SPANIARDS!
In November 1941,
I was just another Spanish refugee in the Soviet Union.
The Germans had been invading relentlessly since June.
Although autumn and the first snows
had stabilized the fronts
the most important cities in Central and Western Russia
had either been evacuated, occupied
or were under siege.
Among the millions who had abandoned their cities
were 3,OOO Spanish children
who had arrived during the Spanish Civil War
between 1937 and 38.
After a few good years
they were now trapped in a war even worse than the one they had left behind
Trains filled with refugees
waited for weeks in railways sidings
to leave the main tracks open
for convoys
of fresh Siberian troops
to stop the German attack.
Their planes were the absolute rulers of the air
and just like in Spain,
they fired at the civilian population at will.
-Get in. -But...
Javier, get in the car right now.
I first met Paula at a station
about 125 miles south of Moscow.
She was fleeing to Stalingrad
with a group of Spaniards who had fallen behind.
-Antonia! -Girls!
Almudena!
This man has saved us.
They did a good job on you in Leningrad.
The scar has been torn off but it will be fine.
-Thanks -Not at all.
Where are you going, comrade?
Wherever they'll let me stay.
I was going to go to Astrakhan to cure my wound.
But I've been in Tula for 15 days without any transport.
With the evacuation of the city I suppose it'll be much more difficult.
Come with us, then.
We are taking these Spanish children to Stalingrad.
We'll sit out the war there
until we win and can return.
We've also been going to and fro for days.
Luckily we always find a train to take us somewhere.
Even when we have to share it with machinery or cattle.
Come along. At least you won't be alone.
Are you all Spaniards?
Yes, from everywhere.
Basque Country, Madrid, Catalonia, Andalusia, Galicia.
I'm Piedad, from Almendralejo in Badajoz, Extremadura.
Married too. Why don't you tell him everything?
But the doctor is Russian, right?
Yes, a gift from the Soviet government to take care of the children.
He's crippled and can't go to the front.
He's pretty dull.
Shut up! He'll hear you.
Poor guy, he's crazy about her.
Is your husband here?
No, he's in Mexico.
To his health!
They were going to meet in France.
But it never happened.
And you,
are you married?
The truth is that between politics and the war I haven't had much time
and now with this face I'll be out of luck.
Well, that beard suits you nicely. It covers up the scar.
Thanks.
If the rest is just as nice...
Piedad, please...
Well, comrade, are you coming?
No. I would feel like an intruder.
We are all intruders here. We hardly know each other.
Our train is like a sweeper
picking up all the stragglers.
I live in Kiev.
I was visiting Minsk when they invaded.
I couldn't return to the Ukraine and fled east.
I am a teacher in House 9 in Leningrad.
I was in Odessa for a few days
and when I tried to return it was impossible.
You are a political commissioner, aren't you?
Yes, I was in Spain.
But how do you know that?
Just what we need. Someone to sort this mess out.
The engine has just arrived.
Everybody, get ready. I'll tell the children, quickly.
I'll be right there.
This is Ludmilla.
She's Russian. She's Ángel's wife.
I know what you're thinking. Some have all the luck, right?
OK.
We say farewell here.
Thanks for saving the girls.
Not at all.
This is Treblin.
He was a brigadier in our civil war, where he learned a bit of Spanish.
He thinks he's running the mission.
No way Treblin, he is he staying with us.
Why?
We've got an engine now. You can't leave.
15 days later
we had moved only a few miles.
He says when the train with the soldiers passes we'll have to go.
We're not leaving until the kids get back.
We outwitted our hunger with great dignity
but the older kids
impatient at that age,
formed gangs,
in the long periods of waiting
wandered about the markets and farms looking for food for all us.
The adults thought
it was better not to ask where it came from.
Thieves!
Run!
Thieves!
Gypsies!
Throw that away!
Now!
What's that?
Javier, don't cross!
Don't cross, Javier!
It was the first time I had really noticed her.
Later on I would find out why there was so much pain.
What's wrong?
Everyone is staring at you.
Are you ill?
-I'll be right back. -This is no meeting place.
Go on, go with him.
What a sight for sore eyes! How are your parents?
Here it is.
Knock and wait for someone to let you in.
Remember...
You don't know me.
If you get pregnant again,
see me first
and don't think about it so much.
Take your clothes off from the waist down.
I'll come back to get you.
You must urinate
don't forget.
Hey, you. Where are you going?
I can't do this. I'm leaving.
What the hell!
You'll pay me right now!
Don't cover that furniture. I'm staying.
Let it be. You're can't use the whole house yourself.
You know how dusty it gets with the windows open all day.
Are you sure you don't want Pepa with you?
Sure, mum.
I've got a million things to do.
Why do we need such a big house?
We only use it for 3 months in the summer.
The girls should have gone alone like every year.
Now until we can ventilate it...
Well, they should have gone.
Litttle sister
I'll stay with you.
No way!
I see you want to be alone.
Well, let's go.
She looks strange, doesn't she?
I don't know, prettier with a nicer figure...
It's clear that she wants to be alone to meet someone.
You don't think she's found a boyfriend and not told us?
God! I hope so.
Don't get your hopes up.
Julian was her last chance and she let him get away.
She'll be left on the shelf,
you'll see.
At the end of the summer Paula gave birth to a son
she called Javier.
Everything is fine.
She's very weak, as if from not eating, but the baby is a strong as an ox.
She didn't eat so as to hide her pregnancy.
I insist on filling in the record for the authorities.
The only authority here is you, mother.
Under my responsibility this child has no family.
Understand it. The father would kill him.
I'm asking you a favour.
Father, the child is beautiful and the mother
wishes to see you.
No, I don't want to see her.
Her son was born in sin.
I have no more obligations to her.
You know what you have to do.
Tell her not to look for me and make it clear to her.
What are you doing?
Get out immediately!
Where is my son? Nobody will tell me.
Is he your son?
What is his family name?
What is your family name?
What did you expect?
This is a hospital not an orphanage.
He is no longer here
and you will never know where he is.
Either you tell me where he is
or I swear to God you will not get out of here alive.
JULY 1936
The years went by
and in the summer of 1936
Spain came ever closer to the brink of its most shameful episode,
the Civil War.
Don't go out,
the streets are not safe.
I've got an urgent errand to do.
OK. I'll go with you.
You can't come with me.
You'll scare people looking like that.
Where are you going?
You aren't going to the orphanage?
How do you know?
We all know you are there all day.
You should have had children of your own.
You wouldn't need to look after whores' children.
Red whores
who burn the churches
we pray in!
What are you talking about?
Are you going to risk your life for those communists' children?
Anyything wrong, ma'am?
Who the hell called you?
Get out!
See how you frighten people?
You're the one who should stay home.
Days before the war broke out,
Madrid was seething with hate and vengeance.
Miss, they're making us leave, they are taking us out of Madrid!
And the children?
The children are fine. Go away.
There is no charity today.
I collaborate with the sisters and help out what I can.
Let me in, I beg you. I must see him.
Who? The children are fine I said.
They've been playing all day.
You can't see them unless you are a relative.
Are you a relative?
They're just like animals with no sense.
Look!
This is awful!
How can you allow this outrage?
The figures are plaster but the people are real.
Do you want me to start shooting?
Come on! Out!
Our father, who are in heaven hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven...
For God's sake aren't they going to stop?
Leave me a place...
Careful not to scratch yourself.
Don't worry.
-Sit down, Teresa. -Thanks.
Let them shoot. It's just what we need.
I hope they finally take Madrid.
God willing.
That one must have hit Gran Via.
My son has been in our house in Seville for weeks.
As soon as we get out of Madrid we can be with him.
That's enough, Asunción.
Can't you be quiet even in the middle of an air raid?
I can't remember if I turned off the gas or not.
Maria will check on it.
Maria?
She hasn't been with us for weeks.
Why not?
We didn't want people to find out.
She got pregnant with a militiaman.
My God! What did she do? These girls...
No. She had the baby at her parents' home. In comfort.
That's good!
No, she was not married. A single mother.
Supposedly the happiest of women.
I cant!
Jesus, she can't stand anything.
They have to drop bombs if they want to win the war.
I can't stand it!
Don't go out!
Paula, don't go out. They are falling nearby!
Beatriz, don't go out!
Where is she going?
Wait!
She stole the identity from a dead Republican girl.
The identity would allow her to be together with her son.
Orphans of militiamen between 5 and 14 will take precedence.
Authorization will be needed whenever there is a living relative.
If there is no relative,
The Public Instruction Ministry will decide.
Many countries have accepted our children.
France, Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Mexico, The Sovviet Union...
Those in this orphanage will probably go to the Soviet Union.
We'll need volunteers to go with them.
Teachers, nurses, doctors...
The Russians are waiting for them
to create Spanish schools
in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev...
They will be given the best treatment of all.
What about those under 5?
We have children of all ages.
They will leave Madrid, don't worry.
But they will stay in Spain.
They will go to colonies in Valencia or Alicante.
But they will leave!
When will ours leave?
I dont know, comrade. Make sure they are ready.
Speak with their families.
The Republic's desire and ours is to get them out of this hell as soon as possible.
But our means are limited.
Dear parents and brother,
I dearly hope that you are all well.
I am fine.
Though I promised to meet you in Seville,
it is impossible for me to do so.
And now, against my own desires and for reasons you will learn one day...
Javier.
Yes, ma'am.
"When you receive this letter I will be on a ship bound for Leningrad."
"I know this decision will cause you"
"pain and distress."
"Nobody has forced me and my ideals in life"
"are the same as yours."
"Nothing has changed."
"Only the responsibility I myself have taken on"
"to look after and protect these children,"
"who are not guilty of our sins."
"I hope you can forgive the pain that I have caused you"
"and that soon we will be able"
"to be together again in a Spain full of peace and prosperity."
"Much love, your daughter and sister."
-Bernardino. -Not a single Word!
We will never discuss it.
We no longer have a daughter.
She is dead to us.
In June 1937
1,495 children and 72 teachers arrived in Leningrad.
Among them were Paula and her son Javier,
who 4 years later would be buried somewhere in the immensity of Russia.
She is very... How do you say it?
Hurt, affected.
So what? We all are.
Except she is more hysterical...
and weak.
Hunger, Russian.
Hunger killed poor Javier
and will kill us all.
She was always especially fond of that child.
She loved him like a son.
Our interminable journey to Stalingrad
continued by different means.
Anything served to escape the Genrman advance
but we didn't always succeed.
Once my piss froze in the air.
Hurry up or you'll freeze your rear off.
...and I found five books by Cervantes.
German paratroopers frequently landed
behind Soviet lines.
I knew their methods well.
-It's Paula -Yes.
And your coat?
I can get him from here but you can't.
You don't want to have a dead man on your conscience.
Alejandro is the best shot in our children's home.
The girl is right. He can avenge his father's death.
Russian soldiers!
Thank heaven!
SUMMER 1942
After a few months' refuge in Stalingrad,
the German attack of the city made us flee again.
Forced by necessity,
we exchanged our warm clothing for food,
but our greatest problem was still transport.
He says it's impossible.
Why will it be impossible?
We came from Stalingrad in our engine and it's been stolen.
Let's get it back.
Ángel, it wasn't ours. It wasn't our engine.
Besides, who knows where it is now.
Please ask him to give us another one
so we can keep going.
All the engines are for the army.
To send soldiers to defend Stalingrad.
Then...
If the Germans leave Moscow alone we can return.
Returning to Moscow after 9 months in Stalingrad is a dream.
We can't go back to Moscow. This is just a respite.
The Germans want to get coal from the Don River basin to stop industry
but they'll have to enter Moscow.
Neither Moscow nor Stalingrad.
Where can we go?
GERMAN VOLGA REPUBLIC. SOVIET UNlON.
The army brought the solution.
We arrived at a small village
and an officer gave us instructions to settle there.
It didn't feel like Russia
we were in the German Volga Republic,
inhabited by Swiss and Germans.
They had been taken there
by Catharine the Great
in the 18th century.
Stalin, afraid of having enemies behind him,
had just had them deported.
Phew, smells burnt.
They sure left in a hurry.
Who knows what they were cooking.
Someone will have to milk these cows. They must be ready to bursst.
Listen up.
We've been left two houses and a school.
Everything else belongs to the army.
We've also got two cows and two horses.
Where did they take them?
To Siberia.
Afew hours ago.
The captain won't let us go into the fields.
He says they are poisoned.
The army will bring food.
Somebody is hiding here!
Get out of there.
She can't even speak Russian.
We'll have to give her up to the military authorities.
She says that everyone was taken
but they had done absolutely nothing.
She does speak Russian.
She says she was born here.
She wants nothing to do with the Germans.
Her family is from Switzerland
and she wants them to come back.
Everything has been taken away from them.
This is war.
In any case feel sorry for us.
Besides they started it, didn't they?
The Czarina brought them here a century ago.
They were no longer Swiss or German.
Or whatever.
Surely more Russian than Ludmilla.
I am Bulgarian.
What?
You are Bulgarian?
And now you tell me?
But you knew that.
It says so in my papers
and my accent...
Don't tell anybody that. We don't need anymore problems.
Well, what shall we do with her?
Let the authorities decide.
There is no rush to tell anybody.
Besides you are a doctor not a hangman.
Ludmilla
take care of her.
Don't let her be seen in the street.
They will probably come to get her.
Paula, how do you know how to speak German?
Her clothes are similar to my mother's.
Do you remember your mother's clothes?
You were very little.
A month before my mother sent me to Russia
they executed my father.
I don't remember him.
Leave those things alone. They're not yours.
Go with everybody else.
You heard Paula.
Leave!
I am glad you are better.
We need all the help we can get.
You never work and then put on such airs!
These girls will sleep in this room!
And theyll use what ever they need. Understand?
We can't wait any longer.
We have to pick all the food out of the ground, potatoes, beets...
They can't poison them if they are underground.
If we don't die poisoned we'll die of hunger.
There is no other way. When winter comes all food will be scarce.
I'm afraid that winter is about to arrive.
We've made up our minds too late.
Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed...
What are you doing?
Didn't you hear me?
What are you doing?
Cristina, can you tell me what's going on here?
We are praying.
Is it forbidden?
Why do you ask silly questions?
Did your parents teach you to pray?
Not me.
My mother wanted to but my father said no.
Cristina, I asked you.
They say she has been teaching them
catechism and how to say the rosary for weeks.
It started this summer in Stalingrad.
Apparently in some of the classes they pray for the Russians
to believe in God and the Virgin Mary.
This woman has gone mad.
Who knew her in Spain?
She's from Madrid.
She helped out in an orphanage
and volunteered to come to Russia.
We met her shortly before meeting you.
She was fleeing from somewhere with a group of children.
And she's a member of the Communist Party.
So Paula is a communist.
Very well.
I will speak to her about it this evening.
Look at her.
She leads an easy life.
The only one with a house to herself.
You haven't spoken to her, have you?
-Are you afraid of her? -Stop it.
I'll speak to her. Stay out of it.
They are not German.
They would have told us.
We haven't had news from the front for ages.
I wonder where they are now.
Come on kids, to school!
Lenin! Where is Lenin?
Ángel, you can't call a dog Lenin.
The sauna is warming up.
They hold on
until they can't take anymore.
It's the only way to kill lice.
And if any survive?
We kill them with freezing water.
No, no!
-What do you want? -Hi Paula. Can l come in?
I've heard that while we were
in Stalingrad you taught some of the girls to pray.
Is this true?
We were all very upset
by the death of Javier.
But that was almost a year ago.
Nobody understands what's wrong with you.
You live here alone.
You neither help nor allow anyone to help you.
You speak German,
now this about the girls...
I know you're hiding something.
With or without your help I'll find out.
Aren't you going to say anything?
Do you spy on me through the window while I'm undressing?
What are you talking about?
Answer my questions.
Don't touch me!
Communist pig.
Haven't you noticed?
I'm not like you.
I've never been one of you.
Your war killed my son.
You're mad!
What son?
Javier was your son?
Shitty Red!
Shoot me.
Kill me now!
Or I'll finish you all off!
I should shoot you right here.
-What's wrong? -They are taking her away.
The Swiss girl.
Dont growl, Lenin.
The dog's name is Lenin?
The Spaniards love Lenin
and the girl loves the dog.
The Spaniards love Lenin?
They were looking for her. Nothing can be done.
She isn't wearing a kerchief.
That child has no kerchief.
Are they gone?
Can we come out?
We want to come out now!
For God's sake, those girls must be boiling.
Come on. What are you doing here?
If you stay they'll never come out.
What's happened?
Now you're worried?
You're going to meet
a Russian woman who is very interested in your story.
Paula!
When you finish...
...please kill me.
It won't be necessary.
You're already dead.
Is your name Paula?
No.
-What's your name? -Beatriz.
Beatriz Rodriguez del Olmo.
Ok, fine, Beatriz.
You'll get your punishment.
Have you got a brother?
He says not to sell our warm clothes again to the peasants
because they will let us freeze to death next winter.
What about food?
What does this man say about the fields?
That we should have harvested.
He says they can't have poisoned the fields.
Because they were taken out of their homes while they were eating.
Ludmilla, ask him how things are in Stalingrad.
Hurry!
Winter has come early.
Within no time it'll be 30 or 40 below zero.
When this happens it will be difficult to go out.
We have no food left.
You have heard
we should have gathered all the grain that rotted in the countryside.
Things are bad, very bad.
Yesterday the Germans
got near the docks in Stalingrad.
If they take it, they'll cross the Volga.
And they'll be here in three days.
There will be no escape.
Let's go while there is still time.
In spite of our hardships,
the children kept up
their daiy routine
and classes were held everyday.
This requires a tremendous willpower
when all you have to kill your hunger are potato peels
and the temperature is 3O below zero.
Platero is a small donkey, a soft, hairy donkey;
so soft to the touch that he might be said to be made of cotton.
With no bones.
-Teacher? -Yes.
Although the worst devastation was caused by tuberculosis and typhoid.
Ormaechea has just died.
You don't feel sorry, do you?
You won't shed a single tear for him, will you? Bitch!
Rosario, that's enough!
What the hell is your problem with her?
Are you hot for her?
I said that's enough, shit!
This isn't the army!
You're a guest of ours. You can't order me around!
You lost the fucking war!
It's your fault we can't return.
Don't tell me what to do!
You're so brave you couldn't even avenge us...!
Give me a gun goddammit!
Give me gun!
Rosario!
Rosario?
Rosario,
women like you don't weep.
Besides it was over long ago.
They killed her whole family.
Her parents and three brothers.
Why?
Nobody really knows.
One night they took them away
and shot them in a ditch near their village.
She found out after being here for a year.
Rosario, calm down.
Wherever they are they are finally at peace.
I wish we could say
the same.
I've got a cigarette. Want some?
We can smoke it together. Let's go.
She knows nothing.
Aweek after arriving in Leningrad,
Ormaechea wrote to her mother.
He put some white bread crumbs in an envelope
and wrote:
"Mother,"
"I'm sending you some white bread crumbs to show you."
"We eat white bread every day."
We must leave.
The Germans are about to cross the Volga.
You'll stay here
and take care of the sick while you wait for them.
You'll tell them your story and in less than a week you'll be in Spain with...
...your mother and your brother.
What do you know about them?
Your brother saved your life.
In October 1941,
I was in charge
of a group of predominantly Spanish warriors.
OCTOBER 1941 NEAR LENINGRAD
An SS squad had captured us
and a lieutenant
was prolonging our agony with a useless interrogation.
He can't understand you!
He's Spanish!
Where are your tanks!
You should have learned German like me.
They are Spaniards. Leave them to us.
Forget it, they are our prisoners.
Kill them! Let's go.
No, not lñaki, no!
Well, Spaniards...
Then you kill them.
We are leaving!
What are you doing here?
I said...
what are you doing here?
These boys are Basques.
They came with the children in 1937.
I came to study at the officer academy
but the war ended and I couldn't return to Spain.
An officer with warriors?
I don't speak Russian so I can't lead a troop.
They are children.
No, they are men even if they are only 17. They're men.
Are you Falangists from the Blue Division?
What, do the communists already know that we are here?
Does it hurt?
Give him some brandy.
Shit, lieutenant!
Don't be stingy. Give it to him. After all he is from your country.
Why are you doing this?
Why are you saving our lives?
Who said l am saving your life?
I can't allow a Spaniard to be killed by a German basstard.
That didn't stop you from allowing the Germans
to kill hundreds of children in Spain.
Look...
I've got a sister here among you.
Such is life.
If you meet her one day
tell her she killed her father with grief.
But her mother is waiting for her everyday.
That the war in over.
And she should be in Spain
with her own people.
A Falangist's sister among us?
-What's her name? -Beatriz.
-Beatriz what? -Just Beatriz.
She has no family name.
I hope she is not in Leningrad.
The Germans will starve and freeze the people to death.
They will show no mercy.
Are you going to help them to kill your sister?
Lieutenant
this one was spying.
Were there any others?
No, there were no more.
He was sent to spy on us.
Hell, they don't trust Spaniards.
Go with your people.
If I see you again, I'll kill you.
Let's go!
Traitors! You can't let them go.
Goddam Spaniards!
He doesn't like it.
and he will report it.
Good thing these forests
are very dangerous.
Kill the fucker, Lamela.
Let's go.
Later on I found out
that others in the Division had treated Spanish prisoners
in the same way
It cant be!
Let me go!
It can't be. We must leave!
They won't last long.
Ludmilla and Paula will stay to take care of them.
Nothing will happen to them.
-Come on! -Out of here.
Let's go or you'll all be ill.
There is no need for you to stay.
I'll take care of my husband and the children.
But you are a communist.
And you are a Spanish communist. The same thing.
At least I am Bulgarian.
If they catch us...
I am an ally of theirs.
It's just that...
I wanted to say...
We are all leavving.
It is impossible with the sick.
We can't just leave them here.
They'll die!
If the Germans come they will probably end up
in a prison camp.
If they don't, they'll freeze and starve to death.
Paula is right, Dorin.
Whatever happens we will all go together.
Spaniards!
Inexplicably
I began to love my enemy
This war is far from over.
Nobody knows what will become of us.
You could be free of all this.
How?
Escape?
How do you escape your feelings?
Those children are my son's brothers and sisters.
For a time I was convinced I had only one
but now, you see, in the end...
I am the mother of a large family.
How could I go on if I were to give them up now?
And you?
Why don't you escape?
Beatriz, please.
Who is Beatriz?
Paula, I can't find my hat.
Wear this one.
It's not mine.
So what? Put it on.
Everything here is everyone else's.
In the end we'll turn you into a real communist.
Let's go.
Our children have been walking all day.
Let us sleep even if it's in the barn.
Listen, I've already told you.
The house is small my wife is about to give birth.
And in the barn the children will die from the cold. I can't let you.
It's impossible.
The house is small and there is no room.
We've got sick children
and have been walking for hours.
It'll be night soon.
We can't stay in the open.
They will die.
I have... a solution.
No, wait.
Welcome.
Ole!
What an eye that man has!
What kind of jewelry did you give her?
What did you take off your neck?
It was a medal, wasn't it?
Yes.
We were saved by the Virgin of Pilar.
My mother gave it to me.
That's a laugh.
Saved by the Virgin.
Do you care?
Not at all. The devil himself couldn't do any better.
Dont blaspheme.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.
Aren't you having fun?
Yes.
But not as much as you.
What are you thinking about?
I try not to think.
What, aren't you coming?
You must see Piedad.
I can see that we all need a bit of air.
So, are you going to answer me or what?
That's enough Rosario.
What's the difference?
The important thing is we'll have a roof over us.
I can't stand it!
I've only loved one man
and it was the worst mistake of my life.
You're trembling. Shall we go in?
Not from the cold.
Kiss me.
Are you sure?
No.
No, I'm not but l don't care.
Kiss me.
You are trembling. Shall we go in?
Not from the cold. Kiss me.
-Are you sure? -No.
No, I'm not but I don't care. Kiss me.
Pig! It was only a joke!
Hey, it's my turn now!
You're mad, they'll hear us.
Don't worry.
The vodka will keep them asleep.
The following morning
our journey continued to the east
in search of a train that would take us to Ufa City
where the Spanish children were being regrouped.
But the war was right behind us.
Careful, you'll get hurt!
Careful with the ice!
Come on, let's go, let's go!
Stop!
Airplanes!
Run, airplanes!
Airplanes!
Pablo!
Stop!
Go on.
Ángel andt three of the children died on the journey.
As soon as he was buried,
Ludmilla volunteered to go to the front at Stalingrad.
ÁNGEL LóPEZ AGUIRRE SPANISH TEACHER
We never heard from her again.
UFA CITY NEXT TO THE URAL MOUNTAINS
Ration books could be obtained at work.
All adults and children over thirteen
went to work in the munitions factories.
The shifts were extremely tough and tiring.
In July 1944,
the Germans managed to finally
march through Moscow,
but not as victors
but as prisoners of war.
50,000 officers and soldiers
were exhibited by Stalin
as a symbol of the thriumph over the German troops,
who had seemed invincible.
Thanks to his aim,
Alejandro was
one of the soldiers
guarding the Germans
along the broad boulevards.
He had avenged the death of his father
and some twenty million Soviet casualties.
The war is almost over.
Why don't we get married?
We'd have 3 days off from the factory.
Three days off?
I can't leave the children without their classes.
Besides what would we do?
We've always got everybody around us.
There's no way to be alone.
I could get a rest home.
They don't allow couples to be together in rest homes.
You'll see they will.
We went to an old hunting lodge in the Ural Mountains
from the time of the czars.
A very special place.
Wow, what is this?
Well, one does have connections, right?
Had I known I would have brought clothes for the outdoors.
I don't think these people have come to hunt animals precisely...
I've never...
What's this?
My God, white bread.
I haven't seen it for years. Do like I do.
Like I do.
-Thanks. -Thanks.
Don't tell me this room is for us alone.
Of course, didn't I tell you I've got connecctions?
It's not only for the military.
The director was here for a week.
And do you think...
...he spent everyday in the room...
...like us?
Of course, you don't come here to waste time.
How did you get it?
In gratitude for services rendered.
To who?
You know very well that I'm a member of the Spanish Communist Party.
When they found out
that we were getting married, they pulled a few strings to get this place.
And just what is it you do for them?
This war is about to end.
The idea is to return to Spain with the allies and take back the Republic.
And start another war.
Not another, it's the same one.
We've been through 8 years of war.
Tell me, just how long
is this horror going to last?
Then the losers will cry vengeance.
Some are right and others are not.
Why are you looking at me like that?
You know me very well Paula.
You know I will do all I can
to restore the Spanish Republic.
So, think it over.
TO THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
"YOUR NAME IS UNKNOWN YOUR DEEDS ARE IMMORTAL"
SPANISH CENTER, 1956
In 1956,
three years after the death of Stalin
they let Spaniards return.
Álvaro!
My wife and I are decided.
We are leaving.
Alejandro,
she won't be allowed to leave this country.
She's my wife. They have to.
But she is also a scientist.
What do you think matters more in the Soviet Union?
I tell him but he won't listen.
What shall I do?
I've been offered a grant in Odessa.
I've only got cousins and aunts and uncles in Spain.
On the other hand...
Always homesick for Spain.
Logically I should go.
What are you going to do?
Sorry, I forgot. You cannot go back.
Dont worry Antonia.
Some of us wouldn't return even if we could.
Go away and leave us alone.
Why do you answer her like that?
Antonia was not being mean about it
Besides it's logical...
Of course it's logical for them to go back.
They want to see their people again.
Return to their villages after 20 years.
Good heavens, 20 years...
Franco agrees to let them return.
He forgives the children
who didn't let his bombs kill them.
I'd give half my life to return.
But not to Franco's Spain.
As long as he lives I'll never go back.
I'm sorry, I'm being selfish.
We'll get the papers so that you can return,
all right?
Are you getting rid of me?
No way.
A holiday, three months.
POLICE STATlON SEVILLE
I am sorry to keep you waiting.
Your brother must be about to arrive.
So, you came to Valencia
from Odessa and then to Seville.
I would like to ask you a few questions.
These Russian documents are unintelligible
The first thing is for you to...
Seville Police Station
Mr. Commissioner
at customs they say
The documents were not sent.
Goddamn those blasted papers!
Tell them I'll send them on.
He'll send them.
Leave God out of this.
Excuse me but they have been that way all morning.
How can I help you?
I am the Miss's brother.
Come on, let's go.
Well, I haven't finished with her yet.
Is she being interrogated?
We interrogate everybody who comes from Russia.
When the prisoners of the Blue Division returned from Russia
did you treat them that way as well?
No. Of course not.
You are free to go, Miss.
Is this everything?
Yes, that's all.
How's mom?
Just a moment!
I suppose you can be found at your brother's home?
Don't think of leaving Seville without my authorization.
Who do you think I am, you idiot?
-What shall I do, sir? -Nothing. Leave right now.
I have to find out what she was doing there and who with.
If you are so curious
you should have had the balls
to go and interrogate them there.
Like what 45,OOO of us in the Division did
leaving our balls and our lives in the Russian ice.
My sister went to take care of children,
while yours undoubtedly stayed home
to get fucked by militiamen.
If you make it hard for her you'll have me to deal with.
And if you make it hard for me
my friends will deal with you.
Since when do you limp?
The women are wearing such beautiful dresses.
If you hadn't left, you'd be wearing the same.
Take off that coat. It's men's clothing here.
Jorge, I want to tell you...
Quiet. Don't say a Word. Especially here.
Besides, I know everyything.
Corporal, take the luggage to my house. We'll walk.
Yes, sir.
Paula discovered that father Leíarza
betrayed the vow of confession
and revealed what had happened.
Her brother searched
for her boyfriend
to take vengeance
but never found him.
Tere, please stop.
And your son?
Is he married?
Does he know about us?
I can't believe he doesn't know about us.
Your nephew's name was Javier.
He looked like you.
He was only 11 when he died.
I told him about all of you everyday.
About Madrid...
Spain and the sun.
But I never told him which side we were on.
Nor who I was.
Why not?
So he wouldn't feel ashamed among his friends.
You must have suffered greatly.
Not being able to be yourself.
Living among communists, Bolsheviks...
People of another class, without religion...
Yes.
I have.
But not for being more Catholic than the others...
Or a better Spaniard than the rest.
I suffered because I was from a family
to whom I could not confess that I had loved a man
with all my heart and soul.
And I have suffered for having a religion
that punished this love.
And for being from a country
where brothers kill each other.
And living in a world capable of killing
60,OOO,OOO people in a single war
and among them... The one I loved the most.
That's life.
No Jorge, it isn't. Can't you see that?
We make life.
And our deeds can change the course of history.
And you, by saving another man's life,
saved mine without knowing it.
How?
By helping to start our war
you probably brought on my son's death.
You were the cause of your own father's death.
In this you are right.
Don't you see that what kills are our deeds
and not life?
You've become one of them.
I wish I had been!
They didn't do it...
we were the ones to begin all this horror.
Atrocities were committted by both sides.
If you are resentful
you can always go back.
You aren't needed in this new Spain
I've got just as much right to be here as you
and to be a Spaniard.
I want to see my mother and that's what I'll do.
And don't try and stop me
unless you want to suddenly become
"the brother of the Red."
You would do that?
Single mother,
red...
A bad calling card for your brilliant service record, little brother.
I'm hungry. Hungry to live.
And for nobody to ever take what's mine again.
I want to see my mother.
Leave me alone with her.
As you wish, but she can't recognize you.
Alicia, come with me.
Mom.
Mom, it's me, Pau...
Beatriz.
I can't understand how they dare show her in society.
She spent 20 years in Russia.
A little birdie has been telling very serious things about her.
I don't believe it
but apparently she was involved with a relative of Stalin's.
No. I heard
she was deported to Siberia for being devout.
Poor thing, she must have suffered.
A woman like that is a saint.
Why are they clapping?
I've left a few rumours about.
Remember what we said...
You dont want to talk about the past.
tired, Beatriz?
Women like you are made of stronger sstuff.
Jorge has told me about your travails.
If I may and with your brother's permission,
I would be pleased to invite you to a hunt
next week at my estate in Toledo.
Would you honour us with your presence?
Thank you, colonel.
For the moment I would like to spend as much time as possible with my mother.
Colonel, we've been trying to speak with Beatriz all evening.
To tell us all about what happened to her in Russia
Ladies, you are a bit frivolous.
What Beatriz needs now is to rest and forget.
She'll tell you about when she is up to it.
Colonel, you are a wet blanket.
Not at all, ladies.
If you wish to hear tremendous stories about the war
I am your man.
Please...
Treblin!
What a surprise!
I was told you were in South America and had married a mulatta.
Aren't you ashamed at your age?
Come in.
This is our room.
Is that the Jew's wife?
Yes. We share the flat with this family.
We were promised an apartment but the truth is we haven't got it yet.
I saw Alejandro yesterday.
On the way back from Asturias.
He couldn't bear being rejected by his mother and his siblings.
History has robbed him of his mother's love...
I do translations.
I know that. Good ones.
Now, let's have a drink.
This is not a social call.
Though I'm happy to see you again.
I've got reports about Paula.
Reports about Paula?
Yes, well. They have come to me
knowing that I know you.
Are you spying on my wife? For who?
That doesn't matter.
What does matter
is that we don't like the people she is with.
The coup's army officers, bishops...
The Spanish oligarchy represented by some 50 people
she frequently visits.
Álvaro,
take care of it.
You must ask for a divorce.
There will be no problem.
She won't return.
She won't be happy living in this wardrobe or even a bigger one.
The sooner you forget her better for us all.
And now l will have that drink.
Get out.
Álvaro!
I said to get out.
He's a good comrade. Take care of him.
I never saw him again.
TWO YEARS LATER
Álvaro!
Álvaro, my friend!
Long time, no see!
Dorin!
You're looking well.
What are they selling?
Truth is I don't know. I saw the line and got in it.
For us it's the third.
One for beer, another for soap.
But we were late for both.
How's Vladimir? Still playing hockey?
The brute broke his hand.
What about Paula? Any news?
Not much.
Apparently her mother got ill and she stayed to take care of her.
But that is old news.
My niece
is going to get married.
Álvaro...
She'll be back.
She might have things to do in her world but...
She is not the type to abandon those she loves.
Yes, don't look at me like that. We all knew about it.
The women did. You men are slower.
And you haven't denounced her?
What could we accuse her of?
Being a single mother?
Loving her son?
Being from a family of fascists?
Most of my girlfriends were as well.
The only thing I can accuse her of is stealing my boyfriend.
It's a joke, Dorin.
Piedad was the first to find out.
By the way she sends her regards.
She reunited with her husband in Cuba.
Hopefully between her husband and the Cubans
they can calm her down because...
That was mean.
Once again we are leaving with nothing.
Aren't you going to greet me?
What are you doing here?
I've lost my keys and as the Yarovs are not at home...
Won't you kiss me?
We never separated again
and until the day she died,
the two of us, enemies, lived the happiest days of our lives
in this wardrobe.
NOVEMBER 20, 1975
Before time erases my memories
I wanted to share them with all those to come.
Spaniard. Your Franco has died.
The death of Franco brings
best hope for the Spanish people...
Spain... beloved country.. Spain
Spain... We believed thee eternal... Finally.
TO THOSE WHO NEVER CAME BACK.