On BBC 2 now,
live from Amsterdam, the Christmas Concert
from the Royal Amsterdam Orche...
Are you picking up some food?
Boxing Day on one
and the chance to enjoy our festive...
Treasure of the Sierra Madre. That's in half an hour.
But first, on London Thames Tonight,
we join Adie Bruce for your Christmas Day news.
Today, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned
as the last president of the Soviet Union.
The red flag of communism lowered over the Kremlin,
bringing to an end seven decades of the party's rule.
Right to the last, Mr. Gorbachev conveyed his unhappiness
at the break of the Soviet Union.
After six and a half years in power,
Gorbachev announces his resignation today
No doubt it may have been possible
to avoid many mistakes.
To have done much in a better way.
But I'm sure...
All right, okay.
...our common joint efforts will yield fruit
and our people will live in a prosperous and democratic society.
Go on.
I wish all of you all the best.
1992 will now ring in
with a new leader and a new Russia.
...Mr. Gorbachev's achievements.
President Bush interrupted
his Christmas holiday to make a statement
praising Mr. Gorbachev for his...
...former Soviet President had inextricably altered the course of history.
The Queen in her Christmas broadcast...
Gulliver?
Gully?
What's wrong with you, hmm?
What's wrong?
...under the oppressive regime of Joseph Stalin
led to the so called 'Cold War' with the West.
Yesterday, Mr. Gorbachev said his fond farewells
to staff at the Kremlin, but on the streets of the capital
few tears were shed for the former head of state,
as many are still feeling the brunt of his economic failures.
Psst.
Let me go.
No, I'm not going to do that.
Especially after what you did to Gulliver.
I only drugged him.
Let me go.
Let me go, you fucking bitch!
Fucking... ah!
Why did you break into my house?
To steal from me?
Or are you just here to act out violence
against another Jew?
Oh, I know what you are.
That's quite obvious.
So is that it? You...
You broke in to... To hack me, to rape me?
- That's fucking sick. - No.
Tattooing Nazi bile as a death camp number, that is sick.
11-23, the date of the Beer Hall Uprising.
88, heil Hitler.
You're as obvious as you are pathetic.
How about this, huh? You know what that is?
No.
Yeah, I bet you do.
I know who you are.
Mm, Anna Marshall.
I know who you are.
Karl Edwards.
What idiot brings his ID to a break-in?
Well...
As amusing as all this is, I think it's time
to introduce you to the police.
Yeah, right. Anna Marshall.
What about who you used to be?
Brana Vasilyeva Brodskaya.
Soviet translator.
I know your secret, Brana.
What secret? That I was a Soviet?
The Cold War is over. Haven't you seen the news?
I know what you found in Berlin.
Emergency service operator. Which service do you require?
I knew it. I fucking knew it.
The old man in Breslau was telling the truth.
Breslau? Wroclaw.
No one believed his crazy story, but I did.
I did and I fucking found you!
What old man? What story?
The story of the war.
The very end of it.
A group of Soviet soldiers
and a female intelligence officer with them.
They found something by the bunker at the Chancellery
Something so important they were ordered
to deliver it back to Moscow personally.
Secretly.
The old man swore he didn't know what they were carrying,
but it was enough to get them killed.
Said they all got wiped out.
All except one, that is.
What do you want from me?
History is written by the victors.
You ever hear that?
I want to know the real history.
The truth.
That you and your Russian friends
found evidence of Hitler's escape
and you tried to cover it up.
You found evidence that he survived,
maybe even where he went
and you ferried it back to Stalin.
Or you would have, but you got caught.
Stop it. Stop it.
Fucking stop it! Stop it!
What the fuck is that?
This is the truth.
In here is the truth.
But I'm afraid it's not quite what you expect.
You see, throughout my life I've seen so many men
offer the truth
proudly pointing
to some seemingly insignificant thing
and saying, "This is all that you see.
This is what to blame. This will fix all your ills
and set you free."
But they're all charlatans.
Con-men scrambling for power.
And in every case, people would eventually
recognize the trick.
And they'd see with clear eyes
that this magical cure-all...
was nothing but a...
An empty box.
What the...
What the fuck was that?
The fuck is that?
You drugged me.
Yeah. I'm afraid people like you
can't simply be told the truth.
To truly understand it, you have to experience it.
You have to feel it.
You sitting comfortably?
Then I'll tell you my story.
Of the last days of that horrible war.
After Berlin had fallen,
but before it truly ended.
I was, yes, a Russian officer.
And I was given orders,
this secret task.
But what you think is not what we really found,
what we sacrificed everything for.
I tried so hard
to do what was right.
Comrade Lieutenant Brodskaya.
Comrade Colonel.
There's been a change of plan.
Transport by plane is no longer an option.
Looks like we're walking.
Captain Ilyasov and his men will escort us to Poznan
to rendezvous with Penkovsky and board a train to Moscow.
Speak, Brana.
That's over a day's drive.
Longer, probably.
We'll be on foot for most.
I thought that time was of the essence.
It is far more important
to get it back as quietly as possible,
Not even our comrades in Berlin can know,
hence no flights and no communications.
This thing is a ticking bomb
liable to blow up in our faces
if we are not too careful.
Only the three of us know of this business.
Let's keep it that way.
Oh, and of course number one knows.
Remember that, both of you.
Stalin himself has given us these orders.
Don't let him down.
- Yes, Comrade Colonel. - Yes, Comrade Colonel.
Good.
Pravda denies these rumors as lies.
But despite the fall of Berlin,
German high command still refuses to surrender
and fighting continues across the country.
Now, more than ever...
I'm celebrating.
Celebrating what?
Making it out of Berlin alive.
Na Zdorovie.
We have to do this every night?
Not we, Grigoriy.
You too, Iossif.
Iossif, get over here and help him bury this thing.
Here.
You're not curious what's inside it?
Just help me with it, will you?
You don't think that's strange,
we have to bury it every night?
I think you're gonna get us in trouble.
I get my foot and I'll flip his head.
New nightmares?
Or old?
New.
Lucky.
Since Berlin.
Can't seem to get rid of them.
Don't sleep.
Can I ask you a question?
Why do we bury it every night?
Can I ask you, Mikhail Ivanovich,
why do the others call you Tor?
It's hidden.
Someone kills us in our sleep, they still might not find it.
Like I said, don't sleep.
And the name?
In Stalingrad
I killed some Panzer SS with a hammer.
Tor.
Norse god of thunder.
He had this hammer.
They gave you a Norse name?
Gave you a Slav one.
It's Hebrew.
Why did you use a hammer?
It's all I could find at the time.
Did you find it yet?
Keep looking.
It. Brodskaya.
Lieutenant.
Brana! Get up.
Time to dig up the dead.
Come on, get up.
Let's go.
I guess that well has run dry again.
Yeah.
Welcome back to Poland.
Keep off the back.
- Keep pushing! - Right.
- Push! - Keep pushing!
Keep pushing!
- Push up! - Here we go.
- Come on! - Come on!
We don't want to get stuck again.
We'll reach the outskirts of Poznan by nightfall.
Should be enough time to make the last train.
No, I don't think that's a good idea.
We'll be driving in the dark.
We should find somewhere to camp around here.
We have plenty of time to get to the city.
Better to get to the...
Get down! Get down!
Take cover!
Sniper. Single shooter.
Where?
Where the hell is he going?
- German. - You sure? Not Polish?
Werewolf.
That's not good.
We should get back on the road.
No.
- We need to bury the body. - What?
No. There could be more out there. More werewolf.
It's just an old man with a rifle from the Prussian War.
No, we stay, we bury our comrade.
Or would you rather dishonor our Comrade Colonel
by leaving him on the side of the road?
We make camp here.
Tor.
- You're up. Burial duty. - I did it last night.
Then you'll be getting good at it, won't you?
We still have time to make the rendezvous.
No, we're staying here.
And that's the end of it.
I'm in charge now.
Where are you going?
To find supplies in the village near here.
- You can't. - Can't?
I mean, we shouldn't.
It's not safe. We need to guard this.
You can protect it.
But our orders. You're supposed to...
Fine, you take these three
and they can protect you, Vasilyeva.
It's not safe to split up the group, Ilyasov.
Look around you. There's no one here.
There's no one watching. No one cares.
The war is over.
- The war is not over. - Ours is.
And you, you've ripped us
from our well-earned celebrations, so we're owed.
Spoils of war.
We're owed that much at least.
But don't worry, we'll be careful.
We'll be quiet.
We're just gonna go and find some warmth.
And then we'll come straight back.
Damn fool.
What was that?
What about the werewolf?
Don't worry, Vasilyeva.
There's no full moon tonight.
Don't believe him.
Spoils of war.
I know exactly what that means.
You want to sit down?
God knows what kind of mess he'll cause.
Let's go get the back then.
We can't leave it unguarded.
Well, then I'll go.
Alone.
He'll listen to you?
I'll go. You stay and look after the crate.
He'll listen to you?
He'll listen.
You know, my mother used to have that exact same look
when my father didn't come home.
Oh, yeah?
How'd that work out for your father?
Stay here.
Open up!
Sorry, tavern closed.
No, it's not.
Na Zdorovie!
Whoa!
Don't waste it!
Oh, here she comes. Where've you been?
I thought you were out the back killing a pig.
What's that? That pork?
Oh, right, want some of that?
Days old.
Hey.
You the only one here?
I get more.
Yeah, go get some more.
Where you going?
Hmm?
You know, Tor,
I want to thank you
for offering to leave me here
with the woman and the boy.
You always try to get out of your chores, Grigoriy.
Yeah.
It is a chore making conversation
with you two.
What is that?
Werewolf light reading.
You talked about werewolves before.
Werewolf.
You think they were talking about real werewolves?
No, I...
Hey. Hey. Ignore him.
It's Goebbels' idea of a more frightening name.
Make them sound more threatening than what they are.
Old men and Hitler youth with knives and sticks
hiding in the forest.
Fools who won't give up the fight.
Memento Mori.
It's Latin.
You speak Latin?
No, I...
I just know what it means.
That's good, Iossif.
You're obviously an educated young man.
Not like us.
What does it mean?
Remember death.
In Rome, when soldiers returned home from victorious battle,
people used to shout this at them.
Remember death.
They just defeated armies and cheated death
and so needed to be reminded they were still mortal men,
not gods.
Remember death comes to us all.
You know, when we passed through here,
we weren't far off this.
We wanted blood, revenge for what the Germans had done to us.
We became what they feared.
What they painted us to be.
Monsters.
Then...
Then we found their death camps.
You saw what they were capable of.
There's no such thing as victorious battle anymore, Iossif.
Not in this war.
Anyone who survives it,
won't need any reminder of death.
- Ilyasov. - Jesus!
This doesn't concern you.
Go, get out of here.
What the hell are you doing?
Listen to me, you pig!
Your reckless, drunken behavior is now endangering our mission.
Hey!
Who do you think you are talking to me like that?
You know, where I'm from,
women don't talk to men like this.
Get off me.
Spoil my fun, eh?
Get off me, you filthy pig.
Maybe I should teach you a lesson instead, eh?
Fucking hell!
Oh, you bitch!
Lower your gun.
Lower it.
Don't.
You speak German?
So do you.
Kill this fucking Nazi.
I'll deal with you in a second.
What are you doing here?
I live near here. I heard screaming.
Was it just you...
What was that?
- It came from the tavern. - Move.
Move!
The place is on fire!
Ilyasov, wait.
Ilyasov, get back.
Makar!
What the hell happened here?
We should leave.
Dimitry! You're okay, you're okay.
Can you talk?
Can you hear me?
What happened?
Smoke.
Poison.
Who did this?
I don't know.
Werewolf.
Why do you say that?
They hide in the forest.
Watch the town.
They use tactics like this.
They burn lichen and mushroom.
Makes you hallucinate.
Makes you see things.
I scared them off.
How many, Makar?
I don't know.
Watch the town for what?
Russians.
Like you.
Fritz is probably one of them.
- He's Polish, Ilyasov. - Then he's AK.
Probably led them straight to us.
If anyone led them to us, it's you, Vadim.
- This is your fault. - My fault?
I told you not to leave the crate.
After the sniper in the forest, we should have...
The forest.
Grigoriy.
Iossif.
Tor?
Grisha.
Grigoriy.
Tor?
Hey.
Up.
Papa?
Iossif. Iossif.
It's me. It's me. It's me.
You're okay. You're okay. The smoke.
It's the smoke.
It makes you see things.
Look. Look, it's fine. Where are the others?
Where's Tor and Grigoriy?
Truck's gone.
Shit.
Let's get the crate and get out of here.
What, on foot?
Give me your gun.
You let her take my gun.
You need me armed.
I need you to help carry this.
What, all the way to Poznan?
No, we should stay and fight these peasant dogs.
These dogs managed to sneak up and kill two of ours.
Three.
Found Grigoriy.
You're a coward. We should stand and fight.
And you're forgetting again what we were sent to do.
Not to fight, not to make noise.
To protect this.
What's this? What are you talking about?
We can't carry it all the way,
but we can find somewhere to stash it.
Somewhere to hide.
Can we make it back to the village?
We'd be too exposed.
I might know somewhere.
Somewhere safe.
Where's Tor?
Make a last sweep. See if you can see him.
If he's still alive, he'll find us.
Help me with this.
You were told to wait.
They split up.
We took the chance to take them in smaller groups.
And did you take them?
A few may have escaped.
May? I'm not sure how this digs itself out of the ground.
There were more than we expected.
Which is why I told you to wait.
- We'll find them. - It!
Find it. Kill them.
Wait.
Maybe you and your men will have better luck
with the weapons we brought.
It's close.
I can feel it.
Hey, stop.
Stop.
Are you with them?
Deutsche?
Polskie?
I'm not going to hurt you, okay?
What are you doing out here?
Hey, I need to find my people.
What are you doing?
Stop! I said I wouldn't hurt you.
I'm going to let you go now.
But if you scream
I'll have to stop you. Do you understand?
You are from the village, yes, Wioska?
Yes, from village.
So you do understand me?
I need you to show me the way there.
I need to find the others like me.
If you run or try and signal anyone...
Yes.
You understand me?
Yes.
All right.
Yeah, right.
That's the place?
Yeah, we'll be safe there.
The people that live there, they're good people.
Kind.
They'll help us.
Last time Russians came through here,
they murdered people like this.
Just for helping.
Just promise me you're not like the rest of them.
If you promise me you're not like the others.
Out there.
Okay.
Wait here.
I doubt we'll see him again.
Stop that.
He's helping us.
What, Fritz?
You trust him, do you?
More than I trust you, Ilyasov.
Comrade Captain.
Don't forget where you're from, girl.
I'm not the one forgetting where I'm from.
Or what my orders are.
And if we make it back to where we're both from,
if we make it out of here alive,
I'll make sure they know that your behavior
directly went against our orders.
That you got those men killed
and jeopardized our mission, Comrade Captain.
Just keep your distance from me, Ilyasov
I don't enjoy being this close to you.
So what are you doing all this way out in the forest?
Huh.
Still, you're running about in the woods at night?
I run from you.
From me?
Why?
Bolsheviks like you who come into village.
What about the Germans?
Niemiecki,
hiding in the forest, do you know about them?
Hey, hey, what about the Germans hiding in this forest?
- Werewolf? - Yes.
Werewolf.
You're not afraid of them?
No.
Hey, stop.
They are not as bad as Bolsheviks.
Don't you say things like that.
You're lucky you bumped into me and not one of them.
You don't know what you are talking about.
You have no idea.
You don't know what they're like.
I know what you are like.
Bolsheviks, Germans, both the same.
Only Germans have gone now.
Bolsheviks have come.
Murdering, rape.
Killing my parents.
For lies.
For helping Germans.
Helping like they had any choice.
I'm not afraid of Germans.
They are not a threat anymore.
Because we forced them out.
And who will force you out?
Go.
I'll find my way.
Go. I'm letting you go.
Village is that way.
Down!
Get down.
Get down!
No, no, no, no.
No, no, come on. Come on. No.
No, no, no. Please.
No. No, no, no.
Please.
Hey.
It's okay. It's okay.
We need your help.
No, no, no. There's no body in there.
No.
- What are you doing? - We need their help.
Well, put a gun on them.
Is that?
He shot himself
in his bunker in Berlin.
Pravda said reports of his death were lies.
- They weren't. - How do you know?
We made sure.
Dental records.
Now you understand why we need your help.
We need to hide it.
There are men, werewolf trying to find it.
Hey!
What are you doing? He's dead.
He can die again.
We have to preserve it.
Formaldehyde.
How long can you really expect that to last?
Long enough to get it back.
To show it to Stalin.
Ask them where we can put it.
It needs hiding until we can find new transport.
Hey! This is important.
No, this
dangerous.
You...
- Destroy it. - Nie, nie. Burn.
I can't do that.
I think she knows.
I know.
And what it means.
That's why we have to hide it.
Okay.
Whoa.
He won't fit.
He needs to come out.
Okay. One, two, three.
Why don't we burn it? What he deserves.
It's also what he wanted. To disappear.
People to not see him like this.
Killed by his own hand.
So why are you hiding it?
To protect it.
It has to go back. For proof.
Proof?
- The dental records. - Stalin needs to see it.
He needs...
What?
In Russia, we like to look our enemy in the eye.
You wouldn't understand.
You're right.
I don't understand.
What if you lose it? What if...
What if you die trying to protect the secret, huh?
What about your secret?
This place is for hiding people.
My guess is it's been hiding you.
That's why you know about it.
Who are you hiding from? Hmm?
Who are you really, Lucasz?
Volksdeutsche.
That's what they call us.
Polish with German heritage.
Barely, but enough.
When they invaded they gave me one simple choice...
Join them
or go to the labor camp.
So when I signed up,
they promised me that I would keep my home.
They promised me that my wife would be spared from the camp.
They lied. They lie.
It's what they do.
So when I heard that she'd been taken.
I deserted, but...
by the time I got there it was too late.
She was already dead.
The Soviets were advancing, so...
If they found me, they would have shot me.
Germans are being pushed back across the border,
but some of them stayed.
Becoming werewolf.
Surrounding villages.
Taking reprisals.
A few Russians, but...
mostly Poles.
Villagers they consider to be traitors.
So I hid from both.
I hid from both sides.
Just like my country.
We're surrounded by wolves.
I'm sorry.
I know what that's like.
Do you?
To lose someone?
To be surrounded by wolves.
Why don't we just leave?
- And go where? - The fight.
- The war is over, my friend. - Then why chase this?
Because this isn't the war now.
This is everything.
We found him in the forest.
Did you ask him where it is?
He only speaks Russian.
Do you know what the Ahnenerbe is?
It means I know everything there is to know about the human body.
You have an exquisite skull.
My colleague and I have come a very long way
because of our interest in a specific human body.
One that we believe you might know about.
Where is the Führer?
Where is the body?
Where is it? Where is the Führer?
This won't hurt as much,
but it will blind you permanently.
They found the others.
Milosz thinks there's a horse and cart in the village
that he can bargain for.
Your comrade Ilyasov wants to go with him.
No. No.
He's out there.
Tor.
No, I meant the necklace.
Bolsheviks.
We have your comrade.
Give us the body and we'll let him live.
Shit.
Do you think you could make that shot?
We'd have to take both of them out.
Either of us miss and he's dead.
We should just give it up.
They're gonna kill him anyway,
may as well save the rest of us.
It's just a trophy for Stalin.
Get back downstairs.
Make sure no one gets in. Now!
Give me back my gun.
You two go with him.
Secure those windows and entrances.
This thing is more important than any of us.
Let's hope they don't figure out where it is, then.
Come on, Tor. Give me something.
Uh, there's a wolf at the door.
They don't seem to care.
I'm gonna keep on putting holes in you
until you lose that smile.
Fire!
Let me look.
Stop shooting, you'll hit it.
Halt! Halt!
Here.
Order those wolves to get in that house now!
Get downstairs.
Make sure they barricaded those doors.
- Is anyone hurt? - We're fine.
Where's Vadim? Where's Ilyasov?
What? What is it?
Ilyasov.
What the hell is he doing?
He wants an exchange. His life for information.
And what information would be worth his life?
He knows where the body is.
He sold us out.
Fucking knew I should have killed him when I had the chance.
That's it. They shot him because he went for the shed.
It's in there.
Fall back. Circle around to it.
I want confirmation it's there.
Congratulations. You just bought your life.
If they didn't before, they know it's there now.
We need to move out.
I'll get it on the truck, you meet me at the church.
Wait for my signal, then finish it.
Burn them.
Fuck.
Fire on the house!
Do something.
Hey!
Ludmila!
Get downstairs.
Iossif, damn it, fire back!
It's okay. It's okay.
Shh.
Open up! It's me. It's Tor.
Wait, Iossif!
Lucky bastard.
They're trying to burn us out.
Aren't they risking burning the body?
- It's not in the house. - Oh, shit.
That's why we have to go now.
Sleep well, friend.
On me.
- Three... - Head for the cover of the trees.
...two.
They're gone.
Brana. Wait.
No!
The truck! They're getting away!
Wait!
Brana!
- Stop! - Let go of me!
It's over! It's over!
- It's not over for me! - Why?
Oh, fuck!
In a church?
Brana!
Brana, you're okay.
No.
It's over.
No.
Tor overheard them.
He knows where they're headed.
They're at the church.
What church?
We should leave and do this elsewhere.
We won't get far with a body in tow.
It's degrading fast.
We must do this now and quickly.
Record evidence that this is not the Führer.
That he's not dead.
- That it's a fake. - But it is him.
Spectacle is what the people crave.
You give them that and they'll believe whatever you tell them.
We mustn't let the idea of what he was,
what we all fought for,
die with the rest of us.
Are we to die as well?
Yes!
Because that is what sets us apart.
Every ounce, every drop of blood used up.
Because anything less than total sacrifice
is to lose.
And besides,
death is nothing
if the legacy lives on.
I know this girl.
Another innocent life.
That's why we have to get it back.
So we can die as well?
So he doesn't win.
Who?
He's dead, Brana.
You've seen what I've seen.
He murdered millions.
Not in battle, but in cold blood.
He murdered innocent...
He would sacrifice every man,
every woman, child,
an entire nation bled to death,
for power.
For winning.
Men like that don't die.
They fester in the ground infecting everything.
I want them to see him before he's buried.
I want to bleach every bone in the sun
so that they will know
he was just a man.
A coward of a man.
I guess that would make me a coward, too, not to help.
You'd still be a good man.
No one ever accused me of that before.
Well, I am.
Have you got a plan?
I might.
As the autopsy proves, this is yet another lie.
It's quite clearly not the body of the Führer.
Both the teeth and the organs show
that this man was different in age and...
Gas! Gas! Gas!
The skull! I need the skull!
Down! Down!
Shoot!
No!
Help them.
Help. Help them.
Hold him still.
Hold him!
Fuck you!
It's over, little man.
No!
Give it to me. Give it to me.
Give me the body. I will let you go.
I will let you live. Open the door.
Open the door! No!
No, no!
No, no. Don't touch this. No!
No, no! No!
Give me the body.
No!
No! No!
No!
Help! Help!
No! No!
Sorry, Brana.
No!
Strange to think at that same time
Keitel was signing the German surrender.
Nobody came looking for us.
Presuming we were all dead.
Or just hoping we were.
After the fire
all that was left were fragments.
Pieces.
And bones.
When I got back to Moscow
the cover-up, designed to keep the Allies on side,
had gone on too long.
Would be embarrassing for Stalin to be caught in a lie.
So they buried me.
And any evidence I brought with me.
Six cold years in a Siberian gulag.
That's where I left her.
Brana Brodskaya.
That's where she died.
Along with her hopes and her ideals.
And any notions of exposing the truth to the world.
When I was released, I went back to Poland.
To Wroclaw.
To visit an old friend.
This belonged to the man who saved my life.
He was there when I needed someone.
My darkest hour.
Helped me to pick up the pieces.
Set me free.
When I heard that he had died,
after being attacked in a supposed break-in,
I was quite upset.
History isn't written by the victors.
It's remembered by those that survive it.
And when they're gone,
how do we avoid repeating history?
How do we remember?
There.
All done.
Over now.
Shouldn't take long.
Oh, I almost forgot.
He sent me this gift.
A memento.
But I'm sure it was meant for you.
For people like you.
So at least you got what you came for.
A box.
A magical box.
It's time now.