How I Unleashed World War II
Cast
Marian Kociniak Janina Boronska Adam Cyprian Wirgiliusz Gryn Zdzislaw Kuzniar Józef Lodynski
Credits
Written by: 
Tadeusz Chmielewski
Plot
On the night of August 31, 1939, Dolas, from a platoon reinforcing a train station on the German border, falls asleep in a train car and unknowingly crosses into Germany. The moment he shoots a German, who he thinks is a saboteur, the German invasion of Poland begins, and Dolas is convinced it was his fault.
Sinekatalog’s take
A madcap Polish comedy in which a naive soldier is convinced he single-handedly started history's biggest war. It makes light of wartime absurdity with slapstick and deadpan, and the humor still works. A fun, brisk adventure for fans of classic satirical comedy.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 8.0 / 10 (4,245 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
If you liked this
Picked by director, genre, era and shared cast. Titles only, no spoilers.
- You Can't Win 'Em All 1970 · Peter Collinson · IMDb 5.7 · Viewers also liked
- The Dirty Dozen 1967 · Robert Aldrich · IMDb 7.7 · Viewers also liked
- Colonel Wolodyjowski 1969 · Jerzy Hoffman · IMDb 7.2 · Viewers also liked
- Catch-22 1970 · Mike Nichols · IMDb 7.1 · Viewers also liked
- Triple Cross 1966 · Terence Young · IMDb 6.3 · Viewers also liked
- The Extraordinary Seaman 1969 · John Frankenheimer · IMDb 3.5 · Similar genres