A National Geographic docuseries reunites six men who escaped a doomed World Trade Center elevator using only a window cleaner’s squeegee.
Jan Demczur, a Polish immigrant and window washer, joined fellow survivors John Paczkowski and George Phoenix for the series “9/11 Reunited,” which premieres Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. On National Geographic. The three men, now 25 years removed from the terror attack that killed 2,977 people, were filmed embracing at a Manhattan bar as part of the three-part series, which streams in full Aug. 22 on Disney+ and Hulu.
The reunion marks the first time Demczur has connected with Paczkowski and Phoenix since they clawed their way out of a North Tower express elevator on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. The six strangers trapped inside — including two Port Authority officials — had been ascending to the 67th floor when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the building at 8:46 a.m., sending their car into a free fall.
The elevator plummeted 15 stories before halting near the 50th floor, where thick white smoke smelling of chemicals began pouring into the cabin. Working together, the men pried open the automatic metal doors with their bare hands, only to find a solid wall stenciled with the number “50” blocking their path.
Demczur then grabbed the brass squeegee from his cleaning bucket and began frantically pecking at the drywall in a circular motion. The others punched and kicked alongside him until they created a hole large enough to crawl through, emerging into a men’s bathroom where firefighters urged them to evacuate immediately.
The six men rushed down 50 flights of stairs and bolted out of the North Tower at 10:23 a.m. Five minutes later, the tower collapsed.
“Seeing Jan and George again after all of these years reminded me of not only the tragedy of that day and the enduring grief we feel for all who were lost, but also the raw humanity of what we shared, how blessed we are to still be alive, and the responsibility we have to live life to its fullest,” Paczkowski told The Post.
Paczkowski, who worked as the Port Authority’s assistant director of operations on the 67th floor, told the filmmakers that working in the Twin Towers had been a “dream come true.” Phoenix, a Port Authority senior engineer, shared that he had fallen in love with his future wife, Martha, during a date at the WTC’s observation deck.
The trio are among 14 survivors featured in the docuseries who reunited with the strangers and rescuers who altered the course of their lives on 9/11. Another episode pairs Deborah St. John, who suffered severe injuries after being struck by debris from the second plane, with Stefan Horlacher, a stranger who administered first aid on the street and flagged down an ambulance amid the chaos.
“We knew that there were a significant number of 9/11 survivors who made deeply meaningful connections amidst the horror of 9/11 but, for a whole host of reasons, hadn’t seen each other since,” director Julian Jones said in a statement about the series, which he created in collaboration with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and production company 72 Films.
Jones continued: “In reaching out to the survivors, we became aware that many felt they had things they wanted to say but felt they couldn’t — until now. After 25 years, the reunions became a chance for these survivors to say ‘thank you,’ to pass on a message, to honor the dead, and to reckon with their past.”
The squeegee that made Demczur’s escape possible has since become one of the most iconic artifacts from 9/11, preserved in the collection of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The tool, no larger than a standard window-washing implement, allowed six men to transform a sealed metal box into their only route to survival.
In the viral moment that has defined their story for two decades, Demczur’s quick thinking turned an ordinary work tool into an emergency escape device. The six men had no rescue workers coming for them — around 200 people died in World Trade Center elevators that day, and investigators later found no record of professional elevator rescues being attempted. The window cleaner’s brass blade, scraping through drywall while smoke filled their lungs, became the difference between becoming statistics and becoming survivors.
The docuseries represents the first time many of these survivor-rescuer pairs have spoken since the attacks, with cameras capturing raw moments of gratitude, grief, and reflection across three episodes. The production worked closely with the memorial museum to locate participants and facilitate meetings that some had avoided for a quarter century.
“9/11 Reunited” premieres Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. On National Geographic.