THE MAN WHO STAYED BEHIND

by Jacek Król

a true story of an unbreakable bond between a man and a dog

Warsaw, 1944. After 5 years of brutal German occupation the Poles launch a doomed uprising. Poorly armed young resistance fighters rise against a military that conquered Europe. For 63 days they fight and die heroically, but the uprising falls. Some 250,000 civilians are killed, most of the city lies in ruin. It is not enough for Hitler. The Fuhrer orders Warsaw must be razed to the ground, not a stone must be left unturned. The surviving citizens are ordered to evacuate the city. Hundreds of thousands walk out of the ruble with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Some are accompanied by their pets. The Germans do not permit dogs to leave the city, throw the animals into huge pits. The frightened animals whimper as they watch their human families disappear into the unknown...

Meanwhile special destruction units are setting explosives and firing flamethrowers to those buildings that miraculously survived the relentless bombardment of the past two months. Not a living organism is supposed to remain in the city once dubbed 'The Paris of the East'. And yet...

One man stays behind because he will not abandon his trusted and trusting friend - a dog. Soon he is looking after a growing pack of animals. Together they are moving daily, hour by hour, from one remaining basement or a ruin to another. On their heels are teams of murderers in SS uniforms, destroying the city block by block, building by building...