Original subtitles

Central Film Studio of Children's and Youth Films

named after M. GORKY

By commission of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR

on Television and Radio Broadcasting

SEVENTEEN MOMENTS OF SPRING

PART 7

Starring

Stierlitz - Vyacheslav TIKHONOV

Pleischner - Evgeniy EVSTIGNEEV

Kät - Ekaterina GRADOVA

Barbara - Olga SOSHNIKOVA

Helmuth - Otto MELLIES (GDR)

Himmler - Nikolai PROKOPOVICH

Schellenberg - Oleg TABAKOV

Müller - Leonid BRONEVOY

General on the train - Nikolai GRITSENKO

Bormann - Yuriy VIZBOR

Kaltenbrunner - Mikhail ZHARKOVSKY

Owner of Safe House - Vladimir SMIRNOV

Owner of Bird Shop - Yevgeny GUROV

Narrated by Yefim KOPELYAN

Partaigenosse Bormann,

I appreciate the trust you've placed in me.

Take a seat.

I've seen you somewhere before.

Remove your camouflage.

Yes.

-I definitely saw you. -Right.

When you decorated me with a cross, you said

I looked more like a math professor than a spy.

Right.

And now you look more like a spy than a professor.

Tell me, what's wrong?

Let's go to the Wannsee.

Today, March 10,

the armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front

fought successful battles against the enemy's Pomeranian Group.

Armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front

repelled fierce attacks

by massive enemy infantry and tank forces

northeast of Lake Balaton.

At the cost of heavy losses, enemy troops managed to

break through our defenses in certain sectors of the front.

The armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front,

with the support of Czechoslovak units,

launched an offensive operation aimed at

capturing the Moravia-Ostrava industrial region,

with a subsequent advance toward Olomouc and Prague.

13 Mar 1945 10:20 p.m.

TOP SECRET

Personnel File Krein, Barbara

SS-Untersturmführer, Department IV, Reich Security Office.

Character Report: Nazi Party member since 1944,

Krein, Barbara, SS-Untersturmführer.

A true Aryan.

Character: Nordic, firm.

Impeccable in the performance of his duties.

Calm and friendly with colleagues.

Athlete. Relentless toward the Reich's enemies.

Not married. No improper associations reported.

Dear ladies, welcome to the table.

I never thought I'd celebrate my birthday like this.

With a Russian secret agent and a shell-shocked soldier.

I understand you.

Yesterday was my husband's birthday.

I also wanted to celebrate it differently.

Should I take the baby to bed?

Thank you, Helmuth, I'd like to do it myself.

But according to instructions Helmuth ought to do it.

Please.

-Happy birthday. -Thank you.

It's time to go to bed.

Sleep.

To bear children and raise them - that's a woman's true purpose.

Everything else is nonsense,

dreamed up by weak bourgeois democracies

and by Stalin's regime.

People ought to be healthy and strong.

There's nothing purer than our natural instincts.

I'm not afraid to say that out loud.

What do you mean?

With one today, then another and a third the next day?

That's filthy.

The family is sacred - untouchable.

When I'm in bed with my husband, the father of my children...

Please.

Thank you.

...I could never truly enjoy his love

if he were my second, third, or fourth.

We should cast off false modesty - it's so unnatural.

If women could love their husbands the way they truly wish,

they wouldn't be unfaithful.

A woman only leaves a man when she's searching for strength.

You probably don't agree with me?

-I don't. -Why not?

-Just don't. -That's no answer.

A woman's wish to make an impression

is a feminine art as old as time.

Do you really think our dear Helmuth would choose you over me?

He's afraid of Slavs, And besides, I'm younger.

I hate women!

But why?

Why do you hate us so much?

Women are worse than scoundrels.

At least they're honest about it.

But women...

First she's sweet as honey, then he'll turn on you.

And run off with your best friend.

If you can't keep up.

Your wife's been cheating on you!

Excuse me, may I slip off to my room?

What's the matter?

There are no bombings today.

And you haven't started to work yet.

So you can stay a bit longer than usual.

I'm just worried about the baby. Afraid he might wake up.

And why would he wake up?

Helmuth.

How long was the baby on the balcony?

An hour before lunch and an hour after. It's still freezing outside.

It's better for him to stay in the room so he won't catch a cold.

Maybe I could sleep in the same room with him?

I'm afraid the officer...

doesn't sleep well with the baby in the room.

No, I sleep just fine.

He's very calm, never cries.

It's forbidden.

You're supposed to be in separate rooms.

I won't escape.

We have very good locks.

It's impossible to run away from here.

There are two of us here, and the locks are foolproof.

I'm sorry, but I have my commander's orders.

Try talking to your superior.

And who is my superior?

Standartenführer Stierlitz.

He's a decent man He can bend the rules

if you prove yourself.

For some, the best stimulus is money, for others, men.

You have the strongest reason to work hard - your baby.

You're right.

Can I take him?

You wanted to say something?

Tell me...

If you were in my shoes...

would you agree to cooperate

to save your child's life?

Hard to say.

By the way, you haven't named your baby yet.

-I'll call him Vladimir. -After whom?

Was it your father Vladimir, or his father?

-What was his name? -Whose?

-Your husband's. -Erwin.

I know that. I meant his real Russian name.

I knew him as Erwin.

Didn't he ever tell you his real name?

Was he called Erwin when you were married?

-We didn't have a proper wedding. -Not true.

It is true.

Or rather... we had it here.

I was dropped here together with Erwin.

I guess your agents, like agents everywhere,

know each other only by codenames.

My real name is Katya, not Kät. Moscow knows that.

And maybe

a few people connected to my husband here,

his local superiors.

All right, go get some rest.

Tomorrow you're going to Rahnsdorf.

It was your idea

to check out the spots your husband used to visit, right?

Yes.

It was my idea.

Our people still at large will see me and be reassured.

Besides, I'm not sure the local man

doesn't have another transmitter.

He could tip off Moscow if our mission fails,

unless he receives a signal that I'm still free.

In that case...

your whole plan would be blown.

Your local resident

doesn't have a second transmitter.

Thank goodness

you're with Stierlitz.

He has a reputation for being fair and logical.

Tomorrow he'll take you there. Did he mention that?

I don't know who I'll go with. The investigator didn't say.

I only suggested it might be wise,

but he didn't say who'd take me.

These are the fingerprints

lifted from the receiver in the government hotline room.

And these are the fingerprints

from the Russian operator's set.

They match perfectly.

What does it mean?

It means

we need to quietly and unofficially

take fingerprints from everyone.

Everyone?

Everyone.

I need your go-ahead.

You have it.

Do you need my prints too?

Or shall we keep them

for posterity, Reichsführer?

What about Bormann's driver?

He held out for three hours straight.

Then we pushed harder.

He confessed that at night someone entered his car.

He didn't hear the conversation as they lifted the glass partition.

He was shown over 200 photos.

But he couldn't pick out Bormann's companion from any of them.

What are you going to do with him?

Perhaps...

a car accident?

I don't know... I don't know.

Judging by your account, the driver seems honest.

And we don't punish honest men.

Figure something out yourself.

All right, I'll think of something.

Good.

It's harder for me to come up with an idea when it involves the Führer's deputy.

I'd say, Reichsführer, it would be easier for you.

But if you insist it's my duty, I'll find a way.

Just make it quick.

I won't tolerate double-dealers here.

Stierlitz reached the Swiss border to set up his "gap."

Like Schellenberg, he believed openly smuggling the pastor

across the border might draw unwanted attention to the mission.

The whole operation was carried out under the Gestapo's radar.

According to Schellenberg's plan, it was Stierlitz

who would expose Schlag

after his work was done.

In the last days before departure,

With Schellenberg's approval, Stierlitz was lining up candidates

for the pastor's supposed associates.

All these men served Nazism zealously.

These are, so to speak, the conspirators

who were sending our peaceful pastor to Bern.

Berg, Schwalb, Neubut -

from Ribbentrop's office.

Krauze,

Frunditz, Blutner.

These are Göring's men from the Luftwaffe.

I picked diplomats and pilots

so as to compromise, respectively,

both Ribbentrop and Göring.

Note...

Schwalb...

is Bormann's man.

It also works in our favor in this game.

Bormann's envoy in the Foreign Ministry.

A dirty conspirator.

Besides everything else, they'd

at different times been recruited by the Gestapo as informants.

Good.

Very good, Stierlitz.

It can come very handy in the future.

We need to keep Müller on a tight leash - this one's especially snug.

Good. Very good.

This way we cast a shadow, both here and in the West,

over those trying to make secret peace contacts.

There, they clearly distinguish between the Gestapo, Bormann,

and our department.

Here too - when we expose this conspiracy - it'll help if all

the guilty are tied back to the Gestapo.

Coffee?

Here you go.

Here you go.

The train passengers between Scandinavia and Switzerland

were now almost entirely diplomats.

Stierlitz had seat No. 16.

Next car, seat No. 46,

was taken by a Swedish professor

with the common Scandinavian surname Swedenborg.

Thank you.

You're German?

Unfortunately.

Why unfortunately?

Because they won't serve me another cup of coffee.

Here, they give proper coffee on first request only to foreigners.

Really?

Yes.

And I was given

a second cup.

I've got some brandy. Want a drink?

Thank you.

I've got brandy too.

But I bet you don't have any salami.

I've got salami.

Then we're sharing from the same plate.

What's your rank?

I'm a diplomat - counselor, Foreign Ministry, Dept. III.

So you're the one everyone blames.

You're the one guilty of all this.

Why?

Because you're the ones who shape foreign policy.

It's your policy that led to a war on two fronts.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Are you from Mecklenburg?

That's right. How did you know?

By the way you say "cheers."

Northerners tend to swallow vowels.

That's true.

Did I happen to see you last night at the Aviation Ministry?

No, I wasn't there.

Stierlitz was there yesterday.

He gave Pastor Schlag a lift to the Aviation Ministry.

My face is rather distinctive.

People always think they've seen me somewhere.

You look the type.

You look like a lot of others.

Is that good or bad?

For spies, probably good.

But for a diplomat, that's bad - you need a memorable face.

-And for the military? -The military?

These days, soldiers need strong legs.

And what about brains?

Why need brains? They think - we just follow orders.

Legs are what count - so we can run when we must.

Aren't you afraid to talk like that to a complete stranger?

But you don't even know my name.

I can find it out easily.

Your face is hard to forget.

Are you serious?

Good Lord, I always thought I had a pretty ordinary face.

Doesn't matter.

You'll file a report denouncing me -

then they'll want a second witness.

By then time will pass, and it'll be over.

Then it won't be them but others putting us on trial.

And you diplomats will go first.

You killed, destroyed, burned - and we're the ones to stand trial?

We just followed orders.

It was the SS who burned - we fought.

Has anyone come up with a new kind of war - no burning, no casualties?

War is a necessity, this way or the other.

But not such a dumb one. This was is a war of amateurs.

He decided he can fight without academies, just by intuition.

He decided that he was the only one who knew what we all needed.

He decided he was the only one who loved great Germany,

and that the rest of us were just trying to sell her out

to those circumcised Bolshevik Cossacks.

What did you say?

"Circumcised Cossacks"? That's a new one.

You can expect anything from the Reds.

And from the Americans, too.

I've been fighting them for a year now.

Their own equipment will undo those idiots.

They think they can win by air raids alone.

They'll build up all that technical might and get bogged down in it.

It'll eat them alive, like rust.

They think they can do whatever they please.

The Reds think that way because they're poor and barbaric.

The Americans think that way because they're over-rich.

That's why wars are inevitable.

No connection.

What?

I said there's no - your logic doesn't hold.

But it does.

The state is like a living organism.

It hates anything static.

Borders oppress it.

It needs movement - that's self-evident. Movement means war.

But if you damn diplomats mess it up again,

you'll all be wiped out - to the last man.

We carried out orders.

We're soldiers like you - the Führer's soldiers.

Come on, stop pretending - the Führer's soldiers!

A junior officer who stole his general's boots!

I'm afraid to talk to you, General.

Don't lie.

All of Germany talks like this now - or at least thinks it does.

And the lads from the Hitler Youth?

Do they think the same when they charge at Russian tanks?

They die shouting "Heil Hitler."

Fanaticism never brings a final victory.

It exhausts people.

And then that very fanaticism

dissolves in the mind and behavior of the loser.

Fanatics may win at first, but they can never hold that victory -

they grow tired of themselves.

Then why won't you raise your division?

-A corps. -All the more reason.

Why won't you surrender?

And my family?

And the fanatics at headquarters?

And the cowards, for whom it's easier to fight, believing in a mythical victory,

than to go over to the Allies?

But you could issue an order.

They usually order men to die.

No army in history has ever ordered its soldiers to live -

by surrendering.

-And if such an order came? -From whom?

From that neurasthenic?

He's dragging us all into the grave with him.

It's frightening to die alone.

But if you die in a pack - it's easier, almost a kind of fun.

And if that order came from Keitel?

He's got an ass for a head - a secretary, not a soldier.

Then your commander-in-chief in Italy?

Kesselring? He'd never go for it.

Why not?

He came out of Göring's staff,

Anyone who's served too long under a leader

loses initiative -

but learns how to dodge.

He becomes an analyst, losing the ability

to make decisions on his own.

And before taking such a step,

he'll run straight to the "bull".

To whom?

To the "bull" - that's Göring.

Are you sure Kesselring couldn't be persuaded to act

without Göring's say-so?

If I weren't sure, I wouldn't say so.

Do you believe we have any future prospects?

Yes, I believe we do.

The prospect of imminent death -

that we'll all die together.

Trust me, it's not frightening,

so long as it's together.

And our death will be so shattering

that the memory of it

will make the hearts of future Germans ache for generations.

I've told my children...

Damn any democracy in the Reich!

Any democracy here ends the same way -

with a dictatorship of petty shopkeepers.

The more freedom we enjoy, the more we long for the SS,

the secret police, concentration camps,

for universal fear.

Only then do we feel at ease.

No need to argue

about your views on your homeland's future.

No responsibility at all.

Just raise your hand in salute to the one doing the job for you,

snap "Heil Hitler,"

and everything's set.

No worries.

Have a good journey. Thank you.

Today the border guards are idle - my carriage is empty.

Would you like "Safari" cigarettes?

-Heil Hitler. -Heil Hitler.

I wish you victory over all your enemies.

Thank you.

-We'll smash their heads. -I don't doubt it.

The Swedish researcher, with a Scandinavian name in his papers,

Professor Pleischner, was travelling to Bern.

He was going to Bern with a dispatch for Moscow

about the work completed, about Schellenberg's mission,

about his contacts with Bormann, and about Kät's failure.

In this dispatch, Stierlitz asked for a contact to be sent,

specifying when, where and how he could meet that contact.

Now he would head to the local border guard office to get a car,

to reach the remote, mountain border post.

There, shortly after, the pastor would slip illegally into Switzerland.

Gottmadingen border post

Now I see why you're so obliging.

In this snow‑blue landscape,

it's hard to imagine famine,

air raids, or ruin.

If I had to smuggle across the border not one man

but, say, a whole company,

and without any authorization

from my superiors,

it could be done pretty easily - we'd work out an arrangement.

Why do you think so?

I think the time has come when

we must all sit down and negotiate.

What do you mean?

You wanted me to be honest, didn't you?

Do you believe people can really be honest with one another.

Of course.

Even us - me, an SD colonel, and you, an army lieutenant?

-Sorry, Colonel. -That's all right. Go on.

You may be honest with me, but don't try it with others.

And especially not about why I'm here.

Now...

Just so I can be sure, let's run through the plan again.

Shortly before you leave, Mr Teacher,

I'm to receive a telegram from Berlin.

"Mother's had an attack.

If possible, send medicine. Hans."

Which means:

One car - driverless, with keys -

must be waiting on the street near the station.

Another car, also with keys,

parked at the eighth kilometre by the creek near the border.

And in Quadrant 5 - right on the border -

there must be new Swiss-made skis,

hand-knit mittens,

and finally ski-boots, size 42.

43.

Sorry - 43.

The boots should carry a Bern label.

Everything's correct.

Lieutenant, remember:

you are to answer any questions

about this mission

only to Reichsführer Himmler himself.

Only to him - no one else.

Send for a car. I'm off to the station.

Bern, Switzerland.

Pleischner knew that telegram by heart.

Hans Frock, 8 St Göran Street, Stockholm, Sweden.

The contract's to be signed at the Atlantic Hotel in three days.

Send your terms to this address.

Jürgen.

Pleischner completed Stierlitz's first task.

Here - two francs.

Within a day this message would be in Moscow.

Through Wolff in Bern, Himmler opened talks with Dulles.

Justas.

Pleischner was on his way to a safe house,

the address Stierlitz had given him.

He had two hours left before the meeting.

There was a vial of poison hidden in that cigarette.

He was to use it only as a last resort,

when no other way remained.

Now it all seemed naive - a child's game, almost.

Here in Switzerland, untouched by war for 80 years,

everything that had happened to him and to the others in Germany

felt like nothing but a nightmare.

Flower Street.

Otto asked me to tell you he waited for your call...

last night.

Come in.

Pleischner stepped inside,

though he ought to have waited for the countersign first.

"Strange - I was in all evening. He must've dialed the wrong number."

That was his second mistake.

Well?

How is he?

Here.

It's all written here.

Excuse me.

Make yourself at home. Take off your coat - I'll be right back.

The heady air of freedom played a cruel trick on him.

The Soviets' secret address had been uncovered by the fascists,

and they were waiting for guests.

The first to arrive was Stierlitz's contact -

Professor Pleischner.

Take this straight to our embassy.

Use the back door - the keys are here.

And don't make a sound - the door creaks.

Tell the embassy

to put this man under surveillance.

I'll try to detain him and get him talking.

He's an amateur - likely being used.

I'll try to rattle him. You can go.

Beautiful weather today. How are you?

How's your... chief?

All right?

Yes, everything's fine.

-Coffee? -Thank you, with pleasure.

-Comfortable at the hotel? -Yes, quite.

Is your roof in good shape?

My room's on the second floor.

In Germany we don't get coffee like this.

Those bastards give the people nothing but dishwater.

Here they sell the real thing - Brazilian.

Yes...

Such coffee.

I haven't had coffee like this for ten years.

A long-forgotten taste.

Some Greeks taught me to drink it strong, with cold water.

Would you like to try?

I've never had coffee with cold water.

Contrasting temperatures give it a special kick.

And it's easier on the heart.

Really? How interesting.

What did he tell you to say - word for word?

What?

What exactly did he tell you to say to me?

Nothing - just the ampoule.

Strange.

Why?

I thought he'd tell me when he was coming.

He didn't say a word to me.

I forgot to ask - are you hungry?

No, I had a very good breakfast.

And money?

Thanks, I have enough for now.

If you ever need any, don't hesitate to come.

I can't give much, but I'll always

find a bit to tide you over.

Thank you.

By the way - did you check if anyone was tailing you?

Tailing?

-You mean following? -Right.

I wasn't paying attention.

That's careless.

Very careless.

Didn't he give you instructions of that score?

Yes, I got instructions.

But you know, over many years, especially after the concentration camp,

I felt free for the first time,

and you know, it just... went to my head.

Thanks for reminding me.

You must never forget it.

The police here are smart. Real smart.

All right.

Anything else?

Me? Nothing.

Then let me see your passport.

But he said I must always have my passport with me.

Did he say from now on you were supposed to follow my orders?

No.

Right - that's in the coded message you brought from him.

We'll think of the best way to accomplish the mission.

What now?

Back to the hotel, lie down, sleep for a long time.

I meant your work

No, sleep comes first.

I've dreamed of sleeping

for a day, two days, three days, before getting down to business.

I left all my papers in Berlin.

But I remember nearly everything

by heart.

Pick it up the day after tomorrow, two o'clock sharp.

We'll handle registration at the Swedish Consulate.

Good.

Better say, we'll try to.

The Swedes are acting up - the bolder they get, the worse.

Who?

Who?

The Swedes.

Every German who shows up

looks like a Nazi agent to them.

They don't care if you're a patriot fighting Hitler

or working for the Gestapo.

So we've got to be careful.

But he didn't say I must register at the Consulate.

It's all in the coded message.

-Want some more coffee? -No, thanks.

The coffee was excellent.

Especially with cold water.

Did you tell him everything's okay?

Or should I do it?

Better you do it through your contacts.

Fine - I'll go through mine.

But make sure you report too - and fast

I wanted to today,

but couldn't find a stamp

for the postcard.

Day after tomorrow I'll get you

a stamp - if I can.

What's supposed to be on it?

The conquest of Mont Blanc - and it must be blue.

Okay. Do you have the postcard?

No, it's at the hotel.

That's bad.

You can't leave anything at the hotel.

You're a foreigner - they might search your things.

But it's just a postcard.

I bought ten of them in Berlin.

And memorized the text.

So there'll be no mistakes...

on my part.

Don't ever forget that.

You can't be too careful, comrade.

Remember - this calm's only on the surface.

He warned me.

Give me your address, just in case.

The Virginia. The Virginia holiday hotel.

-Americans there? -Why?

They usually stay at hotels with their names on them.

-Seems like no foreigners. -We'll check.

If you see me at your hotel,

don't come over and don't say hi.

-We don't know each other. -All right.

Now, if there's an emergency,

call me at 388-16-16. Will you remember?

Hm... 388-16-16.

See you in two days.

Looking to buy?

No, just admiring your birds.

The most interesting species are inside.

I'm not like the others sellers.

They show off their flashiest birds in the window.

I don't see birds as mere merchandise.

Birds are birds.

Even writers drop by

just to listen to them sing.

One of them once said,

"Before I descend into the hell of a new book,

"I, like Orpheus, must listen to the great music of birds.

"Otherwise, I won't be able to sing the song

that finds its Eurydice."

-Thank you. -For what?

-Thank you. -You're welcome. Take care.

Schellenberg told me

he'd sent Stierlitz on a mission.

It makes sense.

Rolf will work in contrast.

Prisoners,

after facing a cruel investigator, are especially drawn to a kind one.

Stierlitz is kind, isn't he?

Yes?

I'm listening.

Müller paused for a moment,

deciding whether to mention the fingerprints

on the hotline phone,

which matched those exactly those

from the Russian operator case.

Well, Müller decided not to mention it

nor that he'd secretly gathered fingerprints

from all his staff to Kaltenbrunner.

Kaltenbrunner would blow up and shift the blame.

And if he could, he'd shift the blame for the failure

And if he could, he'd shift the blame for the failure

It worked in Müller's favor that the conversation

between someone from the Reich Security and Bormann

was known to Himmler but not to Kaltenbrunner.

That fork in the road gave him room

to maneuver between the two powers.

Yes.

No, go ahead, please.

Want me to check how Stierlitz is doing with the radio operator?

Why?

Why check?

He's got real skill with radio work.

Should I give Rolf free rein

with the Russian "pianist"?

The "pianist"?

No. Let Rolf work in contrast to Stierlitz.

Same goal, different methods.

But the means to achieve it can differ.

-Anything from the Russians? -Not yet.

How are the codebreakers?

They're halfway there. The code is very tough.

Put pressure on the "pianist."

I doubt she doesn't know the cipher.

Stierlitz is using his special methods.

Stierlitz is away now, so tell Rolf to push her.

15 Mar 1945 2:14 a.m.

Don't turn on the light.