1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:23,120 DURING THE COLD WAR, 4 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:25,480 THE IRON CURTAIN DIVIDED EUROPE FOR 46 YEARS. 5 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:27,880 ON THE EAST SIDE OF THIS IRON CURTAIN 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,400 WERE THE BALTIC STATES OF LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND ESTONIA, 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:31,920 OCCUPIED BY STALIN IN 1940. 8 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,680 PEOPLE LIVED UNDER THE SOVIET REGIME 9 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,560 COMPLETELY ISOLATED FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:38,200 STILL, THEY DREAMED OF FREEDOM. 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:39,480 From Washington, 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,200 this is the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite. 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,000 A week ago today off New Bedford Massachusetts, 14 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,160 a crewman from a Soviet fishing boat 15 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,720 jumped onto a U.S. Coast Guard cutter and requested asylum. 16 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,720 A Lithuanian sailor jumped off the Russian ship onto the American ship 17 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,360 and asked asylum begging on his knees... 18 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,520 ...and begged for political asylum. 19 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,720 After hours of uncertainty, 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,240 the Americans let the Russians come on board 21 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:12,760 and drag the defector back to their ship. 22 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,080 The President of the United States is entering the East Room. 23 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,840 If he looks tired he should be forgiven. He was up almost all night. 24 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:26,920 The President. 25 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Should be seated, please. 26 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:29,680 Mr. President! 27 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,520 If you could tell us your personal view on the defector problem, 28 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,360 this Lithuanian who was beaten on this Coast Guard? 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,320 Mr. Congressman, what do you think has happened to that defector? 30 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,800 Well, of course, it's pure speculation, 31 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,320 but I understand that he was beaten senseless on our ship, 32 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:55,880 and if they do that on our ship, 33 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,480 I imagine they finished him off, when they got him back to the Soviet ship, 34 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,320 at least my opinion is 35 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,200 that he will never be heard from again one way or another. 36 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,960 Either he will be beaten to death or he'll be put away in Siberia 37 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,320 where he'll eventually die, I think he's done for... 38 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:11,440 THE JUMP 39 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:54,640 My grandfather worked on ships when he was young. 40 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,080 And he would always tell me stories: 41 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,160 "The waves, my child... The waves are bigger than a house." 42 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,920 But how can waves be bigger than a house? 43 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,000 "There are palm trees, so green, my child, it's so beautiful." 44 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,200 I was mesmerized. 45 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,080 I wanted to see how it all looked. What those palm trees looked like... 46 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,600 And all those different people and strange languages... 47 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,520 Yellow, black... I was fascinated... 48 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,400 That's why from my earliest days 49 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:35,440 I was enchanted by my grandfather's stories about the sea, about freedom. 50 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,840 And then the occupation, by golly, got in the way. 51 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,800 Here is our ship, "Sovetskaya Litva" (Soviet Lithuania). 52 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,480 It was an unhappy prison for me. 53 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,520 All these darn Soviet ships were prisons. 54 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:44,840 I spent almost 20 years working on Soviet ships 55 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,960 and all those years I was denied a passport. 56 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,200 Instead of the illusion that I will see the world 57 00:05:55,280 --> 00:06:01,800 and those amazing palm trees, I saw only the leaden Atlantic and clouds. 58 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:06,440 NOVEMVER 23RD, 1970 59 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:08,240 United States waters, near Martha's Vineyard 60 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,120 The Soviets are not taking adequate care 61 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,200 while fishing off the New England coast. 62 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:15,400 They have caused extensive damage to U.S. fishing operations 63 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,200 and the U.S. Government wants the harassments stopped. 64 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,320 The U.S. Government asked for the meeting on the high seas 65 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,720 on behalf of the New England fishing industry. 66 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:25,480 The Soviets named the place. 67 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,480 I read the radiogram and learned we are meeting them. 68 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,840 I thought: We are gonna see the Americans in the flesh! 69 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,960 So, the Vigilant sails towards us. 70 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:47,880 They're already waving at us from afar, 71 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:53,280 and shouting, "Hello, Russkies!" when they see us. 72 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:05,280 We are silent. 73 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,320 Fear had paralyzed us. 74 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,960 Those are the imperialists! 75 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,960 Those bloody killers! Capitalists! 76 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,480 We're standing there like mummies. 77 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:32,360 NEW BEDFORD Massachusetts, USA 78 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,480 We found the Soviet ship anchored on the shore of Martha's Vineyard, 79 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:53,480 which is part of Massachusetts, on the Eastern Coast of the United States. 80 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,320 They were anchored in here, because it was a stormy day 81 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,160 and they were sheltered from the weather. 82 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,720 It was a sensible place to be anchored that day, 83 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,760 but we never expected the day to end the way it did. 84 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:22,120 RALPH W. EUSTIS Captain od USCGC Vigilant 85 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:29,800 After they arrived and started to transfer the men, 86 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:35,760 the Americans started throwing us Marlboro cigarettes 87 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,240 and Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola... 88 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:43,680 There was no beer... Coins, hats... All kinds of stuff! 89 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:48,760 They even threw jackets! Somebody even threw their shoes. 90 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,000 By golly, it was nuts. 91 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:53,920 Here, now look at this. 92 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:56,520 "Hello, Russkies!.." 93 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,120 I liked them a lot. 94 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,240 I liked their friendliness, their openness... 95 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,320 And then the Russians relaxed. 96 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:13,880 And they threw their cigarettes, kopeks, hats, and other stuff. 97 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,440 By golly, what fun! Excellent! 98 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:23,320 You know, it started out of a very simple day, we were... 99 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:27,720 The Vigilant and my crew were simply providing transportation 100 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:33,720 to get people to a meeting, and it was a very important meeting, 101 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:39,840 it was the first time that there had really been much direct conversation 102 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,160 between fisheries people of the two countries. 103 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,160 So what happened was, 104 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,760 suddenly an American crewman comes out 105 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,200 with about 30 magazines in his hands. 106 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:11,240 Newsweek, Time... Smiling women on the covers, and so on... 107 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:17,000 And he throws them up in the air towards the Russian sailors. 108 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,760 One seaman grabs them, then another seaman grabs them... 109 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,040 A few copies drop into the water, the Americans threw some more. 110 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,640 And here comes the political commissar all of a sudden. 111 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,520 And this political commissar says, "You and you will never go to sea again." 112 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:35,120 And those magazines were like a spark. It all exploded. 113 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:40,320 It hit my nervous system and my memories. 114 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,440 Everything that had happened came back to me. 115 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,120 Shooting, corpses, interrogations... 116 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,640 I had been beaten and interrogated myself... 117 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,480 There was a partisan in our family who was killed. 118 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:05,560 I wasn't thinking anymore about my wife, home, work... nothing, 119 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,200 I just left everything, everything. 120 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:15,240 I just wanted to leave that damned sailing prison. 121 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:21,960 To get away from all those spies and snitches and that whole system. 122 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:40,680 At about 10 o'clock in the morning 123 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,360 our operations officer Douglas Lundberg came to me and said, 124 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,080 "There's this guy on the Soviet ship 125 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,640 that's making signals like maybe he wants to come." 126 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,160 I said, "Are you kidding me?" 127 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,800 And there's an American, he's swaying on the Vigilant. 128 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,760 I waved at him. He waved back. 129 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:02,200 And he smiled. 130 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,040 And I looked at the potential defector, 131 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,680 we just stared at each other for a while. 132 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:13,120 Then I waved at him like this and said "Gestapo". 133 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,440 He opens his eyes wide like this. 134 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:18,160 But there was no real communication. 135 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,160 And what was going through his mind... 136 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,880 I don't know. But he was desperate. 137 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,960 "I - Lithuanian", "I - Lithuanian"... 138 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,600 Well, he understood me. "Not Russian." 139 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,080 And I said, "I - you". 140 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:40,160 He doesn't understand me at all, I don't know how to explain it to him. 141 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,040 I can see nothing will come of this. 142 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,360 Someone might see me gesticulating... 143 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,960 So I went to my cabin and wrote a note: 144 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:56,080 "My dear comrade, I up down off Russian ship 145 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,960 and go with you together." 146 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,320 I decided that he really was serious. 147 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,960 So I sent a message to Boston and to Washington as well. 148 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,920 I said, "With 80% chance he's going to defect." 149 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,400 I explained everything there - ta ta ta, and signed my name - Simas. 150 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,160 There isn't much time. I go to my friend and get a pack of cigarettes 151 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,920 I roll up the note, open the pack, quickly put my note inside. 152 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,640 Then I go to the railing and throw it like this. 153 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,160 He tries to grab it, but misses. It falls down on the ground. 154 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,880 He bends and picks it up. A very intelligent man. 155 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,720 He doesn't open it in public, but goes inside. 156 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,160 Mr. Lundberg came running to me again. 157 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,800 He said, "Look, he threw me a pack of cigarettes. It's got this note in it." 158 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:52,560 Around five minutes pass. He comes out and gives me a sign. 159 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,880 Because I don't know English, he nods with his head. 160 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,640 He is waiting for a signal from us and we are not giving him any signal. 161 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:01,120 Here you can see the... 162 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:08,360 The officer with the Vigilant stencil on his back and Simas is right there. 163 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,760 I'm waiting to see what happens next. 164 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,360 The Americans are gonna sail away, for Pete's sake. 165 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,840 Our Captain comes up from down under. He seems to have had a few. 166 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,280 He says, "Well, Simas, we're about to unmoor". 167 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,280 Ta ta ta, time to go... 168 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,560 I quickly leave my radio cabin. Everything is working fine... 169 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:29,800 I run down onto the main deck. 170 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,360 The Vigilant is swaying up and down, closer then further... 171 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:40,360 I wait for the right moment because time is precious, I could get caught... 172 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:45,520 And now the ship shifts away. The ship rises... 173 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,760 Then remains steady and goes down too far... 174 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:54,480 It rose! 175 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,440 It leveled out. Jing! And that's it! 176 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:00,320 I'm there! 177 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:07,280 And the traitor of the Fatherland is giving the finger to the Soviet Union. 178 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,160 That's all it was. Nothing else. 179 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,640 The Gulag is over there, damn it, and freedom is over here. 180 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:37,840 USCGC VIGILANT Florida, USA 181 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,520 It was like 4:15 in the afternoon. 182 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,480 The worst time of the day for somebody to try to defect, 183 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,760 because in Washington they're all going home in their car-pools. 184 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,160 In Boston, they're all going home. 185 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,320 And we can't find the right person to talk to. 186 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,880 And I just remember somebody saying, "he's aboard!". 187 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:18,680 So I quickly jumped over, 188 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,960 I was young back then, and only wearing these slippers. 189 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:24,760 I managed to do it. 190 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,480 After I jumped over here I went right to these doors, 191 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,680 the doors and the stairs upwards! 192 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,880 Oh, God! Burkalis is in front of me! 193 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,880 The Commander of the Russian Navy. 194 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,960 He asks me, "Simas, what are you doing here?" 195 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,840 I tell him, "I'm sorry, I have no time to talk to you." 196 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,280 I squeeze past him and run into the wheelhouse. 197 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,320 He jumped at just the time we were getting ready to leave 198 00:16:55,400 --> 00:17:00,360 and the Soviet officers were getting ready to go back to their ship. 199 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,440 If he'd waited two minutes longer, it would've all been different. 200 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:10,960 Finally... 201 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:12,880 Greetings! 202 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,440 Greetings, my God... 203 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,840 This place, this place. 204 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,280 This is where we were. 205 00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:24,280 This is where the officer was and we met. 206 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,560 We hugged. I gave him my documents. 207 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:33,080 And then, by golly, I don't really remember. 208 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,360 I think it was here. 209 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,760 And Simas comes up to me, hugs me and says, "Comrade, comrade!" 210 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,080 So... We decided to hide him. 211 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:54,360 Here, somewhere... 212 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,200 Here was toilet, and I was... 213 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,640 Officer took me from there, 214 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,560 locked, reopened door, 215 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,440 locked and said, 216 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,520 "Not reopen to nobody, not reopen, not reopen!" 217 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:16,880 I understood. 218 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,800 I didn't know how the mechanism works on an American ship. 219 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,040 I pressed it, open, and it springs back. 220 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,520 The door opens - motherfucker! I press it again. 221 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:34,520 And it opens up. 222 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,040 Jesus Christ, what should I do now? I'm panicking. 223 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:39,440 I pressed my foot against the door 224 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,720 so that nobody could get in because they said don't open it for anybody. 225 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,160 We now had a potential defector 226 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:54,120 and a group of Soviet officers that were on board the Vigilant. 227 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,720 And then there was someone knocking on the door. 228 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,920 I don't open it. The knocking continues. 229 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,440 Finally, someone speaks in English. It's an American. 230 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,240 So, I finally opened the door. 231 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:14,480 I think it was the Captain. He asks me, "Who are you?" 232 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:20,840 I answer, "I'm Lithuanian, a Lithuanian radioman." 233 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,640 "Asylum, asylum..." 234 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,600 But then the Admiral got on the phone and said, 235 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:27,920 "No, we don't want to disrupt the fishing talks. 236 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,200 So, we'll have to give him back." 237 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,920 There were so many radio calls back and forth... 238 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,480 "What's going on now?", they say. "What's going on?" 239 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:54,800 "Why is it going so slow?" 240 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,880 It dragged on for hours primarily because we didn't want to give him back. 241 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:03,600 Almost all throughout that entire period, "Give him back, give him back!" 242 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:13,280 An hour passes by, then another. By golly, the waiting is unbearable. 243 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:15,120 Bad thoughts start going through my head. 244 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,400 It looks like something is not right. 245 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,920 Isn't it clear that I'm asking for help? 246 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,840 The incident started about 10 in the morning, 247 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,040 and it's now getting near 9 or 10 o'clock at night. 248 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,400 And he's aboard, and the Soviets are aboard. 249 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,720 Admiral Ellis said, "Commander Eustis, you have your orders." 250 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,080 I open the door, the Soviets are staring at me. 251 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,640 I see they have a rope in their hands... 252 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,680 So I told the Soviet officers 253 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,800 that they could take him back. 254 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,760 So I ran to the railing after I broke free from the Russians. 255 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,480 I grabbed onto this because I didn't have time. 256 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,880 And I quickly jumped over it. 257 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,120 I don't remember how I landed 258 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,320 down on the main deck. 259 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:36,640 I don't remember. 260 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,440 But this is where I jumped, quickly, because I didn't have... 261 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,520 They were chasing me. I disappeared down there... 262 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,840 As soon as I ran out of the darkness, they saw me and screamed. 263 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,360 They were shouting like crazy, "He's here! He's here!" 264 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,960 What should I do, by golly? 265 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,000 Should I jump in the water, for Pete's sake? 266 00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,800 They're coming! I quickly climb over the gunwale. 267 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:12,760 Jump into the water and drown? Or not jump? 268 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,600 I wasn't resolute enough. I didn't do it. 269 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,560 I was a coward, by golly! And they were right on my heels. 270 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:21,440 Four of them. 271 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,000 I hang onto this darn thing. 272 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,120 They start pulling my legs like this. 273 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,800 They keep pulling me, darn it! 274 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,160 They rip away my hands. 275 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,120 I stretch them up. I grab onto another one. 276 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:36,880 They knock away my hands again. 277 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:41,120 They beat me and pull me to the top of the stairs. 278 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,280 And right here they pull me up. 279 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:51,600 And when they pull me up here, they won't let me go. 280 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:56,480 And they're pulling me, and pulling me... 281 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,480 So I called Boston again, I told them what happened. 282 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,360 And the response came back, 283 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,920 "Is the weather good enough to give him back?" 284 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:18,080 I said, "The weather is not the problem here. This is a disaster!" 285 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:22,640 There was a phone here and a cable. 286 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:29,320 They took the phone cable and wound it around my neck, darn it. 287 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,480 They tightened it like this. 288 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,600 And an American saw it and stopped them. 289 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,720 One officer came up to the bridge to me and said, 290 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:44,200 "Mr. Pakos, they are beating him up, but when I tell them to stop, they stop. 291 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,400 So what should I do?" I said, "Well, you tell them to stop." 292 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:52,000 The American Captain gave a signal to the machine room 293 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,600 to start the engines, the propellers, 294 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,360 and untied the mooring lines... 295 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:00,920 My operations officer said, 296 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,040 "Mr. Pakos, you're gonna get killed with this hardware falling down." 297 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:09,000 Then everything starts falling down. The Russians let me go. 298 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,800 ...and it's just absolute chaos. 299 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,640 And then I go there... 300 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,320 The ship is sailing and they got confused when it set sail. 301 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,800 What the hell is going to happen now? 302 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:22,800 I fault myself there. 303 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,520 That might have been one more opportunity 304 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,000 for me to say, "This is crazy!" 305 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,120 But I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted, 306 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,520 after 12 hours of this incident and trying to keep him, 307 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,640 that I just said, "OK, put him on the boat and give him back." 308 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:43,000 And that's what we did. 309 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,120 There's a little boat here 310 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,560 and there's a bench here, another bench, and another one. 311 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,080 They lay me down on the benches like this 312 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:57,760 and sit on my back to break it. 313 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:04,160 In the end I saw how he was wrapped up and confined in a blanket. 314 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,080 He wasn't handled very gently when they threw him in the boat. 315 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:13,800 And any man would have 316 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,920 had to use a lot of force to... 317 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,680 make him go where he didn't want to go that day. 318 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:35,920 I didn't know what they would do with him. 319 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,360 But I knew his future wasn't too good, but... 320 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,480 I saw nothing else that I could do at the time. 321 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:44,880 VYTAUTAS URBONA KGB Interrogator 322 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:54,800 I will be talking about the criminal proceedings of Simas Kudirka. 323 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,160 I had to take on the case, as interrogator. 324 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:04,760 Simas said that... 325 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:07,880 all he wanted, 326 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,320 without any political agenda behind it, 327 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,280 is to get abroad 328 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:21,360 in order to earn some money 329 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,800 and buy a Grundig tape recorder. 330 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,280 For some reason, he liked that tape recorder very much 331 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,840 and he wanted to own it. 332 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:54,960 The case file states 333 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:59,840 that Simas, while being unsatisfied with the Soviet government 334 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:02,680 and having a motive to undermine it, 335 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:09,720 had betrayed his homeland by refusing to return to the USSR. 336 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,640 Here, the arrested was questioned. 337 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,600 He's got a wife, Kudirkiene Marija Genovaite. 338 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:31,360 A son, a daughter. She was born in 1960. 339 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,120 So she must have been 11 years old then. 340 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,880 And here is Simas Kudirka himself. 341 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,360 He looks pretty nice. 342 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,040 He doesn't look like I hurt him, no... 343 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,600 Television 7, Washington. 344 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:08,960 Good evening from Washington, 345 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,880 where President Nixon is about to meet reporters at the White House 346 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,840 in his first televised news conference since July. 347 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:16,200 Mr. President! 348 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,880 If you tell us your personal view on the defector problem, 349 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,640 this Lithuanian who was beaten on this Coast Guard. 350 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:32,400 As I already indicated, I was, as an American, outraged and shocked 351 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,160 that this could happen. 352 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,400 I regret that the procedures 353 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,840 of the Coast Guard informing the State Department, 354 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,080 the State Department informing the White House, 355 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,040 were not adequate to bring the matter to my attention. 356 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,440 I can assure you, it will never happen again. 357 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:52,360 The United States of America for 190 years has had a proud tradition 358 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,960 of providing opportunities for refugees 359 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,480 and guaranteeing their safety and we are going to meet that tradition. 360 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:01,760 Mr. President! 361 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,040 The White House says that President Nixon got the full details 362 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,040 only by reading news reports over the past weekend. 363 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,080 Today the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 364 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:12,960 Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, 365 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,320 said the United States may have violated an international convention 366 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,280 on legal and political protection for refugees. 367 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,960 Today that incident has grown to one of major proportions, 368 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,960 echoing all the way from Martha's Vineyard to the White House. 369 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,440 Inside, the Coast Guard was quietly convening 370 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,920 an official board of investigation on the case. 371 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,400 The Captain and crew of the Coast Guard cutter Vigilant 372 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,120 aboard which the seaman had sought asylum, were first to testify. 373 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:45,760 I was directed to return the man to the custody of the Soviet government. 374 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,480 I turned the man over to the Soviet party aboard here. 375 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,400 They placed him under arrest and... 376 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,360 forcibly returned him to the Soviet vessel. 377 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,120 The Captain of the Coast Guard ship, 378 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,520 when he was ordered to turn the defector back to the Russians, 379 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,440 followed his orders, but he was in tears when he did so. 380 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,520 That's from a civilian who was aboard, Robert Brieze, 381 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,360 he was out there representing the local sea food association. 382 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:19,280 Robert Brieze, himself a defector from Soviet occupied Latvia in 1944, 383 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,680 described what happened aboard the Vigilant on Thanksgiving Day. 384 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,440 Captain was emotional, 385 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,640 he was, in one moment, in tears, 386 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,840 then he say, "Bob, I know, 387 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:40,000 "this man could be punished, 388 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:41,600 "maybe by death. 389 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:46,520 "But I have to fulfill my higher commander's orders." 390 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,560 Immigrants from Iron Curtain countries marched here for the 3rd strike day 391 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,000 in protest against our return of the Lithuanian sailor. 392 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:01,600 In Washington, developments continued today. 393 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,360 The emotion mounted over the weekend, 394 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,520 as demonstrations hit the streets in Boston, 395 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:07,840 Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago. 396 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,400 When Simas Kudirka was dragged 397 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,720 and beaten by the communist commissars... 398 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,160 When all hope was gone, 399 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:25,160 I promised myself to tell the story of Simas Kudirka. 400 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:30,680 Simas Kudirka may be dead but we cannot forget him. 401 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,360 On November 23rd, 1970, 402 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,080 a Lithuanian sailor was denied asylum on United States territory. 403 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,360 The U.S. government's embarrassment over the asylum incident 404 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,760 spread like ideological measles today. 405 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,120 White House spokesman Ron Ziegler 406 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,400 said the situation was very poorly handled, 407 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,520 obviously an error in someone's judgment. 408 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,680 We are angry and we are tired. 409 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,920 But we will protest, again and again. 410 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:07,360 Until the people responsible for this deplorable act against human rights... 411 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,400 Make the Baltic States free! 412 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:18,280 The State Department fingers the Coast Guard for prime responsibility 413 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,000 in allowing Russians to board an American ship, 414 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,200 to beat a Russian citizen into a state of unconsciousness 415 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,720 and then to drag him back to their own ship. 416 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:31,920 Three Coast Guard officers have now been suspended 417 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:33,440 during the investigation. 418 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:35,040 They are: R. Adm. William Ellis, 419 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,520 Commandant of the 1st Coast Guard district, Boston, 420 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:39,840 his Chief of staff, Capt. Fletcher Brown 421 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,640 and Commander Ralph Eustis, skipper of the Vigilant. 422 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,200 R. Adm. William Ellis told the subcommittee 423 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:49,040 he considered his decision to return Kudirka reasonable and proper. 424 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:50,280 Ellis told the committee 425 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,080 he didn't believe any real harm would come to the seaman. 426 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,600 He did not believe the Russians were barbarians. 427 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,120 This seemed to anger Hayes, 428 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,800 who then suggested there was a large gap in the Admiral's education 429 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,600 that might be filled by a trip to Russia. 430 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:07,720 There were blows struck? 431 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:09,520 Yes, there most certainly were, 432 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:14,560 however they were all struck in the attempt to keep him subdued 433 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:17,000 and restrain him so he could be returned. 434 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,000 The Vigilant goes to sea tomorrow. 435 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:22,840 It's not likely that the crew will be presented with another defector 436 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:24,840 but if they are, this time... 437 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:32,360 I've had to go on with my life, 438 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,560 the change of career, 439 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:38,320 and the memories that... 440 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:43,040 Often you think and you wonder what could you've done that day 441 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,400 to have made things come out differently, but... 442 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:59,080 FORMER KGB PRISON Vilnius Lithuania 443 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:13,480 Here's no. 12, 444 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,880 and here is no. 13. 445 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,080 Good evening, 446 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,920 an old occupant of this cell has returned. 447 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:28,600 It's strange, it doesn't look the same. 448 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:36,040 It looks different to me now, even if you put a gun to my head. 449 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,280 I don't recognize my place. 450 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,800 There should be a toilet. Where is the toilet? 451 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,200 This was my home. 452 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,920 Oh, God. Poor guys, Jesus. 453 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:58,280 Vytukas, Jesus, here? My god, Vytulis! 454 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,240 Poor guys... 455 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,120 Vytelis... Poor guy. 456 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,920 Simas Kudirka has now been sentenced by a Soviet court 457 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,080 to 10 years in prison on the charge of treason. 458 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:59,200 Demand release of Simas Kudirka and his family to the free world! 459 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:06,880 QUEENS New York, USA 460 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,440 At the time, I was raising five sons, they were young, 461 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,400 I was not involved in politics. 462 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,600 And I said, "Something has to be done, 463 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:20,960 "something has to be done to correct this horrible injustice." 464 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:24,760 I was burning with this thing. And I wasn't gonna let go, 465 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:28,960 until I felt that we did everything possible to get him back. 466 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,040 So we organized little demonstrations 467 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:38,080 and we were raising young children, everybody had young kids, 468 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,000 so we were basically young mothers, 469 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,640 and tried to come up with different ways 470 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:47,760 that maybe we could do something. 471 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:49,920 Then, my husband found out, 472 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:54,880 and also what we found out from other escapees, and potential escapees, 473 00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:00,600 was that the Soviets had decided to broadcast 474 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:02,840 to all of their citizens 475 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:07,600 that if you try to escape, we have an agreement with the U.S. 476 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:09,400 and they will give you back. 477 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,640 Which in essence made the United States the jail keepers 478 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:15,280 for the Soviet Union. 479 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:22,120 Well, boy, you know, we have a historic policy on granting refuge 480 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,960 to people that are oppressed and fleeing oppression, 481 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:26,680 or fleeing persecution. 482 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:30,600 That's what our country stood for from its very beginnings. 483 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,800 This was an error, it was a mistake, it was a tragic mistake. 484 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,320 It does not represent any change 485 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,840 in the view and the people and the spirit of the United States. 486 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:41,920 Free the Baltic States, now! 487 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,280 ...perpetrated on Simas Kudirka will never happen again. 488 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,240 Thank you. God bless you. 489 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:13,160 Simas Kudirka has become an international symbol 490 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:15,120 of outrage of free men. 491 00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:21,920 Lithuanians, Cubans, Hungarians, Czechs, Polish, 492 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,560 all the people around the world who have lost 493 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:31,840 the most precious thing a human being can have, freedom, 494 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:33,640 must unite! 495 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:40,640 Throughout the United States there were a lot of people who were really upset, 496 00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:42,880 but nobody knew what to do. 497 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,880 I'm sure there were a lot of people who contacted their Congressmen 498 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:50,120 and their political representatives, to see if anything can be done, 499 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:52,040 but there was nothing anybody could do. 500 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:55,520 A month ago, sources in Moscow told the Associated Press 501 00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:57,920 that Lithuanian fisherman Simas Kudirka 502 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,040 was force fed to break a hunger strike that left him pale and weak, 503 00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:04,400 and that his wife has not been permitted to visit him 504 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:05,720 since January 1st. 505 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,160 The sources also say 506 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,920 secret police searched the homes of his friends and relatives... 507 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:13,600 This photo and a photo of my wife Genute 508 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,200 were given by me to the crew of the ship, 509 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,160 that's how it later got into the newspaper. 510 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:25,120 They brought me to Mordovia. From there to Perm. 511 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:30,600 Perm is near the Urals, so it's quite far off, it's cold there. 512 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:36,080 You can feel the breath of Siberia. 513 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:43,920 Pure horror. And here too. Everywhere was horrible. 514 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,360 Everywhere was horrible, but, Lord, this one... 515 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,360 And Vorkuta... God help us! 516 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:52,880 So over here... 517 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,000 Over here... 518 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:04,240 Right here we would spend: a day, a year, two years, 519 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:08,000 ten years, fifteen; solely in that territory. 520 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:12,800 You only leave for the cemetery or the hospital. 521 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:14,320 Or the court. 522 00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:17,280 Otherwise, you rot here. 523 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:24,600 A blanket of snow, meaning it's winter. We'd reach -50°C. 524 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:25,880 Very cold. 525 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,560 And a sparrow... 526 00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:31,920 And gone. 527 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:39,560 REQUIEM FOR SIMAS 528 00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:47,560 As the year went by, 529 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:50,480 and Simas was tried and sent to the labor camp, 530 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,560 it was just the idea was there, 531 00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:58,000 "Look, we did everything we could, and there is nothing more we can do." 532 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:00,120 And that was it. 533 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,640 "There's no way they're gonna release him." 534 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:21,800 The nights were so hard. 535 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,640 You wouldn't sob during the day, right? 536 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:29,760 I'm not as strong, as I may appear. 537 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:31,360 I'm not so strong. 538 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:37,040 What could I do about Genute, whom I loved dearly? 539 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:41,200 The children, my mom... What could I do? 540 00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:44,080 It's gone, lost, over! 541 00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:25,240 In August of 1973, 542 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:31,800 a letter came to my aunt in Waterbury, Connecticut, 543 00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:35,560 from her sister, who was in Griškabūdis, Lithuania. 544 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:38,440 And she said that she had met, 545 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,400 Ona said that she had met Maryte at the market. 546 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:44,760 And they start talking to each other. 547 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:52,600 So, during the conversation, they ask each other their maiden names. 548 00:43:54,520 --> 00:44:00,720 And, Maryte discovers that she and my aunt in Waterbury 549 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:02,240 know each other. 550 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:06,960 And that they were both born in the United States. 551 00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:12,200 And in the letter it said, "Maria is Simas' mother." 552 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,880 Now, she put the two together and then she thought, 553 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:19,040 I know Maria, I know Maria Kudirka, 554 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,880 she, like I, was born in the U.S. 555 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:27,200 and then repatriated back to Lithuania and was living in Lithuania. 556 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:33,520 She also remembered the name of the priest that baptized her. 557 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:36,280 And where the church was. 558 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:41,760 But this is like 1911-1918. We are talking about - way back. 559 00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:44,840 So my dad called some priest and said, 560 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:48,600 "Hey, where was this particular priest in that year?" 561 00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:53,080 After one day he calls my husband Romas back, 562 00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:55,880 and says, "You'll never believe it, but right in front of me 563 00:44:55,960 --> 00:45:00,520 "I have Simas Kudirka's mother's baptismal certificate, 564 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:04,760 "stating that, yes, she was born in the United States." 565 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:15,440 Wait a minute, maybe, 566 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:20,080 just maybe, Simas could be somehow an American citizen? 567 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:22,760 CHICAGO Illinois, USA 568 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,360 I was given an assignment by my group 569 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:29,080 to back a man running for Congress, Robert Hanrahan. 570 00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:31,600 I went to see him. 571 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:35,920 I said, "There are about 40,000 Lithuanians in your district, 572 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:39,320 "and we can get them to vote for you, 573 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:42,000 "but you have to speak up for Lithuanians." 574 00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:44,760 So he said, "I don't know anything about Lithuanians." 575 00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,680 So I said, "Did you hear about Simas Kudirka?" 576 00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:49,360 Yes, he heard something about him. 577 00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:53,920 And I wrote him a little one-page speech about Simas Kudirka. 578 00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:57,000 So he introduced himself, 579 00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:01,280 he read the statement about Kudirka and he got a standing ovation. 580 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:05,320 Come November 7, when I'm elected congressman, I will makes sure that... 581 00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:09,520 He called me and said, "Paul, what did you write, there is... 582 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,720 "It was fantastic! Everybody's applauding. I'm a hero." 583 00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:19,320 I'm being sincere, I want to get this man out of the concentration camp. 584 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,720 He got to the House of Representatives 585 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:27,160 just about the time when Mrs. Kezys and Mrs. Paegle discovered the documents. 586 00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:31,840 And he started representing Kudirka in the House of Representatives, 587 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:34,160 raising the issue constantly. 588 00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:36,760 The very first resolution, 589 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:39,760 which, by the way, was signed by Republicans, Democrats, 590 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:41,440 Liberals, Conservatives... 591 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:43,640 Yeah, they were happy to sign the Resolution, 592 00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:46,120 but they said, "Bobby, you've got rocks in your head. 593 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:50,320 "There's no way you gonna get him out of that concentration camp." 594 00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:56,560 Then we spoke to the attorney. 595 00:46:57,080 --> 00:46:59,800 Because the attorney was the one who said, 596 00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:02,960 "Alright, the mother was born in the United States, 597 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,680 "but you need the father also to be an American citizen." 598 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:10,280 So now we have a big problem: how do we find Simas's father? 599 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:17,800 As it turned out, we found out that Simas was illegitimate, 600 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:19,880 that Simas did not have a father. 601 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,520 So now you have... When you think about it, my God... 602 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:28,960 In those days when she was pregnant in a Catholic country, 603 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:32,440 I am sure it was a horrible thing for her. 604 00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:35,400 And to have that be the thing 605 00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:40,200 that someday might save her son's life... It's just unbelievable. 606 00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:42,240 Talk about destiny. 607 00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:55,680 Red prisoner may be a U.S. citizen 608 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:07,920 Then, my husband said, 609 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:11,040 "You're calling Lithuania. You're calling Griškabūdis." 610 00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:13,920 And I was like, "What am I supposed to say?" 611 00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:20,160 He said, "I don't know, just talk. Just make a connection, talk." 612 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:23,000 OCTOBER 1973 613 00:48:23,080 --> 00:48:26,280 A call to the post office in Griškabūdis village, 614 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:28,120 Soviet occupied Lithuania 615 00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:38,200 Is this Griškabūdis? This is Grazina... Is this Griškabūdis? 616 00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:40,400 - Hello! - Hello! 617 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:46,720 A lot of the townspeople, the village people, 618 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:50,040 were telling her that this is a provocation, 619 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:52,040 that this is the KGB doing it. 620 00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:57,960 Because how can you possibly have wires going across the Atlantic? 621 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:03,120 So there's no way you could have America calling you. 622 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,800 She said that well, 623 00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:11,120 I had an American accent, I did not have a Russian accent, 624 00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:13,840 and so she said, "You have to trust somebody." 625 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:18,080 So she was going to continue talking to me and trust me to some extent. 626 00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:22,440 She had to go to the American embassy in Moscow 627 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:27,840 and prove to American authorities that she is an American citizen. 628 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:30,960 You described the mother as a spunky woman, 629 00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:32,920 why do you say that, what's she like? 630 00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:34,680 Well, the mother... 631 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:37,200 she is the one... 632 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:40,640 After we established a reliable contact with her 633 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:44,760 it was up to her to get through the encirclement 634 00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,920 that the Soviets have round the American embassy. 635 00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:51,720 And to reach the American officials in the embassy in Moscow 636 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,440 and establish her citizenship claims. 637 00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:58,720 And the lady was arrested on the road once 638 00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:02,920 and her escort was arrested a couple of times, and on the third time, 639 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,720 I think, thanks in large part to the news media 640 00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:07,520 who knew that she was coming through there, 641 00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:11,040 they were watching every move of the bureaucracies involved, 642 00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:12,760 that she made it. 643 00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:15,600 We heard it on the radio. 644 00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:19,800 It was on national news and we were driving, 645 00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,400 and, "Simas Kudirka has been declared an American citizen." 646 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:24,880 It was like "Wow!" 647 00:50:30,680 --> 00:50:32,240 But how do you get him out? 648 00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:36,800 We had to believe that he was still alive. 649 00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:42,640 Lithuanian fisherman Simas Kudirka never made it to freedom, 650 00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:46,440 since U.S. officials let the Soviets shanghai him from an American ship. 651 00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:49,560 Nevertheless, his unhappy presence lingers over Washington. 652 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:51,480 The State Department has appealed to the Russians 653 00:50:51,560 --> 00:50:54,760 to return the would-be defector to American custody. 654 00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:57,520 At a meeting yesterday, revealed only today, 655 00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:01,160 Russia's number two diplomat disdainfully rejected this appeal, 656 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:04,080 adding, "The defector is a criminal, 657 00:51:04,160 --> 00:51:07,760 "the administration is guilty of a deliberate anti-Soviet campaign 658 00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:10,520 "and Moscow considers the case closed." 659 00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:17,240 ASK FOR AMNESTY HELP HIS FAMILY 660 00:51:17,360 --> 00:51:19,360 AID HIS COUTRY 661 00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:23,160 Let Soviet Citizens Emigrate 662 00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:41,840 ...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. 663 00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:44,360 ...the Constitution of the United States. 664 00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:46,520 - So help me God. - So help me God. 665 00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:49,240 Congratulations, Mr. President. 666 00:52:04,240 --> 00:52:07,440 Congressman Robert Hanrahan went to President Ford. 667 00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:13,960 Hanrahan sold him, said, "I need you to save Simas Kudirka, 668 00:52:14,040 --> 00:52:18,840 "whose mom was an American citizen, so you could and should get him back. 669 00:52:19,880 --> 00:52:22,920 "And it will help my elections, my re-elections." 670 00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:26,840 So it was practical, not idealistic, it was good politics. 671 00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:31,120 So, I go on my regular call, 672 00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:37,680 and this time, I call, and it's the aunt that wrote the letter. 673 00:52:39,120 --> 00:52:40,560 She's on the phone. 674 00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:43,480 And she said, "Maryte didn't come today. 675 00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:46,760 "Because your 'cousin' is home." 676 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:52,040 "You've got to be kidding, what are you talking about? 677 00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:54,320 "That Simas is home?" 678 00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,120 And then immediately I call Congress. 679 00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:06,880 And I start, I tell the Congressional people 680 00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:09,320 of my latest telephone conversation. 681 00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:11,680 And they call the State Department, 682 00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:15,440 and State Department says, "We don't know anything about it." 683 00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:27,960 Dr. HENRY A. KISSINGER Former U.S. Secretary of State 684 00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:44,200 Kudirka has been released from detentiona as a result of a Pardon. 685 00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:50,040 I must be frank to say that nobody thought that this would ever happen. 686 00:53:51,600 --> 00:53:58,160 And then, the Soviets seemed to think, and they were right, 687 00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:01,800 that improving the relations with the American President 688 00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:05,040 was important to them. 689 00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:09,480 The door opens, 690 00:54:09,560 --> 00:54:12,480 and they say, "Kudirka, pack your stuff." 691 00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:15,120 "Well, Kudirka, what did you dream last night?" 692 00:54:15,240 --> 00:54:17,880 I tell him, "Such is the palace and so are my dreams." 693 00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:21,240 Well, he says, "Don't joke!" 694 00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:27,160 He says, "Good news for you! Pleasant news." 695 00:54:27,240 --> 00:54:32,400 He says, "You who tried to defect, to leave, 696 00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:36,080 you are now going there. 697 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:38,440 You are free." 698 00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:43,160 Ford gave in and he talked to Brezhnev, 699 00:54:43,280 --> 00:54:46,120 and he got Brezhnev to release Simas Kudirka 700 00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:49,200 on condition that it would be after elections. 701 00:54:52,120 --> 00:54:53,360 God! 702 00:54:53,880 --> 00:54:55,640 But wait wait wait... 703 00:54:55,760 --> 00:55:00,000 He knew what would happen to prisoners that were suddenly released, 704 00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:03,080 they would never arrive at their destination. 705 00:55:03,160 --> 00:55:05,360 He had this fear that 706 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:08,080 "they're trying to get rid of me, they're trying to kill me..." 707 00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:14,240 I say, "You know what, it's been over three years." 708 00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:20,720 I say, "You showed me all the dirt of this place, 709 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:24,200 "and now you tell me that I'm free?" 710 00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:27,760 I say, "How can I believe you?" 711 00:55:28,080 --> 00:55:30,320 I'm, of course, an immigrant myself, 712 00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:33,320 so I'm always sympathetic to immigrants. 713 00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:37,360 But, I think, this was a special case. 714 00:55:53,880 --> 00:55:57,880 If you don't strive for the best, you will never make it. 715 00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:01,120 We are here 716 00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:03,960 to bear witness, 717 00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:07,280 that Gerald Ford always did his best. 718 00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:12,400 He stunned me in the fifth day in office, 719 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:18,480 when he used the first call to him by the Soviet ambassador 720 00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:24,000 to intervene on behalf of a Lithuanian seaman. 721 00:56:24,800 --> 00:56:27,920 Against all diplomatic precedent 722 00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:32,720 and, I must say, against the advice of all experts, 723 00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:40,240 Gerald Ford requested that the seaman in a Soviet jail, 724 00:56:43,080 --> 00:56:44,880 not only be released, 725 00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:49,680 but be turned over to American custody. 726 00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:55,800 He did this as a gesture to one human being. 727 00:56:56,960 --> 00:57:02,440 It was amazing, it showed the advantages of innocence, 728 00:57:03,520 --> 00:57:08,840 because no professional diplomat would ever have done that. 729 00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:12,480 It was a great tribute to Ford. 730 00:57:13,720 --> 00:57:16,440 A great thing for America 731 00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:20,640 and wonderful for the world. 732 00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:23,960 NOVEMBER 1974 733 00:57:24,120 --> 00:57:26,160 - Hello? - What did she say? 734 00:57:26,320 --> 00:57:28,360 - Good day. - Hello, Simas. 735 00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:32,960 Simas, here is congressman Hanrahan. He wants to talk to you a little bit. 736 00:57:33,320 --> 00:57:36,480 Jesus, that makes me uneasy... 737 00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:39,560 - Why? - I am just a small man... 738 00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:46,080 Dearest Grazina, please tell me what to bring 739 00:57:46,160 --> 00:57:50,880 because we'll have to fly soon, with my dear wife and the kids. 740 00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:53,560 Tell me about the bedding. Should we take it with us? 741 00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:56,080 Leave it, don't worry about that! 742 00:57:56,160 --> 00:57:57,280 OK... 743 00:57:57,400 --> 00:58:00,200 Simas, wait a bit, the congressman wants to talk with you. 744 00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:01,440 OK... 745 00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:03,120 - Simas?! - Yes. 746 00:58:03,200 --> 00:58:04,680 This is congressman Hanrahan. 747 00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:07,920 This is a great honor for me to talk to you this morning. 748 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:10,760 I want you to know that you have many friends here in the United States, 749 00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:14,880 in Congress, who are very happy to learn of your return home 750 00:58:14,960 --> 00:58:17,640 out of the concentration camp, and to know that you are well. 751 00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:20,960 And I hope to see you very very soon here in the United States. 752 00:59:05,200 --> 00:59:09,280 Simas Kudirka was in Siberian prison camps for 4 years. 753 00:59:09,360 --> 00:59:13,640 Now he's free, on American soil and he can't believe it. 754 00:59:13,760 --> 00:59:15,560 Kudirka doesn't speak English, 755 00:59:15,640 --> 00:59:18,280 but in halting German, he told me it was like a dream. 756 00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:20,520 "My heart is full," he said. 757 00:59:20,600 --> 00:59:23,280 "It's so beautiful here, there are no prisons!" 758 00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:26,120 Liberty! 759 00:59:26,200 --> 00:59:29,200 Freedom, yes! Freedom! This is my mother. 760 00:59:31,840 --> 00:59:33,760 What did you do today, sir? 761 00:59:33,960 --> 00:59:40,000 We went in shop, in shops... American shops. 762 00:59:40,760 --> 00:59:42,520 It is wonderful! 763 00:59:44,560 --> 00:59:47,080 What did you see that you liked most? 764 00:59:47,880 --> 00:59:49,640 I don't understand! 765 00:59:50,680 --> 00:59:51,880 Excuse me. 766 00:59:52,640 --> 00:59:55,880 His 8-year-old son couldn't understand his new American playmates, 767 00:59:55,960 --> 00:59:57,920 but they got along just fine. 768 01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:06,560 The son, the wife, the grandmother, the daughter. 769 01:00:13,120 --> 01:00:15,920 I would like to take this opportunity to welcome 770 01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:18,000 Mr. Kudirka and his family. 771 01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:29,440 He brought with him his wife, his 67 year old mother and two children. 772 01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:36,000 I feel like I have just left hell. 773 01:00:41,760 --> 01:00:44,600 And your struggle saved my life! 774 01:01:07,880 --> 01:01:09,400 Gentleman by the name Kudirka 775 01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:11,400 probably has done as much for freedom, 776 01:01:11,560 --> 01:01:14,000 and as much for getting America back on track 777 01:01:14,120 --> 01:01:16,640 as anybody has done in a long period of time. 778 01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:22,560 I think the most important thing that he has done 779 01:01:22,640 --> 01:01:26,400 is to go around the United States and let people know 780 01:01:26,480 --> 01:01:29,840 just exactly what life is behind The Iron Curtain. 781 01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:05,960 THE BRONX New York, USA 782 01:02:16,400 --> 01:02:20,520 Simas Kudirka, today, he is the superintendent and part owner 783 01:02:20,600 --> 01:02:22,640 of an apartment building in The Bronx, New York. 784 01:02:23,080 --> 01:02:25,720 There is nothing dramatic about what he does now, 785 01:02:25,800 --> 01:02:28,800 just the ordinary routine of keeping his building in shape, 786 01:02:28,880 --> 01:02:31,280 providing for his wife and two children. 787 01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:41,120 It is in this ceremony, which he conducts every day, 788 01:02:41,200 --> 01:02:44,440 that Simas Kudirka begins to reveal an extraordinary devotion 789 01:02:44,520 --> 01:02:47,080 to what many others casually take for granted. 790 01:02:47,560 --> 01:02:50,120 It is in the simple raising of the American flag 791 01:02:50,200 --> 01:02:51,840 that this native of Lithuania 792 01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:55,640 brings the human rights issue down to fundamentals. 793 01:03:00,440 --> 01:03:03,360 It was 1976. 794 01:03:07,080 --> 01:03:10,680 This was the living room. Here. 795 01:03:11,160 --> 01:03:13,960 And over there was the bedroom. 796 01:03:14,480 --> 01:03:17,560 So, this used to be our wigwam. 797 01:03:17,680 --> 01:03:21,520 Our property was behind these bars. 798 01:03:25,200 --> 01:03:26,400 With the help of the interpreter 799 01:03:26,480 --> 01:03:28,960 we talked with Simas Kudirka in his Bronx home. 800 01:03:29,800 --> 01:03:33,600 When you first got to the United States, what was your initial reaction? 801 01:03:34,800 --> 01:03:37,600 I was shocked. 802 01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:40,920 Richness in airport... 803 01:03:41,960 --> 01:03:43,080 Too rich! 804 01:03:43,160 --> 01:03:46,200 In airport was under carpets! 805 01:03:47,680 --> 01:03:53,920 Without barbed wires and without towers with machine guns. 806 01:03:54,320 --> 01:03:58,160 It is ocean of food, ocean of clothes. 807 01:03:58,720 --> 01:04:02,720 When you walk out, you live in a crowded part of New York, 808 01:04:02,800 --> 01:04:05,000 the streets are narrow, 809 01:04:05,080 --> 01:04:09,360 there's garbage in the street, it's dirty, the people... 810 01:04:09,440 --> 01:04:10,720 You're a foreigner. 811 01:04:10,880 --> 01:04:17,240 In our garbage we have so much things. 812 01:04:17,320 --> 01:04:18,880 - In the garbage? - Yes. 813 01:04:18,960 --> 01:04:22,240 What you see, my receiver is from garbage. 814 01:04:22,360 --> 01:04:23,720 TV - from garbage. 815 01:04:23,800 --> 01:04:28,840 My God! For this TV I must work one year in Russia! 816 01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:31,800 - You can, this... - What do you mean? 817 01:04:32,320 --> 01:04:34,800 - You picked them up on the street? - Yes! 818 01:04:35,760 --> 01:04:39,720 - Stereo, my God, this is stereo! - You think we Americans waste a lot? 819 01:04:40,600 --> 01:04:44,680 Americans are so rich. 820 01:04:44,760 --> 01:04:46,560 And... 821 01:04:47,960 --> 01:04:50,600 Not appreciate... how to say this? 822 01:04:50,680 --> 01:04:54,440 Not evaluate, not appreciate what they have. 823 01:04:55,040 --> 01:04:56,960 Stereo music... 824 01:04:57,040 --> 01:05:01,160 it is unbelievable, rich for soul! 825 01:05:01,480 --> 01:05:07,640 I cry, when I hear beautiful music. Why people need drugs? 826 01:05:08,040 --> 01:05:09,440 In America! 827 01:05:09,920 --> 01:05:15,480 In Russia, yeah, drinkers, drinkers, because conditions... 828 01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:23,120 Dante's "Inferno!" 829 01:05:23,520 --> 01:05:24,840 Maybe worse. 830 01:05:25,560 --> 01:05:28,200 Then we drinking. But in America... 831 01:05:40,880 --> 01:05:42,920 - Barbara! - Simas! 832 01:05:43,040 --> 01:05:44,120 This is you? 833 01:05:45,480 --> 01:05:47,560 - Dear Barbara! - How are you? 834 01:05:47,640 --> 01:05:49,000 You look good! 835 01:05:49,560 --> 01:05:52,520 You think? I lost my tooth. 836 01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:56,240 - You what? - Lost tooth. I fight, I fight. 837 01:05:56,320 --> 01:05:57,400 - You're boxing? - Yeah. 838 01:05:58,840 --> 01:06:00,400 No, I kidding... 839 01:06:05,880 --> 01:06:08,560 - That's the thing about you! - Barbara, my God! 840 01:06:08,640 --> 01:06:10,560 Where is yours? It is five. 841 01:06:10,680 --> 01:06:13,280 - Right, you remember? - Of course I remember. 842 01:06:13,360 --> 01:06:15,960 Oh my God, you really fixed up the place. 843 01:06:16,040 --> 01:06:19,280 Remember, how Genele painted windows? 844 01:06:19,360 --> 01:06:20,440 Right! 845 01:06:21,520 --> 01:06:23,880 So are you still a celebrity? 846 01:06:24,680 --> 01:06:28,680 Do you remember when you were a super here and every day 847 01:06:28,760 --> 01:06:32,240 they used to come in with the cameras and video you? 848 01:06:32,320 --> 01:06:35,280 And from the TV stations? 849 01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:36,840 Right! 850 01:06:36,920 --> 01:06:40,080 And once, they put up a flag over here, 851 01:06:40,160 --> 01:06:44,160 and you had to raise the American flag up for the program? 852 01:06:44,240 --> 01:06:46,880 We never had a flag there since! You know that? 853 01:06:47,000 --> 01:06:49,680 - You never have? - No. No. Never. 854 01:06:49,760 --> 01:06:53,600 You, damn it, American! A flag! 855 01:06:53,920 --> 01:06:54,960 Be patriot! 856 01:06:57,200 --> 01:06:59,400 In the meantime, I'm thinking about something else. 857 01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:04,960 Do you remember the movie that they made about your whole story? 858 01:07:05,040 --> 01:07:06,920 It was on the television and everything. 859 01:07:07,600 --> 01:07:10,720 And you know that when that movie was on, 860 01:07:10,800 --> 01:07:15,200 everybody in this building stayed home and watched it. 861 01:07:15,600 --> 01:07:18,560 People in the neighborhood who knew about you, they stayed home. 862 01:07:18,640 --> 01:07:22,480 It was quiet on the street here, because you were a celebrity. 863 01:07:24,120 --> 01:07:26,200 Why jump ship? 864 01:07:26,800 --> 01:07:30,200 America, free. I want free. 865 01:07:30,280 --> 01:07:32,440 - He has requested asylum. - No! 866 01:07:33,280 --> 01:07:35,840 Alan Arkin, Richard Jordan, 867 01:07:35,920 --> 01:07:38,600 Donald Pleasence, Shirley Knight... 868 01:07:43,240 --> 01:07:45,480 "The Defection of Simas Kudirka" next! 869 01:07:53,840 --> 01:07:56,120 Kudirka! What are you doing here? 870 01:07:56,200 --> 01:07:58,240 I don't really have time to talk now. Excuse me. 871 01:08:01,040 --> 01:08:02,160 Simas Kudirka! 872 01:08:03,520 --> 01:08:04,720 Come with me. 873 01:08:25,760 --> 01:08:30,280 My God, when movie was... 874 01:08:30,560 --> 01:08:33,400 ...when started movie about defection, 875 01:08:33,480 --> 01:08:38,880 from kids around United States we have thousands of letters. 876 01:08:38,960 --> 01:08:42,160 It is full box of letters. 877 01:08:43,120 --> 01:08:45,160 How to answer, tell me? 878 01:08:45,240 --> 01:08:48,960 And everybody, everybody asking how you feel, 879 01:08:49,040 --> 01:08:52,960 how was there, how was situation, 880 01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:56,200 how you healthy... Ta ta ta, very interesting... 881 01:08:57,200 --> 01:08:58,480 Very interesting. 882 01:09:03,080 --> 01:09:04,880 - It is you? - It is me! 883 01:09:04,960 --> 01:09:08,000 - Here, Simas! - Oh my goodness, Simas, come on in! 884 01:09:08,080 --> 01:09:10,280 Oh my goodness, you are a hero. 885 01:09:12,720 --> 01:09:14,680 Years upon years upon years... 886 01:09:15,480 --> 01:09:18,520 - Tell me, you are a hero... - Oh my goodness, hello! 887 01:09:19,800 --> 01:09:21,680 Today I have here... 888 01:09:22,120 --> 01:09:25,600 And if you read, maybe you... 889 01:09:26,040 --> 01:09:30,840 - I'm gonna cry. - Maybe you remember... 890 01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:37,960 And I, in person, I thank you for your good heart. 891 01:09:38,440 --> 01:09:41,520 I'm a 13 year old student at Holy Assumption school, 892 01:09:41,600 --> 01:09:44,480 writing to you in response of the television program 893 01:09:44,560 --> 01:09:46,360 "The Defection of Simas Kudirka." 894 01:09:46,880 --> 01:09:50,840 This is back in the seventies. I just bought it and watched it. 895 01:09:50,920 --> 01:09:55,360 But when I was thirteen, I saw it for the first time, 896 01:09:55,440 --> 01:09:58,160 it touched my heart, and I never forgot it. 897 01:09:58,240 --> 01:10:00,360 - Kitchen... - This is where the cooking happens. 898 01:10:00,440 --> 01:10:04,200 And here is your small damned American refrigerator. 899 01:10:04,960 --> 01:10:08,360 It is small. You can live inside. 900 01:10:08,440 --> 01:10:12,840 Yeah, you see, you are asking what kind of work... 901 01:10:13,800 --> 01:10:16,840 Like today Mexicans, refugees... 902 01:10:17,840 --> 01:10:21,480 Getting, what? Grass cutting. 903 01:10:22,280 --> 01:10:24,120 - Gardeners. - Do whatever you can. 904 01:10:24,200 --> 01:10:26,400 - We did the same. - OK. 905 01:10:26,480 --> 01:10:28,520 Toilet cleaning, and... 906 01:10:28,600 --> 01:10:32,400 What need... dirty jobs... Scraping, painting... 907 01:10:33,240 --> 01:10:36,880 Until this story, it put something in my mind: 908 01:10:36,960 --> 01:10:40,200 You know that... Why do people want to come here so bad? 909 01:10:40,280 --> 01:10:41,360 What is here? 910 01:10:41,440 --> 01:10:44,240 And you know, one thing it really taught me is, 911 01:10:44,320 --> 01:10:45,840 I wanna help immigrants. 912 01:10:46,560 --> 01:10:49,520 And I think it stemmed from around this time. 913 01:10:49,600 --> 01:10:51,640 You are a hero! This is amazing to me! 914 01:10:51,720 --> 01:10:54,000 No, no, I do not joke! 915 01:10:54,080 --> 01:10:56,080 - I take my shoes off. - No, you don't need to. 916 01:10:56,160 --> 01:10:58,600 You are my guest! Leave them on, please come in. 917 01:10:58,680 --> 01:10:59,880 No, no, no... 918 01:11:01,000 --> 01:11:06,280 - In Europe, I learn something. - Oh my goodness... 919 01:11:06,360 --> 01:11:11,480 Here is your creative corner... 920 01:11:11,560 --> 01:11:13,160 Where I stand, here? 921 01:11:14,040 --> 01:11:15,560 How I must jump? 922 01:11:15,720 --> 01:11:19,760 I'm gonna have you stand over here and jump. 923 01:11:19,840 --> 01:11:21,600 OK? And I'll tell you when to go. 924 01:11:21,680 --> 01:11:22,840 Go! 925 01:11:26,040 --> 01:11:28,560 - It's good or not? - It's perfect! 926 01:11:28,640 --> 01:11:31,360 OK, on three. One two three, go! 927 01:11:34,360 --> 01:11:37,040 OK, great! That's wonderful! 928 01:11:37,120 --> 01:11:39,120 Good job! 929 01:11:39,240 --> 01:11:40,320 OK, ready, go! 930 01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:44,520 Again, a hidden challenge for a panel, 931 01:11:44,600 --> 01:11:46,960 at this time you are going after an international story. 932 01:11:47,080 --> 01:11:48,240 Betty, would you start for us, please. 933 01:11:48,360 --> 01:11:49,680 The music is rather gloomy. 934 01:11:49,800 --> 01:11:52,800 Is this a story that is filled with suspense and danger? 935 01:11:53,840 --> 01:11:57,040 Would you call it dangerous, your story, Sir? 936 01:11:57,600 --> 01:11:58,600 I hope yeah. 937 01:11:59,960 --> 01:12:04,080 I was cleaning toilets. 938 01:12:05,280 --> 01:12:07,440 And later I was giving a speech. 939 01:12:07,720 --> 01:12:09,440 Is it a naval type story? 940 01:12:09,520 --> 01:12:13,200 I don't mean American navy, but were there ships involved? 941 01:12:13,280 --> 01:12:14,600 Was involved, yes. 942 01:12:14,680 --> 01:12:16,640 Yes, they were involved, but that's not the important thing, 943 01:12:16,720 --> 01:12:20,040 it's just that to be on water and not be wet, you have to be on a boat. 944 01:12:20,120 --> 01:12:21,640 What celebrity? 945 01:12:22,360 --> 01:12:24,720 Does that mean a celebrity? 946 01:12:25,520 --> 01:12:27,160 What kind of celebrity? 947 01:12:28,000 --> 01:12:30,040 I was a small fry there and here a small fry. 948 01:12:30,800 --> 01:12:32,800 Mr. Kudirka, we are very happy you could be with us in our program, 949 01:12:32,880 --> 01:12:34,520 we are very glad that your story has a happy ending, 950 01:12:34,600 --> 01:12:37,000 we wish you well in your new life in the United States, thank you. 951 01:12:41,880 --> 01:12:46,000 What does it matter that senators invited me 952 01:12:46,080 --> 01:12:50,000 to meet them, Senator Jackson, or Percy, or Javits... 953 01:12:50,080 --> 01:12:53,360 So what? What have they done? 954 01:12:53,440 --> 01:12:56,080 Nobody cared that there were Gulag camps, 955 01:12:56,160 --> 01:13:01,400 that millions of completely innocent people are crammed there, 956 01:13:01,480 --> 01:13:06,280 that they are starving there, and freezing... 957 01:13:06,880 --> 01:13:10,560 They knew nothing about it. 958 01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:13,840 Only those that took an interest knew, 959 01:13:13,920 --> 01:13:18,200 and there were very few of them. 960 01:13:28,280 --> 01:13:33,800 My first and foremost efforts were put into saving the political prisoners. 961 01:13:35,040 --> 01:13:40,000 All the places I went to, Venezuela, Argentina... 962 01:13:40,080 --> 01:13:44,760 I collected signatures, I sent petitions to the Pope, 963 01:13:44,840 --> 01:13:48,680 also to France, Germany, Australia. 964 01:13:50,920 --> 01:13:53,560 I did not rescue anybody. 965 01:13:53,640 --> 01:13:58,880 All my efforts came to nothing. 966 01:13:58,960 --> 01:14:02,760 All of them. I didn't save a single prisoner. 967 01:14:16,320 --> 01:14:20,520 How are you feeling now, what could you say to our viewers? 968 01:14:20,640 --> 01:14:24,760 Well, since then,a lot of water has flowed under the bridge 969 01:14:24,840 --> 01:14:31,040 and of course, my perception of the world has changed a bit. 970 01:14:32,000 --> 01:14:34,520 Palms always look pretty from afar, 971 01:14:34,600 --> 01:14:38,200 but when you come close, and need to trim them, 972 01:14:38,280 --> 01:14:40,400 they prick painfully. 973 01:14:41,160 --> 01:14:45,000 But life is following its own path... 974 01:15:17,480 --> 01:15:20,680 But why should I die in America 975 01:15:21,160 --> 01:15:23,920 and get buried somewhere 976 01:15:24,840 --> 01:15:30,040 when I have a homeland where my ancestors, my mommy, lie... 977 01:15:30,120 --> 01:15:32,240 Why should I die here? 978 01:16:09,400 --> 01:16:11,520 It's beautiful, but not for me. 979 01:16:19,720 --> 01:16:24,240 PILVIŠKIAI Lithuania 980 01:16:31,760 --> 01:16:34,120 I only hope the bugger won't break. 981 01:16:38,880 --> 01:16:41,480 Jesum Crow... How I've gained weight! 982 01:16:42,800 --> 01:16:45,800 That's it for me. No Pompidou. 983 01:18:08,560 --> 01:18:10,920 An execution is always political. 984 01:18:42,600 --> 01:18:43,960 Gena. 985 01:18:48,600 --> 01:18:50,000 Simi. 986 01:18:57,920 --> 01:18:59,040 It's over. 987 01:18:59,160 --> 01:19:01,960 This is so American in style. 988 01:19:06,280 --> 01:19:07,720 We are, Simas... 989 01:19:08,920 --> 01:19:13,120 It is all arranged, you, me, the children, mama, all of us. 990 01:19:13,720 --> 01:19:15,480 We're going to America! 991 01:19:31,240 --> 01:19:36,120 If that were a dream, you wake up and everything's OK. 992 01:19:37,520 --> 01:19:40,160 But, by golly, it wasn't a dream. 993 01:19:40,760 --> 01:19:42,760 It comes at a price. 994 01:20:02,880 --> 01:20:08,800 In 2007 Simas Kudirka and his wife Gene returned to independent Lithuania. 995 01:20:09,320 --> 01:20:12,400 Gene passed away in 2015. 996 01:20:12,520 --> 01:20:17,360 Their children remain in the United States. 997 01:20:49,800 --> 01:20:54,800 Revised and Synchronized by FAST TITLES MEDIA