Witold Pilecki
(In Polish Military Uniform
shortly before World War 2 began.)
Pilecki was a Polish Army Officer,
Intelligence Agent, Social Worker, and Community Leader, who is remembered for
deliberately entering the Auschwitz Concentration Camp as a Prisoner, with the
intention of gathering information. He also managed to escape the Camp with
important German Documents after 3 years and lived to tell the tale in the
report known as the “Witold's Report.”
Witold Pilecki was born on May 13,
1901 in the town of Olonets, Karelia, in the Russian Empire.
He was a Descendant of a Polish-Speaking
Noble Family (szlachta) of the Leliwa coat of arms. His Ancestors had been
deported to Russia from their home in Lithuania (former Nowogródek Voivodeship
Region, now in Belarus) for participating in the January 1863–64 Uprising, for
which a major part of their estate was confiscated.
Pilecki was one of five Children
of Forest inspector Julian Pilecki and Ludwika Osiecimska and raised a Roman
Catholic.
The Family finally settled in
Wilno (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania). Pilecki completed his schooling there,
after which he joined an illegally operating Scout Movement called the “ZHP
Scouts Organization” (Polish: “Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego.”
Due to the impact of the First
World War in Vilnius, Pilecki and his Family had to flee to Mogilev,
Byelorussia. They sought protection from Germans. Pilecki started a local Chapter
of the ‘ZHP Scouts Organization’ after he moved to Oryol, Russia.
In 1918, he moved back to Vilnius to finish his Primary Education
from ‘Joachim Lelewel High School. He finished his Secondary Education in 1921.
Soon after, he attended the 'University of Poznań,’ where he studied Agriculture.
In 1918, Pilecki joined a
Self-Defense Paramilitary Training Group under the :Lithuanian and Belarusian
Self-Defense Militia.”
The Group went on to disarm the German Troops
and take positions to save the City from the Soviet ‘Red Army.’ This was during
the beginning of the Russian Revolution, and the purpose was to defend Wilno.
After Wilno was captured by Bolshevik Communists, Pilecki fled to Bialystok,
Poland and soon joined the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1920).
He later joined the 211th “Uhlan
(Light Cavalry) Regiment.” He fought the Battle of Warsaw
He also fought in the
Polish–Lithuanian War (1919-1920.)
Pilecki decided to train at the “Cavalry
Reserve Officers' Training School” in Grudziadz. He was sent as an Ensign to
the ‘26th Lancer Regiment’ during this time.
In 1926, he was promoted to the Rank
of Second Lieutenant. For the next few years, he continued his Social Work and
also focused on Agricultural Development.
He married Maria Pilecka (née
Ostrowska) on April 7, 1931. She was a local School Teacher. The couple had two
children: Andrzej and Zofia.
In 1932, he developed his own Training
Calvary School in Lida. During this time, he earned the rank of the Commander
of the “1st Lidsky Squadron.”
In 1939 he fought the Germans
when they invaded Poland. After Poland surrendered to the Germans Pilecki heled
found the ‘Secret Polish Army” (Polish: “Tajna Armia Polska.”) By 1940 the “TAP”
had more than 8,000 Men working for it.
The “TAP” was later incorporated into the “Union
for Armed Struggle” (Polish: “Związek Walki Zbrojnej”), which then came to be
known as the “Home Army” (Polish: “Armia Krajowa.”)
(Being photographed by the
Germans upon arrival at Auschwitz in 1940.)
After receiving approval from his
Superiors about a plan he presented (to learn what was going at the German
Auschwitz Concentration Camp), Pilecki deliberately got himself arrested during
a German Round-Up (Polish: “Lapanka”) on September 19, 1940 along with 2,000
other Polish Civilians.
After 2 days of rigorous
beatings, he was sent to Auschwitz and given Prisoner Number: 4859.
Amidst all the Atrocities,
Pilecki managed to organize the “Union of Military Organizations” inside
Auschwitz, which sent Reports and Updates about the Camp to the Polish Underground.
After 3 years of surviving
horrific conditions, Pilecki decided to break out of Auschwitz on April 26,
1943.
Pilecki wrote the “Withold’s Report”
about his time in Auschwitz which includes details about the Gas Chambers, the "Selektion",
and Sterilization Experiments. It states that there were three Crematoria in
Auschwitz II capable of cremating 8,000 people daily.
In August 1944, he fought in the
Warsaw Uprising and was captured and sent to the “Murnau POW” camp in Germany. After the Camp was liberated by the US on
April 29, 1945, he went to Italy and joined the “Polish Second Corps.”
(Being photographed by the Polish
and Soviet Communists upon his arrest in 1947.)
Pilecki was arrested on May 8, 1947
by the Soviet and Polish Communist Authorities.
On March 3, 1948. Pilecki was
charged with Illegal Border Crossing, use of Forged Documents, not Enlisting
with the Military (the Communist Military), carrying Illegal Arms, Espionage
for Anders, Espionage for "Foreign Imperialism" (the Polish Government-In-Exile),
and planning to Assassinate several officials of the Ministry of Public
Security of Poland.
After a brief Communist Show
Trial Pilecki was sentenced to Death and was executed by Firing Squad on May
25, 1948 in Mokotów Prison, Warsaw, the Polish People's Republic. He was 47
years old.
After Communism Collapsed in
Poland in 1990 Pilecki was rehabilitated.
In 1995, he was awarded the Order
of Polonia Restituta, and in 2006, the Highest Polish Decoration, the Order of
the White Eagle.
Films such as “The Death of
Captain Pilecki” (2006), “Pilecki” (2015) and “Withold’s Report” (2023) were made to
honor his Legacy.
Withold Pilecki fought both the
German Nazis and the Soviet and Polish Communists and was a true hero.
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