BELARUSFILM
CENTRAL PARTNERSHIP
Brest Fortress was buiIt in the middIe of the 19th century
at the western border of Russian Empire.
PowerfuI fortifications, fort systems made this citadeI impregnabIe.
New arms minimized the defensive quaIities of the fortress...
but not ofthe peopIe who protected it.
About 20 years after WWII Sergey Smirnov wrote a book
that reveaIed the truth about defenders ofthe fortress.
On May 81965 Brest Fortress was awarded the honorary titIe ''Hero Fortress''.
In memory of the fortress heroes,
in memory of defenders ofthe motherIand.
TV and Broadcasting Company of the Union State presents
With the support of Ministry of CuIture ofthe Russian Federation
With the support of FederaI Fund for SociaI and Economic Support for Cinematography
THE BREST FORTRESS
21 June 1941. Brest. City park.
We can have some ice cream.
TeII me about the movie.
Let's have some ice cream!
I remember everything.
At the city park, as aIways on Saturdays, there was dancing.
This is me.
AIexanderAkimov.
A foster student of musicaI pIatoon with the 333rd regiment.
My parents were kiIIed in Spain in 1937.
My brother was my onIy famiIy Ieft.
And this is Anya.
Just Anya.
But for me she was more than ''just'' Anya.
HoId on a minute. I'II be right back.
Sasha, why are you not with the unit?
Moska asked me to heIp.
AlI their musicians Ieft. Last trumpet pIayer Ieft on Wednesday.
- Foster student of musicaI pIatoon Akimov! - Yes, sir.
I order you to return to the Fortress immediateIy!
What are you yeIIing for? You are neither my father, northe commander!
Why are you yeIIing in pubIic?
TeII starshina KovaIenko to punish you.
I'II be back to check on it.
And don't pIay so out oftune.
About turn!
Forward march!
And he caIIs himseIf my brother.
Family of miIitary officer, pIease get together!
- Anya, come here. - I am here.
Freeze!
It's easier to manage the regiment than you Iot.
This is my home.
My fortress.
It's quite big.
Hard to expIore aII of it.
But I knew some pIaces here that if I wanted to hide...
no one wouId find me.
Thank you.
Brest city. RaiIway station.
There are no tickets today!
I'm teIIing you aII, there are no tickets today!
There are no tickets.
No army reservation. Nothing.
I have onIy three days to go there and come back.
Ask those who toId you that to give you tickets.
We don't have any.
There's nothing I can do.
Listen, my wife and my Iittle chiId are in DaugavpiIs.
I must bring them to my pIace of duty.
JuIy 20th. That's aII I can do.
Remove the reservation.
Comrade commissar, I'm teIling you as I wouId to my own reIative.
I am forbidden to touch the reservation.
That's onIy for certain orders.
That means no?
Maybe it's for the better. Why bring them here when everyone is Ieaving?
What exactIy do you mean?
So hot. Like in a desert.
What a day!
HeIIo, comrade commissar.
Hi, NikoIai.
- Bringing a movie? - Yes, I am.
Come on, come on, come on!
Tugushev.
KoIya is fast, but Tugushev is faster.
Dear, I couldnot come yet. All is quiet at the fortress. There wiIl be no war.
I am just unIucky. Let's pIay again.
You didn't Ieave, comrade commissar?
How can I Ieave you?
Brought a movie?
Yes, I did.
- ... and some beer. - Maybe we can do without beer?
Tomorrow is Sunday.
PeopIe rest on Sundays.
So I'II have some rest too.
Three beers.
And mineraI waterfor the chiIdren.
He remembered the chiIdren!
We didn't forget anything, did we?
Let's go.
Did you bring it?
Yes, I did.
ProbabIy about Iove again?
About Iove.
I got in troubIe, comrade starshina.
I suppose to punish you? Where did he see you?
I pIayed out of tune. And my brother has a good ear.
- What did you pIay? - ''On the hiII. ''
Learn it by the morning.
You wiII pIay it tomorrow.
Stop music!
Hrush, what are you doing?
Comrade Iieutenant, this is some kind of ''Swan Lake. ''
So when do you think the war with Germany wiII start?
I've been assigned to investigate the spread of panic rumors about war with our aIIy.
I beIieve and see that you are a communist, an honest man.
How couId it happen then, Pyotr MihaiIovich,
that you are being caIIed a panic-monger?
Ask those who caII me that.
HeIp me, Pyotr MihaiIovich.
My rank is not very high.
But tasks before me are huge.
l cIearIy see that you are not at fauIt here.
Who is spreading the panic?
I asked you to come here, so we couId taIk candidIy.
- Who is it, comrade major? - Me.
I bIurted it out a coupIe of times without thinking
that the Germans are going to attack soon.
Haven't heard anything Iike this from anyone eIse.
There is no panic.
SIeep soundIy.
Look, Iieutenant, ifthey attack, we'II aII be trapped here Iike in a boiIer.
8 thousand soIdiers in the Fortress.
This mass of peopIe wiIl not have time to exit through the Northern Gates.
Everyone with their chiIdren, women, oId Iadies.
With aII their stuff.
Most ofthe soldiers shouId be moved outside fortress waIIs,
where main army units are positioned.
This is what l, a commander who has been through two wars, have been saying!
And wiII continue saying!
And what about the fourth army?
They wiII not abandon us here? Right?
They wiII not, if everyone is where they are supposed to be!
Here soIdiers are in one pIace, commanders are in another.
Where soIdiers are without a commander panic breaks out.
That's common knowIedge, comrade Iieutenant.
I understood you.
And I find our conversation to have been very usefuI.
But pIease keep it secret.
The hearing for your case is scheduIed for the 27th.
AIIow me to go, comrade Iieutenant.
- A movie is starting at the cIubhouse. - Yes, sure.
- Hurry up. - We'II be on time.
Sonya.
WiII you stay?
Look how some peopIe Iive.
Thank you, comrade major.
[German speech. ]
Petya.
Yourtea is coId.
Go to bed, Katya.
This is how German subversives appeared in Brest dressed in our uniforms.
Loss of power and water in the Fortress was the work oftheir hands.
What's wrong?
Today another defectorfrom the PoIes came to our outpost.
He said war is going to start today at 4am.
- You beIieve it? - Of course not.
OnIy this week aIone we caught ten of them,
and each one keeps saying that today or tomorrow the war is going to start.
ActuaIIy, I'm upset because ofAnya.
Our girI has grown up. Before she used to teII me everything.
But now, whatever I ask, shejust shrugs her shouIders and that's the end of it.
Maybe she is sick?
This sickness is caIIed Sasha Akimov.
Our Anya feII in Iove.
That's how it is, daddy.
Remember you said we'd go fishing?
No, your parents won't Iet you go.
I'II Ieave quietIy, when everyone is asIeep.
AIright, Anya, you play for a bit, and I'II go have a smoke.
Let's get married!
Did you ask, if I want to?
You don't beIieve me?
I'II be right back.
HeIIo.
- Last name? - KoIya.
I brought the movie.
22 June 1941 03:58
Trainings?
Can't we get some sIeep.
I'II go see what's going on.
Get down!
What is this?
Trainings.
Run!
- Where? - Home. I'II find you.
And you?
- Where's Anya? - Don't worry, we'II find her.
Where's Anya?
Petya, is this war?
- Katya! Come on! - Did you take everything?
HoId tight.
Run!
Katya, do everything Iike I taught you.
Go hide in the basement.
- Petya! - Stay caIm.
Come on, sonny.
- Your hat. - When it quiets down, I'II come find you.
She wiII find us, won't she?
Stay here.
- And you? - Don't go outside without me.
I'm Ieaving. Bye.
Run. Run!
Andrey!
Mom!
HoId her.
Don't faII for provocations!
Go! Go! Go!
I had imagined war.
But I couId not have imagined war. Not this war.
Everyone was expecting it.
But nobody expected it to come so suddenIy.
SimpIe and scary.
I was running to that house.
That was the meeting pIace.
In case of war.
That was written in the instructions manuaI.
But that manuaI was probabIy Ieft there.
In the house that was destroyed.
- You can't go there! - Let me in!
No arms without commander's orders!
I was not aIIowed to carry arms.
But I had my own weapon.
For which I did not need permission.
Seems to have quieted down.
Mommy...
Sonny...
CrawI to the basement.
Run, sonny...
You can't come in here!
Fortress. VoIynsk Fortification. The hospitaI.
You can't! Surgery is in progress!
Fortress. Kobrinsk Fortification. Northern Gates.
Stop panicking!
Fortress. Kobrinsk Fortification. Eastern Fort.
Go back!
Back to the barracks!
Stop panicking!
Back to the barracks!
Lad!
- PIay! - What?
PIay anything!
Stop!
Lad, are you nuts? Run for your Iife!
- Where's your weapon? - Get Iost!
Commanders, come here!
We are Iieutenants.
Lieutenants? I don't see it.
Get yourseIves in order. And report properIy,
otherwise l wiII shoot you as panic-mongers!
Yes, sir.
Everyone return to the barracks. Take weapons and take up defense positions.
At the doubIe!
Fortress. Homsky Gates.
Where are the Russians? OnIy Germans are on air.
Maybe this is trainings?
What kind oftrainings is that?
As you were!
Sorry, comrade regiment commissar.
Stop panicking!
Is the commander here?
I see.
I am taking command.
Starshina, get the regiment together, give out arms.
Disperse at the windows.
Don't Iet the Germans cross the bridge.
Don't waste ammo.
Continue trying to contact the city.
I am Fortress...
Fortress. The 9th frontier post.
Listen to my orders, to arms!
Not enough arms! They are buried underthe rubbIe.
- Chief poIit officer? - Dead.
Everyone, who has weapons, come to me.
The rest - try to get whatever you can from underneath the rubbIe.
Germans!
Frontier post...
... to battIe!
FoIIow me!
Need a man on first fIoor.
I am Fortress. I am Fortress.
We're hoIding down defense. BattIe in progress.
Waiting for reinforcements.
Fortress. Barracks ofthe 132nd NKVD battaIion.
What unit is this? Who is in charge?
I want to see the commander!
NKVD Iieutenant Vanshtein!
As your superior officer I order you to Ieave
the barracks and, after breaking up into smaIIer groups,
make your way out of the Fortress...
If we Ieave our positions, the Germans wiII break into the fortress,
and here we can keep holding them off, tiII reinforcements arrive.
Execute the order, Iieutenant!
Two divisions are on their way here.
Further sacrifice of peopIe's Iives is senseIess.
- And you, sergeant? - Senior sergeant Novikov.
Do you know what happens for disobeying an order?
Comrade major, I'm sorry. I don't know you. Can I see your documents?
Of course.
You are right. I commend you for your vigiIance.
And your boots pIease.
- What about boots? - Show me your boots.
Our boots have naiIs that are round, the German have square ones.
Look.
Square!
Stop!
The badge is German.
But the naiIs were round.
Sonya!
KoIya!
- KoIya, I'm here. - Sonya, I'II be right there!
Germans are retreating south.
Sonya!
KoIya!
Quiet!
I can't take this anymore!
I'm so scared!
The Germans are there!
- PIease! - Quiet! It's me.
Don't cry. I know that you are strong.
I am Fortress. I am Fortress. BattIe in progress.
HoIding down defense. Waiting for reinforcements.
Comrade commissar, Iook!
Our peopIe from the hospitaI!
Look.
l see a nurse there, who treated me earIier.
What's gonna happen, comrade commissar?
Starshina, you are coming with me.
- Yes, sir. - Leave yourweapon.
Everyone eIse disperse at the windows.
Take aim at chest IeveI.
FoIIow me.
What a choice of cover.
Down!
Everyone go to the basements!
We need to go to Brest.
Find out what's the situation there.
Is the task cIear?
Yes, sir.
Execute.
Look how many peopIe they kiIIed!
Ammunition.
Get in.
Do you have ammunition?
What ammunition? Get in!
Let's go. To the Northern Gates.
Kobrinsk Fortification. Officers housing.
I was Iooking for my brother.
We Iived here.
Our famiIy.
And the Pochernikov famiIy.
- UncIe Vanya! - CrawI to the window.
Have you seen my brother?
HeIp me.
Shura don't.
Come here.
Sasha, get out of here.
No.
That's an order.
What are we going to do?
I'm not Ietting them take me captive.
I'm with you.
I understand everything.
Without you and the chiIdren I do not want to Iive and I'm not going to.
Forgive me.
You forgive me.
Go Iook what they are up to.
Go back. We won't get through here.
We couIdn't get through.
We're waiting for reinforcements.
I am Fortress. I am Fortress.
BattIe in progress. HoIding down defense.
Waiting for reinforcements.
Comrade major!
- Tanks are coming! - Easy, Iieutenant.
If onIy we had an anti-tank weapon!
I toId them so.
Third one.
I wish we had an anti-tank gun.
To battIe! Get the grenades ready.
Gather arms.
Take positions.
Don't fire without an order.
Our iron is burning hot. You wiII be mine. You're not going anywhere.
Who fired?
Fire.
OurfoIks.
Aim.
Fire.
Koptun, grab the grenades.
Load.
Attack!
Charge!
What's your name, son?
Lieutenant Akimov.
This is how my brother died.
On the first day. On that first endIess day.
The very first order to retreat during the course of the war...
was given by the German commandership on the 22nd ofJune 1941 at 11:00am...
here at the Brest Fortress.
We have 18 peopIe Ieft who are capabIe of hoIding a gun.
There is no medicine, water, orfood.
What do you think, where are our peopIe? Why are they not coming?
Or maybe they'II come soon?
What shouId I teII our soIdiers?
By morning they'II be here.
They'II be here for sure.
Has everyone been buried?
Yes, sir.
What's the situation with water?
There's an ice box in the basement. ShouId be enough for a day.
Then what?
By morning our reinforcements wiII come and wiII send them aII...
It's dangerous to stay here.
The buiIding is badIy damaged.
You wiII aII come with me.
You'II stay in the basements of our barracks tiII our reinforcements arrive.
Where is Anya?
I thought she was with you.
We must go.
I did not know what was going on.
I did not know what to do, where to go.
One thing I knew for certain.
I must wait tiII morning.
Because in the morning our soIdiers wiII come.
And everything wiII be over.
23 June
SoIdiers, commanders, you are facing a choice. Decide.
Either you go underfire and die...
or find within you the courage to surrender and Iive.
Your situation is hopeIess.
Your struggIe is useIess.
We have come here to free your country from the Jews and the BoIsheviks.
We wiII buiId a new Iife.
One without hard Iabor camps and coIIective farms.
Surrender and you wiII Iive with us.
ShaII I shoot them?
As you were.
To each his own.
Give me your hand!
Comrade Iieutenant, aIIow me to report.
Foster student of musicaI pIatoon with the 333rd regiment AIexander Akimov.
Take him to the basement.
Comrade Iieutenant, where is Anya?
What?
Anya?
I saw her running to you.
Take him to the basement.
Let me go!
Where are you going?
I wiII find her!
Akimov!
Sasha!
I wiII find her!
Don't!
PIease, don't!
PIease, don't kiII me!
No! No!
PIease, don't!
- Bring him here. - Report this to Fomin.
Faster!
I remember Fomin and Zubachev.
They had a smaII detachment at HoImsky Gates.
They heId the enemy back from crossing the bridge.
This was the first time that I saw a captive German.
MasIov!
What is he saying?
He is saying that most IikeIy Minsk has been taken.
He is saying we are far behind in the rear.
Why do you need Minsk? Why are you here?
Why did you come here?
You are Iying.
Comrade commissar, come Iook!
Ours!
Behind him!
- AIive? - Yes.
Good job!
Come on!
Lieutenant KareIin.
123rd air force division.
Commissar Fomin.
TeII us. What's happening in Brest? In Kobrin?
Why is our aviation siIent?
Where is our army?
There are no air fieIds Ieft.
They have aII been destroyed.
Germans have taken Brest. Our army is retreating towards Minsk.
Comrades.
Fighters.
The Germans are offering us to surrender.
They are offering us a cowardIy Iife in captivity.
They are mistaken.
We are soIdiers ofthe Red Army,
and we wiII defend our motherIand tiII the Iast drop of bIood.
There is no other choice for us.
24 June
Mister, give me some water.
Don't have any, dear.
Yes, you do. PIease, give me some, Mister.
Where is yourfamiIy, Kostya?
I don't know.
I Ieft them at my house, in the basement.
But now I don't know.
I don't know anything about mine either.
You can't drink this.
It has gasoIine.
I remember that morning. Or was it day?
I woke up and saw hands.
They were KovaIenko's hands.
He was carving a whistIe for me.
I Iooked at it and thought to myseIf, what wouId I need it for?
We must unite our forces and go for a breakthrough.
Who are we waiting for here?
Breakthrough. ImmediateIy. Tonight. Or we wiII Iose everyone one by one.
What breakthrough? The fortress is surrounded.
Brest has been taken. Breakthrough to where?
To captivity? Death? Where to?
We are dead men already, comrade captain.
Yes, many of us wiII die.
Maybe everyone.
But whiIe we have strength, we must keep fighting.
We must go for a breakthrough.
Write down the order.
What number?
Order number one.
24th of June 1941.
The Fortress.
The situation in the Fortress requires an immediate exit.
Strike out ''an immediate exit. ''
Write down ''organized miIitary action. ''
For the continued battIe with the enemy...
the commanding Ieadership, commissar Fomin,
captain Zubachev, Iieutenant Vinogradov, has decided...
to unite the remaining miIitary units...
into a joint group.
With combined forces...
tonight, on the 24th of June,
we are going for a breakthrough.
... for a breakthrough.
In order to reconnect with the reguIar units ofthe Red Army.
... ofthe Red Army.
And to continue fighting the Nazi invaders.
Germans are on the bridge!
Everyone take your positions!
Come here!
Listen carefuIIy.
Judging by the constant exchange of fire at the TerespoI Gates and Eastern Fort...
I can teII that our men are stiII fighting there.
Try to get to them whatever it takes.
Report our situation to them.
And teII them about our decision to go for a breakthrough.
Tonight! Try to get to them before the breakthrough begins
and come back here.
AIive!
Comrade commissar, may I go?
No, you may not.
Drink some water. This is aII I have.
Give it to the wounded.
- Execute the order. - Yes, sir.
Take this to the wounded in the basement.
- Execute. - Yes, sir.
Easy, easy. Everything's aIright.
Finish it yourseIf.
Doctor?
On Saturday a whoIe shipment of coId mineraI waterwas brought to the store.
To the basements!
I couIdn't make it!
You go to the Eastern Fort. Our men are there.
TeII them about the order that tonight - breakthrough.
I wiII teII them.
I knew that nothing wouId happen to me.
Because I had to deIiver this order.
Anya...
lt's hard to get out of here right now. Stay here for a bit.
I can't take you with me.
I have an order.
I must deIiver it.
Do you hear me?
There was no water.
ActuaIIy, it was aII around,
but you couId not get to it.
AII routes to the coast were under constant fire.
For one cup ofwater, forjust one mouthfuI of it...
peopIe died.
What IittIe water couId be obtained was saved.
For the machine guns.
Comrade major, aIIow me to report.
Foster student of musicaI pIatoon with the 333rd regiment Akimov.
An order:
Tonight there wiII be a joint breakthrough.
The signaI - a red rocket.
I am Iucky with Akimovs.
I am Fortress. I am Fortress.
BattIe in progress. HoIding down defense.
Waiting for reinforcements.
25 June 01:55
It's time.
FoIIow me.
Let's go.
Go!
FoIIow me!
Tereshenko, where did it hit?
My shouIder.
Vereshenko, heIp him!
Yes, sir!
Retreat everyone!
Retreat!
Comrade miIitary physician.
Yes.
I did everything I couId.
Show compassion foryourseIves andyourloved ones.
Spare yourchildren.
Spare your chiIdren.
Do something, commander.
Anya!
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm notjust asking you, Katya.
You cannot order me.
I won't go.
Then no one wiII go.
You are my wife.
The wife of a commander.
PeopIe wiII foIIow you.
We have Iost Anya aIready.
I don't want to Iose you aII too.
I want you to go.
This is your Iast and onIy chance.
You must bring up the chiIdren.
You can do it. You are strong.
You are very strong.
You are the strongest.
Anya.
Anya, do you hear me?
You have to go.
Yourfather is Iooking for you.
He's there. He's waiting for you.
He's in the barracks.
You have to go.
You have 15 minutes left.
Sonny, go!
You have 10 minutes left.
Daddy.
Anya!
AIive!
Sasha!
You must go! You wiII go together.
I am serving in the miIitary. I'm not going anywhere.
Akimov, this is an order.
Do you hear me?
She wiII not go without you.
Do you hear me?
She wiII not go.
Yes, comrade Iieutenant.
Execute.
You have 5 minutes left.
26 June 15:58
''I die, but I do not surrender. ''
Having exhausted aII other options...
the Germans decided to drop a two-ton- kiIogram bomb on the Brest Fortress.
I am Fortress.
BattIe in progress. HoIding down defense.
Waiting for reinforcements.
Dance! Dance, bastard!
Commissars!
Jews! Communists!
Stand to the side.
I am a commissar.
A communist and a Jew.
Commissar Efim Moiseevich Fomin...
was executed by a firing squad at HoImsky Gates...
at the end of June 1941.
In 1957 he was awarded with the Order of Lenin.
PosthumousIy.
An order:
Exit the Fortress one by one.
Stay aIive.
As Iong as possibIe.
Thank you, comrades.
Goodbye.
Thank you.
Goodbye. Thank you.
Goodbye.
Thank you.
Major Pyotr MihaiIovich GavriIov...
was taken captive, whiIe seriously wounded, on the 32nd day ofwar.
Like most who survived Nazi captivity, he Iater feII victim to StaIin's repressions
and was expeIled from the communist party.
And onIy in 1957 he was awarded the titIe of Hero ofthe Soviet Union.
- ls this aIl of us? - Yes, sir.
I ran away.
WhiIe they were taking the captives through the forest, I ran away.
WhiIe I was on my way here, a bomb went off near me.
I am deaf now. My ears can't hear anything.
WhiIe we stiIl have strength I order you to go for a breakthrough...
through the encircIement area.
NikoIaev, you wiII take charge. I wiII stay here. I wiII cover you.
- But... - Execute!
- Don't be difficult. - Yes, sir.
Come here.
HeIp me.
Keep this safe.
You are Iucky. I know you wiII get out of the Fortress.
And one more thing...
TeII them everything you saw.
TeII the whoIe truth.
TeII them about us.
Do you hear me, trumpet pIayer?
You don't hear me.
Go.
Go, Sasha.
Go.
In 1965 the commander of the 9th frontier post,
Iieutenant Andrey Mitrofanovich Kizhevatov,
was awarded the titIe of Hero ofthe Soviet Union.
PosthumousIy.
My Anya and the whoIe Kizhevatov famiIy,
as weIl as the famiIies of other defenders ofthe Brest Fortress,
were executed by the Germans in autumn of 1942.
The banner that Kizhevatov had given me I have kept to this very day.
Just as I have kept my memories.
And faith.
I beIieve to this day.
And you beIieve too. They are aII aIive.
Everyone who I toId you about
and those who we don't know much about.
They are aII aIive.
Somewhere.
And at that time I was just about the same age as you are now.
The sky ofblue beyond the river is dark,
Waita little, andyou willheara cricket sing,
And a silIy bird wilIsuddenly
frighten the disturbedpeace and quiet.
I can hear the crack ofa paddle nearby,
The new day has come a little too early...
I only feel warm when you are by myside,
Everything willbe alI right from now on.
lt's caIm now The night is fading outslowly,
It appears each ofus knows something
But unable to hide the tears, the inevitable payment for the communion.
Don'tletme die before l get to know How it feeIs to be happy...
The bIue skyhas hidden itself, as ifwaiting forsomething,
Winking to those who are not sIeeping,
Happiness wilIsuddenly squeeze yourheart
And will notsayanything Though itmaybe something very important
The dawn willget wetagain, embarrassed,
Pretending to be a haze in a greyrain-coat,
There's nothing here what there used to be before you,
or, maybe, there is something, but very different.
lt's caIm now The night is fading outslowly,
It appears each ofus knows something
But unable to hide the tears, the inevitable payment for the communion.
Don'tletme die before l get to know How it feeIs to be happy...