"The Confession" "Based on the account by Lise and Artur London" "Are they there again?" "is it one of your cars?" "Not my department." "I don't deal with VlPs." "But you're being followed ." "By his department?" "But why?" "There must be an explanation." "They're not being discreet either." "What do you want with me?" "It's started again." " How long?" " Three days." " Are you sure?" " They're there now." "Coming!" "Why do you think it's Security?" "If it isn't, I have a right to some protection." "Here are the registration numbers." "Get Pavel." "It's not just me , you know." "They're after all of us international Brigade veterans." "I'm fed up ." "Why not confront me with Noel Field?" "I know he's in prison in Hungary." "Who's behind all this?" "It's aimed at Spanish Civil War veterans and those in France or London during the occupation." "You too ." "Even if you are with Security." "Loebl, Pavlik and Feigl held major posts, too , and they're in prison now." "He's undersecretary of the lnterior and he's sent back to party school." "Qtto has been dismissed too ." "Today it's my turn." "And tomorrow?" "Whose turn will it be?" "Are they Security cars?" "Then you'd better find out who's giving the orders in your department." "If it's who I think, it could be dangerous." "Don't they know?" " Better not." "Why?" "It concerns them too , doesn't it?" "You came together?" " We met by chance ." "Some chance , when all Spanish Civil War veterans are being watched ." "It's going to look like a meeting." "You and your surveillance ." "Things are difficult, but nobody's watching me ." "You lost your job . ?" "ling's in prison." "I've been sent to the party school for a course on the dialectics of the class struggle in socialist construction." "The undersecretary is being followed without the head of security's knowledge ." "Shoemakers are always the worst shod ." "Why not resign?" "Leave your job , confess your errors." "They won't let me , yet they cut me out." "Type this for the departmental meeting." "It was this morning." "What's going on?" "The minister said your presence wasn't necessary." "And you all believed him?" "I don't believe , these days." "I just wonder where it will all end ." "The party decides." "All misunderstandings can be resolved by the party." "Unless it's higher up ." "I thought it was about the Field affair, but Bedrich says it isn't." "The Field affair is settled." "The party secretary." "This meeting is pointless." "It's me again." "Gérard insists." "He thinks it's very important." "He's very busy." "He'll call you." "For the party, the matter is settled ." "But you know what Security is like , refusing to let go ." "Still, you have friends there ." "The head of Security, for instance ." "And he's pretty embarrassed , as he knew Field too ." "We'll have our own Rajk trial soon." "No , the circumstances were different." "They're just the same ." "Here , too , we are discovering spies, traitors, Titoists." "You spoke to my successor?" "His new minister." " He seems to believe it all." "Your dossier is growing fast." "We haven't heard the end of this yet." "It has ramifications everywhere:" "Poland , Germany." "It's him you ought to see ." "Let's go ." "They won't believe we met to chat over old days in Spain." "Starting to feel guilty already, eh?" "Don't forget." "''Both donkey and master are safest when furthest away."" "They're still there ." "I'll ask the minister to see you." "Gérard wants to talk to you." "He's very concerned ." "I'll see him tomorrow morning." "Tell him the Field affair hasn't done him any good ." "Dozens of comrades had contact with Noel Field during the occupation " "We haven't found the enemy in our ranks." "We knew that death and betrayal were inseparable from revolution." "It's our turn to experience betrayal and death..." "so that the revolution may continue ." "That's what's important - that it continue , even if we are destroyed ." "Go and see him tomorrow." "What else should I do?" "Nothing." "Have faith in the party." "Who is it?" "You the Frenchwoman?" "Someday your husband will hang ." "Who was that?" "Nothing." "A wrong number." "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "Let go of me!" "Who are you?" "Shut up!" "The handcuffs." "I demand to see a party representative ." "Shut up ." "You're not demanding anything." "Who are you?" "I want to see " " Shut up!" "Undress him." "Put it on." "Bills, various papers." "Cuff links , pen." "Take 'em off!" "350 crowns." "Two party cards." "Family photographs." "Here's the Frenchwoman." " lnform my family." "She'll think you've run off." "Darex vouchers." "Worth 1 ,200 crowns." "He uses the foreign diplomats' store ." "Everyone makes sacrifices for socialism , but he lives like a bourgeois." "Leave those alone!" "Your number is 3225 ." "Don't forget it." "Start walking!" "No sitting or standing still." "Keep walking!" "The party's always right." "There must be a misunderstanding." "The truth will come out, but you must submit to the rules, even if it's hard." "At least to show good faith." "You'll get the same whenever you stop!" "Walk!" "Food!" "No food for him." "Walk." "Did you see Gérard this afternoon?" "He didn't come by?" "Did you see Gérard this afternoon?" "He didn't come by?" "is Zavodsky there?" "Excuse me ." " Police search." " What's the matter?" "What's the matter?" "My children are asleep up there ." "What's the meaning of this?" "We have orders to search the place ." "I have a direct line to the Central Committee ." "I'll inform the secretary." "We'll see what he has to say." "Have you got a warrant?" " We don't need one ." "I told you." "We have orders to search." "And I tell you, not without a warrant." "Go up to bed , Mother." "You stay here , madam ." "My eldest son." "He was born in prison. ln France ." "At La Roquette ." "A prison in Paris." "Why were you there?" "Because that's what the Germans did to communists in 1 942." "Being pregnant, I escaped execution." " Were you in prison long?" " No , I was deported to Ravensbrück." "My son was the youngest political prisoner in France ." "My husband was sent to Mauthausen." "''Night and Fog." Do you know what that means?" "Those are photos of my husband in the Spanish Civil War and the French Resistance ." "Put that away. lt's only my daughter." "Evening, honey." " lsn't Daddy here?" " He'll be here soon." "They're colleagues of his." "Did you have a nice time at your party?" "Go to bed quickly and see that the little ones are asleep ." "Some coffee?" "Police search!" "You're behaving like the Nazis!" "I didn't see the warrant." "Go to work as usual." "Not a word about this." " May I speak to the minister?" " At 5:00 a.m.?" "After the school, we'll go to the Ministry." "They took nothing important." "Letters, papers, photos." "Fifteen years of life together." "Souvenirs of Spain, prison letters ." "Gérard never kept official papers at home ." "We'll take care of it." "Call me anytime on the direct line ." "He missed an appointment." "He needs weekly treatment for his lung problem ." "We'll take care of it." "He is merely in isolation." "Nothing's changed for you and your family." "The Ministry car and chauffeur are at your disposal, as usual." "Did you see the minister?" "Yes, Gérard hasn't been arrested ." "He's simply in isolation until certain problems have been cleared up ." "They need his help ." "It's a serious, confidential party matter." "So long as he has a chance to explain." "I feared the worst." "Let me know if I can help ." "He told me nothing had changed ." "I'll be looking after you from now on." "Here is your car." "Let's hear you!" "What are your requests and complaints?" "I want to see a party official." "Identify yourself!" "Undersecretary of " "You're nobody!" "What's your number?" "Number!" "You're 3225 ." "We'll be back when you know that." "Walk!" "Put these back on." "Don't stand still!" "Keep walking!" "You're here to confess your crimes." "You must confess." "Confess what?" "Who are you?" "Date" " February 1 ." "Confess." "Admit who you are ." "I'm the undersecretary of Foreign " "You're a number." "What is it?" "Your number?" " 3225 ." "What am I accused of?" "You know very well." "There's a name for men like you." "What's your name?" " The party knows my " "Don't invoke the party." "Never invoke the party." "You're here to confess, and you will." "I want to see an official - Confess what?" " Confess!" " Be specific." " You'll confess." " l want to see an official." "I'll make you confess." "At first we tried to aid the party, to help it see things clearly." "To understand ourselves and the mistakes that had brought us there ." "We were prepared to admit that our mistakes may have harmed the party." "The years of discipline , our whole education, led us to believe that the party was never wrong , that the USSR was always right." "We aren't acting alone ." "We have advisers!" "In all humility, we felt it better to err with the party than be right as individuals." "You must confess!" "Confess what?" "Ask me specific questions." "Eat!" "Enough eating." "Walk!" "That's enough." "Start walking!" "Walk!" "Stand up!" "You will not maintain this hostility." "You will obey!" "Please , is it day or night?" "You're here for a very serious reason." "The party ordered your arrest." "We are entrusted with your interrogation concerning international espionage and treason against the Soviet Union and our country." "Your duty is to help us establish the truth." "You are not the only one involved ." "Qther important people are implicated in this affair." "You alone can help yourself." "You have been in the party a long time ." "I appeal to you to help the Soviet Union and our party." "Anything to say?" "I have constantly demanded a hearing by the party." "Ask me anything." "Very well, we shall draw up a report." "Tuesday, February 4 ." "I declare " "When did you establish contact with American intelligence?" "How were you recruited by the American spy Noel Field?" "Have you collaborated with American spies in addition to Noel Field?" "Never!" "No one!" "Silence!" "Answer the questions!" "Heads will roll." "We have all the proof we need ." "We have methods you never dreamed of." "You will confess." "Your choice is either to try to redeem yourself by making a full confession or to remain an enemy unto death of the Soviet Union and our party." "So answer the questions." "Enough!" "Hand over the bowl!" "Enough!" "Keep walking!" "You can sleep now." "Qn your back, regulation position." "Arms straight." "Stand up!" "Your number?" "You can sleep now." "Stand up!" "Your number?" "3225 ." "You can sleep now." "Get up!" "Your number?" "You must obey orders." "You and your filthy race , you're all alike ." "We'll finish what the gas chambers started ." "You say that, wearing the party insignia?" "Don't moralize to me , you traitor!" "You thought you controlled the party, but you've all been expelled ." "You're lying!" "That's impossible ." "It's against the rules of the party." "What's this bourgeois conception of democracy?" "The Central Committee can assume emergency powers." "Look at these cards." "You, Vales," "Zavodsky, who was head of Security." "We know about your criminal activities in Spain and France thanks to our advisers." "We'll track down the others and expel them too ." "You're not the Central Committee ." "We're above the Central Committee ." "Qur task is to unmask traitors, even within the Committee ." "We represent the power of the proletariat." "Your friends who protected you have talked." "You will talk too ." "You will answer these comrades' questions." "Like Zavodsky, who has made a full confession." "As head of Security, he knew it was the only way to save himself." "Zavodsky?" "Confess?" "But confess what?" "You recently attended a clandestine meeting." "Why?" "You called the meeting!" "You led this Trotskyist group from the lnternational Brigades." "What decisions did you make?" "You expressed your Trotskyist opinions in Spain?" "What did you do?" "Sectarian sabotage?" "You met Rajk in Spain?" "Was he your contact with American intelligence?" "Rajk was executed as a spy in Hungary." "You know what to expect." "The Polish traitors Rwal and Winkler?" "Why did you protect the Titoist Dapchevich in Spain?" "Your only chance to save yourself is to confess even more fully than the others." "You are the leader." "Here we uproot weeds before they spread ." "You knew Rajk in Spain." "So he put you in contact with the Americans." "You were with Bartos in Spain." "What do you know of him?" "We know he deserted." "Jares was in your unit." "Do you remember?" "This report describes him as a suspect Trotskyist element." "Like all your friends, here and abroad." "My connections were with the French and Italian communist parties." "Who said all this?" "We have everything fully documented in this matter." "Thanks to our Soviet advisers, we have full details of your espionage network." "Zavodsky's confession." "He describes in detail the criminal activities of your Trotskyist group ." "It's not true ." "Zavodsky couldn't have ." "Isn't that his signature?" "Each page is signed!" "It isn't possible ." "Not at Marseille ." "Yes, it is. ''My activity for the Americans in Marseille ."" "I presume you recognize his writing?" "Zavodsky and the rest pulled the wool over your eyes." "To show good faith and help the party, you must confess everything." "Confess what?" "That I was a spy?" "Your view of things is too subjective ." "Zavodsky was arrested after you." "He confessed immediately." "He knows it's the only way out." "But it's all untrue ." "The French Communist Party and the Resistance can bear me out." "It's no use ." "We have other confessions saying the same thing." "Here everyone confesses, believe me ." "You were their leader." "It's your only chance ." "Think of what might happen to your family." "Listen. ''l spied for the Americans in order to overthrow the regime ." "In this criminal activity, I was directed by" " "Look." "Your name , in black and white ." "What can you do against that?" "Thirsty?" "A man confesses to serious crimes committed on your command ." "In court, what will be believed?" "Your denials or his self-incrimination?" "He's still talking too ." " Lies." "It's the confession that counts." "Why is he risking his life by making these confessions?" "To save his life , do you understand?" "I want to help the party, but I can't - l forbid you to speak of the party." "And I forbid you to give this traitor anything to drink." "Abandoned by the party, comrades, no one would doubt my guilt." "I myself never doubted the Moscow and Rajk trials." "How could any communist believe that the infallible party was capable of making the innocent confess?" "Confess what, why?" "We will use any method to uncover your treason." "Zavodsky says he knew of your American activities, but remained silent because you knew of his Gestapo connections." "Your friend Vales admits to having collaborated with the British police ." "Though Jewish, you survived the concentration camps." "Why?" "Because you collaborated ." "The Americans recruited you through captured Gestapo files." "Walk!" "The party is informed of cooperative attitudes in prisoners." "3225 ." "Present." "Louder!" "What did you do?" "Why are you here?" "I don't know." "They won't let me sleep ." "And it stinks." "Nothing to eat or drink." "I'm innocent." "Wait." "We've had orders about you." "You're a special case ." "Don't tell anyone , or I'll be punished ." "I want to see a party official." "You're committing a crime ." "For 1 0 days I haven't slept, eaten or drunk." "I want to be questioned officially, with my answers recorded ." "You haven't slept or eaten?" "I'll see about that." "The guards tend to do as they like ." "We've got Holdos now." "All you veterans of Spain are in the bag." "Here - in Hungary, Poland , Germany." "All the lnternational Brigades are implicated in this affair." "Rajk was asked exactly the same questions at his trial." "His case seems to interest you." "But, of course , his confessions brought you closer to discovery." "You approved of his trial to conceal yourselves." "We shall act as the Hungarians did in liquidating Rajk and his gang." "I propose a resolution condemning the spy and traitor László Rajk, unmasked by our Hungarian comrades." "All in favor, raise their hands." "Many veterans of Spain are implicated ." "There weren't only us good guys in Spain." "Can't see the forest for the trees ." "To sum up then." "''l have committed certain errors in my work through my negligence ." "I have had dealings with Kohnová," "Vasela, Pavlik and Feigl, already convicted for their dealings with Field ."" "Vasela wasn't convicted." "She killed herself during the trial." "Not Vasela then." "''l accepted American imperialist money for my underground party work."" "Sign it." "Isn't it better this way?" "You can sleep now." "I retract. I only signed under physical coercion." " What?" " Yes, physical coercion." "So you think this is a confession?" "We haven't even begun." "You'll sign much more than that." "Let's start again." "He'll speak, or we'll finish the matter by finishing him ." "Come on, start with your life ." "Walk." "Tell me your story from the beginning." "Date of birth?" "February 1 , 1 91 5 , at Qstrava." "My father was a railroad man." "Why aren't you called by your real name?" "Gérard was my name in the French Resistance ." "French Resistance - how odd." "You are a communist and a Jew, yet you survived the Gestapo ." "Bizarre ." "Carry on." " My son was born in prison." "His mother named him Gérard , not knowing if we'd ever meet again." "Don't try to make me cry." "Carry on." "My father was the fifth of eight children, son of a railroad man in Moravia under Austro-Hungarian rule ." "Then he went to Switzerland and in about 1 900 emigrated to America." "He learned English very quickly." "He could recite Whitman's poems by heart and pages of Paine and Jefferson." "In New York he met my mother, also an émigré ." "They came back home together." "In the First World War, he was a stretcher-bearer." "Through contact with Russian prisoners, he learned about Bolshevism." "From him I first heard of Rosa Luxemburg, the Spartacists, Lenin, the Commune of Canton." "It was he who made me read Heinrich Heine ." "He pointed my way into the Communist Youth." "In 1 930 we wanted to blow up the Qstrava prefecture ." "Well, did you blow it up or not?" "Last night, you told my colleague you did ." "No , we were only 1 5 ." "We merely dreamed of doing a daring deed ." "Dreamed?" "This morning, you told me the opposite ." "So you have three different versions of that story?" "Start again from the beginning." "Let's see if you have a fourth." "I'm listening." "I was born in Qstrava " "You say your friend Wagner disappeared in Moscow in 1 935 ." "Yesterday you didn't know what had become of him." "Which is it?" "Start again." "I met Wagner in Moscow when " "No , from the beginning." "Date of birth?" "Carry on." "You said your father made you read ''Enrich N." What next?" "Heinrich Heine ." "He pointed my way into the Communist Youth." "He was incensed by the Sacco and Vanzetti case ." "We demonstrated together." "He respected Bakunin's physical courage and admired Kropotkin, all of whose writing he knew." "But he did not share the basic anarchist ideology." "An old member of the socialist left, he became a founding member of the communist party in his hometown." "Qutcast by polite society and by the Jewish community who thought him a traitor because he was an atheist" "and supporter of antireligious organizations, he found it hard to get work." "His family didn't help ." "Except my uncle Zigmund , who never tired of lecturing him ." "I saw my father for the last time in Moscow in the summer of 1 935 ." "He had aged considerably." "In order to visit us, he arranged to come on a trip - on an organized trip with..." "other people who were with him ." "He wanted to meet my wife ." "Everything interested him ." "Sometimes he asked questions which I had difficulty answering." "... whichI haddifficultyanswering." "He disliked some things in Moscow." "There were things he didn't understand." "But he had fulfilled his dream..." "of seeing the Red Square and Lenin in his mausoleum." "When he left, he was sad ." "He wondered when we would meet again." "I never saw him again." "Nor my mother, my brother Jean or my sister Juliette ." "They died in concentration camps." "We are in a 200-foot-square office with a gray-green cabinet." "A typewriter." "An empty beer glass, a cup of coffee ." "Filthy traitor!" "Get out, you!" "You'll account for this." "Let's finish this." "You filthy Trotskyist bandit." "You had already begun your activities in Moscow." "Go on!" "They're going to hang me ." "Kill him if he won't talk!" "I'll disappear like Wagner in Moscow." "They confiscated my card ." "They say I'm a Trotskyist!" "They'll say my conscience drove me to suicide ." "Suicide ." "He didn't have the courage to confess." "You're in luck, but you'll hang anyway, and our people will be avenged ." "If it's who I think, it's dangerous." "Qur advisers want you alive for the trial." "They want us to grant diplomatic status to Soviet advisers." "But they're policemen." "We benefit from their experience of the Moscow trials." "The presence of these advisers seemed to us a natural consequence of Soviet aid to socialist countries." "I have five months to make you confess." "Radek held out for three ." "That's the record , so I have time to spare ." "Each night someone goes missing." "They're preparing a major trial." "Confess, or you'll be tried secretly." "You'll be hanged ." "Finally, they found a discrepancy in my various biographical accounts." "Admit you're a Trotskyist!" "Admit it!" "You were in touch with Trotskyist spies in Moscow in 1 936 ." "To avoid discovery, you went to Spain." "Wagner worked for the Comintern for years ." "He came to see me in my Moscow hotel." "Because of this lapse , they took away everything - my party card , my job , my room ." "Stalin can't possibly know." "Stalin can't possibly know." "Look, he's starting to break." "Look at this beautiful phrase ." "... startingtobreak." "A quotation haunted me ." "''The individual becomes guilty not because he is guilty, but because he may be thought so ."" "Look at this beautiful phrase ." "''This is what I have to say about the Trotskyist group of lnternational Brigade volunteers."" "Now we can really get to work." "Your friend , Tonda." "All misunderstandings can be resolved by the party." "Your friend's talking about a Trotskyist group ." "Three weeks - no sleep , practically no food ." "He's confessed everything." " lt's not signed ." " lt's the carbon." "That's fine , but what our friends want..." "is ''Trotskyist espionage organization."" "Get him to sign that." "You'll be signing, too , since you're their leader." "Qur party comrades will stop you." "Did you help us?" "It's unthinkable that the party " "He's raving." "Stalin knows what he's doing." "What should I do?" " Confess!" " What?" "That I spied?" "Stalin knows what he's doing." "What should I do?" "He's had it." "Stalin says the most precious capital is man." "If he's drowning, he must be helped ." "Eat." "I heard Smola say, ''Leave him for a moment."" "Lying there , I had a wonderful vision of myself on a Monte Carlo beach where l'd never been." "When I arrived in France , the first thing I did was come here ." "The doctor advised it for my lungs." " Tell it all." " What?" "The whole story." " Who to?" " Write a book." "I know some publishers." " Who for?" " For us." "Communists aren't ready for this kind of truth." "They'll say that dirty linen should be washed in private ." "Qr that there's no smoke without fire , that I didn't have the true party spirit." "It's too soon... objectively." "Write it anyway." "They're still in power." "They wouldn't let it be published ." "Publish in France ." "No , there first." "Such a book should spring from changing circumstances." "So you'll say nothing?" "I have no personal grudges." "It's a general problem ." "Precisely." "Who will speak for the dead?" "Who spoke up for us at the trial in 1 952?" "Did you?" "Do you remember what you said?" "That we were mad dogs, Titoist spies," "Trotskyist bandits." "You all knew about my activities in France ." "But no one spoke ." "Did you?" "No ." " Why?" " l'd have been expelled ." "That's too easy." "Did you think they were guilty?" "We didn't have enough information until 1 956 , the 20th Congress." "The bourgeois press, as you call it, could have told you it was trumped up ." "But you were living in a closed world with the party as God ." "Apart from details, your story tells me nothing new." "The existence of this hellish mechanism was known." "Qne politician said that hell, as the Prague trials remind us, has its own logic." "He also had a nice turn of phrase to justify the wars in Indochina and Algeria, with their million dead ." "Anyway, all this explains how but not why." "Stalin eliminated the best, the most brilliant." "Stalin, who wasn't alone , was once a seminarian." "Public confession, humiliation of the sinner." "Also , he was infallible ." "During the cold war, there were rifts between the People's Democracies." "They had been born not of true revolution, but of Soviet military successes." "There were serious economic and societal problems." "Stalin did not like independent socialist powers." "Tito would not blindly copy Russian-style socialism ." "Tito was declared an agent of imperialism ." "''Titoist" became a synonym for ''spy."" "Just as Trotskyist had previously." "So?" "So , after the Rajk trial, the party agreed to Soviet advisers." "I consider this a proof of trust." "You will work as a group under the direction of our comrade advisers." "You will be answerable only to them , the president of the Republic and the secretary of the party." "The party has no power to interfere with this activity." "At the end of February, I was again transferred ." "No , these cars are too modern." "In 1 951 , it was the Tatraplan with the rear fin." "Being in an ordinary prison again gave me hope ." "You can lie down." "You'd take fright if you could see yourself." "Today's March 6 ." "For 35 days, you have refused to cooperate ." "Your negative attitude is reported to the party every day." "Right." "We'll start at the beginning again." "Qn condition that " "Conditions?" "Your life is at stake!" "Your only chance is to confess everything." "Take him away." "Prepare yourself for interrogation." "You have four hours' sleep ." "Remove your jacket." "Regulation position." "You must confess your guilt." "As an obedient member of the party, you must submit." "If I am not a good communist, but a Trotskyist spy, why appeal to my loyalty?" "If I'm a good communist, why am I here?" "Telephone , sir." "Keep an eye on him ." "It's him in the corridor." "How weary he must be ." "His fate's sealed." "And what about mine?" "A few years in a state farm till this blows over." "Zavodsky was executed in 1 954 , after the others." "We've received a letter from your wife ." "''lt isn't easy to support a family, of course , but with the help of the party, I'll manage ."" "She has the right spirit." "She has repudiated you." "Why so surprised?" "It isn't the first time ." "Qne of your friends has confessed that she was his mistress." "You bastard!" "It's all in here!" "Imbecile!" "They're a fine lot, your Trotskyist friends!" "I know she's French, but him!" "They were caught in his office ." "She was leaning against his shoulder." "''ln that case , you had intimate relations with her?"" "Answer:" "''Not intimate , just very friendly."" "Question:" "''Was she leaning against your shoulder?"" "Answer: ''Yes."" "''According to the dictionary, that means you were intimate ."" "Answer: ''All right, intimate then." He confessed she was his mistress." "Who dreamed all that up?" "Guess!" "What concerns us..." "is that she has repudiated you and placed herself in the party's hands." " ls there new information?" " Every day." "Send me all documents about Gérard." "I want to see them first." "What's happening to my husband?" "You write too many letters." "Qur comrades have better things to do than read them ." "However, I was instructed to see you." "What do you want?" "To know what's happened ." "It's been two months." "He seems to be deeply implicated ." "All this is about him." "But is he under arrest or not?" "I have a right to know, as his wife and a party member." "He has not been charged , but there are matters to clear up ." "I've shared his life for 1 6 years." "It's an open book." "A man may seem open, then one day secrets emerge ." " Not him." " Because you love him ." "There have always been traitors, agents provocateurs, cops in the workers' movement." "The wives never unmask them." "In 1 941 , in your party, you had to execute the national organizer." "Gitton, you mean." "He'd been a police informer for years." "The national organizer." "Hasn't he been acting strange lately?" "Leaving you alone , coming home late?" "Was he arrested - put in isolation for his private life?" "I've already said he hasn't been charged ." "You should go back to France with your family." "You mean I should be the first to condemn him?" "I won't believe he's guilty until he tells me so ." "Life will be difficult for you." "I regret to say you can't go on working for the radio now." "Why?" "They said I'm the best reporter in the French service ." "You'll have to work in a factory instead of in public service ." "is the factory a punishment?" "How sad for the workers in a workers' state ." "That is how things are managed in the Soviet Union." "They're taking our things." "I couldn't stop them ." "What are you doing?" "Here's your paper, Father." "What's going on?" "The minister's orders." "The villa is needed." "We're moving you." " Where to?" "Here it is." "It could have been worse ." "You could put the children here ." "Who's that lady?" "A friend." "Her brother's with Daddy." "We'll be working together." "is her brother in prison, like Daddy?" " Who told you that?" " Everyone at school says so ." "You are Londonova?" "Yes." "You know my husband?" "I've heard of him through friends." "Well, I need a job rather urgently." "I've no skills." "No matter." "We'll teach you." "And you?" " l've found a job at Autorenova." "That's right next door." "You'll be neighbors." "You can start at the end of the month, if you like ." "I'd like that." "Thank you." " We'd like to be together." " lf possible ." "I'll try to arrange it." "Come over here!" " l frightened them off." " No , you didn't." "Yes, I did ." "I'm used to it now." "Did you see they've arrested the party secretary?" "How far will they go?" "I wrote to him about Gérard , but he refused to see me ." "Well, it's over now." "This arrest makes everything clear." "How?" "At my paper, they say he's responsible for all the arrests." "It's a purge against those who criticized his economic policy." "Even I had my share of persecution." "Gérard will be freed soon." "You'll see ." "He was the party newspaper editor." "Soon he was arrested too ." "He confessed , became one of the 1 4 accused and was executed." "Here he is." "I wish you much joy." "Sit down." "In six months, you've worn out around a dozen interrogators." "You even made the commandant lose his patience ." "But never mind , it doesn't matter." "We'll start from the beginning, all over again." "We have plenty of interrogators..." "and lots of time ." "You'll confess, even if it takes a year or more ." "I have five months." "So I'm in no hurry." "You have no idea what awaits you." "Put these on." "Get up , please ." "Walk." "Later I learned that during the Nazi occupation, and before ," "Kohoutek had been in charge of police anticommunist work." "''l had dealings with Noel Field in Geneva in 1 947 ."" "Sign it, please ." "But the party knows that." "So much the better." "Sign." "The party knows about this." "''For these dealings," "Noel Field paid me the sum of" " "How much?" "Not ''for these dealings" but ''during these dealings."" "It was to pay my sanatorium expenses." "The party knew." "Who said it didn't?" "So he gave you money?" " Yes." " How much?" "I don't remember." "It was five years ago ." "Walk." "It wasn't for any dealings." "I had contracted tuberculosis in the concentration camp ." "The party knew of Field's welfare service for deportees." "Go on." "How much did Field give you?" "300 Swiss francs?" "More?" "Less?" " More ." " How much?" "Double , or more ." "Face the wall. 800 francs, say?" "Now we're getting the facts." "That's what I want." "''ln 1 947" " "Come closer." "''Noel Field paid me the sum of 800 Swiss francs ."" "Sign, please ." " But the party knows." " Go ahead." "Szöny, condemned to death in the Rajk trial, got only 300 francs." "But mine " "Were for the sanatorium." "No one denies that." "''ln 1 947 , in Switzerland , I had dealings with the American spy, Noel Field ."" "Sign it." "No ." "In 1 947 , I didn't know Field was a spy." "is Noel Field an American spy?" "Didn't the Rajk trial establish that Field was an American spy?" "This resolution voted by the party condemns the traitor Rajk." "Did you sign the resolution?" " As a cover " " No!" "Did the Rajk trial establish that Field was a spy in 1 947?" "Yes." "But in 1 947 , we didn't know he was a spy." "Let's say that in 1 947 you had dealings with a spy unmasked in 1 949?" "Say it then." "''ln 1 947 , in Switzerland , I had dealings with the American spy, Noel Field ."" "Yes, but in 1 947 I couldn't know what would be discovered in 1 949 ." "No one could foresee in 1 947 that Field was a spy." "Very good ." "Let us now consider each fact objectively." "Later we shall consider the subjective aspect." "Noel Field was an American spy." "You had dealings with him ." "I did , because " " What dealings?" " l did , because " "Espionage ." "Espionage dealings." " Certainly not." " Admit it." "No ." "I was ill and penniless, so I got in touch with Field's welfare service ." "I am not a social worker." "How did you establish espionage contact with Field?" "It wasn't espionage ." "You signed these statements." "''ln 1 947 , in Switzerland , I had dealings with the American spy, Noel Field ."" "''ln 1 947 , Noel Field paid me the sum of 800 Swiss francs ."" "Reconcile these facts." "Why should an American spy pay a communist official's expenses?" "We are simply considering the facts." "As I said , the subjective aspects..." "will be dealt with at a later stage ." "''ln 1 947 , I had dealings with Noel Field ." "As he is an American spy" - l've put it as favorably as I can - ''and I had dealings with him , I am objectively guilty of espionage ." "During this time , Field paid me 800 Swiss francs ."" "Sign, please ." "As you see , I have eliminated subjective conditions." "Qh, excuse me ." "The carbon too ." "That one is for translation." "For our comrade advisers." "I was forgetting." "Here's a letter from your wife ." "Then you can sleep a while ." "Regulation position." "Sit down." "There's a little additional signature required ." "''The International Brigade volunteers are self-confessed Trotskyists and traitors." "Qbjectively, therefore , as their leader, so am I ."" "Sign, please ." "After signing, you may write to your family." "''ln the Communist Youth, I had already worked under Smirkovsky, whose Trotskyist past is well known."" "I never said that." "About working with him?" "About him being a Trotskyist." "He said that himself." "Recognize his hand?" "It's his all right." "You're merely confirming his confession." "We and our advisers believe you were a Trotskyist before Spain." "Why should you?" "Type this." "In 1 936 , you gave shelter in your Moscow hotel to a man called Wagner, a Trotskyist expelled from the party." "You expressed doubts about the Moscow trials." "I must insert something about this." "Come here ." "''ln Moscow, I lived in a hotel where Trotskyists had been arrested ."" "The president and the secretary of the party will be pleased ." "They lived there too ." "Exactly." "The secretary of the " "The ex-secretary of the party..." "is here ." "Don't start raising your hopes." "That won't exonerate you." "Qn the contrary, it proves that you all got important posts to seize power on behalf of American imperialism ." "So you say." "No , so he has started saying, and you will confirm what he says." "I won't sign." "You will..." "liketherest." "Do you think this arrest was made lightly?" "The secretary corresponded with the Englishman Zilliacus by diplomatic pouch through your office ." "How often?" " lt concerned the peace movement." " Zilliacus was a spy." "Add this." "''l received and transmitted" " "How many letters?" "Four?" "Five?" "No , two ." "''Five letters."" "I'll have this translated." "You can sign after." "Put them on." "And keep walking." "It's been translated." "Now you can sign." "Then you can sleep ." "What the - lt isn't the same ." "Let me read it." "Read the copy." "It's not the same ." "It is." "You're tired." " There was no carbon." " There was." " No ." " Sleep now." "From certain testimonies - yours and others - you evidently betrayed the clandestine Central Committee to the Gestapo , indirectly occasioning the execution of Fucik." "Testimonies?" "What's all this filthy nonsense?" "We must synthesize all this material." "You said , ''l organized Klecan's repatriation from France ."" "He was in your Trotskyist group in Spain." "And you were the leader of these Trotskyists." " l had instructions " " Sit down." "I had instructions." "Klecan was interned in France ." "We got him out and supplied him with papers to go home ." "And Klecan betrayed Fucik and the Central Committee ." "Under torture ." "Were you there?" " Hearsay." " Unproven." "Members of your group overheard you order Klecan to betray the Committee ." " Klecan " " We have their testimonies." "Forget the Central Committee ." "Reicin has signed a statement about that." "Change them ." "''ln Spain, I admired the anarchist leaders..." "more than the party's."" "I won't sign that. I admired leaders like La Pasionaria, Durruti " "Walk." "You were told to walk!" "We've wasted several days on this affair." "I've put off my departure to clear things up ." "Given your anarchist activities as a youth   l had none ." " You wanted to blow up a building." "I was 1 5 ." "The formative age ." "It's only a formality." "Handcuffs ." "Not grounds for indictment." "These are merely administrative reports." "The party can be severe or lenient, irrespective of testimony." "Trust in the party." "It's your only chance ." "I'll have earned my leave anyway." "''ln Spain, I knew the Titoist Dapchevich."" "You admitted that." "I said I knew him , but also Luigi Longo , Pajetta, André Marty " "Face the wall." "We're not concerned with them yet." "I never mentioned the word Titoist." "It's not a word ." "It's a political concept defining our enemies." "But in Spain, in 1 937 , they were Yugoslav communists, not Titoists." "An ex-undersecretary too ." "You don't know the ABC's of dialectics." "The past must be judged in the light of truths established today." "Do you know what Titoism is?" "Say it." "I approved the denunciation of Titoism ." "Then don't go back on it!" "As Tito's minister, Dapchevich is a Titoist." "There'll be no sleep for you until you sign this." "How was your leave?" " l'm back on form." "Good ." "The way things are going " "Always splitting hairs." "Easy to see he's a Jew." "How sensible of you to advise your wife to return to France ." "It's best for her." "Have you seen her?" "Why?" "Didn't you write to her?" "Sit down." "The party requires a report synthesizing all of this and reflecting your activities as a whole ." "To save time , our comrade advisers have worked on this project." " So I'm doomed." " Not at all." "The report is for internal use , not for the courts." "Look, your fellow accused have already signed , and theirs are more serious." "''ln 1 947 , in Geneva, I had espionage dealings with the known American spy, Field ." "In return for information given, he paid me 800 Swiss francs ."" "In return for information given?" "But that's impossible ." "The party approved the formulation." "Do likewise ." "Show you're a good communist." "And say I'm a Trotskyist spy?" "Because you are still a communist, you have been able to confess." "Confession is the highest form of self-criticism." "And self-criticism is the principal virtue of a communist." "They want corrections." "It's your friend Hajdu." "Put ''Zionist" instead of ''Trotskyist."" "He's a Jew, not a Zionist." "In a People's Democracy, ''Jew" is an insult." "We'll say Zionist." "Zionist is a political concept." "''Jew" is forbidden in Russia." "They say ''Hebrew."" "Say ''Hebrew" then." "''Zionist" isn't the same ." "''Hebrew" doesn't sound as good ." "Anyhow, the order is to say ''Zionist."" "Right." "Let us continue ." "No , wait." "This is the report for the prosecution." "Afterwards, you can dictate one for the defense ." "There never was any dossier for the defense ." "Through repetition, words like Trotskyist or Titoist lose all meaning." "I'd have signed a statement saying ''my one-year-old Trotskyist son."" "The only solution was suicide ." "I tried twice ." "And yet you're still a communist." "I don't understand." "No , I do ." "It's faith." "You are believers who dislike the church." "Which one?" "There are several." "And God is dead , so one can be a communist." "What happened to Field?" "He reappeared in Hungary in 1 955 , released and rehabilitated." "He doesn't want to return to the West." "What was he?" "An American agent or a Russian agent?" "Wait for his memoirs." "But why him?" "After the Spanish war, he ran an American aid service for refugees in Marseille and Geneva." "It was there that he helped dozens of communists." "He also had contact with Allen Dulles's American intelligence service in Switzerland ." "America and Russia were allies against Hitler." "Then came the cold war." "The Americans got rid of Field for knowing communists." "The Russians passed him oft as an American agent." "You were saying, after 20 months in prison " "You must learn questions and answers by heart." "Take him away." "Put the blindfold on." "''Question:" "Have you told all about your conspiracy against the state?"" "''Yes, I have held nothing back." "I confess my participation in the conspiracy."" "Say your lines when he stops talking, just as we rehearsed ." " There you are ." " He knows his lines." "Take that off." "You don't look well." "How often do you exercise outside?" "Never in 21 months." "Never?" "Luckily it's almost over now." "It hasn't always been easy." "Put that back on." "You are going to see your leader and accomplices." "The party requires a report on this confrontation." "Remove the blindfold." "Sit down." "Zilliacus made frequent trips to the People's Democracies." "He was in contact with me here , with Gomulka in Poland , with Tito and his Fascist clique in Yugoslavia, with Rajk in Hungary, with Kostov in Bulgaria." "So we eventually found ourselves in the same trap ." "The party secretary who had ordered the arrests and the minister of Security who planned the proceedings with the Soviet advisers." "I created the center of conspiracy against the state ." "I learned later that the secretary had tried to commit suicide ." "Padded walls prevented him from battering his head again." "Next time he was alone , he shut the door and tried to hang himself." "The man who found him ]ust in time was later decorated." "For official posts, I appointed men who had lived in the West such as Bedrich Geminder," "Josef Pavel, Karel ?" "váb and the undersecretary of Foreign Aftairs ." "Why retract here?" "No one will know." "The party requires a report on this confrontation." "Retraction means no hearing." "Survive to speak at the trial." "You've signed all this." "I was part of the conspiracy against the state led by the party secretary." "I headed the Trotskyist group at the Foreign Qffice " "Stick to your lines like that and you'll be able to appear at the public trial." "Slánský claims his role was limited to ideological leadership ." "So did Bukharin in Moscow, but it cost him his life ." "Learn all that now." "He'll help you out." "Prosecutor:" "''How many espionage letters did you forward to Zilliacus?"" "Answer." "Two , maybe five ." "I deliberately kept no records." "Prosecutor: ''Be more precise ." "Mention's been made of 1 0 letters."" "Answer." "There may have been 1 0 ." "Your injection." "It's calcium." "That warms you up , doesn't it?" "You're as white as chalk." "We'll have to fix that." "Guided by my bourgeois instinct, to further my career " "Guided by my bourgeois instinct and to further " "No . ''Selfish." Bourgeois and selfish." "Guided by my bourgeois and selfish instinct, to further my career, I became a cosmopolitan while in the West and defected to the bourgeois camp ." "That's very good ." "No , it's not good at all." "The text is all right." "But you'll never convince anybody you're guilty like that." "Learn these 1 5 pages by Thursday." "You'll have to put in some more sincerity." "You're lucky to be in this trial." "You aren't the main defendant now." "For the injection?" " Yes, only five more ." "That'll give him a bit of color." "Take that off." "Dr. Novak, president of the State Tribunal." "Have you any previous convictions?" "Two ." "In 1 931 -1 933 and in Paris in 1 942." "For what reasons?" "The first was for communist activity." "The second was for anti-Nazi activity." "Don't note that." "Have you a lawyer?" "I don't want one ." "It's the law." "The state will appoint one ." "Dr. Ruzick, your lawyer." "Despite the seriousness of your position, I see that the state is spoiling you." "Stuffing me , you mean, like a goose ." " Pardon me?" " My position is serious?" "You risk the death penalty." "That is the punishment you have earned by law." "Your only hope of a lighter sentence is to plead guilty and behave well in court." "What was your role in the conspiracy?" "I confess that I furthered espionage relations between the party secretary and the British agent, Zilliacus, by using the diplomatic pouch." "I myself maintained espionage relations with the American agent, Field ." "I've just spoken to the prosecutor." "In his opinion, your case is the least serious." "A maximum of 1 5 years." "I told you, you're lucky to be in this trial." "But you must behave well, or your family will suffer." "The minister of Security wants to see you." "I appeal to you in the name of the party and the president." "Stick to your statement in court." "You will do the party a great service ." "The situation is serious, war threatens." "The party expects you to be guided by its interests." "It'll be held in your favor." "Your family will not suffer the consequences of this trial." "The evening before the trial, they brought me a new suit from home ." "Don't forget the tie ." " These ones?" " Yes." " Will he be freed soon?" " l don't know, madam ." "is he coming home?" "They fetched my brother's things too ." "Maybe they'll be home tonight." "Qff to school, children." "SAVE SACCQ AND vanzetti" "We later learned that, since conditions were icy, the ashes of the executed men were simply scattered on the roads." "The driver had his little ]oke ." "Fourteen people in one car!" "Us and the 1 1 in the sacks!" "The court is in session." "Accused , has the delay stipulated by law to precede your appearance been respected?" "I advise the accused to follow the indictment and proceedings closely." "I ask them to benefit from their right to express opinions." "I remind them of their right to defend themselves as they see fit." "The public prosecutor." "The inquiry conducted by the minister of Security has established that, after the Second World War, in an attempt to secure world domination, the American imperialists organized a conspiracy against peace ." "They created clandestine centers in the People's Democracies composed of corrupt elements." "I accuse them as traitors," "Trotskyists, Titoists, Zionists and enemies of the people of conspiring in the service of the American imperialists and under the leadership of Western intelligence agencies to break our alliance with the Soviet Union, to overthrow the regime and to restore capitalism by impeding socialist construction." "But although the conspirators and their leader succeeded in occupying important posts in both party and state , they did not manage , unlike Tito in Yugoslavia, to usurp power and attain their criminal ends." "Thanks to our people's loyalty to the Soviet Union, the conspiracy was broken." "Qn the basis of these facts , the accused:" "Former secretary of the party, of Jewish origin." "Former head of Department of lnternational Relations, of Jewish origin." "Former head of Economic Department, of Jewish origin." "Former assistant secretary, Czech." "Former minister of Foreign Aftairs , Slovak." "Former undersecretary of National Defense , of Jewish origin." "Former undersecretary of Security, Czech." "Qf Jewish origin " "Qf Jewish origin, both former undersecretaries of Foreign Aftairs ." "Qf Jewish origin " "Qf Jewish origin, both former undersecretaries of Foreign Trade ." "Qf Jewish origin, former secretary of Finance ." "Qf Jewish origin, former secretary of the Regional Committee ." "Qf Jewish origin, former editor of the party newspaper." "All these I accuse of having " "For three hours, absolute silence reigned as the indictment was read ." "We were being filmed , soon to be displayed in cinemas." "The court will adjourn." "Sit down." "Cigarette?" "Coffee?" "Are you okay?" " Vitamins." " Sit down." "is it going well?" "Drink that." "It's a political expedient." "Qpen your mouth, these are vitamins." "Do you need anything?" "The president hopes you will acquit yourselves well." "Did you give him some coffee?" "All right?" "I've been making inquiries." "There will be no death sentences." "What the party needs is not heads but a top-level political trial." "Any death sentences will be purely for the sake of form ." "If anyone retracts in court, the microphone will be cut oft and the 20 prosecution witnesses will testify." "It's mine ." "The court is in session." "We are resuming live transmission of the conspiracy trial." "You are about to hear the testimony of the former undersecretary of Security." "The American spy, Noel Field , unmasked during the Rajk trial, testified that he had formed an espionage network in our country." "How did you conceal what you knew of this?" "When we realized we could not suppress his evidence , I ordered a formal inquiry to be made ." "I warned those involved to prepare their defense ." "There's a slight change in the text to be learned." "You're next." "Let's hear the beginning of your statement." " l know it perfectly." " Question:" "What led you to become an active enemy of the state?" "I was raised in a bourgeois milieu, estranged from " "Do you want an interpreter?" "Do you understand the questions and can you reply?" "What school were you at?" "The German school in Qstrava." " What is your first language?" " German." "Do you know German really well?" "I haven't spoken it for a long time ." "So you know no language well." "You are a typical cosmopolitan." "What was your attitude to the workers?" "I was indifferent." "Did you understand the question?" "What was your attitude to the workers?" "I was indifferent to the interests of the workers." "I never felt affinity with them ." "Their national interests were alien to me ." "Your turn soon." "Remember, everything depends on your attitude ." "I was raised in a bourgeois milieu, estranged from the workers." "Guided by my bourgeois instinct - bourgeois and selfish, to further my career, I was changed by 1 1 years in the West." "I became a cosmopolitan and defected to the bourgeois camp ." "I confess I have been guilty of actively participating, from 1 948 to the day of my arrest, in the conspiracy against the state ." "I acknowledge my guilt in having furthered " "That man on the radio isn't my father, is he?" "I told them at school he wasn't." "You go to bed too ." "... espionagerelations with the British agent, Zilliacus, by using the diplomatic pouch at the Foreign Office." "I myself also maintained espionage relations with the American agent, Noel Field , supplying him with espionage information." "My wife decided to write of her despair and confusion to the president, whom she knew." "We shall read you the letter sent to the president by Londonova, wife of one of the traitors on trial." "''President Gottwald ." "After my husband's arrest, knowing what I did of his life and his activities, I thought him the victim of traitors using him to shield their own criminal activities." "Unfortunately, after hearing the indictment and his confession, my hopes crumbled ." "My husband was no victim , but a traitor to our party and a traitor to his country." "My grief is great, naturally." "But as a communist, I must be thankful for this unmasking and ]oin all sincere comrades in demanding ]ust punishment for these traitors."" "As ex-factory director, I can leave early." "Because of me ." "You should never have hired me ." "No , I'm not of working-class origin and I was in the West during the war." "I don't blame you at all." "I know you are sincere ." "But you were wrong to write that letter." "I wrote it to the president and not for public broadcasting." "But you heard him plead guilty." "I heard a great deal too much, and all of it rings false ." "They're reciting lessons." "I don't believe in this trial." "Why would the party hold it if it weren't true?" " There have been precedents." " Precisely." "The whole thing smacks of anti-Semitism." "It's intolerable ." "Yesterday's heroes becoming spies and traitors - l can't accept it." "I'm handing in my party card ." "You realize what that means?" "But why should he confess, a man like him?" "Well, he - l hope he'll tell us one day." "When I heard the indictment, I analyzed once more Reicin's activities during the occupation and concluded that he must have betrayed to the Gestapo" "Julius Fucik and the clandestine Central Committee ." "Forget the Central Committee ." "That's all in Reicin's statement, already signed ." "I would like to recall Fucik's last words." "''Whoever has lived for the future and fallen for its beauty is a figure hewn in stone ." "But he who , with the dust of the past, tries to build a dam against revolution, is but a puppet, even though wearing epaulettes of gold ." "Men, whom I loved so , be vigilant."" "The testimony of Fucikova, widow of the Resistance hero , made an indelible impression on the judges." "The leader of the conspiracy said ," "''Qur conspiracy against the state comprised hundreds of members."" "A big task lies ahead for the judges." " Coming?" " Yes." "I'll continue ." "These three benches tremble under the weight of crimes committed ." "This leader should be seen by all." "His red hair, his Judas eyebrows, his furtive eyes crushed under the huge weight of his crimes." "A dead man." "A dog should die a dog's death." "The court is in session." "In 1 939 , I established espionage contacts in London." "With whom?" "With the American agent Emanuel Voska to whom I gave information concerning communist cells in England ." "Carry on." "I also had dealings with the intelligence agent Hamson, who summoned me in December, 1 944 , to a meeting at the Ministry of information." "... attheBritishMinistryofinformation, concerning my subversive activities" "in our country " "in our country after it was liberated ." "Return to your place ." "Court adjourned ." "In ridiculing justice , you confirm your activity as an imperialist lackey." "It will cost you your life ." "Traitor." "Don't leave him." "He gambled his life away." "He did it on purpose ." "He'll pay for making a mockery of the trial." "The court is in session." "Rise to receive sentence ." "From November 20 to 27 , 1 952, the State Tribunal has heard the proceedings concerning the leaders of the conspiracy against the state ." "In the name of the Republic, sentence of death " "In the name of the Republic, sentence of life imprisonment - life imprisonment - life imprisonment." "The accused are granted time to consult their lawyers as to whether to accept these sentences." "Likewise , the court reserves its rights." "Court adjourned ." "Where's my interrogator?" "Where are our interrogators?" "Where's my interrogator?" "I want to see my interrogator." "Go get him ." "Where have our interrogators gone?" "Where are the interrogators?" "I'll appeal." "I want to appeal too ." "Me too ." " So do I." " We must." "Here are your lawyers." "There are truckloads of resolutions demanding death for all of you." "The international situation is deteriorating." "World war is looming." "With Eisenhower elected , the party needs you." "If you appeal, then so will the court." "And that means hanging." "Comrade countries are demanding your death." "If you accept the court's decision, you will be pardoned ." "The party needs a trial, not your heads." "The court is in session." "Accused , do you accept your sentences?" "I accept and renounce my right to appeal." "I accept and renounce my right to appeal." "Criminally, we had all been rehabilitated by 1 963." "Politically, some of us remain unrehabilitated." "Why did no one retract at the trial in front of the journalists?" "Because only triumphant adversaries of communism would have believed us." "You were freed and rehabilitated in 1 963?" "No , I was freed in 1 956 , but it's more complicated ." "A year after Stalin's death, the minister of Security, Beria, and certain advisers were executed in Russia." "In 1 955 , a commission began to investigate the trials." "Kohoutek's gang were imprisoned ." "We survivors remained in prison." "Two years later, Kohoutek was pardoned , whereas many of his victims lingered on in prison for two or three years." "Don't you remember me?" "What happened to us?" "Do you understand it at all?" "You know, when you were freed in 1 956 , I was in prison!" "Those who gave the orders then are still in power." "I followed orders." "I expect I was under surveillance too ." "May I offer you a drink?" "How's your wife?" "All right?" "I know she did a lot for you, here and in France , after realizing you were innocent." "How's your health?" "You must take care of yourself." "I've found a nice , quiet job ." "They won't catch me again." "I'm happy for you." "April 1 968" "Do you want to keep this Kohoutek story?" "''What happened to us?" "Do you understand it at all?"" "August 20 , 1 968 I read it all night." "is he really going to publish?" "Not me , the Union of Czechoslovak Writers." "They're awaiting the manuscript." "The situation is still troubled , you know." "The imperialist forces are mounting." "You may bring grist " " To the enemy's mill. I know!" "You'll at least take me to the airport?" "I'm not alone now." "The party wants the truth told , despite certain difficulties." " l hope we won't regret it." " Good-bye , my dear." "Qf course , they'll say, '' / wouldn't have confessed."" "They'll wonder why I'm still alive ." "But at least I'm not alone now." "The party and I speak together." "In January, 1 968, the reactionary forces were removed from the party." "A new era began in Czechoslovakia." "The people found their voices again after years of silence , passivity, indifference or scorn." "This was the proof that socialism lies in the liberty of the masses." "But the day I arrived in Prague , I had to witness my country invaded by 600,000 men and 6,000 tanks of the Warsaw Pact powers." "USSR" " YQURS CSR" " QURS" "WAKE UP , LENIN!" "BREZHNEV'S GONE MAD!" "ARISE, LENIN!" "THEY'VE GONE MAD!"