Katyn (Katyń)

present the film

based on Andrzej Mularczyk's novel "Post Mortem"

Screenplay by

Starring

as Major Popov

Photography of the September 1939 sequence by

Producer

Music

Director of Photography

Directed by

September 17, 1939

Where to, folks?

There are Germans behind us!

The Soviets have entered !

Where are you going? Turn back!

The Russkies have entered !

Faster!

Mrs. Ann ! Mrs. Ann !

Where to?

I'm looking for my husband. Where are they?

You don't know? The Soviets attacked at dawn.

My husband told me to return to Kraków immediately.

My husband knows what's he talking about.

- Madam. . . - They must know that we're safe.

Why jeopardize yourself and the kid?

- Be reasonable. - Madame, please.

Start.

Nika!

Where are you?! My God, Nika!

Come, doggie. Nothing to be scared of.

- I told you to stick with me! - But he's alone and scared.

- Let's take him along. - We can't. We're in a hurry.

Jump in.

Excuse me, do you know where the 8th Kraków Uhlan Regiment is?

The uhlans are no more.

And the officers? Where's the staff?

There's a hospital in the church.

They may know something.

- Is dad there? - I don't know. We'll see.

- Mom, the coat. - What coat?

Dad's coat. I can tell by the blue ribbon.

Hold this.

- What's happening? - The President's address!

The president's address!

. . .until today has withstood the onslaught

of the overwhelming German forces,

our eastern neighbor has invaded

our lands in violation of covenants,

and the immutable principles of morality.

Warsaw as the capital is no more!

Meaning. . .

Who's that?

Molotov, Soviet Foreign Minister. The Soviets are everywhere.

- Where are the officers? - The POWs are at the station.

They were to be transported to Russia in the morning.

- You can leave her here. - I want to come along.

Wait here. I'll be right back with Daddy.

Take this for your husband.

Thank you.

- I'll be right back, Nika. - Grześ, see the lady off.

Take the bicycle and leave it there.

September 17, 1939.

The Bolsheviks have entered.

Surrounded by Soviet tanks, we surrender weapons.

They take us for POWs though there was no war with them.

They have separated the officers and let the soldiers go home,

but have retained us, the officers.

I'll try to write from time to time to let you know

what happened to me if I died and didn't return.

Maybe this notebook will be sent to you.

- They're dividing us. - Wait a minute.

What're you doing?

I've decided to describe everything I've seen here day by day.

The Germans take our soldiers, the Soviets, our officers.

Captivity is captivity. No honor to an officer.

- The future is black. - Meaning?

Moscow hasn't signed the Geneva Convention.

How long do you think their friendship will last?

Hitler declared a 1000-year-old Reich

and communism is forever.

Greetings to the representatives of the German Army.

First Lieutenant of the NKVD Kozlov.

A thousand years at least.

- You never lose your sense of humor. - My common sense rather.

- How goes it, comrades? - Fine.

Their alliance won't last a year,

which means they'll need us very badly.

Who?

One transport to Smolensk, the second, to Belgorod,

and the third to Kharkov.

- Ann. - Where's she?

- Your wife! - Why, she's in Kraków.

What're you doing here, Ann? Why aren't you in Kraków?

Where's Nika?

Andrzej, I'll never. . .

Where's Nika?

You'll see her in the presbytery.

What presbytery?

Nearby. I have another bicycle for you.

Just change. They're not watching very closely.

What're you talking about?

I want you to be with us, to take care of me and our daughter.

You're a wife of a Polish officer.

This conversation is pointless.

I've traveled across half of Poland to you !

I'm bound by my military pledge.

You swore to me. . .

before God.

- Till death do us part, you've forgotten? - I swore to them too.

- You just don't love us. - By God, Ann, calm down.

I beg you. . .

I beg you, Andrzej. . . .

No talking to the prisoner!

- Andrzej. - All will be well.

Daddy!

- Nika. - Don't go away!

Take her away.

Come, darling.

Take care.

Daddy!

The youngest cavalry captain

Maybe the navy blue would be better?

No, thank you, my dear.

I thought you were working.

I found an old paper with Andrzej's photo

when he was the youngest cavalry captain in the Polish Army.

Our son lives.

He's in captivity, but he lives.

Thank you.

Will you have a speech today?

Not today.

We have to listen to the lecture of that SS officer. . . Muller?

- I told you. - We need to buy a new jacket.

Muller. Doctor Muller.

Does he have a scientific degree, that Muller?

Yes. He calls himself police government adviser.

Dr. Muller.

Jan. . .

. . .you don't want to go there?

Out of the question. We all must be there.

We can't leave the chancellor alone.

The Germans must believe that we are of one mind

when it comes to the independence of the university.

Kraków, Nov. 6, 1 939 German Occupation Zone

Hello. . . hello.

Chancellor. . .

Hello. . .

Gentlemen. . .

We have been informed that, at the university,

you start classes, seminars and exams without our consent.

You don't seem to realize the plight you're in.

This kind of conduct is a hostile act against Germany.

As a matter of fact

the university was always a major hotbed

of scientific struggle against Germany

and the center of anti-German propaganda. The university is closed.

You'll go to a labor camp where you'll have enough time

to think over your behavior until now.

- Excuse me. . . - Any discussion is useless.

I categorically protest on behalf of the university.

Comments are forbidden.

Whoever will try to disobey

orders will be shot. Chancellor, you go first.

November 1939 Camp in Kozielsk, USSR.

Everybody fled: police stations, the high command.

I know only one word: treason.

Easy to judge others when you didn't fight.

You didn't give me any weapon.

The camp does not justify a breach of rules and conduct.

- It's a fitting term: treason ! - Soviet propaganda, lieutenant!

The truth is quite different.

Look for it in Romania, where our C.-in-C. has fled.

Who's guilty that we were unprepared?

History will judge the guilty of the disaster.

Rehearsed platitudes, those. I think though I have fewer stars than you,

- I'm an engineer, I design planes. - The uniform is an honor.

- The Polish uniform. - Shove the honor. I'd rather fight!

Don't jump at each other's throat. Here? Before the Soviets?

We still take part in the war.

It's all over for us.

Try to find peace with this, lieutenant.

November 1939 Soviet Occupation Zone

The Soviet Red Army is your only friend.

Any further resistance is pointless.

The Soviet Red Army is your only friend.

Only she will liberate the Polish nation from the war.

So that you could start living in peace.

I can't find it.

Silence the baby.

- Name? - Ann.

Wife of a cavalry captain,

born in Kraków in 1910, daughter Nika.

This checks out. Everything's correct. So, what is it, citizen?

I already applied twice for travel documents to Poland. . .

. . .the General Government, that is.

To my family.

Mussolini envies us already.

That's what is in our files. And you were refused twice.

I've applied again.

- Refused ! Next one! - I used to live in Kraków before the war.