FAQ

The film is loosely based on a memoir titled The Long Walk (1956) credited to Slawomir Rawicz .

Rawicz's account has been seriously challenged. Historical records detailing his imprisonment and release contradict the book's storyline. For example, Polish Army records show that Rawicz left the USSR directly for Iran in 1942, and his arrival in Palestine (not India) is verified by the records. Multiple reviews of the book also argue that the book is a fraud and that many alleged incidents in the book are, in fact, physically impossible. In 2009, another former prisoner, Witold Glinski, claimed that Rawicz's book was about his (Glinski's) escape. Glinski's tale has also been challenged. A fellow Polish emigre, Leszek Gliniecki, claims that in 1940 and 1941 he and Glinski actually were students together in Archangelsk in northwestern Russia. Those interested in this subject are referred to Leszek Gliniecki's "I have solid evidence Glinski didn't do the Long Walk,"). Gliniecki's testimony, the documents that he provides, and his analysis of accounts reported by John Dyson in The Readers Digest and Linda Willis in Looking For Mr. Smith (2010) suggest that Glinski's story is suspect.