The Goddess of Warsaw

One morning, Sienna brings Lena surprising news: The Behrmans’ work is being honored by the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra 60 years after the war, and their daughter, a celebrated pianist who now goes by the name Diana Mazur, will put on a rare public performance. Lena recognizes the Behrmans’ Stradivarius in the photograph of Diana accompanying the news article and is overwhelmed by the realization that Dina lived after all. Sienna has bought Lena tickets to the performance; the two of them will be traveling to Warsaw for it, as Sienna hopes to capture the experience for the film.

Two weeks later, Lena and Sienna arrive in Warsaw for the performance. Dina comes onto the stage with a purse, from which she takes out an armband with the Star of David: the Jews’ “Nazi-imposed badge of shame” (314). She puts it on as she was once forced to do and addresses the audience, talking about her parents’ legacy and their refusal to give up music even after they were seized and imprisoned in the ghetto. They were eventually taken away and killed at Treblinka.

Dina describes how Eryk took care of her until they were separated. He managed to escape the ghetto and continued to search for her. Eventually, the brother and sister learned of each other’s survival, but Eryk was killed before their reunion; the armband belonged to him. Dina dedicates her playing to her family and all the Polish heroes who fought for the right cause, stating that some of them are in the room.

Dina plays the first piece and addresses the audience before she begins her second one. She narrates the story of the girls in the synagogue and reads out a note that Lilah entrusted her with to let the world know their story. Dina claims that playing the piano is what helped her survive and eventually make it onto this stage.

After the performance, Sienna tells Lena that Dina is waiting to meet her in her dressing room; all of this has been prearranged. Lena and Dina embrace, overwhelmed to see each other. Lena apologizes for having sold the violin for passage out of Poland, and Dina reveals how she searched for it after the war and eventually traced it down.

Dina knew that Bina was still alive as “Lena Browning,” but Lena understands that the guilt of surviving prevented her from reaching out. Lena is also glad that Eryk knew his sister was alive after all. The two women embrace one last time, and Lena tells Dina that she did the girls proud.

As Lena leaves the symphony hall, she hears someone call out, “Irina.” She immediately realizes that it is Anna and instructs Sienna and the crew to stop filming. Lena reunites with Anna, who introduces herself as Petra Schneider. Petra is accompanied by her granddaughters, who do not know about her past, so she and Lena make a plan to meet the next day.

Lena meets Petra at the old ballet studio, which she has renovated and renamed “Ballet Sosia.” Lena fills Petra in on everything that happened to her after Lukas and Petra drove away that night. Petra, in turn, describes how Lukas shot her and left her for dead that same night. She was found by a man named Antoni, who turned out to be a medical student; he saved Petra’s life, and they went on to marry. She made him promise never to talk about their war-ridden past, as she wanted to leave it all behind. This is why she was never able to reach out to Lena, despite knowing that she was alive.

Before Lena leaves, she and Petra discuss how they know Lukas is still alive: He is now a celebrated director in Argentina and goes by the name of Armand Arias. His recent movie, The Imposter, is what gave him away—the final scene showcases exactly what happened with Lena, the baron, and Petra the night of the cabaret bombing. The movie was well received and is slated to win big at all the film festivals. Lena reflects on how, shortly after she watched the movie, she began devising a plan for Lukas; this is when Sienna and the biopic opportunely entered her life.

Lena assures Petra that Müller will not win the awards that he is up for. Petra, realizing Lena’s plan, gives her the pearl hairpin she left behind all those years ago. She states that it is for luck and tells Lena, “Do what you must do” (329).

Three months later, Lena and Sienna decide to announce the biopic, titled Femme Fatale, at the Venice International Film Festival. Before they travel there, Lena ensures that all her affairs are in order. By Lena’s odd behavior, Sienna senses that Lena’s true final act is to take place at the event, but Lena divulges no details.

Lukas, as Armand Arias, arrives at the event, and while Lena recognizes him, she pretends not to. During the ceremony, Lena’s old co-star, Jack Lyons, steps forward to present the award for the best film, and Lena interrupts his presentation by climbing onstage. A puzzled Jack nevertheless introduces Lena and hands her the microphone. She reveals the truth about both her and Lukas’s true identities. She then shoots Lukas point-blank in the chest and touches Anna’s hairpin in her hair, calling out, “That’s with love from the Warsaw Ghetto” (337).

As the audience realizes that this is not acting, Sienna rushes onto the stage to shield Lena from the cameras and gives her a secret, triumphant smile. The police arrive minutes later, but all Lena can think about is how she has finally won.

Lena is sent to Casa di Reclusione Femminile, the jailhouse for women in Venice. She has no regrets for killing Lukas. Lena never wins an Oscar, but Sienna does, for directing and acting in Femme Fatale. The movie also wins an Oscar. Sienna visits Lena regularly at the prison, where Lena has gone back to using her real name, Bina.

Eighteen months after Lukas’s death, Aleksander visits Bina at the prison. He reveals that he watched her kill Lukas, a highly televised incident, and realized that she shot him in the exact same spot that he shot Jakub.

Aleksander describes how he escaped the ghetto along with Eryk and Tosia through the sewers. He and Tosia decided to stop fighting and find a way to leave the war alive. They made their way to Geneva, Switzerland, and eventually to Israel, where they settled down, married, and started a family. Tosia translated her bomb-making skills into helping design missile defense systems for the Israeli government; she passed away three years ago. Their son and daughter are named Yakov and Zizi, after Jakub and Zelda.

Aleksander reveals that he knew Bina was alive, having watched her films; he has traveled to the prison to thank her for what she did. He gives her something that he claims he has not been able to leave behind after all these years: It is a sketch of her bathing, and Bina realizes that he used to watch her just as she did him. Aleksander confesses that he saw her, too, at the dance where they all first met; even though he was immediately attracted to her, he realized that they were too alike in their wildness. He believed that Karina would be a better partner for him. However, he has always loved her, right from the very first moment they met.

As their fingertips touch, Bina reflects on the differing ways in which Zelda and Jakub approached the war. She believes that the right way lies somewhere in between. She confesses to Aleksander that she has only ever loved him, and he wipes away her tears as she cries for the first time in years.