A Star Media Production Maria Poroshina Olga Arntgoltz Konstantin Milovanov Viktor Horinyak Pavel Delong Anna Arefyeva Roman Kurtsyn, Olga Makeeva Yelena Dudich, Anastasiya Lukyanova Vitalina Bibliv, Nataliya Vasko Nikolay Boklan, Vitaliy Linetsky Directed by Dmitriy Petrun Written by Natalia Shimboretskaya In cooperation with Yelena Belenko Score by Daniil Yudelevich Director of Photography Aleksandr Krishtalovich Art Director Vadim Shinkaryov Sound Design by Yegor Irodov Edited by Valeriy Kuzmichev Executive Producers Anton Mikhaylov, Dmitriy Olenich Produced by Yekaterina Yefanova, Galina Balan-Timkina, Vlad Ryashin Officers’ Wives May 1945, Gunthershei Mansion, East Germany. Episode Seven

What a shame… The mine was ours, Lyokha. Ours, do you get it? Who can know how we’ll die? The regiment next to us, they shot 10 people in front of their lines for raping German women. They’d gotten all the way to Berlin! They should have died fighting, not like that. Why did they have to force those German women? They offer it themselves, for food. Like dogs looking for a new owner. The place is a palace. These people had everything. What the hell did they want from us poor bastards? People? They aren’t people, they’re monsters. You dare touch a woman with a child? What, are you Russian? Valery Osinsky. Where are you from, Grandpa? Did they bring you here to work, too? I left Russia almost thirty years ago. I worked here as a steward. For the SS bastard? Why didn’t you run away with him? It’s too late for me to run away. And I have nowhere to go. Have a drink. To our fallen friends.

May 1945, Moscow Hats off! Is this how you stand before your superiors? Had you war, didn’t you? What’s wrong? Well, now you’ll work for us until you die. They’re beasts. Their sugar ration is 80g per person. Even our civilians have less. What, do our people have to starve because of them now? And you know, compassion is out of vogue. Hrapov, come here. Take this, please. This is all I know how to do. I really need bread. Please, I’m very hungry. Help me, please. This is my Russian girl. She’s my wife. I have to find her. Please, help her. Here, this woman is my Russian wife. Do you know her? Bastard. Is it yours? Is it yours to give away? Come here.

[Oh God.] [What are you doing, you bastard?] Freeze. Belay that! Hrapov, Freeze! Hrapov, belay! I said belay, Hrapov! Gun… Lyosha, this is a fact. I know they even send windows. They take them out with the frames and put them in a parcel. What can you do? Back home, there are no intact windows left. German doormats say “Don’t take what isn’t yours, take care of what is.” They stole half of what our country had, we’re taking it back. And you, Prince. If you went out to teach us how to live, go back inside. Hearing my mother tongue excites me. I desperately miss Russia. By the way, back home, your Germans killed his entire family. ‒  And he… ‒  Lionya… Okay, I’ll send it myself, in your name. And you, keep being self-conscious. ‒  Be self-conscious, Lionya… ‒  Prince, please. I will admit, I am happy to listen to everything.

Even your swear words and your insults. Gunther… I’ve lost Gunther… We were waiting in line for food. Has he come home? – What does she want? – Her son is missing. I don’t know where to look for him. Elsa. What about a photo? – What? – Is there a photograph? Here, he’s just one year old. Now he’s four. – Hey, have you seen this kid? – No, I haven’t. Have you seen this boy? They all look the same to me. Have you seen the kid? This boy, have you seen him? Elsa! Elsa! Your boy’s here. Come here. What? This boy? Come on, come here, quick. Gunther, how did you end up here? Calm down, mother, hold the photograph. – Gunther! – Mom! – Okay… – Mommy, I fell down by accident. – Gunther! – Mom! – Gunther! Well? – I’m afraid. Are you okay? Let’s go upstairs.

I want to go home. ‒  Like this. ‒  Mom! Here you go. Gunther, my boy. I was so worried. Thank you. Well, you didn’t hurt yourself, did you, Don Quixote? Your arms and legs all right? Look at how upset your mom is. Hrapov’s entire family was killed. I’m not justifying it, but... We transferred him from the convoy. And you’re a doctor, right? Why are you here, working with the rest of us? I’m a doctor when there’s medicine and tools. Without it, I’m more useful working with my hands. Considering our losses, workers are really needed, even these. And you… I’ve looked at your personal file, Peter Agner… We got an order to ready the least guilty for the first departure to Germany. You fit the bill.

What? You don’t want to go home? I have a wife and a child here in Russia. I have to find them. A German wife? Russian. Wow… Who was it, a girl or a boy? I don’t know that yet… But I’m not going anywhere without them. Women don’t have to wear the band. It’s my husband. He was hiding, but they found him and killed him. I don’t want to lie to you. Your husband was with the SS, I get it. You give up. What now? Go, Elsa. My child… Go, Elsa! Kolya! Kolya! Kolya! How are you, are you okay? Somebody, help!

It’s okay, it’s okay… Okay, okay, okay… Well, your husband needs another medal for the wound. And light a candle to… somebody, for luck. Truth be told, he should be in a hospital. He won’t go to the hospital, we can’t make him. He practically ran away from there, and he’s trying to go back to his company. You see, the war’s over already… I’ve said all I had to say. With his leg wound, he has to be careful. Watch him. – Goodbye. – Goodbye. Seriously, how could it have happened? Right in our courtyard. Some thugs… What happened at the meeting? How’s the Marshal? They won’t send me back to the company, they say it’s because of the wound. I have to wait for a new posting. What do you mean, “they say”? You can barely walk. Katya, it’s just that I’ve been through this in ’38. First they don’t look you in the eye.

Then they relieve you of command for no real reason. And then… And that attack, does it have to do with that? I told you, just some thugs. The Army acts differently. Katya, Katya… Calm down. Calm down. Just sit here. Thank you for being here with me. May 1945. Stuttgart, Germany. Registration center. Get me the information, got it? All these documents… you did it wrong. Well then, we’ll have to redo it. What stamp do I have to put here? Where did you go? Look, I went there, they sent me to a secretary… Comrade Major General, I am… Nadya Antonova’s husband, Aleksei Terekhov. I’ve heard about you. The hero pilot. Not really a hero. There’s a lot of us. Don’t be so modest. Your Nadya wouldn’t stop talking about you back in Moscow. I’ve come about my sister. Tatyana Terekhova, born in 1927. Kidnapped in 1942. Can you help?

It’s like a sea of people here, you can drown. I don’t really deal with Osties… kidnapped forced laborers. Did you already know something about her? Tell it to me how it is. She’s the only family I have left. Tatyana Terekhova… according to our data… She died of typhus in April, 1944. – Hello. – Hello. – Hello. – Hello. – Good day. – Hello. All right, come on… Thank you, thank you! Happy holidays, my friends. At ease. Thank you. Let me go! Let me go! Nadya, Nadya, Ninel’s there! – What about Ninel? – She’s there… – Can you explain it coherently? – She was walking there… they grabbed her. She started screaming, and they started dragging her. To the basement. I’ll show you. All right. Stop right there, you’re not going anywhere. Go to your rooms. Nadya, you heard me. You’re not going anywhere either. Nadya! Where are you going? Nadya, please. Nadya, I’m begging you.

So, we’ve fed the birds, now we’re going to have some lunch ourselves. Careful, watch your feet. What is it, Jew girl? Don’t fight, you’ll like it. You’ll even say thanks. And we’ll say thanks for the apartment, for the General… Let her go! Will you look at that? The General’s daughter. I was beginning to miss you. I said let her go. Or what? Or it’s run for your life? What if you can’t run? Huh? Your hands are trembling. What? You going to shoot a living person? So here’s the new definition of being cheeky: To live with a soldier’s wife your entire life, and when you don’t find yourself in the award list, you make a scene. One second. – Fancy meeting you here. Good day. – Hello. On the other hand, where else would we meet? Nikolai. I’m just coming from the company. I haven’t had the time to visit. You know, too busy. My son’s growing up… my wife can’t handle that ruffian. His name is Miroslav, “Peace Lover”, but…

Are you all together? You’re like life partners. – Lilya! Lilya! – Come on, Katya, have a seat. Oh, sorry. Nikolai, are you still sore? Still thinking I’m a coward? You know, like someone said once, better a coward once than dead forever. Someone stupid said that. Nikolai, are we going to be like that forever? You’re not in the best position right now. And you’re doing your best to lose your friends. You have to be above staying mad. It’s not about being mad. – That’s what you taught me! It’s about principles. All right, Semyon, let’s not. Let sleeping dogs lie. But for now, a speech by Comrade Stalin. [Comrades! Men and women compatriots!] [The great day of victory over Germany has come.] [Fascist Germany, brought to her knees by the Red Army] [and the troops of our Allies, has acknowledged itself defeated…] Come on, let’s go, now. It’s bad. […and declared unconditional surrender.] Nikolai, come on! Come on! May 1945. Stuttgart, Germany. Officers’ dormitory. [I raise my glass to the health of our Soviet people.]

[To how great it is and to its tenacity and perseverance.] You can see the women have come. You can smell home-cooked food now. Maybe I should get married, too, huh, Lyosha? Any brides? It’ll be a bit stuffy in here for you. It’s okay, Nadya isn’t picky, and Viktor is still small… I had some help with the beds. Come on, help me. Okay. Where will you put it? Why do you even need a second one? What do you mean, why? Nadya will bring two kids, son and daughter. The commander said so, he got some papers… What daughter? Are you asking me? Your daughter, Lyosha. What, you didn’t know? It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. Ninel gave a statement. Dad explained everything about the gun. Can you hear me? It’s okay. I… I killed someone, Mom. Who said you killed them? Who said you did? They’re both alive. Do you hear me? And they got the third one.

Yeah… The police had been looking for those gangsters for 6 months. And Lyosha… They won’t let me go now? They will when they close the case. Come on, come on, come on. Get up. Let’s get out of here now. Right now, okay? Come on, come on, I’ll help you. Right, come on, come on, come on. Let’s go. Let’s go. Bon appetit. Thank you. Well, how’d it go with the commander? Did he confirm it or is it a mistake? No, Lionya, there is no mistake. I have a daughter. She was born in the fall of 1943. Nadya. She’s almost two now. I don’t get it. When you went to Moscow back then, was she… there already? Why didn’t Nadya tell you anything, then? Lionya, it’s not my daughter. Maybe that’s why Nadya doesn’t want to come. Tell me, Prince, do the Germans really think Russians are lazy? There is a belief akin to that, yes. That Slavs love feeling sorry for themselves,

and what they don’t love is work. They don’t have any discipline or order… How did we defeat Hitler, then? Not just the Army, also our women and children working at factories… Would Germans be capable of that? No! That’s why they lost. To proclaim that your nation is above others is madness. Retribution is imminent. Die Vergangenheit steht uns noch bevor. The past is yet to come. Elsa, take a chocolate bar, give it to your Kinder… Come on, take it. My former classmate Ilya, he plays the fiddle. He met the General’s wife at a party, and then he’d play his fiddle at her place, naked. She’s clapping, all happy, while her husband’s at the war. You’re waiting for me… while you live with a quartermaster. Klochko, what the hell’s your problem? Lyosha, what is it? I just made a joke.

Real funny. You don’t have to be sad. You’re a good man. No woman is worth your sadness. All right, stop smoking. Come on, the kids are breathing that in. God, who’s going to watch over you in Germany? Glasha’s not coming. My dears. Glasha, what are you so mad about? They’re not going away forever, are you. Viktor, Grandma isn’t coming with you, so you’re responsible for everyone, got it? Thank you, my dear. Wait, where are you going? Yeah, great idea, that. Grandma? You’re no grandma. Nadya, give me your hand. Finally. You’re the woman who owns things. When I first came to your father, I only had a sieve as dowry. Is Dad coming to see us off? He’s busy running around the institutions… Okay, go. We’ve been seeing you off too long. Don’t let them go. Okay, see you. Kisses. – Be careful, don’t lose all that. – Godspeed. Okay. Bye. Why are you trying to grab the heavy one?

Viktor weighs God knows how much. What are you looking at? I’m not blind. I haven’t carried my own, and you’re happy as a clam. Are you expecting a boy? Glasha, come on, quiet… be quiet, come on. I haven’t… I haven’t even told Nikolai. Can you imagine? By my own count, about two months. But it’s a good thing! Katya, you have a telegram. – Yeah, thank you. – Sign here, please. Okay. Right, I’ll get going. See you. – Goodbye. – Goodbye. Okay, “To Nadya Terekhova… You don’t have to come. “That’s what I’ve decided. Lyosha.” Someone’s already told him about ginger girl. What do we do now, send them back? What for? Let her go. We’ll find out why he decided that when she’s there. What is it, Lieutenant? Why did you call me? – Well, Comrade Major General… – Well? They’re asking for permission to marry. He’s from a French regiment. He was in a POW camp… a French one. We’ve known each other for two years.

And she’s Ukrainian, kidnapped in 1942. Jean says you have to let me go. We have permission for marriage from his CO. And, here’s the declaration. Does the bride even realize what she’s asking for? Yes! I love him and I want to be with him. I asked her the same thing. What will her family say? Marrying a foreigner… Leaving the Motherland… I’m not leaving anything. I don’t have any family left. Alone, in a foreign country… Tanya, translate what they’re saying right now. And you’re here… as a camp? Fascists. Shut up, you fool. You can be shot for... Easy, easy, Lieutenant. Give the woman permission for marriage… and for leaving for France. Marrying a foreigner, Comrade Major General… – Thank you. – Give it to her! That’s an order. Let’s go, gentlemen. Tanya. Tanya. Let’s go. Well, Terekhova… You’ll be sorry for this yet.

So you’re Terekhova, right? – We’ve been waiting for you. – Hello. I see your kids are very small. My son is already six. We’re your neighbors, here, behind the wall. So ask me if you need anything. – Let’s go. – There. Come on, come on, come on. Here’s our palace. Make yourself at home. Your husband isn’t sleeping here, I don’t know where he is. Well, it’s okay. The wife is here, she’ll make sense of things, right? He has no business being outside now. Tell me if you need anything. I’m Lyuba. And my last name matches, Tyupa. – Well, see you. – Thanks. There’s going to be a baby? A little baby will be there. Well? Neighbor, can I bum a smoke? Your wife’s come to you. With kids. Did you know?

Why aren’t you there? Don’t cry. Why are you crying? Don’t cry. You know our men don’t respect tears. And when a wife greets her husband with a smile, not something stupid, that’s what they like. Maybe he’ll even come to his senses, men are like children. When my husband drinks, he does much worse things. They assigned him to a platoon, and it’s full of our former POWs. So Vasya gets angry, says he doesn’t want to be in charge of traitors. So he drinks. Well, come on, stop. Stop it already. Okay, stop. No one’s crying. Well, that’s it, half of it is done. Captain Klochko’s history is taken for historical purposes. Congratulations. All I have to do now is decide who I send the postcard to. Which bride? This is a victory, Lyosha! Time for love! Maybe you’ll get some too, huh? No, Lionya. I don’t need a bride.

Look at their faces. They’re happy as clams. They’re probably newlyweds. Look. Tanya… To the 12th brigade. And let him walk. Now! Comrade Major General, she’s alive! Tanya, my sister, she’s alive. This photograph was taken recently. There was a mistake. You said she died in 1944. That’s a good thing. It’s a good thing that she’s alive. Well… Well, yeah… I remember them, I remember. It’s going to be easier to find them now. Forget it. You know that she’s alive now, be glad. Forget that you have a sister. I can’t do that, Yuri. She’s not in the country, and I’m not authorized to tell you anything else. Well, has your wife come? Did she find a job? What are you looking away for? I don’t live with them. She’s there, with the son and… With her daughter. We’re getting a divorce.

Nadya hasn’t explained anything to you? I wouldn’t listen anyway. How can you explain it? It’s from someone else, and she says it’s mine. I’ll eat you. Go, go. That’s it, I don’t want to. He’s coming back. I don’t want any more. Come on, come here. I don’t understand why I have to leave. Take Viktor and go to your room. Let me go. I’m sorry. Hey, Quiet Girl. Why couldn’t you have told me it was Varya’s daughter, not ours? I’m sorry. I can’t. But she’s ours! She’s our daughter. There’s no other way, do you understand? Of course. Viktor, let’s play. Varya, Varya… Well? Hey there, Ginger. Nadya Number Two?

Hands! Take your hands off me! – Vasya! Vasya, don’t! – I’ll blow us all up! – Vasya, please, don’t. Vasya! – Every-goddamn-one. Blow you to hell. – Jesus, Vasya! – What, you’re all hiding now? Vasya! Went to hide, huh? I’ll show you. I’ll show you. Dad! Dad, please don’t! Don’t! Whenever he drinks, he always does that. First it was blowing up the Germans, now it’s us, too. Let me go. Let me go. Vasya. Vasya. It hurts. Let me go. Let me go. Easy, easy, easy. He’s drunk. Don’t turn him in, please. Ten-hut! March! That’s it. Come here. Come on, come on, come on. Dad. Daddy. Okay… Okay, okay, let’s go, easy. Don’t scream. That’s it. That’s it, that’s it, Vasya. It’s okay, honey. Come on, come on, let’s go. It’s okay, Vasya. So old Osinsky was useful after all? I can see the children are all different… Do you know how they taught me to read when I was small? They’d make bagels shaped as letters,

and if I named the letter correctly, they’d let me eat it. But now, no one has too much food, of course. It’s okay. We’ll do it the simple way. Valery, they’re going to open a school this September. So, in the meantime… I want to ask you to teach them some German. The basics. So they’d understand something, at least. They don’t know a word. And they’re going to live here for a while. And I’ll leave my kids with you, can you watch them? – Absolutely. – Danke. Yes! Bitte. Let’s make something clear right away. I’m strict. I’m not a miracle worker. Wisdom comes with age. Erfahrung macht krug. Young… Young man! Where is he going? He’ll just stay ignorant. Okay, comrades… There are several points to this case. Here are the documents from 1943 and 1944.

Here is a report by the Army Commander who had a serious conflict with Antonov. Antonov’s numerous disobediences of orders cannot be explained otherwise. The Commander was even forced to ask Antonov: who does he really serve? The Soviet Command or Hitler? What about insulting high command? I will quote Antonov: “He’s not an army commander, he’s a free addition to the Army. “A balalaika with no strings.” Did that happen? I confirm that I did say that to the Army Commander. You didn’t learn much at the labor camp, Antonov. – This letter? – A. A! Liza, this word? Armee. – What does it mean? – Army. That’s right! Army! Hey, Ginger… Come here. Zosya, now you. This word? Let’s go, I’ll show you something. – Ap… – This word? Apfel.

Okay, Nastya, come here, my dear. Mom says you’re not ours, you’re a trophy. Don’t cry. This is for you. Thank you. Let me pass, please. Wait. Get away from the doll. Get away. Get away, please! Mom! [Ambulance! Call an ambulance.] Help… Nadya… Help… You killed them! You killed them! Bastards! You’re all getting it. And you, you’re with the Jerries. You did it with a German girl, everyone knows that.