The Juggler

Registration Official at Haifa: Name?

Hans Muller: [softly] Hans Muller

Registration Official at Haifa: You have to speak louder

Hans Muller: HANS MULLER's my name

Registration Official at Haifa: A little softer please. Place of birth?

Hans Muller: Germany... Munich... Beautiful city

Registration Official at Haifa: Occupation before the war?

Hans Muller: You wouldn't believe me

Registration Official at Haifa: I'll believe anything

Hans Muller: I was a juggler.

Registration Official at Haifa: What?

Hans Muller: A juggler

[pantomimes juggling balls in the air]

Registration Official at Haifa: We need a juggler like a hole in the head. What can you do besides throwing things up in the air and catching them?

Hans Muller: My dear sir, to say I throw things up in the air and catch them is like saying Shakespeare just wrote words. Would you care to see my scrapbook?

Registration Official at Haifa: No. Show it when you look for a job... if there are any for jugglers

Hans Muller: I'm retired. I havent thrown up anything but bad food in ten years

Registration Official at Haifa: So what else can you do?

Hans Muller: I can wash dishes, sweep barracks, clean toilets. I can also smile while being beaten by fists, feet, straps and long rubber hoses. I can be used as a guinea pig for new drugs and old poisons. All of which we learned as guests of the Nazis.