Cornelius Rost

Cornelius Rost

Cornelius Rost (1922–1983, Munich[1]) was a German World War II soldier who became known for having escaped a Soviet Gulag camp in Siberia. His experiences were the basis for a book, a TV series, and a movie.

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Biography

In 1955, German author Josef Martin Bauer published So weit die Füße tragen (English: As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me), a novel about a character called Clemens Forell, based in part on Rost. The novel was a major success in Germany, and led to many former World War II prisoners of war talking about and publicizing their own experiences.[2][3] Journalists later tracked down Rost, who at the time was living in Berlin but never wanted his identity to become known due to his fear of KGB retribution. In 2010, the four original tapes containing Bauer's interviews with Rost were discovered.[4]

TV version, movie

In 1959 it was made into a television series, starring Heinz Weiss. It was one of German TV's earliest and still biggest productions.[5]

In 2001 it was remade as a film starring Bernhard Bettermann as Forell. Added was a duel between Forell and a Soviet officer chasing him, ending in a showdown on a bridge at the Soviet-Iranian border. Many scenes feature characters speaking Russian or other foreign languages (see Shamanistic cultures in Siberia), without any subtitles, which was intended to give the (German and other non-Russian) viewer the feeling of helplessness experienced by the protagonist with his limited knowledge of Russian.

This film is now available online at Netflix with English Subtitles.

See also

References

External links