"The Red Army's most powerful and westerly located garrison was in Legnica, Poland." "In the nineteen-sixties, the Soviet soldiers and civilians quartered in Legnica made up almost half of the town's population." "It was then that Legnica came to be known as "Little Moscow"." "Any similarity to persons or events that actually took place in Legnica is exclusively a similarity." "LITTLE MOSCOW starring" "Your wife has arrived, comrade Captain." "To the headquarters!" "Now!" " Maybe I'll give her a lift?" " No need." "My wife enjoys a walk." " So how is it going there?" " What?" " So how is it going?" " The Czechs just cry and call on Lenin for help." "You stamp your foot they put their hands up." "They wanted war, so now they have it!" "We did warn them!" "Comrade Colonel..." "Vera's dead!" " What?" " Vera is dead." "Vera Fiodorovna Swietlowa 1943-1968" "Maintenance of a grave may be paid for a period of 20 years." " How much does it cost?" " 454 zloties." " In dollars?" " Almost 160." "I understand." "My daughter is arriving today, we will discuss it, and tomorrow we'll come to sign the papers." "Thank you." " Maybe he could decipher this letter?" " Right!" "I read Russian quite well, but this woman has such handwriting that I can't make head or tail of it." "I'll try." "Alexandra Matwiejewna Gorczikova." "I knew her." "She was a nurse in our hospital." "Money..." "An angel to the newborn children." ""Good people." "I have two requests." "My only son, Styopa lies in your cemetery." "Please maintain my little boy's grave - until his sister is grown to earn money." "Now the second request." "Please engrave an Orthodox cross on Styopa's headstone." "Deep, so that it remains visible for a long time." "I am sending you 10 dollars for this." "I am sure you're good folk and won't cheat me." "Thank you for your help in advance." "Whenever I remember Legnica I cry at once"." "But what can we do for 10 dollars?" "Hardly enough for a vodka for the stonemason." "I'll check the documents for tomorrow." "What was the name of the buried?" "Vera Fiodorovna Swietlova." "You are her..." "What is your relation to the deceased?" "Husband." "You remember her?" "Yes..." "I do." "Why have we stopped?" "What's happened?" "Nothing." "We are waiting to enter Legnica." " We're in Poland already?" " Don't touch the window." "It's forbidden!" "You'll be seeing more than enough of Poland over the next five years." "At least you're rested after a good sleep." "Although if I was your husband," " I wouldn't let you get much sleep!" " Get away, you!" " You heard?" " Sure I did." "Put that on." "He's right." "The whole train knows that I have the prettiest wife among the pilots." " No, in the whole of Legnica." "Close the gate!" " Captain Svetlov." " Private on Duty." "This way." " Nice place." " Watch out!" "The comrade from the last tour of duty made his room a midden." "But don't worry." "By tomorrow, everything will be in order." "You'll have the cleanest and prettiest house on the street." "I hope so." " You here, too?" " Yes." "I wonder how many of us there are to share this place." "You - all four on the first floor." "A medical Captain on the second floor;" "he arrives on the next transport." "You've got it good." "Even if you have five children, you'll still be living in a palace." "This night you'll stay in our place." "You are invited!" "The intercity train from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to Cracow Main Station is arriving on track 7, platform 3." "The train leaves at 4.ï21." "I repeat.ï the train leaves at 4.ï21..." " Welcome." "How was the trip?" " Fine." "Shall we go?" "How are things in the company?" "Get on well with the Germans?" "They must get on well with me." "We have the gas..." "Dad, I sent you two new pairs of pants, why didn't you put them on?" "Do they have any taxis in this village?" "Or are we going by bus?" " Don't show off." " We are to live and look like proles, to suit your style and complexes!" " They do have taxis here." " What do they have?" "Look at you, a defender of Poles!" "All they own they've stolen." "From the" " Germans or us!" "Certainly their cars!" " The Germans told you that?" "Your wife, Vera Fiodorovna, in a dream." " Aren't you getting out?" " I can see well from here." "Nice place." "Why are you staring at me?" "Something's wrong?" "Your mom said exactly the same, the first time we saw it." "I can see that, your happiness did not last long in this nice place." "And now the final contestant in our October competition, dedicated to the anniversary of the Great Lenin's Revolution." "Vera Fiodorovna Svetlova." " Yura!" "Vera speaks Polish?" " I didn't know myself." "Congratulations." "Your wife sings beautifully." "Please tell us before we announce our verdict how come you sang a Polish song and what's more, in Polish?" "I heard Ewa Demarczyk on a Polish radio program back home in Russia." "From that day on I began to keep track of her." "I'm a great fan of hers, simply..." "Where I learned to sing in Polish?" "Also from the radio." "It's good to know one's neighbor's language." "By the unanimous verdict of the jury I can now announce you the winner of our international competition" ""Melodies of Friendship"." "The prize, a large Silver Broach, will be presented by Lieutenant" "Michal Janicki, our best music specialist." "Michal?" "Applause, please!" " Congratulations." " Thank you." "May I ask her for a dance?" " May I?" " Of course." "Watch out, they might steal your wife." "She makes many a man's mouth water." "How does my name sound in Russian?" "Misha." "Then please call me that." ""Dear Misha"." "Or for example:" "Misha, what a great dancer you are..." "Dear Misha, you should open a school." "Yes, of dancing and singing." "And I already know who will be the first teacher." "You... the master of waltz." "I was thinking more of a school of seduction." "And I most certainty don't intend to be a teacher or pupil in it." "Could you accompany me back to my husband now?" "No need." "I came myself." " Verashka, will you dance again?" " Naturally." " If the Lieutenant agrees." " Naturally." "Thank you." "Please, take a seat." " My wife." " Nane." " Excuse me?" " Nane." " Pleased to meet you." " Misha." "Misha..." "Cheers!" " Shall we dance?" " With pleasure." "Go, naturally." "Open the door you fucking Soviet!" " Did you check the corner window?" " I did." "I checked them all, comrade." "We can't get out." "Fuck!" "Is it true that all Poles are Catholics?" "Formally, in churches?" " Almost all." " And you?" "Yes, me too." "Are you?" "Before most Armenians were just like you." "But not any more." " Do you have any family?" " I'm a bachelor..." "Not in that sense." "Parents, a sister..." "I have a mother." "My father was killed..." " Is she catholic too?" " A 120 percent." "Must we now talk about how religion is the opium of the masses and that the science proved God doesn't exist?" "Sorry, my little hero is kicking terribly." "Excuse me." " Sajat." " Is everything all right?" " Everything is fine." " What happened?" "Have a seat." "Sit down." "Please." "Let's have a drink." "I can't." " Sick?" " On duty with Sajat." "Than let's drink for those on duty." " Jura, it's enough." " Vera, so for those on duty." " Lieutenant, I must..." " One moment." "Excuse me." "Open the door" "I won't kill you!" "I'm not the NKWD Soviet Secret Police from Katyn!" "Marynia is resting nearby, Captain, this is the men's hall." "Hold your tongue about Katyn, or we'll all be arrested!" "What's he done to you?" "I'll kick your ass if you don't know what for fuck the Russkis did to us!" "You don't know what that fuckers did to us?" "You can come in now, you Polish so called "friend"." "Move over." "What are you doing?" "Sorry, comrade Captain, I didn't know what's going on." "I just defended myself." "Bend your head back..." "Bend your own back!" "Allies!" "To hell with the lot of you!" " Captain." "Towel." " Go to hell!" "Tomorrow my command will want a full report on your Polish officer's aggressive behavior towards the officers and soldiers of the Red Army!" "Is that clear?" "I don't know anything about that." "I came in and... it happened." "We will meet again, Lieutenant." "And I would strongly advise you to be careful." "As usual the Poles are getting too cock sure of themselves!" " Car, quickly!" " Yes, sir!" " The ball has already ended..." " How come?" "I want to dance." "Let's dance." "Get up." "Good morning." "Let me help you." "You got my husband drunk and look at him!" "What embarrassment!" "It's just as well you came along, now you carry him, our Polish colleague." "You were supposed to call me Misha." " You wanted that." "Be careful." " And you don't want to?" "In that case, I won't use your name either." " I'll shoot myself out of despair." " And by the way, all the best on your birthday, may you be happy and never" " regret a single day of your life." " You still on about the Revolution?" " Today is not my birthday." " But it will be some time." "Since I'm with you today, I take the opportunity because who knows, where I'll be..." "when it really is." "Satisfied?" "For me that was nothing more than offensive." "Sorry, but I don't regret it." "Now I really must help you." "You'll never get him home alone." "No need." "I was coping somehow before you showed up." "Not in Poland and not with a guardhouse at the street." " I know a shortcut." " You're a Polish officer, you cannot walk into the Soviet zone." "I can." "But it's nice you worry about me." "I worry for myself, and my husband." "I don't want to be arrested and end up on Kholyma." "They won't catch us." "Let's go." "What street?" "What's up, tired?" "We are almost at the house." "You'll soon disappear into it, and then what?" "Did you want us to stay here?" "I want us to take Jura home and for you to come back here..." " What would I come back here for?" " To thank me for my help." "I'm flattered by your proposal, but no, thank you." "I prefer you think of me as a backward Soviet than a Russian tart who'll come running while you whistle." "This way." "Come on." "Good morning, comrade Matwiejewna." " Who were you expecting?" " A spy maybe..." "Why are you up so early?" "It's a holiday today." " Children don't know it's holiday." " Have a nice day." " You too." " Grab him now, quickly." "Sajat!" "Hurry up!" "Sajat!" "Hold him." "Nane!" "Call that doctor from upstairs he arrived in the night." " Hold on." " Bang on his door, he's deaf." "OK, all right, just hold on." "Everything will be fine." "What is that Pole doing here?" "Get him out!" "Are you mad?" " Will we see again?" " Of course." " When?" " Maybe in May, on Victory Day." " That's in six months time!" " Get going!" " What's going on?" " Doctor, open the door!" " I am not a doctor!" "Leave me!" " Nane is in labor she's bleeding." " I told you, I'm not a doctor!" " Then who are you?" "I'll call an ambulance." "If you hadn't proved such a coward then, our lives would have turned out differently." "But to do that one would need to be a real man." "You should have given that Pole a good hitting, as soon as" " he approached your wife." " It would change nothing." "It wouldn't do any harm, either." "And you just stood and stared." " Vera, Vera!" " You talk like some goat." "What are you staring at?" "Eat." "And when they did..." "Go on boy." "For the first time, did you know where and when?" "For sure, you knew it." "I was born so you couldn't forget!" "The competition was approved, the participants too, the only oversight can concern the repertoire." ""Melodies of Friendship", fuck knows what that means." "Did you know what Vera intended to sing?" "Of course, I knew." "But I didn't know she was going to sing in Polish." "Who do I have to defend myself from?" "Poles or our side?" "I only know that I was ordered to immediately submit an up-to-date assessment of you." "Political officer will tell you the rest." "The Poles have sent an official letter." " Any guess what they want?" " I think it's about Vera's performance." "But I really don't know what could have offended them?" "They want your wife to begin singing with their orchestra and" ""to shortly be prepared to represent our town in the Festival of Russian and Soviet Songs in Zielona Gora"." "What do you think of that?" "It's probably a great honor to represent the whole town." " They took her instead of their own." " Yes..." "Sit down." "Thank you." "We cannot offend the Poles." "Let your wife sing a month, maybe a month and a half and later we can refuse." "Using any pretext." "And no fraternization." "Our official policy of friendship with the Poles will suffice." "Who signed this letter?" "I mean, which orchestra she will be practicing with?" "With Polish one, Polish Army Orchestra." "You would like a symphonic one?" "The letter is very important, signed by the Party Committee, the Community Center..." "A whole gala." "I understand." "Since he asked, I ordered not only the content of the letter to be translated but also the signatures beneath it in order to find out its authors." "We already know one of them," "Michal Janicki." "And not from his best side." "You know him personally?" "Yes." "He's aggressive and definitely hostile." "Write a report on him." "Do it." "Yes, sir." "And as for Vera, you're right - for the moment let her sing, but not too long!" "I'll keep this letter from the Poles." "Their signatures may come in handy." "That's all." "Yes, sir." "Let's go." "You thought this whole competition up?" "No, I only thought up having you participate in it." "Not that brilliant, but that's all right, too." "And sorry again for my behavior last time." "It won't happen again." "People used to have a lot more time for each other." "Things could last as long as they needed to." "They could take their time getting to know each other." "No hurry, no brutish behavior or taking of shortcuts." "The windows must be kept open so my driver can hear I'm singing." "No matter what but loud." "Play..." "Here I saw her for the last time." "She was walking towards me, and suddenly she stopped." "We were looking at each other for a long time." "I saw she was crying and that she wanted to tell me something." "I should have gone up to her then." "But I..." "Let's take a picture." "Since we have come here." "Take it." "You can manage." "Father and I in the foreground and magnificent ruin in the background." "Don't you like it?" "I do..." "It's very touching." "They resemble my life." " Well then?" " Hello." "Whoe!" "Whoe!" "They are Polish horses, they don't understand that Fritz gabble." "But their parents were Germans." "They understand." "Giddy up!" " Good morning." " Morning." " Where is Sayat?" " He's not coming." "I understand." "Banned to go out for a beer?" "No." "He had to stay at work, as usual." "You know..." " I will sit with you." "May I?" " Sure." "Michal." "We have decided to name our son after you." " Do you mind?" " Michal?" "And you want him to follow my example?" "There won't be time." "We are staying here for 5 years at the most." "What do you say, then?" "And there is something else." "Who can that be?" "Neighbors!" "Is anybody home?" "Yes!" "I am coming." " Hello, Lieutenant." " Salut, comrade Major." "I have decided to meet my neighbors at last..." " Good afternoon." "...and to explain" " the misunderstanding..." " Please, sit down." "...that I am a doctor and maybe even a gynecologist." "One moment." " Glasses." " Bring them." "He is nosing about." "They suspect something so he's nosing about." "He's sniffing around because that's his job." "Have a drink with him and just sing!" "No conversation!" "We have to be going in an hour!" "I'll be drunk..." "I didn't come here to eat." "A piece of bread and Polish bacon will do." " They smoke it well, right?" " You're right, comrade Major, but their lard is nowhere near as good as back home!" "Come on Lieutenant, to our country!" "Maybe he's hungry?" "Or wants to have a drink with us?" "Verachka, darling, what a windfall!" "We are sitting with Comrade Major and the little one is wailing like an obstinate siren." "Take him for a walk for us!" "I beg you, you take him." " I'll wash my hands, all right?" " I'll get him dressed." "I'm not a doctor only a military expert." " In the technical sense." " In the psychological sense." "Wherever there are people, they need to be watched and understood." "For example:" "Soviet citizens are passionate readers of books." "That may seem banal." "But not for the expert." "He asks:" "So why do they read so much, and mainly novels?" "Is it maybe a form of escape from reality?" "To some other world?" "A better one?" "Supposedly spiritual?" "Always you have to watch people and try to understand them." "So a doctor after all." "Here is the pass." "I trust you like a sister, but if you betray us" " I'll kill you!" " I don't know what this is all about." " Michał will explain." " Have you any vodka in the house?" " In the cupboard." "In the kitchen..." "Thanks..." "Hurry up, they're waiting." "You are already drunk, Lieutenant." "Where are you putting the empty one?" "Finally a bit of peace and quiet from all that screaming!" "And Vera will get some nannying practice in!" "What would she need that sort of training for, is she pregnant?" "Who can tell... the first month?" "Don't you think it odd that they have no children?" "They're young, healthy, earning well, have a flat." "Maybe they were waiting to have one born in Poland?" "Some think it's better this way." "After all, chicken is not an eagle Poland is hardly abroad!" " Good evening." "I am Janicka." " Good evening." "Vera." "Son told me a lot about you." "Get in." "You will go with Michal." "I will hide the pram and join you." "Mr. Czeslaw is 100% trustworthy," "Are the Armenians coming on separately?" "If they can." "I have a service in half an hour." "So maybe after that?" "The child can't stay away from home that long." "But your mother is not coming." "She's already officially entered," " and was here at confession." " And she's to be the godmother." "Someone must stand next to you..." "even per procura." "Exactly." "That from a land so severely treated by the materialistic antichrist should come to us its sons and remembering their fathers' orders and drawing on their great courage, should give us their children, for us to accept them into God's house and God's family " "happiness overwhelms my heart as if I were baptizing a king." "Godparents, please step closer." "What do you ask the Holy Church for?" "For baptizing." "What's that?" "You're drunk, comrade neighbors." "I baptized you Michal in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." "Amen." "Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." "As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end." "Amen." "We have to go." "Not yet." "Oh, God!" "What are we doing?" "Quite normal." "In the last two hours, nothing has been normal." "Mom, where are you?" "We're back already!" "She's not here..." "Come on in don't just stand there!" "The way you're behaving, I'll soon be afraid I'm offending you just by looking in your direction." "Let alone touching you." "Am I to jump myself at you?" "And you had the nerve to take me to church." "That was totally accidental." "I would be an idiot to let things begin on such a serious note." "These... things should happen just by chance, almost as if between friends, without right away cathedrals." "Exactly." "What "exactly"?" "You'll help me carry the pram?" "Comrade Major must be wondering why this walk is lasting so long." "No... you shouldn't." "Say good-bye to your mother for me." "I'm sorry we missed each other." "Sayat and Nane sent me for you." "You are gone for too long." "The family pile!" "I'm quite moved." "Strangers probably live there now." "Over thirty years have passed..." "Let's go in." "There must be some trace!" "Have you seen that Russian woman?" "She was to be here for a rehearsal." "She was here." "She was hanging round." "A very nice woman." "If you see her please tell her I'm waiting." "I can see that for myself." "Good morning." "Sorry for the delay." "I thought you had given up already." "Well I didn't." "You're right, such things should happen as if by chance, between friends, as if we were just fooling around and joking... so that there's nothing to worry about later." "In our country, there's a friendly game." "Of colors." "Yellow - we separate..." "Green - we embrace, red - we kiss," "black - you know, the whole way." "If the boy and girl say the same color at the same time, then they are in agreement and they do what they have said." "If the colors are different - they do nothing." "Want to play?" "But we call the colors out in Russian." "When?" "When I say:" "Three - four." "Three - four!" " Black." " Black." "He's hidden in the car." "We're safe." "Why are you crying?" "What do you care?" "Later they'll say:" "He just took what she gave." "You'll land on all fours." " Don't you want?" " I do." "I'm a Russian." "I'm a married woman." " And that's the worst of it that I do." " I want it, too." "Will you stay till the morning?" "How about till the summer?" "How about even longer?" "When were they caught together?" "At the end of August '68..." "At the time of the intervention in Czechoslovakia." "What did you bring me here for?" "Vera's grave is far from home, and I want..." "She chose that." "I don't want her grave to be totally forgotten." "I've been lonely my whole life." "I loved her..." "Like a fool I pined for her so much that I wanted to die to be with her in Heaven until grandma told me about the suicide." "Because of a Polish man." "She didn't give a damn for her own daughter." "Those are my memories of my dear mom!" "I understand how you feel." "I can't make myself hate her, although I had a hundred times more reason." "One will do for me." "And it is still fresh." "She abandoned me!" "Threw out of her life like trash!" "Her "broken heart" was of more importance." "So important she had to kill herself from despair." "I should do the same!" "Rejected by my mother, I was left all alone in the world." "And like her" " I too was left with you as my consoler!" "Vera." " What happened?" " I saw him!" "Who?" "He came out of that flat." "Why don't I know that he is alive?" "I didn't know myself." "The official version was that he died in a car accident just over the Czech border." "Although there were also stories, he killed himself." "He limps, but besides that looks quite well." " Did he see you?" " He did." "Did he recognize you?" "No, he looked and then carried on." "Then it wasn't him." "He would have recognized you." " You look the same as Vera." " I am not the same!" "And maybe he did not want to recognize me?" "What should he need me for?" "Morning!" "How pleasant you great me!" "You even brought the flowers." "Good morning." "It was worth coming here in person." "You're here to assess Vera's progress?" "Our Vera sings well, without checking!" "All the more a shame that she must give up her rehearsals and performance." "She "must"?" "Has she decided all alone that she "must"?" "In a certain sense she is forced to." "Our Vera is pregnant." "Unfortunately the pregnancy is at risk." "She was immediately hospitalized for what is termed pregnancy support." "I see you are surprised." "Shock, right?" "Work in progress..." "She never mentioned." "Imagine our surprise!" "That's why Jura did not enter the space flight program." "Did he mention it?" "We rarely speak, only at ceremonial functions." "No doubt embarrassed." "Jura is infertile." "That's how it started." "Only the best and the really 100% healthy can fly." "The Soviet state examines its citizens in every respect and very thoroughly." "Now, I don't know what we are to think." "Could the Central Medical Board have made a mistake, or what?" "In Poland, we'd call it a miracle and be delighted." "We are glad too, but in the USSR we don't believe in miracles." "That's all." "It was most helpful to meet you again." "How long will Vera be in hospital?" "I would like to visit her." "Shame she'll not be appearing." "Doctors say a month may suffice, but it could be three." "The most important is that her child is born healthy!" "However it adds up, she won't make the festival!" "See you." " Good morning." " Good morning." "Yelizaveta, shall we go for a walk?" " Jura..." " Don't say anything." "We should not get upset now the child can hear everything." "I have only one condition:" "He has no right to see the child." "Never." "You have to promise me this." " And will you want to see it?" " I'll ask the doctors to keep you here as long as possible, preferably" "till the baby's born." "Jura, sorry, but I can't promise you that!" "Jura, wait!" "Cops!" "Best ones chosen for the lovely lady!" "Citizen Bala Jan?" " Yes, it's me." " You are accused of weakening of the defensive ability of the USSR." "Your ID, please." "Me?" "How, Chief?" "That citizen was caught with the newest type of Russian binoculars." "He bought them from you." "From me?" "He could have bought a pound of apples." " Hi!" " What did they want?" "Weakening of the defensive ability of the USSR." "Poor lad." "The Russkis will accuse him of stealing everything they managed to sell last month." "Come." "I'll have it on Friday, but you have to give me the size of the cap." "59." "I have something special." "24 carat gold, the gem is called "The heart of the desert"." "To tell you the truth, I got it cheap, so I'm not asking a lot for it." "From the Russkis?" "Such a sweet little gem?" "One of their colonels pawned it and never came back." "Spring, my dears, time to be thinking about our next offspring." "The country's been through a war, it needs people." "And there's always a bit of pleasure!" "You see?" "You whistled and I came running!" "It's authentic!" "Where ever did you get our uniform?" " Did Sajat lend you it?" " Where's Sajat and where am I?" "Besides, I don't wear hand-me-downs." "I bought it." "They can hold you here for some time, so it will come in handy." " And you'll come to visit me?" " Unless you chase me away." "But they might catch you or someone might recognize you." "If we had always been so frightened, we'd still be living in the trees." "You don't need to come across the lawn beneath the clinic windows." "Come, follow me." "What is this?" " A walkway." " In a hospital?" "The mental ward is just further on." "They bring them here during the day." "Sunday is when there are the fewest people, especially after supper." " Go now." "Please, go..." " There is one little thing." "Misha..." "It was supposed to be a joke, like between friends, but... it can't be any longer." "This is an official engagement ring." "Do you accept it?" "Yes." "A hundred times." "But where am I to hide it?" "They'll soon notice it..." "Eventually they'll have." "If necessary, I shall resign from the army." "We will go and live at the other end of Poland, high in the mountains in a little cottage." "Before the first snow comes the larder will be full, the windows muffled, the stove burning." "I graduated from a musical school I'll go back to the conservatory and I'll work at the same time - we'll manage!" "Not right now of course!" "The most important thing right now is for you to have the baby without any problems." "But from today, I want you to know..." "you're not alone." "Will it all work out all right?" "It already has..." "since you are asking." "Why so sad, girls?" "We should be pleased spring is here!" "Your husband was here." " And what?" "Speak up." " He looked for you everywhere." "He told us Yuri Gagarin died in an accident today." "You understand?" "Yuri Gagarin is dead." "Get a hold of yourself!" "Pilots seldom live to see their pensions." "It's an occupational hazard." "And for astronauts it's even worse." "You yourself know that." "Does Vera know?" "I don't know." "I didn't see her." "Don't you remember which room she was in?" "Roommate said that you came here." "You were looking for her the day" "Gagarin died." "Try to remember" " March 271968." " Do you know what tragedy it was?" " What?" "Old story for you." "But not for my daddy." " For him it was a tragedy." " Not just for me." "The whole world lamented." "But nobody as much as you." " Where did so many dogs come from?" " Russians left them clearing out." " They've been reproducing." " But why dogs in a hospital?" "To escort the loonies on their walks." "And now they are guarding the place." " What is that barbed wire here for?" " That was put up so that the loonies didn't try climbing the trees to escape." "Now the dogs just get hurt on it." "Summer here is like in Moscow this year." "Hot enough during the day, downright torrid at night." "Rather pretty, don't you think?" "Come closer." "Take a seat." "Take a close look." "Some relic?" "Really, don't you recognize it?" "Haven't you received a copy yet?" "That's a scandal!" "An international scandal." "What would I be doing with one?" "That idiot, Polish priest boasts about your son being baptized in almost every sermon!" "You're already a symbolic family, reassurance for the fearful and support for the dubious!" "Alleluia!" "That's not true." "Religious propaganda, nothing more." "He ought to be called to order." "Poles will call him to order." "He has drawn up a commemorative certificate of baptism, a Catholic baptism." "You are a follower of the religion of our ancient enemies, suffice to say the Germans, French." "A counterfeit!" "But this priest must have been determined to have you." "How did he get to know the first and last name?" "And he wrote everything in Armenian." "Take the original since you don't have a copy." "Come on, take it or I'll destroy it." "Comrade Catholic." "What am I to do?" "I want to know all about the godparents of your little Mickey." "Vera, this Pole, nor can Jura be excluded." "Salute!" "Comrade Lieutenant, please show your pass." "I wish you all the best, and for your baby." "See you." "Come on now little one, open your eyes, we're leaving." "You're going home on your own?" "So it would seem, Aleksandra Matwiejewna." "If you need anything..." "I know." " Take care." " Thank you." "I'm sorry;" "I haven't had time to buy a pram." "We're constantly on flight or emergency duties." "It doesn't matter." "It's not far." "I'll help you." "What will happen now?" "We need to talk..." "Just as soon as we get home." "I don't want to cry in the street." "Nor do I." "The ground crew is preparing your plane!" "Vera has just come from the hospital, let's drop her off at home." "You lost your fucking mind?" "A red alarm!" "This could be war!" "Why do you shout at me?" "Thank you for the information, comrade Lieutenant." "I'll report at my machine at the time!" "Vera, let's go." "Thanks for accompanying me despite the war." "And don't you worry about anything." "We'll talk it all over tomorrow." "I would like to kiss you... but maybe it had better wait till I get back..." " Congratulations." " All right." "Get going." "Thank you." "Be careful." "All right." "See you." "Have you chosen a name for the baby?" "If it were up to me, it would be:" "Vera!" "Only Vera!" "So, this is our spy." " What do we know?" " Polish officer," "Michal Janicki, from a local unit." "Where he got our uniform from, whether he had entered our barracks or hospital - he won't say." " Poles knows?" " Yes." "They have already begun their own investigation." "The commander of his unit and the chief of their intelligence will be here at ten." "Of course." "And what do we think?" "These are a few possible leads." "Right..." "This his?" "Have you checked what it contains?" "Nothing special, plastic and dried peas." "As I thought." "Well mister officer, your name has already been a familiar one to me for some time." "Are you the one who off duty accompanies the singers on the piano?" "Yes, the chorus and soloists." "A bit of an artist, right?" "Listen, comrade officer, any other time we could have made of this a foolish prank, a Polish artist's alcoholic masquerade, but this morning" "Warsaw Pact troops entered Czechoslovakia." "We are bound by wartime investigation procedures." "You'll be accused of espionage." "By a Polish prosecutor and before a Polish court, though in this case it doesn't matter what language we use." "Any questions?" "Good morning, come in." "Sit down." ""I haven't seen you for a month now, and nothing much happened"." "You sang well." "If you hadn't been pregnant" " you'd have won at the festival." " That is not army business." "You are the wife of a Soviet officer, the army assented to your marriage and since that time, our rights and our rules apply to you, too." "Understand?" "And that old German, Vera, who gave you keys to his house." "Do you now that his two sons served in the Wehrmacht." "The younger burnt alive half a village near Rostow, the elder was killed near Moscow." "Does he have reasons to like us?" "Or the Poles who took his brewery?" "Didn't you think?" "And Michal's father?" "He was a soldier and was killed." "But not on the front." "He was arrested in 1949." "A trial, a sentence." "Do you understand what I am talking about?" "Vera..." "If you now had to describe your most secret dreams and plans what would you write about?" "That is no secret." "I want to ask Jura for a divorce, to apply for a change of citizenship and the right to stay in Poland with my child." "As the wife of a Pole, of course." "So listen..." "Stupid Vera, you enormous imbecile." "You will never receive Polish citizenship and will never live here, because we won't allow it." "And this is nothing to do with you, Jura, and that Pole." "It's to do with the honor of our motherland." "Assume theoretically, that as an exception, we let you marry him." "Next week there'll be five applications, then ten, and in a month 5000, fifteen, twenty." "And we will never let that happen!" "Never!" " But I want only..." " On and on only one thing:" "I want, I want, I want!" "Learn to say and think:" "I must!" "I must!" "Because that is how we live!" "Got it?" "They have such a nice saying here:" ""One may have to for Russia, but in Poland we do as we please"." "The army sent you to Poland, but that does not mean that you're in Poland!" "Your Michal has crawled away like a cur, apologized for any problems and regrets that he "got involved in such an adventure"." "There's no question of any marriage!" "You and Yura decide about the divorce." "The sooner the better." "Just be careful, he may recognize the brat as his own and throw you out like a dog." "That depends only on Jura, on his particular "I want"." "You can go now." "In an hour, I am flying to Prague." "Wait..." "This is for the child." "It's from the Pole." "Because of you they've arrested a few people and that's not the end!" "The Russians think they're on the trail of a spy network that has penetrated to their command structures in Legnica." "Yesterday the whole of the Czech government was here!" "On their way to Moscow." "That is the level of their operations!" "And you've sparked off a real scandal here, because you had to screw a Russki!" "Polish women got poor fannies?" "Sit!" "Morning, comrade Secretary." "Here is an official letter inviting our Vera Fiedorovna to represent" "Legnica at the festival in Zielona Gora." "On this pretext they could meet for a long time without suspicions." "Apart from Michal Janicki, five others signed it." " You are suggesting..." " No." "But it should be checked out." "In Moscow we've seen worse trials than this." "And as they say, we are in Little Moscow for some reasons." "We also know that the Michal's mother co-operated with those accused." "Vera Fiedorowna insists that her husband, Jura, knew nothing of this, but who can believe it among this sort of company." "It's a morass, comrades!" "Janicki, it would've been better if you'd never been born." "Or if I was already out of the way, right?" "He's lying." "He is alive..." "Get him out from there as quickly as possible." "There's just one technical detail:" "Do we report an attempted escape or suicide?" ""Suicide" - why such big words?" "After all, he's only a bandleader." "It was simply an accident." "And it didn't even happen here." "He is my soldier and I take him over." "He is arrested and will go on trial after the investigation." "But now I take him away!" "Good morning." "The door was open." "I want to speak with Michal." "They sent his unit to Czechoslovakia." "Michal has had a car accident in the mountains." "Their truck rolled off the road." "They just told me a moment ago..." "You've been confined to barracks." "I wanted to talk with you." "Don't worry, everything's in order..." "I just have to talk to someone." "When she left, she went home, then she went to his mother's and now is in that German's house." "I don't think she believed in that story about the Pole's death." "She did." "She is quicker to believe in disaster, than in happiness." "The Slavic soul." "We are all Slavs here." "And almost brothers." " In what sense?" " Well, in a general sense." " Are you watching her?" " All the time." "Good." "I warned her that if she starts blabbing her mouth off..." "She's hardly likely to go complaining to the Polish authorities!" "To the authorities - no, but to ordinary Poles - who knows?" "They will spread it and remember." "We don't need that." "What we need here as quickly as possible is peace and quiet." "Well said." "You're free now." "Yes, sir!" "Get in." "I'll give you a lift home." "It's unhealthy to walk around in the sun on such a hot day." "I don't think we'll all fit..." "Don't worry there's room." "We aren't going far anyway." "That's the grave of Styopa Gorchikov, the son of the nurse" "Aleksandra Matwiejewna." "She cared for you from birth, right up to our departure." "Good morning." "Good morning." " Did you know her?" " No, I only heard about her." "They say she hung herself out of love, somewhere along the river." "It was so long ago." "I always - as a child - came here with my mom, and I still come." "Daughter?" "Yes." "And what happened with that Pole?" "He was let out of prison and got lost somewhere." "Sorry, I must be going, I have my own graves to attend." "It's nice you came." "Many people come here to visit her grave," "Poles, in order to pray, but a daughter, that's something else." " Good-bye." " Good-bye."