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And then look at the incredibly public round up and transportation of the Jews at the end of the film. Sure, no one knew anything, Oy. And look at the whole concept of an Aryan Controller for a shop implies how thoroughly the nazi's involved the community into their schemes. In a sense this redistribution entices someone who may have qualms into being a participant and eventually an enforcer of the Nazi ideology. And although Britko's stipend is portrayed humorously that the Jewish community are shaking themselves down to protect the old woman Rozalie, his accepting the money is a mechanism of enforcement of the new order. He's a participant, an eager participant when it comes down to money. This film, like so many others, puts the lie to all the claims of ignorance and non-participation by the civilians.

And the film goes to lengths to let us understand that Brtko is a participant, you could certainly read the ending of the film, with his murder of Rozalie as a symbol for his own complicity in the crimes of the nazis--the murder indicates his guilt. And perhaps the murder was a mercy, but Brtko's reaction of taking his own life seems to confirm the view that he couldn't live with himself when he saw the final result of the outcome of the nazi regime.

But at the same time, suicide, for all it's finality, lacks accountability. Perhaps there were Aryan Controllers who were so distraught about the way things went that they suicided, but I somehow doubt it, most, I imagine, survived the war and retained possession of the assets and capital redistributed to them. it is only Brtko who is guilty on behalf of the community, in a sense. On the other hand, the murder and suicide caught me off guard; while watching the film, I was thinking the final scene would be set shortly after the war, when someone comes in, buys something and asks, "wasn't this once a Jewish shop?" with Brtko replying, "No, it's always been mine, it's always been in my family." On the other hand, perhaps that sort of ending is too pessimistic, compared to the optimistic idea that 'good people' would definitely rather kill themselves than be participants in an atrocity like the holocaust?

I took away his suicide was for his guilt of accidently murdering Rozália. For no other reason then he would never be able to live with that on his conscious