One of the best Polish war films. Boasting a documentary-like feel and great attention to detail, this realistic drama set in Nazi-occupied Poland attempts to reconstruct in a dramatized form the events related to the famous operation carried out by the Home Army - the successful yet casualty-heavy assassination of Franz Kutschera, the SS and police chief known as the "Butcher of Warsaw".
The script was written by Jan Stefan Stawiński, a distinguished scriptwriter who worked with the best Polish artists, co-author of the success of the Polish Film School and author of scripts for such masterpieces as "Sewer", "Eroica" and "Pułkownik Kwiatkowski". The authentic feel of the events presented in the film is a consequence of use of historical documents and accounts given by participants in the assassination and their families.
During World War II, mass roundups and executions are organized in Warsaw on orders from an anonymous SS and police. The Polish Underground State discovers his identity and sentences him to death. A group of conspirators led by "Czarny" prepare a detailed assassination plan. The young people are aware of the danger, but are ready to take the biggest risk. The day of the operation comes. The goal is achieved as Kutschera is killed, but the Poles suffer heavy casualties. Some of them make it to hospitals seriously wounded, while others try to escape to a safe hideout. Meanwhile, the Nazis start a huge manhunt.
For political and censorship reasons, the name Home Army was not used in the film even once and the noms the guerre of the participants in the operation were changed.
