And I Saw: Elem Klimovs Come and See as a Lens to Historiography of the Eastern Front

HIS 481 March 19, 2012

and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw1 The historical memory of the European theater of World War II is consistently oriented towards the great clash of the United States and Nazi Germany: democracy and freedom versus the dictatorship and oppression of Adolf Hitlers regime. Countless numbers of text and film have been produced detailing the attempts to topple the Third Reich from the west, whether by the hand of those who reclaimed Europe starting at Normandy or by actions of resistance in Nazi occupied territories. Beneath the intrinsic focus on these elements lies a seemingly forgotten aspect of the war. Nazi Germany was opposed from its eastern borders as well, a component of World War II historiography that has been distorted after decades of difficulty extricating the web of sources on the subject. A clear depiction of the era has become difficult to establish, but one source can become a catalyst of clarity. Elem Klimovs 1985 film Come and See (Idi i smotri in Russian) serves such a purpose.2 Developed and written in the 1980s Soviet Union, Come and See serves as a testament to the atrocities committed in Byelorussia (Belarus) as a result of the German invasion. Within the films narrative lies Florya, a young boy hoping to join the partisan movement and go off to war. Floryas journey represents the heart of the plot of Come and See, but the true thesis of the film evolves its title into a double entendre. Klimovs film serves as an allegory of the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, plaguing the region with war, famine, and death under the false pretenses of Nazi ideology. Aside from the biblical metaphors, Klimov also utilizes his film as an invitation to the West to view what World War II historiography has seemingly forgotten, and to come and see the atrocities the Soviet people suffered as a result of the Nazi-Soviet clash.

Rev. 6.1-2 King James Version. Come and See, directed by Elem Klimov, 142 minutes, Mosfilm, 1985 (original distribution), Kino Video, 2003, DVD.
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While the conceptual influence of all Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse can be identified in the film, the manner in which they are represented varies. The consequences of each arrival can be identified in either a few distinct scenes or as an overarching ambiance of the entire film. A number of sequences in particular stand out as a clear representation, however: such as Floryas behaviors and dispositions as a member of the partisans, Floryas attempts to steal a cow and a horse in an effort to obtain food, and the systematic killing of the inhabitants of Perekhody at the hands of the Nazis.3 Without a doubt the first horseman, described by St. John as having, a crown given unto him and subsequently went forth conquering was the first to arrive in Byelorussia indirectly in the form of the Adolf Hitler and directly as the Nazi military presence.4 However, the most prominent representation of the white horse occurs at the films climax, and therefore is most properly discussed following analysis of the remaining three.5 Thus, the second rider, of war: I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.6 The films exposition begins peacefully enough, but also borders on the surreal. Two boys are seen digging in a sandy field with great enthusiasm, searching for rifles so they can join the partisan movement.A Florya finds a rifle, and quickly runs home to his mother to display his prized possession and prepare for his service. He is recruited, yet his excitement quickly dwindles when the partisan unit leaves him behind. He meets Glasha, a girl around his age, but shortly after their meeting the two are bombarded by artillery fire from German airplanes and infantry. Florya is stricken deaf temporarily following the bombings, but regains his hearing after a short time, after which the two children return to Floryas home village; however, the village is
3 4

Come and See. Rev. 6.2 KJV. 5 Ibid. 6 Rev. 6.3-4 KJV.

eerily quiet. After a few moments Glasha suspects the worst (the death of the villagers), but Florya insists they have gone to a nearby island for safety. As they exit the village Glasha notices a large pile of corpses behind Floryas home. 7 Florya descends into hysteria, trapped between his delusions and realizations regarding the death of his family. Floryas youthful exuberance to participate in war and subsequent dismay upon actually experiencing it are representative of the concepts of war, as well as the metaphoric application of the second horsemans descent upon Floryas village and everything he holds dear (in the form of the German military forces). The assault carried out by Nazi Germany, Operation Barbarossa, was on surface level meant to destroy the majority of the Russian military forces and from that point aiming to prevent the withdrawal of significant forces to the interior.8 The advance of the Wehrmacht (German army) was spread across three distinct paths in order to break through and encircle Russian armies followed by the now surrounded Russians being killed or captured9 However, the aims of Adolf Hitler were not surface level, and Operation Barbarossa was not meant to solely be a military conquest to defeat the Russian army. As Geoffrey Megargee writes in his monograph War of Annihilation: The war against the Soviet Union would be a war of extermination The usual rules would not apply10 The murder of Russian civilians such as Floryas family clearly displays German strategies that brutality would be the norm no prisoners should be taken, or that groups of them were to be shot in retaliation for Soviet offenses.11 It is this aspect of the war on the Eastern Front that is often hidden from the western world and in western historiography; peace was forcibly removed and killing was

Come and See. Geoffrey Megargee, War of Annihilation: Combat and Genocide on the Easter Front, 1941 (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006), 22. 9 R.A.C. Parker, The Second World War: A Short History, Rev. ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 67. 10 Megargee 33. 11 Megargee 59.
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enacted upon the ordinary people of countries such as Byelorussia (as opposed to solely affecting those who enlisted to fight the Germans). Florya, in his descent to madness, is himself a symbol for the people of the Soviet Union. The subjection to artillery fire and death of his family collectively begin to rob Florya of the peace of his childhood. Sandwiched between these two crucial events in the films chronology is a playful sequence, displaying Florya and Glasha shaking collected water off of trees in an effort to bathe themselves, laughing and smiling as they do so. Amidst the horrors on either end of it, the scene serves as a reminder that Florya is just a child, innocent as other ordinary citizens of Byelorussia. Before long however, Floryas innocence is robbed from him as he figuratively bathes in the blood of his family, descending into madness from the peace he once knew. Klimov notes that experiencing such a situation in childhood developed a lasting effect that plagues him today. Reminiscing upon his own witnessing of the bombings of Stalingrad, Kilomv declares, Naturally I'm burdened with very strong recollections about that hell because it was an excursion to hell.12 Similarly, such hellish circumstances such as the ones Florya witnesses cannot be easily remedied for those who were there, not to mention that outsiders simply cannot comprehend what occurred because as Kilmov states, our psyche puts a barrier against it.13 A visual transformation such as Floryas (which subsequently worsens as the film progresses) becomes an instrument to elucidate such horrors in a way no text or words can, emphasizing the eternal removal of peace and annihilating whatever strands of life existed within the Soviets prior to the commencement of the war.

YouTube. "Elem Klimov about Come and see (1/3)," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN9_r1NEnGM (accessed March 10, 2012). 13 YouTube. "Elem Klimov about Come and see (2/3)." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KY53cDZT4Q (accessed March 10, 2012).

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The war of annihilation was not solely conducted via the shattering of the Soviet sense of peace; rather a hunger plan was also enacted.14 Thus, the arrival of the third horseman, of famine: I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.15 Following his familys death, Florya joins us with a group of men from his village in order to find food for the villages other survivors. One of the men knows of the locations of a warehouse where food is being safeguarded, but upon reaching the warehouse the defensive wall the Germans have established cannot be breached. Florya and one of his companions (following the death of the other twoB) soon steal a cow from a Nazi-sympathizer to bring back to the villagers. In their journey back Florya, his companion, and the cow are fired upon, leading to the death of the cow and Floryas final companion. Florya soon discovers a horse and a carriage in a nearby field, and attempts to steal the horse, only to be stopped by the horses owner (and leading into the final arc of the film).16 The actions of Florya and his companions derive from reasons beyond simply looking for food. These reasons also concern what Megargee refers to as the most cynical of the Germans plans also the least well known17 Megargee notes that the Food Ministry of Nazi Germany determined that not only did German soldiers on the front lines need to be feed (as carrying food supplies with them would be inefficient), but back in Germany there was a deficiency of food as well.18 From this realization came the development of the aforementioned hunger plan; Germans deployed in the Soviet Union were to obtain the surplus of food that

14 15

Megargee 34. Rev. 6.5-6 KJV. 16 Come and See. 17 Megargee 34. 18 Ibid.

existed in the villages of the region. However, as Megargee notes, surplus was a code for the food belonging to the people of the Soviet Union. This terminology in turn led to: German military and civilian authorities quietly accepted that up to thirty million Soviet citizens would starve to death-not because they had done anything wrong or represented any threat, but simply because the Germans believed that their needs trumped other peoples.19 In addition to the rationale concerning the needs of the German people, Hitler also pressed to his subordinates the necessity to completely destroy Moscow and Leningrad upon reaching them, therefore making populating the cities in any capacity nigh impossible, and creating no need to feed their populations through the winter...20 However, the Germans did not solely take rations from the Soviet people. In the earliest stages of Operation Barbarossa many Soviets were taken as prisoners of war and forced to perform labor for the Germans. POW camps did include prisoners besides Soviets, but the OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres, or Army High Command) determined that Soviet prisoners were to receive the smallest possible share of food.21 Soviet POWs who performed labors for the Germans were given more rations, fitting the description of the measure of wheat for a penny seen in Revelations (while the King James Version is not entirely clear of this concept, the English Good News Translation clearly states, A quart of wheat for a days wages).22,23 Megargee also emphasizes Soviet resistance to the hunger plan, with villagers enacting a scorched-earth policy to burn their wares before the Germans could seize them. Floryas actions to attempt to counteract the hunger plan demonstrate the desolation of food supplies for the Soviet people. Upon meeting resistance from the horses owner upon attempting to steal it, Florya declares, Folks are dying of hunger there. When the horses owner tells him that he is a folk as well, Florya lashes out and tells the man, They're fighting in

19 20

Ibid. Megargee 64. 21 Megargee 61. 22 Megargee 62. 23 Rev. 6.6 GNTD.

the war, not sitting at home!24 As a member of the armed forces of his country, ideally Florya would provide the civilians with food in an effort to assist their quality of living; yet Klimov portrays him in a set of circumstances when the armed forces are starving as well, and Florya is forced to prioritize who starves and who does not. With a German officer sitting a table eating and dozens of villagers looking on, the viewer begins to understand alongside Florya how bleak the situation of food scarcity and starvation is; the conditions present reach beyond just fighting in the war. Those sitting at home must watch helplessly as they are trumped and everything they hold dear is ripped from them with no justification why; seemingly the only progression in the downward spiral is that of death. Yet death requires a killer, which can be found upon returning analysis of the allegory back to the first horseman, the conqueror: and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.25 The question of where there German impulse to invade the Soviet Union and conquer derives from is attributed to World War I and the suffering that the Germans experienced as a result of food shortages and unrest among the German people (likely as a result of approximately 2 million German men perishing in the war). The series of events leading up to theories of German superiority is long and complex, but its origins lie in the perception of Jews in the time period. During World War I, social aspirations in Germany emphasized conformity in the troubling times, and those who acted differently or did not fit in were saturated in suspicion; why were people such as Jews not struggling alongside the rest of the German people to live a daily life?26 Enhanced by interactions with deprived rural populations of the Russian empire during World War I (many of them Jewish), which in the gaze of the Germans seemed, alien and
24 25

Come and See Rev. 6.1-2 KJV. 26 Megargee 2

primitive criminal, inferior, dirty, and diseased a sense of superiority arose, which in turn led Germans to believe they were charged to bring civilization to the region27 Coupled this with early strands of modern day Social Darwinism and the seeds of German superiority over the Russian people justified the need for Germans to take what they needed, by force if necessary, no matter what the consequences for their opponents.28 As noted earlier, following taking what they needed, the final step of German force over the civilians of the Soviet Union was the annihilation of the only remaining aspect: Soviet lives. Thus, the fourth rider, of death: And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.29 Klimov has noted that Revelation 6: 7-8 was the inspiration for the title of the film, and appropriately so, as seen in the climactic sequence in the village of Perekhody. Following their meal at the hands of the people of the village, the Germans herd the villagers into the town hall building to await their deportation to Germany, a civilized country.C Despite Floryas dialogue to the contrary (Theyll kill all of you!), the villagers crowd into the building. They are told that those without children can come out through a single window, to which a woman cries out, The beasts! Florya manages to escape the building through the window. Despite noticing his escape, the Germans ignore him, and he essentially watches in isolation, the only observer as opposed to the perpetrating German, as the building is bombarded by grenades, artillery fire, and flames, killing everyone inside. The few who escape are beaten, raped, and belittled. A cacophony erupts and chaos rules the scene. The images still are fresh in the viewers mind when a title card at the closing of the film reads, The Nazis burned down 628 Byelorussian villages together with all the people in them.30

27 28

Ibid. Megargee 4. 29 Rev. 6.7-8 KJV. 30 Come and See

By August of 1941, the approach to Jewish annihilation had expanded to the killing of entire villages and communities; women and children were now deemed to be essential, as opposed to just the killing of men conducted earlier.31 Megargee notes that the success of Jewish extermination in the Soviet Union leads some historians to believe that late 1941 was the decisive factor in implementing the Final Solution in Europe, attempting to kill all of the Jews there as well.32 One may wonder why Klimov selected a Christian text such as the Book of Revelation for representation of the annihilation of Russian atheists.33 Kilmov notes he was searching for material connected with the war and with some apprehension of an apocalyptical event in this world.34 Events such as the destruction of the village of Perekhody, of countless death, of the arrival of Hell on Earth, and the destruction of everything man knew was the primary inspiration for Come and See; mostly in the form of a text written by Ales Adamovich titled The Story of Khatyn. As Kilmov recalls, I read it and saw how vivid [Adamovichs] narration was, with what talent he described the occupation of Byelorussia and the genocide of its people.35 Adamvoichs influence on the film extends beyond his authorship of its inspiration; he cowrote the screenplay with Klimov, and read his text to the inhabitants of villages that were used as setting in the film. Klimov says that Adamovich would sit [villagers] on the ground and read the book: I come from the enflamed village.36 Adamovichs presence added another element to the film and its development, as he was there; he saw what occurred: the war, the famine, and the death. Klimov notes this is essential to the narrative, The Byelorussians, they all remember everything: someone was a child then, someone was told this story by his

31 32

Megargee 92-93 Megargee 123 33 Dr. T. Thibodeau, e-mail message to the author, February 26, 2012, accessed March 10, 2012 34 YouTube. "Elem Klimov about Come and see (1/3)." 35 YouTube. "Elem Klimov about Come and see (1/3)." 36 YouTube. "Elem Klimov about Come and see (2/3)."

parents.37 Without a doubt this was the driving force behind Klimovs choice to use a child protagonist in the film. In the moments following the annihilation of Perekhody, Florya is forcibly posed with a group of Germans for a photograph, a gun pointed to his temple. Yet, the Germans dont shoot him, and following their departure he crumbles to the ground alive, yet appearing as though he is dead.38 Whatever childhood innocence that remained with him is gone; Florya has been fully subjected to the Hell that is war, and in essence has died. However, at the same time he lives, and while his fate beyond the films resolution is unknown, it can be assumed that he, like Adamovich, will tell his story. Come and See is most famous for the montage at the closing of the film, during which Florya shoots his rifle at a portrait of Adolf Hitler laying in a puddle. As he shoots, Nazi Germany in essence goes backwards in time: corpses of Jews at a death camp, German soldiers advancing, Nazi rallies featuring Hitlers speeches, and even Hitlers own military service is seen until the final image, Adolf Hitler as a child on his mothers lap, is portrayed on screen. Florya, however, does not shoot at baby Hitler, as he would be emphasizing the words of the German commander who ordered the children stay in the town hall of Perekhody: all the trouble starts with children.39 At one point, Hilter was also just a helpless child, and no one could predict the war that would start from that child as he sat on his mothers lap. With this comes Klimovs original title for the film, Kill Hitler. He declares that by the title, he did not mean Adolf Hitler, the person: We meant by this: Kill a Hitler in yourself, because we all have our demons, in this or that measure...40 Adolf Hitler is that demon for the historiography of the Eastern Front. He and his influence on Nazi Germany dominate the focus of studies of the time period, both by amateur and professional historians alike. Megargee

37 38

Ibid. Come and See 39 Come and See 40 YouTube. "Elem Klimov about Come and see (1/3)."

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notes that Sometimes, contrary to the popular saying, the losers are the ones who write the history books; 41 even Megargees own book does not present both sides of the story.42 And so, it is the stories of those who were present for the carnage of the war of annihilation that become the most valuable piece of history when studying the Eastern Front. Klimov declares that while the script for Come and See was only a scrip, he opened [The Story of Khatyn] very often because it kept me from the tiniest falsehood. That subject was too sacred for us to be false. For decades the historiography of the Soviet Union was closely controlled and closed to all but officially approved historians preventing any outside eyes from seeing what truly occurred in the Soviet Union.43 But now the Soviet Union has collapsed and the archives have become more available for research and reference to right Eastern Front historiography. The choice lies with the historian: do they allow the demon that is Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany to continue to cloud their judgment, or do they open their eyes and come and see the Eastern Front as it actually happened, and listen to the stories of those who witnessed the war of annihilation firsthand? Come and See serves as an excellent and invaluable film for historians to view the history of the Eastern Front as evidence of what really happened in the war and a call for peace of mind from the demon of World War II historiography.

Megargee xii. Megargee xiv 43 th John Tosh and Sean Lang, The Pursuit of History, 4 ed. (Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, 2006), 239.
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41

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The partisans were a resistance movement of the U.S.S.R. in World War II. Having been behind the ever-moving frontlines as a result of the German advance, they often resulted to guerrilla warfare. (Megargee 65) B The other two of Floryas companions are killed by mines as they attempt to cross a minefield that Florya led them to, disturbing his peace of mind even further. C The announcement of Germany as a civilized country notes that Everybody going to Germany takes toothbrush, shoe polish, and underwear. No fruits or vegetables are allowed, so as not to infect Europe.

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