The Twilight Zone: Death's Head Revisited

All Hallows Eve has finally arrived my friends, a time to pay tribute to all manner of ghost, goblins and ghouls. However, today’s subject matter concerns a monster far more horrid and far more real than any vampire, ghost, goblin or werewolf. Years ago these monstrous individuals committed acts of unspeakable and unforgivable evil that still turn the stomachs of ordinary humans. In todays tale, one such individual finally receives judgment for the atrocities his kind committed. However, this trial will not take place just anywhere. After all, what better way is there to close out the Halloween season than with a trip through, The Twilight Zone.

The episode opens with a surly looking man calling himself “Schmidt” checking into a Bavarian hotel. The old woman behind the hotel counter seems to recognize Mr. Schmidt as one of the Nazi SS officers stationed in town during the war. Schmidt denies the woman’s accusations, claiming to have spent the war years on the Russian front. With an apparent perverse pleasure, Schmidt then enquires if there used to be a prison in this town. Visibly uncomfortable, the woman corrects Schmidt, telling him it was not a prison but rather, a concentration camp. Smiling as if he already knew the answer, Schmidt then forcefully inquires as to the name of the town. With barely enough will to respond, the woman behind the counter tells Schmidt that the name of the town is Dachau. Before this scene gets any more uncomfortable, in steps our humble narrator and well documented coolest man who ever lived, Rod Serling to deliver his introduction.

Mr. Schmidt, recently arrived in a small Bavarian village which lies eight miles northwest of Munich... a picturesque, delightful little spot one-time known for its scenery, but more recently related to other events having to do with some of the less positive pursuits of man: human slaughter, torture, misery and anguish. Mr. Schmidt, as we will soon perceive, has a vested interest in the ruins of a concentration camp, for once, some seventeen years ago, his name was Gunther Lutze. He held the rank of a captain in the SS. He was a black-uniformed strutting animal whose function in life was to give pain, and like his colleagues of the time, he shared the one affliction most common amongst that breed known as Nazis... he walked the Earth without a heart. And now former SS Captain Lutze will revisit his old haunts, satisfied perhaps that all that is awaiting him in the ruins on the hill is an element of nostalgia. What he does not know, of course, is that a place like Dachau cannot exist only in Bavaria. By its nature, by its very nature, it must be one of the populated areas... of the Twilight Zone.

We then see Schmidt, or Lutze to use his real name enter the remains of the camp and talking a walk, smiling as he recalls what he sees as pleasant memories of people being tortured and stripped of their humanity at his own hands. The unrestrained joy Lutze takes at recalling his acts of evil is enough to make one’s skin crawl. However, Lutze soon gets a sense that he’s not alone, and indeed, a rather gaunt looking man in ragged clothes bids Lutze good afternoon, addressing him by his rank to make clear that he’s aware of Lutze’s true identity. Lutze tries to run at first, but finds himself locked in. Lutze recognizes the man as Alfred Becker, a former inmate of the camp. Lutze asks Becker if he is the caretaker, to which Becker cryptically replies “In a manner of speaking.” Not giving a moments thought to the acts of cruelty he most assuredly visited upon this poor man, Lutze simply sais that it is nice to see Becker again under more pleasant circumstances. However, things start to get unsettling as Lutze hears what sounds like screaming, but dismisses it as just the wind. However, the conversation inevitably turns to Lutze and Becker’s time at the camp. Lutze gives the old Nazi excuse of “I was just a soldier following orders” but Becker sees right through him. Becker knows that Lutze wasn’t a soldier, he was a sadist, an animal who thrived upon inflicting pain. Lutze tries to diffuse things by saying that all that transpired at this camp is in the past and dwelling on it does no good, but once again, Lutze hears what sounds like screaming. Becker remarks on how strange it is that the sound of screams would disturb Lutze so, as the screams of his victims once brought him great pleasure. Becker continues to chastise Lutze for his actions, but Lutze is to disturbed by the noises to take notice and bolts for the exit, only to find the door to the camp-ground won’t budge. Lutze demands to be let out, but Becker asks why Lutze even came back in the first place. Lutze says that he was nostalgic for his homeland and he was hoping that the passage of time would have allowed people to forgive and forget the “little mistakes of the past.” Becker, who seems to have taken particular offense to the “little mistakes” comment, tells Lutze that he would have an easier time getting the Earth to stop revolving than to receive forgiveness from those whom he has wronged to a point well past forgiveness. Becker then says that the time has come for Lutze’s trial, but Lutze just thinks Becker is insane. Becker once again reminds Lutze of his past misdeeds and Lutze once again tries to make a run for it. Suddenly Lutze finds himself surrounded by former victims as Becker declares the trial is about to commence. As Becker reads Lutze’s numerous charges as Lutze scrathes at the walls like an animal trying to escape. Finally no longer able to take it, Lutze collapses.

When Lutze awakens, he finds that only he and Becker remain. Becker assures Lutze that what he experienced was no dream and once again reminds him of his crimes. He also says that the trial is over and Lutze has been found guilty. All that remains is to carry out Lutze’s sentence. At the notion of Becker carrying out his sentence, Lutze bursts into maniacal laughter, believing that this entire trial was a farce born of Becker’s hatred that exists only with his mind. Lutze expresses his regret at not killing Becker when he had the chance when he realizes… he did kill Becker. The night the Americans came to free the camp, Lutze, in an act of cruel desperation, tried to murder everyone who was still interned within its walls. In Becker’s case, Lutze succeeded. Lutze reaches out to strangle Becker, but to no avail. Becker then says that his punishment for his crimes against humanity, he is to be rendered insane and made to experience all the pain he inflicted upon others. All at once, Lutze feels the agony of being shot, tortured, strung up, tossed in a gas chamber and other atrocities too terrible to mention. As Lutze writhes on the ground in pain, Becker gives his parting words to his murderer."This is not hatred. This is retribution. This is not revenge. This is justice. But this is only the beginning, Captain. Only the beginning. Your final judgment will come from God."

Much later, Lutze has been found at the camp, sedated and is now being taken to a mental institution. As the Doctor who examined Lutze looks around, he wonders why places like Dachau are left standing. Our narrator fortunately has the answer.

There is an answer to the doctor's question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes, all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth.

This episode obviously deals with much heavier subject matter than our last outing with The Twilight Zone, A Game of Pool, but it is nonetheless an engaging and enjoyable outing for the series. Lutze and Becker play off one another well. I give particular credit to the actor who played Becker. Despite the fact that Lutze is a much larger and more imposing man, Becker’s presence is far more frightening and intimidating. This episode is not only excellent, it’s powerful, and certainly one of the best for the Twilight Zone.

And thus, we draw our month long Halloween celebration to a close. Starting tomorrow, it’s back to business as usual. I hope you all have a Halloween that’s filled with fun and frights.