Original subtitles

Central Film Studio of Children's and Youth Films

named after M. GORKY

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

on Television and Radio Broadcasting

SEVENTEEN MOMENTS OF SPRING

Part 10

Starring

Stierlitz - Vyacheslav TIKHONOV

Müller - Leonid BRONEVOY

Kät - Ekaterina GRADOVA

Helmuth - Otto MELLIES (GDR)

Eismann - Leonid KURAVLYOV

Bittner - Yuri ZAYEV

Schutzmann - Viktor GOLOVIN

Günther - Sergey YUDIN

Peter - Alexandr KRYUKOV

First Nurse in Orphanage - Manefa SOBOLEVSKAYA

Second Nurse in Orphanage - Zinaida VORKUL

Expert - Vladislav KOVALKOV

Narrated by Yefim KOPELYAN

It's logical.

Logical. Have a seat.

Your position on Runge is solid. You may consider me an ally.

Is the tail you sent

after the Swedish diplomat's black Mercedes connected to this case?

Did you realize you were being tailed?

Do you have a good sense for danger?

Any fool in my place would have spotted that tail.

As far as danger goes,

what danger could possibly threaten me at home?

If I were across the border...

Do you get headaches?

-Worry? -High blood pressure.

I can recommend some yoga breathing exercises.

I don't believe in that. Still, show me.

Someone showed me once, but I didn't buy it.

It's easy. Put your left hand behind your head.

Just your fingers. The right hand along your skull.

That's right. Start massaging both sides, eyes closed.

I close my eyes, and you'll slug me on the head like Holthoff.

If you ask me to betray my country, I'll do it.

Gruppenführer, you just glanced at your watch.

It's seven minutes slow.

I prefer to play it straight. At least with my own people.

I've always regretted

that you're not on my staff.

I would've made you my deputy long ago.

-I'd never have agreed. -Why not?

You're just jealous,

like a loving, faithful wife.

That's the worst kind of jealousy, a tyrannical one.

Well, I think you've got my point.

Though that jealousy could have another name...

Caring for my fellow soldiers.

But that's a matter of technique, not of principle.

Why did you bring me here?

Couldn't we talk in your office?

It's quieter here.

If everything ends the way I want it to,

we'll go back together, and everyone will know

we were handling business in my department.

My chief's going to know that too?

Whose jealousy do you fear more, his or mine?

What do you think?

I like it when you're so straightforward.

I have no choice. I like things to be clear.

Clarity is one of the forms of total fog.

I know you, you sly fox.

He says no one's answering there.

All right.

All right.

How does it go in the Bible...

A time to gather stones, and a time to throw them.

You were a poor theology student at school.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes it is said,

A time to cast off stones, and a time to gather them...

A time to embrace, and a time...

Were you studying the Bible with that pastor under you?

I like to reread more than just the Bible.

To win over your enemy, you've got to know his ideology, right?

If you study it in the middle of a fight, you'll doom yourself to defeat.

Here...

Look what we've got here.

A very curious thing.

We found these fingerprints

on the glass you filled with water to give

to that wretched, foolish, trusting Holthoff.

And these prints...

we found...

Where, would you say?

My prints can be found in the Netherlands,

in Madrid, Tokyo, Ankara...

And where else?

I could try to recall, but it'd take too long...

and we'd miss both lunch and dinner.

Never mind.

Please, sit down.

I'm willing to starve.

Your Yogis believe fasting to be a powerful remedy,

and say that in the future half the world's illnesses

will be treated not with sulfa pills, but with fasting.

Well, do you remember now?

Our conversation makes no sense.

If I'm under arrest...

and you officially inform me of it,

I'll answer your questions as an arrested man.

If I'm not arrested, I won't answer your questions.

You won't... You sure won't.

Please try to reproduce,

with stenographer's accuracy, minute by minute if possible,

what you were doing in the hotline room...

after the telephone conversation in that same room,

access to which is strictly forbidden to everyone.

After I entered the hotline room...

Those hotline men should be court-martialed for cowardice.

They left the key in the door and ran for cover like rats.

After I entered the hotline room,

I met with partaigenosse Bormann

and spent more than two hours with him.

What we were talking about - I'm not telling you, of course.

-You might not if... -No "ifs."

Don't forget yourself, Stirlitz! Slowly does it.

I'm your senior, both by rank and by age.

-I beg your pardon. -That's better.

What were you discussing with Bormann?

With Partaigenosse Bormann...

I can answer that only in his presence.

Please understand me correctly.

Had you answered without him, you'd have saved yourself

from having to face my third question.

I'm ready to answer it if it concerns me personally,

but not if it involves the Reich or the Führer.

It concerns you personally.

These fingerprints here...

We found them on the suitcase

where the Russian radio operator kept her transmitter.

That will be the hardest question for you to answer.

Why? It's quite easy to answer that one.

I examined the operator's suitcase in Rolf's office.

Call him - he'll confirm it.

He already has.

Then what's the problem?

The problem is...

your fingerprints were found

by the Gestapo district unit

before the suitcase reached us.

Any chance there was a mistake?

None.

And coincidence?

Possible, but it has to be proven.

Why, among 20 million suitcases all over Berlin

were your fingerprints found right where

the Russian "pianist" kept his transmitter?

How do you account for that?

To explain it...

is actually very difficult.

If I were you, I wouldn't believe any of my explanations either.

I understand you, Gruppenführer.

I understand you perfectly.

I'd very much like to get a convincing answer from you.

I give you my word - I honestly like you.

I believe you.

All right, then.

Rolf is coming now. He'll bring the Russian "pianist,"

and she will help us...

figure out where you could have left traces on the transmitter case.

The Russian? The one I picked up at the hospital?

I have an excellent visual memory.

If I'd met her before, I'd have remembered her face.

She won't be able to help us.

She won't be able to help us.

And we'll also get help...

by this...

That was his coded message

sent with Pleischner to Bern.

Try to remember, Stierlitz.

This is a real blunder.

It's a fiasco.

And our people won't know. I acted like an idiot.

Pleischner is either a coward, an agent provocateur, or a bungler.

Bastard. Scum. Scoundrel!

16 Mar 1945 1:45 p.m.

Müller went to the scene of Rolf's murder with his best detectives.

Chief, here.

There's nothing.

-Nothing at all? -Nothing.

The Parabellum.

Müller also brought two veterans - Rafke and Hille,

with whom, back in the '20s, he caught thieves,

Hitler's National Socialists, and drug addicts.

He only took those men on very rare occasions.

He never handed them over to the Gestapo, since every detective there

counted on experts, agents, and dictaphones for aid.

And these old men made do with their heads and experience.

It looks like the murder you were puzzling over in Munich.

-On Egenstrasse? -Yes, house 9.

Eight!

He knocked them down on the even-numbered side.

You've got some memory.

Are you complaining about yours?

I'm taking iodine.

I'm taking vodka.

-You're a general, you can afford it. -Give me matches.

And where can we get money for vodka?

Try taking bribes.

And end up with your goons.

No, I prefer taking iodine.

Go on, do it.

Frankly speaking...

I'd be happy

to trade my vodka for your iodine.

Too much work?

So far, yes. But soon there'll be none.

Well? What?

What did you get, Günther?

I found something.

I found something...

Listen...

What do you dye your hair with?

Henna.

My hair is neither gray nor black, more like piebald.

Elsa's gone.

And young chicks prefer young soldiers

to old detectives.

-The soldiers are on the front. -And the disabled?

Enough of that.

Well, what is it?

An old woman across the street

saw a girl and a soldier an hour ago.

The girl was with a baby.

They seemed to be in a hurry.

What was the soldier wearing?

What? A uniform.

Wasn't he in his underwear?

What kind of uniform?

Field uniform, that's the point.

All right, field uniform.

I thought your soldiers wore only black...

I don't give a damn what you thought.

What car did they get in?

A bus.

-A bus? -Yes. Number 17.

-Where did they go? -Over there, downtown.

Scholz.

Quick, send details along the bus 17 line.

The "pianist" and her guard.

What?

I don't know his name.

Find out what his name is!

That's first.

Second.

Please tell Bittner to get his file right away.

Where he's from, where his family is.

In short, get me his entire service record, fast.

If you find out that he,

at least once, was at the place Stierlitz had visited, inform me immediately.

It's Müller.

Alert the police on all subway lines about the woman with a child.

Give her description, say she's a thief or a killer.

Arrest her.

If they grab more than needed by mistake, I'll pardon them.

The important thing is not to miss the one I'm waiting for.

Nazi Party Orphanage Mozartstrasse 7

Excuse me, I'd like to see my daughter.

The children are being fed now, and everybody is busy.

But I've come from the front just for a few hours...

I'm very sorry, but now all the children...

Is there anybody from the management?

Nobody. Everybody is either at the front or with the children.

I'm sorry again.

When can I see my daughter?

Come back in half an hour and we'll try to help you.

What?

It's bad. Only in half an hour.

We'll wait.

Nothing can happen. They don't know where we are.

Yes, but we should get out of the city soon.

I know how they can search.

Perhaps you'd better go?

And I'll catch up with you, if everything works out.

No, I'm not going anywhere, I'll wait for you.

This...

you got it at the front?

What?

This.

Yes.

At the front.

Why?

No, nothing.

Near Vitebsk. That's where I fought.

And where's...

the mother...

of your child?

She left.

What do you mean, left?

Exactly that.

When she found out I was in the hospital, seriously wounded,

she lost all interest in me.

She left the child at the orphanage and walked out...

with an officer from the Luftwaffe.

Let's agree on a meeting place, then you go.

I'm not going anywhere.

I'll wait for you here.

Besides, I have nowhere to go in this city.

Yeah...

Müller had been gone for over an hour now.

Stierlitz felt something was off with Müller.

Something has happened.

Yes, something went wrong.

Something didn't add up with them.

Something had happened.

In any case, I got a time-out.

I have to make use of this time-out.

So...

I have to give

a credible, precise explanation

of where,

when

and why

my fingerprints could've ended up on that case.

Where, when and why?

I have to go over every detail of that day.

I have to prove I was near Erwin's house by chance.

It was on the 21st.

In the morning, about eight.

I went to Erwin for the answer from the Center.

I got held up on Pariserplatz.

They were clearing the street after a bombing.

I was stuck for about 20 minutes.

Fine.

Go on.

Go on.

I headed for Dorotheenstrasse.

I drove down Bayreuther Strasse and turned left

to go straight to Dorotheenstrasse,

but the police stopped me.

Fire trucks were blocking the alley,

So I had to detour

via Köpenick Strasse past the barracks.

So I made a detour via Köpenick.

There I was stopped too.

I was actually stopped there, that guy who stopped me.

I must remember.

I must remember

what I thought about him then.

I tried not to think about Erwin and Kät.

And suddenly I caught myself at thinking about that guy

as consumptive.

Yes, he was coughing, that dry cough of his.

I don't remember the other guy.

But this one coughed all the time.

I remember it very well.

Yes.

I bent down to help a woman.

I picked something up and helped her with a pram full of stuff.

She was holding a child.

Or let's put it another way.

Maybe she had a suitcase.

Stop.

Yes, the woman had a suitcase.

I helped her with the pram and carried the suitcase.

That's a chance. I have to use it.

And I must use it.

That's it.

Look, friend.

Call the Gruppenführer, tell him I remembered it.

Ask him to come down here, right away.

All right, I'll report it to the Standartenführer.

So I ended up there because the police turned me around.

I spoke with the policeman.

I remember his face, and he should remember me.

I showed him my SD ID.

He was watching me when I rolled that pram, I sensed it.

Therefore, he should confirm I was rolling the pram.

I'll say that I helped with the suitcase, too.

If he actually saw me with the pram,

he can't confirm or deny anything about the case.

And that's what I need.

Has something extraordinary happened, Bittner?

Have we occupied Moscow?

Gruppenführer, Stierlitz asked me to tell you he remembered everything.

Really?

-When? -Just now.

All right. Any other news?

Nothing important.

-Got anything on the guard? -Just some rubbish.

Such as?

Information on his wife, children, relatives.

That's not trash.

That's not trash at all,

my dear Bittner, not in a case like this.

Did you send our men to his wife?

His wife left him two months ago.

What?

He was in hospital after a contusion, and she left him

for some merchant in Munich.

-For whom? -They say, a merchant in Munich.

Children?

One child, four months old. She put it in an orphanage.

Where's the orphanage?

It has no name. It's in Pankow, Mozartstrasse 7.

Now, info on his mother.

There might be heavy shooting, guys. Grab your Bulldogs.

-Where's the orphanage in Pankow? -Mozartstrasse 8.

You always mix up even and odd numbers. House No.7.

Hurry up, Peter.

-How can I help you? -I'm Helmuth Kalder.

It's about my daughter, Ursula. I was told to come again...

I know, but the girl is supposed to sleep now.

I'm heading to the front today.

I'd like to take a walk with her. She'll sleep in my arms.

I'm afraid the doctor won't permit it.

But I'm leaving for the front.

You can't deprive me of a chance to see my daughter.

All right, I understand. I'll try to do something.

Wait a minute, please.

-You want to go outside? -What?

If you want to take her out, we'll give you a pram.

-What for? -Not to hold her in your hands.

No, no. This way it'll be better.

You better go to our garden.

It's quiet, and if the air-raid begins, you can go down to the shelter.

I'll just check the bus timetable and come to the house.

Just a moment.

To the house? What house?

I mean the garden, of course.

Are you... feeling unwell?

Why?

You look pale.

No, no.

It's nothing. Everything's all right.

Hey, you!

Are you out of your mind?

Idiot!

Will you hold her, please?

I'll head to the bus stop. I'll run back when I see the bus.

We'd better go together.

No, no.

We must get to the railway station and take a train by all means.

Easy to get lost in a crowd of refugees.

We must just get to Munich. My mother's there.

Oh God, where am I going? I can't go there.

I can't go there. Well...

Come on, quiet.

Quiet, quiet.

Quiet.

Quiet, why?

Why do I say "quiet"?

Nobody was crying.

Why do I say "quiet"?

No, sir. No sir, it was...

just ten minutes ago.

I see.

And where's the girl?

Where's the girl?

I think they drove off in a car. A car stopped right beside them.

Did she get in a car herself?

No.

She couldn't have gotten in by herself. She's just an infant.

I could understand that, Scholz!

Look around here well. I got to go.

The second car will be here any minute. They're on their way.

How could the girl get in the car?

-Eh? -I didn't see.

Didn't see! -Yes.

-What kind of a car? -A big one.

-A truck? -No, a green sedan.

-You remember the number? -I didn't pay attention.

I smell a rat here.

Search everything around here. I smell a rat.

-There're only ruins around. -Search the ruins!

Though actually...

Everyone's so stupid and unprofessional

it's almost impossible to work.

You can never guess an amateur's logic.

Maybe he's a shrewd amateur?

A shrewd amateur wouldn't have gone to the orphanage.

A shrewd amateur wouldn't have gone to the orphanage!

Damn it!

It's nothing doing.

We've combed 20 basements and got nothing.

Come on, stop grumbling.

Listen, that guy...

-Damn it! -Be careful!

That SS guy - was he taken down with a single shot?

Or did they shoot him with two hands?

I called the lab, the results aren't ready yet.

And they say the Gestapo gets everything done in a minute.

Liars.

Quiet.

Quiet, quiet.

Quiet.

Quiet.

What's this? A footprint or not?

Not enough dust. If it were summer...

If it were in summer, if we had a Doberman,

if the Doberman had a glove from the woman who slipped past the SS

and picked up her scent...

What's this? A cigarette butt?

It's old, like a stone.

Feel it!

In our line of work, you gotta feel it first.

Thank God Günther never got married.

If they told my Maria that I was dead and cold,

lying on the morgue floor...

I'll take one.

There were two exits, both blocked.

-With what? -With bricks.

Much dust?

No, just loose bricks, same as here. How would there be any dust?

So, no traces?

What traces can broken bricks leave?

Let's check further.

Hold on, I'll light one.

Damn, the matches are soaked.

Damn it!

-I've got a lighter. -Thanks.

Mine's worn down.

A piece got stuck under the wheel. I can't pick it out.

Take it to a repair shop.

I couldn't find one. There isn't a single shop left in Berlin.

All the skilled workers are at the front. Thanks, pal, you've helped me out.

We should search the whole place before dark,

so our conscience stays clear.

Oh, God!

Will they ever leave?

16 Mar 1945 5:10 p.m.

Something happened? I began to feel nervous.

He did it right. I felt nervous, too.

I remembered it.

What did you remember?

Why the Russian's suitcase might hold my fingerprints.

Where's she, by the way?

I thought you were going to arrange...

for a face-to-face. A direct confrontation between us.

She's in the hospital, they'll bring her soon.

What's the matter with her?

Nothing's wrong.

To make her talk, Rolf overdid it with the child.

All right, we've still got time.

Why still? We just have time.

We still have time.

If you're really interested in that muddle with the suitcase,

I remember it now.

It cost me a few new gray hairs,

but the truth will always triumph.

What a happy coincidence in our convictions. Tell me your facts.

For that you'll have to call here all the policemen

who stood guard at the cordoned-off zone on Bayreuther Strasse.

I stopped there

and they didn't let me through even after I showed them my SD ID.

So I made a detour...

down Köpenick Strasse

passing by the barracks which, as you know, had been reduced

the day before into a pile of ruins

around it.

There I got stopped too, and ended up in a traffic jam.

I went to see what happened,

and the policemen - he was a young,

apparently a seriously ill boy - a consumptive, I think,

and his mate, I can barely recall him, with soot all over his face.

They wouldn't let me use the phone to call in

and let you know I was running late.

I showed them my ID and went to the telephone.

I remember a woman standing there...

with a child, and I...

helped her carry a pram out of the rubble.

Then I carried over a few things and a couple of suitcases.

In any case, in the last half-year

I haven't touched any other suitcase.

Question the policemen, from the cordon,

who saw me helping to carry those things,

and check it against your facts.

If any part of my story turns out to be a lie,

then give me a gun with one bullet, I don't see any other way out,

for there's nothing else I can prove my alibi with.

Well, let's try to do it.

It's quite logical.

First we'll listen to our Germans, then we'll talk with your Russian.

With our Russian.

Do you really believe

that I'm the Russian resident?

Look, Mr. Müller,

I've been in intelligence for years.

If I were the Russian resident, it's very unlikely

there's no way I'd be messing with a wireless radio.

With all my experience of working in the SD.

All right.

Don't twist my words.

Did they give you something to eat? Why don't we have a bite?

High time.

-I asked them to bring something. -Thank you.

Have you called up those men?

I have.

You don't look well.

I'm surprised I'm still alive.

What were you slyly hinting at with that "still"?

That we've still got time?

Come on, shoot.

Only after the confrontation, there's no point in it now.

If they don't confirm what I said, there's no point in talking about "still."

Help yourself.

In this jail, especially in this basement,

I wouldn't mind sleeping for a day or two.

You can't hear any bombings down here.

-You'll get your chance soon. -Thanks.

Seriously,

I like the way you're holding out.

I talked to some of our men here.

They got flustered.

-Want a drink? -No, thanks.

Do you never drink?

I suppose you're aware of my fondness for cognac.

Don't imagine yourself on par with Churchill.

He's the only person I know who prefers Russian cognac to anything else.

Well, as you wish.

But I'll have one. It's true I feel lousy today.

Heil Hitler!

Do you know any of these three men?

No.

Have you ever met any of these men?

No, I think I've never met them.

Maybe you ran into them by chance during the bombings,

while you were cordoning off the wrecked buildings?

Many people in uniform came.

Just to look at the ruins.

No. I can't remember clearly.

Well, thank you.

Heil!

Like this, the only one they can identify is the Reichsführer.

Your uniform throws them off.

What uniform?

Your general's uniform.

Am I supposed to sit here naked?

Then at least remind them of the place.

Otherwise they'd never remember. They're out on the streets ten hours a day.

And all people look the same to them.

All right.

Help them, Eismann.

Do you remember him?

No, I haven't seen him. I remember those I saw.

For the identification experiment,

no other Gestapo men could be brought in -

so they wouldn't cast suspicion on Stierlitz.

That's why Müller ordered the confrontation -

or rather, an identification lineup of the men

who knew what was going on:

Stierlitz, Eismann and Bittner.

Thus,

he found himself in a rather unusual role.

The second policeman who stood in the cordon by the barracks

hadn't identified anyone either.

And only the seventh cop to arrive was that frail Schutzmann,

supposedly consumptive.

Heil Hitler!

Do you know any of these men?

No, I don't believe so.

Were you manning the cordon on Köpenicker Strasse?

Yes.

Yes, this gentleman showed me his ID.

I let him through.

Did he ask permission to go through?

No.

He just flashed his ID.

He was driving a car.

I wasn't letting anyone through - only him.

Why?

Didn't he have the right?

I know the order - let SS and Gestapo personnel through everywhere.

Yes, he had the right.

Don't take him for the enemy.

We all work together.

Was he looking for a woman in labor at the fire site?

No, she had been taken the previous night.

And he came in the morning.

So he was after the unfortunate woman's belongings?

-Did you help him? -No.

I remember he carried a pram for some woman.

A child's pram.

No, I didn't help, just stood nearby.

-Next to the suitcases? -The pram?

No - the woman.

I don't remember that.

I think there were some suitcases.

But I don't recall the details.

I remember the pram, because stuff fell out of it.

This gentleman picked it up and carried it to the curb across the street.

Why?

It was safer there.

There were fire trucks on our side,

and the hoses could have damaged the pram.

The child would have had nowhere to sleep.

So the woman put the pram in the shelter.

I saw the child sleeping there.

Thank you, you've been very helpful.

You may go.

Heil Hitler!

Heil Hitler!

They can all leave.

-The older one can confirm it too. -That's enough.

Why not invite those from the first cordon?

Bittner, do you have all the confirmations?

Yes, Gruppenführer, the testimony of Helwig, who that day

sent duty details and liaisons with the street traffic service,

is already here.

Everyone may leave.

Stierlitz...

Please remain...

just for a moment.