Part I: Lost Letters Summary

In February 1948, Klement Gottwald steps out onto a balcony to address the Czech people below. Because his head is bare and it is cold outside, his associate Clementis gives him his fur hat. Years later, Clementis will be considered a traitor to the country and erased from its collective memory, but his hat will stay on Gottwald's head in the pictures forever. Flash forward to 1971 and a man named Mirek is driving to see Zdena, a woman that he had an affair with 25 years ago. He is being followed since he is now considered an enemy of the state, a fact he is very aware of, but still persistently drives to meet this woman on the pretense that he wants his old love letters back from her.

During his drive, Mirek stops at a auto repair shop...