Return to the Red City
Good morning.
How can I help you?
Tomáš Hájek, of IHSWW. Where can I find Comrade Rousal, please?
Upstairs, second door on the left.
Thank you.
Where from?
Good morning, Comrade.
Tomáš Hájek, IHSWW.
Rousal. Take a seat, please.
Where did you say you were from?
IHSWW, Institute for the History of the Second World War
I see...and what is it you need?
I'm here in reference to Kadlec.
Kadlec...
He was killed in 1939.
I don't quite get you.
My boss phoned you two days ago.
Did he? Don't remember.
I just need to check some information. How can I get to the record office?
It's across the street.
Thank you very much.
It was my pleasure.
Good morning.
Tomáš Hájek, IHSWW.
What a visit! Červinka. Nice to meet you.
I've read your study -
Oh, did you?
- but I couldn't get a copy of it.
There you go! I've asked them twice for a reprint.
Nobody's interested in serious work these days.
Führer's Second Army in full glory.
The artillery was parked right in the square, the armoured divisions stood over here,
and infantry all around.
- Führer hardly managed to get to the platform. - The Führer himself was here?
He'd said before the War he'd have lunch in Red City after he took over the country.
But why here?
That's obvious: the country's easternmost city, plus an industrial miracle -
- brilliant of the Germans, a great propaganda move...
...when Red City fell, the whole country knew for sure who the boss was.
The entire invading army in one place.
They must have been terribly self-assured...
In fact... I'm here because of something else.
We're making a book to commemorate the occupation anniversary,
about people who fell during the anschluss.
I was surprised by the fact that only a single person was killed in Red City then - a Jiří Kadlec...
What about it? Dozens fell elsewhere.
Precisely. A single casualty becomes a hero. These are the ones they write books about these days.
I've heard about the case, but I've never been interested.
All right, I'll check it for you. Pity you didn't call before you came.
My boss phoned the City Hall two days ago...
City Hall? That's like calling out of a window.
Try to come back in the afternoon.
- Well, thanks. - Nothing to thank for yet.
Morning...
Will you let me in?
- You got a permit? - No.
I'll only take a look, won't tell anybody...
Something falls on you, and I'll be the one to blame. Go get a permit.
Where can I get one?
- The City Hall. - Thanks.
But they'll all be gone at this hour.
Are you looking for somebody?
No, I'm fine.
I think I used to live here.
- What did you say? - I used to live here!
You lived here?
We moved when I was four.
- Are you Tomáš? - I am...
How you've grown! You look just like your father!
How about a cup of coffee?
Well why not, thank you.
Well, what a surprise. Little Tommy!
Unfortunately I remember hardly anything, I'm sorry.
When your mother died, you were with us most of the time.
I looked after you every time your father went to Germany.
One day you both left in such a hurry I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.
Father got a new job in Prague; he was offered a flat with it - a villa in fact.
Well, your father's German was perfect. You even had some relatives in Germany, didn't you? How is he doing?
He died before the War was over, of a heart attack.
I'm sorry about that.
And what about you? Searching for your roots?
I'm here on business. We're working on a book on the Occupation and I'm writing about Red City.
That was a bad day. Foul weather, soldiers everywhere, tanks in the streets, cannons...
They converged from the whole country - a parade of victory.
You see, when the Manufacturer went to the States in 1938, we all hoped he'd return.
But then the tanks came and that was it.
Luckily it all turned out well...
Did it? Don't you see the mess? The factory was nationalised then shut down.
And the clown Rousal being the Mayor...
- But... - Oh yes.
He was a nobody in the factory before the War, couldn't do any better.
Then he got into trouble, was sacked,
so he started writing agitation pamphlets and leftist rallies against the Manufacturer.
Are you not afraid to speak like this?
Afraid of what? It's all true!
Thanks for the coffee, but I must be going now.
- And what with that suitcase? -I've got the hotel address.
- Come on now, the hotel's been closed for years! - Closed?
You know what? Why don't you sleep here?
- That's very kind of you, but... - I've got a spare room,
used to be my husband's, so just leave the case here.
Well, thanks a lot.
So I've found this Kadlec for you. He was a dam operator.
- Dam operator? - He worked at the dam,
was in charge of water supplies for the city and whatnot.
Born in Holešov in 1903, started working in Red City in 1928.
Died on 15 March 1939 - shot by the invaders on duty.
I also checked his fellow-workers.
There were three dam operators in all:
apart from your Jiří Kadlec there was an Otto Walder and a Josef Hoffmann.
I know nothing of Walder, but Hoffmann still lives at the dam,
unless I'm mistaken.
- And how would I get there? - Take the trolleybus, line C; but wait.
Fascinating, isn't it?
Top Secret
Plans and layouts. The whole city.
I dug around it some time ago, but it's one hell of a mess.
It was found at the planning department after the War, by chance. Everything else went up in flames.
Red City is its entirety, an elaborate work by a single man. But that's all gone now.
We'll never understand the purpose of those things.
- Thanks. - Come again tomorrow.
I'll phone the Brno office, some of things were transferred there after the War.
And I'll try the register of deaths. If this Walder is dead, there should a record.
Thanks. See you tomorrow.
Hello, Mr. Hoffmann?
Have we met before?
Should we have?
What do you want?
I'm Tomáš Hájek of the Institute for the History of the Second World War.
I'm looking for information on the death of your colleague, Mr. Jiří Kadlec.
There's not much I can tell you.
Something perhaps. Were you at the dam the day he was shot?
No, Kadlec was on duty. When I came for my shift, I found him dead.
He lay on that footbridge over there.
What do you think had happened?
Well, if a German platoon was marching past, I guess he just ran towards them empty-handed.
He had a sentimental relationship with this place.
Do you happen to know where I could find the third one... Otto Walder?
I've no idea. Bye.
Waiter...
Excuse me, I'm a historian, writing a book on the War, and I'm looking for some eyewitnesses...
Lojza! This gentleman here is looking for eyewitnesses!
Sure thing, that's us!
Are you the American?
Does he look like an American?
What American?
There's an American here. Everybody's crazy about him.
Yeah, nobody knows why he's here;
Rousal is beside himself. But there's nothing he can do - the guy's got a visa or something.
Wait, wait. Mr. Historian wanted to ask about something, right?
Well, does the name Kadlec ring any bells?
The man who was killed in 1939.
What do you know about it?
It was in the papers.
How do you like this dump? Beautiful place, isn't it? The Manufacturer must be turning in his grave.
Yeah. It's all the Old Quisling's job.
Whose?
Rousal's, our Comrade City Manager's. Right, Jára?
This is our Jaryn, he used to work with Rousal in the planning department.
He thinks Rousal had let out some great secret to the Germans.
Don't trifle with that.
What secret was it?
- Don't take him seriously. -He's pissed as hell.
Good morning.
Sugar?
Oh, you shouldn't have...
- I say, sugar? - No... no, thanks.
How's your job going?
Nothing to be proud of yet.
Incidentally, does the name Jiří Kadlec ring any bells with you?
Kadlec... of course! A good person. A bit of a loner, but a true patriot. No wonder the Nazis took him out.
And how did that happen?
- What do you mean? - How was taken out?
I don't know. It was early on in the War.
You see, Red City was built on people like him. The Manufacturer knew how to pick his men!
He always thought ahead.
When he built a new factory hall, he knew it would be turned into a gym when it served out.
He made toys out of the production line remnants...
Those were great times. If it wasn't for the War, what could have become of Red City?
Well, then. Thank you for breakfast.
Hang on, take some cakes for lunch.
- I can't take that... - Please do; look how skinny you are!
Sorry.
Good morning.
What is it?
I need a permit to get in.
You too?
We don't issue any permits.
I... need it for study purposes.
We don't issue any permits.
Right... I see.
Hey, where are you going?
You aren't expected.
My apologies, but I need a permit to the factory, and the comrade at the door wouldn't accommodate me.
I see no reason why she should.
Comrade City Manager, I'm here on business...
Working on a book on the Occupation, as far as I know. The factory is none of your business.
I'm sorry, but it's up to me to decide what is or isn't my business.
Miluška? Can you come up, please?
Help comrade here out, please. He's leaving.
What do you want?! A permit... So what? Give me a break!
Hey, boys!
Hold on!
Boys, take me in with you.
How much will you pay?
Terminus.
Thanks, boys. I'm in your debt.
What are you doing here?
I've got a permit.
Don't worry, I'm not going to report you. Anderson.
Hájek. I... I just wanted to see where my father used to work.
Really? My father designed this place.
We emigrated at the beginning of the War.
The Manufacturer sent Father to an overseas branch, which saved us from the concentration camp.
Are you Jewish?
It's the name, isn't it? My father changed it to Anderson. Jews had hard times in America too.
What did your father do?
I don't know. I remember so little. I was four at that time.
You never asked?
Father died before the War ended; I was too young to understand.
So much work for nothing.
Maybe they'll reopen one day...
You don't understand.
There are things under the surface. Plan Two, more important than the first one...
Hide!
I heard voices!
Sorry?
Aah... which way... out please?
Come this way.
- So what did Hoffmann tell you? - Almost nothing.
This is the registry record. Otto Walder, the third dam operator.
M for Missing... I guess he didn't make it back from forced labour. Won't tell you anything either.
I have been thinking about it.
The soldiers arrived from the west, from the plains, but Kadlec was at the other end at the moment.
Maybe they had scouts. What baffles me is that nobody else was shot.
There was nobody to shoot at. The City was empty.
The Manufacturer had a brilliant evacuation plan. Everybody had been moved to the hills in the morning.
Each house had a little bell in it, the whole thing was centralised.
The Führer must have been disappointed.
A parade like that with no-one to watch. The Manufacturer's surprise.
This Manufacturer you keep mentioning - do you think it all might have had another purpose?
I mean something like a back-up plan... You mentioned the city as a single entirety yesterday, those plans...
My friend, the Manufacturer was surely a genius; but don't try to see a mystery behind everything.
May I borrow these plans?
Hardly. Nothing can be taken out of the record office.
I'll be very careful.
No no, that's the rules. But come around tomorrow, the stuff from Brno should arrive.
Can I have a word with you?
Bican wasn't there, stop bugging me with your Bican!
What exactly did this planning department do?
Territorial plans, utility networks, everything. We were building the City...
No more than that?
One more thing. They called it Plan Two.
What was that?
Rousal and me only started work there in 1937, as assistants.
We only worked on partial designs, weren't allowed to see the master plans. And then Rousal was sacked.
He'd hidden after work and crept in to see the master plans. They caught him and sacked him immediately.
So what were the plans?
Don't know, but important enough to be worthwhile for Rousal to sell the information to the Germans.
Have you got any proof of that?
What if I tell you that everyone from the planning department went straight to the gas chamber in 1939?
The Germans covered the tracks. But nobody hurt Rousal
And what about you?
I didn't know anything, which saved me. I had been there too shortly.
I'm telling you, Bican wasn't there!
What for you?
I'm just leaving.
No other pubs around here.
Wait - who's paying? I said last time no more credit for you!
Are you sure you want to pay for him?!
That's enough, gentlemen!
- Where do you want to go? - Off to bed. I'm tired.
You don't believe me? Those plans are in the record office.
The Germans tried to destroy them, but a copy was found after the War.
I wish I could get into the factory. The whole thing must still be there.
I know how to get inside.
But I'm here on a different business.
Are you crazy?
Man, believe me!
See you tomorrow at eleven behind the record office.
I'll be there.
Tomáš, is that you?
Yes, it's me. Good evening.
Tomorrow then!
Who on earth was that?
I remembered one thing about Kadlec... Rousal once organized a rally right in front of the factory gate.
He held a speech about the Manufacturer exploiting the workers and whatnot.
Kadlec was passing by, saw him speaking, climbed to his platform and punched him out.
Well... and Rousal put his tail between his legs and ran away. People kept staring, nobody said a word.
Mind you, Kadlec was no wrestler.
I heard Rousal collaborated with Germans.
Did he?
They say he disclosed some secret plans to them before the War.
Before the War? Doesn't sound like him.
I mean Rousal is capable of anything, but still he's a dolt.
Conspiring with Germans... no, he was too much of a coward to do that.
Have you spoken to Mrs. Kadlec?
Kadlec had a wife?
Now?
You put out little flags, you build memorials to partisans, and you remembered Jiří now?
After thirty years?
I just wanted to ask what exactly your husband did before the War.
He did rounds in the factory.
I thought he worked at the dam.
He did. And he did rounds in the factory.
And... how did that happen?
How did what happen?
I mean how he was shot.
I don't know. The bell rang for us to go to the hills.
He said he had to see to the dam and I should go alone, we'd meet later... And then we never...
I'm sorry.
Your husband died for the country, Mrs. Kadlec.
Morning...
Nothing from Brno yet. Hold on, I'll ring them up.
Milan, hey, how are things? What? I didn't say that... of course I want you to send it, I've been waiting for it...
All right then, thanks a lot. Thanks a lot, bye.
Just imagine: someone from the City Hall phoned them not to send anything.
What?
Don't worry. They'll send it tomorrow.
Hi... Which way, then?
Are you taking this along?
How did you find it?
- You know where we're going? - I haven't been here for twenty years.
Did you say everybody from planning got gassed?
Yeah... everyone except Rousal and myself.
In fact... there was this guy named Straussler, a Jew.
The company sent them all overseas right after the Anschluss.
You didn't try to contact him?
How would I?
What is this?
The levees. They are built around the city; flood prevention.
I've got something for you.
Where did you... you pinched them!
I also intend to return them. You vouch for them!
Why don't you leave it till later?
- Those levees... - What about them?
Nothing... Anyway, it's useless because the essential part is missing.
- Missing? - Yes, twenty pages in the middle.
- How do you know? - They are numbered.
But maybe I've found something.
Hey, where are you?
...he's such an idiot. I wonder what's his next stupid idea.
Who'd expect anyone creeping in here?
Two more hours to go now.
Hey!
What the hell are the cops doing here?!
You got the plans?
Listen, those cops weren't there without a reason. Who did you tell we were coming here?
What are you thinking?
Well, I'm sorry...
Let's have a pint and look through the plans.
You go on ahead, I'll catch up.
I really don't know if it's a good idea. What are you after?
Nothing if Comrade City Manager's conscience is clear.
Rousal Alois.
Loss of credibility?
What is this?
Training courses. The company organized them free of charge for its employees.
Failed.
Thank God you're here! I've got...
Rousal doesn't speak German!
- What? - I looked in the archives.
Rousal flunked German. He can't speak it.
So what?
How could he have sold the plans to Germans if he couldn't say a word in their language?
Maybe he had a dictionary.
Stop that, please. I swallowed your bait.
What for you?
A shot of something.
Wait, perhaps he had someone along with him, an interpreter or somebody.
Nobody's saying it was Rousal's private business. Why else would they let him go?
They let you go.
Rousal stole those plans, I remember that!
Hardly. When they caught him, they must have checked if he'd taken something.
Maybe he just photographed them, I don't know.
You have no evidence of that.
And one for me, please.
Tell me honestly what you think. All those drains, hydrants, sluice gates...
Do you think that's normal? In a shoe factory?
Listen, that steel door where the cops started chasing us must be very important.
We must find out where that tunnel leads.
Behind the record office at eleven tomorrow. Let's drink to that!
Tell me.. What was my father like?
Your father? Thorough, diligent, ambitious... perhaps a bit too much.
He could get along with anyone, even with Rousal.
No wonder he grabbed for the better job he got offered in Prague.
After your mother died, he took you with him everywhere - the factory, the office...
Don't you remember?
I don't... I mean I don't know.
Mr. Anderson!
What did you mean by that Plan Two?
What is that?
My father's papers.
- Give it here. - Can I have a look?
No.
What was the story of the Red City?
Why do you want to know?
Why are you making it such a secret?
The past is dead. Leave it alone, you're not helping anyone.
Good bye.
Could I see you tonight?
I'm leaving today.
Come on in.
It's finally arrived. Daily logs from the dam. But I don't know if they're of any use.
I think they are. You've been a great help.
You again?
You lied to me. It was your turn that day.
- Get out of here. - What was Kadlec looking for?
I said get out of here!
Good evening ...
What were you doing in the record office yesterday?
You're poking your nose where you shouldn't!
I... don't understand.
Then listen carefully. You've overstepped your duties here. I've spoken to your superior.
You're returning to Prague tomorrow.
He came and asked directly. I didn't want to tell lies.
I understand. I'm leaving tomorrow.
Wait! Somebody left something for you here.
I wanted to burn it, but I am not permitted to do it. Make your own decision. A.
What did you expect? He's crazy!
Good morning.
Morning... Are you leaving?
That's right.
What a pity, we didn't even get a chance to talk.
If you remember anything about Kadlec, will you please let me know?
Tomáš Hájek? I thought your last name was Walder.
I beg your pardon
That was your father's last name.
Water! It was all meant to conduct water!
Those levees! I thought they were meant to keep water out, but they were to hold it inside! Do you see?
Look at these canals here. And this! The whole city could be flooded within minutes! The Manufacturer's secret!
- A trap! - And guess where were all the controls located?
Hey, what about your breakfast!
You were bribed! The plan was to flood the city; you could have drowned the entire invading army!
Rousal found out and bought you off with Nazi money, didn't he?
The War might have turned out quite differently.
How could you?!
Wait a minute.
It was you who killed Kadlec.
Me? Don't you remember, Tomáš Walder?
Have you ever asked your father how he got so much money when the War began?
What did he do with it? Bought himself a villa?
It was your father who planned it: treason in exchange for German cash.
But he had no evidence, the Germans wouldn't have believed him.
So he got Rousal involved, who photographed the plans in the planning department.
We were supposed to share the cash equally.
Kadlec didn't know about it - he'd have blown the whistle. Shouldn't have been there at all.
But then he saw the soldiers in town, made for the dam and wanted to set it off. So Walder shot him.
He grabbed the cash and vanished the next day. No sharing. He took you along. Changed his name to put me off his scent.
Twenty-five years I've been stuck here, eaten by fear and remorse, twenty-five years pondering revenge.
And then you came around...
Hájek! Why didn't you leave? It was an order...
But comrades...
Piss off!
You wouldn't make a murderer of yourself! Your conscience is clear, it was Walder who killed him!
You know shit about conscience!
Josef, don't be silly...
This is a Requiem for the Red City.