THE DEATHMAKER
You already know that!
You started school when you were 6?
I can't really say. Probably, yes.
- Did you do well?
- It went alright.
Did you get good grades?
They all liked me a lot.
- Which subjects were easy?
- I did alright in all of them.
- Aren't you fabulous at writing?
- Yes! I used to write even faster.
- Did you take geography?
- Yes. We had a big map.
What's the capital of Germany?
That's Berlin.
I've been there.
What river is Berlin on?
I can't say.
The Leine flows through here.
When did you visit Berlin?
In 1918, when I...
- ... got out of jail.
- You were in jail?
Didn't you know?
Then there was no need to tell you.
How long did you stay in Berlin?
Days, weeks?
No, not for a week. I was traveling
through, got out, and had a look.
What did you see in Berlin?
I can't say.
Oh, yes!
We saw big fat sausages, like this!
Nothing else?
He showed me everything,
but I can't recall.
Did you see any monuments?
- Did you go to the red-light district?
- I don't know where it is.
- Did you bugger any boys?
- Never!
The boy at the station showed me
Berlin!... I haven't shaved yet.
- You didn't have intercourse with him?
- No! I left town!
Didn't shag him?
Come on! What does he think of this?
Did you give him money?
There wasn't any bread!
Only coupons.
And we had some sausages.
He was glad to get something to eat.
So who lives in Berlin?
- I can't say
- Any child would know!
Berlin's so big!
How many people live in Berlin?
- More than in Hanover!
- And in Hanover?
Over a million.
- I don't believe it!
- It's true!
How much is a million?
A million?
We've got those notes nowadays,
haven't we? I've lost track.
Do you know how much a thousand is?
I had one like that.
A hundred is... how much?
10 times 10.
1,000 is... how many times 100?
1,000 marks are...
...well, 1,000 marks!
How many times 100 is 1,000?
Is he here often?
How many 100-mark notes...
...do you have to add up...
...to get 1,000 marks?
Ten, right. Come on, calculating!
Ask me something else.
What is meant by percentage?
Percentage?
Percentages? Never had any.
What is meant by percentage?
- Don't you know?
- Yes, yes, I used to know.
I'd have to think about it.
I can't say just now.
I'll think about it.
You weren't born yesterday?
- No.
- Aren't you a salesman?
- And I bet you're a pretty clever one.
- Yes, sure, but calculating...
I just don't like doing sums!
Is Hanover on the Leine?
Yes.
Where does the Leine flow to?
- Into the sea.
- What sea?
Down to Hamburg. Into the North Sea.
Does the Leine flow
into the North Sea?
That's the Elbe.
Where the big ships are.
- What city lies on the Elbe?
- Hamburg. Hans was there.
- What other city lies on the North Sea?
- Lubeck.
- That's where Frau Krause is from!
- There's another city on the Leine.
Bremen! Herr Hartkopf lived there.
- He used to bring tobacco.
- For your father's factory?
No. Don't say that.
It was my mother's!
What are the cities of Hamburg,
Lubeck and Bremen called together?
Come on!
Hamburg is Hamburg, Bremen
is Bremen and Lubeck is Lubeck.
- Aren't they the Ha...
- Hanover? No.
- Hanse...?
- Never heard of it.
The three Hanse towns.
Yes, that's right. I've heard of that!
Do you know a large river in Germany?
Yes, the Rhine.
I was at the NCO-school there.
- Which city lies on the Rhine?
- Neubreisach.
Another one.
- Strasbourg! I passed through it.
- Another one!
We didn't go any further.
- Where does the Rhine rise?
- In Chur in Switzerland.
Frau Tappe said, "Step across there.
Do you know what you just crossed?"
I said, "No. " She said,
"The Rhine!"
I thought it was just some little stream.
- Where does the Rhine flow to?
- Into... the North Sea.
- And through which country last?
- It has to flow down to Hamburg.
Not through Holland?
No, I don't think so.
The Rhine... is a German river.
The Rhine, the Rhine,
the German Rhine...
Love the fatherland and all is well!
Fritz!
What's happening there now?
What's going on?
Nothing.
Is it all ours?
The Rhine!
- Aren't the French there now?
- The French? What for?
When was the Great War?
I know that. 1918.
- There was a revolution.
- When did it begin?
I wasn't here.
- Aren't you German?
- I am! I was with the infantry.
You must know when the war began.
It must've been...
...early 1914, I think.
This music... I like it.
Name a battle from the war.
Batter?
Name a battle from the war.
- I didn't get it. Say it again.
- You do know what a battle is?
You mean in the field?
- I was a soldier.
- Name a battle from the war.
Koniggratz?
In the Great War!
At Sedan.
When was that?
They took Napoleon prisoner there!
Is Napoleon
still the emperor of France?
- Sure! They've got an emperor.
- Do we still have a Kaiser?
We must have a Kaiser!
- But we don't have a Kaiser.
- Yes, we do!
Who took the Kaiser's place?
Did he die? I didn't know.
Today we are a...
re... pu...
...blic? No. France is one!
Who's head of our Republic?
- Fritze...?
- Fritze is MY name!
- Ebert! Fritze Ebert!
- No, no, never heard of any Ebert, no.
Have you ever heard of Hindenburg?
He lives in Hanover, in Eilenriede.
People said, "Hindenburg's coming!"
There were so many people.
But I never saw him.
Turn around, Fritz.
That's fine. Now walk.
Keep walking!
Satisfied with the food, Fritz?
Yes, very satisfied.
What do they give you?
Last Sunday I had some
nice bouillon and roast...
...some potatoes. All very nice.
What else did you have?
Oh, yes, best of all: cucumber salad!
How's bouillon made?
Bouillon? From meat and bones.
But not pork!
From what else, Fritz?
I know what you're getting at, Inspector.
You mean human bones!
There's no such thing.
There isn't?
How many commandments are there?
- Ten.
- Name one.
Honor your father and mother. Stop!
Did you honor your
father and mother?
My mother, yes, always.
- But not my father.
- Why not?
He always wanted to
send me to Hildesheim!
What did your father do?
He used to be a truck driver.
Then he quit and married my mother.
She had a little cigar factory.
She employed ten people!
Even as a little boy I had to work.
That's why I couldn't stand him!
And he always yelled at me,
"You scaredy-pants!"
I couldn't help shitting my pants.
I didn't want to!
One commandment says:
"Thou shalt not steal. "
- What does "steal" mean?
- To swipe stuff.
- I never did that.
- Weren't you punished a lot?
No. The others stole the stuff
and brought it to me. Then I bought it.
- Is that allowed?
- Yes,
if you want to stay alive.
What do you call
"buying stolen goods?"
- It's called "receiving?"
- Is that punishable?
- That's what I said! The landlady...
- Is receiving punishable by law?
You shouldn't do it.
And why shouldn't you do it?
- Well, they swiped the stuff.
- Why isn't swiping stuff allowed?
- Most people do it.
- I don't.
No. But most of the people
I know from the station do.
My brother Willy... He doesn't steal.
He's awful honest!
- You've been begging a lot, right?
- Yes.
Is begging allowed?
They gave me 3 months.
- Why is begging punished?
- Why?
God. I never did it again afterwards.
- A policeman said, "Come with me!"
- You could've worked.
Nobody wanted me! I showed them
my military papers at the factory.
It says: In-va-lid! They said,
"We don't want people like that!"
I went round the shops
and said I was a disabled veteran.
That I wanted to buy things but couldn't
pay much. And I got suits and shoes.
Sometimes for free!
Later I sold the stuff with Hans.
Are you allowed to use
a married man's wife?
What's that?
Are you allowed to
use a married man's wife?
No, I never did that!
- But Hans did, with Dorchen.
- What do you call that?
It's not allowed. It's... whoring.
What's the deed called when a
woman does it?
I didn't do anything else.
- Isn't it adultery?
- Yes. That's what they say.
Is it allowed?
People can do it if they want. I don't.
Did you have intercourse with women?
- With my fiance! A decent girl.
- What's her name?
Erna. She was a good girl.
A pretty girl.
Is she married now?
- Yes, she has been for a long time.
- And before that?
Didn't you have intercourse
with other women?
No, never!
You mean the thing with the
butcher Karl's daughter?
I got sick from her!
- Butcher Karl! That's humbug!
- Never!
- Of course! No one will believe you!
- You can do what you want!
One commandment says:
"Thou shalt not kill!"
- Yes.
- You didn't always keep it, did you?
I didn't mean to do it!
How many did you kill?
It was a pretty fair portion.
Weren't you sorry?
I didn't mean to.
He has beautiful hands.
Didn't you ever think about all the
parents you made unhappy?
- They were just joy-boys!
- Are you any better?
I wasn't on the game!
They came up to me saying,
"Uncle Fritz... we want to do it. "
How many did you tempt into doing
such disgusting things?
- I'm leaving. Tomorrow.
- Where do you want to go?
I'll notify them here and be off to
Hanover. Where the revolution is.
- Is it still on?
- Who told you that?
- They're storming the court!
- Who?
- That's why they sent me here!
- Where?
Here, with you, to Gottingen!
- And who am I?
- You're a professor! At the court!
A professor at the court?
There are also doctors
in the police force!
We'd better stop.
You can stay a little longer.
Is that your son?
Who is Christ?
Our savior.
We always go to church
where he's hanging.
Why do we celebrate Easter?
That's when they put
Lord Jesus on the cross.
The Jews yelled,
"Crucify him! Crucify him!"
Why?
Now they're yelling at me like that.
I never did them any harm,
the communists.
It must've been the same back then.
That hurts!
Bumping your head like that.
You've got a nice pencil.
What's the difference between a
staircase and a ladder?
The difference between a staircase
and a ladder?
The ladder is outside and leads up to
the roof. Stairs...
Stairs are in the house.
My parents had a long ladder.
An awful long one. It went up to
the roof. We had chickens too.
- Why do you say that?
- The ladder was near the hen house!
Once the chickens were killed nobody
liked eating them. We gave them away.
- Who killed them?
- Edel the barber came to do that.
He killed as many chickens
as we had chicks.
We always ran away when he came.
I still can't stand the sight!
But you slaughtered people!
No, they were dead already.
So I had to take them away.
That's what they all say out there!
Don't die on us!
You don't die from that, no...
Would that be so bad?
So execute me!
- It happens real fast!
- How do you know?
I always feel like...
...I lived once before!
And they chopped my head off.
It went really smoothly.
Where was that?
Must've been a long time ago.
Where was it?
Where was it, where was it?
Maybe it wasn't even here, in Germany.
I think it was in...
...Rabitsch! Where I was in prison.
That was a long train trip!
You really believe that?
These things happen!
I believe these things happen!
I've got a gaslight at home!
That's much nicer.
I mean, with a match!
That's a lot brighter.
Look how it shines.
- What is snow?
- We get it in winter, at Christmas.
In the summer we get rain
and thunderstorms.
What is ice?
We get that in winter too.
When it's real cold it freezes over.
- What?
- The ice!
Just thinking about it makes me shiver!
What's the difference
between ice and water?
Ice-skating... skate.
Water... drinking!
What comes first:
lightening or thunder?
Wasn't that thunder?
What comes first?
A thunderstorm is...
There wasn't one today, was there?
- No.
- There'll be one!
How can you tell?
It gets dark...
That's not thunder.
I thought it was thunder.
Praying?
What makes you think that?
My mother always prayed
during a thunderstorm.
- Why?
- She did a lot of praying.
Why during a thunderstorm?
During a thunderstorm she'd put the
moneybags on the table.
She was rich!
She had three large bags!
One was full of gold!
The others full of silver.
Then she'd take out
her hymnal and pray.
Why did she put the moneybags
on the table?
We lived alone in the house.
We might get hit by lightening.
And everything would burn up!
What do you know
about the Good Lord?
He's in heaven.
And when you're dead...
We'll all be up there.
With Him!
We'll do fine then!
Mother's in heaven. And my sister.
And now I want to go there too.
My mother's waiting for me.
Your mother'll be shocked
when she finds out.
I won't tell her.
I'd rather tell her how my relatives
treated me. They didn't look out for me.
She'll find out about the execution.
Right.
You can see it!
- I'll tell her there was a war on.
- People aren't decapitated in war.
She can't see that! I'll know whether
I'll get in! No one else knows!
Do we all go to heaven?
We all get in.
No.
Only the good. There's also a hell.
That's where the devil is.
He's got horns and a cloven hoof,
like my mother always told me.
But I haven't seen him yet.
Mother always talked about his cloven
hoof! I don't know if she saw him.
Have you seen the Good Lord?
No...
There's a big garden with
beautiful trees and flowers.
We can play there.
And there's music.
We can sing. So my mother told me.
Can we actually see God?
Yes, when you're up there.
I have seen Him in pictures.
He's got this beautiful long white beard.
But I don't want to see my father.
The ones I killed...
...are they up there too?
But they won't tell, will they?
I smashed their heads to pieces!
I smashed them!
I...
They can't see without eyes!
They can't harm me up there.
- Will the Good Lord let you in at all?
- My mother's up there.
She'll see to it that I get in.
Don't you know her?
She used to laugh so nice.
- I thought you'd come this morning.
- No, Fritz, I was too busy.
All that work!
The inspector said he'd brought you
some more files.
Do you know how many
there are on you?
Yes, a whole wagon full.
- What about the boy from Dusseldorf?
- He was from Kassel.
They were here last night.
- Who?
- His brother, I think.
We talked sensibly.
He said I was a handsome person.
You were discharged by the military
in 1902 with a pension.
- Why the pension?
- Because of my heart.
Not because you were
sick in the head?
- Are we back to that again?
- I have to.
I have an enlarged pericardium.
The MO told me I was a pretty boy.
I look like a beautiful apple.
But my heart's got a worm in it.
What were you doing in the
military hospital?
- They said I fainted during maneuvers.
- Don't you recall?
- No, they told me I keeled over.
- How long were you unconscious?
I don't remember. I was there for a long
time. About six months.
Then they sent me to Strasbourg,
then someone brought me to Bitsch.
I stayed in Bitsch for a long time and
helped Mariechen.
Who is Mariechen?
The cook! She used to say,
"Fritz, you have such beautiful eyes!"
We were close friends.
The sergeant was jealous. He thought
we were smooching. He threw me out.
- Did you sleep with her?
- Never! I washed dishes. The MO said,
"Don't worry, Fritz, go help Mariechen. "
Was he mad, the sergeant!
I had a good time there.
I write fast too,
but not that fast!
- Did you have fantasies?
- Fantasies? Never!
- Heard voices?
- No!
- Did you have cramps?
- Professor!
Were you sick at all?
They were all mad I was doing good
afterwards!
- In what way?
- I could take walks in the garden.
The sergeants always
wanted to harass me!
- Why?
- Kunze said I had no style!
What gave him that idea?
I told Franz, the MO,
and they moved me.
Were you thoroughly checked?
I undressed, he listened, and
patted me to make me dress again.
Didn't you calculate anything?
- He asked me about my sister.
- Not even 1 x 1?
- No.
- He didn't ask where the sun rises?
No. Just: "How are you?"
- He didn't ask about the 12 months?
- Only you have!
Do you want to tell me the truth?
Yes.
As sure as my mother's in her grave.
I always say that.
Aren't you exaggerating?
- I wasn't sick at all!
- Weren't you playing the fool?
Oh, please!
That's what I think:
you played the fool.
Your friends insist you know the names
of the 12 months!
- Lies!
- It's on record.
- Who said so?
- Hans did.
He also said you were a lot
more clever than you act.
I'm not that stupid.
- But you play the fool.
- No one ever told me that!
They used to say you're an idiot!
You shouldn't do that.
You're like my old man!
You're no idiot!
- I don't think so, either.
- But you played the idiot!
Oh, my God! No.
I think you're still faking!
What more do you want to know?
You don't know Ebert,
but you used to curse him off.
- Leinert!
- No, Ebert!
No, Leinert is always making trouble.
You were a Social Democrat?
No, I don't vote.
And my sister doesn't, either.
I think you're making fun of us.
Stop coming.
I come here professionally.
Then quit. I mean,
it only takes a split second.
We'll stop now.
Listen, don't give me that!
I don't want to hear that when you
come back!
Because it's disgusting?
No, that's alright. But when I tell people
things they invent stuff.
Be reasonable. Let's be reasonable.
Look... I killed them off.
I really killed them off.
One more or less...
I'll be executed anyway.
- Many parents miss their sons.
- I can't say, there were so many.
Only yesterday Herr Ratz
showed me a picture of a cute boy.
I said,
"I would have killed him, too!"
- Aren't you ashamed, telling us that?
- Why? You asked me, now I'll tell you!
You're a disgrace to your family!
- I'm not married.
- What about your sisters?
My sisters? Really?
Your brothers are too ashamed
to be seen in public!
- Willy!
- I never met such swine.
- It's not disgusting.
- Isn't it a terrible sin?
I didn't mean to.
- We'll talk about that later.
- Yes, yes. I'm leaving tomorrow!
You're staying. I'll decide that!
You're not telling the truth!
- What else should I say?
- You're laughing at us!
- Why?
- There isn't a shred of decency in you!
They set you against me!
You're flaring up.
- You shouldn't do that.
- You...
- You were so happy the other day.
- You lied...
...while you were begging.
You stole, received, killed,
and together with Hans you sold the
dead boys' clothes!
I'm decent.
- You're not!
- Even you said so at first.
I didn't know the facts. Can a man who
killed 17 people be decent?
That many?
It can't have been just me.
There are more! 22 right thigh-bones
were found in the Leine!
Not all were mine!
- You gave people fat!
- What fat?
Human fat. It's been proven!
- You fried shrimps in it!
- You believe that?
You made bouillon, sausages,
brawn... No one ever made so much!
No.
There never was a mass murderer like
you!
No, there never was.
- Did you really enjoy doing it?
- One more or less...
Did you ever think of the parents?
- Those joy-boys!
- Are you any better?
- That's not true!
- I'm the finest man in Hanover!
Most certainly not!
The boys always said,
"Fritz, you're a good guy. "
A guy like you must be removed from
society.
- Then let them chop my head off!
- You'll hear that in court.
- Don't ever do that again!
- Don't make such a fuss!
Who's making a fuss here?
You can get dressed.
Will you be needing me?
That's for the Wassermann reaction.
Did you masturbate
when you were a boy?
Did you learn to at school?
Alfred Schmidt always put
his hand in my pocket.
A friend of yours?
No. He was so fat.
Did you have pals or friends?
No.
Why not?
Because...
I used to...
...shit my pants.
- Did you play with girls at the time?
- No!
- I meant ballgames and things.
- No.
I had to work. Other kids were allowed
to play, but not me!
My old man...
- Did you play with dolls?
- No.
I got one once,
but it was broken in no time.
Did you play at cooking?
My sister's friends did. I'd watch them
and they'd give me a share.
Did you do foolish things
with other boys at the NCO school?
No, never.
- On your own?
- No, we all slept together.
- You were on your own at times?
- Could be.
When did you first sleep with a girl?
With my fiance, with Erna.
- Was she younger than you?
- No.
We were the same age.
Where did she live?
In one of the houses
that belonged to my parents.
- Your parents didn't approve?
- No, her father was a worker.
She was a good girl.
If I had been married to her...
...it wouldn't have happened!
She would have kept an eye on me!
Do you remember the first time you
slept with her?
She cried. Like this.
Afterwards she was silent.
I always went up when her parents
were out.
Didn't they approve?
He was a machinist at Konig & Erhard's.
He loved his wife so much that he hung
himself when she died.
What happened to Erna?
- She got married.
- To whom?
My sister knows. I cried a lot at home
because I didn't get her.
Is she the one who slept
with the barber later on?
That's her!
Why was she unfaithful?
After Willy had told her I'd been to
Hildesheim she no longer wanted me.
- Was it nice with a girl?
- It was great.
- You enjoyed it?
- Yes. We smooched like crazy.
Did you ever have another girl?
Nobody wanted me!
Frau Birnrnstiel used to grab me down
there, so I hit her. She reported me!
The police told her,
"You can't do that!"
She was 65!
When did you first shag a boy?
When did I...?
- You mean at school?
- No, you told me about that.
I...
- Fraenkel!
- Fraenkel?
Out of the blue this guy starts
talking to me!
Student type, with glasses, about 40.
He said, "You can come along. "
He had a nice apartment
and I should come up.
I didn't want to at first.
But it was getting dark, so I went with
him after all. He made coffee,
hugged me and kissed me all over.
- With his tongue?
- The works!
I said, "Men don't kiss each other!"
And he said,
"I want a handsome boyfriend!"
So I often spent the night there.
Did somebody just knock?
He did it to me.
It was my turn, but I didn't!
Then he wanted me from behind...
...and I shit in the bed!
Did he stick his member in your anus?
I got scared and went home!
How old were you?
About 25 or 20. Then one day
there was a knock on the door.
My sister: "Fritz, a gentleman!"
But he was already inside!
I said, "Man, how did you get here?
Man, you can't do that!"
He said, "You promised to come back,
but you didn't!" Then he left.
- So my sister wouldn't be suspicious.
- Was she?
Listen. So he's gone, right?
He had a good suit.
My sister said, "Who on earth was that?
He looks so weird!
Don't ever let him in again!"
He taught me how to jerk off.
Did you sleep with other men?
He told me the boys
hung out at Kropke's,
the theatre or the station
when it rains.
What's nicer:
with a boy or with a girl?
When I still had my fiance,
that was nicer. Yes, that was nice.
And later?
Later it was nice too.
If the boys were pretty.
What makes a boy pretty?
You can see that right away!
Well built, a pretty face...
Beautiful eyes...
Could he wear glasses?
No, no. I didn't take them then.
A beard?
Can't stand that!
Large member?
That wasn't necessary, as long as he
was tender and kissed nice.
Did the boys know what to do?
Of course they did, they're joy-boys!
What did you pay them?
They were glad they had a place to
spend the night.
When did you suck for the first time?
Fraenkel did it to me the first time.
I didn't know about it up to then.
Did you like it?
I thought he was going to bite me,
but he didn't. It was nice.
That's all disgusting!
No, it's nice.
- He's being corrupted.
- Is it decent?
- They all do it.
- I don't.
No?
I thought everybody did.
- Is homosexual intercourse allowed?
- Yes!
My sister took me to the police.
She wouldn't have it.
They said, "With kids it's punishable,
with grown-ups it's OK."
What section?
- There's no section on that.
- You said so.
- 175? That's "from behind".
- It covers sucking too.
Really?
No...
Only from behind.
- Which acts are not allowed?
- From behind.
- What's it called?
- Back-door work.
- Why is it not allowed?
- If you shove too hard...
Why do the police forbid it?
They won't have it.
The Good Lord won't have it either.
- He won't have it!
- Isn't that in the Bible?
- In "Romans 10".
- What does it say?
Men shouldn't seek satisfaction
in unnatural ways. And things.
Or women! The Good Lord
doesn't want us to, so I didn't.
Isn't buggery unnatural?
What else can you do?
I said I've got this headache!
I've got to have one. I can't go on!
I'll get really sick!
I can't give you a boy!
- Then chop my head off!
- He'd be dead!
I wouldn't do that.
You could keep an eye on me.
Don't lock the door. You'll hear us.
There are handsome students here.
From India. With beautiful eyes.
Attendant Schweimler told me.
He saw them here.
Do you know that
homosexuals are despised?
Never! I told my sister
I can't do it with girls anymore!
It doesn't work!
Did you try again?
I went to a brothel. In Brunswick.
She played with me there.
And I got a little hard.
But that was it.
I gave them money and left.
It didn't work!
- You were ill once?
- No.
You told us so.
Right! When the revolution was on!
My sister said, "Fritz, what's wrong?
You look terrible. Go see a doctor!"
So I went. He said,
"Well, that's gonorrhea
if ever there was!"
And gave me some tea.
One of the fairies told me the tea was
junk and told me to jerk off more.
That hurt!
Then some blood came.
And after 3 weeks it was gone.
The fairies called it the
"kill or cure" method.
And the next morning they were dead.
How can you laugh about that?
Don't get angry.
- No one can bite someone to death.
- They were dead.
You used to say you strangled them!
They all say...
I squeezed them like this.
- So it must be true.
- Didn't the boys fight back?
As I said, one of them scratched me!
Maybe one of them cried, "Fritz!"
But maybe I dreamed it.
- You must be very skilled!
- Well, if you bite right here...
- They couldn't talk, they were dead.
- I don't believe it.
No? When I woke up in the morning
I could see my teeth marks right here!
I should know best what happened!
Were you aroused when you bit them?
I didn't want to bite them.
We talked and sucked a little.
Then all of a sudden it happened.
Next morning they'd be lying there.
- Weren't you afraid?
- I was! Sometimes I cried.
When they were beautiful.
Were they cold?
Yes.
One was crooked. I couldn't
straighten him up. He'd turned blue.
- Why was that?
- Don't know.
I woke up and he was dead.
I turned over real quick.
When I woke up again
he was lying there all crooked.
I got out of bed and laid him on the floor.
He'd turned all blue.
I felt sick and went to bed again.
What did you do then?
Well, I got up...
...and had some coffee.
- Was it good?
- I made it myself!
Good coffee. Tastes good.
Even after a boy had died?
I put a blanket over him.
Put it over him.
The boy didn't move again?
No.
Well, the ones that went home again,
they had some coffee.
What did you do with the corpses?
I cut their bodies open with a knife.
I cut them wide open.
What happened then?
- Everything came out!
- And then?
Well, I cut this off here.
Took out the bowels.
- And threw them in a bucket.
- And then?
- Dumped them in the toilet.
- It didn't get clogged up?
- I cut them up!
- With what?
- With a knife.
- What sort of knife?
- The kind you use to peel potatoes!
- You cut up the bowels too?
Yes, in small pieces.
It's all rumpled up.
I cut them up and threw them away.
When I get another one I'll show you
how I do it. It's so simple.
Is it easy to cut open the chest?
Listen.
It's really easy.
Just let the knife slide through.
Then I opened it up.
- The heart's inside.
- What else?
- The lungs. I cut them up too.
- On what?
- On what?
- On what surface?
They were in there!
The blood would've been everywhere!
- You cut them up inside the body?
- My hands were bloody up to here!
You can't do it in one go.
You have to take a rest. Or lie down.
Did you sleep well?
Yes.
How did you cut off the legs?
- Like this.
- And then?
Then I loosened the fat parts,
took off the red meat,
then cut out chunks this size,
and then I took the bones out.
What did you do with the fat?
- I cut it up in little pieces.
- How big?
About this big.
Check it.
How many centimeters?
6 cm.
Maybe smaller, maybe bigger.
Wasn't there any blood?
Just a little. That's nothing!
Cutting out the heart, that's bloody!
What did you do with the blood?
- Put it in a bucket.
- And the meat?
Threw it in the Leine a few times.
How often?
6 or 7 times.
Until everything was gone.
There's not much to a human being.
In a briefcase under your arm.
What did you do with the skin?
- Went into the water, too! Here, there!
- Did you have a look?
- I watched it float away.
- And the bones?
I took a newspaper, wrapped them up
and threw them in.
Did they float?
Splash! And they were gone.
- And the fingers?
- Into the toilet.
- Into the toilet...
- I cut them in half!
Was it easy?
It's hard work!
But they smell if you keep them.
I did that once.
And lots of worms came out!
What did you do?
I couldn't cut any meat then.
I couldn't.
What did you do with the toes?
You can't throw them into the water.
They float!
So what?
All the boys play there!
They go fishing there! They'd hear!
- They'd say, "Fritz threw them in!"
- Why would they suspect you?
You could see me throwing the stuff in!
Once they asked me,
"Fritz... what are you throwing in there?"
"I'm feeding your fish!"
That's what I told them.
What did you do with the genitals?
Went into the toilet, too.
Did you rub them
to see if they'd get stiff?
- You don't do that. They're all bloody!
- Sucked them?
No, not then.
Did you cut them up in small pieces?
I had to! In 3 or 4 pieces.
The damned things are hard to cut up.
They kept slipping away,
the damned things.
And the toilet never got clogged up?
I threw them in, pressed the button,
and swoosh!
They were gone.
Was your member hard
when you cut up the corpses?
No... I don't want to
talk about it anymore.
What did you do with the skulls?
Like this.
I cut in here with the knife and
all the way round, like the Indians!
It's in the books, I've seen it!
I cut off the hair,
and threw everything in a bucket
and into the toilet.
And then?
With the cleaver. Like this...
I told you.
I've got this little cleaver.
Did the skullcap come off easily?
Are you kidding?
The fingernails... It hurts.
I had to pry it open with my cleaver!
It cracked a little.
It's... like a pot, round.
I had to get it off.
A skin covered the brain.
What did you do with it?
I cut it up and took out the brain.
A man has 3 brains.
3 pieces.
Did you take the skin off the face?
No, I couldn't.
I took a cloth and whacked it.
Pounded it!
Sick?
Have some water.
What was underneath the skull?
A doormat. And on top of that
I put some rags and my jacket,
so it wouldn't...
...bump!
Did you cut the eyes out?
No, I covered them with a hanky.
I didn't want them to look at me.
But they were dead!
Yes, but they say that...
the spirit lives on.
You believe they could still see?
Not if their eyes were covered.
Could they see when they were dead?
You're supposed to see everything.
Nonsense! You're no fool!
My mother used to say a dead person
hears and sees everything!
My sister, too. Go and ask my sister!
How long did it all take?
The first times...
...it took me days. Awfully long.
Later I only needed 1 or 2 days.
What did you do when
everything was gone?
Lay down in bed! I was real sick:
Nauseous, headaches.
- I couldn't eat a thing.
- Why?
If you were dead like that
you wouldn't look pretty either!
Were you sorry?
I always cried.
I felt paralyzed.
Then why did you do it
over and over again?
I didn't want to.
So many of them went away again.
It had happened. What could I do?
That's enough! Every time I think
about it I get a headache!
I didn't want to take
Fromm with me again.
Why not?
He was such a cute boy! So sweet.
He took me in his arms so nice.
He'd been to Hamburg.
He really could smooch!
I couldn't say,
"Man, I'm going to kill you!"
So how did your arrest come about?
I kept saying,
"Go away! Go away!"
But he always came back.
So I told him,
"I don't want you to. No way!"
When he tried to force me to take him
along, I reported him to the police.
The police?
I would've bitten him to death.
He was so horny!
But the police couldn't know about it?
No, I'm not that stupid.
When I had him arrested
he got really cheeky.
Talked about queers and stuff.
Then they said,
"Fritz, you'll stay here as well!"
I said, "I don't care. "
Had you been arrested
for the same reason before?
Yes, they always sent me to court-
prison and let me go.
They let you go?
It's not punishable.
Why didn't they let you go this time?
Because they'd found some heads.
And how was your guilt ascertained?
At the police station they...
...sort of punched me around.
I was black and blue.
Afterwards Inspector Ratz
came and said,
"Come on, Fritz, tell us about it!"
I said, "If you stop hitting me!"
He said, "No one'll hurt you here. "
So I told them.
How did he know you
killed Robert Witzel?
He knew more,
wanted to know everything.
Did they show you clothing?
They showed me all the stuff.
I said, "It's probably like you say. "
- Was Witzel horny, too?
- He wouldn't be dead otherwise!
If he goes to Hanover
they'll get him, too.
How many did you kill?
3, 4 dozen?
Dozen? Don't you start!
There can't have been that many!
- I keep saying, 10 or 20.
- They found 22 right thigh-bones!
They showed them to me. Add them to
the list. Or 100, it doesn't matter.
Where they're buried
there'll be a big monument...
- ... with my name on it.
- Your name?
What will it say?
"These are victims...
...of the mass murderer...
...Fritz Haarmann. "
It'll be an attraction. For 1,000 years!
They'll all come and see it.
They've made books and magazines.
There'll be novels, too. I'm famous!
It isn't nice to be a famous murderer.
It's the only way. Now everybody
knows me. Everywhere!
I'd rather do without the fame.
- You're famous now, too.
- Because I have to talk to you!
- You see!
- They're sorry for me.
They think I'll...
No, I'm such a good person!
Why were you in Hildesheim?
My old man's fault.
You did foolish things with a child.
- That was Willy.
- What nonsense!
- Now you're starting, too.
- You were in court for child abuse!
Lies!
You said you didn't
give it a second thought.
I said that? Rubbish!
- You were examined.
- I don't know.
Was your mother's sister insane?
- No.
- Your father said so.
You see? There we go again.
He's always butting in.
You were in the Langenhagen asylum?
Stop talking about insanity!
Rip that old stuff up.
It's all nonsense. Insanity!
If they'd kept me there
I'd be insane now!
I've never seen anything like it.
- How long were you there?
- A long time.
They kept me there for a whole year.
I beat it. You could just walk out
into the street.
Once there was no one with us,
and then... Fritz flew the coop!
When did you run away?
- Couldn't tell you.
- But I could!
He knows everything
but keeps asking!
The police searched
but never found you.
No, they didn't.
My sister talked to my mother...
"My sister talked to my mother,"
and they sent me to
acquaintances in Switzerland.
I want to take a break.
Yes. You take a rest.
- It's raining again.
- Really?
When I woke up this morning
it was nice.
The sun.
- Then I'm always happy.
- The sun shines on...?
The sun shines on
the good and the bad.
- Do you know him?
- He looks familiar.
- Where did you meet him?
- Where did we meet?
- I asked you!
- No idea! He looks so sad!
You recognize him
with absolute certainty?
I do.
Where did he live?
Opposite the Jewish temple.
What was his apartment like?
It was a small garret.
With a narrow iron bed.
On the left a window
to the Jewish temple.
What was next to the door?
A small table and chairs.
A pot hung from the ceiling.
Yes, he was there.
He looks familiar.
Somehow.
He must've lost weight.
- How much did he offer?
- 50 marks.
Come on! 50 marks?
I never handled money that way.
Why did he tie you up?
To get horny?
Did we jerk off?
No.
Then I don't believe you.
I'll swear to it in court.
I know those reformatory delinquents!
They always make up stories.
And if they're asked
they get mixed up in their own lies!
Did you tell anyone you were tied up?
Just Dr. Stock.
I thought of it when I read
about the clothing. I asked a boy.
I knew the Jewish temple,
but not the street.
- Do you know Bohnert?
- Yes.
- Didn't you steal my cane?
- You gave it to me.
I saw him with Bohnert at the fair.
- Is that true?
- No.
What about tying him up?
He read it somewhere. A pack of lies!
- No it isn't.
- It is!
He's in on the game.
He approached me and came along.
I didn't want to smooch. Next morning
he jerked off in front of me.
What a splendid memory you have!
Yes.
- You know everything, if you want to!
- Yes.
Kress had scabies
when he came to you.
Well, I'll be damned. What a pig!
He says you sucked
his scratched arm.
I didn't suck it!
- Only the neck. That's a lie!
- Are you sure?
I must've done it
when I was half asleep.
Oh, thank God...
I didn't catch it.
There was something in the food.
Yes.
Yesterday I was still really jolly.
But when I lay down
the room started spinning.
I think it was Schweimler. He put
poison in it. He's been so friendly!
Since he returned from Hanover...
They stirred him up. I'm sure of it!
It can't be.
I'll keep some of the food this
afternoon. You have it checked!
If you want to chop my head off
you shouldn't do that!
You could look like
you're dead and be buried alive!
Then knock on the coffin.
It'll be opened.
My mother did that too in her coffin.
I told my family when we buried her.
I heard it very clear.
- What kind of poison?
- I don't know.
Otherwise the food's alright?
Last night it was salty.
Yesterday afternoon it was terrible.
- It used to be so good. I liked it.
- Maybe the cook's in love?
That doesn't make you sick.
Herr Reich said you might get
something to make you sleep.
But poison?
He didn't think so.
But I felt it really clear!
Headaches all day!
- Even now!
- I've also got a headache.
You know... I tried to poison myself
once. At the military hospital.
My father wrote about that thing
in Hildesheim. I took something red.
Where they put their knives in.
I had a piece this big!
I don't know what it's called. Tell me!
- Sublimate.
- Yes!
I went to the toilet and swallowed it.
But it came up again.
It didn't work.
A proverb says:
3 weeds grow apace.
- You're kidding again!
- Do you know it?
A saying. It doesn't apply to me.
It applies...
...to good for nothings.
Fritz, I...
- You know what I was about to say?
- You wanted to tease me again.
But when you know people well,
you joke around. I used to get upset.
But not anymore. If you said,
"Fritz take this, it's poison,"
I'd take it.
You gave me something
once already!
It worked didn't it?
Yes, in Hanover they gave me aspirin.
It tastes a little...
...sourish.
It's the blend that makes it piquant.
Nobody can fool me
when it comes to cigars.
I don't even have to smoke them.
I only need to...
That's how much I know about them.
I'd like to take you in my arms.
Don't be afraid, I won't bite.
But when I like people that much
I take them in my arms.
Fritz, we've got company.
You're supposed to say "hello" first.
- Machnik.
- Dr. Machnik from Munich.
- An exhausting day.
- The man from Hanover came again.
- How many cases are there?
- No idea.
But he knows a lot of it is humbug.
Lots of them just testify
to get the witness money.
He brought a cute boy along.
Herr Bauernfeld claims he heard
screams coming from your room.
Pure fantasy!
I'd moved out long before!
Frau Engel claims you agreed to clean
your room yourself when you moved in.
- Yes. My room is my business!
- Did she know of your acquaintances?
Yes. Her boy was queer. She hated it.
He used to knock until I let him in.
You're sitting in the sun.
Sit down here.
Frau Linderer saw you
leaving with the briefcase.
Could be.
- She also saw meat.
- She's lying! The flap covered it.
- Were you always careful?
- Yes!
They were curious,
and always watched.
Frau Linderer also says
she heard you saying,
"Bend over. Bend over!"
I could punch her in the face
for lying like that!
She used to say,
"He's got a broad up there again!"
The children heard it, too.
That's nonsense! They were always
swearing at each other.
"You lying old pig!"
She called her husband.
And he said,
"You whore!"
Ask around how they dishonored
themselves. And I told them so!
Always quarrelling with Engels. They
wanted me in the middle! What riff-raff!
What lies!
Just you wait!
Bunch of liars!
That makes me mad.
Frau Wegehenkel claims you had
company everyday.
Everyday? Come on!
So how often?
I was always dead tired.
I had to stay in bed!
When I went out into the street
the boys came running up again!
Didn't you kill some of them
to get clothes?
- Hans always speculated on that.
- Hans brought you those boys?
He made them horny.
So they'd smooch me good.
He should be executed too!
No, we don't want that.
He's still so young
and just careless.
I think he'll be executed anyway.
Then I won't say any more.
Let them chop my head off!
I killed them!
After it happened...
...he always took me in his arms,
and kissed me...
...and said,
"You're my best.
Let's be faithful to each other. "
And then he always...
I was glad when someone was with me.
Let's talk about something else.
You can talk here.
Sausages and meat.
Always bringing up
sausages and meat!
- We must discuss it.
- Ask Ahrberg! Ask him!
- What makes you say that?
- He told me.
You talked to him?
At the police station!
He was an expert!
Expert on what?
He's a butcher! He owns the biggest
slaughterhouse in Hanover!
He told me he didn't sell anything
at the shooting fair.
They all wanted Haarmann's sausages!
- Let's talk about Witzel.
- Not him again!
Those are the communists.
They've been in the papers most often.
Professor, I advise you to end
this whole thing.
Your nerves will crack!
What have the Witzels got to do
with communists?
They're joy-boys!
Now they're trying to look good, but
they've been living on it for years!
Especially that other Witzel.
He's a pig!
When he was outside Kropke's, he
used to come up and grab at my pants.
A disgusting little lout!
I didn't like them that brazen.
What's he got to do with communists?
The Witzels are communists!
If I'd known I wouldn't
have given him a glance.
Why not?
They always want to...
Communists wear a yellow pin here.
Disgusting people. I don't like them.
Frau Engel is a communist, too.
She beat me up!
What do communists want?
They don't believe in any god.
When I talked to Frau Engel about God,
she threw me out right away.
I told her,
"One day, when you're sick and dying,
you'll pray to God!"
I've read the Bible so often. I know.
What else do communists want?
They don't want Kaiser,
don't want to work.
but to take away
other people's money.
Go ask around in Hanover!
Why are the communists angry at you?
Because I liked being a soldier
and I stood up for the Kaiser.
- But if you said so, you were beaten!
- Are you afraid of the communists?
They wanted to tear me apart,
turn the car upside down,
saw off...
...my head slow and lock me up alive in
the lions' cage at the zoo!
- There once was an apostle...
- In the Bible!
- He pulled a thorn out of a lion's paw.
- Who was it?
- I couldn't tell you anymore.
- But I know.
Maybe you only read it today!
Wasn't it Daniel?
In the lion's den?
The lion didn't harm him!
He won't harm you either,
when you whisper in his ear,
"I am Fritz Haarmann!"
Dogs can smell it.
They never harm me either.
They know I'm their friend.
Your last wish?
A nice cheese sandwich,
a nice cup of coffee...
...and a nice cigar.
When we've finished our coffee
we can go.
But don't touch!
They should say that Fritz Haarmann...
...went to the scaffold...
...with colossal, fearless,
military courage!
Then I'll give a little speech.
Professor,
I feel like Napoleon on St. Helena.
Napoleon on St. Helena?
I go for walks.
There's always someone with me.
It's nice like that.
But Napoleon was a great man.
Me, too, now!
I've even made it into the movies!
I'm in cinemas all over the world!
China, Japan.
America.
Napoleon was the sort of man...
...who could see something through
once he'd started it.
And even if he was French,
he was a great general.
Even in school I worshipped him.
A capable man.
We should have had him now.
Shouldn't the pastor come along?
Come on!
No.
Pastor Hardeland
of the "Christuskirche" confirmed me!
Herr Ratz called twice
to tell him to come, but he didn't.
Ministers are all heretics!
I've often read the Bible.
But they preach the wrong way.
It isn't nice he didn't come.
So I said,
"I can walk up to God by myself!"
And though my sin be red as blood,
it can still, like Jesus said,
it can still be cleansed
until it is as white as snow.
That's what God is there for.
God said,
"Love thy neighbor like thyself. "
What kind of speech
do you want to give?
I want to say that I spoke nothing
but the truth! People shouldn't...
People shouldn't think I killed to
rob or something. It's a sin, I know.
But the boys ran after me. The Bible
says that self-abuse is forbidden.
And I never did that.
The boys did it to me, and I did it
to them. It wasn't self-abuse!
What about "sucking"?
It's disgusting!
Now it occurs to me.
Why did you keep taking
those boys with you?
I know.
I shouldn't have. But they kept
coming with me.
You should've said,
"I can't kill any boys
if I don't take them with me. "
But they tormented me.
When they put their hands here...
...and kissed me, I was gone.
Sometimes it happened and
sometimes it didn't.
I told you so often.
Exactly! And therein lies
your principal guilt!
Principal guilt!
If I'd had a friend along with me
all of this wouldn't have happened.
Will you be coming to the execution?
May I read it?
I'm not playing the idiot! Really!
I'm not catching flies!
It's ridiculous to blow up
every little thing.
You can see he's a low person,
look: "You, butcher"!
That's not right.
I don't believe it!
You go in a man,
you come out a sausage.
No, one shouldn't write such letters.
- Only on New Year's Day.
- Fritz,
- do you know why you're here?
- Yes.
Herr Ratz said we're on
a pleasure trip, visiting you.
He said there's an uproar in Hanover.
We must flee. When it calms down...
This is really something!
From Berlin.
The devil is never at rest.
For he dwells in every breast.
Counsel for the world: Dato Sago.
Philanthropist.
I don't understand.
I didn't get a letter in years.
And now all these.
It's those jokers...
- ... sitting around in bars.
- So why are you here?
Yeah. You want to examine me,
see if I'm sensible.
What do we say in court?
I won't say.
Whether I'm...
...of sound mind!
We don't want to say that in court.
- I'm not to come?
- Yes, if you like,
but don't mention Hildesheim.
I don't want you to.
We could mention it.
It'd make a bad impression.
They wouldn't chop my head off.
Would it be worse in Hildesheim?
You go crazy there.
I already noticed.
There are madmen here, too.
One of them screams so terribly,
just like in Hildesheim.
I'm telling you now:
If you think I'm crazy...
...I'll never look at you again.
We'd be finished!
I told you before:
I don't think you're crazy.
Then I'm relieved.
I want a monument.
- It costs money.
- Let it be 1,000 marks.
This book'll make you a millionaire!
You'll see. When the trial comes up
it'll be a hit. Even in 100 years!
- With pictures?
- Of course.
I had my photograph
taken here especially.
In any case,
the stenographer should get a suit.
Because he worked so hard.
And Hans... you could give Hans
a few marks, too.
Every year on my birthday
he's to lay a wreath at my grave.
- I'd like that.
- Your birthday's coming up.
Pity you won't be here.
I know.
You would have given me a present.
A cup of coffee,
a cheese sandwich and...?
- A cigar!
- A cigar.
I want to see the executioner first.
He should really get to know me...
...and sharpen his knife. He mustn't
get in touch with the communists.
If the knife isn't sharp
I won't put my head down!
They shouldn't squash my head off.
That shouldn't happen.
Just fine!
Do you think I'm scared?
That's what people think,
"That lousy coward!"
Isn't that what they think?
Don't you know the date yet?
We'll soon be talking
for the last time.
But you will come back
before my head's chopped off?
Yes, I will come back.