Witold Pilecki
(photo from Auschwitz)
Born	May 13, 1901, Olonets, Karelia, Russia.
Died	May 25, 1948, Warsaw, Poland.

Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948; pronounced ['vitɔld pi'leʦki]; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, founder of the resistance movement Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) and member of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). During World War II he was the only known person to volunteer to be imprisoned at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. While there, he organized inmate resistance, and as early as 1940 informed the Western Allies of Nazi Germany's camp atrocities. He escaped from Auschwitz in 1943 and took part in the Warsaw Uprising (August–October 1944). Pilecki was executed in 1948 by communist authorities. Witold Pilecki at Auschwitz photo Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Auschwitz is the name loosely used to identify three main Nazi German concentration camps and 45-50 sub-camps. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Olonets is a city in Republic of Karelia, Russia, capital of the Olonets Raion. ... Map showing the parts Karelia is traditionally divided into. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, see also other names, in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The International Phonetic Alphabet is a phonetic alphabet used by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) the human vocal apparatus can produce. ... A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. ... A Norwegian soldier (a Corporal, armed with an MP-5) A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment to defend that country or its interests. ... Second Polish Republic 1921-1939 The Second Polish Republic is an unofficial name applied to the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II. When the borders of the state were fixed in 1921, it had an area of 388. ... A resistance movement is a group dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country. ... The Armia Krajowa or AK (Home Army) functioned as the pre-eminent underground military organization in German-occupied Poland, which was active in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ... Auschwitz is the name loosely used to identify three main Nazi German concentration camps and 45-50 sub-camps. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Western Allies was the alliance of democracies in World War II - in other words, the combined Allies minus the Soviet Union. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) was a controversial armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. ... Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about communism as a form of society built around a gift economy, as an ideology that advocates that form of society, and as a popular movement. ...

Biography

Pilecki's early life

Witold Pilecki was born May 13, 1901, in Olonets on the shores of Lake Ladoga in Karelia, Russia, where his family had been forcibly resettled by Tsarist Russian authorities after the suppression of Poland's January Uprising of 1863-1864. His grandfather, Józef Pilecki, had spent seven years in exile in Siberia for his part in the Uprising. In 1910 Pilecki moved with his family to Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania), where he completed Commercial School and joined the secret ZHP scouts organization. In 1916 he moved to Orel, Russia, where he founded a local ZHP group. May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Olonets is a city in Republic of Karelia, Russia, capital of the Olonets Raion. ... Map of Scandinavia Lake Ladoga (Russian: Ладожское озеро, Finnish: Laatokka) is the largest lake in Europe, located in Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia (since WWII), near the border to Finland. ... Map showing the parts Karelia is traditionally divided into. ... The night of January 22, 1863, was the beginning of the new uprising against Russian rule in Poland. ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1864 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Exile is a form of punishment. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, common English transliterations: Sibir, Sibir; possibly from the Mongolian for the calm land) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... Primary or elementary education is the first years of formal, structured education that occurs during childhood. ... Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego (Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, ZHP) is the Polish Scouting organization recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

During World War I, in 1918, Pilecki joined Polish self-defense units in the Wilno area, and under General Władysław Wejtka helped collect weapons and disarm retreating, demoralized German troops. Subsequently he took part in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1920. Serving under Major Jerzy Dąbrowski, he commanded a ZHP scout section. When his sector of the front was overrun by the Bolsheviks, his unit for a time conducted partisan warfare behind enemy lines. Pilecki later joined the regular Polish Army and as part of a cavalry unit fought in the defense of Grodno (in present-day Belarus). On August 5, 1920, he joined the 211th Uhlan Regiment and fought in the historic Battle of Warsaw and at Rudniki Forest (Puszcza Rudnicka) and took part in the liberation of Wilno. For gallantry he was twice awarded the Krzyż Walecznych (Cross of Valor). Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Polish-Bolshevik War Conflict Polish-Bolshevik War Date 1919–1921 Place Central and Eastern Europe Result Polish victory The Polish-Soviet War was the war (February 1919 – March 1921) that determined the borders between the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and Second Polish Republic. ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ... An army unit consisting of mounted soldiers is commonly known as cavalry. ... Hrodna (or Grodno; Belarusian: Го́радня, Гро́дна; Grodno in Polish, Гродно in Russian, Gardinas in Lithuanian) is a city in Belarus on the Nemunas river, close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania (about 15 km and 30 km away respectively). ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Uhlan dressed in the characteristic czapka. ... Battle of Warsaw Conflict Polish-Bolshevik War Date 13 to August 25, 1920 Place near Warsaw, Poland Result Decisive Polish victory The Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, Polish Cud nad Wisłą) was the decisive battle of the Polish-Bolshevik War (also known as... This is an article about the Polish military decoration. ...

Pilecki in Polish Army uniform (prewar photo).

After the Polish-Soviet War ended in 1921 with the Peace of Riga, Pilecki passed his high-school graduation exams (matura) in Wilno and in 1926 was demobilized in the rank of cavalry ensign. In the interbellum he worked on his family's farm in the village of Sukurcze. On April 7, 1931, he married Maria Pilecka (1906 – February 6, 2002), née Ostrowska. They had two children, born in Wilno: Andrzej (January 16, 1932) and Zofia (March 14, 1933). Download high resolution version (500x812, 189 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Witold Pilecki Categories: Public domain images ... Download high resolution version (500x812, 189 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Witold Pilecki Categories: Public domain images ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Peace of Riga (also known as the Treaty of Riga, Polish: Traktat Ryski) signed on 18th March 1921 between Poland and Soviet Russia ended the Polish-Bolshevik War in Riga. ... Matura or Matur is the word commonly used in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland for the final exams young adults (aged 18 or 19) take at the end of their secondary education. ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... In the military of various countries, ensign is a low rank of commissioned officer. ... An Interbellum is a period between wars. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in Leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

World War II breaks out

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, on August 26, 1939, Pilecki was mobilized and joined the 19th Infantry Division of Army Prusy as a cavalry-platoon commander. His unit took part in heavy fighting in the September Campaign against the advancing Germans and was partially destroyed. Pilecki's platoon withdrew southeast toward Lwów (now L'viv, in Ukraine) and the Romanian bridgehead and was incorporated into the recently formed 41st Infantry Division. During the September Campaign, Pilecki and his men destroyed 7 German tanks and shot down two aircraft. On September 17, after the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland pursuant to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Pilecki's division was disbanded and he returned to Warsaw with his commander, Major Jan Włodarkiewicz. August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Polish Defence War of 1939 Conflict World War II Date 1 September - 6 October 1939 Place Poland Result Decisive German and Soviet victory The Polish September Campaign (alternatively refered to as the German plan Fall Weiss) refers to the conquest of Poland by the armies of Nazi Germany and the... Lviv coat of arms Motto: Semper fidelis Municipal government City council (Львівська міська рада) Mayor City chairman Lyubomyr Bunyak Area 171,01 km² Population    total 2000    density 808,900 4786/km² Founded city rights 13th century 1353 Area code + 0322 Latitude Longitude 49°51′ N 24°01′ E Twin towns... The Romanian Bridgehead (Polish Przedmoście rumuńskie) was an area in South-Eastern Poland, nowadays located in Ukraine. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... Molotov (lower left), Ribbentrop (in black) and Stalin (far right) The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, also known as the Hitler-Stalin pact or Nazi-Soviet pact and formally known as the Treaty of Nonaggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a non-aggression treaty between the German...

On November 9, 1939, the two men founded the Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska, TAP), one of the first underground organizations in Poland. Pilecki became its organizational commander and expanded TAP to cover not only Warsaw but Siedlce, Radom, Lublin and other major cities of central Poland. By 1940 TAP had approximately 8,000 men (more than half of them armed), some 20 machine guns and several anti-tank rifles. Later the organization was incorporated into the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and became the core of the Wachlarz unit. November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, see also other names, in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... Siedlce (pronounce: [ɕȋedlʦε]) is a town in eastern Poland with 76,943 inhabitants (2004). ... Motto: none Voivodship Masovian Municipal government Rada miejska Radomia Mayor Zdzisław Marcinkowski Area 111,7 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 228 700 - 2047/km² Founded City rights - - Latitude Longitude 51°24 N 21°10 E Area code +48 48 Car plates WR Twin towns - Municipal Website Radom (pronounce: [radɔm]) is... Lublin (pronounce: [lublin]) is the biggest city in eastern Poland and the capital of Lublin Voivodship with a population of 355,954 (2004). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... An anti-tank rifle is a rifle designed for shooting at tanks. ... For other meanings of Home Army see: Home Army (disambiguation) The Armia Krajowa or AK (Home Army) functioned as the pre-eminent underground military organization in German-occupied Poland, which functioned in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ...

The Auschwitz campaign: 945 days

In 1940 Pilecki presented to his superiors a plan to penetrate Germany's Auschwitz Concentration Camp at Oświęcim (the Polish name of the locality), gather intelligence on the camp from the inside, and organize inmate resistance. Until then little had been known about the Germans' running of the camp, and it was thought to be an internment camp or large prison rather than a death camp. His superiors approved the plan and provided him a false identity card in the name of "Tomasz Serafiński." On September 19, 1940, he was caught by the Germans in a Warsaw street roundup (łapanka) along with some 2,000 innocent civilians (among them, Władysław Bartoszewski). After two days of torture in Wehrmacht barracks, the survivors were sent to Auschwitz. Pilecki was tattooed on his forearm with the number 4859. 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Auschwitz is the name loosely used to identify three main Nazi German concentration camps and 45-50 sub-camps. ... Oświęcim. ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Łapanka (literally Catching game) was a nick-name applied to the German policy in occupied Poland during World War II. In łapankas the forces of SS, Wehrmacht and Gestapo rounded up civilians on the streets of Polish cities and took all of them as prisoners. ... See also Categories: Poland-related stubs | 1922 births | Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland | People who helped Jews during the Holocaust | Polish resistance fighters | Polish World War II people ... Wehrmacht  listen? was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ...

Street roundup in northern Warsaw's Żoliborz district, 1941

At Auschwitz, while working in various kommandos and surviving pneumonia, Pilecki organized an underground Union of Military Organizations (Związek Organizacji Wojskowych, ZOW). ZOW's tasks were to improve inmates' morale, provide them news from outside, distribute extra food and clothing to members, set up intelligence networks, and train detachments to take over the camp in the event of a relief attack by the Home Army, arms airdrops, or an airborne landing by the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, based in Britain. lapanka 1941 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... lapanka 1941 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, see also other names, in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Kommando is a generic German language word meaning unit or command. ... Pneumonia (the ancient Greek word for lungs) is defined as an inflamation, usually caused by infection, involving the alveoli of the lungs. ... Official force name 1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa Other names 1st Independent Para Brigade 1 SBS Branch Polish Army Chain of Command Directly subordinate to Polish Government in Exile In 1944 transferred under British command Description Airborne force, rapidly deployable aeromobile infantry force. ...

By 1941, ZOW had grown substantially. Members included the famous Polish sculptor Xawery Dunikowski and ski champion Bronisław Czech, and worked in the Camp's SS Administration Office (Mrs. Rachwalowa, Capt. Rodziewicz, Mr. Olszowka, Mr. Jakubski, Mr. Miciukiewicz), the storage magazines (Mr. Czardybun) and the Sonderkommando, which burned human corpses (Mr. Szloma Dragon and Mr. Henryk Mendelbaum). The organization had its own underground court and supply lines to the outside. Thanks to civilians living nearby, the organization regularly received medical supplies. 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Xawery Dunikowski (December 24, 1875-January 26, 1964) was a Polish sculptor and artist best known for his Neo-Romantic sculptures and Auschwitz inspired art. ... Skiing is the activity of gliding over snow using skis (originally wooden planks, now usually made from fiberglass or related composites) strapped to the feet with ski bindings. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop... Sonderkommandos were work units of Nazi death camp prisoners forced to aid the killing process. ...

Gate to Auschwitz Concentration Camp (1941), with German motto: "Work liberates."

ZOW provided the Polish underground priceless information on the camp and German activities there. Many smaller underground organizations at Auschwitz eventually merged with ZOW. In the autumn of 1941 Colonel Jan Karcz was transferred to the newly-created Birkenau death camp, where he proceeded to organize ZOW structures. By spring of 1942 the organization had over 1,000 members at most of the sub-camps, the membership including women, Czechs, Jews and many others. The inmates constructed a radio receiver and hid it in the camp hospital. Oświęcim gate 1941 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Oświęcim gate 1941 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Birkenau may mean the following: the municipality Birkenau in Hesse, see Birkenau, Hesse the German spelling of the Polish Brzezinka the death camp and part of the concentration camp Auschwitz located near Brzezinka, see Auschwitz concentration camp This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that... 1942 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

From October 1940 ZOW sent reports to Warsaw, and from March 1941 Pilecki's reports were being forwarded via the Polish resistance to the British government in London. These reports were a principal source of intelligence on Auschwitz for the Western Allies. Pilecki hoped that either the Allies would drop arms or troops into the camp, or the Home Army would organize an assault on it from outside. By 1943, however, he realized that no such plans existed. Meanwhile the Gestapo redoubled its efforts to ferret out ZOW members. Pilecki decided to break out of the camp, with the hope of personally convincing Home Army leaders that a rescue attempt was a valid option. When he was assigned to a night shift at a camp bakery outside the fence, he and two comrades overpowered a guard, cut the phone line and escaped on the night of April 26–April 27, 1943, taking along documents stolen from the Germans. In the event of capture, they were prepared to swallow cyanide to prevent the Germans learning the extent of their knowledge. After several days, with the help of local civilians, they made good their escape from the area and contacted Home Army units. Pilecki submitted another detailed report on conditions at Auschwitz. October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Gestapo was the official secret police force of Nazi Germany. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Auschwitz Concentration Camp photos of Pilecki.

Witold Pilecki phote from 1942 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Witold Pilecki phote from 1942 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ...

Back outside Auschwitz: the Warsaw Uprising.

On August 25, 1943, Pilecki reached Warsaw and joined the Home Army as a member of its intelligence department. The Home Army, after losing several operatives in reconnoitering the vicinity of the camp, including the Cichociemny commando Stefan Jasieński, decided that it lacked sufficient strength to capture the camp without Allied help. Pilecki's detailed report (Raport Witolda—"Witold's Report") was sent to London. The British authorities refused the Home Army air support for an operation to help the inmates escape. An air raid was considered too risky, and Home Army reports on Nazi atrocities at Auschwitz were deemed to be gross exaggerations (Pilecki wrote: "During the first 3 years, at Auschwitz there perished 2 million people; in the next 2 years—3 million"). August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... Symbol Silent and Dark Cichociemni (Polish for Silent and dark) were a secret unit of the Polish Army in exile created to maintain contact with occupied Poland during World War II The name Initially the name was informal and used only by the soldiers who volunteered to be dropped over...

Pilecki was soon promoted to cavalry captain (rotmistrz) and joined a secret anti-communist organization, NIE ("NO"), formed within the Home Army to prepare resistance against a coming Soviet occupation.

Polish barricade, including captured German Hetzer tank destroyer, during the Warsaw Uprising

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out on August 1, 1944, Pilecki volunteered to the Kedyw's Chrobry II group. At first he fought in the northern city center without revealing his actual rank, as a simple private. Later he disclosed his true identity and accepted command of the 2nd company fighting in the Towarowa and Pańska Streets area. His forces held a fortified area called the "Great Bastion of Warsaw". It was one of the most outlying partisan redoubts and caused considerable difficulties for German supply lines. The bastion held for two weeks in the face of constant attacks by German infantry and armor. On the capitulation of the Uprising, Pilecki hid some weapons in a private apartment and went into captivity. He spent the rest of the war at German prisoner-of-war camps at Łambinowice and Murnau. Warsaw Uprising - Polish barricade on the Napoleon square. ... Warsaw Uprising - Polish barricade on the Napoleon square. ... Polish-seized Hetzer on a baricade during the Warsaw Uprising Based on the Czech Panzer 38(t) chassis Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer was an excellent tank destroyer: it was better armoured than the earlier Panzerjäger (60 mm sloped armour at 60 degrees, giving a equivalence of about 180 mm... Self-propelled anti-tank vehicles, generally known as tank destroyers, are a type of armoured fighting vehicle, used primarily in the defensive role in destroying enemy tanks. ... The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) was a controversial armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. ... The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) was a controversial armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. ... August 1st is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Kedyw (acronym for Kierownictwo Dywersji, Polish Directorate of Sabotage and Diversion; probably also a play on the Turkish khedive, which translates into Polish as kedyw): a Polish World War II Armia Krajowa organization that specialized in active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed action against German forces and collaborators. ... Murnau in 1900 Murnau am Staffelsee is a market town (population 12. ...

"Liberation": Soviet-dominated Poland

After liberation, on July 11, 1945, Pilecki joined the 2nd Polish Corps. There he received orders to clandestinely transport a large sum of money to Soviet-occupied Poland, but the operation was called off. In September 1945 Pilecki was ordered by General Władysław Anders to return to Poland and gather intelligence to be sent west. July 11 is the 192nd day (193rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 173 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Polish II Corps Insignia. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Władysław Anders Lt. ...

He went back and proceeded to organize his intelligence network, while also writing a monograph on Auschwitz. In the spring of 1946, however, the Polish Government in Exile decided that the postwar political situation afforded no hope of Poland's liberation and ordered all partisans still in the forests either to return to their normal civilian lives or to escape to the west. Pilecki declined to leave, but proceeded to dismantle the partisan forces in eastern Poland. A monograph is a scholarly book or a treatise on a single subject, class of subjects, or person. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in exile maintained a continuous existence in exile from the time of the German occupation of Poland in September 1939 until the end of the Communist rule in Poland in 1990. ...

In April 1947 he began collecting evidence on Soviet atrocities and on the prosecution of Poles (mostly members of the Home Army and the 2nd Polish Corps) and their executions or imprisonment in Soviet gulags. Gulag (Russian: ГУЛАГ  listen?, an acronym for Главное Управление Исправительно— Трудовых Лагерей и колонии, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies) was the branch of the Soviet internal police and security service that operated the penal system of forced...

Photos of Pilecki from Warsaw's Mokotow prison (1947).

On May 8, 1947, he was himself arrested by the Polish security service (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa). Prior to trial he was repeatedly tortured but revealed no sensitive information and sought to protect other prisoners. On March 3, 1948, a staged trial took place, in which many probably forged documents were admitted into evidence. Testimony against him was presented by a future Polish prime minister, Józef Cyrankiewicz, himself an Auschwitz survivor. Pilecki was accused of having spied for the Western Allies and General Anders. On May 15, with three of his comrades, he was sentenced to death. Ten days later, on May 25, 1948, he was executed at Warsaw's Mokotow Prison on ulica Rakowiecka (Rakowiecka Street). Witold Pilecki photo from 1947 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Witold Pilecki photo from 1947 used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB, until 1956 Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, UB) was the name of the intelligence agency and secret police in the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The term show trial serves most commonly to label a type of public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the accused: the actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as an impressive example and... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive (fraud is the use of objects obtained through forgery). ... Józef Cyrankiewicz ( April 23, 1911 - January 20, 1989) was a Polish communist political figure. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mokotów Prison (Polish Więzienie mokotowskie, otherwise known as Rakowiecka Prison) is a prison in Warsaws borough of Mokotów, located on Rakowiecka street 37. ...

Pilecki's symbolic gravestone at Powazki Cemetery, Warsaw. Buried here is his widow, Maria, née Ostrowska (1906–2002).

Pilecki's conviction is generally thought to have been based on false charges and evidence, as part of a prosecution of Home Army members and others connected with the Polish Government in Exile in London. In 2003 the prosecutor and several others involved in the trial were charged with complicity in Pilecki's murder. Cyrankiewicz escaped similar proceedings by having died earlier. Download high resolution version (640x687, 280 KB)Witold Pilecki gravestone in Powiazki Cementary, Poland, photo used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Download high resolution version (640x687, 280 KB)Witold Pilecki gravestone in Powiazki Cementary, Poland, photo used with permission Source: [[1]] Permission received in email on 28. ... Powazki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (Polish Cmentarz powązkowski) is the oldest and most famous cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, which is situated in the western part of the city. ... Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, see also other names, in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

It was only on October 1, 1990, that Witold Pilecki was rehabilitated. His place of burial has never been found; he is thought to have been buried in a rubbish dump near Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery. Until 1989 information on his exploits and fate was suppressed by the Polish communist regime. October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in Leap years). ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Political rehabilitation is the process by which a member of a political organization or government who has fallen into disgrace is restored to public life. ... Powazki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (Polish Cmentarz powązkowski) is the oldest and most famous cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, which is situated in the western part of the city. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Summary of Pilecki's Polish Army career

• Ensign (podporucznik) from 1925
• First Lieutenant (porucznik) from November 11, 1941 (promoted while at Auschwitz)
• Captain (cavalry rotmistrz) from November 11, 1943

In the military of various countries, ensign is a low rank of commissioned officer. ... First Lieutenant is a military rank. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... Captain is both a nautical term and a military rank. ... Rotmistrz of an armoured regiment. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

See also

• Polish contribution to World War II
• Western betrayal
• List of noteworthy individuals in the Warsaw Uprising
• Jan Karski

Poland: First to Fight (poster, 1939). ... Western betrayal is a concept, particularly popular among several Central European nations (including Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia). ... This is a list of notable individuals who were involved in the Warsaw Uprising, a Polish insurgence during the Second World War that begun on August 1 of 1944. ... Before a wall map of the Warsaw Ghetto at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jan Karski recalls his secret 1942 missions into the Nazi prison-city-within-a-city. ...

References

• E. Ciesielski, Wspomnienia Oświęcimskie [Auschwitz Memoirs], Kraków, 1968.
• Jozef Garlinski, Fighting Auschwitz: the Resistance Movement in the Concentration Camp, Fawcett, 1975, ISBN 0449225992, reprinted by Time Life Education, 1993. ISBN 0809489252
• W. Gawroń, Ochotnik do Oświęcimia [Volunteer to Auschwitz], Calvarianum, Auschwitz Museum, 1992.
• Konstanty Piekarski, Escaping Hell: the Story of a Polish Underground Officer in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Dundurn Press Ltd., 1990. ISBN 1550020714.
• Wiesław Jan Wysocki, Rotmistrz Pilecki [Captain Pilecki], Pomost, 1994. ISBN 8385209425.
• Adam Cyra, Wiesław Jan Wysocki, Rotmistrz Witold Pilecki, Oficyna Wydawnicza VOLUMEN, 1997. ISBN 8386857277.

External links

• Escaping Hell – Contains Reports from Auschwitz and other info, in English, German, French and Polish (http://members.shaw.ca/escapinghell/)
• Biography of Witold Pilecki on Diapozytyw (http://www.diapozytyw.pl/en/site/ludzie/witold_pilecki)
• Article about resistance in Auschwitz (http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/14%20Article.htm)
• Detailed biography of Witold Pilecki on Whatfor (in Polish) (http://wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl/~whatfor/biog_pilecki.htm)