The Confession

Gerard (only his currently-assumed name) has been a loyal Communist for most of his life, from being a member of the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, to working for the French Resistance against the Nazis. During WWII, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp because he was a Jew. His French wife Lise was imprisoned in another camp; she was pregnant, which saved her from immediate execution, and she gave birth to their son there. Now in the early 1950s they are in Czecholovakia; he works as the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs being a Jew. Although not in the same camp, his French wife, Lise, was also imprisoned in a camp, and gave birth to their son there, being pregnant which was the only thing that saved her from execution. Now in the early 1950s, they are in Czechoslovakia, his post Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs gives them access to perks of the government. He has noticed that he has been openly followed for several days, and while his fellow government officials don't know for sure who is following him, most who were part of the International Brigade have recently been targeted in various ways. Eventually, those tailing him do apprehend and hold him for questioning without official charge. Initially, all he knows is that his captors are with the Soviet regime and want him to confess--but to what? Through interrogation after interrogation interspersed with standard measures of brainwashing, Gerard is falsely accused by his captors as being a Trotskyite, a Titoite, a Zionist, and a traitor against the Soviet Union in working in cahoots with the Americans, who do whatever required to get a confession from him while piecing together signed "facts" to use against others who are also being placed under the same interrogation methods. His captors use the non-logical argument that he should confess to these crimes to show his loyalty to the Communist Party. If he does confess, he will admit to crimes which could be punishable by death. As Gerard goes through this process, working hard to stay true to his beliefs, Lise, who believes he will soon be released if he cooperates with the Communists, is being told other things about his incarceration.