A pseudo-documentary propaganda war film attempting to recreate the events preceding the liberation of Cracow from the Germans. A spectacular production made in cooperation with Mosfilm and East Germany’s DEFA, starring Polish, Soviet and German actors and using authentic equipment from World War II era.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Gdańsk Film Festival and the award of the Committee of Peace Defenders at the Moscow International Film Festival.
In line with the communist version of history, the film perpetuates the false myth of the city, which had been mined by the Nazis, being saved thanks to an ingenious maneuver by Soviet Marshal Konev and collaboration between the Polish resistance movement and the Red Army. The plot includes motifs related to actual operations carried out by recon-sabotage units of Alexey Botyan and Yevgeny Bereznyak.
In December 1944, the Soviet Army is preparing for an offensive and capture of Cracow. In an attempt to save the historical city from destruction, the Russians send out recon units in order to establish cooperation with the Polish resistance movement. Meanwhile, the Germans decide to mine the entire city. Representatives of the Home Army and the People’s Army learn about the plan. Despite ideological differences, the two organizations decide to work together to save Cracow.
The main story is intertwined with the story of the Nowacki family, which gives shelter to a wounded Russian. When the Germans discover a Soviet radio station, captain Semonov and Marian Nowacki are captured by the Nazis. Semonov uses a ruse to escape, but the Pole is executed by a firing squad one day before the liberation of the city.
