Mikhail Vaskov

Four young Germans in a Soviet POW camp decide to join the Red Army to hasten the end of the war. Their new identities elicit different reactions from Germans and Russians and are difficult to live up to when they are sent behind German lines. (DEFA Film Library)

The series follows the life story of Darya Saltykova who was nicknamed "Saltychikha" by serfs. The landowner slayed more than 100 serfs by brutally torturing them during the 18th century. Saltykova is the Russian Elizabeth Bathory, who carried out similar horrors in 16th-century Hungary. She became a female serial killer who couldn't be stopped.