Rosa Luxemburg

Sonjusha, you're bitter about my long imprisonment, and ask,

"How is it that some people may decide the fate of others?"

My dear, the history of civilisation

is based on people deciding the fate of others,

and that is deeply rooted in the conditions of our material existence.

Only an agonising new development can bring about change.

And you ask, "What's it all for?"

"What for" conveys nothing about the totality of life and its many forms.

Why are there blue tits in the world?

I really don't know.

But I'm really glad they do exist,

and it gives me great comfort

when suddenly, over the prison wall, I hear their tweets in the distance.

Sonitshka, be happy and calm for my sake.

Everything will turn out for the best, believe me.

Give my regards to Karl.

Many embraces, Rosa.

Firing squad! Attention!

Quick, help me up!

- Who is it? - One of them's Brodna.

Kaminski, Kozinski. I don't know the others.

- Murderers! Executioners! - Stop!

Aim!

Fire!

Murderers!

Anna Matschke.

Murderers.

Aim.

Fire!

How long are you going to watch it?

I want to see it bloom.

It sleeps at night, just like you do. Tomorrow you'll see it bloom.

Time for bed, darling.

Remove the blindfold.

It was a misunderstanding, madam.

Leave us.

Which doesn't mean that you won't be shot one day.

Sit down.

Please.

- Have you got anything to tell me today? - No.

Why not?

For the same reason as always - because I don't know anything.

There's one thing you do know - your name isn't Anna Matschke.

The Prussian authorities were very helpful.

It would appear that the Tsar authorities have an equally poor opinion of you.

Rosa Luxemburg is a leading figure in the German social democratic

and international socialist movements.

She passionately incites her listeners to carry out acts of propaganda,

the aim of which is to overthrow the present social order

by means of revolution, using the most contemptible methods.

Good work, eh?

Now all we need to find out is the name of the man

who was arrested with you.

My name's Anna Matschke now.

- Tell the comrades who I really am. - Understood.

We use agitation, not weapons.

What does Leo say?

Weapons are intended only for defence. We must protect our own.

Of course, agitation is most important...

Disrupting the government with group action

is only dangerous for absolutism.

It's Socialist agitation,

not throwing bombs or wounding the police,

that actually defeated the Tsarist administration in Georgia.

Agitation will pave the way to a general strike

and lead to street revolt,

which will extend the revolutionary turmoil to the countryside, the villages,

thereby increasing the area of conflict...

Here.

I told you not to come here.

You can't give me orders, Leo.

I'm a party member of the council, just like you.

You're more useful in Berlin than in Poland.

I was, as long as you kept me informed.

Recently, I've had to beg for news,

so I make sure I'm getting it myself, right here and now.

I don't want you to stay.

What use am I in Berlin, when there's a revolution in Russia?

You can't exclude me from such an important moment in our history.

I'm no longer a little student, and I won't be dictated to.

You still don't seem to understand that.

Give me a hug.

I've missed you.

Not: "the so-called reasonable people consider socialism

"the product of a sick imagination,"

but: "the so-called reasonable people consider socialism an illusion."

The way you put it, it's too watered down.

The main thing is that it's clear.

You'll spoil everything by being so pedantic.

And stop pacing up and down. It makes me nervous!

And you, my dear, are letting your temperament affect the way you write.

I'm going to write the article myself.

We'll have to wait a week before we can go to press.

Try to understand - what we need is dialectics and a radical new idea.

Dialectics - do you understand?

New ideas require time to develop. That's the dialectic.

Time will tell which of us has a better grasp of that, you ape!

Your answer is better than your article.

"What we should do..."

Are you the author?

Among other things, it's about the freedom of the press.

The right of everyone to express their views in speech and in writing.

But not everyone has the means to publish their opinions.

That's why we came to you.

In the end, I'd prefer to publish my own opinions.

Here you go.

Anton. Prepare this.

Open up! Police!

It seems that you don't know who you have living here.

- THE RED FLAG - Did you publish this?

There must be some kind of misunderstanding.

We're journalists from Germany.

Names?

- Anna Matschke and Otto Engelmann. - Come with us.

Please wait outside, my friend has to get dressed.

Hurry up!

Listen, I don't want my family to make a martyr out of me.

You can't ignore my wishes, just because I'm in prison.

I beg you - no more pleas for clemency. And don't involve the German consul.

They're in for a long wait if they expect me to beg for protection.

Get me transferred to a single cell, so I can write.

I can't wait to convey everything I've heard and seen to Germany.

But you may face a war tribunal.

If you keep speaking German, this visit is over.

Those months in Warsaw were the best in my life.

I'm worried about you, sister.

Oh! These are times of upheaval.

The existing order deserves to be destroyed.

It doesn't make any sense to be in jail for a lost cause.

It only seems that way!

We need patience, Josef.

And good spirits.

Your time's up.

- See you soon. - See you.

I'll come again.

To your freedom.

I thought I was only let out because of my bad health.

Any news about Leo?

The German Press revealed him.

He was prosecuted.

The charge read:

"Attempt, via armed insurgency, to overturn the monarchist administration

"prescribed in the Russian constitution." You know what it means.

You can expect the same prosecution too if you don't leave Warsaw soon.

Will you say good night, Aunt Rosa?

Of course I will.

Are you staying with us now?

- I have to return to Berlin. - Why?

I work in the German Socialist Party.

It's the largest and strongest labour movement in Europe.

Are you coming back?

I don't know. I'll write to you a lot.

- Will you put flowers inside? - Lots of flowers.

Sing something.

The valley, the valley

The valley of a small brook

Why don't you love me?

Was I not nice?

The valley, the valley

The valley of a small meadow

Why don't you love me?

Am I just a toy...

Dziodziu, you kept your promise!

- Pick me up, Dziodziu. - You're too heavy, Rosa.

Please, Dziodziu.

Pick me up, just for a moment. You know I like it.

So begins your reign of terror, huh?

I want you to be kind. Confess your love for me.

You needn't fear that you're going to humiliate yourself.

What do you want to hear?

That you're the smartest and most beautiful woman I know?

The best! I'm better than you, so I have a right to make you my subject.

I want us to be together as man and wife.

But we've been living together for a long time, Rosa.

I mean in our own place, with our own furniture, and a library.

Quietly working together and taking walks together.

We can go to the opera every now and then,

and take a trip to the country once a year.

Good evening, August. May I present Leo Tyszka?

Party chairman August Bebel and his wife.

- Nice to meet you. Do you speak German? - A little. Not very well.

We'll meet again later.

I've had a wonderful time, but I'd rather be alone with you.

You wanted to dance.

It's a great opportunity to meet the comrades without any formalities.

Luise.

Good evening. May I present Leo Tyszka? He's a comrade from Poland.

Luise Kautsky, Hans Kautsky.

- Nice to meet you. - It's my pleasure.

Luise is a real friend, and we hardly ever talk about politics.

- What about you two? - More than I want to, sometimes.

- Where's Carolus Magnus? - Over there. He doesn't dance.

Good evening, Carolus Magnus.

Leo Tyszka, my teacher and mentor from Poland.

Karl Kautsky, my teacher in Germany.

- Ignaz Auer. - Pleased to meet you.

Thank you.

Have you come here from Poland?

No, from Zurich.

An emigrant...