In the final months of World War II, more than 100,000
prisoners remained in Nazi concentration camps across
Germany. Most were starving. Many were dying.
In March 1945, as the Allies closed in, one unlikely
operation risked everything to rescue them—led not by
soldiers, but by diplomats, nurses, and unarmed volunteers.
It was called...
TITLE CARD:
THE WHITE BUSES
Based on true events
EXT. RAVENSBRÜCK CONCENTRATION CAMP – EARLY MORNING – WINTER
1945
A dense fog blankets the trees. Beyond them: watchtowers,
barbed wire, and the gaunt silhouettes of prisoners lining up
for roll call.
Smoke pumps steadily from the crematorium chimney—gray and
constant, like an industrial sigh.
Women and teenage girls—shaved heads, hollow eyes—shuffle in
silence, their breath clouding in the frozen air.
INT. BARRACKS – CONTINUOUS
NINA STEMME (30s), a Swedish Red Cross nurse, stands stiffly
near the doorway. Her breath hitches as she watches prisoners
pass through the snow.
Behind her, a TALL SS OFFICER (40s) in a pressed uniform
offers a cold smile.
SS OFFICER
We had a typhus outbreak last
month. The crematorium is...
preventive.
Nina doesn’t speak. She keeps her face blank, but her eyes
betray her horror.
EXT. YARD – CONTINUOUS
In the line, a young girl—HANNA (15)—barefoot, frostbitten,
clutches something in her hand: the fabric head of a doll.
She stumbles.
Falls.
No one moves. No one dares.
Behind her, a woman—possibly her mother—kneels, trying to
lift her, but she’s too weak.
Nina rushes toward them.
NINA
She needs help.
SS OFFICER
She’s already dead.
NINA
She’s breathing.
The SS officer shrugs. Guards watch but do not act.
Nina kneels beside the girl. Places her fingers on Hanna’s
neck.
A faint pulse.
NINA (CONT’D)
She’s alive.
SS OFFICER
There are thousands like her. You
can’t save them all.
Nina looks him dead in the eye.
NINA
I can try.
She scoops Hanna into her arms—her weight feather-light—and
walks back toward the barracks.
The SS officer says nothing.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
2 -
A Risky Mission: The Urgency of Rescue
Smoke continues to rise behind them. EXT. STOCKHOLM – SWEDISH
RED CROSS HEADQUARTERS – DAY
A stately building coated in frost and silence. Flags hang
limp in the icy wind.
CUT TO:
SUPER: TWO WEEKS EARLIER — STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Inside, a flurry of activity—clipped voices in Swedish,
footsteps echoing down marble hallways.
INT. RED CROSS STRATEGY ROOM – CONTINUOUS
A large table cluttered with maps, telegrams, and photos—some
marked "RAVENSBRÜCK," "DACHAU," "NEUENGAMME."
Colored pins are stabbed across Germany and occupied
territories—each one a known concentration camp.
At the head of the table stands COUNT FOLKE BERNADOTTE
(50s)—tall, impeccably groomed, aristocratic demeanor. A
nobleman, yes—but with the gravity of a man who’s walked too
close to hell.
He speaks calmly—but every syllable lands like a drumbeat.
BERNADOTTE
We’ve confirmed over 9,000
Norwegians and Danes are still
alive in German camps. That number
drops daily.
A junior diplomat, MAGNUS (30s), flips through a folder,
visibly tense.
MAGNUS
The Germans are stonewalling. They
say it's typhus. They’ve "isolated"
the worst camps.
BERNADOTTE
Camps don’t isolate the sick. They
eliminate them.
Across the room, a nurse, ASTRID (40s), hard-edged and
pragmatic, speaks up.
ASTRID
Even if we get approval, it’s a
suicide mission. We’ll be driving
through active war zones. SS
patrols. Russian artillery.
BERNADOTTE
Then we go in white. Paint every
vehicle. Red Cross insignia. Big as
possible.
He draws an X on the map with a blue pencil—a new route.
BERNADOTTE (CONT’D)
We go through Denmark, down to
Lübeck, then through to Neuengamme,
and south from there.
MAGNUS
What if they refuse us entry?
BERNADOTTE
They won’t. Not if Himmler wants to
bargain for his skin.
The room falls silent. The implication hangs: they’ll be
negotiating with monsters.
ASTRID
And if the Allies mistake us for
German convoys?
BERNADOTTE
Then we pray they can read a red
cross.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
3 -
Urgency in the Shadows
INT. RED CROSS GARAGE – LATER
Mechanics coat the first bus in white paint. Nurses stack
crates of blankets, powdered milk, and IV equipment.
A young mechanic opens a canister of red paint, stencils a
cross on the side.
WELDER (O.S.)
White buses. Might as well be
targets.
Bernadotte watches from the shadows.
INT. SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTRY – NIGHT
Elegant wood-paneled walls. The war seems a world away
here—until you hear what’s being said.
COUNT FOLKE BERNADOTTE stands across from the SWEDISH FOREIGN
MINISTER (60s, stern, cautious), flanked by two grim aides.
FOREIGN MINISTER
We are a neutral nation, Count
Bernadotte. If a single Red Cross
vehicle is destroyed, our
neutrality—
BERNADOTTE
Is meaningless if we do nothing
while innocents are incinerated.
FOREIGN MINISTER
You propose driving unarmed nurses
through collapsing German
territory? Through SS patrols?
BERNADOTTE
The Geneva Convention protects
medical missions.
AIDE
Does Himmler care about the Geneva
Convention?
Bernadotte says nothing. Just meets their eyes.
BERNADOTTE
If we wait for the war to end,
we’ll be rescuing corpses.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
4 -
Urgent Mission: A Race Against Time
INT. RED CROSS OFFICE – WAR ROOM – NEXT MORNING
Nina and ASTRID prepare supply manifests. Powdered milk.
Morphine. Blankets.
NINA
I want all units to carry forced-
feeding kits. They won’t be able to
swallow.
ASTRID
We’ll need graves too.
Nina stops writing.
NINA
Not if we’re fast.
Magnus rushes in with a dispatch.
MAGNUS
Himmler’s aide responded. He’ll
allow Swedish inspection of
Neuengamme and Ravensbrück. Escort
required.
Bernadotte looks up slowly.
BERNADOTTE
That’s our opening.
MAGNUS
They still deny the crematoriums.
Say it’s typhus.
ASTRID
They always say that.
INT. TRAIN COMPARTMENT – LATER THAT WEEK – MOVING – DUSK
Nina, Astrid, and Bernadotte sit side by side in a dim train
car, crossing into Denmark. Tension sits like fog.
NINA
Why now? Why let us in?
BERNADOTTE
Himmler sees the end coming. He
wants leverage with the Allies.
ASTRID
So we’re a favor he can cash in.
BERNADOTTE
Let him believe it. While we save
as many as we can.
Outside the window: barren snowfields. Burned-out villages.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
5 -
A Moral Dilemma at the Gates of Despair
EXT. LÜBECK – RAIL YARD – NIGHT
Steam hisses. Armed SS GUARDS greet the arriving Swedish
convoy with cold stares.
Painted white buses idle behind them. Some still dripping red
paint.
INT. GERMAN ARMY TENT – LATER
Bernadotte sits at a table with SS OFFICER WALTER
SCHELLENBERG (40s), calm, calculated.
SCHELLENBERG
You will follow strict routes. Only
camps we specify.
BERNADOTTE
And the prisoners?
SCHELLENBERG
Only Scandinavians. Norwegians and
Danes. No others.
BERNADOTTE
If we find French, Poles,
Jews—starving, dying—do we leave
them?
SCHELLENBERG
That is not your concern.
He signs the authorization with a fountain pen.
SCHELLENBERG (CONT’D)
Stay in your lane, Count
Bernadotte. You are here to
observe. Not interfere.
INT. WHITE BUS – RAVENSBRÜCK ENTRY – DAWN
Nina rides in the front of the lead bus. Fog outside. Red
Cross insignia streaked with mud.
They pass the gates of Ravensbrück.
The camera lingers as the bus disappears behind the high
walls.
INT. NEUENGAMME CONCENTRATION CAMP – ENTRY GATE – DAY
A steel gate groans open. Two white buses, mud-splattered,
roll through.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING
NINA STEMME sits quietly behind the windshield. ASTRID
clutches a clipboard.
Outside: corpses in striped uniforms lie beside the barbed
wire, uncollected.
Inside: silence. Everyone stares forward.
EXT. NEUENGAMME – MAIN YARD – MOMENTS LATER
The buses stop. Prisoners don’t react. They stare at the Red
Cross vehicles as if hallucinating.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
6 -
Despair in the Camp
INT. CAMP INFIRMARY – MOMENTS LATER
Cracked tile. Flies.
A young RED CROSS DOCTOR examines a pile of bruised limbs.
One twitch.
DOCTOR
This one’s alive.
A prisoner—JAKOB (40s)—moans softly. His tongue is black.
Nina kneels.
NINA
(in Swedish, soft)
You’re safe now. We’re from Sweden.
JAKOB
(hoarse)
Norwegian?
NINA
What?
JAKOB
(weakly)
If I’m not Norwegian, do I die
here?
Nina swallows. Doesn’t answer.
INT. CAMP SUPPLY ROOM – LATER
Nina walks past shelves of empty crates. A German supply
officer opens a cabinet of Zyklon B canisters—some still
full.
A prisoner orchestra plays near the entrance. Shaky strings,
out of tune.
NINA, ASTRID, and other Red Cross nurses move in a line, eyes
darting.
An old man with frostbitten fingers salutes Nina—then
collapses.
NINA
He’s seizing.
Astrid checks his eyes.
ASTRID
No response.
Two guards drag him by the feet, leaving a trail in the snow.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
7 -
A Moment of Compassion
INT. PRISONER BARRACK – MOMENTS LATER
Low bunks. Bare wood. 6 people per level.
INGER, 20s, idealistic, lifts a blanket from a girl no older
than ten.
GIRL
(in broken Danish)
Are you angels?
Inger blinks back tears.
INGER
No. Just late.
INT. CAMP INFIRMARY – DAY
Nina examines a man’s back—whip scars covered in lice. He
doesn’t react.
A German guard steps in with a clipboard.
GUARD
Only Norwegians and Danes. We’ll
sort them for you.
NINA
They all need medical care.
GUARD
Orders are orders.
INT. FOOD DISTRIBUTION TENT – LATER
Red Cross staff ladle watery broth into tin bowls.
A starving Jewish boy (8) slips under the rope and grabs at a
crust.
An SS GUARD raises his baton—then sees Inger.
She steps in front of the boy.
INGER
He’s with me.
The guard pauses. Snorts. Walks off.
INT. SUPPLY BUS – NIGHT
Inger lifts the boy into a canvas bin behind folded sheets.
His eyes flutter.
INGER
Don’t speak. Sleep.
She closes the lid gently. The boy curls up like a cat.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
8 -
Desperate Choices
INT. RED CROSS FIELD HQ – LÜBECK – NEXT DAY
Bernadotte reviews a telegraph with MAGNUS.
MAGNUS
Himmler’s deputy says they’ll
approve more camps... if we confirm
there’s no “mass extermination.”
BERNADOTTE
(quiet)
He wants us to lie.
MAGNUS
If we say no, they shut the gates
again.
Bernadotte folds the telegram. Hands it back.
BERNADOTTE
Burn it.
INT. RAVENSBRÜCK – MAKESHIFT WARD – DAY
A Danish woman convulses on a table.
Nina tries to insert an IV. The woman’s arm is too thin—like
paper over sticks.
NINA
Hold her still.
She gets the needle in. Fluid flows.
The woman’s eyes flutter open—then roll back.
ASTRID
She’s gone.
Nina doesn’t let go of her hand.
EXT. BUS LOADING ZONE – RAVENSBRÜCK – DUSK
White buses idle.
A Red Cross official checks prisoner IDs—Norwegians and Danes
only.
NINA watches two Polish women cry as they’re turned away.
ASTRID
Orders, Nina.
NINA
To hell with orders.
INT. BUNKER ROOM – LATER THAT NIGHT
Bernadotte sits alone. One candle burns.
He looks at a folder—photos of survivors, malnourished and
ghostlike.
He flips one over. On the back: “F. Karlsson – Norwegian?”
Below it, written in pencil: "Jewish. Born Warsaw."
Bernadotte closes the folder.
EXT. LÜBECK OUTSKIRTS – MORNING
Snow falls. Two white buses pull away from the depot, Red
Cross flags fluttering.
Inside, nurses tighten wool blankets around trembling
prisoners.
A boy hidden in a supply bin peers out from a fold.
From a hill above, a distant figure watches through
binoculars.
It’s a German militia scout, flanked by two teenage
fighters—barely 16.
One raises a rifle.
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. NEUENGAMME – PRISONER BARRACKS – CONTINUOUS
Rows of bunk beds, stacked three high. No blankets. Bare
wood. No windows.
NINA steps inside, followed by ASTRID and two male doctors.
The stench is unbearable—rot, feces, damp wood. The Red Cross
team hesitates.
A skeletal man mumbles prayers in Norwegian, barely audible.
PRISONER (O.S.)
(faint)
Are we… saved?
Nina kneels. A hand reaches out from a lower bunk—barely skin
and bone.
It’s a young man—19 at most.
NINA
(in Norwegian)
We’re from Sweden. We’ve come for
you.
YOUNG MAN
Please… don’t leave me.
Nina gently presses a stethoscope to his chest. Barely a
heartbeat.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
9 -
A Glimmer of Hope
EXT. CAMP YARD – LATER
Prisoners shuffle in a slow line toward the waiting white
buses.
SS GUARDS separate them by nationality.
GUARD #1
Norwegians to the left. Danes.
Papers ready.
A Polish woman is shoved aside. A Frenchman collapses. No one
looks back.
Inger watches it all. Her lips tighten.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOMENTS LATER
INGER opens the back door of the bus and glances around.
She spots a French child—no older than 8—sitting alone
against the barracks wall, eyes wide and red-rimmed.
She hesitates.
Then walks quickly to him.
EXT. CAMP YARD – CONTINUOUS
INGER kneels beside the child. He doesn’t flinch.
INGER
(quietly, in English)
Come with me. Quietly now.
She takes his hand and leads him behind the rear bus tire.
INT. SUPPLY COMPARTMENT – MOMENTS LATER
Inside the bus, Inger folds a wool blanket around the child,
gently places him into the linen bin under the seat.
She slides the crate closed and sits down on top of it.
Her breath trembles.
INT. RED CROSS INFIRMARY TENT – NIGHT
Back at the Lübeck base.
Nina scrubs dried blood from her hands in a basin. Her
sleeves are soaked.
Astrid enters, holding a file.
ASTRID
We lost five overnight. Three
just... slipped away.
NINA
Any Norwegians?
ASTRID
One. Two Danes. Two... we don’t
know.
NINA
We’ll add them to the list anyway.
ASTRID
Which list?
Nina looks up, eyes red.
NINA
The one that says they mattered.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
10 -
Witnesses to Atrocity
INT. FIELD HQ – BERNADOTTE’S OFFICE – LATER
Bernadotte pores over camp maps, telegrams, and casualty
reports.
MAGNUS enters holding a new cable.
MAGNUS
Himmler’s office again. They’re
"concerned" about misinformation.
BERNADOTTE
Misinformation?
MAGNUS
They say reports of mass deaths and
crematorium use are exaggerated.
Bernadotte stares at him. Then slowly picks up a photo:
skeletal corpses stacked like lumber.
BERNADOTTE
Tell Himmler’s office if they want
our silence... they can start
digging graves.
MAGNUS
That’ll cost us access to half the
camps.
BERNADOTTE
Then we open the other half wider.
INT. RAVENSBRÜCK – NIGHT – NURSES’ QUARTERS
Nina sits on her cot. In her lap, Hanna (the girl she
rescued) is sleeping, curled against her.
She strokes the girl’s scalp gently, as if to remember what
softness is.
NINA (V.O.)
We came here to be witnesses.
Now I wonder…
If we’re just undertakers in white coats.
INT. RAVENSBRÜCK – NIGHT – NURSES’ QUARTERS
Nina sits on her cot. In her lap, HANNA sleeps curled against
her chest. Her small fingers twitch.
NINA (V.O.)
We came here to be witnesses.
Now I wonder…
If we’re just undertakers in white coats.
She wipes soot from Hanna’s cheek with her sleeve.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
11 -
Defiance in the Face of Oppression
EXT. RAVENSBRÜCK – INFIRMARY YARD – MORNING
Nina exits a tent. A cart rolls by, carrying two covered
bodies.
She sees a line of women, too weak to stand, being refused
boarding by an SS corporal.
CORPORAL
No papers—no transport. Norwegians
only.
NINA
They’ll die here.
CORPORAL
Then they die. Move along.
Nina steps in front of the next woman in line—a young French
girl, barely conscious.
NINA
She’s in our care now.
CORPORAL
You interfere again, I’ll have you
removed.
Nina doesn’t flinch.
NINA
Then shoot me. Or get out of my
way.
The corporal stares at her.
Finally, he steps aside.
INT. WHITE BUS – LOADING – LATER
Nina helps the French girl onto the bus. Behind her, Inger
fidgets nervously.
INSPECTING GUARD
Open the rear compartment.
Inger’s heart races. She quickly moves toward the back.
INT. WHITE BUS – SUPPLY COMPARTMENT – MOMENTS LATER
Inger cracks the compartment. The hidden boy looks up, wide-
eyed.
She presses her finger to her lips. Closes it again.
EXT. RAVENSBRÜCK – GUARD CHECKPOINT – CONTINUOUS
A second SS officer approaches the bus, clipboard in hand.
SS OFFICER
Manifest shows 23 passengers. We
count 24.
Inger freezes.
NINA
We added a nurse.
SS OFFICER
Name?
NINA
Stemme. Nina.
The officer scans the list. Eyes her.
SS OFFICER
Drive.
The bus rolls forward. Inger exhales.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
12 -
A Tenuous Rescue
INT. RED CROSS HQ – LÜBECK – FIELD OFFICE – LATER
BERNADOTTE reviews a stack of files. MAGNUS enters with a
sealed envelope.
MAGNUS
New list from Himmler’s office.
They want the next route limited to
male prisoners only.
BERNADOTTE
Why?
MAGNUS
Less likely to raise emotional
reaction. Fewer reporters
questioning photos of starving
women.
Bernadotte stands.
BERNADOTTE
Tell them this is a rescue
operation, not a public relations
stunt.
MAGNUS
If we push too hard, they’ll revoke
the passes.
Bernadotte looks out the frosted window. White buses parked
silently in the snow.
BERNADOTTE
Let them try.
INT. RED CROSS TENT – NIGHT
Nina cleans Hanna’s scalp gently with warm water. The child
is mostly silent now.
HANNA
Am I… allowed to be alive?
Nina doesn’t answer at first.
Then:
NINA
Yes. And I need you to stay that
way.
She wraps her in a clean sheet. A poor substitute for
comfort, but it’s all they have.
INT. WHITE BUS – NIGHT – MOVING
The convoy rolls down a dark road flanked by trees. One bus
carries only corpses, covered and stacked.
Astrid sits beside a nurse, her hands shaking.
ASTRID
They died between checkpoints. No
time to offload.
NURSE
Should we turn back?
ASTRID
No. They ride home with us.
EXT. LÜBECK OUTSKIRTS – NEXT MORNING
The convoy approaches the rail yard for offloading.
GUARD STATION ahead. SS men await with rifles.
A BOOM of gunfire ECHOES nearby.
Everyone stiffens.
INT. BUS – FRONT CAB
NINA
Stop the bus.
The driver brakes.
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD: Up ahead, a supply truck is burning.
A white flag torn and smoking.
One of the nurses screams.
DRIVER
They hit one of ours.
EXT. RAIL YARD – MOMENTS LATER
Smoke. The rear bus has been struck by rifle fire. Two
windows shattered. No one moves.
A nurse lies slumped over—blood soaking her apron.
BERNADOTTE (V.O.)
They gave us permission… and they
gave the order to fire.
INT. RED CROSS FIELD HQ – LATER
Bernadotte stands before a table of Swedish officials.
SENIOR MINISTER
You’ve exceeded your authority.
This was to be a controlled
operation—not open warfare.
BERNADOTTE
Then I suggest we take off the
gloves. Because our enemy never put
them on.
CUT TO BLACK.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
13 -
Defiance in the Face of Loss
EXT. RAIL YARD – MOMENTS LATER
Smoke settles. The buses idle. Guards stand tense, fingers on
triggers.
A stretcher is carried from the second bus. The body of the
young nurse, her apron soaked in blood.
Nina walks beside it. Hollow.
EXT. RED CROSS FIELD HOSPITAL – NEXT MORNING
A small gathering in the snow. Red Cross nurses and Swedish
drivers stand in silence.
The nurse’s body lies beneath a plain white sheet.
BERNADOTTE, pale, presides over the burial. No speeches. Just
a single bell toll.
NINA steps forward. Places her ID badge on the sheet.
NINA
She wasn’t a soldier.
She carried no weapon.
And she died for trying to save a stranger.
Silence.
ASTRID quietly sobs behind her.
INT. RED CROSS HQ – WAR ROOM – LATER
SWEDISH MINISTER slaps a telegram onto the desk in front of
Bernadotte.
SWEDISH MINISTER
This operation is now a diplomatic
liability. Berlin has lodged a
formal complaint about "improper
Red Cross interference."
BERNADOTTE
You mean helping Jews?
SWEDISH MINISTER
I mean smuggling undocumented
prisoners across national lines.
You’re compromising Sweden’s
neutrality.
Bernadotte doesn’t respond.
SWEDISH MINISTER (CONT’D)
Return to Stockholm. That’s not a
request.
He leaves.
MAGNUS stares at Bernadotte.
MAGNUS
What are you going to do?
BERNADOTTE
Send the next convoy in six hours.
MAGNUS
But—
BERNADOTTE
Paint the buses. Load the fuel. You
heard me.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
14 -
Silent Sacrifices
INT. SUPPLY BUS – NIGHT
Inger places another child—maybe 6—into the linen bin beside
the first.
She gently pats his chest. Closes the lid.
ASTRID enters behind her.
ASTRID
That’s the third one, isn’t it?
Inger freezes.
INGER
You going to report me?
Astrid steps forward. Opens the front flap of the crate
slightly. The child inside looks up, scared.
Astrid reaches into her coat—pulls out a candy. Hands it to
him silently. Then closes the flap.
ASTRID
Put another blanket over. And
breathe quiet.
They share a long look.
No words.
INT. SUPPLY BUS – NIGHT
ASTRID stares at the closed linen bin, then at INGER.
ASTRID
Put another blanket over. And
breathe quiet.
Inger nods. Her hands are shaking.
Astrid moves to the front of the bus, looks out the
windshield.
ASTRID (CONT’D)
They're not going to stop this
time, are they?
INGER
Stop what?
ASTRID
Pretending they don’t see us.
INT. RED CROSS HQ – BERLIN TELEGRAPH OFFICE – LATE NIGHT
A telegraph clicks and spits out a message.
A Swedish operator tears it off, eyes widening.
INT. WAR ROOM – CONTINUOUS
MAGNUS bursts into Bernadotte’s office with the telegram.
MAGNUS
Berlin says you’ve violated mission
scope. If another Jew or Pole is
transported, the agreement ends.
BERNADOTTE
Is that a threat?
MAGNUS
Yes.
Bernadotte sits down, calmly signs a paper authorizing Route
Extension South.
BERNADOTTE
Then let's make it worth it.
INT. BARRACKS – DAWN
NINA walks the rows of weak prisoners. A clipboard in her
hand.
She stops in front of a French girl, around 20, barely
conscious.
FRENCH GIRL
(murmurs)
Not Norwegian. Not Danish.
NINA
What’s your name?
FRENCH GIRL
Anne.
Nina writes on the clipboard:
Name: Anne Duval
Nationality: Danish (claimed)
She tears the top page off. Crumples it.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
15 -
Journey Through Hell
EXT. LOADING YARD – MORNING
White buses line up. Their red crosses are freshly painted,
bright as blood.
DRIVERS, NURSES, and PRISONERS all move in quiet formation.
Tension builds.
MAGNUS approaches Bernadotte with a manifest.
MAGNUS
This list… isn’t accurate.
BERNADOTTE
That’s correct.
MAGNUS
We’re falsifying documentation?
BERNADOTTE
No. We’re rewriting it.
INT. BUS CAB – SHORTLY AFTER
Nina sits at the front, Hanna on her lap. The girl now wears
a donated wool cap.
A Danish driver speaks softly.
DRIVER
They warned us. Not to deviate. Not
to stop.
NINA
What did you say?
DRIVER
I said… drive straight through
hell.
EXT. ROAD OUTSIDE LÜBECK – SAME
The convoy moves. Trees line both sides of the icy road.
Each bus gleams white—symbols of peace rolling through a
nation at war with itself.
Inside one compartment: two children hidden in a crate, arms
around each other.
INT. NAZI CHECKPOINT – 30 MILES EAST – DAY
An SS checkpoint. Trucks and bicycles pass through, eyes
watching.
A scout with binoculars sees the convoy approaching.
SCOUT
Red Cross.
COMMANDER
Let them through.
SCOUT
One of the buses was at
Ravensbrück.
The commander narrows his eyes.
EXT. BARRACKS – RAVENSBRÜCK – SAME
A soldier finds a scrap of paper—discarded.
It reads:
"Anne Duval – Danish (claimed)"
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
16 -
Desperate Escape
INT. BERLIN – HIMMLER’S OFFICE – NIGHT
A messenger delivers a file to a shadowy aide.
He opens it. Frowns.
AIDE
He’s moving them all now. Jews.
French. Even children.
Beat.
AIDE (CONT’D)
Kill the next bus.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD – DUSK
The lead white bus rolls slowly over a snow-covered bridge.
On the far end: a jeep and three teen SS fighters. One has a
Panzerfaust.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING
Nina leans forward.
NINA
Why are we slowing down?
Ahead, the jeep blocks the bridge.
DRIVER
Something’s wrong.
EXT. ROADBLOCK – CONTINUOUS
A boy no older than sixteen points the rocket launcher at the
bus.
INT. WHITE BUS – SAME
The children in the crate begin to cry.
Inger clamps her hand over the lid.
OUTSIDE — a loud CLICK.
But the launcher jams. A German officer screams at the boy.
DRIVER (O.S.)
Go. Now!
EXT. BRIDGE – CONTINUOUS
The bus LUNGES forward, swerving past the jeep.
Gunfire cracks the air.
A bullet punches through the side panel.
Inside: screaming. But the bus keeps moving.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING – NIGHT
The bullet hole in the panel lets in cold air.
A nurse sobs in the corner, blood on her sleeve. She presses
a cloth to a wounded passenger’s leg.
NINA cradles Hanna, shielding her eyes from the blood.
HANNA
Are we still alive?
NINA
Yes. And we keep moving.
INT. RED CROSS HQ – LÜBECK – NIGHT
Bernadotte storms into the operations room.
MAGNUS
One bus damaged. Three wounded. One
dead.
BERNADOTTE
Was it Himmler?
MAGNUS
Berlin claims “rogue elements.” But
the boy with the Panzerfaust? SS
Youth.
Bernadotte says nothing.
He picks up a pen. Begins writing a new route on the master
map.
MAGNUS (CONT’D)
They’ll revoke our permits.
BERNADOTTE
Then we won’t use them.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
17 -
Hidden Lives and Urgent Choices
INT. NURSES’ BARRACK – LATER
Nina washes her face in silence. Blood won’t come off her
palms.
ASTRID enters.
ASTRID
I re-wrapped the boy’s ribs. He
asked for you.
NINA
He shouldn’t even be here.
ASTRID
None of them should.
Beat.
ASTRID (CONT’D)
They're going to search the buses
tomorrow. Thoroughly.
Nina’s eyes darken. She nods.
EXT. STORAGE AREA – SAME
NINA slips outside, jacket wrapped around her.
She finds the hidden compartment under the last bus.
She opens it.
Inside: the two smuggled children, huddled together.
CHILD
Did we do something wrong?
Nina stares at them.
Then crawls in.
She pulls the blanket up around all three.
NINA
No. You did something brave.
INT. HIMMLER’S BERLIN OFFICE – NIGHT
Aide slams a report on the table.
AIDE
They’ve expanded to Theresienstadt.
No request. No notice.
HIMMLER
And yet they call us the criminals.
INT. RED CROSS HQ – STRATEGY ROOM – NIGHT
Bernadotte stands before a small group of trusted staff.
A fresh map is unrolled.
He circles Theresienstadt in red. Then another: Mauthausen.
BERNADOTTE
We go further south. Two convoys.
One visible. One under cover.
MAGNUS
That’s suicide.
BERNADOTTE
It’s math. If we hesitate, they
die. If we go, some live.
INGRID
And if we’re caught?
BERNADOTTE
Then we make noise so loud the
world can’t ignore us.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
18 -
Dawn of Hope
INT. FIELD BARRACK – DAWN
Red Cross nurses gather. One missing—Nina.
ASTRID
She stayed on the bus.
INGRID
All night?
ASTRID
She didn’t want them to wake up
alone.
EXT. YARD – MOMENTS LATER
Bernadotte walks between the rows of white buses.
Drivers stand ready. Engines idle.
He stops at one: the window still cracked from the bullet
hole.
DRIVER
Still want us to go?
BERNADOTTE
No.
Beat.
BERNADOTTE (CONT’D)
I want you to not stop.
INT. WHITE BUS – MORNING
Nina opens the curtain. Sunlight hits her face. The children
are asleep.
She takes their names down in her logbook—in pencil.
She writes:
"Unknown origin. Recovered. Transported. Still breathing."
EXT. LÜBECK – ROAD OUT
The convoy begins to roll.
Red Cross flags wave. But this time—the symbols are twice as
large.
The paint still wet.
Overhead, crows scatter.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
19 -
Checkpoint Tension
INT. BUS – MOVING
Bernadotte sits in the jump seat, watching the trees blur by.
BERNADOTTE (V.O.)
We asked for permission.
Now we ask for forgiveness.
FADE TO BLACK.
EXT. GERMAN COUNTRYSIDE – DAY
The white buses wind along a frostbitten road. Forest on both
sides. Not a village in sight.
In the lead bus, a red cross flag flaps from the roof—mud-
smeared and bullet-frayed.
Inside, passengers sway silently with each bump in the road.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING
Nina rests her head against the window. Across from her,
Hanna sleeps curled against a nurse’s coat.
The two smuggled children are still hidden in the compartment
below the seats. Breathing shallow. Silent.
The driver slows.
DRIVER
Checkpoint ahead.
Nina straightens.
EXT. ROADSIDE CHECKPOINT – MOMENTS LATER
A German military police unit stops the convoy.
An officer signals for the lead driver to exit.
INT. WHITE BUS – REAR COMPARTMENT
Inger grips the crate lid. She presses her ear to it—hears
boots outside.
A soft cough escapes from within the linen bin.
Inger tightens her grip.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
20 -
Checkpoint Tension
EXT. CHECKPOINT – CONTINUOUS
The officer glances at the Red Cross insignia, then taps the
bus panel with his rifle.
GERMAN OFFICER
You're off route.
DRIVER
New orders. Vice President
Bernadotte.
GERMAN OFFICER
Papers.
The driver hands him a folded document. The officer reads it
slowly.
GERMAN OFFICER (CONT’D)
This doesn’t cover Theresienstadt.
DRIVER
It does now.
A tense beat. The officer steps away to radio.
INT. WHITE BUS – CONTINUOUS
Astrid squeezes Nina’s wrist.
ASTRID
If they open the bins—
NINA
They won’t.
EXT. CHECKPOINT – CONTINUOUS
The officer returns.
GERMAN OFFICER
You're lucky today. Move.
He slaps the document back into the driver’s chest and waves
them on.
The convoy rolls.
INT. WHITE BUS – LATER
Inger opens the crate lid a crack. The boy inside is flushed
and sweating.
INGER
You’re okay. You did perfect.
She places a damp cloth on his forehead.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
21 -
A Moral Dilemma
INT. RED CROSS HQ – STOCKHOLM – SAME
In a polished boardroom, government officials argue around a
long table.
A minister slams down a telegram.
SWEDISH MINISTER
He’s deviated again. Entered
southern Germany without clearance.
DIPLOMAT
There are reports he’s transporting
French Jews.
SWEDISH MINISTER
We gave him a corridor. He’s
building a highway.
A junior aide hesitates.
JUNIOR AIDE
But he’s saving lives.
SWEDISH MINISTER
We don’t win wars with mercy. We
survive them with rules.
INT. RED CROSS FIELD HQ – NIGHT
Bernadotte reviews prisoner manifests. Each name handwritten.
Magnus enters with a coded message.
MAGNUS
Sweden has disavowed further action
south. No diplomatic protection if
anything goes wrong.
Bernadotte folds the note in half.
BERNADOTTE
Then we’re not diplomats anymore.
MAGNUS
We’re volunteers?
BERNADOTTE
We’re witnesses. If we stop now,
we’re accomplices.
He crosses off a red line on the route map—and draws a new
one in black.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
22 -
Facade of Normalcy
EXT. THERESIENSTADT CAMP – GATES – DAY
The convoy approaches the walled ghetto.
The gates open slowly.
Uniformed guards wave them in—smiling.
Red Cross flags flutter. The air is oddly still.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING
Nina stares out the window.
Children are playing near the entrance. Clean clothes. Even a
swing set.
HANNA
Is this a real camp?
NINA
Yes.
HANNA
Then why does it look… nice?
Nina has no answer.
EXT. CAMP SQUARE – MOMENTS LATER
The buses stop beside a freshly painted sign:
"WORK BRINGS FREEDOM"
A group of healthy-looking prisoners wait in neat lines.
Faces washed. Hair combed.
A camp officer greets Bernadotte with an exaggerated smile.
CAMP OFFICER
Welcome to Theresienstadt. A model
of humanitarian treatment.
Bernadotte steps down, expression unreadable.
BERNADOTTE
We’ll need full access to the
barracks.
CAMP OFFICER
Of course. But first, perhaps a cup
of tea?
INT. THERESIENSTADT – VISITOR CENTER – LATER
White walls. Wooden floors. A fresh bouquet on the table.
It looks nothing like the other camps.
Bernadotte, Magnus, and two nurses are served tea in
porcelain cups.
A violin plays softly in the next room.
CAMP OFFICER
We’ve had visitors before. Danish
inspectors. Swiss observers. They
all left impressed.
MAGNUS
Did you clean up for them too?
The officer’s smile flickers.
CAMP OFFICER
We believe in order. That’s all.
INT. THERESIENSTADT – “SCHOOLROOM” – LATER
Nina steps inside a classroom. Desks. Chalkboard. Drawings on
the walls.
A girl stands by the window, reciting a poem in Czech.
Behind her, a woman watches with practiced warmth.
ASTRID (QUIETLY)
It’s a stage.
NINA
How do you know?
Astrid points to the ceiling.
ASTRID
No heating vents. There never were.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
23 -
Silent Convoy
EXT. CAMP SQUARE – NIGHT
The convoy is lined up to leave.
MAGNUS checks the manifests.
MAGNUS
Where’s Bus Seven?
A nurse looks up from a clipboard.
NURSE
They were behind us leaving
Pardubice.
MAGNUS
And now?
Silence.
INT. COMMAND BUS – MOMENTS LATER
Bernadotte sits in the dark, staring at a map.
Magnus enters.
MAGNUS
Radio silence. They may have taken
a wrong turn—or were diverted.
BERNADOTTE
Or worse.
He draws a small black X on the map.
INT. WHITE BUS – NIGHT – MOVING
Nina sits beside Astrid. No one speaks.
Hanna is asleep, holding a wooden spoon she found at the last
stop.
Astrid holds a folded paper in her hand.
ASTRID
One of the men gave me this. Said
they weren’t allowed to speak
freely.
She opens it.
A list of names. Dates. Each one ends in:
“Transported East”
ASTRID (CONT€™D) (CONT’D)
They’re not living here. They’re
passing through.
NINA
Passing through where?
No answer.
INT. THERESIENSTADT – “SCHOOLROOM” – NIGHT
The desks are empty now. The chalkboard wiped clean.
Nina and Astrid search the corners of the room.
Astrid pulls back a curtain—revealing a bricked-over doorway.
Nina finds a small pair of shoes under one of the desks.
Tiny. Unworn.
ASTRID
They were here. Hours ago.
NINA
Where did they go?
Astrid just stares.
EXT. WHITE BUS – BACK LOT – LATER
The nurses gather in silence. The convoy is stalled for the
night.
Magnus walks toward Bernadotte, holding a stack of decoded
telegrams.
MAGNUS
Sweden’s Foreign Office says the
press is asking questions. About
where we’ve been. Who we’ve
rescued.
BERNADOTTE
They’re afraid the truth will make
them look weak.
MAGNUS
Germany’s message is clearer:
Either we deny what we saw—or
they’ll close every gate.
Bernadotte takes the papers. Doesn’t read them.
MAGNUS (CONT’D)
If you say the wrong thing, we lose
the next thousand.
BERNADOTTE
And if I say nothing, we lose our
souls.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
24 -
A Heart's Lament
INT. MEDICAL BUS – NIGHT
Nina kneels beside one of the linen bins. The lid open.
Inside: the smaller of the smuggled children. Pale. Still.
She checks for a pulse.
Nothing.
Astrid stands behind her, frozen.
ASTRID
When?
NINA
Sometime last night. In the cold.
In the dark. With no name.
Nina removes her own Red Cross badge. Places it over the
child’s heart.
NINA (CONT’D)
He was ours.
INT. RED CROSS FIELD TENT – LATER
A DOCTOR—60s, grey-bearded, calm—packs his satchel.
Magnus enters.
MAGNUS
You’re leaving?
DOCTOR
I joined to save the sick. Not to
bury them. Not to smuggle ghosts.
MAGNUS
They need us.
DOCTOR
Then bury him. Say a prayer. And do
better next time.
He walks out.
INT. WHITE BUS – SAME NIGHT
Nina sits alone, looking out the window. Her hands are raw,
wrapped in gauze.
Hanna lies beside her, whispering to herself. A prayer. A
memory. It’s hard to tell.
Astrid leans in from behind.
ASTRID
I asked one of the Czech prisoners
what “Theresienstadt” means.
Nina doesn’t respond.
ASTRID (CONT’D)
It’s named after Maria Theresa. An
empress. A mother of nations.
Beat.
ASTRID (CONT’D)
She’d burn this place to the
ground.
Nina closes her eyes.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
25 -
The Missing Bus
EXT. OPEN ROAD – NEXT MORNING
The convoy moves south again.
Ahead: mist. Hills. Silence.
Behind: a wooden cross stands at the edge of the last stop.
A Red Cross badge nailed into it.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING – DAY
Rain begins to fall. It streaks the glass like tears.
The driver wipes condensation from the windshield. The convoy
snakes down a narrow road bordered by dense pine.
Nina sits next to Astrid.
ASTRID
Where’s Bus Eleven?
Nina looks behind.
The last bus in the line is gone.
EXT. ROADSIDE – LATER
The convoy pulls off near an abandoned weigh station.
Bernadotte and Magnus pace near the idling vehicles.
MAGNUS
They radioed in an hour ago. Said
the SS ordered them back to Lübeck.
Claimed the mission was over.
BERNADOTTE
They followed that?
MAGNUS
The driver did. A few nurses
stayed. The rest are en route to
Sweden now.
Bernadotte exhales sharply. Looks toward the forested ridge
ahead.
BERNADOTTE
If they didn’t fire on them this
time... they will next.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
26 -
A Desperate Plea
INT. BUS ELEVEN – MOVING – SAME
Inside the now-returning bus: silence.
A few passengers sob quietly. A nurse stares straight ahead,
jaw clenched.
In the back, a folded Red Cross flag lies on the seat.
The badge is torn.
EXT. CONVOY STOP – DUSK
A nurse approaches Nina, holding a coded note.
NURSE
This was slipped through the fence
at the last checkpoint.
Nina unfolds it.
“Help us. Still alive. Neu-Staßfurt, east. Children here.”
She reads it twice.
Then again.
INT. RED CROSS HQ – TENT – NIGHT
Bernadotte and Magnus study a map under a dim bulb.
MAGNUS
That’s forty miles off our route.
In Soviet territory.
BERNADOTTE
Doesn’t matter.
MAGNUS
They’ll kill us before we get
there.
Bernadotte circles the location.
BERNADOTTE
Then we don’t ask permission.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
27 -
Fractured Morality
INT. MEDICAL BUS – LATER
Nina slams a drawer shut. Metal clatters.
Astrid watches her from across the aisle.
ASTRID
You all right?
NINA
No.
She picks up a file folder—the official transport ledger.
NINA (CONT’D)
Every name in this book is a name
we’re allowed to save.
She flips it closed.
NINA (CONT’D)
And everyone else?
She stares at the lid of the supply bin.
NINA (CONT’D)
They die waiting for someone brave
enough to break the rules.
She tosses the ledger into a trash bin.
EXT. CAMPFIRE – OUTSKIRTS OF STOP – SAME NIGHT
Some nurses warm their hands. Drivers smoke in silence.
No songs. No jokes. Just the pop of burning pine.
Inger sits beside Astrid.
INGER
I thought I came to help.
ASTRID
You are.
INGER
Then why do I feel like I’m part of
the machine?
Astrid doesn’t answer.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
28 -
A Choice of Humanity
INT. COMMAND BUS – SAME TIME
Bernadotte stares at his reflection in the window.
His voice barely above a whisper.
BERNADOTTE
If we leave them now…
what are we coming home to?
INT. RED CROSS HQ – NIGHT
Nina stares at the handwritten note from Neu-Staßfurt.
Astrid sits nearby, cleaning a blood-stained bandage.
ASTRID
It’s not on the map.
NINA
It’s not supposed to be.
ASTRID
We don’t have clearance. No route.
No permission.
NINA
That didn’t stop us before.
Astrid doesn’t argue. She just looks… tired.
EXT. EDGE OF CONVOY CAMP – MORNING
Inger walks along the side of the bus yard, cradling a bundle
wrapped in linen.
A man in Red Cross uniform passes her. Nods.
Inside the bundle: a child, barely breathing, tucked into the
folds of a nurse’s coat.
Inger keeps walking.
No one stops her.
INT. COMMAND BUS – SAME TIME
Bernadotte reviews radio logs. A new message is handed to
him.
MAGNUS
Stockholm again. Formal recall.
BERNADOTTE
Effective when?
MAGNUS
Immediately.
Bernadotte folds the paper without reading the rest.
BERNADOTTE
We leave in one hour. South.
MAGNUS
You're ignoring direct government
order.
BERNADOTTE
They’re ignoring humanity.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
29 -
Ambush in the Fog
EXT. WOODED ROAD – HOURS LATER
The convoy—now down two buses—winds through narrow roads in
early morning fog.
The white paint on the buses is streaked with mud and ash.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING
Nina holds a child in her lap. Not Hanna—another. One with
numbers tattooed, barely visible on a bruised arm.
The child sleeps.
DRIVER (O.S.)
Village ahead. They didn’t respond
to our last signal.
ASTRID
Maybe they fled.
DRIVER
Maybe they’re waiting.
EXT. SMALL VILLAGE – OUTSKIRTS – MOMENTS LATER
The convoy slows.
Empty windows. Doors ajar. No movement. Snow churned to slush
in the road.
A bicycle leans against a wall. Still warm.
INT. COMMAND BUS – SAME TIME
Magnus scans the road ahead with binoculars.
MAGNUS
Nothing I like about this.
A single rifle crack rings out.
The lead bus jerks to the side. A tire blows.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING
Nina ducks. Astrid pulls Hanna down beneath the seat.
DRIVER
Keep going!
More shots. Windows spider. A side mirror shatters.
The buses lurch forward.
EXT. VILLAGE ROAD – CONTINUOUS
Two men with rifles sprint across the rooftops. A flash of
white fabric. One shouts:
GERMAN MILITIA (O.S.)
No more traitors! No more thieves!
They fire again. Then disappear into the fog.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
30 -
Ambush in the Snow
EXT. VILLAGE ROAD – MOMENTS AFTER THE AMBUSH
Steam hisses from the damaged lead bus. One tire shredded.
The windshield cracked through.
Two nurses carry a wounded man to the roadside. Blood drips
onto the snow.
MAGNUS helps patch a radio cable. His hands are shaking.
MAGNUS
This wasn’t random. They knew we
were coming.
BERNADOTTE
They know who we are now.
INT. WHITE BUS – SAME TIME
Astrid checks on a passenger’s bandaged leg. Nina looks under
the seat—then again, more frantic.
NINA
Where is she?
ASTRID
Who?
NINA
The younger girl. The one with the
striped scarf.
They both freeze.
EXT. TREE LINE – MOMENTS LATER
Nina runs toward the forest’s edge, boots crunching through
snow.
NINA
Eva! EVA!
Nothing but wind through the pines.
She stops. Listens.
A faint sob.
She moves toward it, parting the trees.
There—a girl, maybe eight, curled beside a mossy stump,
holding her scarf.
NINA (CONT’D)
Hey… hey now. It’s okay.
She kneels. Opens her coat. The girl hesitates, then crawls
in.
Nina hugs her tight.
EXT. ROADSIDE – BACK WITH THE CONVOY
Bernadotte approaches a DRIVER working under the second bus.
DRIVER
Axle’s bent. Can’t go another
kilometer.
BERNADOTTE
Can you limp it to the next
village?
DRIVER
Not unless you want to bury another
nurse.
He stands. Wipes his hands.
DRIVER (CONT’D)
I’m done, sir.
BERNADOTTE
We need every bus.
DRIVER
No. You need a miracle. This one’s
out.
He walks away, pulling off his gloves. Drops his Red Cross
arm band in the snow.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
31 -
A Somber Farewell
INT. BUS – MOMENTS LATER
Magnus stands in the aisle.
MAGNUS
We consolidate the passengers. We
ride slower. No one’s left behind.
ASTRID
That’s assuming no one else quits.
MAGNUS
Then they can walk.
Bernadotte enters.
He hears them. Doesn’t respond.
He kneels beside a covered body near the back.
Peels back the sheet. It's the child Nina smuggled days
ago—the smaller one.
Frozen. Still.
He covers the child again.
EXT. SNOWFIELD – LATER
A shallow grave is dug. Just wide enough for a body.
The remaining crew gathers. No music. No rites.
Astrid places the Red Cross badge from the last grave into
the boy’s hands.
Nina steps forward. Her voice is barely audible.
NINA
We will not forget you.
Bernadotte kneels. Uses his bare hands to push snow into the
grave.
No one stops him.
EXT. CONVOY STOP – DUSK
The Red Cross team is just finishing their quiet burial.
Everyone is emotionally wrecked.
A young Jewish man, recently rescued, stumbles away from the
group, still dazed. He doesn’t hear the shouted order from a
nearby SS “escort” vehicle that just arrived.
An SS GUARD steps from the vehicle, drunk. Laughing with a
second guard.
SS GUARD
Where are you going, dog?
The man doesn’t understand. Keeps walking—just trying to find
the latrine.
SS GUARD (CONT’D)
I said—halt.
No warning. No further command.
The SS GUARD raises his pistol and shoots the man in the
back. He falls, twitching in the snow.
The small grave is filled. A Red Cross badge sticks out from
the snow as the only marker.
The team disperses slowly. No one speaks.
In the distance, the sound of an engine.
A black SS staff car pulls up at the edge of the field. Two
guards step out, laughing. One opens a bottle. The other
lights a cigarette.
SS GUARD #1
Nice painting job. All that white makes you easier to see
from the air.
No one responds.
Nearby, a rescued prisoner, no older than twenty, stumbles
away from the line—his legs barely working. He’s trying to
relieve himself behind a tree.
SS GUARD #1
Hey.
The prisoner doesn’t hear.
SS GUARD #2
He’s not in uniform.
SS GUARD #1
He’s not in anything.
They laugh. The drunk guard pulls out his pistol casually.
SS GUARD #1 (CONT’D)
Dog should know better.
Before anyone can react—
He shoots the boy in the back.
The prisoner crumples. His head hits the snow with a soft
thud.
Everyone freezes.
ASTRID gasps. Someone whispers a prayer.
SS GUARD #2
(to no one)
He stepped out of line.
The guards laugh again. One pisses in the ditch. They climb
back into their car and drive off.
The Red Cross staff watch the tail lights fade.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
33 -
Into the Depths of Danger
INT. COMMAND BUS – NIGHT
Bernadotte sits alone. The shot still ringing in his ears.
MAGNUS (O.S.)
We have a route to Kassel. Refugee
center. Safer territory.
BERNADOTTE
No.
MAGNUS
You want to go deeper?
BERNADOTTE
Yes.
MAGNUS
We’re losing drivers. And nerve.
BERNADOTTE
Then we go alone.
He opens a file folder. Inside: a list of smuggled children,
scribbled in pencil.
He folds it. Puts it in his coat.
EXT. FIELD OUTSKIRTS – LATER THAT NIGHT
The young prisoner’s body is still in the snow.
Nina and Inger return with a canvas wrap.
They kneel. Wrap him gently. In silence.
INGER
Do we bury him?
NINA
We carry him.
INGER
How far?
NINA
As far as we go.
EXT. HILLSIDE ROAD – MORNING
The convoy crawls up a narrow dirt road, trees leaning in
from both sides.
Mist curls along the ditches. A bird screeches and vanishes.
INT. COMMAND BUS – MOVING
Bernadotte studies a hand-drawn map.
MAGNUS
Are you sure about this?
BERNADOTTE
It came from a priest outside
Kassel. Said children were left in
a farm shed two days ago.
MAGNUS
If the Germans abandoned them…
BERNADOTTE
They didn’t. They were hiding them.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
34 -
Haunting Discovery
EXT. COLLAPSED BARN – OUTSKIRTS – DAY
The bus stops near a ruined barn. The roof caved in. One wall
burned to charcoal.
NINA, ASTRID, and INGER approach carefully.
A child's handprint is smudged in ash near the door.
They push inside.
INT. BARN – CONTINUOUS
Silence. Dust hanging in the shafts of light.
They hear it: shallow breathing.
In the far corner, four children huddle under a moldy
haystack. Eyes wide. Skin gray with cold.
NINA
Come here. You're safe now.
One boy tries to stand. His legs give out.
ASTRID
We’ll carry them.
EXT. BARN YARD – MOMENTS LATER
As they lift the children into blankets, Inger turns—
—and freezes.
Across the dirt path, half-buried in slush—
A truck. No engine. No tires.
Inside it: a pile of bodies. Posed. Arms outstretched. Mouths
sewn shut with wire.
A sign hangs from the door.
“MERCI POUR VOTRE HUMANITÉ”
(Thank you for your
humanity)
Inger begins to retch. Astrid holds
her hair back.
INT. WHITE BUS – LATER
Nina rocks one of the children gently, eyes vacant.
She blinks.
Then screams. Once. Sharp.
She covers her mouth. Shakes. Tears streak silently down her
face.
Astrid doesn’t try to comfort her. She simply sits beside
her.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
35 -
Crossing the Forbidden Line
EXT. CONVOY ROUTE – GERMAN DEMARCATION SIGN – AFTERNOON
The convoy approaches a fork in the road.
A crumbling sign reads:
“Reichspolizei Controlled Zone – Travel Forbidden”
Bernadotte stares out the windshield.
MAGNUS
We turn here.
BERNADOTTE
No.
MAGNUS
Folke—this isn’t a road. It’s an
execution line.
Bernadotte steps off the bus. Walks up to the sign.
Tears it out of the ground with his bare hands.
He tosses it into the ditch.
BERNADOTTE
Then we cross it alive.
The drivers wait. Engines idling.
One after another, they turn into the forbidden path.
INT. WHITE BUS – MOVING – MOMENTS LATER
The children are asleep in nurses’ arms. Their breathing
shallow, but steady.
Nina wipes her face with her sleeve.
She doesn’t cry now.
Just stares ahead.
EXT. FOREST CLEARING – AFTERNOON
The convoy pulls off into a clearing. A church steeple rises
through the trees, its bell long since fallen.
MAGNUS steps out. Points ahead.
MAGNUS
Looks intact. Shelter for the
night.
INT. ABANDONED CHURCH – MOMENTS LATER
Dust coats the pews. A broken crucifix lies in the aisle.
Nina pushes open a side door—a small rectory still intact.
NINA
We can convert this. Cots. Wash
basins. A quiet corner.
ASTRID
For who?
NINA
Everyone we haven’t lost yet.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
36 -
Shadows of Despair
EXT. CHURCH YARD – LATER
The buses are parked in a semicircle. Fires are lit in steel
drums.
A low, distant rumble.
Everyone looks up.
A white bus appears down the road—battered, its headlights
cracked.
Gasps.
INGER runs forward as it approaches. Nurses cheer—until the
bus stops.
The door opens.
Only three survivors step out. Covered in blood. One limps.
The others cry silently.
ASTRID (O.S.)
Where’s Erik?
SURVIVOR #1
Didn’t make it.
NINA (O.S.)
The children?
No answer.
SURVIVOR #2
They locked the doors. Burned it.
With the rest.
Silence.
INT. CHURCH RECTORY – NIGHT
Cots now line the small room. Patients wrapped in sheets. IV
bottles tied to crucifixes.
Nina sits on the edge of a cot, scrubbing blood from her
hands with ash.
INGER enters. Pours water into a tin cup.
INGER
You can’t save everyone.
NINA
That’s not the job.
INGER
Then what is?
NINA
To try.
She drinks. Winces.
INGER
I smuggled another child today. We
have no food for her. No medicine.
No mother.
NINA
You want to stop?
INGER
I want to know if I’m saving her...
or killing her slowly.
They lock eyes. Inger walks out.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
37 -
Doubt and Decision
INT. CHURCH ALTAR – LATER THAT NIGHT
Bernadotte sits in a pew alone.
No lights. Just a sliver of moon through the broken glass.
He kneels.
Tries to form a prayer—but nothing comes.
Then:
MAGNUS (O.S.)
Word from Stockholm.
Bernadotte doesn’t move.
MAGNUS (CONT’D)
There’s talk. Unconfirmed.
Himmler’s reaching out. Wants to
open dialogue with Sweden.
Bernadotte finally looks up.
BERNADOTTE
He’s losing. Now he wants to
bargain?
MAGNUS
It may open doors. Maybe lives.
BERNADOTTE
Or maybe it’s the devil asking
for a favor.
He closes his eyes.
EXT. FORK IN THE ROAD – MORNING
Two Red Cross drivers argue beside their vehicles.
DRIVER #1
This route’s blocked. We circle
west—through Neuengamme.
DRIVER #2
That road’s mined. We stay with the
main group.
MAGNUS steps between them.
MAGNUS
We split. Four buses with me. The
rest hold here.
DRIVER #2
You’re not in command.
MAGNUS
Then call Stockholm. Ask them if
they want their people back.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
38 -
Descent into Chaos
EXT. NEUENGAMME ROAD – LATER
A narrow, frostbitten highway cutting through open farmland.
Four white buses roll forward—mud spraying their flanks.
In the distance: a Gestapo checkpoint.
INT. BUS – MOVING
Astrid clutches Nina’s hand.
ASTRID
You’re freezing.
NINA
Just tired.
EXT. GESTAPO CHECKPOINT – MOMENTS LATER
The buses stop. Six Gestapo officers fan out. Submachine guns
ready.
GESTAPO COMMANDER
Papers!
Magnus steps out. Offers their authorization letter and Red
Cross charter.
The Commander scans it—then tears it in half.
GESTAPO COMMANDER (CONT’D)
This road is closed to mercy.
He signals.
Gunfire rips through the side of the lead bus.
Screams. Blood.
Astrid grabs the wheel. Throws it into reverse, grinding
gears as bullets punch through windows.
The convoy peels back—one bus listing, tires blown.
INT. COMMAND BUS – HOURS LATER
Bernadotte sits with a decoded wire in hand.
It reads:
CONFIDENTIAL: CONTACT INITIATED.
HIMMLER REQUESTS NEUTRAL INTERMEDIARY.
FULL AUTHORIZATION PENDING.
He rubs his temple.
BERNADOTTE (TO HIMSELF)
They burn children... then ask for
favors.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
39 -
Burning Shadows
EXT. RIVER BRIDGE – SUNSET
The team stops to assess damage. A burned-out farmhouse
nearby. Smoke still curls from its roof.
Nina steps off her bus, trembling.
ASTRID (O.S.)
You’re shaking again.
NINA
It’s hot.
ASTRID
It’s snowing.
Nina collapses.
INT. FIELD CLINIC – NIGHT
She lies on a cot, sweat pouring down her face.
Astrid dabs her forehead.
Inger checks a thermometer.
INGER
Forty-one. We need sulfa or
quinine.
ASTRID
We have aspirin and prayers.
EXT. FARMLAND – EARLY MORNING
A white bus lies abandoned in a ditch, wheels torn away.
The group gathers in silence.
MAGNUS
We can’t leave it for them.
Bernadotte nods.
KEROSENE is poured into the cabin.
A flare is struck.
The bus goes up in a howl of flame—white paint curling, cross
blackening, tires melting into mud.
They all watch until the frame collapses inward.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
40 -
The Weight of Deception
EXT. WOODED CROSSROADS – EARLY MORNING
The convoy idles near a frost-covered mile marker.
A Swedish courier on a motorbike arrives, breathless,
carrying a satchel.
He hands Bernadotte an envelope. Inside: a coded cable from
Stockholm.
MEETING APPROVED. LOCATION: LÜBECK. TIME: TBD.
HIMMLER REQUESTS PRIVATE CONVERSATION.
CAUTION: HITLER LIKELY UNAWARE. TRUST NOTHING.
Bernadotte lowers the note.
MAGNUS (O.S.)
They’re playing both sides.
BERNADOTTE
Then so must we.
INT. CHURCH RECTORY – DAY
Nina lies in her cot, eyes open, but unfocused.
Astrid sponges her brow.
NINA (WHISPERS)
He was singing.
ASTRID
Who?
NINA
The boy in the barn. He sang before
the fire came. His lips moved, even
after.
Astrid says nothing.
NINA (CONT’D)
I can still hear him. Can’t you?
A beat.
ASTRID
No.
EXT. CONVOY STAGING AREA – LATER
A black German staff car arrives unannounced.
Two Wehrmacht officers and a civilian cameraman exit,
accompanied by a young Nazi official—immaculately dressed.
NAZI OFFICIAL (GERMAN)
This is a gift. For your Swedish
charity. Film. History.
He gestures toward the buses.
CAMERAMAN
Show them loading. Smiling. It’s
for Berlin.
MAGNUS
We didn’t agree to this.
NAZI OFFICIAL
You don’t need to. It’s Reich
territory. We film what we wish.
BERNADOTTE
They’re not smiling. Not anymore.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
41 -
Shadows of Negotiation
EXT. CEMETERY RIDGE – DUSK
Bernadotte walks alone, his boots crunching frost.
A second man follows behind—calm, composed.
FEGELEIN, Himmler’s aide.
FEGELEIN
You have your meeting.
BERNADOTTE
At what cost?
FEGELEIN
Whatever you agree to, make it
fast. Hitler suspects something.
Bernadotte turns.
BERNADOTTE
He knows?
FEGELEIN
Not yet. But Himmler has enemies.
If this leaks—he dies. And so do
you.
BERNADOTTE
So I should trust the Reich?
FEGELEIN
Trust that it’s collapsing. And
that mercy has an expiration date.
INT. CHURCH – NIGHT
Astrid lights a candle beneath the altar. Watches Nina sleep.
Bernadotte enters.
ASTRID
The boy Nina saw... I think she was
right.
BERNADOTTE
How do you mean?
ASTRID
Maybe they don’t leave us. The ones
we fail. Maybe they stay... to
remind us to keep going.
A long silence.
Bernadotte nods.
BERNADOTTE
Then we keep going.
EXT. LÜBECK – ABANDONED TRAIN DEPOT – NIGHT
Searchlights sweep across a desolate rail yard. Crumbling
freight cars. Stripped tracks.
A single white bus pulls into view.
Bernadotte steps out, flanked by two unarmed aides. No
weapons. No guards.
A sleek black Mercedes staff car waits beneath a broken
canopy.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
42 -
A Bargain with History
INT. TRAIN DEPOT – MOMENTS LATER
Inside: concrete, cold. Echoes of dripping water.
BERNADOTTE approaches a lone table.
Across from him sits HEINRICH HIMMLER—pristine uniform,
rimless glasses. Calm. Smiling.
HIMMLER
Count Bernadotte. Sweden’s last
gentleman.
BERNADOTTE
I didn’t come for charm.
HIMMLER
No. You came for results.
A beat.
HIMMLER (CONT’D)
I’ve authorized the release of
another 5,000 prisoners. Danish.
Norwegian. And yes—Jews as well. I
believe that was your insistence?
Bernadotte stares.
BERNADOTTE
Why now?
HIMMLER
Because we are men of reason. And
reason survives empires.
He sips tea, unfazed.
HIMMLER (CONT’D)
Germany must surrender soon. But
not to the East. The Bolsheviks
are... unnatural.
BERNADOTTE
So you bargain with mercy, now that
you're losing.
HIMMLER
History is a mirror, Count. I'm
arranging my reflection.
BERNADOTTE
Your reflection is a furnace.
A flicker of anger behind Himmler’s glasses. But it vanishes.
HIMMLER
You'll be remembered as the man who
saved thousands. I’ll be remembered
as the man who let you.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
43 -
Moral Dilemmas at Dawn
INT. BERNADOTTE’S QUARTERS – LATER THAT NIGHT
Magnus watches as Bernadotte pours a drink with shaking
hands.
MAGNUS
What did he offer?
BERNADOTTE
Hope. Wrapped in a trap.
MAGNUS
Will you take it?
BERNADOTTE
If it gets them out? Yes.
MAGNUS
Even if it keeps him alive a day
longer?
Bernadotte doesn’t answer.
EXT. CONVOY STAGING YARD – DAWN
The full line of white buses. Quiet. Still.
Astrid approaches the command vehicle, holding a telegram.
ASTRID
From Stockholm.
Bernadotte reads it.
Soviets object to Himmler negotiations. Allies watching.
Proceed at own risk.
He folds it slowly.
NINA (O.S.)
If he asks you to carry him out
with us, will you?
She’s standing there—pale, but upright. Fever fading. Voice
steady.
BERNADOTTE
No.
NINA
Then I’ll ride with you.
They share a look that says: this is no longer diplomacy.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
44 -
Chaos Amidst Desperation
EXT. FIELD OUTSIDE HAMBURG – EARLY MORNING
Frost clings to the windows of a stopped convoy. Buses
idling.
INT. COMMAND BUS – SAME
BERNADOTTE reads a diplomatic wire from Stockholm.
You are exceeding operational bounds.
Political neutrality at risk. Cease unauthorized movement.
Allies have concerns. Soviet position unclear.
He closes his eyes. Hands shaking.
MAGNUS (O.S.)
They want their white knight back
in his stable.
BERNADOTTE
Then they can come fetch me.
EXT. MAKESHIFT TRIAGE TENT – LATER
NINA kneels beside a woman clutching a tiny, lifeless child.
The mother won’t let go. Rocking gently.
NINA
We have to leave. The next convoy
is leaving in minutes.
MOTHER
She’s only cold. She’ll wake. She
just needs sunlight.
Nina gently places her hand on the mother’s.
NINA
There’s no sun here.
The woman sobs—but lets go.
EXT. CONVOY ROUTE – AFTERNOON
The buses roll again.
Above them—distant drone of Allied fighter planes.
INT. BUS – MOVING
NINA watches the sky nervously.
BOOM.
The bus in front erupts—flame, glass, smoke.
The planes mistake the convoy for German military transport.
SCREAMS inside Nina’s bus as the driver veers off road.
Flames consume the wrecked vehicle. Two nurses try to reach
it—but it’s too late.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
45 -
Burden of Loss
EXT. CRATER – MOMENTS LATER
Astrid kneels beside a charred Red Cross bag. Her hands black
with ash.
She throws it down—screams into the wind.
EXT. FIELD HOSPITAL – NIGHT
Bernadotte stands before the team. His face hollowed by
fatigue and grief.
BERNADOTTE
We leave in two days. Lübeck. It
will be our last run.
ASTRID
With what drivers? What buses? What
strength?
BERNADOTTE
We use everything. If they can
breathe, they ride.
MAGNUS
And if they can’t?
BERNADOTTE
Then we carry them.
INT. PROPAGANDA VAN – LATER THAT NIGHT
Inside a Nazi broadcast vehicle, REELS of footage play on
loop.
Footage of Nina loading children onto buses.
Of Astrid bandaging a wounded inmate.
Of Bernadotte standing tall beside the Red Cross.
A Nazi OFFICER leans toward the camera crew.
NAZI OFFICER
We’ll call it “Mercy from the
Reich.” Let the Swedes think
they’re saving the world.
He laughs.
Behind him, Fegelein listens—but doesn’t laugh.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – SAME NIGHT
He sits alone.
On the seat beside him: a stack of passenger manifests, hand-
written, stained with ash.
NINA (O.S.)
What happens after Lübeck?
BERNADOTTE
I don’t know.
NINA
And if they kill us before we get
there?
He looks at her. No fear left.
BERNADOTTE
Then we keep going anyway.
EXT. CLEARING – EARLY MORNING
A makeshift burial. Frosted ground. No ceremony. No hymns.
Three white shrouds. Two of them are nurses. One is a child.
The Swedish team stands in silence. No words spoken.
Nina drops a white carnation. Astrid clenches her fists.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
46 -
Tension in the Town Hall
INT. TOWN HALL – MIDDAY
A modest German town. Mayor’s office.
BERNADOTTE sits across from a stiff, aging NAZI MAYOR.
NAZI MAYOR
Fuel is rationed. You’ve already
emptied the depot.
BERNADOTTE
We need thirty drums. That’s all.
NAZI MAYOR
Even the Führer must ration in war.
BERNADOTTE
The Führer is losing it.
The mayor narrows his eyes. A silent moment. Then:
NAZI MAYOR
Careful, Count. The Reich still has
teeth.
EXT. TOWN SQUARE – MINUTES LATER
The Swedish team loads crates under Nazi supervision.
A propaganda unit arrives again—cameras out.
The Nazi cameraman gestures for Astrid to stand beside a
smiling child.
CAMERAMAN
Smile. Smile! For history.
Astrid walks up—and slaps the camera from his hands.
ASTRID
Film that.
INT. COMMAND BUS – NIGHT
Magnus throws down a map. Marked in red: LÜBECK – FINAL
RENDEZVOUS.
MAGNUS
The Soviets are two days out. This
corridor won’t stay open.
BERNADOTTE
Then we drive faster.
NINA
And if we’re stopped?
BERNADOTTE
Then we tell them the truth.
ASTRID
They already know. They just don’t
care.
A moment.
BERNADOTTE
Then we care louder.
INT. GERMAN PROPAGANDA ROOM – BERLIN – SAME NIGHT
A flickering projector. Officers gather in silence.
On screen: white buses. children. smiling nurses. red
crosses.
Over it: voiceover narration in German.
“In the Reich, even our enemies are treated with
compassion...”
Aide bursts in.
AIDE
My Führer—Himmler has made contact
with the Swedish Count. He's
negotiating. With the Allies.
Silence. Then a metal chair SCREECHES back.
We never see the face—but the voice is unmistakable.
HITLER (O.S.)
Find him. Strip him of everything.
Genres:
["Drama","War","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
47 -
A Frosty Farewell
INT. WHITE BUS – DAWN
Nina wraps a child in wool blankets. Frost clings to the
inside glass.
Astrid tightens a tourniquet.
BERNADOTTE (O.S.)
We leave in twenty.
The nurses nod.
The final convoy is forming—stretching over the horizon like
a spine of white vertebrae.
EXT. EDGE OF A FOREST ROAD – MOMENTS LATER
A German mechanic watches the buses from a ridge. He lights a
fuse.
One bus. Sabotaged. Its engine explodes in the distance—BOOM.
Screams. Smoke.
Back in the forest, the saboteur vanishes.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – IMMEDIATELY
MAGNUS bursts in.
MAGNUS
That was no accident. They want us
to fail.
BERNADOTTE
Then let’s make them watch us
succeed.
EXT. CLEARING – EARLY MORNING
A makeshift burial. Frosted ground. No ceremony. No hymns.
Three white shrouds. Two of them are nurses. One is a child.
The Swedish team stands in silence. No words spoken.
Nina drops a white carnation. Astrid clenches her fists.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
48 -
Defiance in the Face of Oppression
INT. TOWN HALL – MIDDAY
A modest German town. Mayor’s office.
BERNADOTTE sits across from a stiff, aging NAZI MAYOR.
NAZI MAYOR
Fuel is rationed. You’ve already
emptied the depot.
BERNADOTTE
We need thirty drums. That’s all.
NAZI MAYOR
Even the Führer must ration in war.
BERNADOTTE
The Führer is losing it.
The mayor narrows his eyes. A silent moment. Then:
NAZI MAYOR
Careful, Count. The Reich still has
teeth.
EXT. TOWN SQUARE – MINUTES LATER
The Swedish team loads crates under Nazi supervision.
A propaganda unit arrives again—cameras out.
The Nazi cameraman gestures for Astrid to stand beside a
smiling child.
CAMERAMAN
Smile. Smile! For history.
Astrid walks up—and slaps the camera from his hands.
ASTRID
Film that.
INT. COMMAND BUS – NIGHT
Magnus throws down a map. Marked in red: LÜBECK – FINAL
RENDEZVOUS.
MAGNUS
The Soviets are two days out. This
corridor won’t stay open.
BERNADOTTE
Then we drive faster.
NINA
And if we’re stopped?
BERNADOTTE
Then we tell them the truth.
ASTRID
They already know. They just don’t
care.
A moment.
BERNADOTTE
Then we care louder.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical","War"]
Ratings
Scene
49 -
Sabotage at Dawn
INT. GERMAN PROPAGANDA ROOM – BERLIN – SAME NIGHT
A flickering projector. Officers gather in silence.
On screen: white buses. children. smiling nurses. red
crosses.
Over it: voiceover narration in German.
“In the Reich, even our enemies are treated with
compassion...”
Aide bursts in.
AIDE
My Führer—Himmler has made contact
with the Swedish Count. He's
negotiating. With the Allies.
Silence. Then a metal chair SCREECHES back.
We never see the face—but the voice is unmistakable.
HITLER (O.S.)
Find him. Strip him of everything.
INT. WHITE BUS – DAWN
Nina wraps a child in wool blankets. Frost clings to the
inside glass.
Astrid tightens a tourniquet.
BERNADOTTE (O.S.)
We leave in twenty.
The nurses nod.
The final convoy is forming—stretching over the horizon like
a spine of white vertebrae.
EXT. EDGE OF A FOREST ROAD – MOMENTS LATER
A German mechanic watches the buses from a ridge. He lights a
fuse.
One bus. Sabotaged. Its engine explodes in the distance—BOOM.
Screams. Smoke.
Back in the forest, the saboteur vanishes.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – IMMEDIATELY
MAGNUS bursts in.
MAGNUS
That was no accident. They want us
to fail.
BERNADOTTE
Then let’s make them watch us
succeed.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD NEAR LÜBECK – EARLY MORNING
The white convoy winds through dense woods.
Frost burns off under weak sunlight. The Red Cross emblems
stand out against the green gloom.
INT. ASTRID’S LEAD BUS – MOVING
She drives with rigid focus. A child clutches a stuffed
rabbit behind her. Nina sits beside her, pale.
NINA
Any word from Lübeck?
ASTRID
Radio silence. That’s not a good
sign.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
50 -
Crossing the Checkpoint
EXT. MAKESHIFT CHECKPOINT – MILE OUTSIDE LÜBECK
A line of German soldiers blocks the road. Ragged uniforms.
Tense. Desperate.
The buses slow.
MAGNUS (O.S. RADIO)
Hold formation. Do not engage.
Bernadotte steps out of his bus—hands raised.
BERNADOTTE
We’re under the banner of the Red
Cross. You’ve seen the papers. Let
us through.
A CAPTAIN approaches, rifle in hand. Eyes bloodshot.
GERMAN CAPTAIN
We were ordered to stop all
movement. No exceptions.
BERNADOTTE
Even for children?
The captain doesn’t blink.
Suddenly—a senior Nazi officer appears behind him.
FEGELEIN.
FEGELEIN
Let them through.
The captain hesitates.
FEGELEIN (CONT’D)
Those are orders. From Berlin.
Final ones, I suspect.
He locks eyes with Bernadotte—something unspoken passes.
The road clears. The buses roll on.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – MOVING
MAGNUS
He knew we were coming.
BERNADOTTE
He knew everything. And still let
us through.
MAGNUS
Why?
BERNADOTTE
Because the Reich is dying. And he
wants to be remembered on the right
side of the photograph.
EXT. RIDGE OVERLOOKING LÜBECK – LATE MORNING
The buses crest a hill—and come to a crawl.
Below: chaos.
LÜBECK is in flames. Artillery pounds the outskirts. Soviet
and Allied forces converge.
Smoke. Screams. Rubble.
ASTRID (O.S. RADIO)
If we go in, we’re caught between
lines.
NINA (O.S. RADIO)
And if we don’t?
A long pause.
BERNADOTTE (O.S. RADIO)
We didn’t come this far to turn
around.
EXT. ROAD INTO LÜBECK – MINUTES LATER
The convoy creeps forward—horns blaring, Red Cross flags
waving.
Gunfire erupts—not at them, but around them.
A Soviet tank appears. Stops. Barrel aimed at the lead bus.
Astrid gets out—walks forward alone, holding a Red Cross
banner high.
A tense pause.
Then: the tank’s barrel tilts up.
A Soviet soldier nods.
The convoy rolls forward.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
51 -
Crossing the Checkpoint
EXT. RURAL GERMAN HIGHWAY – EARLY MORNING
The WHITE BUSES move through fog like ghosts. The cold light
reveals soot stains and cracks. The Red Cross emblems are
smeared but still visible.
INT. LEAD BUS – MOVING
ASTRID drives. NINA sits beside her, eyes red from sleepless
nights. Children cough softly in the back.
ASTRID
How many?
NINA
Today? One dead. Two fevered. One
fading.
She holds up a vial—empty.
NINA (CONT’D)
That was the last of the
penicillin.
EXT. ROADSIDE HILL CREST – SHORTLY AFTER
The buses slow. Ahead, a MILITARY CHECKPOINT—German soldiers
with rifles drawn.
INT. COMMAND BUS – SAME
BERNADOTTE steps down, MAGNUS at his side.
He approaches the checkpoint slowly, arms raised, no fear in
his eyes.
BERNADOTTE
We carry no arms. Only the wounded.
And hope.
A twitchy German CAPTAIN looks to a nearby officer—FEGELEIN.
FEGELEIN
Let them pass.
CAPTAIN
Our orders—no movements—
FEGELEIN
Your orders come from Himmler.
(beat)
My orders come from Berlin.
He glares at the Captain. The soldiers part. The buses roll
forward.
NINA (O.S.)
He just saved us.
ASTRID (O.S.)
Or set the next trap.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
52 -
Bravery Amidst Chaos
EXT. RIDGE ABOVE LÜBECK – LATE MORNING
The convoy crests a hill. Below: LÜBECK IN FLAMES.
Allied and Soviet troops clash on the outskirts. Shells
explode. Civilians run.
A Red Cross outpost flies a flag—but it flaps over collapsed
tents and bodies.
INT. COMMAND BUS – MOVING
MAGNUS
That’s no corridor. That’s a
killing field.
BERNADOTTE
It’s still the way.
EXT. WAR-TORN ROAD INTO LÜBECK – MINUTES LATER
The convoy enters the outskirts. Machine gun fire echoes—not
aimed at them, but near. A shell hits an abandoned truck
ahead—BOOM. They swerve around it.
A SOVIET TANK blocks the path.
It lowers its barrel—aiming directly at the lead bus.
INT. LEAD BUS
Astrid throws it into park.
ASTRID
Stay here.
She exits.
EXT. LÜBECK ROAD – MOMENTS LATER
Astrid walks forward—hands up—holding a tattered Red Cross
flag.
A beat. The tank does not move.
More troops appear—SOVIET INFANTRY, young and uncertain.
Astrid speaks in slow, careful Russian.
ASTRID (IN RUSSIAN)
We are nurses. Children. Wounded.
No weapons.
A tense pause.
Then: the tank barrel tilts upward.
A Soviet SOLDIER steps forward and nods.
Astrid turns, raising the flag high.
The convoy crawls past, wheels rumbling over broken streets.
EXT. RUINS OF THE RED CROSS OUTPOST – CONTINUOUS
The buses arrive. Crates are overturned. Injured staff cling
to life. A nurse bleeds from her abdomen.
NINA runs to her—presses gauze down.
ASTRID
We need shelter. Triage. We’re not
going any farther until they can
stand.
BERNADOTTE (O.S.)
Then this becomes the last stop.
EXT. MAKESHIFT RED CROSS CAMP – LÜBECK – EARLY EVENING
Canvas tents flap in the cold wind. Nurses tend to the
wounded on stretchers and crates. Children sip broth. The
buses idle, low on fuel.
INT. SUPPLY TENT – SAME
NINA bandages a teenager’s leg—his eyes are glassy. A 6-YEAR-
OLD GIRL whimpers nearby.
NINA (TO TEEN)
You’ll walk again. Just not today.
Suddenly—A WHISTLING SOUND overhead.
Everyone looks up.
BOOM.
Genres:
["War","Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
53 -
Chaos and Sacrifice
EXT. CAMP – CONTINUOUS
A shell explodes on the edge of the camp—tents shredded,
crates airborne.
Screams.
ASTRID shields a child with her body.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – MOMENTS LATER
MAGNUS stumbles in, bleeding from the forehead.
MAGNUS
We’re exposed. If another hits
closer, we’ll lose everyone.
BERNADOTTE
How many buses can move?
MAGNUS
Seven.
BERNADOTTE
Get them loaded.
EXT. TRIAGE ZONE – MOMENTS LATER
ASTRID carries a child with a fractured skull. Blood down her
arms. She searches—
ASTRID
Nina! Nina, we’re evacuating!
INT. COLLAPSED TENT – SAME
NINA is crouched over the 6-year-old girl—half-buried in
rubble. The girl wheezes faintly.
ASTRID (O.S.)
We have to go!
NINA
If I move her now, she dies.
ASTRID
If you stay, you die.
Nina looks down—decides.
NINA
Then I stay.
Astrid hesitates—then kneels, removes her necklace, and puts
it around Nina’s neck.
ASTRID (SOFTLY)
Don’t make me bury you.
They lock eyes. Then Astrid runs.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
54 -
A Journey to Safety
EXT. CONVOY – MOMENTS LATER
The seven remaining buses roar to life. Shells explode in the
distance.
Bernadotte climbs aboard the last one—staring out the back
window.
Through dust and smoke, he sees Nina—still kneeling beside
the child, unmoving.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – MOVING – NIGHT
He sits beside Magnus, pale and shaken.
MAGNUS
We lost too many.
Bernadotte pulls out a fountain pen. Begins writing on Red
Cross letterhead.
MAGNUS (CONT’D)
What are you doing?
BERNADOTTE
Documenting. So no one forgets.
EXT. BORDER CROSSING – DAWN
The convoy finally reaches the Swedish border. Snow falls.
The guards wave them through.
As the buses roll past, children press their hands to the
glass—seeing safety for the first time.
INT. ALLIED COMMAND POST – SAME
Two British officers speak over a telegraph.
OFFICER 1
Intercept from Frankfurt. Himmler
tried to surrender to Montgomery.
OFFICER 2
He was turned away. Caught by our
men hours later. Suicide capsule in
the mouth.
They look at the map—Lübeck circled in red.
OFFICER 1
He almost got away with it.
Genres:
["War","Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
55 -
Echoes of Sacrifice
INT. BERNADOTTE’S BUS – MOVING
He closes the letter. Seals it with wax. Hands it to Magnus.
BERNADOTTE
If anything happens, make sure that
reaches Stockholm.
Magnus takes it—nods silently.
Bernadotte looks out at the sunrise. Quiet.
EXT. LÜBECK – BOMB CRATER – EARLY MORNING
Smoke rises. The sound of shelling is gone. Only crows
remain.
A RED CROSS FLAG lies torn in the mud.
ANGLE ON — NINA
She stirs beneath debris. Bruised, face bloodied. Barely
alive.
The little girl is gone—wrapped in Nina’s coat, eyes closed
forever.
Nina crawls out, gripping the flag.
She stands. Alone in the ruins.
EXT. STOCKHOLM – SWEDISH RED CROSS HEADQUARTERS – DAYS LATER
The convoy—what’s left of it—arrives to quiet applause and
tears.
Families reunited. Nurses weep. Astrid scans the arrivals—
But Nina isn’t among them.
MAGNUS (O.S.)
They’re calling it a miracle.
Thousands saved.
BERNADOTTE
Then count it among the last before
the end.
INT. PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM – STOCKHOLM – LATER
Flashbulbs. Typewriters. Bernadotte stands before reporters.
REPORTER
Was Heinrich Himmler involved in
the rescue?
Bernadotte pauses—knowing the politics.
BERNADOTTE
Himmler offered access. But make no
mistake: this rescue was paid for
by blood, not mercy.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – LÜBECK – DAYS LATER
NINA lies in a hospital bed. Tubes in her nose. Bandages
across her body.
A nurse sets down a telegram.
She opens it.
INSERT:
"YOU SAVED HER. YOU SAVED US. – ASTRID"
Nina closes her eyes. Finally rests.
Genres:
["Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
56 -
Reflections of Rescue
INT. BERNADOTTE’S OFFICE – NIGHT
He pins a photo to the wall: the first convoy. Children
waving from the window.
He turns to a notebook—begins writing again.
BERNADOTTE (V.O.)
April 1945. The last month of the
world as we knew it. We rescued who
we could. Not all. But enough to
say we tried.
INTERCUT –
MONTAGE:
— A Swedish girl embraces her father, rescued from
Neuengamme.
— A boy finds his name on a registry list—tears up.
— A nurse, now in civilian clothes, lights a candle by a
photo of the White Bus she served in.
— A mass grave in Germany is filled in.
— Bernadotte finishes his entry, signs it.
EXT. RED CROSS CEMETERY – DAY
Astrid stands before a small white cross.
She lays down Nina’s necklace—returned from Lübeck.
She turns to go. A young nurse approaches.
YOUNG NURSE
Are you Astrid Lindgren?
ASTRID
I was. Now I’m just someone who
remembers.
They walk off together.
EXT. BERGEN-BELSEN – YEARS LATER – DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE
B&W FILM: bulldozers push bodies into trenches.
TITLE CARD:
Between March and April 1945, the White Buses rescued more
than 17,000 prisoners from Nazi concentration camps.
INT. ARCHIVAL ROOM – PRESENT DAY
On a display screen: photos of the real buses, nurses, and
survivors.
Children wrapped in blankets. Men barely alive. Smiles behind
hollow eyes.
FINAL TITLE
CARD:
Many of those rescued by the White Buses went on to rebuild
families, countries, and lives. Some are still alive today.
FADE TO BLACK.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
57 -
Remembering the Unsung Heroes
EXT. STOCKHOLM – WAR MEMORIAL GARDEN – DAY
A quiet ceremony.
A SMALL PLAQUE reads:
To those who drove into the mouth of death, and brought life
back out.
A crowd gathers—nurses, Red Cross volunteers, families. Flags
lowered.
ASTRID steps up to the microphone.
ASTRID
We weren’t soldiers. We had no
rifles, no battalions.
(MORE)
ASTRID (CONT’D)
We had engines and gauze. Fuel and
fear. And somehow, that was enough.
She glances at the crowd.
ASTRID (CONT’D)
We did not win the war. But we won
moments. Moments where mercy lived
longer than hate.
A pause.
ASTRID (CONT’D)
We remember not because it’s
easy—but because it’s necessary.
INT. BERNADOTTE’S STUDY – NIGHT
He writes by candlelight. The war is over.
His final journal entry.
BERNADOTTE (V.O.)
They said we couldn’t. That it was
too late. Too dangerous. That the
war would swallow us whole.
He pauses—then keeps writing.
BERNADOTTE (V.O., CONT'D)
But we went. And we did not return
empty-handed.
On the desk: a map of the route. Red lines. Dozens of dots:
camps, hospitals, mass graves.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
58 -
Healing After the War
INT. LÜBECK – FIELD HOSPITAL – WEEKS LATER
NINA, thinner, older somehow, teaches a young nurse how to
wrap a burn dressing.
The child she once saved lies nearby—smiling weakly, color
returned.
The nurse struggles.
Nina smiles, gently adjusts her hands.
NINA
Not tight. Not loose. Just...
enough.
The nurse nods.
Outside, sirens wail—not bombs anymore, but ambulances
bringing more survivors in.
MONTAGE – “AFTERLIVES”
— A Jewish father stands in a bakery, helping his daughter
knead bread.
— A Polish teenager in medical school, her hands still
bandaged from frostbite.
— A small bus museum in Malmö—one of the original White Buses
parked inside.
— A child’s drawing—a white box with red crosses and people
waving from the windows.
BERNADOTTE (V.O.)
History will argue who won the war.
I only ask it remember who fought
for peace.
EXT. COPENHAGEN STREET – DAY (1948)
A single candle burns in a window.
An older man limps by. He pauses. He recognizes the face
behind the glass—
Nina.
He tips his cap. She smiles, faintly.
INT. SWEDISH ARCHIVES – PRESENT DAY
A file marked: “THE WHITE BUSES – DECLASSIFIED.”
Hands open it.
Inside:
Bernadotte’s letters
Astrid’s speeches
Photos of Nina, unnamed in records
Transit logs
Lists of the dead and saved
The last page: a photograph.
A SINGLE WHITE BUS, parked beneath falling snow.
Children lean out the windows, waving.
Smiling. Alive.
FADE TO BLACK.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
59 -
The Assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte
INT. UNITED NATIONS HALLWAY – PALESTINE MEDIATION OFFICE –
DAY (1948)
A man walks down a corridor flanked by aides. It’s COUNT
FOLKE BERNADOTTE, older now, dignified in a white summer
suit. A RED CROSS pin on his lapel.
He exits through a side door, entering:
EXT. JERUSALEM – UN CONVOY – MINUTES LATER
Bernadotte climbs into a UN JEEP—clearly marked. No armor.
Just a flag and hope.
Two vehicles follow.
Suddenly—
GUNFIRE erupts from a side alley.
Bernadotte is struck.
His aide screams. The driver ducks. Chaos.
INT. UN HEADQUARTERS – NIGHT
A telegram prints slowly.
“COUNT FOLKE BERNADOTTE ASSASSINATED IN JERUSALEM BY
EXTREMIST FACTION.”
The printer stops.
Below the type:
“September 17, 1948.”
INT. BERNADOTTE’S STUDY – NIGHT (FLASHBACK)
A younger Bernadotte stares out the window.
His voice again.
BERNADOTTE (V.O.)
We live in the shadow of men who
ruled by terror.
And we must choose—every generation—whether to follow them or
defy them.
He turns out the light.
INT. BUNKER – BERLIN – APRIL 1945
Archival-style imagery. Shadows. A trembling hand writes a
will.
TITLE CARD:
“April 30, 1945 – Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his
bunker.”
His body is carried, burned.
Genres:
["Historical Drama","War"]
Ratings
Scene
60 -
Echoes of War and Remembrance
INT. BARN – NORTHERN GERMANY – MAY 1945
Two soldiers search a hayloft.
They find a man—tattered SS uniform, gaunt, lips foaming.
He bites down on a hidden cyanide capsule.
TITLE CARD:
“May 23, 1945 – Heinrich Himmler, architect of the camps,
kills himself while in British custody.”
EXT. SWEDISH CEMETERY – DAY (PRESENT)
A group of children on a field trip walks past two modest
headstones.