All language subtitles for The Borderline Hrubieszów Operation 2019 English subtitles.en

<i><b>Narrated by</b>
Andriy Mostrenko, Viktor Lafarovych</i>

<i>Mykhailo Kukuiuk</i>

<i>Kateryna Bilyk
Kateryna Kachan</i>

<i><b>Music by
</b>Oksana Morhunets, Maksym Palamarchuk</i>

<i><b>Editor</b>
Roman Synchuk</i>

<i><b>Production designer</b>
Olha Havrylova</i>

<i><b>Director of photography
</b>Yevhen Kyrei</i>

<i><b>Producer
</b>Artem Denysov</i>

<i><b>Executive producer
</b>Olena Iakovenko</i>

<i><b>Written by
</b>Taras Lazer</i>

<i><b>Directed by
</b>Olesia Morhunets-Isaienko</i>

[THE MAP OF HRUBIESZÓW]

[THE MAP OF EASTERN EUROPE PRIOR TO 1939]

My poor hapless Ukraine.

All the blood you shed...

All the miseries you suffered
from fighting aggressors and imperialists.

For Christ's sake!
Here we go again!

<i>Kresy Wschodnie</i>, the borderlands,
belongs to Poland.

These are our cities.

Your people had at least 20 years
of decent Polish life.

Decent Polish life?

What about the pacifications?
And the Ukrainian schools you closed?

The churches you destroyed?
The lands you seized from our peasants...

You'd rather have bolsheviks
than the Great Poland, wouldn't you?

We'd rather have a free Ukraine,
an equal among equals.

You were so "great"
our folks were even glad about bolsheviks...

...and happy to reunite
with the rest of the Ukrainians.

We told them the Soviet history.
We talked about the bright creative life...

...about the rights to education,
to work, and to recreation.

About the lands and the woods.
We listened to the reports.

And we voted for the Soviet power.

<i>Unanimously.
Unanimously.</i>

The folks were entranced
with everything we were declaring.

And you got reunited
under a common yoke.

The two parties discussed
in strictly confidential negotiations...

...the matter of their respective
spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.

In case of rearrangement of territories
belonging to the State of Poland...

...the borderline between geopolitical
interests of the respective parties...

lies along the rivers
Narew, Vistula, and San.

The matters of Polish independent state,
its feasibility, and its territory...

...could only be specified in the course
of further political development.

The protocol shall be treated by the parties
as a highly classified information.

Moscow,
August 23, 1939

The German <i>Reichsminister</i> of Foreign Affairs
<i>Joachim von Ribbentrop</i>

The <i>Commissar</i> of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
<i>Vyacheslav Molotov</i>

After Stalin and Hitler made a deal
the German army rushed into Poland.

Two days passed and our allies,
France and England, declared war on Germany.

Stalin watched patiently as the world
put all the blame on the Third Reich...

...and only then he made a strike.

The communists proclaimed
their common excuse...

...for aggression to be
a humanitarian act...

...aimed at defending
local population's interests.

The Soviet government
considers it a sacred duty...

...to give a helping hand to the Ukrainian
and Belorussian brothers living in Poland.

September 17, 1939

Mr. Ambassador!

The Polish-German War has revealed
the internal bankruptcy of the Polish State.

The Soviet Government
cannot be indifferent...

...to the destiny of the kin-blooded
Ukrainians and Belorussians...

...living in Poland
who are left defenseless to their fate.

The Soviet Government will take all measures
to free Polish people...

...from the unfortunate war
it was dragged into by its unwise leaders.

The <i>Commissar</i> of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
<i>Vyacheslav Molotov</i>

Our Commanders in Chief
capitulated on September 28.

The Polish government retained authority,
but was in exile in London.

We began to merge our troops
to form an underground army.

On September 27, before the final defeat...

...we established
the Service for Poland's Victory.

On November 13, it was reorganized
into Union of Armed Struggle.

The latter became the core power
for the future guerilla Home Army (<i>AK</i>).

The German and Russian friends initiated
a gracious exchange of territories...

...constantly modifying
the Ukrainian-Polish borderline.

Although our leaders foresaw
Hitler's attack against the USSR...

...they proceeded with their naive hopes
to reestablish the Ukrainian National State.

So we began to rise up in arms.

<i>Führer</i> and Commander-in-Chief
December 18, 1940

Top secret!
For chief officers only

Directive No. 21
Operation <i>Barbarossa</i>

The German Armed Forces must be prepared
to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign.

The mass of the Western Russian Army
is to be destroyed in daring operations.

The Army Group is to make its main strike
from the Lublin area towards Kyiv.

The preparations and progress
are to be reported through the High Command.

<i>Adolf Hitler</i>.

By the time the German troops advanced
on the Soviet territories...

...our government <i>OUN</i> –
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...

...had already split into two factions.

One was led by the official Chief of staff
<i>Andiy Melnyk</i>.

He considered gaining independence
would be easier with Germans' support.

The other was controlled by<i> Stepan Bandera
</i>who strongly refused to obey Hitler.

The Polish Union of Armed Struggle
launched the anti-German activities.

We obeyed the orders of the London-based
high command chaired by <i>Władysław Sikorski</i>.

Our leaders were misfortunate enough
to trust Russians to become their allies.

The allies of Stalin, a person who,
together with Hitler...

...destroyed our state just two years ago.

When German troops were entering
the Galicia and Volhynia regions...

...the Nazi authorities promised to support
an independent Ukrainian state.

Thus, on June 30, 1941, in Lviv
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...

...declared the Act of Restoration
of the Ukrainian State.

Impressing.

Later we came to comprehend
we were merely pawns in Hitler's big game.

The Fritzes did everything to make
Bandera and other Ukrainian leaders...

...defy the idea of independence.

Nevertheless, we stood our ground.

And your Nazi "friends"
granted you their pardon?

And the <i>SS</i> secret service initiated
the persecutions and repressions against us.

Chief of the Security Police and the<i> SD
</i>Berlin, July 3, 1941

The <i>Einsatzgruppe B</i> reports.

On the 2 and 3 of July, 1941,
the Bandera-led Ukrainians...

...informed German authorities...

...of the proclamation
of the Ukrainian Republic...

...and the establishment
of independent police as a fait accompli.

Since July 2, 1941,
the following measures were taken:

The Ukrainian political leaders
in the <i>General Government</i>...

...including <i>Stepan Bandera</i>,
were put under the house arrest.

The leaders of the Ukrainian
emigrant organizations...

...are warned about graver consequences
in case of disobedience.

Thus, our alliance with Hitler
never happened.

The Nazis arrested Stepan Bandera...

...and kept him
in the concentration camp until 1944.

Not only did the Germans trick us
about the independence...

...they encouraged further inner split.

They annexed Galicia region
to the Polish <i>General Government</i>...

...while Volhynia
and the rest of the territories...

...were integrated
into <i>Reichskommissariat Ukraine</i>.

The communists fled
leaving a scorched earth behind.

The German police cleared the prisons
out of the Ukrainians tortured by <i>NKVD</i>...

...just to incarcerate the new ones.

The Nazis made the Ukrainians
and the Poles hate each other even more.

The more chaos and aggression there was,
the easier it was to rule.

First, it was the Germans
who benefited from our clashes.

Later, it was the Russians.

In Chełm region, the Nazis oppressed
the Poles and patronized the Ukrainians.

Our folks were kicked out of their homes
just to give those to your people.

In Volhynia it was the same
just the other way around.

The invaders' plan was a success.

The relations between our people
were totally ruined.

In 1942, Polish underground
lacked unity as well.

The People's Army looked up to the USSR.

There were also the Farmers' Battalions.

The National Armed Forces
would even collaborate with the Nazis.

In February 1942 we formed
the guerrilla <i>Home Army </i>(<i>AK</i>).

We took orders from the legitimate
Polish government in London.

Meanwhile we started to build up
our own military force.

We were up to fight for our freedom
against German and Russian imperialists.

We continued attacking
the German invaders...

...and the Ukrainians
they kept by their side.

Our peasants in Volhynia
decided to take revenge on the Poles.

Sadly, some of our military commanders
decided to join the anti-Polish assaults.

Some commanders?!

There were no orders to kill the Poles.

On the contrary, the High Command
ordered to stop persecutions.

- Ordered what?
- Yes, the Third Assembly…

So nothing happened
and your thugs didn't torture our people?

And you didn't kill us
as the <i>SS</i> instructors taught you?

We sent our officers to Volhynia
to stop the anti-Polish attacks.

Oh really?!

What about all the peasants
you massacred in Lipniki, Janowa Dolina...

...Poryck, Dominopol, Zamlicze,
Chrenów, Orzeszyn, Gurów…

Those were individual actions
that compromised our movement.

Huta Stepańska, Ostrów,
Wiśniowiec, Pańska Dolina…

Our only goal has always been
a free Ukraine.

Give it a break!
Wola Ostrowiecka, Kuty…

So you must be saint!

What did you do in Chełm region?
Peresołowice, Krasnyi Sad, Mołożów...

- Tulychiv, Sahryn, Berest, Pawłokoma...
- Berezowica Mała, Hanaczów, Ostrówki…

General instruction #17C

The Zamość county in the <i>General Government
</i>is declared the first settlement area.

The zone 11/10/1 shall be a safe new home...

...for the endangered ethnic <i>Volksdeutsche</i>
from the occupied Eastern territories...

...for the <i>Volksdeutsche</i> and the Germans
from other parts of the General Government.

The city of Zamość and the adjacent areas
are to be populated with the Germans...

...by the summer of 1943.

The relocation of the Poles to be performed
by my representative.

<i>Reichsführer-SS</i>, Chief of German Police,
<i>Reichskommissar Heinrich Himmler</i>.

November 12, 1942

Thousands of Poles had been tormented
in the concentration and death camps.

We were exterminated to make room
for racially sophisticated Germans.

The Germans settled the Ukrainians
around these new settlements.

So your attacks would only harm us.

We fought against the German invaders
just as you did.

And we tried to make peace with you.

Nevertheless, your government in London
remained unbending.

Yes… <i>Kresy Wschodnie</i> is a Polish territory.

The alliance with Stalin is important.

Avoid association with the <i>UPA</i>.

- Seems like Katyn was your eye-opener.
- It was.

In 1943 Stalin's order to exterminate
20000 Polish officers acquired publicity.

Therefore the relations
between Poland and the USSR were cut off.

Three months later the plane
with your prime-minister on board crashed.

Just after the take-off.
What a coincidence!

Anyway, it practically changed nothing
in our relations.

[STATE ANTHEM OF THE SOVIET UNION]

The Soviet army was rapidly
advancing westward.

It would reach the borderline in no time.

Still the neighbors wouldn't grasp
our basic principle...

"Freedom for every nation!
Freedom for every person!"

Our Polish friends rather than accepting
and realizing our appeal…

But we did realize it.
When the <i>Red Army</i> crossed our border—

Our border.

—the pre-war Polish border...

...we initiated
the active phase of the "Burza" plan.

Our leaders started to suspect...

...that Stalin had already closed
the matter of the <i>Kresy Wschodnie</i>.

But we were not going to give up.

Our partisans wanted to regain control
over the Lesser Eastern Poland—

Western Ukraine!

—to demonstrate to Stalin
who these lands really belong to.

We fought against
the German and the Russian chauvinists...

...and you forced us
to fight against you as well.

Nobody forced you.

You could have simply accepted
the pre-war borders.

Here we go again!

If Lviv had been ours again,
everything would have fallen into place.

So Lviv becomes yours, and what's ours?
The Lviv prison?

- The amnesty…
- For what?

For struggling for our people's freedom?

And was it worth it?

We'd rather have died
than end up under the yoke again.

After spilling all that blood.

Well, you got what you wanted.
What does our blood have to do with it?

The legitimate Polish administration
the State National Council...

...and its Head, the leader of a friendly
Polish Workers' Party <i>Bołeslaw Bierut</i>...

...have set a provisional government, <i>PKWN -</i>
the Polish Committee of National Liberation.

<i>Edward Osóbka-Morawski</i> has been appointed...

...head of the government
and chief of foreign affairs office.

July 21, 1944

Stalin entered Lublin,
legitimized his puppet regime...

...and declared your exile government
together with you to be frauds.

That's it, he's got his marionette
Polish People's Republic.

The State National Council's decree...

...establishes a provisional government,
the Committee of National Liberation.

And instead of giving them hell,
you kept hunting down the Ukrainians.

We made Ukrainians flee.
Soon we realized how this backfired at us.

It was a horrible mistake.

The Volhynia Poles were afraid of our troops
and were trying to escape.

The Chełm land Ukrainians were afraid of you
and were trying to escape.

The military clashes between <i>UPA</i> and <i>AK</i>
kept hurting our long-suffering people.

Whereas Moscow freely played its game...

...using the Lublin and Kyiv
puppet governments.

Your London-based ministers kept asserting
the rights to the pre-war borders.

Regardless of us, or common sense.

They should have been thinking of the way
to save the Polish state.

<i>PKWN</i> though had no claims
to our pre-war territories—

For God's sake…

—but systematically followed
every single Stalin's order.

And Stalin didn't need to invent anything.

He went for his favorite method
of dealing with "inconvenient people"...

...forced deportation.

[THE UKRAINIAN-POLISH BORDERLAND]

In 1944 the communists started
a mutual mass relocations of both...

...Poles from the so-called Ukrainian SSR,
and Ukrainians from Poland.

The strategy was clear.

They wanted to draw the borderline
between our nations...

...to weaken the <i>UPA</i> forces,
to annex Western Ukraine once and for good.

The Treaty on the evacuation
of Ukrainian population from Poland...

...and Polish citizens
from the Ukrainian SSR.

Signed by the government
of the Ukrainian SSR...

...and the Polish Committee
of National Liberation.

The Parties agree to initiate
the evacuation of the individuals...

...identified as Ukrainians, Belarussians,
Russians, and Rusyns...

...residing in Chełm, Hrubieszów
and other Polish counties and regions...

...as well as the Poles and the Jews
of the Western Ukrainian SSR regions.

The evacuation is voluntary.

Neither direct nor indirect
coercion is acceptable.

The treaty comes into force
on the day of signing.

The chairman of the <i>PKWN
Edward Osóbka-Morawski</i>

The chairman of the Ukrainian SSR
Council of People's Commissars...

<i>Nikita Khrushchev</i>
September 9, 1944

This piece of paper was to demonstrate
<i>PKWN</i>'s legitimacy to the world.

Poland was entirely set
under Stalin's control.

The government in exile lost its authority.

Nearly 5000 families left Poland
during the first evacuation wave.

Partly, on a voluntary basis
since some people were running away...

...from the Polish gangs
who were burning down the villages.

The Poles also moved to Poland
running away from the <i>UPA</i>.

By mid-1945 more than 200 thousand people
had been put into trains...

...and dragged out of Poland
far deep into the USSR territories.

Though, this number constituted
less than a half of the communists' plan.

The <i>UPA</i> forces weakened
as less Ukrainians remained in Poland.

First, we thought it was a good sign.

Later, we realized our only ally in struggle
against communists could be Ukrainians.

The Moscow-controlled Polish government
was also aware of this fact.

Thus, the official statements ensued:

"The Ukrainians in the border areas
pose a threat to national security"

Ukrainians didn't feel like
leaving their homes anymore.

We didn't want to go
to the prison of the nations.

Thus, on August 22, 1945, the Polish leaders
endorsed their final decision:

"Ukrainian people have got
14 days to relocate...

...otherwise those who choose to stay
would be forcefully deported"

It was not a matter of choice anymore.

The Polish-Kremlin government moved
from Lublin to Warsaw.

It felt free to engage military units
to deport the Ukrainians.

We were not going to stay away though...

...as our intellectuals, teachers,
artists, scientists, and peasants...

...were forced to leave all the possessions
to get transferred to the USSR.

We had to grow wiser,
come to terms with each other...

...and fight together
against the common enemy.

Finally, you realized
what stood behind the communists.

The new Poland is celebrating
its joyful Labor Day.

These are yesterday's landless farmhands,
the unemployed...

...half-slaves of their German landlords.

And the free people
of a democratic country for now.

<i>Poles! Today we are being deported!
Tomorrow they will come for you!</i>

We decided to join
the <i>AK</i> and the <i>UPA</i> forces.

Polish communist authorities were alarmed
to see our united resistance...

...and the growing number of Poles
opposing the deportation.

In 1944 the <i>UPA</i> colonel "<i>Sheyk</i>" was released
from the <i>Sachsenhausen</i> concentration camp.

He passed the orders
from the imprisoned <i>OUN</i> leaders...

...Bandera, Lebid, and Stetsko
to stop anti-Polish activities.

When the Germans arrested Bandera in 1941
he told the <i>OUN</i> members...

...that the only ally
the Ukrainians can count on is Poland.

A year later the initial negotiations
between our movements occurred.

The new instructions clearly stated:

"Express positive attitude towards the Poles
and other nations enslaved by Stalin.

Prepare all the nations,
including the Poles...

...to fight for our common goals
against the Kremlin.

Strike Bolshevik lapdogs
regardless of their nationality.

Our perseverance, our energy, our spirit
is core to our victory, or defeat"

The actual negotiations though
commenced in 1945...

...when you were sent to Chełm region
to prepare the ground for meeting.

And we did prepare it.

The Polish-Ukrainian underground meeting
took place near Ruda Różaniecka village.

I personally led the delegation
to show how serious our intentions were.

Yet, all of us exchanged
distrustful glances...

...our eyes still looking
at the yesterday's enemies.

Our delegates though, as well as yours,
were extremely determined and responsible.

To tell the truth,
I was really glad and impressed.

I didn't expect to meet
such a high-level Ukrainian delegation.

We agreed first to restore peace
in the border lands.

Second, to prevent provocative acts...

...of the Russian-controlled police,
<i>NKVD</i> and <i>Urzęd Bezpieczeństwa</i> (<i>UB</i>).

Finally, to stand together in the fight
against the Moscow-Bolshevik imperialism.

We announced
that <i>OUN</i>'s policy remains the same...

...our goal is to build a democratic
England-like state.

The question of Polish-Ukrainian border
must be currently suspended.

I guaranteed I would inform
our London-based government...

...about the proposals of Ukrainian party.

They didn't approve of your actions
and kept procrastinating.

The government in exile, as always,
was short-sighted.

The fact was the agreement put an end
to Polish-Ukrainian bloodshed.

No more military clashes.

The Ukrainians could go
to the Polish villages again.

The Poles would help us with food,
information, and documents.

If we needed to go in a Ukrainian village
we would inform the <i>UPA</i>.

They sent a guide
so we could pass without trouble.

The Ukrainian-Polish senseless war
that had been going on for 2 years...

...ended at this table.

We put the borders issue aside
and focused on the survival of our people.

We initiated joint actions.

Together we freed Variazh and Khorobriv
from the communist agents.

We attacked an important railway station
in Verbkovice.

We provided each other with medicine,
propaganda, and even stationery.

The stable peace and the joint actions
weakened the communist's positions...

...and sabotaged the deportation.

Report as of May 28, 1945

The political situation in Poland...

...is defined by the growing
counter-revolutionary activity...

...of the Polish reactionary nationalists
and the Ukrainian-German nationalists.

The <i>AK</i> and the <i>OUN-UPA</i> have initiated their
own armed forces preparing to revolt...

...against the Soviet authorities
and the provisionary Polish government.

Polish authorities make no efforts
in quelling the <i>AK</i> actions...

...while, in some cases, supporting them.

The <i>OUN-UPA</i> has significantly grown
in number.

Their gangs have overthrown the authorities,
proclaimed independence...

...raised the <i>OUN</i> flags,
and established the police...

...in 4 districts
of the Przemyśl and Lesko counties.

Decisive actions need to be taken...

...to avoid further complications
on Polish territories.

Chief of the <i>NKVD</i> Frontier Force
in the Ukrainian region

Lieutenant-general <i>Burmak</i>

On September 2, 1945, we founded...

...an anti-communist organization
"Freedom and Independence" (<i>WiN</i>).

It was led by the former warriors
of the Home Army.

On September 9, colonel Orest ordered
to attack the deportation commissions...

...and the <i>NKVD</i>-controlled
Polish Armed Forces.

The communists couldn't handle both
our insurgency, and deportation.

There were too many Ukrainians
on Polish territories...

...while the internal Polish sabotage
seized relocations.

Moscow would not waste any time though.

Stalin reinforced the <i>NKVD</i> forces in Poland.

On January 1, 1946...

...he appointed <i>Mikhail Romashchenko
</i>as the Evacuation Commissioner.

He was given a clear mandate...

...to transfer a quarter million Ukrainians
in the next 6 months.

The new Moscow protege's methods
were way more atrocious.

The entire villages and towns were plundered
by <i>NKVD</i>-led Polish Army.

Soviet barbarians would stop at nothing.

They ripped children off mothers' arms,
robbed and burned down the houses.

Our folks were packed into the trains
and dragged to the USSR...

...without a chance
of keeping their possessions.

The communists were going at their best
sadistic modus operandi...

...the repressive machine
at its top performance.

The Polish government was trying
to keep up with the party course...

...and started to persecute
the former <i>AK</i> leaders.

And the <i>UPA</i> as well.

The <i>NKVD</i>-controlled Polish police
arrested me in Warsaw on January 21, 1946.

They locked me up in the hole.

After a year of endless tortures,
I was sentenced to death.

Nevertheless, nothing could stop your people
together with ours.

On the night of March 5,
a big gang attacked Lubaczów...

March 9, the bridge connecting
Lubycza Królewska and Rava-Ruska...

...train stations was blown up.

March 10…
March 11…

March 12...

On the night of March, 16,
the gangs attacked Tyniatyn...

April 7,
the enemy blew up 4 railway bridges…

On the night of April 9, Radymno station…

April 12, the <i>AK</i> bandits hijacked our car.

The gang attacked our air-force unit…

April, 13,
we failed to reach and capture the gang…

April 29, we were attacked by the <i>WiN</i> gang
on our way to Chełm.

On the night of May 28...

...the bandits have audaciously attacked
the town of Hrubieszów.

We met the <i>WiN</i> officers
to plan the attack on Hrubieszów.

Our primary targets were
the deportation commission...

...and the quarters
of the 98th <i>NKVD</i> regiment.

The Poles planned
to assault the <i>Urzęd Bezpieczeństwa</i>...

...the Citizens' Militia,
and the Polish Workers' Party.

The <i>WiN</i> soldiers had red-white armbands
for identification purposes.

Our men made the white bands.

I was assigned to lead the troops.

We set off to town at midnight.

Without any difficulties we reached
the front garden of the <i>NKVD</i> building...

...and set our positions.

At 01:30 A.M. I gave the order
to fire the first missile.

The operation commenced.

The shell went through the wall
and detonated.

The brickwork was up in the air,
the smoke was coming out the windows.

The <i>NKVD</i> building was covered
in dust entirely.

Some <i>NKVD</i> soldiers escaped.

Others rushed to the southern side
to counter-attack.

Our crossfire smashed them.

We fired two more missiles.

The premises got entirely unsuitable
for any defense activity.

Enemy casualties: up to 30 killed in action,
the number of missing in action – unknown.

At the first missile sound,
Młot also started the attack.

The <i>WiN</i> guys assaulted the <i>UB</i> premises
and crushed the enemy in no time.

The Poles were outrageous
shooting all the Red personnel inside.

They released the prisoners
and destroyed the interrogation records.

The <i>UB</i> building was completely demolished.

My men broke into the Workers' Party office
and took the paperwork.

A couple of the most active communists
were eliminated.

Another group took over the post office.

The Deportation Commission defense system
was enforced with machine-guns.

The Militia was also fortified.
We failed to breach their defense.

Top secret

On the night of May 27 to 28, 1946,
the town of Hrubieszów was attacked...

...by the joint <i>UPA</i> (commander <i>Prirva</i>)
and <i>WiN</i> (commander <i>Wiktor</i>) forces...

...comprising of 500 men.

The unit staff under the command
of major <i>Sokolov</i> held off the attack.

The <i>UB</i> premises were burnt down
and 40 prisoners were released.

The bandits captured our commandant,
killed two employees...

...burned 7 more houses around the town,
damaged the Workers' Party building.

5 Soviet soldiers were killed
in the result of a 3-hour battle.

The Chief of the 98th <i>NKVD</i> regiment staff
major <i>Sokolov</i> was injured.

Three other soldiers and a nurse
were injured as well.

5 Border Troops soldiers
and 2 <i>UB</i> executives were killed.

9 soldiers of the 9th Infantry Regiment
and their commander were killed in action.

At 03:30 A.M.
the gangs had retreated without casualties.

On May 29, our group
comprising of 517 men...

...carried out a search operation
within the Terebiń-Uhrynów area.

No sign of the gangs discovered.

Captain of the 98th <i>NKVD</i> regiment
3rd battalion <i>Prokopenko</i>

Chief of the Hrubieszów County <i>UB</i>,
<i>Włodzimierz Atłasiuk</i>

Chief of the Lublin Province <i>UB</i>,
<i>Franciszek Piątkowski</i>

The Polish Armed Forces
were stationed near Hrubieszów...

...together with the 5th Infantry regiment.

When the battle began
the scared <i>NKVD</i> soldiers...

...rushed to the infantry
ordering to back the <i>NKVD</i> up.

No one was eager to help them.

Even <i>Wojciech Jaruzelski</i>,
the future Polish President, was there.

He was not a regular soldier.

He was an officer responsible
for the <i>UB-NKVD</i> cooperation.

Yet he refused to offer any back up
facing our guys.

We opened a concentrated machine-gun fire
before retreating.

Our Polish brothers-in-arms moved
towards Sławentyna.

They got on their wagons
and moved to Gliniska village.

We were moving to the Terebin forest
with <i>NKVD</i> on our back.

We pushed 200 meters into the wild
and laid low.

When the <i>NKVD</i> units got closer,
we treated them with heavy fire.

The enemy fled in panic.

Everything worked out,
the joint operation was successful.

The escape route was secured.

And suddenly
the enemy sniper shot me in the chest.

That Soviet bullet nearly took my life away.

Up to this day I am grateful
to the Polish doctors for saving me then.

You did a good job.

You destroyed
the guerrilla interrogation records.

You set our brothers free.
You ruined the <i>NKVD</i> and the <i>UB</i> plans.

We achieved what we had planned to.

Most importantly we made a public claim
about our cooperation and friendship.

I deeply regret
the deaths of a couple of your mates.

I will never forget the Hrubieszów battle.

The <i>UPA</i> and the <i>WiN</i>.

We made a brotherhood of warriors!

What a cooperation!

We could have formed
the entire military departments.

We could have kept on fighting
against the invaders.

Report

Implementation of the September 9, 1944,
Treaty on the evacuation...

...of the Ukrainian population
from the Polish territories.

As of July 5
we have almost completed the evacuation.

Total amount of the evacuated
households 121997...

...with 480806 individuals...

...comprising 96,5% of the overall
Ukrainian population.

We have nearly accomplished
an important historical mission...

...we were called for.

Almost half a million of Ukrainians
were granted a possibility...

...to return to their Homeland.

Our job required an incredible power
and extraordinary abilities.

We have fulfilled the mission
despite a fierce resistance...

...from the Polish reactionary elements
and Ukrainian nationalists.

Ukrainian SSR Evacuation Commissioner,
<i>Mikhail Romashchenko</i>

I support the rewarding requests.

The USSR and the Polish Republic
honorable orders are to be awarded...

...to the Ukrainian SSR Evacuation
Commissioner staff.

August 26, 1946
<i>Nikita Khrushchev</i>

Solidarity! Solidarity!

[POLISH NATIONAL ANTHEM]

<i>Lech Wałęsa</i>… 462 votes in favor.

Independence! Independence!

What else do you need to consult about?

How long one could possibly be consulting?

Please, vote.

Act of Independence of Ukraine.

346 votes in favor.

I invite <i>Mykola Plaviuk</i> to take the floor...

...the President
of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile.

To the attention of all the Ukrainians
of our land and around the world.

We hereby solemnly proclaim the decision
of the 10th Supreme Rada session.

The State government center...

...that has been fulfilling its duties
for 72 years outside Ukraine...

...now officially resigns.

No other Ukrainian President
nor the Government...

...shall ever go into exile again.

God bless you!
Glory to Ukraine!

The Ukrainian-Polish collaboration
seems so natural now.

But 70 years ago I was one of the very few
to implement it.

I took the lead and put the hostilities
between our nations to an end.

There have always been both the Poles,
and the Ukrainians...

...seeking understanding
and collaboration possibilities.

At this point one could only regret...

...for the ones who died on the battlefields
and were tortured in the communist prisons.

For the freedom has always been
our driving force.

Freedom for every person.
Freedom for every nation.

THE BORDERLINE.
HRUBIESZÓW OPERATION.

Gołębiewski...

It was his call...

...to collaborate with the Ukrainians.

Actually, he was the one to organize
and move forward this collaboration.

I trusted him.

I was a friend of his.

<i><b>Directed by
</b>Olesia Morhunets-Isaienko</i>

<i><b>Written by
</b>Taras Lazer</i>

<i><b>Executive producer
</b>Olena Iakovenko</i>

<i><b>Producer
</b>Artem Denysov</i>

<i><b>Director of photography
</b>Yevhen Kyrei</i>

<i><b>Production designer</b>
Olha Havrylova</i>

<i><b>Editor</b>
Roman Synchuk</i>

<i><b>Music by
</b>Oksana Morhunets, Maksym Palamarchuk</i>

<i><b>Sound engineer
</b>Serhiy Avdieiev</i>

<i>Andriy Mostrenko</i> as <i>Yevhen Shtendera</i>

<i>Viktor Lafarovych</i> and <i>Mykhailo Kukuiuk
</i>as <i>Marian Gołębiewski</i>

<i>Kateryna Bilyk</i> and <i>Kateryna Kachan
</i>as <i>the German and Soviet secretary</i>

The song "<i>Sokoly</i>"
written and performed by <i>Mavka</i>