The Way Back

This movie was inspired by the memoir of Slavomir Rawicz depicting his escape from a Siberian gulag and subsequent four thousand-mile walk to freedom in India. Incredibly popular, it sold over five hundred thousand copies, and is credited with inspiring many explorers. However, in 2006, the BBC unearthed records (including some written by Rawicz) that showed he had been released by the U.S.S.R. in 1942. In 2009, another former Polish soldier, Witold Glinski, claimed that the book was really an account of his own escape. However, this claim too has been seriously challenged.

Janusz demonstrates a method using shadows of a stick and rock to find the compass direction of south. Yet, many of the scenes show them walking in a direction inconsistent with sun angles i.e. sun at their backs, which would have them walking north.

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 7 December 2010 (2010)