Stasi detention centre Hohenschönhausenâmorning
A PRISONER in civilian clothes is led down an apparently endless prison corridor with a linoleum floor, past dozens of cells.
Title on screen: âNovember 1984, Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Detention Centre of the Ministry for State Securityâ
Suddenly red warning lamps come on all along the corridor.
GUARD Stand still. Eyes to the floor.
At the end of the corridor another prisoner in a prison uniform is led past along a corridor that crosses the first. When he has passed through, the red light goes out.
GUARD Walk on.
The guard leads the first prisoner further along the corridor until they stop outside the door of one of the many interrogation rooms.
GUARD Address him as âCaptainâ!
Hohenschönhausen, interrogation roomâat the same time
The interrogation room is decorated with white wallpaper, and sluggish daylight seeps through off-white curtains. The furnitureâshelves and a deskâare made of pale laminated wood. A sickly plant without a single flower stands on the windowsill. Hanging on the walls are a photographic portrait of General Secretary Honecker and a faded landscape photograph showing an autumn forest path. GERD WIESLER, a gaunt man in his mid-forties wearing a plain uniform, stands by the window, hears the knocking and calls over to the door.
WIESLER One moment.
He walks to one of the shelves and opens a drawer containing a tape recorder. He switches it on, shuts the drawer and sits down. His movements are precise and minimal.
WIESLER Enter.
The guard brings the prisoner in, a slightly built man of about 30. He stands rather awkwardly in the room. Wiesler doesnât look up at him. He studies the prisonerâs files on the table.
WIESLER Sit down.
The prisoner does so. He sits down carefully on a chair upholstered with orange fabric.
WIESLER (without looking up) Hands under your thighs, palms down.
Confused, the prisoner obeys. Finally Wiesler looks up.
WIESLER What do you have to tell us?
PRISONER Iâve done nothing. I know nothing⊠Iâve done nothing. There must be some mistake.
WIESLER Youâve done nothing, know nothing⊠You think we imprison innocent people on a whim?
PRISONER No, IâŠ
WIESLER If you think our humanistic state capable of such a thing, that alone would justify your arrest.
The prisoner is speechless in the face of this dialectic.
WIESLER Weâd like to jog your memory, prisoner No. 227⊠On September 28th, Dieter Pirmasens, your friend and neighbour, fled to the West. We believe that he had help.
PRISONER I know nothing. He didnât even tell me he wanted to leave. I first heard about it at work.
WIESLER Please recount what you did on September 28th.
PRISONER Itâs in my statement.
WIESLER Tell me again.
PRISONER (as though speaking by rote) I was at Treptow Park memorial with my children, where I met my old friend Max Kirchner. We went to his place and listened to music until late. He has a telephone, you can call him to confirm this.
Wiesler writes everything down.
PRISONER (obstinately) Do you want to call him? I can give you the number.
Stasi college Potsdam-Eiche, lecture theatreâmidday
PRISONER (on tape)⊠call him? I can give you the number.
A finger presses the âpauseâ button of a large reel-to-reel tape recorder fixed to the wall. Wieslerâs finger. He is standing by the board in a small seminar room. Fifteen young men and women are listening to him: his students. On the board are various technical te...