeted on the platforms by a large group of people, apparently well organized and informed. They also have flags, red with a hearth and a hammer, and blue with stars. Some pictures of Tito and Stalin, too. They furiously attack the doors of the wagons as they shout in through the cracks, shouting: "You white dogs, get out to make a payment!"" "Occupiers’ servants!" »Dogs traitors!« "Death to fascism!" »Farški podrepniki!« "Where's Rupnik and the Bishop?" A few guards come to the platform, but they don't open the wagon door, they just let the crowd go wild. They then re-board the passenger car and give a sign of departure. 20

An accordion also answers on the platform so that the crowd sings goodbye: »Hej mašinca zagodi, naj odmeva…« The train goes on...

21.

SCENE (In the Wagon)

The inmates in the wagon are not only physically exhausted, but also and above all mentally spent, as seen on their faces and behavior. There's a young man in the corner of the car experiencing real stress, starting to shake, crying and screaming. He's also got soaked pants. His surrounding partners are trying to calm him down in vain. Young man: "They're going to kill us!... I don't want to die!... Mom!" FLASH (Picture of a beautiful middle-aged woman) He's got a prisoner who's clearly a Chaplain and tries to comfort him: Chaplain: "Calm down, come on! We must trust in God's prudence. But what we're meant to do is meant to be. If this is the worst, we will be paid forever." Young. "I'm too young to die. I want to live!"" Chaplain: "The heavy cross is loaded with us, God knows it. But we have an endless life ahead of us!"" Someone starts singing Maria's song, others join him, which also calms the young man down a little bit. Franko pulls a piece of newspaper paper out of his pocket and straightens it out. Franko: "Does anyone have anything to write about?" When someone sends him a short pencil, he writes a short message. Janez reads it: "We are heading towards Kočevje... We're hungry and we don't know... what will happen to us!"" 21

Joseph speaks out: "Include the address! If any good man finds it, he'll deliver it to your people. I'm going to do the same!"" A few other inmates are imitating them. They tear up a few more tickets and get their message back. The tickets are then dumped through the cracks in the wall of the car. FLASH (Leaves dance in the wind like butterflies)

22.

SCENE (Towards Kočevje)

While driving through the beautiful landscape, the inmates calm down slightly, especially with the silent singing of folk songs and hymns to Maria. Janez has secured a place along the wall, where there is a slightly wider crack in between the boards, so that he can observe the passing landscape. The idyllic SCENES are exchanged: Typical Slovenian villages, churches; forests, farms, haystacks, fields, plowed clearings... As they slowly drive through the settlement, he even sees some people looking forward to the end of the war. The last shot stops on his tearful eye. FLASH (Photo of an older couple)

23.

SCENE (Binding with Wire)

The guards are pushing the prisoners rough out of the wagons. They're being ordered to put down their top clothes and throw it on a big pile that's growing ever more. "You don't need that!" "You won't be cold anymore!" 22

In the yard in front of the station, everyone has to turn against the wall and put their hands on their back. A special team of guards tie each other's hands with a metal wire, tightening it with pliers. Franko and Janez are bound together. The camera zooms in on the view of the wrist as the wire cuts through the skin and the arm bleeds. Two and two prisoners are then connected to the wire. They're pushing them against an open truck and forcing them to board with sticks. They're ordered to kneel and bow their heads: "Don't let anyone watch where we're going!"" Prisoners are squeezing and have to partially overlap because there are more of them than there is space (about 50). Two guards with rifles also hang in the back. The truck covers are closed, but not completely.

24.

SCENE (Trucks Leave)

View of the courtyard in front of the station. When one truck leaves, the next truck drives to the same spot, and there's a new one waiting in the back. The close-up camera shows the faces of Franko and Janez almost on the floor of the truck, looking slightly through the openings and whispering: "Is this the last resort? Where are they going to...? "Salvation is coming to us..." FLASH (painting of the Baroque altar) When Janez slightly lifts his head off the ground, one of the guards hits him with a rifle butt. »Lie down, you treacherous pigs!«

"Prepare for the last slaughter!" »... yes, to the cave!""

25.

SCENE (In the Truck Cab)

The cab of the truck. The driver and the attendant are having fun and drink from a bottle of brandy on the way. "This helps!" "Damn, we've been working hard all week!" "They promised us a week off... In Bohinj..." "I hope they save a few more white traitors for then."" "Come on, give them a little bit!" The driver deliberately turns sharply left and right.

26.

SCENE (Under the Truck Bed Canvas)

A view of the cargo section of the truck. Prisoners pray the rosary in half a loud way, which is interrupted by the way the truck throws them back and forth, so some people get extra punches on the face. Franko watches through an opening in a hole, a passing early summer forest scene. The scene is quite long and is slow to fade.

27.

SCENE (Disembarking from a Truck)

Because of the final hard stop of the truck, the prisoners are thrown into the pile. Immediately the bed cover is unstrung from the outside and shouting appears: 24

"March down!" The prisoners try to stand up so they can step off the truck, but the guards overtake them and, with a special blood-stained hook, they just pull them to the ground to fall on top of each other, still connected by wire.

28.

SCENE (Surrounding of the Slaughterhouse)

The camera moves away so that the entire forrest clearing with a few trucks is now seen. In the background there is an opening of the Karst cave, and there is a special gravel path about 100 metres long. As the camera approaches, there are many remnants of various objects, rosary shrines, torn photos, glasses, etc. can be seen along the way. There are clearly three main groups of activities: Right next to the trucks, the guards are asking prisoners to take their unanimism further, especially their pants and their shoes, if they still have them. Anyone who's slow about it, because of their hands tied, is helped by cut of knives and excess clothing is simply cut off. Some prisoners keep some more laundry, shirt, t-shirts and underpants, while some remain completely naked. Some instinctively try to cover up nudity, and the guards brutally push them with their rifles. On the way to the cave, guards are placed every 5 meters, one to push and beat the inmates.

29.

SCENE (Collecting Golden Teeth)

Just before the cave, the guards check the prisoners for gold teeth. To that end, they ask them to tell their names, to see in their mouths. If necessary, they are also ordered to open their mouths further. »What's your last name?« "Where are you from?" "Show your mouth!" 25

If they spot a golden tooth, they throw the prisoner to the ground and kill him, and then use pliers to pull out his tooth. FLASH (Apple) FLASH (Baby's smile) FLASH (Lips in kiss) If the extraction presents a problem, they break the jaw to get to his teeth. Then the body is then thrown into the cave. Gold teeth, some of which are still holding part of the flesh or bones, are collected in a special barrel. It's very bloody all over.

30.

SCENE (prisoner with a photo)

The first-plan clip (head and shoulders) is taken from behind an executioner and a victim in the face, both younger men. The victim is scared to death but tries to beg the executioner for something with his gaze. When the executioner hesitates, the victim hints at his pocket by his shirt, with a begging expression and a silent whisper of "Please!" The executioner hesitates a little, looks at both sides and finally decides and reaches into the victim's pocket. In the first plan, you can see his left hand, which is characterized by the apparent shorter one of the fingers. He pulls out of victim’s pocket a photo depicting the family: a young parent, a boy and a little girl in a loving embrace. When the victim sees the photo, he glows his face, and then he shows the executioner great gratitude. When the executioner tries to return the photo to his pocket, the victim moves slightly away and the head is suggested to the executioner to keep the photo. You can tell there's a smeared address there. The victim whispers quietly: "Let them know!". The executioner initially hesitates, then looks around, but can't decide to keep the photo. Victim: "Please!" The executioner scares himself and stuffs the photo back into the victim's pocket. The camera is buzzing at the victim's eyes, showing great disappointment and quiet complaint. The scene extends to a few seconds. 26

31.

SCENE (Shooting of the prisoners)

Just outside the cave, they shoot the prisoners with bursts of submachine guns and additional weapons if necessary. Killing is otherwise preferred by fall into the deep pit, crevasse of the cave. They all shout at them: »Squat!« »Kneel down!« If they don't get into the cave, they push them deep with their feet. At least 10 executions are shown; each followed by its own FLASH — FLASH (Picture of the groom and bride) FLASH (Child) FLASH (Ljubljana street) FLASH (Horse-drawn carriage) FLASH (Open book) FLASH (Rosary) FLASH (Young girl) FLASH (Older woman) FLASH (Cyclists) FLASH (Baby) When it comes to Franko and Janez, one of the guards has just to change the gun cartridges. Franko takes advantage of it and jumps into the depths and pulls Janez with him. He shouts: "Jesus, mercy!" The neighboring guard, holding a gun, shoots twice at the last minute, hit Franko in the leg and just grazes Janez on the shoulder while they are falling into the depths. 31. SCENE

(Falling into the Depths)

SCENE (Falling into the Depths)

32.

The camera captures Franko and Janez in the face, slowed motion as they fall. Expressions of pain and fear. They survive the fall, a depth of about 10 meters, as it is alleviated by the bodies of dead and wounded sufferers. A lot of people are still screaming, in agony; moaning, sighing, throwing up blood... Those who can, still try to get out of the masses of corpses and avoid the new ones falling on them. Blood is constantly sprayed from above, and it flows out from the bodies and the wounded. In the first frame dawns the face of Franko, suffocating first because a new body falls on it; then freeing and raising his head, breathes, searching with difficulty and determination; he follows his hand to discover the other one to which it is still tied with the wire. He sees fingers moving on this other hand… Franko pushes another body away, and pulls out Janez, with his face twisted in acute pain. He whispers to him: "Janez! Are you still alive?" "We'll get out of here! Quick!""

33.

SCENE (Interior of Karst Cave)

The cave at its bell-shaped bottom below is much wider than its mouth (that opening is only about 5 m.) It's 20 m deep, but it’s now piled almost halfway up with bodies. The walls are rocky, but smooth and in some places with small, moss-like growth. Because the largest mound of corpses is in the middle, a few survivors can retreat into lining along the walls where new bodies cannot fall on them.

When Franko and Janez somehow pull out of the mass of corpses and crawl to the edgethere are already survivors, more or less injured. They move forward together, as they are still connected and bound by wire.

34.

SCENE (Freeing Hands)

Twilight: the light only comes from the top hole, but it flashes and reflects all the while from the falling corpses. Sounds of cracking machine guns and guns. As Janez and Franko crawl to the edge of the cave, they find slight relief and grow renewed, not depleted any more. Because his leg wound is bleeding heavily, Franko tries to tend to it but is unable, because he’s still tied to Janez. Janez somehow liberates a shirt off some body, and succeeds in wrapping it around Franko's wound. Then he tries to get rid of the wire: "Help! Let's untie ourselves!"" They try to untie each other, but it's very difficult because the wires are very strong and they have no tools. They try using their to teeth to help free themselves, but they can't. Janez spots a belt with a metal clasp on a corpse. He uses it to help him unwrap the wire on Franko's hands. Then Franko unscrews the wire on Janez's hands in the same way, and they free themselves of the wire completely. Then they wrap Franko’s injured leg even better.

35.

SCENE (Helping Other Survivors)

From the edge Janez and Franko watch new bodies and the wounded fall into the cave. From above, there are bursts and shouts and cries from the killers (and victims) the whole time. Most of the people shot are killed immediately, only a few remain alive.

Many have their faces butchered because the Partisans took the gold from their teeth before they died. A lot of blood flows and sprays around. Many still moan and snap for the air as they are buried under new corpses. FLASH (yellowed photo of woman) FLASH (yellowed photo of baby) Franko and Janez try to help those close to them, so they also don't suffocate. They manage to pull two more wounded from beneath the bodies: Joseph and Louis. Janez even recognizes the first one: “Joseph! Give me a hand! Hold me!" Louis passes out, or falls asleep from exhaustion.

36.

SCENE (Advancing to Another Place)

Janez notices that a new pile of corpses will soon reach them and suggests: "It's not going to be good here, they’re going to wall us in!" Franko proposes, “There's room on the other side... Let's crawl over there!"" Joseph and Franko crawl against the wall around the corpses towards the other side of the cave, where the larger opening and mound of corpses are less steep. Janez tries to wake up Louis, but in vain, because he just opens his eyes and whispers: "Holy Cross of God!" His last move is toward Janez—he spreads his fist, in which there is a bloody and damaged rosary with Mary's shrine. FLASH (Child Praying Rosary) Janez closes his eyes and crawls behind his comrades. He wraps a rosary around his fist.

37.

SCENE (Meeting Another Survivor)

When Janez, Franko and Joseph reach the other side, they see a sitting figure in the dark. His naked body is completely coated with mud mixed with blood. This is Drago, who answers: "Here! Come here, there's a little more room..." Franko asks him: “How are you doing?!“ Drago: "I've been here since yesterday... This morning, they noticed that a few of us were still alive... And they started shooting at us. My brothers and two others were hit and gone... I put mud on me so they wouldn't see me." Janez presses on: "When do they stop?" Drago: "Before it gets dark..." Franko: "Could we climb out at night?" Drago: "Not even in daylight... the walls are smooth and in some places overhanging..." As the bodies stop falling, they look back against the light... There's no more shooting... From the top, there are voices, among which one that is clearly amplified prevails: "Don't think that you've saved yourself if you've escaped a bullet... Soon you will get a new shipment..." Janez realizes to the dangers they pose and quickly warns them: "They're going to throw bombs at us!" "Quick, we have to protect ourselves!"

38.

SCENE (Afternoon Mining)

Janez starts arranging and pulling the bodies by making some space where he’s settle and pulls the bodies back on him.

Joseph and Drago follow him and drag themselves under the bodies. That triggers a bunch of corpses to slide and completely cover Drago. When Franko sees this, he tries to help him, and he quickly removes the bodies that suffocate Drago. All of a sudden, mines burst and smoke. Bombs and mines start to fall into the cave. A big shrapnel hits Franko in the head and kills him right away. FLASH (some photos of young children) The other three are squeezing under the bodies. Because of the pressure from the explosions, Drago’s blood comes out of his ear. From above there are also a lot of rubble, rocks and larger rocks. It's all in smoke. When mining and cracking stop, voices from above are heard: "They're done, traitors!”

39.

SCENE (After Mining)

The scene is slightly altered - through the corpses there is strewn about quite a load of rubble, rocks, roots, branches and foliage. The trunk of a medium-thick tree now leans against a wall but it is still a few metres higher - also fully collapsed in to the cave, so it cannot be reached. There's some movement under the bodies... Joseph gets out from under the corpses first, and he also helps Drago. They both then help Janez to get out.. Janez thanks them: "Thank you — but at this point are we only delaying the inevitable?" Joseph: "Where is Franko?"

When they look around, they see Franko dead with his head shattered. Janez: "I hope at least one of us will get out of here alive! We have to tell the world this!"" Drago has a view of the area: "We have a few more options! This trunk would only help us climb out..." Joseph: "How are you going to get it?" Janez, thoughtfully: "Maybe we can do it tomorrow?"

40.

SCENE (Cold Night)

First, a few minutes is a complete darkness. All you can hear is whispers. Drago: "I'm cold." Joseph: "Give me a squeeze!" Sounds like a chatter. Janez: "There's something else to cover here..." "Wait till I take this shirt off!" Joseph: "Let's say another decade of the rosary!"" Janez: “Wait, we’re going to have some cloth down here... I just have to pull him out first. So I can take it off..." There's some noises when they take off the bodies so they can cover themselves. In between, also some groans… Joseph: "Well let's pray…”” Whispering they pray the rosary... Hail Mary with the addition of »... who for us the bloody path sweated”… === In the second part of the SCENE, some light appears, like a reflection of the moon's ray. Janez interrupts the prayer:

"Look, it’s the moon! At least we'll see a little bit." They listen to the silence. Joseph: "Pssst" There's so much light to see the trio squeezing each other and covering each other with all sorts of bloodied clothes. From the outside, the night sound of an owl is heard. At the other end of the cave, someone's quietly moaning. Through the foliage, the moon appears at the top of the cave. Joseph: "We see it for the last time?" Janez: "No, we have to get out. What's happening here has to be told to people!"" One of his eyelids has been slit.

41.

SCENE (Morning Mining)

Sleeping faces are illuminated by morning light. Various voices are heard from above. "This is going to have to be a little more disinfected if any of the rats are still alive."" Joseph: "Quick! Take shelter!"" All three crawl into the deepest part of the cave. Because Drago is the most exhausted, he and his two bodies are covered by Joseph and Janez. They're pulling some of the bodies they've got. Some of the shell casings from the mortaring fall into the cave, and again explosions thunder, terribly amplified; and then ring on. Throughout, corpses are tossed and fly about, and mounds of rubble, leaves, branches fall on them again... Smoke obliterates the view, then slowly clears, rises,… When the cracking stops, large chunks of live lime are found in the cave. When in contact with blood and other fluids, the lime is activated and begins to smoke, strongly.

Janez, Joseph and Drago survive mining, but are now threatened by a fluid that is a mixture of blood, secretions and lime. The first two somehow dodge the dangerous liquid, but Drago can't get out and begins to choke, half-baked with live lime. FLASH (Farm room with wood-burning stove) Janez and Joseph crawl higher despite their coughing and vomiting, back to about where they spent the night before. And they both have sustained new burns.

42.

SCENE (New shootings)

The smoke thins. Outside, a crowd hoots and shouts. You can hear words like "Well, by now they're all done!" "Comrades, leave it, a new load is coming!" A fresh round of bursts, the renewed screaming, and soon after, new bodies and heavy wounded begin to fall into the cave. Joseph and Janez are pressed against the wall and watch a pile of corpses rise again in the middle. They have endured; but are severely parched. Their lips are completely cracked. They're trying to get some fluid by licking the wall. Joseph: "Janez, I can't do it anymore! I'm so thirsty, everything is burning from the outside and inside!"" Janez: "Take this!" He crumples a piece of torn and bloody shirt and drops some of his urine on it, which he then sips. You can tell there's a lot of lice on the goods, but he doesn't mind. Joseph follows him the same way. Joseph: "How it smells!"

43.

SCENE (Over the Trunk)

When Janez opens his eyes, he sees that the scene in the cave has changed quite a bit. All the rubble and lime from yesterday have been covered by new bodies. There are so many now that the distance to the trunk, which is still leaning higher against the wall, has decreased considerably. When they stop the shooting and drop-piling of new corpses, Janez wakes up Joseph and shows him a new state: Janez whispers: "Hey Joseph! Do you think that we might be able to reach the trunk now?" Joseph: "Yes, we could try laying a few more down there; I just don't know if I can." Janez: "Come on, let's try!" Slowly they crawl around the other side of the cave; from there they start to pull bodies out from middle, setting them more along the wall so that the distance to the trunk decreases. They also encounter a living wounded man and apologize: "Sorry!" When they try to pull him elsewhere, he smiles at them and dies. And so they continue to stack the bodies, elevating and giving themselves access to a starting point for their possible escape from the cave. They then fall exhausted and rest, lying head to head.

44.

SCENE (Decision)

Janez: "Will you go first?" Joseph: "I can't. You go!""

Janez: "Think of your family! And of your home…”” Joseph closes his eyes, and he's got pictures of his family before his eyes: mom, dad, sister, brother, nephew... It gives him the strength to make up his mind. Joseph: "But we must go together, so I'll give you a hand." Janez: “Okay, we’ll wait for it to get dark.” They're resting... There's big flies buzzing around them... Their sight is spinning...

45.

SCENE (First Attempt)

When it gets dark, Joseph and Janez crawl up along the pile of corpses closest to the trunk. Janez supports and lifts Joseph, who with great effort reaches the branch from the trunk. He's been hanging for a while... then tries to rise up and climb higher up the trunk. He's unable to find grab a firm hold, and slips three times. Janez encourages him from below: "Come on, Joseph! “Mother Mary help… a little more…!” Somehow, Joseph manages to step on a thicker branch of the trunk, but then his legs and all of his body begin to shake. Joseph moans: "I will... I... ahhh..." Then he can't take it anymore and he goes down and falls back on the bodies. Joseph: "I can't, I can't feel my arms and legs, I can't." Janez helps him to position his face and wipe him across his face. Janez: "Joseph... Joseph... Get some rest... you'll try again later." When Joseph is a little relieved, he turns to Janez with a request:

Joseph: "I've been thinking about it all the time... Until the last time, I still felt able... I was hoping. Now my strength is all gone, and I can’t, I'm not good enough to make it... It looks like I'm staying here. If you still have strength, you must do it! I beg you, you’ve got to do it, one of us has got to make it out of here! Don't forget where I'm going to be waiting for you..." Joseph lets loose his grip, he breathes slower until he stops and dies, looking at Janez. FLASH (Some Shots of him at a Party in an Inn, Dancing With his Wife, as the Sun Sets)

46.

SCENE (Second Attempt)

Janez looks on with tears; he closes the eyes of the dead Joseph. He looks up at the trunk... then at his arms and legs, which falter and tremble slightly... He makes the sign of the cross, resolving to make his effort now, too. Janez whispers to the dead Joseph: “I’m sorry, my friend.” Janez grabs the dead Joseph by the hands and somehow drags him to the top of the pile with the corpses so he can step on it and reach the trunk more easily. He catches his breath for a long time and then rises, straining, wrenching in severe pain as he reaches a sufficiently strong branch; he slowly lifts himself… As he climbs he displaces a few rocks—one of which falls and echos against the walls, making a clear noise that rings out in the dark; Janez freezes numb, listening in fear that someone may have heard; it’s getting colder. When Janez reaches a the first, jagged ray of a moon beam, he stops and rests. He mutters three more prayers: Our Father, Hail Mary and Guardian Angel; he kisses the shrine head on the rosary bead, giving him the strength to carry on and lift himself over the edge of the cave. Not far away, he hears the speech and the distant, muffled chants of the guards, who are apparently drunk. When he feels sure they didn't hear him, he looks into the cave and offers a goodbye: Janez: "Goodbye friends!"" 38

47.

SCENE (From Cave to Forest)

When, at the edge of the cave, Janez lies on the back to recover and rest, he witnesses an arresting, idyllic scene – stars sown like seeds in the sky and a crescent moon, transforming and representing itself in turns, as a sickle – recalling to mind his youth working on the farm, and the road to his childhood village. It is seen on his face, that the sky has filled him with a new hope for life. From his elevated position, he can see sloping below in the contours of the hill: a few vehicles, tents, stacked arms and remnants of fire, where some embers still emit some light. There's another 50-m steep slope to the forest above the cave. Janez begins to crawl cautiously in the direction of the forest. Since the explosions have also caused a lot of stones to be displaced and hard rubble to be unsettled, he must be careful for any misstep that might cause and trigger more noise. A few times at the last minute he shifts his feet, stopping the roll of rocks, and once with his hand even catches and grabs hold of a larger stone to keep it from cascading further… When he reaches about half the distance to the forest, a few larger rocks shift and roll into motion at once, causing considerable noise. The guards downstairs in the tents hear it, some of them appear to awaken immediately and crawl out of a tent. Manual batteries are switched on. Voices shall be heard: "There's one out there! Don't let him get away! Come on, mow him down!" Janez sees that there's no time to crawl anymore, and so stooping he begins to run now towards the woods. A machine gun is heard—but because the guards can't see him, they shoot everything. Janez hides himself at the last minute in the shelter of the forest brush, branches and trees.

Thankfully, the terrain is such that just behind the ridge is a valley with more rich undergrowth. Janez just throws himself down and begins to roll down the slope and through the brush as far as he can, n the meantime getting new wounds and scratches. Behind him, the voices of the pursuers can be heard and the rare flashes of hand-held lamps can be seen. When Janez stops at the bottom of the ravine, the lights are gone and the voices are almost gone. When he turns his head towards the sky again between the branches, he sees the moon and some stars, which calms him down.

48.

SCENE (through the forest)

When Janez is almost asleep from exhaustion, voices and barking dogs are heard again from afar. Again he resolves, makes a cross and begins to crawl and run through the forest with his every strength. The path is very bad - rocks, bushes, through three hills and valleys yet ahead. When Janez no longer hears voices and barks behind him, he slows down his pace. Moaning he crawls forward with more effort. He is losing his consciousness, and he feels his death is coming. It is obvious on his lips, how he needs fluid. When he comes out of the thicket to a small mantis, he senses wet grass under bare feet. Some inner voice says to him: "Janez, start sipping dew from the grass and flowers!" He throws himself to the ground and starts to hold grass and flowers with both hands and sips dew from them. It's as good as drinking the sweetest honey. This refreshes him and calms him down. When he senses drops of fluid, he wipes himself and sees that he's cut his lips on the sharp grass.

He falls asleep, twitching all the while. All of a sudden, he realizes he's recovered a little and has got to move on. He gets up with great pain. He turns his head and nearly falls; he loses his orientation and looks around him with alarm, because he doesn't know where to go. Next to the tree, he leans on it and hugs it, looking to find where the trunk is heaviest with moss. In doing so, she whispers: » To the North! North!« Shaking he goes further along into the forest, helping himself along with a branch he’s fashioned into the form of a hiking stick. In the meantime, it's starting to get dark. As he limps through the woods, the picture blurs. Pained efforts at every turn, they now intensify as the terrain rises into a small hill. When he reaches the summit, a beautiful view of the landscape in front of him opens up among the trees, which is just awakening with the first rays of sunrise. Janez collapses and leans against a nearby tree so he can observe the beautiful scene. When he accidentally rubs his hand across a sour clover, he rips it and starts to eat it from starvation, because he hasn't eaten anything for days. The clip concludes on his injured mouth - which is also chewing grass in between the clumps of clover.

49.

SCENE (Burnt Little Village)

The clip begins with Janez's face, painted with dirt and the remnants of clover and both green and yellow grass. He is asleep, as more big flies and other insects become attracted. He brushes and swats them off a few times, and when a big fly crawls into his open mouth, he wakes up and spits it out, shaking and wiping everything off from his head.

He gets up with a deep grimace and then stoops and crawls back out to the top of the ridge. Soon a new view opens up and he sees a small village in the distance. When he clears his eyes a little more, he sees that the village has been burned down and the church demolished. Janez inadvertently whispers: "Water?". He makes his way downhill, even though his leg seems to be hurting more and more. As he smooths through the wound and looks at it more closely, he sees that everything is healed and the skin around the wound becomes blacker; he continues limping forward, shifting his weight along upon nearby trees or stronger bushes. Along the way, he sees more grains in the hay fields and even some deer on abandoned fields. They look pretty familiar to him while they calmly graze on the grass. Janez smiles at them and drops to the ground, then rips some grass to eat it himself. But since the grass is already dry, he can't chew and swallow it, so he almost chokes until he spits out it. He whispers: »Water!« As the sun has already risen quite high, it has by now well warmed up and Janez also begins to wither under the heat, as the overgrown brush thins on the terrain towards the village and there is no longer any tree shadow. When he finally approaches the village, he is dreadfully cautious, pilfering and hiding behind the first apple trees and pears and hayrack. He listens for voices. He only detects chicken and goat sounds. When he finds out there's no people anywhere, he slowly walks through the remains of the burned down village.

50.

SCENE (Old Well)

He discovers an abandoned well at the village’s center; He removes the cover boards and peers in deeply, with hope—

but the well is completely dry. He progresses forward and soon discovers another well; allowing some time for his eyes get used to the darkness, he finds that there is still some water below. Yet as he continues to look and his eyes better focus, he sees that the liquid is more like slurry than water. It's got all kinds of waste, dead rats and other waist. Because his thirst is extreme, Janez looks around him for a container to draw up the water. Somewhere nearby, he spots a rusty old pot, and from a nearby bush he rips off a vine and secures it to the pot. He then throws the pot into the well and tries to pull the water out of it. But it turns out that the pot has a mass of fine holes, losing water as he pulls it up. He tackles the problem by tearing up some grass in the area and trying to plug them. He tries to pull water out of the well a few more times in vain, as the water continues to drain as it had originally. Desperately, he thinks about jumping into the well almost climbing od the wall while whispering: He mutters: "Water, Water"... And yet he changes his mind and tries to pull the water out with the pot again, this time adding a few bunches of grass. He pulls them out, then licks, sitting next to the well, and in this way gets at least a few drops of liquid. He closes his eyes so he can rest again. She whispers: Janez: "People need to know what happened to the prisoners! All killed in a cave... they are calling." He kisses the shrine of the rosary. He gets up and proceeds with another, crudely fashioned walking stick.

51.

SCENE (People in the Second Village)

Janez struggles to continue his journey through an increasingly open landscape, requiring great effort. Repetitive images of legs, sticks, hands, face, eye, lips...

Suddenly, beneath him, he sees a small village beneath him in the valley. He lies down and watches it carefully for a while. Since everything is pretty quiet, he crawls down and onward to the first homestead. He comes right into its courtyard, where there is a house on one side and a barn on the other. When the master comes out of the barn, Janez sees a goliath [[Bucket??]], full of milk, being carried by him. Janez can no longer contain himself and steps forward and asks: Janez: "Good man, help! Give me a drink!"" The master is very scared when he sees in front of him the bloodied, scratched and (still from the explosions) thoroughly blackened, dirty man. Master (with Dolenjska accent):: "From where did you come from? Hey, Meta, come out!"" As he hesitates, Janez just rips the bucket out of his hands and starts drinking from it, with a lot of milk spilling. He can't stop drinking... He just dumps the stick. Meanwhile, the master's wife, Meta, and then also his daughter, Franca, come out of the house. Meta: “Holy Mary! Yes, how does he look?" Franca (whispers to her): "Mom, but is he one of those traitors?" Somehow the master reclaims the empty bucket, and Janez asks him: Janez: "Help! Do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten anything in a week”... All three locals come together and consult, but in a way that Janez can't understand them. Then the master stesp forward: "My wife will bring you an egg. But we don't even have it for ourselves."" The two women leave, but Janez notices that only Meta enters the house, and her daughter slips around the corner and across to the village. He becomes alarmed (a shot of a scared eye) — Janez: "They're killing us! They're going to kill us all." Master: "If we help you, so will they kill all of us!""

When Meta brings two eggs out of the house, Janez grabs them. One of them instantly squeezes, crushes and swallows, along with the shell. He holds the other in his hand carefully. Because he notices that the locals are murmuring and distressfully, he scares off and races towards the nearby forest. Back in the yard, Franca and a Partisan with a rifle appear. Partisan: "Where is he? Where’s the white [Anti-Communist] boy!” Just as they show him the direction where he ran, Jason (still running) looks behind him to see the rifle being aimed to shoot him; before he gets into the shelter of the forest. Because he has a technical problem with the trigger, he's so late that Janez almost reaches the forest. The Partisan shoots a few times, but he obviously misses. He can't make a confusing decision about whether to follow him or get reinforcements. Partisan: "Was he armed?” The master hesitates: "He had something in his hand..." The Partisan decides not to follow him and returns to the village.

52.

SCENE (Night in the Woods)

Janez regained some strength from the milk and egg, and flees through the forest. Along the way, he kisses the shrine "Mary, thank you!”, running at nearly full force. Along the way, he grips the trees with one hand (he watches the egg in the fist of the other) and looks back. Repeating a repetitive picture of legs, sticks, hands, face, eye, lips—only darker now, as night is falling. When Janez encounters some kind of lair, he grabs a few ferns nearby, beds it, and throws himself into the lair. He breathes deeply and looks back and listens.

Janez looks into his fist, where he is still preserving the egg. Carefully he pierces and deliciously drinks the contents. He dumps the shell this time. He kisses the shrine. A shot of the eye, where it can be seen the relief and zeal are returning... He pulls some ferns in closer to himself. Then he closes his eyes and falls asleep. A shade of gloom begins to form in the distance. He's dreaming... There are blurred contours of a typical Slovenian village, a few houses, hayrack, a church on a hill... As the painting approaches one of the homesteads and sharpens, we see a humble woman feeding the hens... That's obviously his mother. Janez: "Mom!" The tone of gloom begins to grow — A bird's singing distorts and transforms into the cry of a wounded bird... When the image lights up, we see Janez's swollen eye, as it slowly opens up. His eyebrows are singed and his eyes are deeply reddened from the gassing. He's in pain. He looks around and sees a beautiful summer morning with an idyllic bird singing. He's happy to notice some water drops on the plant and immediately starts sipping it. Because he's too impatient, he cuts his lips again on the sharp leaves; he sucks a mixture of water and blood. Seeing the sleeve of his shirt just hanging by a short strip, he rips it off, then rolls it into a bunch — Holding it he leans to the other side and urinates on the sleeve; then he sucks it out from the crumpled fabric. Bracing himself, the liquid renews him, and he gets up pretty quickly.

53.

SCENE (Danger in the Village)

Janez now is seen to carry two new sticks - both of which he uses to help him walk much better and faster than before. As the forest dwindles again, a rooster is heard; Janez slows down his pace. Through the last row of bushes, he sees a new village under him, similar to the previous one. He carefully watches for anything suspicious. The scene slowly pans the village, gliding left and right, sometimes slightly zooming in. Janez sees Partisan, Communist party flags in the village, and the view stops at its biggest house, where a few horses are strapped outside and a few machine guns are attached. As two Partisans step out of the house and start to work on the horses, Janez waits for them to leave. Instead, music is heard from the house and a company comes out, at the head of which is the accordion. Others have bottles in their hands and sing various marches. They are celebrating the end of the war. Janez sees that some village dwellers greet them by waving—so he decides to avoid this village. Janez (to himself): "Nothing will be here." And he retreats into the woods, and continues on the road. Along the way, he sees that the forest stream’s banks are rich with blueberry, and that many strawberries are also already ripe. He drops into the blueberries and deliciously begins to eat. Since he already has all the soles cut, he also starts working on protecting them. Because he has also warmed up considerably, he takes off the rest of the shirt, breaks it into two parts and makes makeshift footware out of them by lashing out at large parts of the tree crust. Janez advances further down into the forest. At the bottom of the valley, he encounters a spring with clean water; he immediately lies next to it and the water gets thoroughly, refreshingly drunk.

He's really enjoying it. A shot of his eyes as a reflection in the water... He also washes a little, especially his face. Then again he’s off on a steep climb, which leaves him exhausted again. When he reaches the top of the ridge, a view of the landscape outward from the great hills downslope opens in front of it. It's daunting for Janez. Tired and spent he thinks for a second to just throw himself off and die upon the rocks below. The prospective relief nearly seduces him; he looks up... Then quickly step back, kisses the shrine. Janez: "O remember me, the dearest Virgin Mary!" He firmly continues the path to the left along the ridge.

54.

SCENE (first snack)

When he gets to the edge of the forest by the wide meadow, he sees two girls carrying a basket and some field tools. Janez (whispers to himself): "Because they are hardworking, they are not evil." He waits to catch them a bit closer, and step out of the woods. Janez (softly calls them): “Hello ladies, can you..." The girls are very scared of a half-naked man: Girl: "Jess Mary!" They dump a rake and small pitchfork into the mown grass and they run terrified into the valley. At the end of the meadow, Janez sees two cardigans and a little strudel. He runs over there, grabs it all and goes back to the shelter of the forest. Janez (muttering along the way): "Thank you, thank you!" That's where he unties the wrapped bundle, unfolding the basket’s packet. He is happy to find that there is a bottle of booze and two pieces of bread with some bacon in it.

When he opens the bottle and takes the first sip, he finds it contains cold milky homemade coffee. With the greatest pleasure, he eats and drinks everything; which again gives him the strength and will to move forward.

55.

SCENE (Across the River)

Janez walks along the woods and jumps the trenches. It's getting darker. A tall and wide barbed wire appears in front of him. He tries to climb it by the kol, but he's distracted by improvised vohs. That's why he dumps the tied-up parts of the shirt and everything that's connected to them. It's easier for him to climb the bar bare, but his underwear jams and scratches it. When he sees the landmines tied up next to the wire, he first numbs, then begins to move carefully so that they do not detonate. At the top, he starts to tremor and shake from the effort. He pops and then decides: Janez "Now!"" He jumps off and shings in the plants separating. After a few hundred meters of swampy terrain, a large river appears. It looks pretty deep and fast flowing, but he can get through it. On the other side, he sees the river pouring into yet another, much larger river. He continues his journey through the swamp and the plant separating. It sinks to his waist. Janez (to himself): "My God, show me the way!"" In front of him, a large, dark - terrifying water appears. He climbs into the willow and descends into the water by the upper branch, but the bottom is not reached. Janez: "Boy, without delay! They're waiting for you at home!" 49

He kisses the shrine and he's in the waves. With maximum effort, he swims and barely keeps himself afloat. The sequence frames of his eye and the opposite bank shall alternate, where the floodlights are also reflected in the water. He almost gives in to the unexpected surge of the waves. But when his mother's face comes out of the darkness, he finds the power again: Janez (whispers): "No, no! Home!"" He hits his hands with double powers and crosses threatening waves. A bundle of lights from the opposite side helps him to see the rock bank. In desperation, he kicks off and, with an iron grip, grasps the rocks on the bank. The water still grabs him, but he persists and slowly crawls out of the river onto some large, rounded stones; and is completely exhausted among them. As the thunder and lightning pour in, he lies on his stomach for a while, resting.

56.

SCENE (The Last Hurdles)

Janez gets up feeling dizzy, but makes his way into the dense bushes. SCENE of a moving and faltering shadow that counts steps without goal and willpower. Finally, a few lights appear in front of Janez from an illuminated village. He finds himself on a track between gardens, built with plots. Janez (whispers): "Home village!" When the track turns into a wider road, three dark armed figures are shown from the lights – a Partisan patrol. Janez sees that there is no more time to retreat back, so he throws himself over the line and squeezes to the ground. In a lively conversation, the three figures approach and pass by. A closeup: of a petrified Janez's eye, as he whispers:

"Holy Cross of God!" When they leave, Janez slowly gets up and continues his path along the muddy road during the rain. A shot: his feet walking, meandering down along an array of puddles, and sometimes stopping for a while. There's a dog barking from somewhere. Janez numbs and shivers, and waits for the barking to stop. The rain pours down his desperate face, lit in the village lamp. Janez gets up and moves to the other side of the road. At the time, he slips into a muddy puddle and falls hard, hit his head against a roadside landmark. His face bleeds, but the rain rinses him. With blurred vision now Janez from the other side of the yard sees the famous SCENE of the home, as we saw it before when he dreamed of it. One window is still illuminated. He's having trouble getting up, he's on his feet and he can't decide whether to cross the yard. A smile creeps upon his face. He looks back at where the barn is and he's running towards it. He descends into safe shelter at the other side of the hayrack and blissfully falls asleep. THE SCENE IS COMPLETELY DARKENED.

57.

SCENE (Home)

During the morning’s slow dawning, you can hear the rooster cry. Janez's face is lifeless and scratched, but it’s been washed by the rain and completely pale. He's slowly opening his eyes.

He picks it up, sits down and looks out through the openings in the hayloft’s window towards the house. He's shown the same scene as in his dream: a humble woman who feeds the chickens... He gets up and slowly returns to the yard. Janez: "Mom, it's me, Janez!"" The woman is completely aka her father and can't be sure of her own eyes. The chicken feed container falls out of her hands. Mom: “Jesus, Mary… Janez it that really you?" Janez approaches her. Janez: "Yes, Mom! It's really me!"" He is standing in front of her all wet, hairy, bloodied, with long, wet hair, hairy beard, dented cheeks, swollen eye, torn underpants, boots… Mom: "Oh my God! Yes, you really are?" It makes them both cry. They hug each other. Mom's crying out loud with happiness. She then calls towards the house: Mom: "Louis! Louis! Look who's here!"" Janez: "It's a miracle, Mom! It's a miracle I came home!"" In the meantime, father comes out of the house, and he can't believe his own eyes either. Father: "Janez, Janez! Get in there fast!"" Dad hugs him, too, and pulls them both into the house. Before he closes the door, he checks his eyes to make sure there's no one around.

58. SCENE (In the House) Mom rushes into the pantry and soon brings a pot of milk and a half loaf of bread out from it. They sit at the table, at God's angle.

Janez immediately takes it and starts eating and drinking, in order to regain the life that had so closely and completely seeped out. The bread masses into the mouth, and the milk is quickly drunk in long draughts. His mother chokes back tears, she asks: “My Lord, my poor son; you’re all bone, a living dead man!"" Father: "Where's Niko?" Janez (sighs): "I wish you two knew! Niko? Maybe he'll come again, Niko..." Mom: "There was a rumor here that the English had returned you, but we didn't believe it." Janez: "Neither did we!"" All three hug with tears in their eyes. Mom's the first one to take off and invites him: Mom: "Now, quick: let's go upstairs so you can take your clothes off and change, and then we'll hide you and feed you and heal you." Janez rests his head in her lap: Janez: "Mom, you're so good! How many nights I called you, in my dreams, I saw your caring, beautiful face." Dad walks to the front door and locks them, and then all three of them head up the stairs to the attic. Father and mother support Janez. The picture freezes when all three are in the first plan.

59.

SCENE (feeling of guilt)

Park in front of a modern home of the elderly people. A nice spring sunny day. Obviously also visitation time, as there are a lot of older and younger people in the background. Shot in the first plan (head and shoulders) – from behind – a shredded old man on a bench. In front of him is a visiting family: dad lights a cigarette, his mother makes tea from a thermos, her son lowers a dragon, the little girl is trying to get something from her little purse.

When the little girl fails immediately, she asks the old man to help her: "Grandpa, come on, help me take it out! I'll show you; we took a picture." The old man extends his hand to help her. In the first plan you can see his left hand, which is characterized by the shorter one of the fingers. It is obviously the same, but much older hand, like the scene on the slaughterhouse. He pulls a photo from the girl's purse. On it is a family: a young parent, a boy and a little girl in a loving embrace. The picture blurs and repeats a scene from decades ago: the eyes of the victim in the first plan, which show great disappointment and quiet complaint. The frozen image stays until the end of the movie.

60.

Closing captions:

When Janez, hidden by his parents, recovered after a few months, he managed to secretly escape from Yugoslavia and emigrated to America, where he wrote the memoirs that were also used in this film.

Of the more than 10,000 murdered in the Kočevski Rog, only a few managed to rescue themselves from the caves. Some were discovered and killed within the first year of the rescue. Only a handful survived so the truth could survive through them.

One of them later had a son, who is now a well-known missionary and benefactor of Pedro Opeka. One of them later had a son, who became Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and chaired the Council of Europe. Slovenia had to endure the totalitarian Tito regime for another 45 years – until 1990. Many of the victims don't have a grave where their families can lay flowers.

Many of the victims' relatives still don't know where their loved ones had met their fates. One of them is the author of this script.

Anton Tomažič www.tomazic.info

Any feedback is very welcome to: tone.tomazic@siol.net