7th Heaven s02e09 Episode Script
I Hate You
Dad, you had to have been doing something when Kennedy was shot.
I was.
I was at the dentist.
Were you having a tooth pulled, one of those root canals, false teeth, anything? I was a kid.
I was having my teeth cleaned.
The same teeth I still have today.
What? I have to get up in front of my whole class and talk and you've given me nothing I wanna tell anyone.
- Not even that I have the same teeth? - Oh, brother.
I thought you could choose any historical moment to talk about.
Dad, what's more historical than the moment JFK was shot? It's the world's greatest where-were-you-when question.
- And I invented it.
- It's been asked before, Simon.
Not by anyone in my class.
Dad, I think I'm gonna wait in the car since this is Church business.
Mrs.
Kerjesz doesn't go to our Church so this isn't Church business.
It's neighbour business.
So let's get out of the car, shall we? Dad, she's always giving me stuff I don't want.
Last time we were here, she gave me a ball of string.
You can always use a ball of string.
Get out.
She saves everything.
Well, nothing wrong with not being wasteful.
In fact, some people consider it a virtue.
Oh.
Sorry about that.
I wasn't sure if you heard the doorbell.
It's all right, Reverend, I was in the back.
Come in.
Simon, how are you? Come in, come in.
- So how can I help you, Mrs.
Kerjesz? - I wanna ask a small favour.
On Wednesday, could you possibly drive some of my friends and me to the Farmers Market? The gentleman that usually drives us is going to be in the hospital for a small surgery.
Sure, I'd be happy to.
Of course, I didn't want you to come by just to ask you a favour.
I have something for the boy.
I happen to like a certain frosted cereal that is giving a new Red Lightning ring.
- I love Red Lightning.
- I know.
You told me and I didn't forget.
I saved the box tops for you so you can send in for it.
How about that, huh? Red Lightning.
Cool, totally cool.
I put the box tops right here.
Oh, here, here they are.
There, you two You two go now.
You have things to do and so do I.
I'll see you Wednesday, then.
What time? Twelve is early enough.
Goodbye.
Mrs.
Kerjesz seemed to be in a bit of a hurry there, didn't she? Yeah, no kidding.
- I wonder what that was about.
- I don't know.
Unless it had something to do with those numbers on her arm.
- What numbers? - You know.
It was right here.
I wonder why she would have a tattoo.
And a number tattoo at that.
We'll talk about it when we get home.
But how did Hitler get everyone to hate the Jews? Well, there were a lot of problems in Germany at the time, and Hitler got everyone to hate Jewish people by blaming every problem in Germany on them.
People were hungry, Hitler blamed the Jews.
People were poor and didn't have jobs, Hitler blamed the Jews.
Why did everyone believe him? Simple answer, because it's easier to blame than take responsibility.
Hitler used one of the most effective propaganda campaigns ever created.
He convinced people that there's a struggle going on between all the races in the world and that the Jews were trying to dominate everybody, so they had to be eliminated.
- You mean killed? - Yeah.
Simon, his intent was to kill every person on Earth who was Jewish.
He had other people in the concentration camps killed that he considered enemies of Germany: Gypsies, Serbs, Polish, intellectuals, beggars, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, anyone and everyone who opposed the Nazis.
But he singled out the Jews for extinction.
Six million Jewish people were gassed or shot or starved.
Unbelievable.
How did Hitler die? When he knew Germany was defeated, he shot himself, then had someone pour gasoline over him and set him on fire.
He died like hundreds of thousands of people he'd had killed.
But how come no one stopped him? Why didn't the rest of the world just go in and rescue those people? Why didn't people do something to help them? That's a very good question, Simon.
People around the world didn't wanna believe it.
They didn't wanna believe something so horrible existed, because then they'd have to feel guilty for not doing anything.
Or they were too afraid to try to do something, or they didn't know what to do, or at worst, some didn't care.
And you never knew Mrs.
Kerjesz was in a concentration camp? Oh, there were times when I suspected that maybe she was.
How come you didn't ask her? That's just not something you ask about, son.
If she wanted me to know, she would have found a way to tell me.
It had to have been a horrible, horrible experience.
There were many survivors who lost all their family members in those camps.
But maybe it'll be good for her to talk about it.
No, no.
I know what you're thinking.
No, you're not gonna ask Mrs.
Kerjesz anything just so you can do an oral history report for school.
But if she wanted to? Again, and for the last time I hope, if she wanted to, she would have.
So you can discuss this all you want with me, but not with Mrs.
Kerjesz.
If she brought it up? She's not gonna bring it up.
She rushed us out of her house.
Move on, Simon.
Mom, what were you doing when JFK was shot? I was at the market with my mom.
Mom, you wanna get them out of here? They're just hanging out so they can stare at Joanne.
Well, I wouldn't mind getting a look at Joanne myself.
Why does everybody have to meet her? What's the big deal? It's the third date, that's the big deal.
She's the first girl you dated since you broke up with Heather.
That's the bigger deal.
And you like her and that's the biggest deal of all.
- Who? Who do you like? - Joanne.
What are we doing? We're all gonna go upstairs and give Matt a little privacy.
That's what we're doing.
- You too, Dad.
- Oh.
Have a nice evening.
Hold on to your hair.
Mom's gonna go through the roof.
Big surprise.
She's right on time.
Big surprise.
I just got a great idea.
Ruthie, wouldn't you like to meet Matt's new girlfriend? Yeah.
Go down to the living room and pretend to look for something.
Then Lucy and I will come down and look for you.
What should I look for? - Why don't you look for Hoowie? - Okay.
A great idea? That was a brilliant idea.
Thank you.
Oh! And who is this? This would be my annoying little sister, Ruthie, who's supposed to be upstairs.
I'm looking for Hoowie.
- Hoowie? - Long story, don't get involved.
Sorry to interrupt, we'll get Ruthie out of your way.
You sent me down here.
Hi, I'm Joanne.
You must be Matt's sisters.
- I'm Lucy.
- Mary.
- Nice to meet you.
- How about me? Well, it is nice to meet you too.
Yeah, now all of you, get out.
Matt, maybe they'd like to go for a ride with us.
My dad and I fixed up an old Mustang.
- You guys wanna see it? - No, they don't, but I'd love to.
- Good night.
- Maybe some other time.
Good night.
- Hate her.
- Hate her.
Hate her.
Maybe some other time I can show you my perfect little car.
Oh, it's so special.
I am so special.
Good night, good night.
I'd like you to come up to your room with me right now.
It must be big.
- She didn't even notice we're here.
- I'll get to you two later.
You told.
Like no one would have noticed that.
What were you trying to do here? I was trying to draw a mule like one we have at school.
I think you mean mural.
What are the rules about drawing? No drawing on the walls or the furniture or the floor or anywhere but paper.
That's right.
So why break the rules if you know the rules? I got bored, I guess.
Well, you're not going to be bored much longer.
We're gonna get a bucket of water and wash the crayons off the wall.
Do we have to? I like it.
Yes, we have to.
And I'm putting away the crayons for a while.
No colouring, no pasting, no cutting for one week.
I didn't paste or cut anything.
That's not fair.
- I think it's plenty fair.
- I hate you.
Hey, you okay? - No, you're not okay.
What's wrong? - Ruthie said that she hates me.
- I'll talk to her.
- No, no.
Please don't.
Let me handle this my own way.
Hey, Camdens.
Look.
Perfect hair even in a convertible.
She probably makes perfect grades too.
She does, and she's going to Harvard next year on a scholarship.
Tell me about it.
Hey, Camdens.
What? Is she watching us? Yep, and she's probably got perfect eyesight.
Oh.
Miss Marski.
Me, me, me.
- Me, me.
Miss Marski.
Miss Marski.
- Pick me.
- Okay, Larry.
Tell us what topic you've come up with.
I'm gonna ask my parents where they were - when President Kennedy was shot.
Ugh.
Show of hands.
How many of you chose that same topic? Mm-hm.
Simon, you have something else? Well, I was thinking of getting this friend of mine, her name is Mrs.
Kerjesz, to tell me about being in a Nazi concentration camp.
Hmm.
Mm-hm.
My grandmother was in one of those camps and she had numbers on her arm, but I never got to hear her tell about it because I was just a kid when she died.
Yeah.
Larry? My dad says that stuff is all just a hoax.
There were no concentration camps.
Simon, I think it's very important to this class that you talk to your friend and tell us her story.
If you can do that, I will guarantee you an A on your oral presentation.
Don't worry, I'll get it.
Now, I want the rest of you to try to put as much thought into this as Simon has.
There's nothing wrong with your mother.
I got the bad news about dinner straight from the horse's mouth.
She's helping Ruthie get the crayon off the wall and it's not pretty.
Ruthie is in full pout.
- Where are you two going? - Hmm? For a walk.
- I realize that.
Where? - No place special.
Maybe we should just leave it.
No, we can't just leave it.
We have to work a little harder to get it off.
But I don't have time to do this.
I just got home from school and I need to play.
You can play after we finish, which is probably not going to be today.
This is a mess.
But why can't you just clean it up while I'm at school? - Because I didn't colour the wall.
- But I said I was sorry.
I know, but that didn't get the colour off the wall.
Besides, I think we need to spend a little more time together.
I think we need to spend a little more time apart.
Fine.
When you want my help, you let me know.
Are you going to help Dad with dinner? No, I am taking the night off.
I was kind of hoping you were since Joanne's coming for dinner.
But, you know, maybe tomorrow night would be better.
No, tonight will be fine.
I did everything.
He's just stirring and watching pots.
I'll keep an eye on things.
Oh.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Whoo! Hey, look where we are.
It's Mrs.
Kerjesz's house.
Maybe we should drop by since we're in the neighbourhood.
Mrs.
Kerjesz? Mrs.
Kerjesz, you in there? Mrs.
Kerjesz, it's me, Simon and my dog, Happy.
I just wanted to thank you for those cereal box tops.
Okay, I'll be going now.
But if you ever need to talk about anything, let me know.
I'm a really good listener.
I could come over anytime.
The next couple of days are really good for me.
I called Nigel.
He hasn't seen Simon and he has no idea where he is.
But he thinks there's probably a girl involved.
I walked around the block.
No sign of them.
Can you take over here and I'm gonna drive around the neighbourhood.
- Yeah.
- Oh, right.
- Hi, Dad.
- Hi, Dad? I was gonna look for you.
I've been calling everywhere.
- Where have you been? - I was just walking Happy.
I guess we walked farther than I thought.
It's dark.
You know to be home before dark.
I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was dark until it was dark.
Simon, we were worried about you.
Don't ever do that again.
I won't.
I promise.
I'm just glad you're okay.
Wait a minute.
You didn't by any chance go over to Mrs.
Kerjesz's house, did you? I I I might have walked by there.
I I just wanted to thank her for the, uh, cereal box tops, the Red Lightning ring, you know.
She wasn't home anyway.
Say something.
Don't worry, I've got plenty to say.
Come on.
Hi.
Mary, Lucy, if you'd like to pitch in and help get dinner on the table, we could all eat a little sooner.
- How's dinner looking, Mom? - It looks just fine.
It is really a treat for me to get a home-cooked meal.
Both my parents work, so I usually just microwave something and eat it by myself.
Oh, the poor thing, she usually eats by herself.
I'm just surprised she can microwave by herself.
Good one.
Whoo! Dinner's almost ready, sweetheart.
You'd better get washed up.
I think I'll just eat in my room.
Thank you, Daddy.
I think maybe you should eat with everybody else.
But I'll tell you what, I'll ask your mom and let her decide, okay? Fine.
What's wrong with you? I don't wanna eat dinner with Mommy.
- Why not? - Because she's mean.
She's making me wash the wall all day long and all night long.
So? You coloured on it.
So? I used to come home from school and have cookies and milk.
Now she's just making me wash and wash.
She's just like that mean old stepmother in Cinderella only she's pretty.
Let me explain something to you, kid.
This is how the parent thing works.
You do something wrong and they punish you because they love you, and they wanna teach you a lesson.
For example, I just learned from Dad that if I'm ever out after dark visiting someone I'm not supposed to visit, I'll be grounded until I graduate from high school.
It's not the same.
You did something bad and you didn't have to do any punishment.
You didn't even get a time-out.
Still, I learned something.
Yeah, well, I learned something too.
I hate Mommy.
Whoa, you better think about that before you say that out loud again.
Besides, I know you don't mean it.
Why not? Mary and Lucy hate Joanne and they mean it.
I hope Joanne's not going to do that whole smiling thing through dinner.
I won't be able to eat from the glare of her teeth flashing in my eyes.
- You think they're capped? - Bleached, at the very least.
And she's probably had a boob job and her nose fixed.
Nobody can look that good without some serious help.
Underneath, she's probably as phoney as her teeth.
Stay with us for the 7:00 report.
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Honey, everybody's waiting for you to go to school.
Why are you still in your pyjamas? I'm sick.
It doesn't feel like you have a fever.
What hurts? My arms hurt real bad.
I think it's from trying to wash the stuff off the wall.
I see.
Yeah, well, that could be it.
Maybe you should just finish doing it.
You know, when somebody does something wrong, they need to take responsibility for it, whether the mistake is colouring on the walls or saying something that isn't nice or isn't true.
I think maybe you made a mistake the other day and said something that you didn't mean.
And I was hoping that after you thought about it, you'd apologize.
Do you remember when you said you hated me? I know you hate being punished.
But saying that you hate me really hurt my feelings.
Get ready for school.
I'll drive you.
Do we still have to wash the wall when I get home? Yes.
We went straight to the curb and back, not a step more.
I know, I was watching out the window.
Dad, do you think you could talk to Mrs.
Kerjesz about her life and then tell me about it since I'm not allowed to ask her? No, Simon, I don't.
You're just gonna have to pick another topic for your oral history report and that's final.
Now, if you go back there and bother Mrs.
Kerjesz about this again, mister, you're in big trouble.
I know.
It's just that Never mind.
No, no, I wasn't being fair to you.
What did you wanna tell me? Well, there's this Larry kid in my class, and he says there never were any concentration camps.
His dad told him that all that stuff was just made up.
Larry's dad obviously has a problem.
If he can deny that what happened happened, then he's making that choice out of his own hatred.
I just can't understand anybody teaching their kid to do that.
I know.
So, what should we do about it? - Hi.
- Oh, hi.
I have to go.
I don't wanna be late for class.
I thought you're gonna call me when you got home.
- Is something wrong? - Yes.
Actually, there is something wrong.
But this may not be the best place to talk about it.
Okay, so where would be a good place to talk about it? You know what, on second thought, I'd like to drop it.
I like you, Matt, but this isn't gonna work out.
What? Why not? I thought everything was fine between us.
Things are fine between us.
But things are not fine between your sisters and me.
My sisters? What are you talking about? Mary and Lucy hate me.
I don't know why, but they do.
- They hate me.
- Ha-ha-ha.
No, they don't.
Where did you get a crazy idea like that? It is not a crazy idea, Matt, it's the truth.
- Why would they hate you? - I don't know.
- Maybe you should ask them.
- This is nuts.
I have to go.
I'll call you.
No, really.
I don't have anything else to say.
Hi, Mrs.
Kerjesz.
I understand that Simon dropped by yesterday and I wanted to apologize if he disturbed you.
You know what he wanted.
He wanted to talk about something he saw when you two were here the other day.
Can an innocent boy like that really understand my story? Yes, I think he can.
But I don't wanna pressure you if it's not something you talk about.
I talk about it.
I talk about it with my friends who are survivors.
We have a common background.
That gives us common ears.
We can hear each other.
Other people don't hear us so well or not at all.
Sometimes, a heart simply isn't strong enough to hold the pain of another human being's suffering, so the mind can't fathom it.
- You know what I mean? - Yeah, I know.
But I didn't come here just to apologize for Simon.
I had a feeling.
I wanted to talk to you about something that was said in Simon's class.
Hi.
Um Look, I know this is gonna sound nuts, but do you guys hate Joanne for some reason? Why do you ask? Well, because Joanne just dumped me because she thinks you two hate her.
- Ha.
We don't hate her.
- No.
Yeah, I figured as much.
I guess I'm just on the rebound and picked a flake to go out with.
- What? - Nothing.
It's just I mean, don't worry about it.
It's not like it was any great loss.
Yeah, you'll find someone else.
I don't believe this.
Joanne was right, you do hate her.
Well, hate is such a strong word.
We don't hate her.
It's just that we don't like her all that much.
Yeah, why not? What did she ever do to you? - Oops.
- Yeah, big oops.
I forget.
Why did we hate her? I don't know.
I don't remember.
What are we gonna do now? Well, we'd better go find Matt and apologize.
Yeah, I know.
Have you seen Dad? He's still at Mrs.
Kerjesz's house with Simon.
What's wrong? I'm really angry at Mary and Lucy and I wanted to talk to Dad.
Could you talk to me? I'm a pretty good listener.
I might be able to advise you as well as your dad.
I'm not looking for advice.
I'm looking for Dad to go and yell at them.
Yell at them about what? Joanne dumped me because Mary and Lucy hate her for absolutely no reason.
- Are you sure? - Mom, I'm sure.
I just talked to them.
Fine.
Well, your dad can yell at them if he wants when he gets back, but I'm taking my turn right now.
I wanna apologize if we did anything or said anything to hurt Joanne's feelings.
We were just kidding around.
Kidding around how? We were sort of making fun of her the other night in the kitchen and she may have possibly overheard something.
What? Well, it's just that she's so perfect.
Yeah, you know, she's got those perfect teeth and perfect hair and a perfect car and perfect grades.
How terrible of her that she was blessed with good looks and works hard.
Is that why you two seemed so close this week? Because you were bonding over a common enemy that you created just for the fun of it? Well, that is a really dangerous little game you're playing.
Not only do you owe your brother an apology, you owe Joanne an apology.
First thing tomorrow when you get to school, you find her and talk to her.
Well, maybe we could call her instead.
Yeah, like right now.
No, you apologize to her face.
That wasn't yelling.
Maybe I'm just not in the mood for yelling.
Ruthie's really getting to you, huh? You know about that? Simon told me.
I know that she didn't mean what she said.
But that word coming out of that sweet little face How could she even say the word hate, much less that she hates me? It's like my heart hurts.
Good night, Simon.
Good night, Mrs.
Kerjesz.
Thanks for talking to me.
I don't know, maybe I wasn't such a good listener after all.
I'm really sorry about what happened to your family.
Yes, I'm sorry too.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- What's this? - I'm all done.
You mean, you finished cleaning up your wall? Yep, I got up as soon as my eyes opened.
Oh, honey The marks are all gone real good.
You can go look if you want.
I can't wait to see it.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I love you.
I love you too.
And it's so nice to hear you say that because I know you've been mad at me.
Yeah, but I don't hate you for real.
And I'm sorry I said that.
Yeah, I'm sorry that you said it too.
Is your heart still hurting? I wish I could tell you that it didn't, but my heart does still hurt a little even though I know you don't really hate me and that you didn't mean to hurt me.
But I want your heart to feel better right now.
I know you're a very little girl and this is a very big lesson, but once you say something, the words seem to have a power all on their own.
And even though you might want to take them back, you can't.
And even though you apologize for them, it doesn't always fix things.
At least not as quickly as you'd like them to be fixed.
So you just give me a day or two and my heart will be fine.
Oh, then I guess it's just my mouth I should worry about.
All right, there she is.
Let's get this over with.
Hi.
Would it be all right if we talked to you for a minute? Is this a good time? Matt told me you wanted to talk to me, but it's not necessary, really.
No, it's completely necessary.
We feel terrible about how we acted.
We're sorry if we hurt your feelings.
If? If you hurt my feelings? You think my teeth are capped, I have a boob job and I can't microwave my own food.
That's right.
I have perfect hearing too.
I overheard every word.
- We're really sorry.
- You should be.
If you had bothered to get to know me, I'm a pretty nice person.
And I try and treat others the way that I wanna be treated.
Yet if you made the same mistake we did, you'd want people to forgive you, right? I wouldn't make the same mistake you did.
No, I'm sure you wouldn't.
And look, it's really not like us.
We're really nice most of the time.
We just got caught up in being stupid.
So please don't take this out on Matt, it really wouldn't be fair.
No, it's not fair.
But it's still not gonna work out between Matt and me, because I don't think I could ever feel comfortable around you two or at your house.
So that's just how it is.
- We tried.
- We failed.
So? How'd it go? - Sorry.
- Me too.
If it's any consolation, we learned a big lesson here.
No, it's not any consolation, because whatever lesson you learned, you learned at my expense.
Okay.
What do we do now? Now we try to live with our sorry selves and never do anything like this again.
Boy, I am so proud of all of you.
We're really learning a lot by talking with older people about their experiences, aren't we? Let's see.
Who wants to go next? Simon.
I know I've been anxiously awaiting your report.
- Are you ready? - Yes, ma'am, I'm ready.
My report is on the Holocaust, which is the time when Hitler became chancellor of Germany on January 30th,1933 until World War II ended on May 8th, 1945.
During this time, an estimated as a direct result of measures taken against them by Hitler and almost 6 million of those people were Jews.
My friend, Mrs.
Kerjesz, was just one of those Jewish people who was put into a Nazi concentration camp, but survived.
I know the assignment was to tell a story passed down by a friend or family member, but this is not a story that I can tell.
And even if I could, you'd probably just think I made it up.
So I'm willing to take an F on my report, because I heard Mrs.
Kerjesz's story last night and it's more important for her to tell it to you than for me to tell it to you.
This is Charlotte Kerjesz.
She is a survivor of one of the death camps called Auschwitz in Poland.
Mrs.
Kerjesz? Thank you.
I was taken to the concentration camp with my mother, my father, my little brother, from Hungary in 1944.
My older brother was a soldier fighting for Hungary on the Russian front, and my sister was captured by the SS men right after the occupation.
I arrived in Auschwitz with my younger brother, my mother and my father.
We had travelled for four and a half days on the train without food, without water, without sanitary facilities.
In the train, it was very, very hot.
And the stench and the heat and the noise was unbearable.
In the car, there were people screaming and crying.
There was a panic in it.
We did not know where we were being taken.
When we arrived finally somewhere, the doors opened up.
There were hundreds, hundreds of people trying to get off and pushing each other, and my father held our hands so that we would not be separated.
They told us to form two groups.
The men should form one group and the women and the children should form another group.
Five months earlier, my brother turned 13.
He was bar mitzvahed.
So now he didn't know if he was considered here to be a man or a boy.
I told him to go with my mother.
Because Because mothers, they take care of their children.
Sick children, and my brother was very, very sick.
You see, I didn't know.
That was my decision.
I killed my brother because the group with all the mothers and all the children were taken directly to the gas chamber.
Even today, I cannot forgive myself.
Well, I was looking for my father.
My father.
He was 6-foot-2, tall man and very strong and he always knew what to do in any situation.
But when I saw him, he was standing there.
And he looked so miserable, with tears coming down on his face.
I didn't think where I was, what I was, I start to run to him.
I didn't know what I wanted.
I I guess just to comfort him.
The SS man stepped forward and he stopped me and started screaming at me and beating me.
"Go back! You go back where you belong!" I had no choice, no.
I had to go back.
So I went where my mother and my brother stood before.
But they were nowhere.
Well, after this, they told all the single women to form a third group and to step forward.
There was a young SS man and he was standing.
So he was so relaxed and smiling, and as we passed him by, he was waving so, "Left, right, left, right " Later, we found out that those who were waved left ended up in the gas chamber.
We went to the showers.
They told us to take off our clothes.
In the shower, they shaved our hair.
We were standing bald, naked.
I was completely humiliated.
When we came out, they gave us some rags to wear.
I got a man's shirt with no buttons.
I tried desperately to cover myself.
It was 2:00 in the morning and very, very cold.
Then the SS came and told us to go back to our barrack.
We would meet our parents.
When we came there, naturally, no one was there.
Some of the girls started to scream, cry: "Where are my parents? Where are my parents?" And then the SS came and said to us, pointing to the sky: "Look up.
What do you see?" The sky was black, heavy with smoke.
And then he said, laughing: "There are your parents, and that is where you are going.
The only way out of Auschwitz is through the chimney.
" And that was my arrival to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
My mother, my father, my brother, dead.
After the war, I found out that my older brother and sister were dead too.
Of my family, I was the only one who survived.
If only we could stop hating each other.
If only
I was.
I was at the dentist.
Were you having a tooth pulled, one of those root canals, false teeth, anything? I was a kid.
I was having my teeth cleaned.
The same teeth I still have today.
What? I have to get up in front of my whole class and talk and you've given me nothing I wanna tell anyone.
- Not even that I have the same teeth? - Oh, brother.
I thought you could choose any historical moment to talk about.
Dad, what's more historical than the moment JFK was shot? It's the world's greatest where-were-you-when question.
- And I invented it.
- It's been asked before, Simon.
Not by anyone in my class.
Dad, I think I'm gonna wait in the car since this is Church business.
Mrs.
Kerjesz doesn't go to our Church so this isn't Church business.
It's neighbour business.
So let's get out of the car, shall we? Dad, she's always giving me stuff I don't want.
Last time we were here, she gave me a ball of string.
You can always use a ball of string.
Get out.
She saves everything.
Well, nothing wrong with not being wasteful.
In fact, some people consider it a virtue.
Oh.
Sorry about that.
I wasn't sure if you heard the doorbell.
It's all right, Reverend, I was in the back.
Come in.
Simon, how are you? Come in, come in.
- So how can I help you, Mrs.
Kerjesz? - I wanna ask a small favour.
On Wednesday, could you possibly drive some of my friends and me to the Farmers Market? The gentleman that usually drives us is going to be in the hospital for a small surgery.
Sure, I'd be happy to.
Of course, I didn't want you to come by just to ask you a favour.
I have something for the boy.
I happen to like a certain frosted cereal that is giving a new Red Lightning ring.
- I love Red Lightning.
- I know.
You told me and I didn't forget.
I saved the box tops for you so you can send in for it.
How about that, huh? Red Lightning.
Cool, totally cool.
I put the box tops right here.
Oh, here, here they are.
There, you two You two go now.
You have things to do and so do I.
I'll see you Wednesday, then.
What time? Twelve is early enough.
Goodbye.
Mrs.
Kerjesz seemed to be in a bit of a hurry there, didn't she? Yeah, no kidding.
- I wonder what that was about.
- I don't know.
Unless it had something to do with those numbers on her arm.
- What numbers? - You know.
It was right here.
I wonder why she would have a tattoo.
And a number tattoo at that.
We'll talk about it when we get home.
But how did Hitler get everyone to hate the Jews? Well, there were a lot of problems in Germany at the time, and Hitler got everyone to hate Jewish people by blaming every problem in Germany on them.
People were hungry, Hitler blamed the Jews.
People were poor and didn't have jobs, Hitler blamed the Jews.
Why did everyone believe him? Simple answer, because it's easier to blame than take responsibility.
Hitler used one of the most effective propaganda campaigns ever created.
He convinced people that there's a struggle going on between all the races in the world and that the Jews were trying to dominate everybody, so they had to be eliminated.
- You mean killed? - Yeah.
Simon, his intent was to kill every person on Earth who was Jewish.
He had other people in the concentration camps killed that he considered enemies of Germany: Gypsies, Serbs, Polish, intellectuals, beggars, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, anyone and everyone who opposed the Nazis.
But he singled out the Jews for extinction.
Six million Jewish people were gassed or shot or starved.
Unbelievable.
How did Hitler die? When he knew Germany was defeated, he shot himself, then had someone pour gasoline over him and set him on fire.
He died like hundreds of thousands of people he'd had killed.
But how come no one stopped him? Why didn't the rest of the world just go in and rescue those people? Why didn't people do something to help them? That's a very good question, Simon.
People around the world didn't wanna believe it.
They didn't wanna believe something so horrible existed, because then they'd have to feel guilty for not doing anything.
Or they were too afraid to try to do something, or they didn't know what to do, or at worst, some didn't care.
And you never knew Mrs.
Kerjesz was in a concentration camp? Oh, there were times when I suspected that maybe she was.
How come you didn't ask her? That's just not something you ask about, son.
If she wanted me to know, she would have found a way to tell me.
It had to have been a horrible, horrible experience.
There were many survivors who lost all their family members in those camps.
But maybe it'll be good for her to talk about it.
No, no.
I know what you're thinking.
No, you're not gonna ask Mrs.
Kerjesz anything just so you can do an oral history report for school.
But if she wanted to? Again, and for the last time I hope, if she wanted to, she would have.
So you can discuss this all you want with me, but not with Mrs.
Kerjesz.
If she brought it up? She's not gonna bring it up.
She rushed us out of her house.
Move on, Simon.
Mom, what were you doing when JFK was shot? I was at the market with my mom.
Mom, you wanna get them out of here? They're just hanging out so they can stare at Joanne.
Well, I wouldn't mind getting a look at Joanne myself.
Why does everybody have to meet her? What's the big deal? It's the third date, that's the big deal.
She's the first girl you dated since you broke up with Heather.
That's the bigger deal.
And you like her and that's the biggest deal of all.
- Who? Who do you like? - Joanne.
What are we doing? We're all gonna go upstairs and give Matt a little privacy.
That's what we're doing.
- You too, Dad.
- Oh.
Have a nice evening.
Hold on to your hair.
Mom's gonna go through the roof.
Big surprise.
She's right on time.
Big surprise.
I just got a great idea.
Ruthie, wouldn't you like to meet Matt's new girlfriend? Yeah.
Go down to the living room and pretend to look for something.
Then Lucy and I will come down and look for you.
What should I look for? - Why don't you look for Hoowie? - Okay.
A great idea? That was a brilliant idea.
Thank you.
Oh! And who is this? This would be my annoying little sister, Ruthie, who's supposed to be upstairs.
I'm looking for Hoowie.
- Hoowie? - Long story, don't get involved.
Sorry to interrupt, we'll get Ruthie out of your way.
You sent me down here.
Hi, I'm Joanne.
You must be Matt's sisters.
- I'm Lucy.
- Mary.
- Nice to meet you.
- How about me? Well, it is nice to meet you too.
Yeah, now all of you, get out.
Matt, maybe they'd like to go for a ride with us.
My dad and I fixed up an old Mustang.
- You guys wanna see it? - No, they don't, but I'd love to.
- Good night.
- Maybe some other time.
Good night.
- Hate her.
- Hate her.
Hate her.
Maybe some other time I can show you my perfect little car.
Oh, it's so special.
I am so special.
Good night, good night.
I'd like you to come up to your room with me right now.
It must be big.
- She didn't even notice we're here.
- I'll get to you two later.
You told.
Like no one would have noticed that.
What were you trying to do here? I was trying to draw a mule like one we have at school.
I think you mean mural.
What are the rules about drawing? No drawing on the walls or the furniture or the floor or anywhere but paper.
That's right.
So why break the rules if you know the rules? I got bored, I guess.
Well, you're not going to be bored much longer.
We're gonna get a bucket of water and wash the crayons off the wall.
Do we have to? I like it.
Yes, we have to.
And I'm putting away the crayons for a while.
No colouring, no pasting, no cutting for one week.
I didn't paste or cut anything.
That's not fair.
- I think it's plenty fair.
- I hate you.
Hey, you okay? - No, you're not okay.
What's wrong? - Ruthie said that she hates me.
- I'll talk to her.
- No, no.
Please don't.
Let me handle this my own way.
Hey, Camdens.
Look.
Perfect hair even in a convertible.
She probably makes perfect grades too.
She does, and she's going to Harvard next year on a scholarship.
Tell me about it.
Hey, Camdens.
What? Is she watching us? Yep, and she's probably got perfect eyesight.
Oh.
Miss Marski.
Me, me, me.
- Me, me.
Miss Marski.
Miss Marski.
- Pick me.
- Okay, Larry.
Tell us what topic you've come up with.
I'm gonna ask my parents where they were - when President Kennedy was shot.
Ugh.
Show of hands.
How many of you chose that same topic? Mm-hm.
Simon, you have something else? Well, I was thinking of getting this friend of mine, her name is Mrs.
Kerjesz, to tell me about being in a Nazi concentration camp.
Hmm.
Mm-hm.
My grandmother was in one of those camps and she had numbers on her arm, but I never got to hear her tell about it because I was just a kid when she died.
Yeah.
Larry? My dad says that stuff is all just a hoax.
There were no concentration camps.
Simon, I think it's very important to this class that you talk to your friend and tell us her story.
If you can do that, I will guarantee you an A on your oral presentation.
Don't worry, I'll get it.
Now, I want the rest of you to try to put as much thought into this as Simon has.
There's nothing wrong with your mother.
I got the bad news about dinner straight from the horse's mouth.
She's helping Ruthie get the crayon off the wall and it's not pretty.
Ruthie is in full pout.
- Where are you two going? - Hmm? For a walk.
- I realize that.
Where? - No place special.
Maybe we should just leave it.
No, we can't just leave it.
We have to work a little harder to get it off.
But I don't have time to do this.
I just got home from school and I need to play.
You can play after we finish, which is probably not going to be today.
This is a mess.
But why can't you just clean it up while I'm at school? - Because I didn't colour the wall.
- But I said I was sorry.
I know, but that didn't get the colour off the wall.
Besides, I think we need to spend a little more time together.
I think we need to spend a little more time apart.
Fine.
When you want my help, you let me know.
Are you going to help Dad with dinner? No, I am taking the night off.
I was kind of hoping you were since Joanne's coming for dinner.
But, you know, maybe tomorrow night would be better.
No, tonight will be fine.
I did everything.
He's just stirring and watching pots.
I'll keep an eye on things.
Oh.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Whoo! Hey, look where we are.
It's Mrs.
Kerjesz's house.
Maybe we should drop by since we're in the neighbourhood.
Mrs.
Kerjesz? Mrs.
Kerjesz, you in there? Mrs.
Kerjesz, it's me, Simon and my dog, Happy.
I just wanted to thank you for those cereal box tops.
Okay, I'll be going now.
But if you ever need to talk about anything, let me know.
I'm a really good listener.
I could come over anytime.
The next couple of days are really good for me.
I called Nigel.
He hasn't seen Simon and he has no idea where he is.
But he thinks there's probably a girl involved.
I walked around the block.
No sign of them.
Can you take over here and I'm gonna drive around the neighbourhood.
- Yeah.
- Oh, right.
- Hi, Dad.
- Hi, Dad? I was gonna look for you.
I've been calling everywhere.
- Where have you been? - I was just walking Happy.
I guess we walked farther than I thought.
It's dark.
You know to be home before dark.
I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was dark until it was dark.
Simon, we were worried about you.
Don't ever do that again.
I won't.
I promise.
I'm just glad you're okay.
Wait a minute.
You didn't by any chance go over to Mrs.
Kerjesz's house, did you? I I I might have walked by there.
I I just wanted to thank her for the, uh, cereal box tops, the Red Lightning ring, you know.
She wasn't home anyway.
Say something.
Don't worry, I've got plenty to say.
Come on.
Hi.
Mary, Lucy, if you'd like to pitch in and help get dinner on the table, we could all eat a little sooner.
- How's dinner looking, Mom? - It looks just fine.
It is really a treat for me to get a home-cooked meal.
Both my parents work, so I usually just microwave something and eat it by myself.
Oh, the poor thing, she usually eats by herself.
I'm just surprised she can microwave by herself.
Good one.
Whoo! Dinner's almost ready, sweetheart.
You'd better get washed up.
I think I'll just eat in my room.
Thank you, Daddy.
I think maybe you should eat with everybody else.
But I'll tell you what, I'll ask your mom and let her decide, okay? Fine.
What's wrong with you? I don't wanna eat dinner with Mommy.
- Why not? - Because she's mean.
She's making me wash the wall all day long and all night long.
So? You coloured on it.
So? I used to come home from school and have cookies and milk.
Now she's just making me wash and wash.
She's just like that mean old stepmother in Cinderella only she's pretty.
Let me explain something to you, kid.
This is how the parent thing works.
You do something wrong and they punish you because they love you, and they wanna teach you a lesson.
For example, I just learned from Dad that if I'm ever out after dark visiting someone I'm not supposed to visit, I'll be grounded until I graduate from high school.
It's not the same.
You did something bad and you didn't have to do any punishment.
You didn't even get a time-out.
Still, I learned something.
Yeah, well, I learned something too.
I hate Mommy.
Whoa, you better think about that before you say that out loud again.
Besides, I know you don't mean it.
Why not? Mary and Lucy hate Joanne and they mean it.
I hope Joanne's not going to do that whole smiling thing through dinner.
I won't be able to eat from the glare of her teeth flashing in my eyes.
- You think they're capped? - Bleached, at the very least.
And she's probably had a boob job and her nose fixed.
Nobody can look that good without some serious help.
Underneath, she's probably as phoney as her teeth.
Stay with us for the 7:00 report.
In local news, a boy is shot when muling drugs for an older gang member.
In other news, an 83-year-old man accidentally shoots and kills a delivery man thinking he was an intruder.
And in world news tonight, another suicide bomb in Israel.
Stay with award winning KZAB for the best in local news coverage.
Honey, everybody's waiting for you to go to school.
Why are you still in your pyjamas? I'm sick.
It doesn't feel like you have a fever.
What hurts? My arms hurt real bad.
I think it's from trying to wash the stuff off the wall.
I see.
Yeah, well, that could be it.
Maybe you should just finish doing it.
You know, when somebody does something wrong, they need to take responsibility for it, whether the mistake is colouring on the walls or saying something that isn't nice or isn't true.
I think maybe you made a mistake the other day and said something that you didn't mean.
And I was hoping that after you thought about it, you'd apologize.
Do you remember when you said you hated me? I know you hate being punished.
But saying that you hate me really hurt my feelings.
Get ready for school.
I'll drive you.
Do we still have to wash the wall when I get home? Yes.
We went straight to the curb and back, not a step more.
I know, I was watching out the window.
Dad, do you think you could talk to Mrs.
Kerjesz about her life and then tell me about it since I'm not allowed to ask her? No, Simon, I don't.
You're just gonna have to pick another topic for your oral history report and that's final.
Now, if you go back there and bother Mrs.
Kerjesz about this again, mister, you're in big trouble.
I know.
It's just that Never mind.
No, no, I wasn't being fair to you.
What did you wanna tell me? Well, there's this Larry kid in my class, and he says there never were any concentration camps.
His dad told him that all that stuff was just made up.
Larry's dad obviously has a problem.
If he can deny that what happened happened, then he's making that choice out of his own hatred.
I just can't understand anybody teaching their kid to do that.
I know.
So, what should we do about it? - Hi.
- Oh, hi.
I have to go.
I don't wanna be late for class.
I thought you're gonna call me when you got home.
- Is something wrong? - Yes.
Actually, there is something wrong.
But this may not be the best place to talk about it.
Okay, so where would be a good place to talk about it? You know what, on second thought, I'd like to drop it.
I like you, Matt, but this isn't gonna work out.
What? Why not? I thought everything was fine between us.
Things are fine between us.
But things are not fine between your sisters and me.
My sisters? What are you talking about? Mary and Lucy hate me.
I don't know why, but they do.
- They hate me.
- Ha-ha-ha.
No, they don't.
Where did you get a crazy idea like that? It is not a crazy idea, Matt, it's the truth.
- Why would they hate you? - I don't know.
- Maybe you should ask them.
- This is nuts.
I have to go.
I'll call you.
No, really.
I don't have anything else to say.
Hi, Mrs.
Kerjesz.
I understand that Simon dropped by yesterday and I wanted to apologize if he disturbed you.
You know what he wanted.
He wanted to talk about something he saw when you two were here the other day.
Can an innocent boy like that really understand my story? Yes, I think he can.
But I don't wanna pressure you if it's not something you talk about.
I talk about it.
I talk about it with my friends who are survivors.
We have a common background.
That gives us common ears.
We can hear each other.
Other people don't hear us so well or not at all.
Sometimes, a heart simply isn't strong enough to hold the pain of another human being's suffering, so the mind can't fathom it.
- You know what I mean? - Yeah, I know.
But I didn't come here just to apologize for Simon.
I had a feeling.
I wanted to talk to you about something that was said in Simon's class.
Hi.
Um Look, I know this is gonna sound nuts, but do you guys hate Joanne for some reason? Why do you ask? Well, because Joanne just dumped me because she thinks you two hate her.
- Ha.
We don't hate her.
- No.
Yeah, I figured as much.
I guess I'm just on the rebound and picked a flake to go out with.
- What? - Nothing.
It's just I mean, don't worry about it.
It's not like it was any great loss.
Yeah, you'll find someone else.
I don't believe this.
Joanne was right, you do hate her.
Well, hate is such a strong word.
We don't hate her.
It's just that we don't like her all that much.
Yeah, why not? What did she ever do to you? - Oops.
- Yeah, big oops.
I forget.
Why did we hate her? I don't know.
I don't remember.
What are we gonna do now? Well, we'd better go find Matt and apologize.
Yeah, I know.
Have you seen Dad? He's still at Mrs.
Kerjesz's house with Simon.
What's wrong? I'm really angry at Mary and Lucy and I wanted to talk to Dad.
Could you talk to me? I'm a pretty good listener.
I might be able to advise you as well as your dad.
I'm not looking for advice.
I'm looking for Dad to go and yell at them.
Yell at them about what? Joanne dumped me because Mary and Lucy hate her for absolutely no reason.
- Are you sure? - Mom, I'm sure.
I just talked to them.
Fine.
Well, your dad can yell at them if he wants when he gets back, but I'm taking my turn right now.
I wanna apologize if we did anything or said anything to hurt Joanne's feelings.
We were just kidding around.
Kidding around how? We were sort of making fun of her the other night in the kitchen and she may have possibly overheard something.
What? Well, it's just that she's so perfect.
Yeah, you know, she's got those perfect teeth and perfect hair and a perfect car and perfect grades.
How terrible of her that she was blessed with good looks and works hard.
Is that why you two seemed so close this week? Because you were bonding over a common enemy that you created just for the fun of it? Well, that is a really dangerous little game you're playing.
Not only do you owe your brother an apology, you owe Joanne an apology.
First thing tomorrow when you get to school, you find her and talk to her.
Well, maybe we could call her instead.
Yeah, like right now.
No, you apologize to her face.
That wasn't yelling.
Maybe I'm just not in the mood for yelling.
Ruthie's really getting to you, huh? You know about that? Simon told me.
I know that she didn't mean what she said.
But that word coming out of that sweet little face How could she even say the word hate, much less that she hates me? It's like my heart hurts.
Good night, Simon.
Good night, Mrs.
Kerjesz.
Thanks for talking to me.
I don't know, maybe I wasn't such a good listener after all.
I'm really sorry about what happened to your family.
Yes, I'm sorry too.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- What's this? - I'm all done.
You mean, you finished cleaning up your wall? Yep, I got up as soon as my eyes opened.
Oh, honey The marks are all gone real good.
You can go look if you want.
I can't wait to see it.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I love you.
I love you too.
And it's so nice to hear you say that because I know you've been mad at me.
Yeah, but I don't hate you for real.
And I'm sorry I said that.
Yeah, I'm sorry that you said it too.
Is your heart still hurting? I wish I could tell you that it didn't, but my heart does still hurt a little even though I know you don't really hate me and that you didn't mean to hurt me.
But I want your heart to feel better right now.
I know you're a very little girl and this is a very big lesson, but once you say something, the words seem to have a power all on their own.
And even though you might want to take them back, you can't.
And even though you apologize for them, it doesn't always fix things.
At least not as quickly as you'd like them to be fixed.
So you just give me a day or two and my heart will be fine.
Oh, then I guess it's just my mouth I should worry about.
All right, there she is.
Let's get this over with.
Hi.
Would it be all right if we talked to you for a minute? Is this a good time? Matt told me you wanted to talk to me, but it's not necessary, really.
No, it's completely necessary.
We feel terrible about how we acted.
We're sorry if we hurt your feelings.
If? If you hurt my feelings? You think my teeth are capped, I have a boob job and I can't microwave my own food.
That's right.
I have perfect hearing too.
I overheard every word.
- We're really sorry.
- You should be.
If you had bothered to get to know me, I'm a pretty nice person.
And I try and treat others the way that I wanna be treated.
Yet if you made the same mistake we did, you'd want people to forgive you, right? I wouldn't make the same mistake you did.
No, I'm sure you wouldn't.
And look, it's really not like us.
We're really nice most of the time.
We just got caught up in being stupid.
So please don't take this out on Matt, it really wouldn't be fair.
No, it's not fair.
But it's still not gonna work out between Matt and me, because I don't think I could ever feel comfortable around you two or at your house.
So that's just how it is.
- We tried.
- We failed.
So? How'd it go? - Sorry.
- Me too.
If it's any consolation, we learned a big lesson here.
No, it's not any consolation, because whatever lesson you learned, you learned at my expense.
Okay.
What do we do now? Now we try to live with our sorry selves and never do anything like this again.
Boy, I am so proud of all of you.
We're really learning a lot by talking with older people about their experiences, aren't we? Let's see.
Who wants to go next? Simon.
I know I've been anxiously awaiting your report.
- Are you ready? - Yes, ma'am, I'm ready.
My report is on the Holocaust, which is the time when Hitler became chancellor of Germany on January 30th,1933 until World War II ended on May 8th, 1945.
During this time, an estimated as a direct result of measures taken against them by Hitler and almost 6 million of those people were Jews.
My friend, Mrs.
Kerjesz, was just one of those Jewish people who was put into a Nazi concentration camp, but survived.
I know the assignment was to tell a story passed down by a friend or family member, but this is not a story that I can tell.
And even if I could, you'd probably just think I made it up.
So I'm willing to take an F on my report, because I heard Mrs.
Kerjesz's story last night and it's more important for her to tell it to you than for me to tell it to you.
This is Charlotte Kerjesz.
She is a survivor of one of the death camps called Auschwitz in Poland.
Mrs.
Kerjesz? Thank you.
I was taken to the concentration camp with my mother, my father, my little brother, from Hungary in 1944.
My older brother was a soldier fighting for Hungary on the Russian front, and my sister was captured by the SS men right after the occupation.
I arrived in Auschwitz with my younger brother, my mother and my father.
We had travelled for four and a half days on the train without food, without water, without sanitary facilities.
In the train, it was very, very hot.
And the stench and the heat and the noise was unbearable.
In the car, there were people screaming and crying.
There was a panic in it.
We did not know where we were being taken.
When we arrived finally somewhere, the doors opened up.
There were hundreds, hundreds of people trying to get off and pushing each other, and my father held our hands so that we would not be separated.
They told us to form two groups.
The men should form one group and the women and the children should form another group.
Five months earlier, my brother turned 13.
He was bar mitzvahed.
So now he didn't know if he was considered here to be a man or a boy.
I told him to go with my mother.
Because Because mothers, they take care of their children.
Sick children, and my brother was very, very sick.
You see, I didn't know.
That was my decision.
I killed my brother because the group with all the mothers and all the children were taken directly to the gas chamber.
Even today, I cannot forgive myself.
Well, I was looking for my father.
My father.
He was 6-foot-2, tall man and very strong and he always knew what to do in any situation.
But when I saw him, he was standing there.
And he looked so miserable, with tears coming down on his face.
I didn't think where I was, what I was, I start to run to him.
I didn't know what I wanted.
I I guess just to comfort him.
The SS man stepped forward and he stopped me and started screaming at me and beating me.
"Go back! You go back where you belong!" I had no choice, no.
I had to go back.
So I went where my mother and my brother stood before.
But they were nowhere.
Well, after this, they told all the single women to form a third group and to step forward.
There was a young SS man and he was standing.
So he was so relaxed and smiling, and as we passed him by, he was waving so, "Left, right, left, right " Later, we found out that those who were waved left ended up in the gas chamber.
We went to the showers.
They told us to take off our clothes.
In the shower, they shaved our hair.
We were standing bald, naked.
I was completely humiliated.
When we came out, they gave us some rags to wear.
I got a man's shirt with no buttons.
I tried desperately to cover myself.
It was 2:00 in the morning and very, very cold.
Then the SS came and told us to go back to our barrack.
We would meet our parents.
When we came there, naturally, no one was there.
Some of the girls started to scream, cry: "Where are my parents? Where are my parents?" And then the SS came and said to us, pointing to the sky: "Look up.
What do you see?" The sky was black, heavy with smoke.
And then he said, laughing: "There are your parents, and that is where you are going.
The only way out of Auschwitz is through the chimney.
" And that was my arrival to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
My mother, my father, my brother, dead.
After the war, I found out that my older brother and sister were dead too.
Of my family, I was the only one who survived.
If only we could stop hating each other.
If only