"The seat of the voluntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service has been" "located at the foot of the polish Tatra Mountains for fifty years." "The Register of Rescue Expeditions" "The thick book chronicles all expeditions of the Rescue Service, from the first one till the present." "Our film tells the story of the most difficult 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 film authors have not significantly altered its course and sense."" "Among the characters appearing in the film are the real heroes of the feat." "The film authors wish to dedicate the film to them - the mountain partisans of the days of war and the voluntary Tatra mountain rescue team, the men of the blue Cross." "It was in February 1945." "The residents of the PodhaIe area enjoyed the first days of freedom." "It was, however, uncertain." "sizable numbers of German troops held out bravely several kilometres away, in slovakia." "small irregular patrols 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 calling." "Can you hear me?" "Over." "It"s Misha, comrade commander." "Tomorrow, you will let a polish rescue team pass through 2735." "The password 7232 will be given" "by doctor Juraj." "On the request of doctor Juraj, the most senior mountaineers " "Tatra rescuers were sent for." "Heavlly wounded partisans are ln a field hospital at the heart of the mountains, on the German-controlled side." "They must be rescued now or will die either at the hands of Germans or die of wounds." "They must be rescued." "The oldest and most experienced rescuer was Stanisław of Las." "His opinion was crucial." "Boys, we must go there." "Boys, we must go there." "To my hospital." "And do you realize what kind of hospital 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 left." "He is the only one to keep guard." "And he does." "Day and night." "Others don"t leave the cabin at all." "Repiszczak, a heavy gunshot wound, he cannot bend his leg..." "Maxim OIeynikov, a Russian paratrooper." "The liaison officer..." "Grade III frostbite, both legs." "Bozenka, my foster daughter." "She"s our nurse." "And Sedyakov..." "Tikhon." "He is also a Russian." "He"d been a partisan fighter for three years." "Shot in the lung." "He"d been spitting up blood for a month." "...in late December HoIesza was on guard, as usual." "The Germans appeared to be installing themselves in the valley for good." "They were setting up an outpost on the opposite mountainside." "From that day on we were cut off from the outside world." "We could light a fire only at night." "We might have been spotted by a patrol any time." "We were helpless - all we could do was to wait for help." "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 would set in." "He would have to be operated on and have his toes amputated." "Hushhh!" "close the door." "It"s cold." "On that day I made up my mind." "Amputating the toes was a last resort for him." "The only remedy left was iodine..." "well, Maxim." "I am ready." "Let"s go, boys." "We will set off at dawn." "Stanisław Byrcyn had walked in the mountains for fifty years, but was getting ready for such an expedition for the first time..." " Is that you, Dad?" " sleep my sweetie." "sleep." "Go to kennel!" "The blue Cross on his armband is the symbol of the Rescue Service." "It is the rescuer"s badge." "Byrcyn has spent 50 years in the Service." "Go to kennel, Bass." "Go home." "Go to your kennel." "Go to your kennel!" "To kennel, Bass!" "Go to your kennel." "Go home!" "Son of a bitch." "Go to your kennel, Bass!" " Good morning." " welcome!" "Join us, uncle!" "Sit down with us, uncle." "The chronicle of the Tatra Mountain Rescue Service contains the expedition report, dated January 1945, which goes like this:" "... We rode in sleigh 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 old Jozek and Tadek, the winter climb expert, were riding in the first sleigh." "Stanisław of Las, Staszek Marusarz and Romek were riding in the other..." "Bass, come here!" "Come here, Bass." "Come here, Bass." "That"s where the path leads..." "To SIovakia." "Across two mountain ranges - and one front line." "From here we had to go on foot or ski, somehow or other." "The route was marked out by Juraj and Jozek, who led the expedition." "He was the only one to take us through the area." "The road we were supposed to take was difficult even in times of peace." "It led through avaIanche-prone mountainsides, and in January there were heavy snowfalls... now, any step we made brought us on the edge of war." "When at around midday the skies cleared, we went through the first range." "Now we were facing the toughest and and most dangerous mountainsides." "At 12:30 pm we reached the lifeless GuIIey..." "Come, Bass." "heel!" "Come!" "heel!" "Bass, come here, Bass." "Come here, Bass." "Come" "Come." "heel!" "Come here, now." "Come." "Come, Bass." "heel!" "Come here!" "heel." "An avaIaaanche!" "... We were extremely lucky..." "The front of the avalanche went past - we were only caught by its flank." "Bass, a good dog." "Good doggie." "Bass, good doggie." "Good doggie." "Bass, Bass, come here." "Stop!" "Stop!" "Your password!" ""A railway station."" "We met the Iast Soviet patrol in the area at 5 pm at the peak of the other range." "It was necessary to change the route to avoid the friendly fire of a machine gun." "The valley was within range of gunfire of Russian patrols..." "On the other side, the Germans were patrolling the area unhindered..." "At the bottom of the valley there was a footbridge... kind of a frontier..." "Behind it there was the land controlled by the Nazis." "The road ahead led through the woods - along the steep mountainside." "Staszek found it especially hard - he was 60... but joined the expedition." "We had to leave the skis here." "And we were forced to leave Bass either;" "he might have barked at the Germans." "We wanted to leave no footprints on busy trails so we chose to go along totally roadless tracts." "It was better than meeting a Nazi patrol." "Ferrying the wounded along the road was out of the question..." "Tirednes impinged." "We were on the road for 1 4 hours..." "When all of us reached the destination at last," "Jozek could 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 left." "But we could not wait..." "HeeeIp!" "HeeeIp!" "HeeeIp!" "HeeeIp!" "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 possible." "It was around midnight." "Stop!" "That"s me, Bernard." "Bernard." "Doctor." "welcome!" "In the cabin we had a few hours of rest till dawn." "Bozena was making barley for supper - the Iast supply of barley meticulously rationed for so many days." "Repiszczak"s spoons came in handy at last..." "Tikhon had been smoking a pipe filled 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 hobbling along." "We put out the remnants of the campfire in the "hospital."" "That"s a German cabin... and that"s the only path for toboggans..." "After a three-hour climb we entered a clearing." "The German outpost in the valley was three hours behind." "We could walk more safely." "We took an easier and shorter route back." "only that... from this place the whole stretches of terrain were entirely exposed - visible from kilometres around." "Look!" "Give me the sub-machine gun, give doctor a hand!" "We were at the bottom of the valley." "Our final climb started from here." "A clear trail led through the footbridge;" "good for the toboggans." "We had to stop the Germans at the footbridge or none of us would stay alive." "The next two left - Byrcyn and HoIesza..." "So that others could go on..." "At last we reached the place where we"d left the skis the previous day." "Stasek!" "The Germans fired a flare to call patrols." "It showed a direction." "HoIesza." "Byrcyn." " HoIeszaaaaaa!" " Byrcok!" "Byrcok!" "And that"s the end of our true story about the little episode at the close of the great war." "Most of these people neither wore uniforms nor were mentioned in dispatches." "only their names and this story were written in the chronicle of the blue Cross with an ordinary pen on the paper that has already turned yellow." "THE END"