The seat of the VoIuntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service has been
Iocated at the foot of the PoIish Tatra Mountains for fifty years.
The Register of Rescue Expeditions
The thick book chronicIes aII expeditions
of the Rescue Service, from the first one tiII the present.
Our fiIm teIIs the story of the most difficuIt of them.
THE MEN OF THE BLUE CROSS
Script:
based on the short story by
Music: Sound:
Narration: Voice-over:
Editor: Assistant Director:
With:
Camera Assistant:
Sound Assistant:
Gaffer:
Make-up artist:
Lab Processing:
Production Manager:
Cinematography:
Directed by:
"The history of the expedition is true.
Minor changes incorporated in the story by the fiIm authors
have not significantIy aItered its course and sense."
Among the characters appearing in the fiIm are the reaI heroes
of the feat. The fiIm authors wish to dedicate the fiIm to them -
the mountain partisans of the days of war and the voIuntary Tatra
mountain rescue team, the men of the BIue Cross.
It was in February 1945.
The residents of the PodhaIe area enjoyed
the first days of freedom.
It was, however, uncertain. SizabIe numbers of German troops
heId out braveIy severaI kiIometres away, in SIovakia.
SmaII irreguIar patroIs of Soviet troops were stationed in Zakopane.
It was then when SIovak physician, doctor Juraj made it to Zakopane.
Where is a Russian commander?
Misha, Misha, Misha. It"s KoIa. It"s KoIa caIIing.
Can you hear me? Over.
It"s Misha, comrade commander.
Tomorrow, you wiII Iet a PoIish rescue team pass through 2735.
The password 7232 wiII be given
by doctor Juraj.
On the request of doctor Juraj, the most senior mountaineers -
Tatra rescuers were sent for.
Heavlly wounded partlsans
are ln a fleld hospltal at the heart of the mountalns,
on the German-controlled slde.
They must be rescued now or wlll dle elther at the hands of Germans
or dle of wounds. They must be rescued.
The oIdest and most experienced rescuer was Stanisław of Las.
His opinion was cruciaI.
Boys, we must go there.
To my hospitaI.
And do you reaIize what kind of hospitaI this is?
Do you know who the wounded are?
Jan HoIesza is on guard. A SIovak partisan.
He was ordered to stand guard after his unit had Ieft.
He is the onIy one to keep guard. And he does. Day and night.
Others don"t Ieave the cabin at aII.
Repiszczak, a heavy gunshot wound, he cannot bend his Ieg...
Maxim OIeynikov, a Russian paratrooper. The Iiaison officer...
Grade III frostbite, both Iegs.
Bozenka, my foster daughter.
She"s our nurse.
And Sedyakov... Tikhon. He is aIso a Russian.
He"d been a partisan fighter for three years. Shot in the Iung.
He"d been spitting up bIood for a month.
...in Iate December HoIesza was on guard, as usuaI.
The Germans appeared to be instaIIing themseIves in the vaIIey
for good. They were setting up an outpost on the opposite mountainside.
From that day on we were cut off from the outside worId.
We couId Iight a fire onIy at night.
We might have been spotted by a patroI any time.
We were heIpIess -
aII we couId do was to wait for heIp.
Just wait...
That"s how Christmas found us...
We threw - somehow or other - a partisan Christmas party.
The condition of Maxim is worrying me more and more.
For some time I had feared whether gangrene wouId set in.
He wouId have to be operated on and have his toes amputated.
Hushhh!
CIose the door.
It"s coId.
On that day I made up my mind.
Amputating the toes was a Iast resort for him.
The onIy remedy Ieft
was iodine...
WeII, Maxim.
I am ready.
Let"s go, boys. We wiII set off at dawn.
Stanisław Byrcyn had waIked in the mountains for fifty years,
but was getting ready for such an expedition for the first time...
- Is that you, Dad? - SIeep my sweetie. SIeep.
Go to kenneI!
The BIue Cross on his armband is the symboI of the Rescue Service.
It is the rescuer"s badge.
Byrcyn has spent 50 years in the Service.
Go to kenneI, Bass. Go home.
Go to your kenneI. Go to your kenneI! To kenneI, Bass!
Go to your kenneI.
Go home! Son of a bitch.
Go to your kenneI, Bass!
- Good morning. - WeIcome!
Join us, uncIe! Sit down with us, uncIe.
The chronicIe of the Tatra Mountain Rescue Service contains
the expedition report, dated January 1945, which goes Iike this:
... We rode in sIeigh for the first part of the journey.
We took three toboggans,
ten pairs of skis and rescue gear for us and the wounded.
Doctor Juraj, joined by oId Jozek and Tadek,
the winter cIimb expert, were riding in the first sIeigh.
Stanisław of Las, Staszek Marusarz and Romek were riding in the other...
Bass, come here! Come here, Bass.
That"s where the path Ieads... To SIovakia.
Across two mountain ranges - and one front Iine.
From here we had to go on foot or ski, somehow or other.
The route was marked out by Juraj and Jozek, who Ied the expedition.
He was the onIy one to take us through the area.
The road we were supposed to take was difficuIt even in times of peace.
It Ied through avaIanche-prone mountainsides,
and in January there were heavy snowfaIIs...
now, any step we made brought us on the edge of war.
When at around midday the skies cIeared,
we went through the first range.
Now we were facing the toughest and and most dangerous mountainsides.
At 12:30 pm we reached the LifeIess GuIIey...
Come, Bass. HeeI! Come! HeeI! Bass, come here, Bass.
Come here, Bass. Come
Come. HeeI! Come here, now.
Come. Come, Bass.
HeeI! Come here! HeeI.
An avaIaaanche!
... We were extremeIy Iucky...
The front of the avaIanche went past -
we were onIy caught by its fIank.
Bass, a good dog. Good doggie.
Bass, good doggie.
Good doggie.
Bass, Bass, come here.
Stop!
Stop! Your password!
"A raiIway station."
We met the Iast Soviet patroI in the area at 5 pm at the peak
of the other range.
It was necessary to change the route
to avoid the friendIy fire of a machine gun.
The vaIIey was within range of gunfire of Russian patroIs...
On the other side, the Germans were patroIIing the area unhindered...
At the bottom of the vaIIey there was a footbridge...
kind of a frontier...
Behind it there was the Iand controIIed by the Nazis.
The road ahead Ied through the woods - aIong the steep mountainside.
Staszek found it especiaIIy hard -
he was 60... but joined the expedition.
We had to Ieave the skis here.
And we were forced to Ieave Bass either;
he might have barked at the Germans.
We wanted to Ieave no footprints on busy traiIs
so we chose to go aIong totaIIy roadIess tracts.
It was better than meeting a Nazi patroI.
Ferrying the wounded aIong the road was out of the question...
Tirednes impinged.
We were on the road for 1 4 hours...
When aII of us reached the destination at Iast,
Jozek couId not count up.
Tadek - present...
Romek - present...
Byrcyn - ...
Yurai...
Wawrytko... Jozek...
Marusarz...
Stasek...
Yes, Staszek Iagged behind.
Tadeusz went to search him.
Two of us Ieft.
But we couId not wait...
HeeeIp! HeeeIp!
HeeeIp!
Bass. Bass.
Stasek. Stasek.
We were not far from the cabin.
We were ascending the steep mountainside
to be as far from the German outpost as possibIe.
It was around midnight.
Stop!
That"s me, Bernard.
Bernard.
Doctor.
WeIcome!
In the cabin we had a few hours of rest tiII dawn.
Bozena was making barIey for supper -
the Iast suppIy
of barIey meticuIousIy rationed for so many days.
Repiszczak"s spoons came in handy at Iast...
Tikhon had been smoking a pipe fiIIed with moss for many weeks...
We set off on a return trip at the crack of dawn.
Now the ascent appeared to be so easy.
Maxim was riding on one toboggan. Tikhon was riding on the other...
A spare one was for Repiszczak, who was hobbIing aIong.
We put out the remnants of the campfire in the "hospitaI."
That"s a German cabin...
and that"s the onIy path for toboggans...
After a three-hour cIimb we entered a cIearing.
The German outpost in the vaIIey was three hours behind.
We couId waIk more safeIy.
We took an easier and shorter route back. OnIy that...
from this pIace the whoIe stretches of terrain were entireIy exposed -
visibIe from kiIometres around.
Look!
Give me the sub-machine gun, give doctor a hand!
We were at the bottom of the vaIIey. Our finaI cIimb started from here.
A cIear traiI Ied through the footbridge;
good for the toboggans.
We had to stop the Germans at the footbridge
or none of us wouId stay aIive.
The next two Ieft - Byrcyn and HoIesza...
So that others couId go on...
At Iast we reached the pIace where we"d Ieft the skis the previous day.
Stasek!
The Germans fired a fIare to caII patroIs. It showed a direction.
HoIesza.
Byrcyn.
- HoIeszaaaaaa!
- Byrcok! Byrcok!
And that"s the end of our true story
about the IittIe episode at the cIose of the great war.
Most of these peopIe neither wore uniforms
nor were mentioned in dispatches.
OnIy their names and this story
were written in the chronicIe of the BIue Cross
with an ordinary pen on the paper that has aIready turned yeIIow.
THE END