The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through the chemistry, presents Brian Donleavy in Odyssey for Freedom. Before we begin our play, here is a timely hint for those who plan to redecorate a room in their home this spring. Speed Easy Wall Finish, one of DuPont's better things for better living, will help you do it the most economical way. Most rooms can be redecorated for less than three dollars. Now Speed Easy covers even figured wallpaper in one quick coat. It thins with water and dries in an hour. Save with Speed Easy. It's Speedy. It's easy to apply. Speed Easy Wall Paint, made by DuPont. Attention, attention. One of the biggest tap of occupied Poland, Big Shipman, Nedvod Kowalski, a steed from concentration camp of Shalassa, Mass. One of the best touch policia of the South right. Big Shipman, Nedvod Kowalski, a steed from Leverkow, and Heberstern. I am Edward Kowalski, Gestapo of Poland, France, and Germany. I am the man that you seek. Kowalski is not my name, but because God willing, my family may still be alive. Somewhere in occupied Europe, I have taken it for my own. You want me caged, but I'm free. You want me dead, but I'm alive. Despite your terror and starvation and torture, I am alive. I live for only one purpose, to come back to the battle. Tonight, I am at a naval training station somewhere in the United States, preparing and waiting to come back, but not alone. I will be one of many strong and armed. We will be the hunters then, and you, the hunted. Tonight, the cavalcade of America brings you, for the first time on the air, the story fabulous in its truth of a man who has fought under the flags of four allied nations. The story of a man who escaped twice from the torture and death of German concentration camps, who escaped not from the war, but to find strength again on the way back to battle. This almost legendary figure, known by the fictitious name Edward Kowalski, is an aviation machinist-mate second class in the Navy of the United States. DuPont presents Odyssey to Freedom, starring Brian Donlevy as Edward Kowalski on the cavalcade of America. Lisbon, Portugal, the last new thrall post to freedom, the last hope of thousands of refugees from terror. It is early evening, two months after Pearl Harbor, a tired, disheveled man walks through the streets, trying to shake off a pursuer. The hunted man hurries off the street and into a sidewalk cafe. He stops uncertainly, then drops into a chair at a table where a lone man sits and speaks to him. Forgive me, sir. You are the American Consul? The waiter pointed you out to me. No, I am the Vice-Consul. Oh. What can I do for you? Well, the consulate is closed, and by morning I may not be alive to speak to you. I'm an American, sir, but if you will allow me to remove my shoe. Three years I've been carrying this with me, sir. My birth paper. Edward Kowalski, born in Chicago. Yes, sir. My family went back to Poland when I was two years old. This certificate would make you twenty-two now. And I look forty, yes, all right. Well, not forty, perhaps. Well, since the war came, I've lost ninety pounds and put on twenty years. Looking at you, I can believe it. But once you're safe in America... I'm not looking for safety, sir. I'll have a chance to get well again, to join with my own, and to get back into the battle. I understand. But we can't talk here. Be at the consulate tomorrow morning. The Chief will want to hear your story. Thank you very much. I'll be there. Oh, what's the matter? There, sir. That man's speaking to the waiter. He's been following me since early this morning. He's the Gestapo's best. Kowalski... Yes, sir. Why are you staying tonight? Oh, I'll find some place. I think all things considered, Mr. Kowalski. You had better come with me. We've cabled America, Mr. Kowalski. They've checked your references. We should have some word within a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, you're under the protection of the United States Consulate. Thank you very much, Mr. Consul. Now, let me see. You were at the Naval College in Krakow when the war broke. Yes. My class was ordered to destroy a fleet. Our ship was sunk at Gidneya. I was in the water for four hours. When I was pulled out, I tried to send my family word that I was saved, but there was no way to get a message through. I have heard nothing of my mother and sister since. I don't even know that they're alive. Well, one used to hope they were among the lucky ones. I got to England in a fishing boat. I was with the Free Poles at Dunkirk. We took thousands off the beaches, and then we landed to help cover the retreat. At first, we were hundreds, then dozens. In the end, we were only six. Some of us whole, some of us wounded. We were left on the beach. For six days, the sun scalded us. We shook with the cold at night. There was little food and no water. Only one thought kept us alive, Switzerland, to get there and return to the fight. At the end of the sixth day, we had bypassed Belfort. The border was only a few hours away. We were moving in single file along a wooded path by the side of the road, and suddenly I heard something. I stopped. I signaled to the others. What's wrong, Kowalski? There's a man with a milk cart coming over the hill, John. Well, let's ask him the way to the border. I don't get a better look at him first, that is. You see enough from here. French peasant going to market. Once we show ourselves, Joseph, we're in his hands. We have to trust somebody. Ask him, Kowalski. None of us can take another night in the woods. All right. If it's what everyone wants, now all of you stay out of sight. I'll ask him. For your pardon, sir, can you tell me the shortest way to the border? The border, monsieur? The Swiss border, yes. Switzerland? Leaving our country, monsieur? Yeah, for my health, sir. Our climate isn't what it used to be. Keep on this road till you reach the stream. There, take the left road. Three kilometers, and you are at the border. Now, you are sure it's the left road? Oh, yes, monsieur. That will take you where you want to go. Well, thank you very much. Not at all, monsieur. What do you say, Kowalski? What do you say? What are we waiting for? Why don't we start? I don't trust his directions. Eh, you don't trust anything or anybody. Well, he wouldn't be the first trader hidden under a farmer's smock. But you don't know he isn't on our side. For six days we've been going south, and we're almost there. His road leads east. Well, south or east, I'm taking that road. You can all stay here and run. I know how much your leg hurts, Joseph. It's my leg and my life. All right, Joseph. We'll go, but we're going together. See, you're a fool, Kowalski, at the bottom of the hill. That's Switzerland. Look, fat cows, just grazing, nobody driving them to Germany. Eh, tonight you could get drunk on milk, that is. But first a bet. And chocolate. That peasant, he sold us. Remember, we're French. Sergeant, search these men for weapons. We have none. So? We have no maps. That's right. And we must change your plans. All trips across the border have been cancelled. You're under arrest. Go on, get in there. All right, all right. That is. Are you all right? Did they question you, too? Yes. I told them I was French. They, they wrote it down. Why can't we be Poles? The scare Poles have no future but the firing squad. As Frenchmen, we have some hope. For you, there's hope in any case. You're an American. That's something no one else must know, that is. Look, if anything happens to me, destroy my birth paper, if you can. The Nazis would have good use for that. I promised that, Kowalski. And that is. Now, we've got to learn to protect ourselves without weapons, with only what each man has inside. Inside? What do you mean? That questioning today was only the beginning. The velvet glove comes off after that bribery, torture, anything, anything that will turn us against each other. They find the weakest and. On your feet. Report your number. Report your number. You with the light hair, 5720. Now you, 4318. There are your tags. What are they for? Put them on. I asked the questions. You're lucky, you Frenchmen, but you don't know it. The Fuhrer has opened his heart to your country. Instead of dying in a concentration camp, as you deserve, you're being allowed to volunteer for a few days. You're lucky, you Frenchmen, but you don't know it. The Fuhrer has opened his heart to your country. Instead of dying in a concentration camp, as you deserve, you're being allowed to volunteer for a labor battalion. You leave for Germany in the morning. Before the sun came up next morning, about 3,000 of us were driven like sheep along the road to Germany. And the shepherds that guarded us were armed with machine guns and rifles and clubs. The first night we slept where they stopped us in the dust of the road. Too worn to reach for the bread they threw at us. The second and third days we slept in the rain and were herded into ditches by night. Men began to drop out. The sick, the weak, the wounded. They were shot where they fell and left in the road. We took turns carrying Joseph. Late the fourth night we were shunted into a hay field. The wind was blowing from the west. The hay was deep and dry and warm. The too quiet night beat with terror. I couldn't sleep. I sat up listening. What's wrong, Kowalski? I don't know. But there's something. Don't you feel it? It's too comfortable for me. I've lost the habit. Listen, Joseph, stop moaning. No, no, no. Eat a sleep. Good. Glad as luck. Listen. What is it? Something's happening. The guards are moving. Keep down. They're surrounding the field. Quick, wake the others. They're setting fire to the hay. Joseph, wake up. Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Joseph, wake up. What is it? Down, all of you. Keep down. Let's get out of here. No, no, keep down. It's a trick, don't you see? They want to shoot us. We're trying to escape. You want to be burned alive? Joseph, don't get down. Get down! Come on! Come on! The hay field was still smoldering when the guards rounded up the survivors and drove them into the road. The searchlights from the trucks were turned on us and a count was made. The burned, the clubbed, and broken. All of us were now less than half of the 3,000 who had started. Of the six of us Poles who had survived Dunkirk, now only four remained. Joseph had been shot. Gladys Law was burned to death. That afternoon we reached a railroad yard. There, each man was given half a loaf of bread and three sardines. We were crowded into cattle cars and the doors were sealed. Five days later, the train stopped for the last time and the doors were opened. The living crawled out of the cars. We were marched to the drill ground of the camp and lined up for inspection by the commandant. Where are you come from? You're at Germany now. If you do your work and behave, there will be no trouble. But any repetition of the kind of thing that happened in the hay field, because some of you set fire to the hay in an attempt to escape. That's a lie! It was your own dog! Take him away. You have been sent here to work for the Sutterite. If any of you have any other ideas, get them out of your head. Our methods of dealing with such men are not pleasant. Why not? Yeah, yeah, come on, guys. Put him to work. You are listening to Brian Dunleavy as Edward Kowalski in Odyssey to Freedom on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Edward Kowalski, born in America, raised in Poland, and now a fugitive from the Gethapo, telling his story to the American consul in Lisbon, Portugal. Kowalski explained how he was taken prisoner after the Battle of Dunkirk, how he and his friends were marched with a large group of men to a labor camp in Germany, how the men were herded into a hay field which the Nazi guards set afire, then shooting the prisoners for trying to escape. Tired, starved, utterly exhausted, the survivors were brought before a Nazi officer who ordered them to work. As our DuPont cavalcade play continues, Edward Kowalski, played by Brian Dunleavy, is working as a labor prisoner in a Nazi machine shop. I hope you can control your temper. That's never been my trouble. What was your trouble, Kowalski? I was taken after Dunkirk, come on side. Hey, won't all be Dunkirks. There will be victories, too. Are you and I shut up? Well, we can't help make them. Perhaps not for long. What do you mean? In this shack you and I make machine tools. We have a quota to fill. But time can be found for making other things, too. Making what, for instance? Making plans, for instance. Ah, already we've made five knives and a compass. Ah, the Mansard Dale rust before we can use them. No, my friend, I do not think so. Oh, but how do you know? I know that your turn is next. You and your friends go at the end of the week. Then word has come through from the Major. Yes. Kowalski, are you sure of your friends? I'm as sure of those three men as I am of myself, Mansard. Good. And here is the plan. All four of you must memorize each detail. But why? You're coming with us. No. My work is here. You? You? You work out these escapes. Then you're the Major. The guards passed. All right. Have you any questions? No, sir. It's all perfectly clear. Then swear to me that whatever happens, none of you will ever reveal how you made your escape. There will be others to come after you. We swear it, sir. You have another hour. I... We don't know how to thank you, Mansard. You can thank me by returning to the battle and by killing Germans. John, hold the wire while I cut it. I've got it. That's got it. Come on now. Keep low. Let's... until we get to the stream. Here's where we cross. Don't splash any more than you can help. Now up the bank to the road. Hurry. Kowalski, look. There's a house. A stone house. Yeah. That must be it. The broken gate. The cow tied in the ark. Come on. It must be right. I'll knock. Well, the night is dark. The way is long. Thank you, friend. Come in quickly. Listen, they told us that you might know what was the best thing for us now. Yes. There's a prison supply truck about a hundred meters up the road. There's a very bad stretch. He has to come almost to a complete stop. It'll be dark when he passes. Wait at the side of the road. Here he comes. He's stopping all right. I'll step out and speak to him. Then you jump off on the other side. Let's go. Hey there. What do you want? Are you going my way? It's not permitted to give rides. I'm not going very far. Say, aren't you a Pole? Aren't you? Come on. Help me with him. Roll him into the ditch. There. They'll never find him there. Daddy, start the truck. Come on. Climb on. We are. Let's go. We'll have to ditch it by morning, Daddy. Give her all the speed she's got. Do you think we're safe for a while here in these woods? I hope so, John. Oh, it's cold tonight. Kowalski, have you figured how far we've come? I make it about 130 kilometers. Not even a third of the way. Listen. Wait. It's a motorcycle patrol. Look, there's only one chance. We've got to scatter. Casimir, you go north. How will we find each other again? I'll whistle. Get going. Right. Thaddeus, you go with Casimir. Yes. John, you go... Wait, wait. It's too late now. Yes, keep down. I'll find this tree. They're after Thaddeus. Or Casimir. Well, whoever it is, he won't have a chance. What can we do? Nothing, Frey, that's all. Run, Casimir, run! Kowalski, you think they got both of them? Listen, there's someone. Kowalski? It's Thaddeus. Thaddeus, here we are. Are you all right? Yes, yes, I'm all right. But... Oh, so they got Casimir? Yes. We don't even dare stay to bury him. They may be back any minute. What can we do, Kowalski? Wait. We can wait for our revenge. The twenty days out of Germany stretched into an unending chase. Our hunger, our weariness, our thirst became one pulsing ache to cross the border. To cross the border to freedom. On the twenty-first day, we crossed into France and walked like men again, but not for long. At a bridge there was a gendarme. Your papers, monsieur, let me see your papers. Our papers are lost, but we're French. This is occupied territory. You know you must have papers. Now listen, you're a Frenchman. I have to take you before the commandant. Well, why couldn't you just forget that you'd seen it? I have a wife and children. Well, others have wives and children. You remind that you're under arrest. On the Saturday of the fifth week in that Gestapo prison, help came to us from a man we didn't even know. A priest. A priest brought us money and sacramental wine to bribe the guards, who were very ready and willing to take them. Again, we became the quarry, but now we were not alone. We met an underground agent. He told us what to do. Until dusk, you lighten the woods. Just decide to free France. A young boy in Croy-Cotevoy is broken by, gathering mushrooms. Watch him carefully. When the guard changes, there's one moment when the border is open. That instant, the boy will set down his basket. Take them. Make your home. Kowalski, the boy is at the border. He stopped. The basket. He put down the basket. Run. John, Thaddeus, run, run. We're coming. We're safe, Kowalski. Safe. Oh, thank God. It seems so long. Yes, but we made it, Thaddeus. Thaddeus. John. We're free. Free. Free. Unharmed, we crossed into free France. The underground smuggled us into Spain. From Spain into Portugal. Mr. Consul, the rest you know. That you're alive at all is a miracle. Oh, one more favor, Mr. Consul. My friends, they're not Americans, but anything you can do for them. Whatever I can. Is there anything more I can do for you? Just help me get to America. There, I can find the way back to battle. Music Thank you, Brian Donlevy. Tonight's play, Odyssey to Freedom, was written for cavalcade by Isabelle Layton and Milton Wayne. All incidents were based on the actual experiences of a man, now a machinist-made second-class U.S. Navy. For purposes of this broadcast, the fictitious name Edward Kowalski was used to protect his family in Europe. And now before our star, Brian Donlevy, returns for a moment, here is Gaine Whitman speaking for DuPont to tell us of an inspiring example of wartime cooperation in the solving of a problem that faced the aviation industry. Have you wondered where DuPont cellulose sponges have gone for the duration? DuPont synthetic sponges were becoming an everyday household article before the war. People used them for everything, from washing dishes to washing the family car. Nowadays you see very few of them in the stores. They've disappeared for the duration. Where? Strangely enough, many of them have gone up into the air. The fuel cells of an American warplane, which carry the gasoline for the motors, are self-sealing and as nearly fireproof as it's possible to make them. So that they'll be safer still, many of them have their wings packed all around the fuel cells with DuPont cellulose sponge. If a plane's gas tanks are punctured by enemy bullets and some of the gasoline leaks into the wing, the sponge drinks it up and keeps it away from contact with the air, lessening still further the danger of explosion. It sounds simple, but the whole story is one of teamwork solving a complicated problem. The research work which ultimately solved that problem was pioneered brilliantly by North American aviation, Bell Aircraft, and Wright Field. Wright Field, searching for a spongy material with which to pack plane wings, asked DuPont if its cellulose sponge could be made fire retardant so it wouldn't support a plane. DuPont chemists tackling the problem found a fire retardant chemical that would do the job, diamonium phosphate. Then came a second question. Could the material be made to repel water? Obviously a sponge that took up water would add pounds of weight to a plane. But who had ever heard of a sponge that not only wouldn't absorb it, but would actually shed it? Even the DuPont chemists, used to tough assignments, whistled at that one. They tested compound after compound. At last they found one. But ironically, the most satisfactory water repellent wouldn't mix with the diamonium phosphate. All this while, not only DuPont, but Wright Field and the aircraft companies were struggling with the problem. Finally, Wright Field agreed to accept the now water repellent sponge without the phosphate treatment, because even as it was, it was less inflammable than the rubber sponge used originally. For today, tons of fine Ford DuPont sponge of the texture once used in washing delicate photographic negatives go to the assembly lines of North American aviation in California. The part DuPont played in adapting the material was a modest one. But we tell you the story as an inspiring example of wartime cooperation between a chemical manufacturer, the aviation industry, and Wright Field. The story of another wartime use, for one of DuPont's peacetime, better things for better living through chemistry. And now the star of tonight's cavalcade, Brian Dunleavy. Applause Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The struggle of Edward Kowalski is one example of the heroic efforts men and women are making all over the world to combat oppression. Kowalski's courage and resolve and love of liberty are a challenge to all of us to ask ourselves whether we are doing everything we can to preserve the freedom we all are fighting for. Thank you. Thank you, Brian Dunleavy. Here in America, there is an increasing need for women in war work. Every woman can make an important contribution. Even if you have obligations at home, perhaps you can contribute part of your time to outside work. Go to the local U.S. Employment Service office and offer your services. You will help to hasten the day of victory. If women workers aren't needed in your particular community, remember from all over America, more women are needed for the armed forces. Music Next week, DuPont presents Patrice Munsell, lovely young discovery of the Metropolitan Opera, Jesse Royce Landis, and Edwin Jerome in Song from Spokane, the story of a young American girl's rise to fame in this land of freedom and opportunity. Music DuPont invites you to join Cavalcade's audience again next Monday evening when Patrice Munsell, Jesse Royce Landis, and Edwin Jerome will be starred in Song from Spokane, a story of this land of opportunity and the brilliant success that came to one American girl in particular. Music on tonight's Cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armester. This is James Bannon sending best wishes from Cavalcade's sponsor, the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Tonight's Cavalcade came to you from Hollywood. Applause This is a national broadcasting company. Applause Music
