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USSR 1937 THE HEIGHT OF STALIN'S TERROR
This is your new work gang...
Another fine bunch.
Each of 'em needs three assistants.
Two to hold him up...
and one to move his legs.
Wake up!
Here, the papers to be burnt on the major's orders.
This one’s going to burn it.
You've got a cell with the bolts working?
All the cells have got new bolts.
Take us to a stove.
Come on, get a move on!
What’s in there?
All your prison secrets?
Or last year’s building warrants?
None of your business. For you, it’s to kindle the fire.
Got it?
Got it.
Go inside.
Put everything from the sack into that stove and burn it!
Look at me.
Don’t think you can hide even a scrap.
If I find anything, you'll be in solitary for a month.
Got it?
Matches.
That'll be enough.
Give the match box back afterwards.
Lock him in.
What's the old man in here for?
ASB.
Anti-social behaviour?
And I thought...
he was a watchman in a wood yard...
- ...and failed to catch some thieves. - Just fancy that!
Maybe the old man had a whorehouse somewhere?
"Dear Comrade Stalin,
"I, Smirnov,
"Ivan Sergeyich,
"a Bolshevik Party member since before the Revolution...
"have been falsely accused of belonging to the Trotsky-Bukharin faction...
"They extort confessions from me.
"They thrash me during interrogation."
"Our dear leader, Comrade Stalin,
"we, the Pestrukhin brothers,
"collective farmers, former red partisans,
"are accused... Soviet power...
"the state... damage...
"They beat confessions out of us...
Devils. "We're devoted to the Communist Party...
"we spilt our blood for it..."
We spilt our blood for it.
"The factory manager...
"falsely accused...
"forced through torture...
"no strength to bear...
"I beg you to intervene...
"Communist justice."
Communist justice...
"I request a cell visit by someone
"from the prosecutor’s office.
"I have some vital information.
"I.S. Stepnyak."
TWO PROSECUTORS BASED ON A STORY BY GEORGY DEMIDOV
You have to knock.
What do you want?
To the Major.
Open up!
He's going to the prison governor.
There you go.
Good morning.
Good day.
Please have a seat, Comrade Prosecutor.
What can I do for you?
You have a prisoner here, I.S. Stepnyak,
We received his note requesting a visit by someone from the prosecutor’s office.
What on earth!
We currently have 10,000 prisoners on our lists.
Do you know which block,
which cell this... er?
Stepnyak, Ivan Stepanovich. Yes, Block 5, Cell 84.
The Special Block?
You got a message from the Special Block?
Yes. What of it?
Oh, nothing.
It doesn't matter.
Excuse me.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
I don’t know. Ask Petrovich.
Still more people?
Take them to Block 1.
No, they haven't been questioned.
Yes.
Understood.
Fine.
Young man,
only the prison governor can allow access
to a suspect who is detained
by order of Soviet Security Services, the district NKVD.
I’m very sorry, but you'll have to come back another day,
or wait for the governor to return.
Will he be long?
There are often meetings nowadays
about prison accommodation.
And they are usually long meetings.
Well, I’ll wait.
May I wait in here?
Of course.
As it happens, I have to go off to one of the blocks.
They are all overcrowded,
and I've got my hands full.
So...
forgive me for abandoning you.
Duty calls.
Make yourself at home.
Thank you.
Let him pass.
Yes!
Do you know what Radek replied,
when asked what he was doing... before the Revolution?
No.
"I was waiting in jail."
And to the next question, what did he do after the Revolution?
No.
"Jail was waiting for me."
Well, what's up?
Some student has turned up, with the diploma of an inspecting prosecutor.
So they’ve already appointed him?
And?
He wants to see the prisoner in Cell 84 in the Special Block.
Stepnyak?
But how does he know Stepnyak is in that cell?
I haven't got the faintest idea.
Petrovich,
the new prosecutor has turned up.
Yes, they've already appointed him.
Just a kid...
He’s asking to see a prisoner in the Special Block.
Fine.
Fine...
And what if he insists?
Fine.
You heard the one about Radek?
Yes. Of course, I'll report back.
We’ll let him stew for a bit.
If he’s still here at the end of the day, bring him to me.
Very good.
"Jail was waiting for me."
The duty assistant’s not here?
No.
Where is he?
He went off to see about something.
And who are you?
I'm a prosecutor.
Excuse me, who am I talking to?
Never mind, forget it.
Well?
The prison governor is waiting for you.
Open the door.
Yes!
Here he is.
Go in, please.
Forgive me for making you wait.
But I got held up by the chief, what can you do?
We’re living in troubled times, as I'm sure you know.
Please take a seat.
It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Of course we are used to older people in Comrade Kornyev’s post,
but times are changing and our former ideas
about young people's abilities are outmoded.
Now the whole Soviet apparatus is rejuvenating, so to speak.
So what about my request?
You've been told what it's about?
Yes, of course, I’ve been informed...
of your request.
But you see,
it would be better to postpone your meeting with the prisoner
until better times.
For what reason?
With the...
current overcrowding in this prison...
- -the Comrade prosecutor must be aware of the problem...
we are not always able to maintain the required hygiene standards.
So we often get outbreaks of infectious diseases:
diphtheria, typhoid and even spotted typhus.
Block 5 has been very unfortunate in this respect.
It's called the Special Block,
as it holds prisoners charged with...
counter-revolutionary crimes.
There's a whole array...
of infectious diseases there,
and I strictly advise against anyone even showing their face there,
unless it's in the nature of their work.
That’s why I’m here, to carry out my work.
Yes, yes, of course.
I only meant that
while a warder can't avoid his normal duties,
a prosecutor has the right
to postpone his meeting with a prisoner until a more suitable time.
It will hardly affect the outcome.
And it's a very bad idea to visit now, as the doctors think that...
the prisoner you want to see,
has some...
infectious disease.
In that case, the prisoner should be transferred to the prison hospital.
A prisoner only needs such a transfer
if he's in a shared cell.
But Stepnyak,
as a dangerous state criminal, is being held in isolation.
In such cases,
the patient is treated in his cell,
unless there is need for an urgent surgical intervention,
or constant medical observation.
And if the disease is infectious,
the cell is off-limits.
I even discussed with the doctor
moving the prisoner to the room where defendants meet their lawyers.
But...
the doctor was dead set against it.
It would infringe...
the hygiene rules,
and might endanger...
the sick man.
What exactly is wrong with prisoner Stepnyak?
The doctors haven’t made a definite diagnosis yet,
but something intestinal...
It might even be typhoid.
Well, that’s not very risky.
I’m not going to shake hands, or eat out of the same bowl.
So you insist on meeting prisoner Stepnyak now?
Yes, I insist.
Number 5! Report to my office, immediately.
You've just been appointed?
Three months ago.
Do you know where your predecessor is now?
Yes!
Take Comrade...
Kornyev.
Kornyev! Take prosecutor Kornyev
to prisoner Stepnyak in number 84.
Accompany prosecutor Kornyev to prisoner Stepnyak
in number 84.
We must comply with the lawful requests
of the inspector prosecutor.
I’m happy
that our new prosecutor, despite his tender years,
turns out to be so persistent.
But all the same, I regret that you are so incautious.
Washing your hands with soap won’t protect you from certain illnesses.
What do you mean?
All I mean is,
don’t forget about the risk of infection.
I’ll try not to.
I’m glad to hear it.
He’s with me!
Open number 84!
By order of the governor!
The prosecutor has come to see Stepnyak.
Surname?
Kornyev.
Forenames?
Alexander Mikhailovich.
Open the door.
Citizen Stepnyak,
the prosecutor has come for a private talk with you.
Show me your professional accreditation, Citizen...
Prosecutor.
You don’t trust the representative of the authorities?
I don’t trust you!
The prisoner is within his rights to check who I really am.
Order them to unlock my bunk.
Then there’ll be somewhere to sit.
Please unlock the bunk.
And now...
get them to leave us alone.
I won’t speak in front of outsiders.
I’m not an outsider!
It's my duty to keep you under observation.
He can observe us through the ‘Judas’ hole.
I have no intention of attacking the prosecutor.
But I absolutely insist that our discussion is private.
That is my right.
Leave us please, he's within his rights.
Leave us.
It's difficult for me to stand.
I’m here because of this note.
Did you write it?
I did.
I had to smash my knuckle against a bit of metal.
There's nothing sharp in this cell.
Before using your own blood, did you ask for a pencil and paper?
I did.
But of course they didn’t provide it.
How did you get your message out of the prison?
No need to answer if it's a secret.
What secret?
I simply gave it to the warder,
on a wing and a prayer, as they say,
and as you see,
it escaped beyond these walls.
Are you really from the prosecutor’s office?
You've seen my accreditation.
It's child's play for the local branch of the NKVD
to forge such stuff.
So maybe this document will dispel your doubts about me?
So you studied in the law faculty.
You graduated?
Yes, three months ago.
And how did you end up in the prosecutor's office?
Through the university quota.
So, the local NKVD have infiltrated
the prosecutor’s office,
if lads like you...
who are still wet behind the ears,
are being appointed.
Ivan Stepanovich.
Do you remember the speech you made at our law school jubilee?
Yes,
I was there at your school.
What of it?
You said that the Soviet rule of law is part of the great Bolshevik Truth,
and that when we became lawyers, we should fight for this Truth.
I paid great attention to your words,
and took them as more than just fine rhetoric.
You understood correctly.
It was all just as I said.
We fought against the Whites...
for the worker-peasant Truth.
We were banged up
in vaults like this.
We were sentenced
to be shot,
or hanged.
And doesn't defending Soviet law
still entail risks and difficulties now?
It seems you’re not stupid, lad.
And since you're not stupid and you still came here,
you are clearly honourable,
and no coward.
You’re not married yet?
No.
Are your father and mother still alive?
No, they're dead.
Then listen to what I have to say.
But first, look at what...
the NKVD did to me.
Just don’t show any reaction!
We don’t want the man at the 'Judas' hole to know about it.
That’s how things are, laddy.
You saw what I’m coughing up.
My urine is also red.
Once, during the Revolution,
I got thrashed by some Kulaks.
But I was young and curly-headed then.
I could cope.
But now,
another dose...
will finish me off.
It's already hopeless.
And what are they holding you for?
Not 'what', but 'why?'.
I have a stubborn character.
I won't sign a death warrant
for myself, or other innocent people.
But that's what they want from me...
These undercover fascists from the NKVD.
The investigation block
is now a vast torture chamber,
where thousands of innocent people
undergo...
such beatings.
They are starved and deprived of sleep,
until they make...
false confessions
against themselves
and others.
Honest people are accused of crimes they wouldn’t dream of committing.
The same story in the courts, which are also controlled by the NKVD.
They deal especially harshly
with old Party members.
Here they have exterminated almost the entire Party leadership.
It seems that,
out of all the members of the district committee,
I'm the last survivor...
because I was more obstinate than the old Party members,
and refused to sign anything.
They wanted me to sign a confession
that when I was with the partisans fighting in Ukraine,
I was a secret agent of Petliura.
The local fascists
make their victim confess to imaginary crimes
before they can shoot them.
They need innocent people to incriminate themselves,
in order to justify their actions
to the higher authorities.
"See how vigilant we are,
"how keenly we root out subversion in our own house."
They fear being unmasked,
they try to do everything...
by the law.
Of course, the executioners from the district authority
can easily beat an obstinate detainee to death,
but it is an undesirable measure.
So they preserve...
people like me.
They hope that a man
with smashed up internal organs
won’t last long.
But my official cause of death
will be ‘heart failure’,
in this very prison.
These enemies of the people...
saboteurs from the NKVD,
don’t break tools,
or burn down factories.
Loyal old Party leaders
are replaced by...
young careerists
and loud mouths.
And honest, knowledgeable experts
are substituted by ignorant charlatans.
I’m not asking for myself,
I’ve had it anyway.
It grieves me to see
our revolutionary project endangered.
If you are a brave man,
a real Bolshevik,
an honest Soviet lawyer,
then set off for Moscow today.
Get a meeting with Stalin.
If you can’t get to him,
approach a member of the Politburo...
Yezhov, Voroshilov,
Molotov.
Report to them that here,
the cream of the Party is being exterminated,
hundreds of thousands of honest Soviet people.
And don’t delay.
You insisted on a meeting with me...
so they won't leave you in peace.
Before you know it...
you yourself
will end up in a hole like this one.
Open up!
He's left the block.
He'll reach you shortly.
Wait, yes, yes.
In general, this work needs to be done sooner...
rather than later.
They’re allowing idiots to graduate.
After the campaign
in 1916 at Kovel,
my good sir!
I lost me leg and me arm.
At that time there weren’t no benefits for war invalids.
Them benefits only came later...
So I sees that I’ll have to work
with just me left hand.
I thought I'd go home to me father.
He says, "I’ve got nothing to feed you on",
can you imagine it?
"I can hardly get a crust of bread for meself."
So I set off for Petersburg,
to ask Lenin
if there's any alms for the proletarian poor,
seeing as how, so to speak, I shed me blood!
Laid down me life!
And did you get alms from Lenin?
Hang on. Don’t rush me.
See this learned young man here,
he needs everything in the right order.
So, you know, one way and another,
in carts and so on, my good sir,
I somehow got to Petersburg.
Well, can you picture it?
This lice-ridden soldier boy
in the capital city,
which is like no other in the world!
There's Nevsky Prospect.
Goddamit, there's Gorokhovaya Street...
and Liteyny Prospect.
Some spire sticks up in the air,
bridges open up, goddamit,
without anything holding 'em up!
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Don’t drag it out, Pegleg!
Don't rush,
you might have seen it all.
But he’s a young man, hasn't been there.
Probably never had a woman!
Hey?
I wanted to rent an apartment,
but it would've have cost a fortune!
But me capital assets
came to a few fivers.
I found shelter in the Revel inn
for a rouble a night.
Dinner was cabbage soup.
I sees that I won't survive for long.
I asked where to turn to.
People said "Go to the Smolny...
"to Lenin himself,
"to the heart of Soviet power."
"That’s where justice lives."
What idiot
gave you that advice?
Shut up, Turnip head. Better keep listening.
I got up ever so early,
scraped off me beard with me left hand,
to save on a barber,
put on me shabby uniform
and me wooden leg
and tap-tap-tap...
can you picture it?
I set off to see Lenin
in the Smolny.
There's mirrors, vases, white ceilings,
columns, precious marble things!
People scurrying to and fro.
Could hardly get past them.
They say "Go, if you must."
So I rushed about here and there.
Everybody had seen Lenin,
but nobody knew where he was.
I tapped along on me wooden leg to some reception room,
tucked meself in a corner so I wouldn't knock over
some sort of America or India gilded porcelain vase,
and there I waits.
I waits four hours,
until finally an adjutant
or some other clerk, comes in,
and he says:
"Lenin will come in now".
And the room’s already crammed like a tin of sardines.
All with red ribbons and smoking shag baccy.
Suddenly people go "Shh, shh, shh",
and then a terrible silence falls.
Lenin comes in.
Well...
Can you imagine?
A statesman.
On his face an expression, so to say...
well, fitting with his rank,
with his high level.
Everyone in that hall expects, trembles,
waits for their fate to be decided, in some measure.
Lenin goes up to one...
then another.
"What are you here for? And you? What is your business?"
He comes up to me, I dares to say:
"It’s like this, Your Excellency, leader of the proletarian revolution:
"I spilt me blood, lost an arm and a leg, cannot work,
"I make so bold as to request royal alms."
Lenin gives me a shrewd look...
sees that I’ve got a wooden leg
and me right sleeve is empty.
"Very well", he says.
"Come back in a few days."
"We are always happy to see any proletarian,
"even one minus an arm and minus a leg."
He never!
That's just what he said!
Yes...
"Come back, dear fellow."
I think "that's all".
"The job's done."
And what happened next?
What d'you mean?
After that, what happened?
Nothing.
What d'you mean, "nothing"?
You seem to have lived long enough
to lose all yer teeth,
but you don’t understand a thing.
But what about Lenin?
That was the last I saw of Lenin!
I comes one day, then another.
It was a bitter pill...
"Come tomorrow, tomorrow."
I got fed up.
I kicked up such a fuss that a constable appeared out of the haze of baccy smoke,
and stood in front of me.
He must’ve been 7 foot tall,
with enormous fists,
designed for bashing coachmen,
he would make such a dentist...
So, they caught hold of me, a poor sinner,
and took me to an alms house.
I lived at the state's expense, I got me allowance.
Then Lenin died.
Now I’m off to see Stalin.
They say he’s got a heart of gold.
It ain't for meself
that I shed me blood, sacrificed me life.
So I want to ask you,
a learned man,
d'you think he'll give me alms?
Are you looking for someone, young man?
Yes.
Who?
The Prosecutor General. I have business with him.
If you have business with him, you should know where to find him.
Yes?
Sorry?
The way out. Where’s the way out?
Down the stairs and turn left.
Are you feeling alright?
Yes.
Fancy seeing you here, old chap!
Well, congrats!
Congrats!
I always had faith in you. I always knew that you’d go far!
What a great chap you are! And how grown up you are.
In all respects, I gather?
Do we really know each other?
This is Comrade Mrazovich.
This is a former classmate of mine, a high flyer, you could say...
Mrazovich.
- Kornyev. - Kornyev!
That’s what I said, Kornyev. This is Kornyev. He’s a real artist.
- Call in and see me. - Yes, yes.
A big fish. If you need something, he's the one.
When were you transferred? What department are you in?
I've co--
Of course, I didn’t think you'd come to see me.
What’s the case, if it’s no secret?
Sorry,
have we really met before?
Kornyev, stop playing the fool.
Call in on me afterwards.
Room 312. No need to knock.
Alright.
How can I help?
Good day. I've come to see the Prosecutor General.
Have you received an appointment?
No.
Comrade Kornyev,
the Prosecutor General only meets people
at the invitation of the Chief Prosecutor's office
so I'm afraid I can't help you.
I have come a very long way on extremely important state business.
Everyone's here on important business.
Have you got a travel warrant?
No.
But...
it's a very important matter.
If that’s the case, Comrade,
then why didn’t your office bother
to get you an appointment well in advance?
Why doesn’t Comrade Kornyev at least possess a travel warrant,
confirming that he has some business with the Chief Prosecutor's office?
I can't even include your name on the ‘doubtfuls’ list,
on which the Prosecutor General himself will make a decision.
Here. I’m a party member.
I came to inform the Prosecutor General
of a vital and urgent matter,
and I need to see him privately, face to face.
It can't be done on paper as you propose.
It's in your interests to take this seriously.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Please.
- Go through. - Thank you.
Fine. I'll report your presence to the Prosecutor General
and will inform you of his decision.
Wait in the reception room. Please.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Comrade Zavtrakin!
Please.
Please go in.
Thank you, goodbye.
Goodbye.
Comrade Smirnov!
You are lucky.
The Comrade Prosecutor General has agreed to see you
against all the odds.
But you would do well to remember
that you have come to see one of the busiest people in the government.
Therefore be brief,
don’t waste the Comrade's precious time.
Two or three minutes at the most.
I’m listening.
My name is Kornyev. I am the inspecting prosecutor...
of the local prisons in Bryansk,
where I have discovered
an infringement of socialist law
by the local NKVD,
regarding their conduct of cases of counter-revolutionary crimes.
The rules have been broken regarding the detention of suspects.
I see. Continue.
I know for a fact that a detainee was repeatedly beaten
while under interrogation
by the local branch of the NKVD.
I believe that...
such beatings,
and other illegal methods of investigation...
are used systematically.
The fact that political prisoners
are deprived of the possibility of addressing complaints
to the appropriate authorities, provides further evidence.
This may be the only such statement from the political wing of the prison
that ever reached the office of the district prosecutor.
The material on which it is written, and the 'ink'
the prisoner used, all this speaks volumes.
BRYANSK PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
Why inform me of these infringements instead of your district prosecutor?
Because I have no confidence that the local prosecutor’s office
will intervene with the local NKVD.
Moreover, I fear that...
the local prosecutor’s office would not want, and indeed would not be able,
to protect any of its own staff who did intervene.
When the NKVD makes a wrongful arrest
the issuing of sanctions by the prosecutor’s office
has long been an empty formality.
So turning to my superior would not only be pointless,
but it would be...
almost suicidal.
And I decided to approach you,
not as a professional,
but as an honest Soviet citizen, and a Party member.
What is the aim,
in your opinion,
of these violations
which you suspect are going on in your district?
Comrade Vyshinsky,
I'm sure that a group of counter-revolutionaries,
posing as Stalinist Chekists,
are active in our district branch of the NKVD.
They are using their position to exterminate the best local people,
accusing them of made-up crimes.
They do this to undermine the district administration
and to discredit Soviet law in the eyes of the masses.
The leading workers of our area
are confused and frightened by these NKVD crooks.
This affects the prosecutor’s office.
It's even possible
that some of them, maybe against their will,
are working under direct orders from the NKVD.
This is highly likely,
since everyone able to identify the covert hostility of the NKVD
has been arrested or exterminated.
Devoted Party workers are replaced with new incompetent people
who carry out the orders of those loyal to the NKVD.
If any of them guesses there's something fishy,
they pretend not to notice.
"Don’t touch us and we won’t touch you".
That's how the system works, Comrade Vyshinsky
Maybe there are some time-servers whose silence has been bought
by their unexpected promotion, usually beyond their abilities.
I could follow their example, Comrade Vyshinsky.
But my conscience as a Soviet citizen,
a Party member and a member of the Soviet judiciary
stops me from doing this.
I cannot calmly watch these crimes being committed
continually and on a mass scale.
The highest prosecuting authorities must put a stop to them.
I think this highly destructive process must be halted immediately.
You want the Chief Prosecutor’s office to begin an urgent investigation
into the supposed counter-revolutionary acts of the NKVD in your district?
Have I understood you correctly?
Absolutely correctly, Comrade Vyshinsky!
In principle this would be possible,
if it was a matter of a normal government department.
But the NKVD, at this moment,
enjoys almost complete autonomy.
Even the Chief Prosecutor’s office cannot raise a case against...
even an individual NKVD employee,
without the consent of the NKVD leadership.
If there were strong documentary proof
of law-breaking in the NKVD,
then their leaders would doubtless agree
to allow a case against those wrongdoers.
Comrade...
Kornyev?
...said that he himself
saw torture marks on the body of a particular prisoner.
Can you back up your observation
with medical evidence?
It’s the same prisoner who wrote to our local office in his own blood.
He's an old Bolshevik,
he was a leading Party worker.
I'd like to explain to the Comrade Prosecutor.
I could only get access to the prisoner
after insisting that the governor allow a meeting.
And this governor would find excuses
to delay the appointment of a medical commission,
until he has had time to put me in prison too.
I am sure that he and his senior staff
are in a plot with the criminal bosses of the local NKVD.
So I decided to rely on the Prosecutor General's personal trust in my report.
And frankly speaking,
I didn’t know that even a secret investigation of a NKVD employee
requires documentary evidence.
Oh, yes,
for a lawyer, it is imprudent.
But the situation can be remedied.
Go back
and send us medical evidence about the prisoner who was subjected,
as you assert, to illegal methods of interrogation.
I promise that an investigation of this case
will start immediately.
But...
if I go back empty-handed,
I will immediately be sacked
and arrested.
I'm sure the counter-revolutionaries
won't let anyone who knows about their crimes go free.
Provide Comrade Kornyev with confirmation that he met me.
Address it to his District Prosecutor.
That will allow you to conduct your investigations
without risk to your own safety.
And provide Comrade Kornyev
with a ticket for his return journey from our reserved allocation.
Put down a short but detailed precis of what was said in our meeting.
Send it with the medical certificate.
And enclose this as well.
It will serve as auxiliary evidence.
How did it go?
Not now.
Get in.
You're in here.
Good evening.
Hello.
Which seat are you in?
Number 5.
Let's make space.
Please sit down.
- You can leave that here. - No.
I'll put this here...
And this will go there.
And this...
Ah, we're off!
From Moscow?
Me? No.
Where are you from?
Bryansk.
A student, are you?
I was. I’ve got a job now.
What do you do?
I’m a lawyer,
member of the defence lawyers' college.
Now I’m an inspecting prosecutor.
What does that mean?
I deal with citizens' complaints.
I make sure everything's done legally.
Well, well.
That’s a fine profession, Comrade.
An essential one.
Why were you in Moscow?
You got a girl there?
Not at all.
So why were you there, if it's not a secret?
Business at the prosecutor's office.
In Moscow? Don't you have one in Bryansk?
I went to meet the Prosecutor General.
Vyshinsky?
Yes.
Petya, he's so young and yet he's met the Prosecutor General!
Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves: Petya.
Alexander. A pleasure to meet you.
- This is Vasya. - Vasily.
A pleasure to meet you.
Just a minute.
Bring us some glasses.
Oh, not for me.
Not for you?
It'd be a sin not to drink a toast to Soviet law.
Thank you.
Is there a guitar around?
I can bring sugar.
What a joker!
Now,
a toast to 'good order'!
To good order!
- Sasha, have some snacks! - Thank you.
And what do you do?
We're liquidators.
We’re engineers.
From the Planning Institute in Moscow.
We plan factories, industrial plants,
the future, in a word.
You're architects.
Yes, we can do that too.
We're reconstructing a factory in Bryansk, a complex project.
Machine tooling?
- It's the Red Profintern. - But the technology's imported.
There are all sorts of hitches, misunderstandings.
A month ago they installed a line...
Something went wrong just before it was supposed to start production.
So we're off to sort it out.
Maybe human error, maybe sabotage.
Well, you'd know better than us.
Yes, sometimes you don't know if it's a mistake or sabotage.
Looks like a normal engineer.
Wife, kids, job.
Looks like everything's fine, and blow me down, he's a saboteur.
You could scarcely believe it, but they themselves confess.
- It's very scary. - Yes.
You know yourself, the times we're living in.
You must...
have to deal with enemies.
But how to know if they're an enemy or not?
There are procedures.
If a crime has been committed, an investigation is held.
That's after the event.
But if no crime has happened yet,
but the enemy is already present, what then?
Then, according to Roman law, there's a presumption of innocence.
Then there's sabotage. Then what?
You can't sentence a person before a crime has been committed.
So what do you do? Wait till a crime's committed?
I understand your question...
Comrade Prosecutor,
Sasha,
we must be vigilant,
we mustn't drop
the punishing sword of Soviet law.
But we don't punish, we...
investigate.
And if there are grounds, the courts punish.
- So that's it, 'we investigate'. - Very fair.
To vigilance!
Come on, eat up!
Thank you.
Somebody wanted a guitar?
Thank you, dear host. Now this is something else!
But I need...
- Here. - Thank you.
Let's go.
Our song.
The morning greets us with coolness
The river greets us with a breeze
Curly-head, why aren't you pleased
With the merry song of the factory siren?
Don’t sleep, wake up, Curly-head!
They're hammering in the workshops
The country rises in glory
To greet the new day
The brigade will meet us with tasks
And you will smile at your pals
With whom you share care and labour
And life and the counterplan
Beyond the Narva outpost
In thunder and in fire
The country rises in glory
To greet the new day
Bam!
To the farthest corner
Our youth will go
Until a second youthful band
Comes to meet you
And a horde will spring into life
To take their fathers' places
The country rises in glory
To greet the new day
Declare your truth
With a splendid speech
We go out to meet life
To encounter labour and love!
Is it a sin to love, Curly-head?
When with sounds of ringing
The country rises in glory
To greet the new day
Repeat!
The country rises in glory
To greet the new day
Wake up, Comrade lawyer! We’ll be there in half an hour.
Comrade Ivanov?
Yes. Comrade Petrov?
- Are you from the management? - Exactly.
Is he with you?
Comrade Kornyev.
Good day.
You're going by car?
Comrade, could you give me a lift?
Shall we take him, Vasya?
Let's go.
Thank you.
You've got girls in this town of yours, right?
Obviously.
Good-looking ones?
Yes, some good-looking ones, too.
Do they give it away easily?
Give what away?
What do you mean "give what away"? Are you a blushing bride?
I'm unmarried.
Oh-ho, I see.
And you've never tried it? Not even once?
What are you talking about?
No need to be shy. You're among friends here.
He won't tell anyone.
Come on, spit it out.
Are you still a virgin?
Wait, we've taken a wrong turning.
I'm not dropping you anywhere, until you tell all.
Come on, spit it out.
We're all dying to know, aren't we, Vasya?
Where are we going?
We're taking you...
to be investigated.
"If there are grounds".
Open the door.
Take it easy, Kornyev.
You're under arrest.