Three Poles have completed a six-month expedition following the historical trail of Polish prisoners that escaped a Soviet labour camp during World War II.

The long walk was completed by Tomasz Grzywaczewski, Bartosz Malinowski, and Filip Drożdż who aim to raise young people’s awareness about Polish history and to restore the memory of the heroic escape.

"We have an example of people who attempted to traverse some of the most hostile environments of our planet in the name of freedom and they succeeded. They achieved something almost impossible. They crossed over 7,000 kilometers on foot so as not to die a prisoner at a gulag but to be free,” Tomasz Grzywaczewski toild Polish Radio.

The three trekkers crossed Russia, Mongolia, China and Tibet, and have been welcomed with a special ceremony by the Polish Honorary Consulate in Kolkata.

Having fled from a camp in Yakutia in Siberia, the WW II Polish escapees, headed by commodore Witold Gliński, traversed several thousand kilometers and finally managed to reach India.  (ab)

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