Bless You Prison
,, Writers who have written about prison
without spending time there have all felt obliged
to show their sympathy for the prisoners
and to curse the prison. I have been in prison for a long time.
My soul was shaped there. And I can say, without hesitation:
May you be blessed, prison...
Blessed be the role you have played in my existence!
Alexander Soljenitsin
Move!
Step!
That's not a pet.
It's a dog For catching bandits like you.
Step!
Move!
Step!
Move!
24.
Faster!
Halt!
Step! Step!
Walk!
Stop! Left turn!
Stupid cow I told you to turn to the left
not to go to the left!
Move!
Halt...
CELL 24
And so began the hardest night of my lif e.
August 24, 1949.
Can't you understand Romanian? What does it say here?
Prisoners aren't allowed to turn their backs to the door.
I'm not having you make trouble in my section.
There were 15 regulations;
15 f orbidden things.
I had just broken one of them.
"Prisoners may not s turn their backs to the door"
Prisoners may not sleep facing the wall.
Even in our sleep we had to maintain
regulation posture.
Who's knocking there?
Listen, you're not on today's roll.
You'll get food tomorrow.
Lights out! Go to bed!
I'm not sleepy. What time is it?
Its not for you to keep track of time. That's our job.
- Go to bed! - But I'm not tired.
You've been reading this for six hours...
- Six hours? - Are you stupid, or just pretending?
Haven't you read that prisoners
must stick to the routine?
Go to bed!
I knew I was going to be arrested.
The communists had started to lock up
all the members of the democratic parties.
I had imagined this moment many times.
Yet when it actually happened,
I lost the courage I'd had when I was free.
State Security! Open the door!
No one leaves!
Who are you?
I asked you a question!
I didn't have anywhere to stay and Nicoleta offered me a room.
So you opened a guest-house...
It was only normal to help them.
We are friends.
I couldn't leave her and the boy in the street.
You'll have to come with us to the Militia station, to make a statement.
No need for any of that. She's not staying over night.
Don't stop, don't shout, just walk.
Have you got that?
I had never felt so lonely...
God seemed very far away.
The Lord is on my side; I will not f ear:
What can man do unto me?
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night...
My mother was a religious person
and, when I was young, she taught me a great many psalms.
At that time I couldn't appreciate
their truth and beauty.
Then adolescence came, with all its troubles,
college, political life, the war...
I no longer had time to think about God.
Coleta!
Wake up! Toilet time!
Move!
Come on!
Here's the toilets. Do your business quickly.
Hurry up! What are you doing in there?
Take this!
Until you are called f or interrogation, you can sit down.
I was starting to gathe my thoughts.
It was like waking from a long lethargy...
The cell door closed behind me
and I felt that another door was opening within me.
I decided to think about the mistakes I'd made in my life.
I didn't know what was going to happen to me,
and I wanted to make peace with myself and with God.
My hearing got better.
I started to hear all the things I couldn't see.
Move or I'll beat you!
Every noise meant something.
Shut up!
I can't take any more!
Just tell them to leave my child alone!
God, how will I bear it?
"The Lord is on my side;
I will not f ear:
What can man do unto me?"
Name, forename, address.
Nicoleta Bruteanu,
12 Visarion Street, Bucharest.
Sit down!
- Why are you here? - I haven't been given a reason.
I was told I was going to the Militia station, to make a statement.
So you think you're at the station?
That's what I was told. Why shouldn't I believe it?
You mean you've no idea why you're here?
No.
I can hardly wait for an explanation.
That beats everything! She wants an explanation.
Why did you stop singing?
I see you trained at the Conservatory.
Why did you have to get involved in politics?
Because of my respect for one man: Luliu Maniu.
In other words, he was your uncle and he wanted you get advantage from it.
Every party has its worthless people,
but you can not accuse Maniu.
Shut up!
Tell me one thing he did for this country?
He was one of the leaders in the war against the fascists.
Are you giving us a history lesson? Stand up!
Who were the leaders of the war against the Nazis?
The Liberals, the Peasant Party,
and a f ew Communist Party members.
So there were only a few members of the Communist Party?
At that time, there were
no more than 1,000 members.
This is for the first of them!
I will slap you for every one of them.
Guard! Paces!
"Paces" meant you had to walk
from 6 am till 10 pm.
As interrogations took place during the night,
there was no time left to sleep.
I was soon to understand that my rest, my food
and my entire existence
depended on the interrogators.
Trust me! Tell us everything!
You will, in the end, anyway. Better to do it now without suffering.
I want the names of the people you knew,
where you met, and your relationship.
Start with your colleagues at the paper "Dreptatea".
What are the charges?
We ask the questions. It's your job to answer.
Come on! Out with it!
I kept thinking about one thing.
If I wrote a name,
that person might get arrested.
All right, let's see!
What is this? Are you making fools of us?
- I am innocent. I have nothing to say. - There are no innocent people here.
But you'll have time to remember. And we'll help you. Guard!
Yes, sir.
Come on!
Sit down!
Easy! Sit down. Feet!
So what do you know that we don't?
You don't remember? Hit her!
Make her remember! Say it! Do you remember?
Say it! Hit her! Make her remember!
Say it! You still don't remember?
Do you remember now?
Move before I beat you!
- Sir... - Shut up when you're talking to me...
Move!
Lights out!
Are you making fools of us?
You've only written the names of people who are dead or have emigrated.
Do you think we're stupid? Why don't you write the names?
Why not? Tell me!
You think we're stupid? You think you can mock us?
Guard! Take her away!
Are you going to speak?
Tell me!
Give me a cigarette, pal.
Move!
Do you want me to bring a bucket of water?
Move!
Oh God...
Only You can set me free...
Grigore Antropovici.
Can I help you?
My name is Grigore Antropovici.
I've just got out of prison. I have a message from your husband.
Come in!
I was at Sabina's one night,
with Corina and her husband Mihai.
That was where I met Antropovici.
Thank you again for sheltering Corina and Bogdan.
I promise you it won't be long.
No more than a week or two. Goodbye.
Let me give you some more.
Thank you.
I'm full.
Thanks be to God that you're out of prison.
Look, I know you are fanatical Christians,
but don't force me become impolite.
Don't talk to me about God! He doesn't exist!
Don't hate us for believing in God.
I don't hate you. Worse than that, you infuriate me!
You live in this hell, and yet you offer
contemptible worship to a divinity.
You bow down and thank a God who doesn't exist!
- Please! - My only God is hatred, revenge.
That's what kept me going in prison.
We all hate each other.
Calm down!
Let's be quiet for a moment! Please!
She keeps talking nonsense.
She is just exhausted and she has a slight fever.
- Two days rest and extra food. - Yes, sir.
- Eat this! - I can't.
Why don't you eat? Do you want me to write a report?
At least eat the stewed plums.
- I'll try to swallow the plums. - Swallow them?
Listen, woman, plums have stones. Don't you even know that?
I'm leaving it here. Eat up, and you'll get better faster.
I couldn't understand why Antropovici had given up his faith,
but I decided to continue the work he had begun.
I knew that people who came here
would go through terrible moments.
I wanted to leave them a message of support.
God...
What is your relationship with Zadig?
- Who? - You know him. Let's see if you're being honest.
- I don't know him. - Who signed this?
- Zadig. - So you know him. He's your colleague.
- What is his real name? - It's a pen-name. I don't know him.
Do you recognise this illegal paper?
- No. - Guard, the witness!
Mihai?
Where did you find this paper?
In her house, on the piano.
How can you lie like this, Mihai?
When were you ever in my house?
- When Corina moved in. - You're lying!
You never even entered the hall.
I was in the living room.
- Aren't you ashamed to lie? - I'm not lying.
So you never entered her house!
How dare you lie to me?
- I did all that I could. - You did damn all, you bastard!
Get out! Out of here!
You say you have a case against me
but I see you have nothing. You are accusing me for nothing.
The people is accusing you!
I haven't done anything against my people.
I love my country and I'm proud to be Romanian.
My only desire was to sink back into my faith,
to take strength from it.
I decided to be serene,
to sing psalms...
In this state of mind, I decided unconsciously
to smile at the guard who brought the food.
I didn't hate him. On the contrary,
I tried to forgive him. Thank you.
It's forbidden to sit! Keep walking when you're eating! Come on!
What were your links with foreign journalists?
Haven't you had enough, you bitch?
Soon, the interrogations became less violent.
When the guard's footsteps faded
I knew I had time to write a f ew letters.
I was happy I had something to do from morning to night.
It helped me to endure.
I was happy with my work.
In a few weeks, I covered the cell walls with psalms.
Then suddenly I left cell 24.
Step!
Lift your foot! Give me your hand!
You don't look so great either.
You can talk.
- What's your name? - Coleta. Yours?
Maria.
- What cell were you in? - 19
- at the end of the corridor. You? - In 24.
So you're the crazy woman in 24?
What did you say?
I heard the guards:
"The crazy woman in 24 is always smiling, laughing."
- You don't look crazy at all. - Praise the Lord!
- Are you an Adventist? - Not at all! I'm Orthodox.
- But you are a little crazy. - Why do you say that?
- Why did you smile at the guards? - I felt pity.
I cursed them every time.
You have no idea how superstitious they are!
They were frightened.
MISLEA PRISON
- Who are these? - They've been sent from Bucharest.
Take them to the registration office.
- So you're the new ones? - Yes.
- Where have you come from? - Malmaison.
- I'll find you a place next to someone. - Thank you.
- You don't have to thank me. Cati! - Yes.
I could sleep on the floor, so as not to disturb her.
Do you think you can Do you think you can
Anyway she's the one who'll be disturbing you.
She has an open wound all up her leg.
- What's your name? - Nicoleta.
- That's a lovely name. - You can call me Coleta.
- Can you climb up? - I'll try.
You newcomers will start your routine from tomorrow.
You'll clean the floors, empty the waste buckets and bring water.
I've been beaten, and I can't bend my leg
Please don't make me work.
We'll see. How long have you been in prison?
Don't worry. That's just the way she is.
She's suffered a lot. Her whole family is in jail.
She hid someone in her house. Her boy talked about it at school...
and then he killed himself.
That old lady is Maria Antonescu, the Marshal's wife.
I knew someone at the French Legation...
These are my friends. Saveta gave bread to the partisans.
She's just a peasant girl. She didn't know.
In the cell, we found many things to do, most of them forbidden.
And now, who wants to tell us the story of her life?
The episode that affected me the most in my life...
That's not bad.
This is how I write as much as I like.
A piece of soap, on which we wrote with an improvised needle,
a match stick,
a piece of paper and a pencil end,
carefully hidden, were the real treasures of the cell.
Faster! Come on!
We had the right to a half-hour walk every day.
Attention! Halt!
Before becoming a prison, Mislea had been a monastery.
The old church was now a storehouse.
Move along!
That is the prison within the prison, where the worst cases are punished.
They don't get out to walk and they get less food.
Eyes down!
No talking!
That's Ana. Her father is a general.
He was sent to Russia, to Siberia. Her husband was arrested.
- They've left four children behind. - Four?
Alone...
- And that one, behind Saveta? - "Squealer" Oana.
- Nobody talks to her. - Why?
- She is the cell inf ormer. - Attention! Halt!
I got on better and better with Cati.
In the coming days, Cati told me the story of her life
full of mistakes...
She needed to pray.
I taught her what to say to Jesus.
What a joy those nights were for me!
- Where did they take you? - To the registration office.
They made us sign that our husbands have divorced us.
I'm sure it's all a mistake.
Didn't you see the certificate?
Guard, I haven't done anything. Why are you keeping me here?
Because you are an enemy of the Republic. That's why.
What are you looking at?
Doctor, it's haymaking time. Why are you keeping me here?
Tighter, doctor.
You're coming with me! Move!
Don't worry. They were forced to divorce us
to keep their jobs. So now he's left me.
I meant so little to him. I was so stupid!
I always tried to please him. That's it, you bandits! Enjoy yourselves!
- Give me the paper! - What paper?
You know fine well what paper! The paper I saw you with.
This paper. Did you see what she was hiding?
Do you know what you'll get for this?
- Three days in isolation. - Don't you believe it! You'll get seven days!
Three days for hiding a piece of paper and four for stealing it.
Get out! You're making trouble for me!
I heard about your children.
I'm afraid they'll take them to a children's home, to be brought up as communists.
God cannot abandon children.
Stop going on about this nonsense!
If God exists, how can He allow so much injustice?
You've no right to interf ere in people's lives if they don't invite you.
Who do you think you are? Sister loana?
You lousy bitches!
Is this a prison or a rest home?
You'll all go to solitary. Room 6...
Shut up! Look at this mess!
Is this a properly made bed?
- Where are the new ones? - Over here.
- What are you here for - I'm innocent.
Good f or you. Everyone's innocent in here. Who is the other one?
I wrote for Dreptatea.
You mean you conspired.
Tough luck for you then. Most of this lot here were Legionaries.
Were you in the Peasant Party?
- That's why I'm here. - So you still maintain your position...
You still believe in that old fool Maniu, that lying womaniser?
Let me tell you, when our Communist Party was illegal,
I helped to infiltrate the Peasant Party, To tell the Communists what they were getting up to.
So I was a member of the Peasant Party too.
I knew Maniu personally. A lying pig.
Governor, I must remind you
that I am a political prisoner.
That gives me the right to keep my political convictions.
Does it now?
As a member of the Communist Party,
you can think what you like about the party I belong to,
but it is unfair and impermissible
- to insult a movement and its leader. - Is that so, my dear?
Do we have to be humiliated for having different opinions?
Aren't we paying dearly enough already?
I'm not talking about myself. It's what you said about Maniu.
- What about Maniu? - He's not an old fool.
He deserves at least the respect, due to any old man who goes
to prison for his political views.
Come here!
Move!
- So you still maintain your position. - Yes, Governor.
And you dare to say this to me: A Communist and prison Governor.
And on top of it all, you give me lectures
about how I should behave.
I only defended a patriot who deserves respect,
whatever the risks to myself.
Turn around!
Did you hear her?
She didn't say: "I'm innocent."
"It's all a mistake. I haven't done anything."
She defended her beliefs.
I hope it's for the last time.
Don't play with fire!
I hope you don't intend to convert them all to your party!
No. I left politics at the gates.
Now I want to serve Jesus Christ.
You don't say!
Pass those around.
Move!
You were great. You've no idea what a risk you took.
Move!
It belonged to the old lady who left. It will bring you luck.
Come on!
Guard, why are you keeping me here?
I've told you a thousand times.
You are an enemy of the Republic.
If this Republic is afraid of me, pity help it!
Help yourself!
It's the handwriting of my mother,
my father and my brother,
to let me know they are fine.
I have some food here.
Please help me give it to the women in solitary.
Why? They were all in the Legion.
I know. But they are hungry too.
I understand, but...
Please. I would do it myself, but you can do it better.
I've put it in small bags.
Talk to the guard while I throw them over.
Attention! Halt!
Guard, can I say something?
I thought it would be a good idea to plant some flowers near the fence.
Are you out of your mind? This is a prison, not a garden!
I know. But you can go out and see the grass, the trees...
I do not have time to see anything.
All day long I'm here with you.
But you get to see your family, your children...
Big deal! I get home knackered
and they expect me to do everything.
I fall asleep with my boots on.
I have eczema between my toes and my feet stink like...
I know you have a hard life, but at least you're free.
Some freedom I've got... But what do you care?
You eat, you walk... Hold it!
What are you doing there? What's this?
Giving food to the prisoners in solitary!
- Well done, girls! Zamfira! - Yes, ma'am.
- Everybody to their cells! - Wait!
Move along! You're coming with me to the Governor.
Please, Bratin is innocent.
I wanted to throw the bag. Take me!
You're very convincing.
It was her bag, but I threw it.
- Then I'll take you both. - What's the point of involving others?
I threw the bag. It's me you caught. Please.
You mean I didn't see her throw the bag?
What does it matter, since I am the only one responsible?
So you're the only one responsible. You won't change your mind?
You, go to your cell! You're coming with me.
Why are you making problems for me?
I'm going to the Governor with you and I haven't even polished my boots.
If you can't do your work
in 12 hours, do it in 14 or 24!
Get out! What's your problem?
Ma'am, during the walk,
she threw this bag through the bars.
- What's in the bag? - Food that I got from my family.
You mean you shared your food with the prisoners in solitary?
- They don't get any and I thought... - do something to cheer those bandits up.
The prisoner will not get any more packages.
I'll teach you a lesson. You will carry bags with the ordinary convicts.
And you will spend the night in solitary. Get out!
You have the honour of welcoming a lady. A political prisoner.
Show her you know how to behave.
Let's see if you know what it's like to work as a slave.
She's got delicate hands, this lady.
I bet she could get them inside a pair of trousers quickly enough!
Ah, politician!
How does it feel to have a bag on your shoulder?
It really suits you.
Or would you rather have a fur, like you used to wear. Move!
Move! Faster!
Move!
My back is killing me.
You stupid woman!
I'll give you a sandbag, and see how you carry that.
Get back to work!
Move!
Come on!
The lady's going to die.
You, politician, take a break.
- No, thank you. - If you want to die, that's fine by me.
The cemetery is behind the church.
Who's fault is it? Don't you know that it's a mistake to be good?
It will be hard, but I'll bring you a glass of water.
Thank you. God will remember this.
Stop talking about God!
If He existed, you wouldn't have got caught trying to help others.
Listen to her talking about God!
Move!
- Coleta! - Drink this. It's hot and sweet.
Yesterday's events have had miraculous consequences.
I've brought you the most important book in the world. The Bible.
Hands up those who want us to keep it!
If anything happens, I will take full responsibility.
It doesn't interest me. I'm not a believer, so what's the point?
If it was some other book...
From the day the Bible appeared,
our lif e changed completely.
From Genesis to Revelation,
the pages passed from hand to hand
and were read by all the prisoners.
All clear, girls. Back to work.
I'll give you the Gospel of Matthew. What can you give me?
The Psalms. When are you going to give me the Song of Songs?
- When we finish it. - Come on, girls.
I'll be out in two weeks, and I won't have time to finish it.
Shut up!
Stop talking!
Keep your distance!
Xenia, I hear you've been here f or 12 years.
I was arrested under the old regime.
How can you be so serene?
There are two things. First, I know I'm innocent.
Second, I always believe that in two weeks I'll be released.
So many weeks have passed...
They don't make me change my mind.
Guards Tudora and Zamfira, report to the Governor immediately!
Let's go!
War has broken out in Corinth.
Where? Why Corinth?
It means the Americans have landed there and they are entering Europe.
Do you think the Russians will give up? They'll intervene too.
In that case we'll be deported or even killed.
I said there was war in Corinth, I didn't say the Americans were there.
Silence! What's wrong with you today?
They are fine. They are just in heat and they don't have any men.
I remember that sister Judith
was moved to our cell that day.
She was accused of spying for the Vatican.
When I was at the monastery, I used to keep the Lenten fast,
just as God gave it.
We've been fasting here too, ever since we arrived.
It is very important to cleanse ourselves in preparation for Easter.
Attention! Alarm!
Everybody in the yard! Fast!
Faster! Don't crowd! One by one.
Come on!
Face the wall!
Shut up!
Face the wall! Didn't you hear?
You're leaving my boy without a mother, you criminals!
Shut up! Don't move!
Face the wall!
Shut up! Alarm procedure!
Keep in line!
Face the wall!
Attention! Left turn!
Move!
Go back to your cells! Move!
Back to your cells!
Move! Come on!
Let's go!
The search is over. Put everything back in its place.
Take these and clean up, or you'll have me to deal with!
Forgive me. If God has preserved me tonight,
as I dared to pray he would, it means He will take care of my children too.
Please say a prayer for my children, some day.
But I've been praying for you and your children f or many days.
I don't understand, girls. The Bible is still here.
If they had looked, they would have found it. They were just pretending.
They wanted to spoil our Easter.
But we're not going to let them.
Happy Easter!
Christ is risen from the dead,
- Trampling down death by death, - Shut up! Silence!
- And upon those in the tomb - Silence!
Trampling down death by death,
Keep your mouth shut! Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
bestowing lif e. Silence! Keep your mouth shut!
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
bestowing lif e.
The next day, we found out the war was in Korea, not in Corinth.
We left Mislea. We didn't know where to or why.
We heard that, on Stalin's orders,
they had started digging a canal between the Danube and the Black Sea,
and that thousands of prisoners were working there.
- Coleta? - Corina!
- When were you arrested? - Three days after you.
I've had no news from Mihai. I'm very worried. Do you know anything?
I sent him messages through some girls who were released
I don't know what to say. Stop thinking about it.
DANUBE-BLACK SEA CANAL
God save us! Why are they running like that?
They want to get the best tools, to get their daily work quota done.
ANYONE PASSING THIS POINT WILL BE SHOT WITHOUT WARNING
- I can't go on. - What's going on there?
- I can't take any more. - Faster!
Here they come!
Damn it! Stop!
Water!
- Give us bread. - Give me some!
- Who is Bruteanu? - I am.
- Sabina, from hut 1, is looking for you. - Sabina is here?
Hurry. It's almost roll call.
Take off that headscarf, you thieves!
Coleta!
My dear Coleta.
- How are my mother and father? - They are fine.
They've been evacuated. They're staying
- with uncle Nicolae now, on Mosilor. - And Sergiu?
He's been to see your mother. He told her how sorry he was
he hadn't insisted on marrying you.
- It will be all right, Coleta. - Political prisoners, you're behind again...
Georgescu, what kind of a squad leader are you?
As of tomorrow, you're no longer leader.
I need a new squad leader.
She will be excused work and her sentence will be reduced.
But I want your daily quota completed
or even exceeded. Who volunteers?
I do, sir.
- How much do you have left? - Two years.
If you get the work done,
I'll make a report to get you released sooner.
- Do you understand? - Yes, sir.
Dismiss.
I can't take it anymore.
I just want to get out of here alive. You've got to understand me!
This animal existence
came to be second nature to us.
The back-breaking work brutalised us. Where was the peace of Mislea?
- I'm a political prisoner too. - What did you do?
I hid a member of the Peasant Party.
Maybe under your skirt...
I was glad of the presence of the Catholic nuns.
But the prostitutes and the thieves we had to live
and work with were hard to accept.
Get up, you lazy bitches!
Come on, girls! Faster!
Hurry up!
What are you doing, you stupid bitch?
Come here. Get it out of there.
Teach her what to do.
Take a basket and fill it with stones.
I've seen her before. She was a dressmaker
and Teoharie Georgescu's mistress.
- The Minister of the Interior? - It seems they've locked him up too.
What are you doing there?
I have nothing to say!
Leave me alone!
Come on! Faster!
Hurry up there!
Are you out for a walk?
- We were sent to... Shut up! Move! What's this?
Faster!
- What's wrong, Corina? - I don't know what to believe.
I've heard Mihai has left the country. Alone.
Who is taking care of the child?
Stop thinking the worst. And this business of the arrest...
Why did they take me? If it was about the newspaper,
shouldn't they have arrested him?
Bruteanu, you again?
Get a move on, unless you're looking for trouble.
Get up! You lazy bitches!
What are you waiting for? Let's get to work!
- Faster! - You're a prisoner like us, Elvira.
Can't you see she isn't able?
Your mouth is getting too big. I'll deal with you. Your quota is doubled.
We prayed together at Mislea. When did you turn so bad?
Put in some more. Let God help her to carry the basket.
Coleta...
Bruteanu! You haven't finished for today.
You still have to sweep and wash the floor. Alone. Understood?
Does it make you feel better if you hurt me?
Corina?
Gently! Lift her gently.
Stand back! What are you looking at?
In the truck and to the hospital with her.
Faster!
Not you! Back to work! Faster!
There's nothing to look at!
Hold her!
Sabina...
That's all we need. Get her out of here quickly.
Sabina!
How do you feel, girls?
They didn't give us any medicine, but we feel better.
- Have you come from the infirmary? - Yes, we've just been there.
There is a woman there. Sabina. She got sick at work today. How is she?
- She faints a lot. She's exhausted. - Thank God she's alive.
Attention! Get ready for roll call.
Coleta, what is wrong?
Nothing. I want to get to the infirmary to see Sabina.
Do you have something to report?
- I have a terrible toothache. - You'll be fine. Get back to work.
I can't work. The pain is unbearable.
- I'll see you get taken to the infirmary. - Thank you.
Sit down!
Where does it hurt? Open your mouth!
- Aren't you giving me an injection? - You must be dreaming. You're in prison.
- I've been working all day. - No one will give you an injection.
You bitch! Damn you!
Get out!
Sabina!
Sabina.
Coleta!
I think I'm seeing you for the last time.
I don't want to hear of it. You must be strong.
I will. That woman was brought...
yesterday from the hospital. Corina...
- What about Corina? - She didn't make it.
Get up! Come with me! Come on, get up!
- Coffee? - No, thank you.
There have been changes here too.
I haven't noticed.
We believe there were some pointless abuses.
But your stubbornness was also stupid.
I hope you realise that.
Just tell me what you want.
We are ready to release you.
I'll take you to Bucharest, we'll fill out the papers
and tomorrow you'll be walking free on Calea Victoriei.
But there are still some things to clear up in your file.
Just some names. That's all.
A little goodwill on your part.
Please take me back to the hut. I have nothing to say.
You're lucky.
You'll live a long life.
Your son will be born on a great day.
Veni Sancte Spiritus
I've had a dream.
I was drowning.
I have many sins, sister.
Come on, my beauties!
Never mind your bootlaces, Bruteanu. Get a move on!
- Calota Mihaela! - Here.
- Georgescu Alexandra! - Here.
- Anton Aranca! - Here.
They are released.
I am Elvira Radulescu. You promised you'd put in a word at the Ministry.
They've added a year to your sentence.
But you said...
Shut up! I don't owe you any explanation.
Anyway, you're no longer squad leader.
Who volunteers?
I do, sir!
Today is Friday?
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by day.
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will deliver him.
I'll tell you how I know it, even though
I wasn't much of a churchgoer.
I was alone in my cell f or a year.
They questioned me night after night.
Because of the light they shone
in my eyes, I almost lost my sight.
Eva, you know you're not allowed to talk about the interrogation.
- I know, but I don't care anymore. - Let her talk!
A f ew times, I tried to cut my veins with my teeth,
but I didn't die.
They said:
"You think it's so easy to die?
First you must talk."
One day, I turned to the wall
and shielded my eyes with my hand.
I saw some scratches that looked like letters.
At first, I thought I was hallucinating. But I kept looking
and I saw the words that Nicoleta said just now.
Then I found an arrow leading to another inscription.
The next day, at the interrogation, I stood straight and didn't cry.
They noticed.
"Have you been talking to someone?"
"Yes, I've been talking to God."
This answer made them send me back to my cell.
They thought I was sick. When I get out of here
and this country is free, I want to put an ad in the papers,
to find who wrote those words.
Eva, you stayed in cell 24 at Malmaison, didn't you?
Yes.
Veni Sancte Spiritus...
Stop or I'll shoot!
Soon I was to be released without being tried or found guilty of anything.
I just had to sign a declaration that
I would never talk about the prison.
My four years there had to be forgotten.
But I was never closer to God
than I was in prison.
Nicoleta Valeria Bruteanu was imprisoned from 1949 to 1953.
In 1969, she and her husband, Sergiu Grossu, a political prisoner,
sought political asylum in France.
There they edited together the magazine "Catacombes",
and continued their fight against communism.
In 1976, her book "Bénie sois-tu, prison" was published in Paris,
On January 14th 1996, Nicoleta Valeria Grossu died
after a severe illness. Honouring her last wish,
her husband brought her coffin back to Romania, to be buried beside her ancestors.