Forum heroes: the archive

Prit · Post by **Prit** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 11:45 am

The ancient taxi had seen better days. So had its driver. He glared at me as he picked me up from outside the hotel. I smiled back; he sneered, and the car lurched into motion.

'You a friend of Yuri's?' he asked.

'More of a customer than a friend,' I replied.

He laughed sourly. 'Another journalist digging for dirt in the corpse of the Soviet Union?'

The car careered wildly across a junction, and it took a moment for me to reply. 'Not a journalist. I'm a researcher.'

'What do you research?' he asked.

'History, military history. Especially the second world - sorry, the Great Patriotic War.'

He nodded. 'Now, that was a good time. Comrade Stalin showed the world what the Soviet Union could do.' We drove past a glittering store, displaying German automobiles. My driver glanced at them with contempt. 'But who won in the end, eh?'

He dropped me outside a dreary block of offices. The street was deserted, and for a moment I wondered if he had dropped me at the wrong place. Then a door opened, and Yuri emerged.

I had met him at a party a month before, and this meeting was the result of several careful conversations. He glanced around, confirming that I was alone. 'Do you have everything?' he asked.

I nodded. From my coat pocket, I produced a bundle of large-denomination dollar notes. They disappeared into his pocket, followed by the iPod and PDA that I offered him. I handed him the last item. He held it and grinned at it. 'Lethal Weapon, all four films on disk. Very good!'

He hurried me into the building. 'OK,' he said, 'you have twenty minutes. Enjoy yourself. I'll be waiting outside the door.'

I was alone in the building. It was a single huge room, with row after row of silent shelves. I didn't waste time. I knew the section I was looking for, and went straight there. The old NKVD document archive filled the far end of the vast room, and the file I was seeking would be in the section devoted to the interrogation of possible enemies of the state. Fortunately, they were in chronological order. The file I needed was squeezed between two other, fatter files. I took it off the shelf, and blew off the dust. The cyrillic script made my heart pound:

Interrogation of Commissar Davidov following his failed mission to Berlin, 1944

I placed the file on a table, and started to read...

To be continued...

Commissar D, the Evil · Sat Mar 20, 2004 12:59 pm

"Failed Mission"?????????

Prit my friend, you were obviously conned by a clever forger....

Cheers,
~D

Tom Houlihan · Post by **Tom Houlihan** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 2:59 pm

Well, had it been a successful mission, then wouldn't the war have ended then?

But, since it dragged on, and on, and on, (kinda like a Lounge Rules thread!), then obviously you did not complete the mission, ergo, failed!

Or is failure defined somehow differently in the Rodina??

Fridolin · Post by **Fridolin** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 7:14 pm

Failure (noun) 1. Lack of success in doing or achieving something. 2. In the former WWII Soviet Union, anything that displeased Comrade Stalin. 3. In the case of Comrades Davidov of Fridolinev, anything short of overwhelming success (but see 2).

Prit · Post by **Prit** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:22 am

The first pages of the report were a brief summary of the events that led up to Davidov's mission to Berlin - the discovery of a conspiracy in Berlin, led by a sinister figure called Mr LL, who had attempted to recruit new members. One of these had been approached by a rival conspirator, Count Brian von Stauffenburg, who intended to give him a briefcase to take to Mr LL. What was in the briefcase? Davidov and Sonofavich had been tasked with capturing it and returning to Moscow.

I flicked through the pages. Time was pressing on, and my precious 20 minutes would be barely sufficient if I was to discover what had happened all those years ago. Ah, this was what I wanted: a transcript of the interrogation of Davidov and his sidekick.

Sonofavich was questioned first.

Interrogator: Comrade Sonofavich, why did you and Comrade Commissar Davidov fail to capture the briefcase?

Sonofavich: Well, Comrade, we did actually capture it, but there were complications.

Interrogator: Complications? Please explain.

Sonofavich: The briefcase was in the possession of the crew of a German armoured vehicle. We had to stop them and persuade them to hand it over to us.

Interrogator: An armoured vehicle? In Berlin? What sort of vehicle?

Sonofavich: It was a StuG. A ... red one.

Interrogator: A red StuG? The red StuG? Tell me, Comrade, why is it that your path - and that of Comrade Commissar Davidov - constantly crosses the path of this vehicle?

Sonofavich: I have no idea, Comrade.

Interrogator: Are you sure that this vehicle is not a figment of your imagination, conveniently appearing to explain any failings on your part?

Sonofavich: No! The blasted thing is very real.

Interrogator: So, Comrade, tell this court of inquiry how you were able to persuade the crew of an armoured vehicle to hand over a briefcase to you and Comrade Commissar Davidov, at a time when you were both undercover?

Sonofavich: Well, Comrade Commissar Davidov had his pistol ... and I had ... er ... other weapons.

Interrogator: Other weapons? Please explain.

Sonofavich: (mumble, inaudible)

Interrogator: Please speak up, Comrade.

Sonofavich: I had ... an armour piercing bosom.

Tom Houlihan · Post by **Tom Houlihan** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 3:00 am

So, THAT'S where it came from!!! Man, he was carrying that thing around for a while!!

I wonder if it was uncomfortable?

Prit · Post by **Prit** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:51 am

I was startled by a clattering on the window: hail, blown by the sharp wind. I checked my watch. Only ten minutes left. I returned to the file.

Interrogator: An armour piercing bosom! You mean that you were using specialist NKVD infiltration and subversion clothing?

Sonofavich: Yes. Comrade Davidov secured a full set for me.

Interrogator: Did he have permission to use such top secret equipment?

Sonofavich: I have no idea. I had one anti-tank bosom, and one anti-personnel one - I used it when we had to get away from a policeman in a park.

Interrogator: And the ricin-loaded stilettoes? And the garotting garter belt?

Sonofavich: Yes, yes, I had those too, but I didn't have to use them...

I skipped a page of further detail of Sonofavich's costume. Ah, here we are, I thought.

Sonofavich: ...so we persuaded the crew of the accursed StuG to give us the briefcase. That's when the Americans turned up.

Interrogator: Americans?

Sonofavich: Several hundred American bombers, mounting a daylight raid. We were forced to abandon the briefcase and take cover.

Interrogator: So, the Americans took the briefcase?

Sonofavich: No, no. They were just bombing the city. I have no idea what happened to the briefcase.

Interrogator: Rather suspicious, don't you think, Comrade? The Americans appear at just the right moment for the bag to disappear...

I skipped another page. Aha! The interrogation of the commissar himself! This was what I was looking for...

Tom Houlihan · Post by **Tom Houlihan** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:03 pm

Somebody put a tail on David! I have a feeling he's going to be casting about for one-way plane tickets, and a false passport soon!

Commissar D, the Evil · Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:11 pm

Well, I vaguely remember this interrogation. I will wait until the good Doctor has finished his readings of the NKVD records before I tell my side.
As I recall policy during the war years, there were usually three versions prepared of any one interrogation:
1. One Version for State Archives.
2. One Version for future use to secure the cooperation of the accused.
3. One version for Comrade Stalin.

I know that Dr. Prit is not working off of version #3.

Best Regards,
~D, the EviL

Sam H. · Post by **Sam H.** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:15 pm

This is getting interesting ... I had forgotten about that episode ... please continue.

Commissar D, the Evil · Mon Mar 22, 2004 6:07 pm

Also, one should consider that, according to the NKVD handbook, there were at least eight different definitions of the "truth":

1. The truth as it is told to you by the Party.
2. The truth as it is told to you under interrogation.
3. The truth as it is remembered.
4. The truth as you report it to the Party.
5. The truth as you record it for posterity.
6. Propaganda for enemy consumption.
7. Propaganda for civilian consumption.
8. Propaganda for military consumption.

As you can see, packaging the "truth" properly was a chore--or rather, an art form.

Best Regards,
~D

Prit · Post by **Prit** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:04 am

I should have known.

Or rather, I should have guessed.

Four pages of interrogation. Several long responses from the commissar, one that ran to half a page.

And every word blacked out.

Someone had got here first and censored the entire account.

I sighed, and turned to the last page. This, at least, was uncensored...

The conclusion of this board of enquiry is that Comrade Commissar Davidov failed to carry out his mission successfully, but that there were mitigating circumstances. The board notes with approval the effectiveness of NKVD Infiltration Clothing, and recommends further field trials.

With regard to Comrade Commissar Davidov and Comrade Colonel Sonofavich, the board acknowledges the great lengths to which they went to try to achieve success, only to be robbed by the wicked intervention of Imperialist American bombers.

Therefore, in accordance with the great leniency shown by all such boards in the Soviet Union, this board recommends that the usual sentence of fifteen years' hard labour in SIberia be waived.

However, the board feels that some form of punishment is entirely appropriate. The board therefore recommends that Comrade Commissar Davidov and Comrade Colonel Sonofavich be ordered to take part in the forthcoming conquest [this word was then crossed out, and 'liberation' written by hand above it] of Ost Perversia.

...and, written across the bottom of the page, in his unmistakable handwriting, were the words 'I agree: J Stalin'.

Well, well, well. It was a dirty job, being a commissar in Ost Perversia, but an improvement on Siberia. Just about.

I glanced at my watch. Time was up. I replaced the file on the shelf, and left the building.

Shadow · Post by **Shadow** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:17 am

Prit wrote:Sonofavich: I have no idea. I had one anti-tank bosom, and one anti-personnel one - I used it when we had to get away from a policeman in a park.
Interrogator: And the ricin-loaded stilettoes? And the garotting garter belt?
Sonofavich: Yes, yes, I had those too, but I didn't have to use them...

Verwee, Verwee, interestink!
(as my staff driver, Obergefreiter Elmer Fudd, would say!).