Mamme.
Mayn kleyne mentshele.
My little man.
What would we do without you?
It's because of me that we're here.
I should have built us a better hiding place.
No, Max.
My drawings, I left them all.
You'll have to make more.
Magic circle.
Take these.
It is all I had time to gather.
Keep them safe.
Why can't you?
You'll need them one day.
One day when I'm an artist,
and I can cross the sea
to hang my paintings in fancy galleries?
Mm. You'll be very famous.
And rich.
I'll buy you furs, and Zonia ribbons!
Mommy!
Zonia. Zonia.
Stand up!
Get in line!
Get up. Come on. Get up!
Get going! Get going!
Mamme!
Max! Max! Max, Max!
Mamme! Mamme!
Zonia. Come.
My daughter, don't hurt her!
No, no, no, no.
Mommy!
You have to get away from here.
What? No, no, no. I'm coming with you.
- No. - Why no?
You're taking Zonia and not me?
Your sister is too young. She is helpless.
But you, you run fast, you're smart
and brave, my brilliant boy.
You'll find a way, you must.
How? By myself?
You will find your Aunt Erna.
If they haven't already taken her,
she will know what to do.
See those gates?
I want you to walk straight through them.
Do not stop, you hear?
Strong and brave.
Go. Go.
- Get going! Get going! - Stop, please.
Get into the...
Excuse me. Where is that truck going?
They're taking them away.
Excuse me...
None of your business, boy.
No.
Please! I'm looking for my Auntie Erna.
Poor Jew-boy.
Try the cemetery, maybe you'll find your aunt there.
Auntie?
- Auntie! - Oh, Max!
Thank God!
I heard there was a roundup.
Where's your Mamme? Zonia?
She told me to find you,
she wouldn't let me get on the truck with her.
Let's get you out of here.
They are clearing us all out.
Your uncle and I have found space to hide here in town.
A bunker, with a small group.
Good. I'll stay with you until Mamme comes for me.
They won't allow children.
Why not?
I'm basically not even a child anymore.
Mamme even says I'm a little man.
Your Mamme knew this day might come.
She said you would protect me!
I found a farm where you can hide.
You're abandoning me.
You're abandoning me just like she did!
Max, your mamme did not abandon you.
I don't want to be alone!
No. You won't be alone.
And when this is over we'll come get you,
and together we'll find her.
Now come here.
Hey.
Come on.
The sun is up.
My name is Jasko.
This is Kasia and Broni.
Here.
Thank you.
My name is...
Staszek.
We will call you Staszek.
That is my brother's name, Jasko.
From now on you are Staszek.
It is best we know nothing.
You can sleep in the cowshed.
You must change these clothes.
Follow me.
You can help out on the farm.
Graze the animals,
muck out the cowshed.
You have a lot to learn.
Staszek?
My auntie told me to hide.
And you will hide, in plain sight.
Listen to me carefully,
because your... our lives depends on it.
You are my sister's boy, understand?
This past spring your father drove his wagon
over a Russian landmine, was killed, along with his oxen,
leaving your mother and you destitute.
So, she sent you to live with us.
She volunteered for labour
in the Great German Reich,
but she died of typhus before she got on the train.
So, you are an orphan,
and Kasia and I are the only family you have.
Got it?
Keep this story clear in your mind.
Yes, sir.
Jasko is fine.
Jasko.
Mamme. Can I sit with you?
No, my little man.
Why not?
I've never been in a stable before.
Eat.
Thank you.
That always use to work with my little sister.
My Mamme took Zonia and not me.
She didn't let me go with her.
Little piggy! Hey!
Come on, little pig!
We will fatten him and eat him for Christmas.
One more.
He watches me.
We live quiet lives here.
No one wants any trouble.
Am I trouble?
You're a boy. You're supposed to be trouble.
Your aunt, she pays us to shelter you.
We need those payments, Staszek.
Have you ever snared a rabbit?
No.
Watch how I tie this.
Thread this end through.
Like a noose. Huh?
Now, I need a branch, like this.
Tie it around a few turns.
Tie it tight.
Then we need some sticks.
You need to block the trail
and force the rabbit into the snare.
Does it catch it by its hind legs?
No, my friend.
By the neck.
What a horrible way to die.
Hold her.
Hi. Hello.
Here.
Come on.
Okay.
Don't eat that.
It's not for eating.
Can I see that?
It's okay.
Any news from my auntie?
There will be no more money for keeping the boy.
Her hiding place was discovered.
Everyone taken.
Everyone?
Jasko, what is that?
Hunters in the woods.
The price for a Jew just went up.
Go back inside.
You want to hear a story little man?
A rooster and a hen,
let the story begin.
A cat and a mouse.
My time has run out.
Jasko Rudnicki?
Yes?
We have been told you are hiding Jews.
Jews?
I'm sure I do not need to tell you how this works Mister...
Rudnicki.
Yes.
If you do not tell us where they are,
and we find them,
we will kill the Jews
and hang your entire family.
You have a family in there, yes?
You know I do.
Hm. Indeed.
Broni.
What will it be, Mr. Jasko Rudnicki?
Well, then...
I am not hiding any Jews.
Ah.
Then... you would not mind inviting us in.
Hm?
Thank you.
Petryk!
The loft.
Yes, Captain.
There is no one here.
The stable.
Yes, Captain.
No. Stay.
What a day.
Truly exhausting.
And exhilarating.
Mm. Hello.
Ah, what a...
sweet little thing.
Boy?
It's a boy.
A blessing.
You will grow up to be a big, strong,
hard-working, honest man, hm?
Huh? Hey, just like your papa.
Two boys.
So far apart in age,
and such a young mother.
This one cannot be yours.
I'm her nephew, uh...
My mother sent me here when she went to be a labourer
in the Great German Reich.
Ah, is that so?
Please, please. Take a chair. Sit. Sit.
Sit. Sit. Sit with me.
Would you, a light, please?
Hm?
A worker in the Reich you were saying.
Volunteered herself, sir.
Hm.
Does she write?
You must have letters from her.
Uh, sh...
Sh...
She... She doesn't know how.
Hm?
I haven't heard from her since she left.
I'm worried I won't see her again.
Nonsense.
Your Mother is working in a German factory,
doing her part for the war effort.
Making you...
making all of us...
proud, son.
Hm.
Just think of that.
Your mama. So proud.
Captain! I found something in the stable.
Captain Bagan!
Come with me.
No, no.
What have you found, Petryk?
Vegetables. Hidden.
This is tasty food for...
Why were those vegetables in the cowshed?
I'm sorry.
You need to have packaged vegetables.
No!
Get on your knees!
Get on your knees.
No!
I told them that you feed it to the pigs.
Good, that is good.
You cannot stay here anymore.
Here.
Grab some branches.
Cover the hole.
You should be dry in here.
Further down this slope there's a river for water.
Lots of berries in this part of the woods.
Don't eat the mushrooms off the ground.
Only those that grow on trees.
But not the yellow ones.
And when all the mushrooms and berries are gone?
The snare that I taught you, to catch a rabbit.
There is twine in the sack,
flint for a fire,
and a knife.
Ration your food.
What about Jew-hunters?
Never make a fire too close to the shelter.
Always cover your tracks.
How much?
What?
How much is a Jew worth?
What am I worth?
Sometimes...
the police pay in sugar...
or vodka.
It's too risky for my family, Staszek.
That is not my name.
You heard the chief, they will kill us.
Kasia, Broni, all of us.
What have you found? What have you got?
Come on. Come on.
Where are you?
Do you see what I look like?
Like an animal.
Why did you make me a Jew?
What did I do to you?!
What did I do?!
Why did you do this to me?!
There's your Jew.
Pluck it and serve it to your family.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
What an idiot.
Zonia.
Mamme.
Tatte.
Uncle Jacob.
Auntie Erna.
Magic circle.
Mamme?
Mayn kleyne mentshele.
My little man.
I lost the pictures.
You're all fading away.
When will we be together again?
Hello?
Don't be scared.
Where'd you even come from?
Hungry?
I only found a mushroom.
Are you a forest spirit?
No, I'm a little man.
Careful of the mushrooms.
You have to know which ones to pick.
Come.
Go ahead and sit.
What happened to your shoes?
Fell apart.
Long time in the woods.
How long have you been walking?
My mamme went to find food.
She never came back.
They took your tatte?
No. He told me to wait while he went looking.
I stayed in the secret spot for as long as I could,
but I got hungry.
What's your name?
Yanek.
Yanek. I have a secret spot too.
You can come stay with me.
I haven't seen my mamme in ages.
You have to learn how to survive without them,
for a while.
It's okay.
I can teach you.
I'm fast, I'm smart, I'm strong, and I'm brave.
I'll protect you.
How old are you?
Twelve.
Wait, no, the leaves are falling.
I'm 13.
Soon you'll become a bar mitzvah.
Actually I'm thinking of becoming Christian,
because the Christian God protects His people.
We wouldn't have to hide anymore.
How do you become Christian?
See, if I knew that, we wouldn't be here.
Come on.
Yanek?
Jew! Stop struggling, you little swine.
Regina! Whoa. Whoa, whoa.
Regina!
What do you want now?
I caught myself a Jew!
You alone?
Family?
How old are you?
I promised my mamme I would be brave.
Lord.
You oaf of a man!
Can't you see he's just a child?
They want us to be rid of them.
They say they're parasites,
feeding off the honest work of peasants.
Well, they needn't concern themselves
with this one,
doesn't look like he's been feeding off much at all.
Now release him before I tie you to the horse
and drag your boarish ass straight back to your wife!
What a mess.
Come child, inside.
Let's see to those wrists.
Thought you'd come here and show off your spoils?
I have to take him in.
Chief's orders.
Well then, a toast
to the bravest of child-catchers.
Drink.
Regina.
Drink to it.
Damn you, Regina! Damn you!
- Hey! - Run boy!
Get off me!
Yanek? Yanek? Where are you?
Yanek! Yanek.
I thought you were gone.
I was looking for something to eat.
I won't leave you.
That's what they said.
Yanek, I'm back now.
You abandoned me.
Yanek.
Yanek, I'm sorry.
I said I will not leave you.
Don't do that again.
I'm sorry, Yanek.
Ay! Max, it's... Max, it's freezing!
Ah!
Yanek, not that much! Not that much!
Not that much, Yanek!
Yanek!
No! Max!
Yah!
Maybe there are fish we can catch.
Maybe.
Just maybe we can conjure up a golem from the mud.
What's a golem?
To trap them for...
You don't know?
It's magical,
powerful, fierce!
Tell me!
More than 100 years ago a great rabbi wanted
to protect his people, so he made a creature
out of earth and sand and water and clay.
The rabbi wrote the secret, all-powerful,
true name of God on a piece of paper
and slipped it in the creature's ear.
The sacred spell turned the clay into a living being.
A golem.
Whoa.
The golem did wonderful things for the Jews.
It saved them from hunger, it even cracked the heads
of ugly peasants who beat them.
Soon the enemies of the Jews saw what a mighty protector
they had, and ceased to plot against them.
And the Jews had no more use for the golem.
So, the Rabbi removed the piece of paper
from the golem's ear...
and the spell was undone.
Boom.
Just like that. Gone.
Back into earth and sand.
Gone? Just like that?
Gone.
Until we need to conjure up another,
then it will rise again.
Like now?
Yes! Yes, Yanek! The time has come!
He will strike down the Nazis, snuff them out.
Hitler is no match for our golem!
Winter will be here soon.
We should dig a bunker before the ground freezes.
Dead souls.
What?
Going up to heaven.
It's what makes them sing.
You hear that?
We'll use this as a door, keep the cold out.
Last winter in our ghetto
there was a boy sitting on the street
with eyes that didn't blink and purple lips.
So many days and he never ever moved.
Then one sunny morning he was gone.
Just a pool of water.
Like he melted.
What if that happens to us?
Yanek, don't talk like that.
We'll make it out of this winter.
Look at us. We're building our own bunker.
Hey. Yanek.
Go pick that up.
Move it over there.
This?
Ow.
Come on.
Try harder. Do it.
Go.
It's too heavy, Max.
Come on. You can do it. You have to be stronger, Yanek!
I can't.
Yanek.
Nothing left.
So hungry it stings?
When we are older and out of these woods,
we can move to the city,
and, hey, you can help me sell my paintings,
and we'll wear fancy clothes, and feast whenever we want!
Right?
Like... Like, ten times a day?
Twenty if you like.
Run! Run, Yanek!
Go!
Run faster!
Come on!
Yanek! Come on!
Hey!
Come on!
Come on! Come on!
Faster, Yanek! Yanek!
Max!
Yanek!
Hey!
Ah!
Did you see him?
This way.
Little rat. Where are you?
Must've scurried away.
Let's go.
Cat and mouse.
My time has run out.
My brilliant boy.
What will we do without you?
- Max. - Max.
Yanek?
Max! Max!
Yanek. Yanek.
- Yanek. I'm sorry. - You're hurt!
I'm sorry, this is my fault.
Yanek, mamme was wrong, I'm not strong,
and I'm not brave and fast.
What? Yes, you are.
We're not going to make it out. How? How do we survive?!
The golem.
- No, the... - It'll protect us.
Yanek, the golem is just a stupid story.
It's not true. It's fake. It's not real.
The only thing that's real in this world is hunger and pain
and ghosts and Jew-hunters.
They were trying to kill us.
Yanek.
- It's okay. It's okay. - Yanek, they want to kill us.
Yanek.
Ya?
Are you awake?
Ya.
I'm forgetting their faces.
I found this ages ago.
Kept it for you.
In case you ever lost your other paintbrush.
Smart.
An artist can never have too many brushes.
Well, now you have one anyway.
You won't forget me will you?
What do you mean?
If we don't get to be always together,
move to the city, and wear fancy clothes,
when you are a really old man,
with wrinkles and white hair
and a walking stick,
will you still remember me?
Promise?
Promise.
You know, I used to think God had abandoned me,
but now, I think...
maybe he sent me you.
Guards!
Mamme?
Zonia?
Yanek!
What?
On the ground!
Yanek, come on. Let's go take a peek.
Maybe it was the Russians. Maybe we've been liberated.
Yanek, come on. Come on, let's go.
Wha...
Take off their coats and shoes.
What, Max? Wh...
Yanek, they can't feel the cold, okay?
Okay? They can't. I promise.
- Yanek. - What?
Someone is alive over there! I see something moving.
Yanek, come on. Come on.
What are you doing?
Yanek, I need your help.
No. We can't. The water is too cold.
We can! We have to!
Somebody's alive over there!
I don't... I don't know.
Please, Yanek!
I... I...
I'm sorry.
Yanek, get up!
Come on. Yanek, come on.
- It's freezing. - Up.
It's freezing!
Hold onto the stick. Stay with me.
Yanek, come on.
Yanek!
Almost there.
She's dead.
Yanek, a baby!
Please, I'm freezing.
Please, we have to go back to the bunker!
Mamme. Mamme, what do I do?
Yanek, I need you to guide me across.
Strong and brave.
Ah! Yanek! The baby! Help!
Max, Max. Grab the stick!
Yanek, come on. Take off your old clothes.
Come on. Take them off.
Yanek. Yanek, come on. You'll freeze.
Listen to me!
Someone will hear it.
At least take stuff, please.
Okay. Come on. Let's go.
Be quiet.
Max, what did you do?
It's okay.
So cold.
Told you we needed those coats more than them.
I can't let you get sick.
I have to find you some food.
Alone?
Are you sure?
What are you doing here?
Where are you running to?
My hiding space.
Ah.
We saw the pits.
Pits?
Your knife, give it to me. I need it.
You are Russian soldiers?
Not quite.
Pah!
You can't be here, boy.
This place, it's about to become the frontline.
Turn around, and go back the way you came.
Move boy!
Get out of here!
Da.
Okay.
Okay. Okay.
We have to get rid of this baby.
I'm going to Jasko. He'll know what to do.
No. Max, no.
It's okay.
Staszek.
- Staszek. - I found a baby.
I can't... Everyone else was dead.
I need a grown up to take care of it.
Please.
Good God, boy.
Me and Yanek can't take care of it.
It cries too much.
You are right, you cannot...
Who is Yanek?
He's my best friend.
He found me. Maybe he's an angel.
Please, can you and Kasia please take the baby?
Uh...
We will find someone for her.
Thank you.
Thank you. I have to get back to Yanek. I think he's sick.
Staszek, the Russians are close.
There is talk of a German retreat.
Bring your friend to the cowshed.
After dark.
Thank you! Thank you, Jasko!
Yanek, Yanek. I'm taking you somewhere safer.
It's so hot.
No, no, no. You have to keep your clothes on.
You have to stay warm.
Why am I under the earth?
It's our secret spot.
Yanek, Jasko said the war is almost over.
The golem has risen and it's crushing the Nazis!
You'll see your mamme and your sister again.
No. No, Yanek.
You are my only family now.
Yanek?
Yanek. Are you awake?
God, please cover him with your feathers.
Sleep. Get your strength back.
Tomorrow we'll go to Jasko's.
Yanek.
Wake up. We need to go to Jasko's.
Yanek.
Why are you so cold?
Yanek, what's wrong? Wake up.
Yank, come on!
Come on!
Time to get up now.
Yanek?
Yanek.
Yanek, why aren't you waking up?
Yanek? Yanek, please wake up.
Please?
Please don't leave me alone.
Yanek.
The war is almost over... You can do it.
Staszek!
Jasko?
Staszek!
Jasko.
Staszek.
Yanek won't wake up.
Wait out here.
No.
No, no. Jasko.
No.
Like this...
He didn't want to go into the freezing river
but I pulled him in.
It's because of me.
I couldn't even keep him alive!
I was supposed to protect him.
He is a hero, you know?
Staszek saved a baby girl.
Strong and brave.
Kasia!
The Soviets have taken the town!
The Germans are gone!
They're gone?
Gone, Staszek.
No more hiding.
My name is Max.
Max.
- I can be Max! - Max!
Please take me home.
Hey.
Ready?
That's good.
An old man's walking and holding onto the young.
Hello.
I introduce to you, Maxwell Smart.
- This is... - I am...
This is the descendant.
Yeah.
I was always wondering what happened to your mother.
All my life.
She's a survivor.
Speak in Yiddish. She might understand.
She knows Yiddish, but she can't speak.
She can't find the words.
Do you remember the river?
How freezing the water was?
How the two children,
the two boys came and saved you?
How they came, went into the water,
and took you out from the arms of your mother?
You owe him your life.
It's okay.
She says it's okay.
I feel better, and I don't feel as guilty.
It's true.
Yanek died, he's a hero.
He saved you and you have children.
They will have children and children and children.
A continuation of life forever.
♪ The bones of children in the woods ♪
♪ The broken branches of a tree ♪
♪ The feel of pounding in your blood ♪
♪ The smell of earth beneath your feet ♪
♪ Don't forget to wear your gloves ♪
♪ Don't forget to wear your shoes ♪
♪ It started hailing from above ♪
♪ The sky is purple as a bruise ♪
♪ And so it gets under your nails ♪
♪ And so it gets into your nose ♪
♪ And so it gets into your eyes ♪
♪ You'll never get it out your clothes ♪
♪ We have to even out the piles ♪
♪ They'll see the earth is freshly churned ♪
♪ They're bound to be here in a while ♪
♪ They'll find whatever isn't burned ♪
♪ All these children in the woods ♪
♪ What does it matter here today? ♪
♪ It isn't bad it isn't good
♪ They'd only grow up anyway