FAILURE (2000)

On 28 March 1942, Group Zinc parachutes into occupied territory. From the start, it was one of the most tragically failed actions by the western resistance. Instead of Moravia, the group found itself in Slovakia. While crossing the border into the Protectorate, group leader Oldřich Pechal finds himself in firefight with German soldiers. Although he manages to get away, the group has been discovered. It soon becomes clear that, ever after a few months in office, acting Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich has had a strong impact on the psyche of the local inhabitants. Their contact addresses from London weren't functioning; people were afraid. The group leader told the members to split up and find their own way. It is not a situation that the group's youngest member – radiotelegraph operator Viliam Gerik – had expected. Originally from Slovakia, he has difficulty fitting in in Bohemia. His strong accent gives him away at every turn. After wandering through the freezing spring, he makes it to Prague, but again none of his contacts work out. He eventually turns himself in to the Gestapo. Later at court, Gerik argued that he was hoping to use his nationality in his favor in order to be deported to Slovakia. However, during interrogations, he revealed the names of his leaders and his training camp. The Gestapo began to use him as an agent provocateur. Although he tried to hide certain facts, his opponents are stronger. In the spring of 1943 the Germans arrest Gerik for trying to make contact with the resistance. After the liberation of Buchenwald, he is arrested by the Czechs and found guilty two years later. Although he defended himself by arguing that he betrayed nobody about whom the Gestapo knew anything, he was found guilty. Did he betray his military oath, did he collaborate with the enemy? Viliam Gerik and Karel Čurda have the same court file and they are executed together, but their actions are very different. Why should we today, more than 50 years after the war, argue with the court's ruling? In the words of one of the few surviving veterans, Čestmír Šikola, radiotelegraph operator for Group Clay and one of the last people to talk to Gerik before his trial: "Nobody considered any extenuating circumstances for Viliam Gerik. He was sentenced by a people's court but nobody brought up the fact that 'the people' refused to lend him a helping hand when he asked for it in a desperate situation."

Directed by: Pavel Štingl, 58 minutes