why did Hakl give Zenke the bullet? Was Zenke the actual killer brought in by the STB to implicate the Jewish organisation? I loved the movie but did not 'get' the ending. Hakl did notice Zenke was former SS while he was shaving.
shareHe knew that Zenke would be exchanged to West Germany. That is why Hakl said to Panek that the bullet is in safety. And that is why the Soviet agent Morozov orders to stop the trial. They apparently feared that if the results of the trial are published, the western media and politics would come up with the true story and there would be a diplomatic scandal.
IMHO, this ending is too idealistic, as:
- Zenke with all that experience with the police work in the East would never be allowed to travel to the West.
- Even if he would, he would be surely thoroughly searched and the bullet would be taken. Hakl could not have relied on the contrary.
- The Communist regimes in the Eastern Europe (except USSR) at 1950s were at its peak of its totalitarian character. So was their anti-Israeli and anti-Semitist attitude. They wouldnt give a damn what would be written in the western media or what diplomatic scandal may be caused. The Cold War was at its peak as well.
Your evaluation is spot on. Every point you made is highly probable and if anything this fine movie inadvertently polished the cruel intent and conduct of all Stalinist regimes. Hitlers thousand year Reich lasted 12 years but Bolshevik injustices lingered for 74 years, PRC and North Korea still a living shame.
what ails most madmen is realitys grasp or escape, a paralysis of analysis