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The WWII saga Real End of the Great War emerged from the hand of director Jerzy Kawalerowicz, who alongside Andrzej Wajda is historically regarded as one of the two founding fathers of Polish cinema. With a narrative that anticipates Hal Ashby's Coming Home (1978) and elements of Mazursky's Enemies: A Love Story (1989), Kawalerowicz's film opens just prior to the Second World War. Sweethearts Juliusz (Roland Glowacki) and Roza (Lucyna Winnicka) meet just prior to the global conflict, fall deeply in love, and get married. Tragedy strikes, however, when the Nazis invade and occupy Poland, and set into motion Hitler's "Final Solution." On an unthinkable note, the Holocaust not only transpires but strikes close to home - Juliusz gets deported to a concentration camp. Meanwhile, Roza, naturally assuming that Juliusz is dead, grows unshakably convinced that he will never return. She thus lets go of him in her heart, falls in love with another man, and starts a new life. In time, however, Juliusz indeed turns up, emotionally and physically drained but very much alive - which naturally adds tremendous complications to the scenario.