remained the Fuhrer's successor,
his closest comrade-in-arms,
Nazi Number Two.
Himmler once
said to Schellenberg:
"That's it. Gцring is finished.
Hitler will never forgive him
for the bombing of Germany."
And so, Stirlitz eliminated Gцring
because the Reich Marshal
had lost the real power
he had had, in the first place,
and secondly,
because at Hitler's sanction
he had been
under the constant observation
of Himmler's secret service.
"No," thought Stirlitz,
in my war
I shouldn't stake on Gцring.
He's a colossus with feet of clay."
Who? Who?
Yes? I got you.
Who else was sharing
your defeatist attitudes?
Who of your co-workers,
subordinates, assistants?
Who?!
You're going to tell me, swine.
Go on with interrogation.
02.15.1945
(18 hours 38 minutes)
Top secret.
Personal file on Heinrich Mueller,
Gruppenfuhrer of the SS, Chief of
the 4th Dept. Of the Reich Security
(secret state police, Gestapo).
Reference on Heinrich Mueller,
member of the Nazi Party since 1939,
SS Gruppenfuhrer, Chief of
the 4th Dept. Of the Reich Security.
A true Arian.
Of Nordic character, self-possessed.
Sociable and equable
with friends and colleagues.
Merciless towards the Reich's enemies.
A good family man.
No discrediting liaisons.
Proved an outstanding
organizer of work.
I don't wish to awaken in you
the vicious chimera of suspiciousness
towards your Party
comrades-in-arms.
But facts point to the following.
First.
Stirlitz, though indirectly,
is partly responsible for the failure
of the Cracow operation.
He was there when the city,
by some strange coincidence,
remained intact,
though it was supposed
to be blown up.
Second.
He was on the case of the missing
V-2 rocket.
The rocket has disappeared.
I pray to God that it has sunk
in the marshes between
the Wisla and the Wkra.
Third.
He's still in charge of a number of
questions
relating to the retaliation weapon.
And though there're no visible
failures yet...
there are neither
any breakthroughs, successes
or tangible victories.
I would be happy, Mueller,
if you could now, before
his files have been brought here,
refute my suspicions.
I like Stirlitz.
And I would like to get from you
a documented refutation
of my sudden suspicions.
I have never received
any signals on him.
Yet... no one can be guaranteed
against mistakes
and failures in our work.
So you think
that I'm quite wrong?
No, not at all.
Certainly, we must analyze
the suspicions we've got
from every angle.
Otherwise, why maintain
my apparatus at all?
We all might be called then
loafers
evading the frontline.
Do you have more facts?
What can I tell you...
I don't even know what to tell you.
I've asked to tape-record
his conversations with our
people for a few days.
Those whom I absolutely trust
openly talk with each other
about our tragic situation,
the stupidity of our military,
the cretinism of Ribbentrop,
about that idiot Gцring,
about the nightmare
that awaits every one of us,
if the Russians break into Berlin.
And Stirlitz just says: "Nonsense,
everything's all right,
everything goes the right way."
Love for the Fatherland and the Fuhrer
doesn't mean a blind
faith in your colleagues.
I asked myself: Perhaps he's an idiot?
We have so many
dimwits who fecklessly
repeat Goebbels' abracadabra.
No, he's not an idiot.
Then why isn't he being honest?
Either he doesn't trust anyone
or he is afraid of something,
or he is scheming something
and wants to be crystally pure.
But in this case, what can he scheme?
All his operations must have
an outlet abroad, to the neutrals.
I asked myself:
Will he come back from there?
And if he comes back, wouldn't he
get in touch there with the neutrals,
the opposition and other scoundrels?
And I couldn't find a definite answer,
neither positive,
nor negative.
Yes...
Do you want to look
at his file first,
or can I take it now?
You take it.
I have to go to the Fuhrer now.
You've