Breslau (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
BRESLAU, APRIL 1936
[rhythmic metallic clanging]
[camera shutters clicking]
- [man 1] Scum!
- [woman] Child murderer!
[woman] Psychopath!
[people shouting indistinctly]
[man 2] Get him out of here!
[woman] Psychopath!
I'm going with him.
- We have regulations, Detective.
- He killed 13 children.
It's my case and I'll see it through.
[shouting continues]
[box clicks shut]
[Podolsky] Two years
I've been chasing you, Felix.
You have a powerful family.
I read the letter
from your lawyers from Berlin.
Insanity.
A perception disorder
preventing you from judging
your own actions.
But you knew exactly
what you were doing, didn't you?
When you killed those children,
you knew exactly what you were doing.
I hear that they arranged for you
to serve your sentence
in a resort in the Alps.
[handcuffs clicking]
Shame.
[tires screeching]
[groans softly]
I hear the Alps are beautiful in summer.
- What?
- Nothing, you piece of shit.
[guard] Detective?
Detective!
Detective Jesus Christ.
[Podolsky grunting]
What happened here?
[Podolsky] You did a shitty job
frisking him, boys.
He undid his handcuffs and lunged at me.
[grunting softly]
THE BRESLAU MURDERS
3 MONTHS LATER
[birds chirping]
[girl singing in Yiddish]
[doctor] Thank you. You can get dressed.
Damn paupers.
They won't let a man work.
[sighs] Detective,
everything is in order.
Your wife is
properly built.
That's what I thought.
So, in that case, nothing stands
in the way of you having a child.
Then why have we failed so far?
Have you heard about
the calendar method?
Mmm-hmm. What's that?
The last day of your wife's period.
If you want to have a baby, then
today, tomorrow,
the day after tomorrow at the latest,
is the best time for it.
- [coachman commanding horse]
- [horse neighs]
I have to drop by the precinct.
It won't take long.
I'll buy some wine.
Champagne.
Wine is good for whores.
And if you want to take advantage
of my proper build, then try your best.
[horse neighs]
[Podolsky] I've been suspended
for three months.
You said you'd bring me back
when all of this blows over.
[light music playing]
[sighs] Podolsky, I've tried.
But Himmler issued a new order.
Kripo now reports
to the Central Nazi Security Police.
The Nazis are in charge of everything.
I can't do anything.
What do you mean?
And what about Berlin?
Your friends? You said
Nobody wants to take risks
because of the Games.
It's a priority for Hitler.
We're supposed to show the world
that the Third Reich is a friendly
and modern, lawful country.
The Reich can be whatever it wants.
What do I have to do with it?
The fact that a police officer carried
out vigilante justice on a prisoner,
and a well-connected one at that.
I'm a suspect.
I'm just a suspect right now.
[Barens sighs]
The case is open.
For fuck's sake, that son of a bitch
raped and murdered 13 children.
The youngest was four years old.
Was he supposed
to serve time in a resort?
There must be a way.
The SS guys know you planned this.
They don't even need evidence.
Your name and descent
aren't helping either.
I had to bend over backwards
to keep you out of prison.
But you have to quit the force.
[indistinct chatter, cheering]
[female chorus vocalizing]
Greetings from Breslau Central
railway station.
The Polish national team took up
the Third Reich's invitation
and their final weeks of training
before the Games
will take place in Breslau,
at our modern sport facilities.
The residents of Breslau are fondly
awaiting our neighbor's athletes.
Gentlemen,
these stones are for the Games?
Get lost, man.
Fuck off.
I said, fuck off.
[Karol] What's the matter?
Are you here on vacation?
If you see idiots with stones,
fucking go after them.
[reporter] Here are the famous runners,
the Olechowski brothers.
A swimmer, Jadwiga Braun.
In just a few weeks, we'll see them all
at the Olympic Stadium,
the biggest sports arena in the world.
Hi, Zelda.
We've got to have order today,
so don't cause trouble.
Do I ever cause trouble, Erwin?
[camera shutters clicking]
Where are those Poles staying?
Zelda, they're Catholics.
Supposedly, they don't go after girls.
They all do, honey.
The Grand, Hungarian, or Saski?
[reporter continues speaking
indistinctly]
[indistinct chatter continues]
Hungarian.
- I fucking knew it.
- Hey!
Thank you.
Go away!
[reporter] The Polish national team
is enthusiastically welcomed by guests
and other nationals of the Third Reich.
Leon Rosenblum
is now getting off the train.
[crowd cheering, whistling]
Mr. Rosenblum,
you are Helmut Süle's main rival,
our Breslau champion,
the pride of the whole Reich.
Do you see a chance
to win the gold medal?
- I'll win.
- How can you be sure?
- Because Helmut is weak.
- What?
He's lost to me twice.
Jewish blood and Polish courage
will defeat German arrogance.
- [crowd booing]
- Jewish swine!
Go back to where you came from!
How dare you even say that?
Good day.
Superintendent,
who was your father?
The chancellor of the city council.
Mine was Polish.
He came to the beautiful Reich
to be a butcher.
And who will I be without a badge?
The son of a butcher and a drunk.
A nobody.
Maybe you should have thought of that
before doing what you did.
[sniffles] Lena doesn't know.
- What?
- She thinks I go to work.
[light music continues]
I'm sorry, Franz.
[traditional pop music playing,
Frank Sinatra "That's Life"]
[men chattering]
- That's life ♪
- [chorus] That's life ♪
That's what all the people say ♪
[men chattering and laughing]
You're riding high in April,
shot down in May ♪
But I know
I'm gonna change that tune ♪
When I'm back on top,
back on top in June ♪
[agitated shouting]
- I said, that's life ♪
- [chorus] That's life ♪
And as funny as it may seem ♪
Some people get their kicks
stompin' on a dream ♪
[chatter continues]
But I don't let it,
let it get me down ♪
'Cause this fine old world,
it keeps spinning around ♪
[exhales heavily]
[song fades away]
[classical operatic music playing]
[breathing heavily]
[exhales heavily]
So
[smacks lips] Should I open it or
You want to fuck, Detective?
Mmm-hmm.
[chuckles]
I want to fuck you.
Then go fuck your drinking buddies.
- Lena, but
- Franz?
Come on, you know now is the best time.
And you've had so much work,
what a shame.
You can be mad at me later, but now
Fuck off!
Fuck off to sleep on the couch.
Booze makes you snore so bad
that I can't sleep.
[Podolsky exhales heavily]
Fuck off, Franz.
[footsteps approaching]
Sir?
Sir.
[screaming]
All right, I'm the worst prick.
What should I do?
[Lena] I don't know.
Maybe cut your dick off and eat it?
I'm not gonna do anything
with it anyway.
I'll buy you that black ring with gold.
You think I'm gonna sleep
with you for a ring?
No, but I think if you,
in your generosity,
forgive my drunkenness,
then we will make love.
And if you also get gold,
you won't refuse.
Bring the gold. Then we'll talk.
Lena, it's Sunday!
Why did you wake me up?
Come back tomorrow.
[Podolsky sighs]
You want to be a mother.
You've always wanted to. You said that.
Maybe I do, or maybe I just said that.
[slams fist on door]
[Podolsky breathing heavily]
[both breathing heavily]
[knocking on door]
Fuck that.
[knocking continues]
Detective, it's me, Benk!
Wait. [grunts softly]
Wait a second, I'll just
I'll tell him to fuck off.
You have five seconds,
then I'll shoot you.
Talk.
- This is your last chance, boss.
- What?
A Polish athlete was murdered
at the Hungarian Hotel.
Inspector Barens sent me to tell you
that this might be your last chance.
As long as you're there before 8:00.
Wait downstairs.
- Lena
- [door closes]
[sighs]
- Double murder, Podolsky.
- [camera shutter clicking]
Look around and don't fuck this up.
Yes, sir.
Hello.
Did he leave any traces?
A glove, then.
Who opened the window?
The maid said it reeked of chemicals.
Why the eyes?
What's that, some kind of symbol?
A perpetrator who burns out
his victims' eyes
usually symbolizes that we're dealing
with a fucked-up psycho.
He pulled the bullet out?
A fucked-up psycho
who's smart enough to know
that we can identify the gun
from the bullet.
[exhales heavily]
One of Lewiakow's girls, right?
Why are you so pale?
Have you become sensitive?
Zelda.
At the station she gave me five marks
for a tip about the hotel.
I took it out of habit.
All right, get me some witnesses
from the hotel.
Who saw them.
The time they came to the room.
If anyone heard shots You know.
And send that rookie here.
Sit over there.
Sit there, on the bed.
Lie down.
What's your name?
Karol Mauer.
This may be the most important case
in your career, Officer Mauer.
The Führer's been asking
about the case since this morning.
If you help me solve it,
you'll get a promotion soon.
[Karol breathes deeply]
Now let's just imagine
you're the athlete.
You're lying next to the lady.
Lying down!
An intruder comes in.
He tells you not to move.
Kneel facing the wall.
Can you?
Closer.
He shoots the girl first.
The athlete hears a shot and turns.
He turns!
He charges at the attacker.
This way, this way.
Bang! Bang!
Excuse me!
Andrew Fox, Daily Morning.
I'm a correspondent from England.
Is it true that there's been a murder
and the victim is a Polish athlete?
Can you provide any comment?
- Daily Morning from England?
- Yes, sir.
[in English] Fuck off
[in Polish] That's my comment.
[indistinct chatter]
Detective Podolsky?
Come with us.
HUNGARIAN HOTEL
[typewriters clacking]
[phones ringing]
Oh, here you are.
[sighs heavily]
Criminal Investigator Franz Podolsky.
Obersturmbannführer Johann Holtz.
[stomps foot] Heil Hitler.
Superintendent Barens tells me
you're the best investigator in Breslau.
You know,
in ancient times, they would suspend
all wars during the Olympiads.
The Führer appreciates
the tradition of this sacred peace.
The Games.
- Excuse me?
- During the Games.
The Olympiad is the four-year period
between the Games when there's no peace
and people could slaughter each other.
[Holtz] Hmm.
We are trying to show the West
that the Third Reich is a modern state.
Proud of its origins.
Not an aggressive one,
as hostile propaganda claims.
There's no slaughtering here.
With all due respect,
Obersturmbannführer,
I was in the hotel
and I saw the bodies.
It'll be hard to paint
it as an accident.
I've instructed my men to make sure
that the drastic details of this crime
are not made public.
- And what's my role in this?
- Catch the killer of that kike athlete.
- And the prostitute.
- Well
[inhales sharply]
The Third Reich is a modern,
law-abiding state,
where there is order.
And when someone disrupts that order,
the Reich will find
and punish that person.
With your help, I hope,
Detective Podolsky.
The only problem is that I'm suspended.
Not anymore.
If you solve the Rosenblum case quickly,
the investigation against you
will be dropped.
What if I fail?
That would mean
that Superintendent Barens
was wrong about you.
[footsteps receding]
Please keep me informed
about the progress on the case.
[stomps foot] Heil Hitler.
[sighs deeply]
Thanks, boss.
No problem.
You owe it to your fame.
Holtz came here two months ago,
after Himmler's reform,
and he has already heard about you.
They sent him to Breslau to restore
order on the Reich's eastern flank.
Not as a punishment?
As a reward.
He's had an exemplary career in Berlin,
that's why he's the head of the SS
in Lower Silesia.
If he does well here,
he'll be back at the top.
[sighs]
You're in luck, Podolsky.
If I don't catch the killer soon,
he'll go down.
And I'll go down with him.
I don't know
if that's what you call luck.
Benk's interviewing the witnesses.
- Check what he's got.
- Yes, boss.
- I just have to
- No, Podolsky.
You have to solve this case.
I don't care what else you have to do.
May I?
Be my guest.
[dialing]
[classical operatic song playing]
[phone ringing]
[phone continues ringing]
[ringing stops]
What did they drink?
He drank vodka and she had wine.
- A lot?
- Zelda had two glasses as usual.
He must have had half a pint.
Everybody saw the newspaper.
[cries softly]
But it's the Hungarian.
You drink there, not talk politics.
Although, everyone was waiting
for Süle to come. [sniffles]
The javelin thrower?
Yes.
[operatic song continues]
Did you notice
anything else that evening?
Detective, it's the Hungarian.
I see so many faces
that I wouldn't recognize my own mother.
Did Zelda say anything
before going upstairs?
Yes. [crying softly]
She asked me to order her a schnitzel.
She was always hungry like a wolf
after every client and
and she asked
[sighs heavily]
They're moving the bodies to the morgue.
They'll cut them tomorrow.
Hmm, the techs
determined that their eyes
were burned with concentrated chlorine.
Pools, hospitals, and 5,000 fucking
factories in this city use chlorine.
These findings don't give us shit.
And why did he shoot her first?
[Benk clears throat]
I don't know.
Maybe he wanted to get rid of her
and torture this Rosenblum.
The javelin thrower hired him?
A racial purity fanatic in a
violent rage kills a Jewish athlete.
A prostitute dies as collateral damage.
Too simple, isn't it?
You've always said it, the simpler
the explanation, the better. [sniffles]
Yeah, but we're looking for a man
who burns holes in his victims' skulls.
Simple explanations
don't work here. [sniffles]
Detective, I report that Mr. Süle
refuses to come to the precinct.
What do you mean?
Hmm
He's training.
He said he doesn't have time.
Then you fucking cuff him
and bring him here.
For God's sake,
what are you made of these days?
Boss.
Süle is a very popular athlete now.
The Reich boasts about his strength,
so I don't think that arresting him
is a good idea.
[indistinct chatter]
[camera shutter clicking]
What are they doing here?
[scoffs] Probably making sure
that the Western press
notices the hospitality
of the friendly Reich.
[Ewa] Hoo-hoo!
Franz!
I was expecting Lena, not you.
I told her she had to come here.
I'm here on duty, Ewa,
and Lena isn't much into sports.
Not into sports, but into athletes.
[laughing]
Hush, or the detective will arrest us.
It's been years
since I've worked in vice.
I didn't even know
you started working in the industry.
Detective.
Is this a joke?
[Podolsky] I don't know what's funny.
I just want to know why you didn't go
to the Hungarian Hotel last night.
I hear you're a regular there.
Are you hard of hearing?
Surely, you weren't scared
of confronting that Pole?
That Jew.
Do you know what Jews are good at?
Moonshine. They make great moonshine.
No, Detective.
Jews are good at provocation.
First, they bark in the press,
they bite, and then they play victim.
If that kike met me at the Hungarian
and started taunting,
I wouldn't do anything to him.
But one of the guests could.
What then?
Jews would complain again
that Germans are persecuting them.
That's what they do.
Well done.
Thanks to you,
Leon Rosenblum didn't get beaten.
He was murdered instead.
What?
I mean [scoffs]
You don't think I did it, do you?
It's not him.
He's too stupid to be a good liar.
What now?
Lend me ten marks.
[Benk sighs]
[clears throat]
Thanks.
[classical music playing faintly]
Someone murders a Polish athlete in
a major hotel and not a word about it?
[patrons chattering]
Your reporters cover only the weather?
That's ridiculous.
He was a Jew.
What?
The athlete.
He was a Jew.
[Fox, in English]
Uh, the victim is a Polish Jew.
The famous Leon Rosenblum.
[in Polish] Mmm-hmm.
You know that it'll be expensive?
To wire each word to England.
[in Polish] If this goes on like this,
I'll spend a fortune here.
What time do you finish?
[chuckles]
[indistinct chatter]
[horse neighs]
All right. Here.
[horse snorts]
[horse neighs]
[indistinct chatter]
[engine starts]
Honey, I'm back.
[record player crackling]
Lena.
Fuck, Lena.
Anything but this.
[man] Well, she was here.
Her, some other girl
and five guys with them.
- What guys?
- Young ones.
Younger than you, Detective.
Strong fellas, but with nice faces.
And where could they go?
Your wife and the other girl
wanted to dance.
[upbeat dance music playing]
[indistinct chatter, laughter]
[woman exclaiming]
[woman exclaims]
- Have you seen Lena?
- She went out with two guys.
[woman whooping]
Pay attention. Pretty blonde, slim.
Did she buy anything from you?
Man, leave me alone.
I don't have time for this.
- How much did she take?
- Just two grams.
- Was she with anyone?
- Two young guys.
- Where did she go?
- I don't know.
- Where did she go?
- I don't know. I swear.
[man groans]
If you sell anything to that lady again,
even a crumb,
I'll drown you in the river.
[coughs]
[sighs]
[woman shouting in protest]
What's going on here?
[policeman] We're cleaning up
the city, Detective.
- Of whores, gypsies, homeless.
- [women laughing]
You name it. All the trash.
If that's trash,
you should be the first one to get on.
[upbeat jazz music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
Did you see Lena?
Good evening, Doctor.
Oh, two prodigal sons meet in hell.
Good evening, Detective.
I'm looking for Lena.
Have you seen her here?
To be honest,
I wouldn't even notice my own wife.
They only started letting Jews
into the casino yesterday,
so to make the best out of it,
I hardly have eyes for anything else.
- And have you cut those bodies already?
- What bodies?
From the Hungarian,
the ones with burned eyes.
No. I don't do that anymore.
What do you mean?
The Reich allows the Jews to lose at
the casino, but not to cut dead bodies.
Good Germans don't have to worry now
about a Jew gutting them after death.
Now it's only the good Germans
who do that. Young and stupid ones.
- You'll see.
- I'd rather not. I'll take care of it.
See you tomorrow at the autopsy.
Lena.
Lena. [sighs]
[Lena mumbling indistinctly]
- [sighs] Come on.
- Leave me alone. My husband's a cop.
[Podolsky grunts softly]
[grunts softly]
[grunts, exhales]
[breathing heavily]
[sniffles]
Lena.
- Did you sleep with anyone?
- [grunts]
Lena!
[breathing heavily]
[sniffles]
Mysterious death
of the Breslau Monster
Who can withstand His indignation?
Who can endure His fierce anger?
I'm just like you, Podolsky.
I'm cleaning the city.