Col. Hans Landa - Rats Full Dialog

- The feature that makes me such an
effective hunter of the Jews is,
as opposed to most
German soldiers,
l can think like a Jew where they can only
think like a German.

(CHUCKLlNG) More precisely,
a German soldier.

Now, if one were to determine what attribute
the German people share with a beast,
it would be the cunning and the
predatory instinct of a hawk.
But if one were to determine what attributes
the Jews share with a beast,
it would be
that of the rat.
The Führer and Goebbels' propaganda
have said pretty much the same thing.

But where our conclusions
differ, is l don't consider
the comparison an insult.
Consider for a moment
the world a rat lives in.

lt's a hostile world,
indeed.
lf a rat were to scamper through
your front door, right now,
would you greet it
with hostility?

- l suppose l would.

- Has a rat ever done
anything to you
to create this animosity
you feel toward them?

- Rats spread disease.
They bite people.

- Rats were the cause of the bubonic
plague, but that's some time ago.

l propose to you any disease
a rat could spread,
a squirrel could
equally carry.

Would you agree?

_

- Yet, l assume you don't share the
same animosity with squirrels
that you do with rats,
do you?

- No.

- Yet, they're both rodents,
are they not?
And except for the tail, they even
rather look alike, don't they?

- lt's an interesting thought,
Herr Colonel.

- However interesting
as the thought may be,
it makes not one bit of difference
to how you feel.

lf a rat were to walk in here,
right now, as l'm talking
would you greet it with a saucer
of your delicious milk?

- Probably not.

- l didn't think so.
You don't like them.
You don't really know
why you don't like them.

All you know is
you find them repulsive.

Consequently, a German soldier
conducts a search
of a house suspected
of hiding Jews.
Where does the hawk look?
He looks in the barn, he looks in
the attic, he looks in the cellar,
he looks everywhere
he would hide.

But there are so many places it would
never occur to a hawk to hide.


However, the reason the Führer has
brought me off my Alps in Austria
and placed me in French cow country
today is because it does occur to me.
Because l'm aware what tremendous
feats human beings are capable of
once they abandon dignity.

May l smoke my pipe
as well?

- Please, Herr Colonel,
make yourself at home.

-Now, my job dictates
that l must have my men
enter your home
and conduct
a thorough search
before l can officially cross
your family's name off my list.
And if there are any irregularities to
be found, rest assured they will be.

That is unless you have
something to tell me
that makes the conducting
of a search unnecessary.
l might add, also,
that any information
that makes the performance of my duty
easier will not be met with punishment.
Actually, quite the contrary.
lt will be met with reward.

And that reward will be,
your family will cease
to be harassed in any way
by the German military during the rest
of our occupation of your country.