But really, deep inside, he knew it wasn’t true. It was also the sort of thing Barikada would say and now he felt embarrassed. Yegor looked him in the eye. ‘Viktor and Elena have gone to the western republics. We don’t know what has happened to Mama. There is only you and me left. We have to know that we can talk to each other in confidence. You don’t have to pretend with me. Even if they take me to one of Beria’s torture chambers, I will never betray you.’
Misha let Yegor put his arm around him, like he used to when he was younger. He wanted to ask him about the envelope full of roubles, but he lost his nerve.
They carried on walking down to Ulitsa Serafimovicha, the route Misha always took on his way to school. Yegor said, ‘Let’s sit in Bolotnaya Square. There are seats by the fountain.’
Misha liked it there. Sometimes, when Valya was not with him, he would sit on his own and watch the fountain playing, watch the world go by.
Yegor looked sad. ‘These people who pass us have no idea what is coming. Every day we have reports coming in from spies in the Luftwaffe headquarters in Berlin, spies in the German Embassy in Japan, informers in the heart of the British government, and they all tell the same story. The Hitlerites are poised and ready to invade. Every night I think, How can I tell Elena to get out of Odessa? She’s so close to the German border she’ll be captured or killed in the first few days. How can I tell her, Misha, without the NKVD finding out and killing me? And Viktor in Kiev. He’ll be in danger soon enough.’
Misha didn’t know what to make of it all. ‘But if you are so certain,’ he said, ‘and all the others who come with these reports, why is Comrade Stalin doing nothing about it?’
‘Who can see into the head of the Vozhd ? I can guess at one of twenty things he might be thinking. Maybe he thinks just the one thing. Maybe he thinks all twenty. My guess is that he thinks there are wreckers and saboteurs, trying to get the Soviet Union to declare war on Germany so the Nazis will have to fight. That’s plainly ridiculous. But I think Comrade Stalin believes Hitler is a sensible man. He thinks he must realise the Soviet Union is too big, too powerful, to conquer as easily as all those little countries in Europe. Hitler gobbled them up in days – well, a few weeks for the bigger ones like France – but he must know the Soviet Union is different.
‘But there is one thing that really worries me, Misha. You know how we attacked the Finns soon after the war began in Europe? What they never told the people was that the campaign was a catastrophe. We won a small victory in the end – some territory around Lake Ladoga – but we could not conquer that little country despite our overwhelming size. There have been so many generals taken away, never to be seen again. The army is like a headless behemoth. We have a few good generals left, but not enough. Most of them are too frightened of the Vozhd to do anything other than obey every instruction meekly, even if it’s completely crazy. You can’t run an army like that. You need leadership. You need initiative. And if our army defends our country as ineptly as they attacked the Finns, then the Germans will be in Moscow in a matter of weeks. They might even be here before the first frosts.’
Misha couldn’t believe his ears. His lazy summer was evaporating before his eyes. ‘Papa, what makes you so sure? About the invasion, I mean.’
‘There’s just too much intelligence to ignore. Reconnaissance flights into our airspace. Troops massing on the borders – especially dense around the River Bug. “Training exercises,” says Stalin. “They’re ready to invade,” I want to scream. There’s only one general who will speak openly with him about this – that bastard Zhukov. He’s a brute, but you have to admire his courage. Just today he was telling the Vozhd he was convinced the Hitlerites were coming, and Stalin
Misha let Yegor put his arm around him, like he used to when he was younger. He wanted to ask him about the envelope full of roubles, but he lost his nerve.
They carried on walking down to Ulitsa Serafimovicha, the route Misha always took on his way to school. Yegor said, ‘Let’s sit in Bolotnaya Square. There are seats by the fountain.’
Misha liked it there. Sometimes, when Valya was not with him, he would sit on his own and watch the fountain playing, watch the world go by.
Yegor looked sad. ‘These people who pass us have no idea what is coming. Every day we have reports coming in from spies in the Luftwaffe headquarters in Berlin, spies in the German Embassy in Japan, informers in the heart of the British government, and they all tell the same story. The Hitlerites are poised and ready to invade. Every night I think, How can I tell Elena to get out of Odessa? She’s so close to the German border she’ll be captured or killed in the first few days. How can I tell her, Misha, without the NKVD finding out and killing me? And Viktor in Kiev. He’ll be in danger soon enough.’
Misha didn’t know what to make of it all. ‘But if you are so certain,’ he said, ‘and all the others who come with these reports, why is Comrade Stalin doing nothing about it?’
‘Who can see into the head of the Vozhd ? I can guess at one of twenty things he might be thinking. Maybe he thinks just the one thing. Maybe he thinks all twenty. My guess is that he thinks there are wreckers and saboteurs, trying to get the Soviet Union to declare war on Germany so the Nazis will have to fight. That’s plainly ridiculous. But I think Comrade Stalin believes Hitler is a sensible man. He thinks he must realise the Soviet Union is too big, too powerful, to conquer as easily as all those little countries in Europe. Hitler gobbled them up in days – well, a few weeks for the bigger ones like France – but he must know the Soviet Union is different.
‘But there is one thing that really worries me, Misha. You know how we attacked the Finns soon after the war began in Europe? What they never told the people was that the campaign was a catastrophe. We won a small victory in the end – some territory around Lake Ladoga – but we could not conquer that little country despite our overwhelming size. There have been so many generals taken away, never to be seen again. The army is like a headless behemoth. We have a few good generals left, but not enough. Most of them are too frightened of the Vozhd to do anything other than obey every instruction meekly, even if it’s completely crazy. You can’t run an army like that. You need leadership. You need initiative. And if our army defends our country as ineptly as they attacked the Finns, then the Germans will be in Moscow in a matter of weeks. They might even be here before the first frosts.’
Misha couldn’t believe his ears. His lazy summer was evaporating before his eyes. ‘Papa, what makes you so sure? About the invasion, I mean.’
‘There’s just too much intelligence to ignore. Reconnaissance flights into our airspace. Troops massing on the borders – especially dense around the River Bug. “Training exercises,” says Stalin. “They’re ready to invade,” I want to scream. There’s only one general who will speak openly with him about this – that bastard Zhukov. He’s a brute, but you have to admire his courage. Just today he was telling the Vozhd he was convinced the Hitlerites were coming, and Stalin