Rosita Clarke - Author
‘LIESBET’
(Treatment)
Author: Rosita Clarke
Address: Raven Cottage, Clift Lane,
Toller Porcorum.
Dorchester
Dorset DT2 0EJ
Tel: +44 7961161024
Website: www.iwillfilm.co.uk
WGAW registration: 2169553
LOGLINE:
During the final months of WW2, a young ambitious Dutch woman is forced
to endure the consequences of her decisions and struggles to escape her
involvement with the Nazi party.
‘Liesbet’ is inspired by the true story of my mother.
It is set in Occupied Holland, Germany and Poland 1944 - 1945
Characters:
Liesbet, young ambitious Dutch woman living in occupied Holland, with
plans to become a teacher, who enjoys the benefits that being a Nazi
supporter brings to her lifestyle. A survivor.
Corrie, her younger sister, rather wayward, head strong, up for a good time, rather naïve.
Johannes. Their father, unscrupulous and dominating antique dealer. Leading member of The Dutch National Socialist party.
Hugo: A young Luftwaffe pilot and later SS. Officer who was forced into
the Luftwaffe because he has German ancestry, a reluctant recruit,
deserter and then survivor.
Klara: A French SS Guard who was deported from France because she slept
with German soldiers to earn money to support her poverty - stricken
sister and baby niece.
Anna: A very young Polish girl who fought with the home army in Warsaw but was arrested and taken as a political prisoner.
Gerda: A German woman who enlisted as a guard because she could earn more money than working in a factory. Ruthless.
Treatment
It’s 1944 and in Normandy, France, Doctor Franz Fischer who serves in
an SS Panzer Medical Division stands severely injured and bleeding in
the opening of a medical tent. It’s raining and distant battle sounds
are heard.
At the same time in occupied Holland, Liesbet Van Den Ijell, a young
woman dressed in floral summer clothes secretly lets her rather wayward
younger sister, Corrie, into their house, chastising her for coming in
so late and for also letting her heart rule her head in such difficult
times because Corrie has been with her boyfriend, Josef Hesselberg, who
is Jewish and whose parents run an art shop but are in hiding. The
following night Liesbet stands on her balcony, peers across the
rooftops and sees the outline of a parachutist falling to earth. There
is the sudden roar of a rapidly descending Luftwaffe aircraft which
crashes into the maternity hospital and explodes. At the same
time in the basement of the Hesselberg’s shop, Abe is wrapping up two
small Rembrandt paintings, part of Rembrandt’s early collection, called
‘The Senses’, which Abe is particularly proud and protective of. Abe’s
wife, Esther, watches, is worried about their son, Josef, being out
with ‘that girl’. She is fully aware that as Jews in hiding they are in
danger of being discovered. They hear the crash and explosion of
the aircraft. They hear boots thump across the high window grille,
cries, screams and bells clang. Corrie and Josef who are secretly
liaising in an alleyway are also aware of the noise. Such a commotion.
The following day Liesbet intends to go and look for the German
parachutist but suddenly remembers she has to play hostess to her
father, Johannes’, N.S.B. meeting with the mayor and other members of
the party. Johannes is an unscrupulous and dominating antique dealer as
well as a Nazi sympathizer but because of this, the family enjoy a
comfortable life in comparison to most other Dutch civilians. Johannes
loves opera, particularly Wagner. The mayor pays Johannes for
disclosing the whereabouts of the Hesselbergs. They toast the Fuhrer
and hope for victory. Johannes is proud of his daughter, Liesbet.
Liesbet discovers the injured pilot, Hugo, and tenderly nurses him back
to health but she is unaware that he is, in fact, a German deserter.
Liesbet, intelligent and ambitious, Corrie, naïve and caring and their
father continue to live an otherwise settled life in occupied Holland,
hiding Hugo in the attic. They are despised by the Dutch
resistance and even Corrie becomes hostile towards her father when she
witnesses Josef and his parents being physically escorted from their
shop. Corrie loses her first love at the same time Liesbet
becomes romantically involved with Hugo. Liesbet and Corrie give Hugo
conflicting views as to how their younger brother died in action near
Leningrad. Johannes enters the Hesselberg’s basement and takes Abe’s
two Rembrandts. Liesbet disapproves but does not stop him. Johannes
hides the paintings in his cellar. Liesbet, Corrie and Johannes on the
mayor’s request, visit injured and demoralised German soldiers
hospitalised in their city, to boost their morale. Johannes talks
conspiratorially with injured patient Doctor Franz Fischer.
Then suddenly their prosperity and relative tranquillity is turned
upside down with the announcement of the forthcoming liberation of
Holland by the allies. September 4th 1944, Dolle Dinsdag (Mad Tuesday).
German soldiers flee the city on mass. Johannes and his family have no
choice but to flee their home also. The Germans lay on trains for
N.S.B. members and their families. The Dutch celebrate and rejoice in
the streets. Liesbet carries in her case the two Rembrandt oil
paintings, for safe keeping, Johannes says. He has in his waistcoat
pocket many gold coins. Their front door is locked and with Hugo posing
as the brother, the four figures mingle with the other families and
head for the station where chaos and threats abound.
At the border with Germany, in Westerbork transit camp Abe is seen to
actually be working as a processor. He treats Liesbet with
indifference. Corrie asks after Josef and Esther. Not there. Abe
identifies Hugo who is taken from his overnight barracks by an SS
Officer. The following morning the family queue for their train to take
them to Germany. Liesbet asks where Hugo is. A Nazi Official approaches
Johannes, who flatly denies hiding Hugo and discretely pays him gold
coins. Liesbet glances at Hugo, who stands beside Abe, but she also
denies knowing Hugo when asked, chooses loyalty to her father, puts her
own interests first.
A shot rings out. Corrie is shocked. Liesbet freezes, boards the train, does not look back.
In Celle, Germany, Corrie and Liesbet sit with other women in a
recruitment centre. Corrie is shocked to see that Liesbet has in her
case the two Rembrandts, realising that they must have been stolen from
Josef’s parents. She questions Liesbet about them and about how she
feels about Hugo being killed. Liesbet with tears in her eyes affirms
that they must now always put themselves first, make the best of the
situation, no going back. The women are recruited into the SS. Corrie
is led away in one direction and Liesbet, at gun point, in another.
Now separated from her sister, Liesbet is reluctantly made to marry
Doctor Fischer, an arrangement which Johannes had previously instigated
while Fischer was in hospital in Holland recovering from his wounds.
For her protection, he says, it will give her prestige, respect. This
has some appeal for Liesbet. To Johannes’ horror, Liesbet then declares
she has left her case in the recruitment centre and rushes to get it,
because Johannes pays gold coins to Fischer which allows her to
retrieve the case.
Liesbet and Fischer arrive at the sanitorium close to Ravensbruck camp
which is where Liesbet will work as a nurse Fischer says, to help and
support him. On arrival in the bedroom, Liesbet puts her case in the
wardrobe which is full of women’s clothes including a nurse’s uniform,
says she will sleep on the couch but Fischer demands she do her duty as
a wife. Liesbet closes her eyes.
Meanwhile Corrie works as an office administrator in Belsen Camp and is
befriended by Klara who is a guard and shows Corrie around. In the Star
compound Corrie recognises Josef. They are both so happy that they are
safe, touch fingers through the wire. Josef says he thinks his mama,
Esther, might be there too. Klara warns Corrie not to let on she knows
a prisoner.
Liesbet works under the direction and influence of female guard Gerda
Hoffman but on one occasion on a ward round, Liesbet is asked to inject
patients with phenol although she doesn’t really know what it is but
assumes it’s lethal. She surprisingly recognises her first patient as
Esther. Esther is wounded, beaten about and very frail. Liesbet cannot
bring herself to give the injection so fakes it and the phenol runs
down the paper mattress. On returning to the apartment that night
Fischer has already been told by Gerda that Liesbet has disobeyed
orders. Because of this he says he has arranged for her to start
training as a guard. Liesbet wants to stay nursing, feels she can do
some good so Fischer says that it is her choice but she must carry out
everything Gerda asks her to, everything, if she remains in the
hospital. The next day Liesbet smooths out the guard’s uniform which
she wears with an element of pride, she takes from her case one of the
Rembrandts, strokes and kisses it while Gerda injects Esther with the
phenol.
In Belsen, Klara reveals to Corrie that she is French and works at the
camp because she was deported from Paris for sleeping with German
soldiers to get money for her sister’s starving child. She vows to make
the best of everything. Corrie says she sounds just like Liesbet.
As a guard, Liesbet still finds herself working under the command of
Gerda. She witnesses terrible atrocities as more and more women arrive
at the camp. Fischer is unsympathetic and demanding of Liesbet. He is
curious about why Liesbet keeps such a tight hold on her case, and
while he is alone he opens the case and discovers with absolute delight
the oil paintings. Later, Liesbet asks if she can live in the female
guard house to complete her training. Fischer agrees with her request.
Corrie becomes friendly with Peter, an SS Officer with whom she shares
an office and questions the disappearance of Klara. Corrie asks to be
transferred to Ravensbruck where Klara was sent but Peter says she is a
good worker, he needs her there.
The Star Compound barracks is on fire because of a misdirected Canadian
attack. The wind howls and fuels the flames. Corrie is given a list of
the missing men. Josef Hesselberg is first on the list.
At Ravensbruck, as the new guards sit and wait to watch a propaganda
video, Liesbet coincidently meets Klara, who says she knows Corrie,
worries about her because she was being too friendly with one of the
prisoners. Klara told Corrie that she should keep a lower profile.
Liesbet and Klara become friends, share a room, and Liesbet begins to
harden to her surroundings and what she sees going on in the camp. When
ordered by Gerda to beat a young girl, Anna, a Polish political
prisoner, Liesbet loses control completely as Gerda, shouts, taunts,
and threatens her. Liesbet beats Anna mercilessly with a baton. Klara
is shocked and later that night questions Liesbet who says nothing but
that she has early roll call in the morning when she has to accompany
the prisoners to the marshes where they are ‘apparently’ digging roads.
Corrie is distressed by the camp conditions, overcrowding, smells and
strikes a deal with Peter over the Rembrandts, that is, if Peter can
find Liesbet.
Liesbet is faced with many choices to get through her ordeal, some
defensible but many not and gradually as we see the prisoners cruelly
dehumanised, the SS personnel only obeying orders so we see Liesbet
gradually degenerating, her one consolation the two small Rembrandts
she knows she must keep safe and might be her ticket home one day.
In the hospital ward, next day Liesbet begins to tell Klara about her
experience in the marshes, it is not a nice place says Liesbet, ‘and
this is’ says Klara. Liesbet says she has had a warning but then
Liesbet and Klara are ordered to take all the dead women to the
washroom by Gerda. Some patients are not dead but Gerda insists that
they are all dragged, dead or alive to the pile of corpses. Klara is
unable to do this and Liesbet covers for her as Klara hurriedly leaves
the ward. Liesbet says to Gerda that Klara is sick. Liesbet takes a
deep breath and drags a corpse off the bed.
For encouraging Klara to leave her duties, Liesbet is ordered to give
Klara fifteen lashes. The weather is cold, frosty. She goes back to
Fischer’s apartment to live with him again as he has demanded. On
arrival she throws her case on the cabinet and starts to open it, but
Fischer, panicking, quickly distracts her.
Meanwhile Corrie with her friend Peter, travel to Ravensbruck, passing
the marshes, the burning pyres and the stinking trenches. Now it snows.
In the office Peter’s old friend, the commandant, tells Corrie about
the ‘incident’ and that she has returned to live with her husband, much
to Corrie’s complete surprise. The Commandant offers them hospitality.
It’s Christmas.
Liesbet discovers her Rembrandts are gone, frantically searches for
them. Goes to see Klara, explains to Klara about what happened in the
marshes that caused her to get a warning. That she actually reconciled
with Anna. They were just surviving. That she had no choice in the
matter. Klara tells Liesbet that Corrie is here and wants to see her.
Liesbet says she can’t and runs off. Returns to Fischer and confronts
him about the missing paintings. Fischer says he has just put them in a
safe place, that’s all, and is then called away to the infirmary.
Liesbet, thinks, puts on her heavy coat, picks up her shoulder bag and
searchlight and goes out into the heavy snow. On reaching the camp safe
house she persuades the guard to let her in, finds an envelope with
Fischer’s name on it, feels it and puts it in her shoulder bag. But now
she has broken camp protocol.
She calls on Klara where surprisingly she also finds the girl, Anna,
who has volunteered to become a Kapo so she can help her fellow
prisoners. Liesbet asks Klara to escape with her that night. Anna
demands to go with them. Liesbet is reluctant for Anna to come but the
three women leave under cover of night, in the snow, into unsafe
territory, into Poland, into Danzig, arriving cold, hungry and
exhausted at the Stutthof Camp Gates.
It's 1945 and there, in the watchtower is Hugo, very much alive, now an
SS Officer. Liesbet and Hugo fall into each other’s arms. Liesbet is
sorry. Hugo is forgiving, their relationship starts over.
As Corrie and Peter have been told by Fischer that Liesbet just took
off in the night, they leave Ravensbruck too. Peter says he has also
found their father, Johannes. They head for Berlin.
Stutthof increasingly comes under attack by Russian aircraft and bombs.
Conditions for the prisoners are appalling. Germany appears to be on
the back foot. Allied armies are advancing from the west and east.
Liesbet tells Klara and Anna she has a way out of the camp, a plan to
get them all home. Her Rembrandts remain her glimmer of hope, her
ticket back to Holland.
Hugo and Liesbet spend a lot of time together, share a bed, give each
other comfort. Hugo tells Liesbet that it was Abe Hesselberg who was
killed at Westerbork and explains that he is really Polish, explaining
the circumstances of his recruitment into the SS. The Russians
are closing in. Germany is losing its grip on the war. Thousands of
refugees are fleeing east to west. The sky is black with bombers, the
air thick with smoke, the ground white with snow. A striking coldness
encircles everything, the camp, Liesbet’s mind, her senses. Germans are
retreating, orders are given to evacuate all prisoners and destroy all
incriminating evidence. Liesbet asks Hugo how much it would cost for
her to have an escort home. Too dangerous he says. Liesbet tells Hugo
about her Rembrandts.
In her frozen world she commits unspeakable acts of cruelty against the
prisoners. Liesbet sinks very low. Hugo notices, urges her to get on
the ‘Willem Gustloff’, a liner recommissioned to take German personnel
and refugees west. He sees that Liesbet is not herself anymore. Hugo is
assigned to accompany the prisoners. Liesbet loses her mind and helps
with the gassing of sick hospitalised women too weak for the march.
Liesbet declines to spend a last night with Hugo after this but in her
hurry to get away she leaves her shoulder bag with the paintings in
Hugo’s room. Hugo investigates the shoulder bag.
The next day when Hugo is leaving, Liesbet remembers she left her bag
and the paintings in Hugo’s room, rushes to retrieve them. She opens
the bag slides one painting out and sees it is just a blank panel of
wood. Devastated, she curses Fischer who she believes swapped them for
blanks.
When Liesbet, Klara and Anna are in charge of collecting gold rings and
putting bodies from the gas chamber into the fires, Liesbet loses all
humanity. She takes the rings she has cut off the corpse’s fingers and
pockets them for her own gain. Klara and Anna are aghast.
Klara persuades Liesbet to come with her to the dockside where the
‘Gustloff’ waits and thousands of people vie for a place. But as the
boarding gates clank shut and at the very last minute Liesbet chooses
to run back, scared of what looked like obvious overcrowding on the
liner. The fog horn blares. The two women return to Stutthof, later to
find out that the Gustloff was torpedoed and sunk with a devastating
massive loss of life.
Back at Stutthof, Anna questions Liesbet about her choices and why she
left Holland in the first place. Liesbet says that all she ever chose,
was to stay alive.
In Berlin, Corrie and Peter meet with Johannes. He says he will find
Liesbet. While In Ravensbruck, Fischer is packing a bag, preparing to
leave. He sniffs one of the Rembrandts.
Hugo returns to Stutthof. Hugo tells Liesbet that on his arrival at the
coast he is forced at gun point to participate in the mass execution of
prisoners as they are driven into the sea. Liesbet tells Hugo that the
Gustloff was sunk. They are both glad to be alive, but changed. Liesbet
also explains that the Rembrandts are gone along with all hope. She
accuses Fischer of the theft.
Liesbet is reunited with Corrie, briefly. Corrie says that father
demands that Liesbet join them in Berlin. Liesbet knows that it is
really the paintings he wants and chooses not to join her sister or
father, where in reality she would be safer.
She decides to find Fischer and asks Hugo to arrange a car. Hugo warns
her of the dangers. Russians are too close. The roads are part
demolished. But Liesbet is obsessed with finding Fischer, get a
divorce, retrieve her paintings. Hugo gives Liesbet his Luger for
protection. Shortly into the journey the car is ambushed by Russians.
Liesbet is violently raped over and over, left for dead in the middle
of the road. Russian soldiers drive off in the car with Liesbet’s
shoulder bag.
Hugo waits for Liesbet’s return as the camp is evacuated of all
personnel. Liesbet crawls back to Stutthof and into Hugo’s arms.
The camp itself is burning. The war is as good as over for the Germans.
Everyone must leave, go home. Liesbet is a broken woman, her path of
self – preservation is over. Hugo provides all the necessary papers for
Liesbet, Klara and Anna, gives the unresponsive Liesbet a photograph of
himself with a message. The three women join the thousands of refugees
heading west. Liesbet is going home, back to the Netherlands. She
passes but doesn’t recognise Fischer also fleeing. But Fischer is
mugged by American soldiers and they seize and run off with his bag
Ravensbruck is liberated by the Americans. Gerda is hanged.
The three women trudge on.
Nine months later in the final moments of the script, Liesbet gives birth to a baby girl, in Holland.
It is never clear who actually had the Rembrandts or where they ended
up in the end. One of the five senses is still missing to this day.
‘Liesbet’ is part of a trilogy. The second will explore the
consequences of Liesbet’s war and her dark past on the upbringing of
her children and her own mentality in the 1960’s. The third will
explore Liesbet’s dementia and how the truth always come homes to roost.
AWARDS
and Accolades for ‘LIESBET’