Part 2: The Legacy of Aryanization
Working Title: The Hour of the Bargain Hunter
Cast: August Diehl (The Young Helmut Horten), Oliver Masucci (Hermann Strauß, Ernst and Curt Lauter - multi-role/mask play), Birgit Minichmayr (The Voice of History/Heidi Horten in flashbacks).
Scene 1: Duisburg 1933 – The Silent Tremor
Location: In front of the main entrance of the Alsberg department store. Time: A grey Tuesday morning.
The young Helmut (August Diehl) stands on the opposite side of the street. He wears an impeccable coat. He observes the customers hesitantly entering the Jewish department store. An SA man stands in front of the door with a sign "Do not buy from Jews!".
HELMUT (to himself, almost clinical) The building is solid. The location is prime. Only the name... the name is in the way. It no longer fits the times.
He notes something in his notebook. His hand does not shake. He is not an ideologue; he is an optimizer.
Scene 2: Young Helmut and the "Thank You"
Location: A smoky back room of a café. Time: Later that evening.
Helmut meets with a deputy Gauleiter. The room smells of cheap tobacco and the intoxication of power.
GAULEITER Horten, you are young. You are ambitious. We need someone to take over the... "market consolidation." Someone who has no sentimental attachments.
HELMUT (with a cool smile) I only have attachments to the balance sheet, Herr Gauleiter. As for the Elsbergs... Alsbergs... I offer them a fair price. A very fair price... under the circumstances.
GAULEITER The circumstances, Horten. Exactly. The circumstances make the price. Not the value.
Scene 3: The Choreographed Dance Through Empty Aisles
Location: Inside the Alsberg department store. Time: After business hours.
Helmut walks through the aisles. The camera follows him in a long, fluid movement. August Diehl plays Helmut as someone who "occupies" the spaces before he even owns them. He touches the fabrics, tests the cash registers.
HELMUT (whispering to the empty clothing racks) Soon you will be free. Free from the shadows of the past. I will dress you anew. In uniforms? No. In dreams. German dreams.
He begins a lonely waltz in the haberdashery department. It is a bizarre, almost eerie scene. A man dancing with a building he is currently stealing.
Scene 4: The Protocol of the "Takeover"
Location: A stuffy office in the Duisburg city hall. Time: April 23, 1936.
Helmut sits opposite the owners Hermann Strauß, Ernst and Curt Lauter (Oliver Masucci in multiple roles). The sales contract lies on the table. The air is heavy with bureaucracy and the raw fear of the sellers.
ALFRED / STRAUSS (with a trembling voice) Herr Horten, 672,963 Reichsmarks? That barely covers our warehouse inventory. What about the goodwill? What about the name Alsberg, which my father built up over decades?
HELMUT (coldly, matter-of-factly) The name Alsberg is an obstacle today, gentlemen. I offer you liberation from this obstacle. As of May 1st, this house will operate under my name. That is the commercial reality of 1936.
CURT LAUTER It is a forced sale under the guise of legality, Herr Horten.
HELMUT (leans forward, flips through the contract) It is a signature that clears your path abroad. Consider the 672,000 Reichsmarks as... a ticket to freedom. Sign here.
Scene 5: The "Aryanization Gala" 1936
Location: A magnificent ballroom. Time: The evening after the signing, May 1936.
August Diehl shines in a scene where Helmut is celebrated as the "savior of Duisburg retail." He wears a tuxedo. Champagne corks pop. In the background hangs the draft for the first newspaper advertisement.
CHRONICLER (Minichmayr, Off-voice) They celebrated not just a purchase. They celebrated the "market consolidation." Helmut Horten stood in the middle and had the first advertisements printed: "As of today in Aryan possession." He knew: a fortune founded on the injustice of others shines brightest when polished with the pride of the nation.
Scene 6: The Silence of the Contracts
Location: The archive of the department store. Time: 1939.
Helmut has the old company documents of the Alsbergs destroyed. A giant paper shredder (an early version of the Reisswolf mentality) eats through the paper.
HELMUT (observing the process) Paper burns well. But it's better to shred it. Then nothing remains. Not even ash that could be examined.
He takes one last photo of Siegfried Alsberg and slides it into the slot. August Diehl's face remains completely emotionless.
Scene 7: "Market Consolidation" as an Art Form
Location: A modernly designed shop window. Time: 1940.
Helmut personally arranges the mannequins. He removes everything that could recall the "Jewish aesthetic." He places a swastika flag discreetly but unmistakably in the background.
HELMUT It's about perspective. The customer doesn't want to know who was here before. They want to know what they get today. A bargain is a bargain. No matter what you call it.
He takes a step back and contemplates his work. The light from the street lamps is reflected in his glasses.
Scene 8: The Shadow of War
Location: A bunker during an air raid. Time: 1943.
Helmut sits calmly, while the earth shakes. He studies balance sheets by candlelight.
HELMUT When everything is destroyed, the need will be greatest. He who has the goods will be the king of the ruins. I just have to wait. Time is on my side.
He extinguishes the candle with his fingers. The pain seems not to touch him.
FADE OUT.