 The external shots took place between February and June 1941 in Polish Chorzele and Ortelsburg ("Szczytno") in East Prussia.The picture was submitted to censorship at the Film Review Office on 26 August 1941, it was G-rated and received a top attribute as "political and artistical particularly valuable".The first public performance took place on 31 August 1941 at the Venice Film Festival in the "Cinema San Marco", winning an award from the Italian Ministry for Culture.