"Present a film co-funded by produced in cooperation with" "Written by" "GENERAL NIL" "Starring" "and" "Music" "Edited by" "Costume Designers" "Production Designer" "Production Manager" "Director of Photography" "Co-producers" "Producer" "Directed by" "Siberia 1947" "This is all you've got?" "Not even enough for you." "It won't help him, anyway." "I'll manage somehow." "Drink..." "Drink." "It'd be good business to trade a youth for an old geezer." "They're taking us to Siberia?" "To Kolyma, yes?" "Don't worry." "They're taking us to Poland." "Hang on!" "Hang on..." "Warsaw 1944" "Halt!" "Your ID?" " First and last name?" " Walenty Gdanicki." "Date of birth?" "Feb. 2, 1899." "Where do you work?" "Warsaw Railroad." "You can go." "Pull over." " Don't wait for me here." " Yes, sir." "Wiesiek..." "Don't be reckless." "Stanis³aw Weller..." "an X-ray of liver." "Come on in, sir..." "Please, sir." "This way." "Nurse Jadwiga will show you the way." "Please." "Hello, colonel." "Hello." "Don't make a fuss, gentlemen, sit down." "Yes?" "Rajski took a few snapshots in front of his house in Aleja Ró¿." " Which do you think?" " This one." "We have his time table, which he mostly sticks to." "Gentlemen, the plan is the following:" "Aleje Ujazdowskie..." "Aleja Ró¿." "Chopin and Pius XI Streets." "Six men with tommy guns for this action." "Four to cover the two executors." "The 1st of them gets into positio behind the crossing along with the cover..." "The other, on the opposite corner." "Three cars:" "Two for the evacuation on Chopin St., the third to block Pius St." "Excuse me, sir, wouldn't it be better in Aleja Ró¿?" "They got a bunker there with a machine gun." "Nobody will expect it before the driveway to the SS HQ." "It shouldn't take longer than a minute." " So, sir..." " Carry out the order." "Kill him." "Uncle Walenty..." "Ever been to Poland?" "Of course, I have." "I was born there." "Two years ago, they deported me to Siberia." "How is it there?" "Other than in the Soviet Union?" "If it were the same, what's the point returning?" "Other means better?" "How long did you stay in Russia?" "They deported us to Kazakhstan in 1939." "Mom died on the way." "Father was shot..." "I was 11 then, so I don't remember." "I don't know how to explain it to you." "Would that you didn't feel disappointed then." "Don't expect a paradise." "But you'll be home." "That's your homeland." " Mine..." " Yours." "Mine." "Of all of us." "Warsaw, Feb. 1944" "He's there." "Yes?" "I understand." "Mr. Franciszek has gone on holiday." "I wanted to see you, sir, because the situation is changing fast." "On New Year's Day the Soviets crossed our pre-war border with the Soviets that Stalin doesn't recognize, anyway." "We're facing a Soviet occupation in place of the German one." "Once we push the Germans out of Poland, we'll have to keep a part of our armed forces." "You've created an efficient conspiracy." "For the last 2 years, you've been commander of sabotage units." "We must use your experience in this new situation." "Am I dismissed from my post?" "If anybody can create a new conspiracy, and command active combat, it's you." "I can keep our units armed and ready in self defense." "But we're not prepared for any armed struggle against the Soviets unless the West helps us, which I doubt." "These are orders of our government in London which I pass on to you." "The organization you'll be in charge of is called" "Independence, code name Nie (No)." "Let's hope the Allies won't leave us on our own and your work in the East will turn out unnecessary." "Milanówek, Jan. 1945" "Cheers." "How was the trip?" "The shortest way via Sweden." "The Schuppo stopped me in Szczecin." "I have a good ID." "Cigarettes?" "I got good English ones." " Yeah..." "And snuff?" " Man, who's using it now?" " You got something for me?" " The reply to your report later." "Now only this." "This is no good." "The Nie should be liquidated as fast as possible." "Partisans against the Soviets?" "It leads nowhere." "How are things in London?" "Do they realize what's happening here?" "After Yalta, it's just a matter of time when the Allies recognize the communist power in Poland." "Freeze." "Hands up!" "Search him." "Where did you get it?" "My mother's jewelry." "I haven't stolen anything." " Take him away!" " Captain Sir!" "A profiteer, huh?" "Stand up!" "ID!" "I said ID!" "Walenty Gdanicki, railroad man." "You'll chop wood in Siberia for a few years." "The dollars will be no use." "Take him away!" "Search them." "Bia³a Podlaska, Oct. 1947" "Silence!" "What's this bourgeois shit you're playing?" "!" "International." "Hit it!" "Uncle..." "Welcome to homeland, citizen." "We'll take care of you here." "Wait." "Come here." "£ódŸ, Dec. 1947" " Who's there?" " Santa Claus." "Who are you looking for?" "It's me, Mrs. Helena." "Mr. Emil?" "I heard that you're back." "Mrs. Helena..." " Here you are." " Thank you." "I hope it's not too hot." "Right before Xmas." "Mrs. Janina and the daughters must be very happy, right?" "I haven't seen them yet." "I'm coming straight from the station." "Why, Mr. Emil?" "Family's the most important." "Yeah..." "I'd like to ask..." "that for some time..." "There's no Emil Fieldorf, but a railroader Walenty Gdanicki." "I have this request:" "Could I stay with you for some time." "Not long..." "As long as you please." "I have a vacant couch." " Emil..." " Dad..." " Dad..." "Daddy...!" " Here at last!" "God..." "I thought you'd never return...!" "I've fallen with the first snow." "Thank you." "How is he, doctor?" "Dystrophy, avitaminosis..." "But the heart and lungs strong." "Yes, I'll live to see a hundred." "Siberia hardens." "You want me to organize partisans in the woods?" "We won't topple the Soviet colossus by ourselves." "We're alone." "Let's wait." "They won't let you live an ordinary life." "Get it?" "The truth will out that Gdanicki is Fieldorf." "The Home Army is the worst enemy now, fascists." "Go to the West before it's too late." "That would be cowardice to those who stay here." "I'll try to live an ordinary life." "General..." "Wiesiek." "You live..." "Going anywhere, cabbie?" "I was waiting for you here rather than disturb you at home..." "Not in the street..." " What're you doing?" "Working?" " Not yet." "Waiting." " Waiting... for what?" " For you, Sir." "We all are." " Why?" " We want to fight on." "Got your high school diploma?" "Yes." "I got it in clandestine classes." "Go to college:" "University, polytechnic..." "Find yourself a fine girl, marry her..." "What was all that for?" "The conspiracy, the Rising..." "Don't get involved in any conspiracy, son." "You'll die and your death will be useless." "We died for so many years all to no avail?" "Hush..." "Who's living there?" "Good people." "They're away now..." "Come, I'll help you." "Don't." "I'll manage." " Nobody home?" " Marysia's at work." "Krysia and Zosia, out for a walk." "This is unlike our apartment in Vilna..." "You were lucky to get it." "It's quite roomy now." "We were crammed here, ten of us, not long ago." "Ten?" "A part of the pictures and mementos, the Soviets robbed in Vilna." "How could I have carried the furniture here?" "So I sold it." "The rest was lost, chopped into firewood." "Funny, this, so fragile, has survived." "Listen..." "Listen!" "Where was that?" "Wanda's wedding." "We danced the whole night away." "Poor she..." "Don't cry..." "We live." "I haven't danced for ages." "Neither have I." "When?" "When will you return to us?" "We're missing you." "When the air is cleared." "Soon..." "To see whom?" "I was told General Tatar is back and living here." " What's your business?" " Friend from the army:" "Weller." "Stanis³aw Weller." "Please wait." " Nobody's been tailing you?" " No." "I'm used to it." "In half an hour in the park by the citadel." "There's a bridge, like an aqueduct, there." "I'll find it." "Sorry I couldn't receive you home." "I'm staying with friends." "Besides, I'm negotiating with the govt., so I may be watched." "I neither want to expose nor to get you involved." "I just wanted a word of advice..." "I'm going to disclose my identity to get away in one piece and not to expose my family." "What do I do?" "What do you suggest?" "I understand." "In your situation it's a reasonable move." "Even rank-and-file AK soldiers are shot dead by the Security Service (UB)." "Yes, but... only those who think the war is still on." "You aren't risking a great deal, I think." "All depends on your attitude." "Your hostile attitude to the people's power, or collaboration?" " In what sense?" " Just like I do." "You believe their honest intentions?" "If I didn't, I wouldn't have returned from London." "Thank you." "I set great store by your opinion." "Just between you and me..." "They'll erect you a monument for what you did during the war." "£ódŸ, Feb. 1948" "Repeat!" "I can't hear you." "It doesn't tally with your ID, or the certificate of the repatriation bureau, which says Walenty Gdanicki." "When I was arrested in '45, my ID was forged to say Walenty Gdanicki, railroader." "My true name is Emil Fieldorf." " German?" " Polish." "Lieutenant, another clown." "Go there." "Next...!" "Gimme..." "Give it to me!" "Why didn't you disclose your true identity back from the USSR?" "I didn't want to be sent back." "What did you do during the occupation?" "I commanded armed combat." "The Kedyw Sabotage Unit of the Home Army." "Chmiest!" "Write down this citizen's testimony." "Sit down!" "Now it's smooth." "All right?" "Could you make me a dollhouse, Grandpa?" " One or multi-floor?" " Maybe multi..." "Here you are!" "Welcome, Emil!" " How did you find me?" " Janina told me." "I went to your apartment." " Say hello, Zosia." " Hello, Zosia." "You seem to be here day in day out." "I can make you tea." "Want some?" "Be seated." "No, thank you." "I'm only here for a moment." "Tonight I'm going back to Zakopane." "I got the post of a sanatorium manager." "Could you come over to me, huh?" "You'll stay, rest, we'll talk..." "Maybe some day, as now ...it's family life." "Peaceful for the time being?" "As you see." "I got something for you." "You should read it." "A stenographic record of a Moscow trial." "Confidential." "It's an old case of '45." "The UB retrieved it from the archives." "We have our people there." " Won't you read it?" " I have work to do." "Where's your sanatorium?" "I'll send you the exact address." " Zosia, say goodbye to Mr. Stefan." " Goodbye." " Come over for sure." " Bye." "Read that." "Dammit!" "The thread has gone kaput." "I can't screw it in." "What's this..." "Something important?" "Stefan's brought it today." "The minutes of a Moscow trial." "Okulicki's testimony." "Does it concern you?" "Read..." "What's underlined with a pencil." ""Afanasyev:" "Did the defendant testify that Fieldorf had given the following instructions:" "To organize armed units of 50-60 men in the regions to hide weapons and ammo, to use the weapons in self-defense in an armed opposition to the Soviet authorities, to commit terrorist acts against the representatives of the Soviet power in the USSR territory?" "Okulicki:" "Yes, yes." "Now that I remember, yes."" "Oh, no..." "I thought that man couldn't be broken." "He had to say so?" "!" "I don't know." "Let's not judge anyone who went through the NKVD hell." "Stefan was right." "You should leave Poland." "I reported at the military office." "They have my address and know who I am." "If they wanted to arrest me, they'd have done it long ago." "This is about simple folks, gray masses." "They should live under constant threat that the sky may fall down on their heads any minute." "Only then can they be ruled effectively." "Only then can a socialist state function." "You understand?" "Cheers." "Who'll believe that Fieldorf, who got on the Germans nerves so often with successful assassinations of traitors, is a traitor and a collaborator?" "Do you think that the people will swallow such an absurd?" "History knows bigger absurds..." "Immaculate conception," "Ascension..." "Aren't they absurd?" "But a majority believes in them." "The bigger the absurd, the faster they'll swallow it." "Comrade Davidov - that's what Goebbels used to say." "What?" "!" "Goebbels?" "!" "Don't take liberties, Joseph Abramovitch!" "If you told it to General Serov, you know what'd happen?" "I know whom I'm talking to." "That's why I 'm asking your advice." "So I give you my honest answer." "No other way out." "You either wipe out the symbols of the old bourgeois Poland, or the hydra is reborn." "And power will slip through your fingers." "You talk as if all Poles were against you." "Not all." "According to the polls 70%/% are." "But for our help, you'd have been no more long ago." " Eight." " Six." "I'll finish the chapter and switch the light off." "You can go on reading." "I can sleep with the light on." "Once, the light used to disturb you." "Once, it was different." "We've changed." "I haven't." "It just seems to you..." "We weren't together for all those years." "I didn't know where you were, doing what, even if you lived." "You met people I didn't know, some women..." "And now you show up here..." "The conspiracy is over." "I know, but don't say that the years of separation have not changed us." "I didn't contact you for long." "Now I can't adjust to the situation between us." "It's my fault." "Somehow I can't bring myself to behave naturally with you." "I love you all very much." "But I should leave for some time and rest." "Those seven years of rest from me weren't enough?" "Was that a rest?" "I'm taking it." "A kilo carrots and a bunch of beet greens." " Fresh donuts?" " No, thank you." "Fresh eggs today." "How many?" " Go!" " Gee up!" "You haven't bought veggies..." "I had no time." "I had no time." "I had to flee." "On the radio?" "The girl's singing beautifully." "They've been tailing me for some time." "Today I have had it and bolted." "They're not particularly bright." "Don't worry." "They'll walk around, snoop... get bored." "Dad, I wanted to show you something." "Beautiful, right?" "Could you make such furniture?" "No..." "This is classy..." "Where did you get the magazine?" "A friend's father has brought it from Paris." "The record too." "You like it?" "In Paris, I used to go to clubs in the Latin Quarter." "You about trifles while they tail Father and can arrest him any minute." "For going shopping or making furniture?" "Don't exaggerate." "Mom is right." "If they want to arrest you, any pretext will do." "That you ply the joiner's trade without a permit," " or drop a stub on the sidewalk." " For living." "Do you want me to go abroad?" "Maybe." "Maybe." "Maybe you should." "Take a look:" "People lead normal lives there." "Nobody persecutes anyone or puts him in jail." "The people can speak, write, or listen to the music they like rather than propaganda songs about kolkhozes." "Don't you worry, my girl." "All that's happening is temporary." " It'll pass." " When?" "In a hundred years?" "When we're no more?" "Hello, get your tickets ready for control." "The ladies also." "Excuse me." "Please get your tickets ready for control..." "Uncle Walenty...?" "Excuse me..." "Micha³, son...!" "You look in the pink, uncle." "You've recovered." "I'm so happy!" "You've grown up." "A railroader's uniform..." " My father was a railroader." " How are things, Uncle?" "All right." "I live in £ódŸ, have found my family..." "I have a beautiful granddaughter." "Outta here, or the old man gives me hell." "See you again, Uncle." "Maybe on another route." "Beautiful, no?" "I'm happy you've finally visited me." "Tomorrow I'm climbing Mt." "Mnich." "I was there before the war." "Will you come along?" "With pleasure, but I have deliveries in the morning." "You want to cross the border?" "Right you are." "I have some contacts on the other side." "Not at all." "I want to look around... to find a plot of land." " Land?" "For whom?" " For me." " What will you do with it?" " I'll build a house." "You would seriously build a house?" "Why not?" "You run a sanatorium, settled down... and I could do with a normal occupation." "What will you a professional soldier be doing here?" "What do the highlanders do?" "Raise sheep, work as carpenters or joiners..." "I have some knowledge of carpentry and locksmithing." "I could make tables, chairs, wardrobes..." " A useful occupation." " A hard manual work." "I'm in good shape and feel wonderful." "Will you look for land for me?" "You're obstinate." " Will you?" " Yes, sir." "It may be evidence for them that I'm not plotting." "Yeah..." "Excuse me for a moment." "Excuse me." "You got a light?" "They have good cigarettes here." "Must be contraband..." "Maybe from drops." "You into American or Russian?" "French." " Hard to keep pace with you." " You were pursuing me?" " I'd like to talk." " We could have down there." "But we're alone here." "Yes?" "Let me introduce myself." "Roman Charewicz a.k.a. Klemm of the Vilna Brigade under Wilk-Krzy¿anowski." " Next I was with £upaszka." " Emil Fieldorf, retired general." "I know who you are." "Coffee?" "It's beautiful here." "You know what WiN (Freedom and Independence Ass.)" " Is all about?" " Just what the papers say." "The UB has just smashed another board." "So far it was politicians or field officers who were in charge." "Now we'd like to hide better, to resume more effective action." "What's it to me?" "You're the only AK general still in the country." "You know the people, escape the UB every now and then..." "How do you know that?" "That's what the people say." "Only you can guarantee an efficient, active organization in the country." "What would it be doing?" "In case of a West-Soviet conflict, the WiN would sabotage the Red Army from the rear." "I don't believe in a WW III." "This is a sufficient answer to your proposition." "What was that restaurant in Vilna?" "On Tatarska St. The only one." "Sir, what does it have to do..." "Would you believe a stranger at face value, who would implicate you in an illegal organization?" "I have authorization from the London government." " On you?" " You kidding?" "Your friend Stefan can confirm my identity." "The name of that restaurant..." "U Berczyka before the war." "It served superb fish." "That's right." "So they smashed four commands of the WiN..." "And likewise the fifth and sixth, no matter how many." "Is this a way to regain independence?" "For a national suicide rather..." "I didn't expect such words from you, sir." "This is defeatism." "The WiN won't survive without you." "Nor with me." "Nobody has released you from the duty of loyalty to the legal government of the Polish Republic." " You're still in active service." " That's how London may see it." "When you're back there, tell them how it is here." "Don't hide anything." "...the faithful puppy whined again." "That morning she'd sit over the cradle of her baby that would quietly cry as if from regret..." "Quietly cried!" "Cried!" "Oh how it cried!" "And the hare trembles before another control." "At last the bear comes:" "Do you have everything in this socialist store that the people need?" " I do." " Do you have nothing?" "I do." "So he takes the bear to the back, turns off the light and says, "What do you see?" " Nothing." " So take a pound of it." "Dad, you make faces just like that comic." "Maybe you should become an actor?" "No talent whatsoever!" "The army is the institution for those without talent." "You don't have talent?" "You could make a wonderful film director." "Of course." "You know that one when a Pole, a Russkie, and an American are flying a plane?" "£ódŸ, Oct. 1950" "Your application will be considered as soon as possible." "I applied for retirement and a pension over a year ago." "My family has no means of sustenance." "Everything's on the right track, citizen." "Return home in peace." "You'll get an answer any day." "Next one..." "Citizen Emil Fieldorf?" "You're under arrest." "Leave me alone." "I'm General Fieldorf!" "Please inform my wife!" "General Emil Fieldorf." "39 Próchnika St." "You fucking dog!" "Who could it be?" "...Open, Krysia." "Moment!" "Who are you after?" "Why the fuck are you staring?" "Give food and drink." "We'll sit here for a spell." "Bring your own provisions." "This is no UB canteen." "Something happened?" "You fell?" "You should be careful." "Oh, a rare book." "The first edition of Wyspiañski's Wedding." "Why demolishing?" "Do a search rather than demolish." "I've brought the prisoner." "Be seated." "My name's Górski." "An investigator, lieutenant." "I've been assigned to your case." "On what grounds was I arrested?" "Camp of Polish Reactionaries" "List of Contents" "A lot about you." "Enough for 3 death sentences." "Write your CV with all details." "Take your time, which you have lots of." "Impossible without my glasses, which I had to deposit." "Fuck it!" "Stay here." "Sit down with us, comrades." "Let's drink to the New Year 1951." "Your health." "I read Fieldorf's testimony." "He seems to have had a hand in all serious AK actions against the Germans." "Comrade Minister." "He's also the general of the reactionary anti-state organization Nie." "He organized and ran terrorist operations in the USSR territory." "He ordered executions of the representatives of the Soviet authorities." "Certainly one of the major figures of the whole reactionary underground." "What do we do with him?" "Is he of any use?" "What if we just... him?" "The general of the Kedyw cannot be just offed." "Neither can he be shot during an escape attempt." "We'll do it legally." "According to the law." "Your health..." "First a trial, witnesses, evidence, indictment, and then we just... him." "It could be an interesting big trial." "Very much to your liking." "Just think, Comrade Radkiewicz " "AK, the Gestapo, SS, win, NSZ (National Armed Forces)" "All with one stone, so to speak." "Comrade Minister..." "President Bierut." "Bierut..." "Out!" "The Kedyw boss, when and where did you order to liquidate leftist activists of the Underground and Soviet partisans?" " I didn't give such orders." " No?" "Here..." "In the Bia³ystok region," "Kedyw units accountable to you murdered 237 people, including Jewish civilians and Soviet partisans." "In the Nowogród region, 799." "Local Kedyw units were not directly accountable to me." "I was accountable only for the Warsaw region." "If Kedyw units liquidated any leftist activists, they must've been those who had betrayed the Polish nation." "If any Soviet partisans died in combat with the AK, they were those who had murdered Polish civilians." " It's a slander!" " You may not know about that." "The AK units who helped the Soviets chase away the Germans from Vilna were later disarmed by the NKVD; the officers, shot!" "Fascist propaganda." "Get it?" "Enough, fuck it!" "I'm asking again:" "When and where did you order to liquidate leftist activists and Soviet partisans?" "!" " I didn't give such orders." " I'm asking once again:" " Whom and when?" " Waste of time, son." "Cell 11." "Get in!" "What was the task of the Start Cell?" "To liquidate informers..." "Informers and snitches." "Did the Kedyw cooperate with the Start to liquidate informers and snitches?" "We took care of Germans..." "Germans." "The Start exposed Warsaw activists of the PPR, and the Kedyw of AK made executions in line with the Nazi authorities fighting the people's resistance..." "Sign this." "Sign it and you'll have peace till the trial." "You'll return to the old cell, The light's been fixed..." "Sign it..." "This would be better for you, general." "Cooperating with us you have a chance to see freedom." " Take me to the cell." " Sign, I said." "In Cell 11 you won't last a week." "Sign it." "Sign it!" "Here, sign it." "Sign it, I said." "Sign it!" "Sign it!" "I said, sign it!" "Sign it, sign it!" "Fucking sign it!" "I said, sign it." "Fuck it sign it." "I said sign it." "Come on sign it!" "Sign it, etc..." "You'll fucking eat it..." "You'll rot to death in that hole, you!" "Will you smoke?" "Go ahead..." "Tell me, friend, what way your boss General Fieldorf really was." "He..." "I don't know him." "I don't know who he is." "Bullshit, son." "You were his body guard when he was the Kedyw boss." "Want a wet punishment cell?" "Want some finger nails torn off?" "I hardly knew him." "He, a general;" "I, a plain corporal cadet." "We were obliged by principles of conspiracy." "You'll write everything you know about him." "I don't remember anything more." "So you'll fucking recall!" "In detail, get it?" "!" "He commanded the biggest militant actions during the occupation." "Germans were scared stiff of him." "He's a real hero." "Want me to beat the shit out of you?" "You're young, a virgin..." "Let me explain:" "The bigger the hero, the less People's Poland needs him." "It's peacetime." "We need no heroes, but teachers, doctors, and farmers." "That's what he'd say." "Who?" "General Fieldorf." "Told me to study, learn a trade, get married." " But he wasn't right." " Because...?" "Now we need such heroes as he." "To wipe your communist scum off the face of the earth." "Doctors, engineers, farmers won't do it." "The Soviet plague should be fought till the end." "You know what we do with such heroes?" "You'll never defeat us." " Citizen Janina Fieldorf?" " Yes, it's me." "I'm a collector of the Regional Liquidation Office." "We have the decision of the military court to secure possessions." "What possessions?" "Suspect August Fieldorf is in danger of confiscation of his property." "We have to secure this in case..." "One bookcase..." "Worth 10 zl." "Wardrobe with mirror, one door, worth 50 zl." "All the movables sealed now are temporarily in your possession till the court sentence." "I remind you of criminal responsibility." "Sale of these objects, any alterations, removal of the seal is strictly prohibited." "It'll be a fine or arrest." "...Good, let's continue." "One suitcase..." " Where is it?" " Here." "Worth... 3 zl..." "Men's underwear, 2 pairs..." "Here." "What do I do?" "Show us!" "Rollcall, get up." "Quick, quick quick...!" "Reporting the cell ready for rollcall!" "Number of inmates - 5." "Present - 5!" " Any wishes?" " None!" "The name that starts with K." "They stopped calling you for questioning, Sir." "I have nothing more to tell them." "They're preparing an indictment." "What can they accuse you of?" "You fought for a free Poland." "They have something on everyone." "They've found on you too, though you're a rabbi, uninvolved in politics." "I traded gold and dollars, which they punish with death." "I listened to the VOA." "So this means a life imprisonment, no?" "Oh, Jesus..." "Fucking hell!" "Here." "SOB's!" "Bandits!" "It's all because of you, rotten Jew!" "The Security Service is all Jewish." "A Jewish gang is ruling Poland!" "The Jews murder us...!" "Polish patriots!" "I'll show you, scab...!" " What's going on?" " The stool... fell down." " So you've lost?" " One player always must." "Who did this time, the good or the bad one?" "Just like in life." "Don't you believe that good can win?" "Good wins one time, evil, another time." "Evasion, Mr. Fieldorf." "I don't like to theorize." "Sooner or later evil will be punished and good, rewarded." "It was your prophet Jesus Christ said," ""Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased;" "and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."" "In life it doesn't always come true." "You don't believe in God, Mr. Fieldorf?" "Cell search!" "All into the corridor!" "Quick!" "Take him away." "Have you thought it over?" "Will you testify?" "No..." "I won't." "This court has decided to question witness Grzmielewski without the pledge to tell the truth." " Citizen prosecutor proceed, please." " Yes, Your Honor." "When the witness worked in the AK HQ, would defendant Fieldorf order to liquidate partisans and leftist activists and Soviet partisans the local units accountable to him?" "General Nil..." "Defendant Fieldorf, that is..." "Yes, gave such orders." "Did defendant Fieldorf receive reports from the local units of carrying out his orders?" "I don't know, I wasn't..." "I guess so..." "From '40 on I was an AK sapper." "Next a sapper commander, alias Igor and..." " Louder!" " Louder..." "Nil was the commander of the Kedyw of the AK High Command." "Did he receive or not?" "I don't know." "I was an AK sapper from '40 and next a sapper commander, alias Igor" "while Nil was commander of the Kedyw HQ." "Testify about the action on the printing house..." "No entry." "The proceedings are closed." "Move away, Citizen!" "Who murdered members of the PPR?" "I don't know." "What was next?" "Next..." "That's all." "Your testimony during the investigation was more comprehensive." "Please give more details." "...Details..." "So the court decides to accept the witness's testimony during the investigation as the one during these proceedings." "Does the council for the defense have any questions?" "Yes, Your Honor, thank you." "How do you know if the defendant gave orders to local Kedyw units to liquidate leftist activists and Soviet partisans?" "Did you hear it with your own ears, see such orders in writing, signed by the defendant?" "Overruled." "It's insubstantial how the witness learned about orders given by the defendant." "Yes, Your Honor." "Did you learn about those orders during or after the war?" "Overruled too..." "Continue." "The witness was deputy of the boss of the 3rd operational Kedyw unit." "Did the principles in the AK at that time allow the witness to know the content of all orders given by the chief commander of Kedyw?" "Did you understand or should I repeat?" "Those orders were given..." " So the witness cannot know if..." " These questions lead nowhere." "The testimony is over." "I'm a Polish Army officer." "Please bring in the witness Liniarski!" "...I'm an officer...!" "Fifteen minutes!" "Here." "How are you...?" "It was worse in the Urals, but I recovered." "Why worry..." "Well?" "At home, everybody works and gets by somehow..." "Zosia is fine." "She's missing you." "My little Zosia..." "Forget all that was wrong between us, as I have." "To me you're the dearest one and only man in the world." "Remember this." "Promise you will." "If I've done anything wrong to you..." "I regret it." "Forgive me." "In the name of People's Poland this court has found August Emil Fieldorf guilty of deeds in the indictment and according to Art. 1 Point 1 of the decree of 31 Aug. 1944 concerning punishment of fascist-Nazi criminals and traitors" "of the Polish nation sentences him to death, forfeiture of public and civil rights and all his possessions." "Unshackle him." "Welcome, general." "My name is Józef Ro¿añski, colonel and director of the Investigation Dept." "Of the Ministry of Public Security." "This is Col. Czaplicki of the 3rd Dept." "In charge of the post-AK underground." "Will you smoke?" "French." "Klemm said you like such." "Klemm?" "From Zakopane." "Remember Klemm of the Wilk-Krzy¿anowski Vilna Brigade?" " One of yours?" " Yes..." "You refused to be recruited." "Very sensibly." "A drink?" "Cognac, vodka, or wine?" "Cognac?" "Yes, please." "And black coffee, genuine, well brewed..." "I know." "I've already ordered it." " And a teaspoon of sugar." " I know your tastes." "I like it..." "No fuss." "Others would complain, their sense of honor getting the better of them to receive anything from us." "I like you, general." "You're a rationalist, a sensible man." "You may be surprised we have so much in common." "Similar views on many things." "We know you're critical of the West." "So are we." "The West betrayed Poland, leaving her in difficult moments..." "You said many a time that fighting the powerful Soviet Union is pointless." "What do you want from me?" "You have a death sentence, general." "Only we can change it." "Change the sentence of an independent court?" "Interesting." "The Supreme Court will overrule the sentence of the Provincial Court." "You'll get 15 years, released after 3." " Does it suit you?" " In return for what?" "To endorse further activities of the WiN, maybe under another name." "We need a good, credible name." "You'll do your duties in good faith and we'll only be watching." "Without your knowledge, of course." "Next, not to soil your good name, we'll expose a plant, a deputy of yours," "who'll be liquidated next." "In the name of the Underground, of course." "You'll spend those 3 years in a comfortable villa in the backwoods." "Well, general?" "That'll make everyone happy." "You're bent on catching all of the survivors in the woods?" "No." "We're more into money, instructions, and equipment that the Americans will send." "This is our last offer, general." "You may save your skin for the little price of taking the Americans for a ride." "They left you in the lurch too." "So you're not obliged to be loyal to them." "And you claim you know me?" "Is that all?" "They say you always thought one shouldn't die for free." "For an idea, that is." "It's a pity you refuse to stand on the right side." "Guard!" "Good bye, general." " Attorney Maœlanko?" " Yes." "My name's Janina Fieldorf, the wife of the general." "Sorry, but I'm really in a hurry." "Make an appointment through my secretary." "I've been waiting for you all day." "All right." "But be brief." "They said only you can help me." "I know the case, a very difficult one." "The only thing I can appeal for is change the qualification of the offense, which implies your husband's copping a plea." "How can he plead guilty of what he hasn't committed?" "If he has or hasn't is of no account." "In every system of justice, criminals must be punished, but for what - doesn't matter." "But my husband is not a criminal." "Well, we'd better talk about my fee." "August Emil Fieldorf." "Sir, Zygmunt Walter- Janke, colonel." " Please let me." " No." "Please let me." "At ease." "Kaczorowski on the floor." "Thank you." "I have a death sentence as all in the cell." "We were 50 not long ago." "That by the door is SS General Sporenberg, deputy of the SS and police boss in the Lublin region, a war criminal." "They're leading one across the yard." "A priest is following." "To be shot for sure." "Check." "Look what you've done." "Excellent." "I've run into trouble." "Coming to us." "The section chief and three guards." "We go on." "This is my move." "The letter 'K'." "No." "No." "Into the corridor." "Leave your things." "SOB's!" "May you find no peace in the coffins for this blood!" "Murderers!" "Murderers!" "The Krauts didn't even cut him in the Rising...!" "Now he's dying at the hands of his countrymen!" "With the sentence of a traitor!" " Where is justice...?" "!" " Calm down..." "There..." "There..." "In Protagoras Plato says," "Who wants to mete out punishment judiciously, he won't take revenge for a past offense." "A committed offense cannot be committed again." "For the sake of a future deed, so that he wouldn't commit the offense another time."" "I see no danger of having defendant Fieldorf commit the same crimes another time." "Fascism has been defeated." "Emil Fieldorf is no German, but a Pole, born in Kraków." "The name is German, though." "And you Mr. Andreyev have a Russian name, but you think yourself Polish." "We all here are Poles, Your Honor, but most are of Jewish origin." "Mrs. Kern, nothing personal, please." "All I do is specify the facts, Comrade Chairman." "That's why we've gathered, right?" "I'll read the opinion of the Provincial Court:" ""The convict Fieldorf does not deserve pardon." "He demonstrated a lot of criminal will..."" "A call for you, Your Honor..." "Don't you see this is a meeting?" " A call from..." " One moment." "We deliberate if to sentence a man to death and you're eating a sandwich?" "Oh, how sensitive of you, you, who sentences to death once a week or more often." "That's not the point." "My conscience is clean." "In your academic textbook The Essence of Criminal Offense of Bourgeois Science you wrote that conscience is a superstition." "Don't take me up on every word." "For the record..." "The Supreme Court, chaired by Dr. Emil Merz, the justices:" "Lgor Andreyev, Gustav Auscaler in the presence of" "Prosecutor General Paulina Kern and the Court Reporter Teresa Zajdler, having examined..." " We haven't finished the discussion." " Nothing to discuss." "The sentence must be maintained in force." "We have no influence on it whatsoever." "We judges of the Supreme Court?" "Dear Colleague..." "The defense has the right to issue a statement." "We know the opinion of the defense, sent in writing." "So having examined, at the closed proceedings" "Oct. 20, 1952, the application for granting a pardon of the convicted August Emil Fieldorf," "having listened to the motion of the General Prosecutor, the Supreme Court decided..." "Excuse me Comrade Chair, I haven't submitted any motion." "No need." "We know the opinion of the Prosecutor." "No, sorry!" "We should at least vote." "Are you for a pardon?" "Enter in the record." "Justice Igor Andreyev petitions for votum separatum." " I'm sorry." "Not I." " What's your point, then?" "No, I just wanted..." "I'm sorry." "Have you written..." "Yes... of the Prosecutor decided decided to confirm the opinion of the Provincial Court of the capital of Warsaw of April 16, 1952, in line with the motives in the said opinion." "End." "1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6 7... 8... 9... 10." "1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6 7... 8... 9... 10." "Good afternoon, Justice." "When I entered, they were 11." "I always count." "Now there're 10." "Somewhat different..." "Gimme!" "Why?" "Do you know, Sir, what the SOB did" " in the Zamoœæ Region?" " Give it to me!" "Thank you." "You know what?" "Had I caught you during the war," "I'd have hanged you without any scruples." "Funny, innit?" "You were on my hit list." "It's a pity we didn't have the time." "Now the Polish communists will hang us both on the strength of the same article, as enemies of the Polish nation." "Funny." "The letter 'F'." "Fieldorf." "What's this?" "A sentence of the Supreme Court." "You are to apply for a reprieve." "I won't write anything." "Let the guilty ask for a reprieve." "I'm innocent." "Don't be stupid." "For a revision of the trial, yes." "But not for a reprieve." "Emil, I beg you." "Don't do it to us." "What?" "I'm not doing anything." "The point is that you... do." "You must ask President Bierut for a reprieve." "I know it's hard for you, but..." "Honor matters to Father more the we?" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Father must live for us." "For Zosia." "She misses you very much." "She keeps asking:" "When will Grandpa return?" "You've assured us so many times that we're the most important to you, and now what?" "Are you rejecting us?" "!" "So what that you ask him for a reprieve!" "That's only what it's called!" "What you really demand is what's due to you!" "Don't you think about dignity and pride..." "Think of life, about us." "Only we count...!" "We together..." "Daddy, please..." "Emil...!" "If you ask so urgently..." "My darling..." "Emil...!" "I love you, Dad." "Good..." "And now..." "Look over there..." "Thank you very much for coming." "See you another time." "Good bye." "Good bye." "Oh, you're big..." "It's pretty." "Nice kids but tiring, dammit." "What's so urgent?" "Minister Radkiewicz asked you to sign all these documents today." "How delightful is the girl with the black curls..." "No right to reprieve." "We have fine-looking youth." "Would that we could assure them an ideological upbringing, then we'd be able to look forward to the future with confidence." "Fieldorf?" "Who is he?" "A general, commander of the Kedyw of the Home Army." "Yes, I remember." "Also the commander of the reactionary resistance to the Red Army..." "No right to reprieve." "Enough for today." "Tell Comrade Radkiewicz to wait for a few days." "I'll sign the rest after I'm back from Katowice." "Certainly." "I'll go take a nap." "Those brats have tired me." "And this weather..." "You have time off." "Yes, Comrade Secretary." "Warsaw, Feb. 1953" "The letter 'F'." "No!" "In honor of General Nil..." "Attention!" "Fieldorf." "Into the corridor." "Without your things." "Gentlemen..." " Officer cadet..." " Come out!" " Micha³?" " Uncle Walenty..." "Go on..." "Welcome to homeland, Citizen." "The sentence..." "In the name of People's Poland, the Supreme Court pronounces" "August Emil Fieldorf guilty." "The court sentences the convict August Emil Fieldorf to death, forfeiture of civil rights and property." "The Council of State refused to grant" "August Emil Fieldorf a reprieve." "Execute the sentence." "I don't want it." "In March 1989, the Brigadier General August Emil Fieldorf was fully rehabilitated." "His place of burial still remains unknown." "None of those guilty of Gen. Fieldorf's death have ever been punished." "Subtitles by Jerzy Siemasz"