Misplaced Pages

Witold Pilecki: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 08:58, 8 February 2021 view sourceVolunteer Marek (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers94,133 edits look, there's obviously no consensus to add this into the article right now, there's ongoing discussions, so please stop trying to edit war it back inTag: Manual revert← Previous edit Revision as of 10:41, 14 February 2021 view source Bob not snob (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users805 edits After discussion, WP:APLRSNext edit →
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Polish underground resistance soldier, World War II concentration camp resistance leader}} {{short description|Polish soldier}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}} {{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
Line 40: Line 40:
}} }}


'''Witold Pilecki''' (13 May 1901{{spaced ndash}}25 May 1948; {{IPA-pol|ˈvitɔlt piˈlɛt͡skʲi}}; codenames ''Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold'') was a ] cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader. During World War II, he volunteered to be captured by the Nazis and embedded in ], to understand the nature of the camp, which was not known at the time. After his escape a few years later, he wrote '']'', the first comprehensive intelligence report on the atrocities of the ].{{sfn|Patricelli|2010}} '''Witold Pilecki''' (13 May 1901{{spaced ndash}}25 May 1948; {{IPA-pol|ˈvitɔlt piˈlɛt͡skʲi}}; codenames ''Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold'') was a ] cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader. He was also a co-founder of the ] resistance group during World War II. After a disagreement with his superior, in 1940 he infiltrated ] and organized resistance activities there. He is the author of '']'', an intelligence report on Auschwitz.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=281-301 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref><ref name=Fleming>{{cite journal |last1=Fleming |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Fleming (historian) |title=The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz: by Jack Fairweather (London: WH Allen, 2019), 505 pages |journal=Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs |date=2019 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=289–294 |doi=10.1080/23739770.2019.1673981}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Paliwoda |first=D. |date=2013 |title=Captain Witold Pilecki |journal=Military Review |volume=93 |issue=6 |pages=88–96 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>


Following the fall of Polish communism, from the 1990s Pilecki has been the subject of popularised myth making by state institutions, NGOs, and even football fans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=281-301 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref> In line with the ], this was further emphasized.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piątek |first1=Katarzyna |title=Memory politicized. Polish media and politics of memory-case studies. |journal=I SPOŁECZEŃSTWO |date=2016 |issue=6 |pages=72-73 |url=http://www.mediaispoleczenstwo.ath.bielsko.pl/art/06/06_baldys_piatek.pdf}}</ref>
He was born in ], to which his grandfather had been forcibly resettled from Poland by the Russian tsar after supporting the ] in 1863. Pilecki served as a cavalry officer in the Polish Army in the ] and ]. He was also a co-founder of the ] resistance group and later, a member of the ] ({{lang|pl|Armia Krajowa}}).

In 1940, Pilecki infiltrated a Nazi concentration camp; he was arrested and deported to ].<ref name="Fleming" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Paliwoda |first=D. |date=2013 |title=Captain Witold Pilecki |journal=Military Review |volume=93 |issue=6 |pages=88–96 |via=ProQuest}}</ref> While there, he organized a resistance movement within the camp that eventually numbered in the hundreds, and secretly sent messages to the Western Allies detailing German atrocities at the camp.{{sfn|Patricelli|2010|pp=53–180}} He escaped in April 1943 after nearly two and a half years of imprisonment.{{sfn|Patricelli|2010|pp=181–202}}

Pilecki later fought in the ] from August to October 1944.{{sfn|Davies|2004}}<ref name="Were We All People?" /> He remained loyal to the London-based ] after the communist takeover of Poland. In 1947, he was arrested by the ] on charges of working for "foreign imperialism", referring to his war time work for the government-in-exile,{{sfn|Patricelli|2010|pp=247–268}}<ref name="tch">{{harvnb|Tchorek|2009}}</ref> and was executed after a ] in 1948.

Information about his exploits and fate was suppressed by the communist regime in Poland until democracy returned to Poland in 1989,<ref name="tch"/><ref name="eh">{{harvnb|Piekarski|1990|p=249}}</ref> after which his story began to become widely known.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The volunteer : one man, an underground army, and the secret mission to destroy Auschwitz |last=Fairweather |first=Jack |isbn=978-0-06-256141-1 |edition=First|location=New York, NY |oclc=1045214303 |year=2019}}</ref> The story of Pilecki's mission in Auschwitz was told by the Polish historian ], a former Auschwitz inmate who emigrated to Britain after the war.{{sfn|Garliński|1975}}

Pilecki is considered a great wartime hero.<ref name="Were We All People?">{{cite news|last=Snyder|first=Timothy|date=22 June 2012|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/books/review/the-auschwitz-volunteer-by-witold-pilecki.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Were We All People?|work=The New York Times|url-access=registration|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref><ref>, ''The Jewish Week''. Published on 1 February 2013.</ref><ref name="Auschwitz inmate Pilecki – 'diamond among heroes'">, Thenews.pl (Polish Radio English Section). Published on 28 January 2013.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2012/06/the-man-who-volunteered-for-auschwitz-the-greatest-story-never-told/|title=The man who volunteered for Auschwitz: the greatest story never told|last=Haven|first=Cynthia|website=The Book Haven|access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref> Poland's Chief Rabbi ] writes in ''The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery'':<ref>, Los Angeles: Aquila Polonica Publishing, 2019.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather |title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz |publisher=WH Allen |place=London |year=2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}}</ref> "When God created the human being, God had in mind that we should all be like Captain Witold Pilecki, ]."<ref name="The man who volunteered for Auschwitz: the greatest story never told">The Book Heaven, , Stanford University. Posted 10 June 2012.</ref> ], Polish ambassador to the United States, described Pilecki as a "diamond among Poland's heroes" and "the highest example of Polish patriotism" in 2013.<ref name="Auschwitz inmate Pilecki – 'diamond among heroes'"/><ref>, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, DC.</ref> Historian ] writes: "If there was an Allied hero who deserved to be remembered and celebrated, this was a person with few peers."<ref name="The man who volunteered for Auschwitz: the greatest story never told"/> Pilecki described his struggles and exploits as simply the moral and patriotic duties of a Catholic and a Polish patriot.


==Early life== ==Early life==
Witold Pilecki was born on 13 May 1901 in the town of ], ], in the ]. His ancestors were deported to Russia due to their participation in the ] of 1863–1864. Witold was one of five children of forest inspector Julian Pilecki and Ludwika Osiecimska. In 1910 Witold moved with his mother and siblings to ] to receive a Polish education, while his father remained in Olonets. During his time in WIlno, Pilecki joined the secret ]. During the First World War he was part of the Wilno self defence force.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=282 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
Witold Pilecki was born on 13 May 1901 in the town of ], ], in the ]. He was a descendant of a noble family (]) originally from the ] region. His grandfather, Józef Pilecki ] ], was a member of the ] and a dedicated ]. Józef Pilecki had been a supporter of the ] ] of 1863–1864. Following the brutal ] by Russian forces, Józef Pilecki, like most Polish nobles who had supported the rebellion, had his ] revoked and his estate and other properties were confiscated by the Russian government. He was condemned to exile in ] for seven years. After his release he and his family were ] by ] to the remote territory of ].<ref name="IPNweb">Świerczek, Lidia. . ].</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2020}}

Witold's father, Julian Pilecki, worked for the ] and eventually settled in the town of ] in ] where he married Ludwika Pilecki (née Osiecimska). Witold Pilecki was the fourth of the couple's six children. In 1910, Ludwika and the children left Karelia and relocated to the ]. After being joined by their father, the family settled in ] (now: Vilnius, ]), where Pilecki completed ] and became a member of the secret ].<ref name="IPNweb" /> During the ], Wilno was ] by the ] in September 1915 and was incorporated into ], the German military administration. Pilecki and his family fled to ], ].{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} In 1916, Pilecki moved to the Russian city of ], where he attended ] and founded a local chapter of the ZHP group.<ref name="IPNweb" />


==Polish–Soviet War and later career== ==Polish–Soviet War and later career==
As a cavalyman, Pilecki foguht in the ] and the ] of the ]. When the war with the Soviets ended he completed his school examinations while continuing his military service. In 1926 he was promoted to reserve second lieutenant (seniority from 1923).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=282-283 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
In 1918, following the outbreak of the ] and the defeat of the ] in ], Pilecki returned to ] (at that time part of the newly independent ]) and joined a ZHP Scout section of the ], a ] formation aligned with the ] under General ].<ref name="IPNweb"/> The militia disarmed the retreating German troops and took up positions to defend the city from a looming attack by the ]. However, Wilno fell to ] forces on 5 January 1919, and Pilecki and his unit resorted to ] behind Soviet lines. He and his comrades then retreated to ] where Pilecki enlisted as a '']'' (private) in Poland's newly established ]. He took part in the ] of 1919–1921, serving under Captain ].<ref name="IPNweb"/> He fought in the ] and as part of a ] unit defending the city of ]. On 5 August 1920, Pilecki joined the 211th ] Regiment and fought in the crucial ] and in the Rudniki Forest (''Puszcza Rudnicka''). Pilecki later took part in the ] and briefly served in the ongoing ] as a member of the October 1920 ].<ref name="IPNweb"/>


In September 1926, Pilecki became the owner of his family's ancestral estate, ], in the ] of the ]. In 1931, he married Maria Ostrowska. They had two children, born in Wilno: Andrzej (16 January 1932) and Zofia (14 March 1933). Pilecki was active in the local community, he was the chairman of a dairy and founded a famrer's association. He also organized ''Krakus'' Military Horsemen Training, and was appointed to command the 1st Lida Military Training ], which as placed under the ] in 1937. In 1938, Pilecki received the Silver ] for his activism.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=282-283 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
Following the conclusion of Polish-Soviet War in March 1921 Pilecki was transferred to the ]. He was promoted to the rank of '']'' (]) and was designated as a ]. He went on to complete his ] ('']'') later that same year. In 1922, Pilecki briefly attended the ] where he studied ]. He soon returned to Wilno and enrolled with the ] at ].

Pilecki was forced to abandon his studies in 1924 due to both financial issues and the declining health of his father.<ref name="IPNweb"/> He remained active in the military as a member of the ] and served as a military instructor in ]. Pilecki later underwent ] at the Cavalry Reserve Officers' Training School in ].<ref name="IPNweb"/> Following his graduation, Pilecki was assigned to the 26th Lancer Regiment in July 1925 with the rank of '']'' (]). Pilecki would be promoted to '']'' (second lieutenant) the following year.<ref name="IPNweb"/>

In September 1926, Pilecki became the owner of his family's ancestral estate, ], in the ] of the ]. Pilecki rebuilt and modernized the property's ], which had been destroyed during ]. On 7 April 1931, he married Maria Pilecka (née Ostrowska; 1906{{spaced ndash}}6 February 2002), a local school teacher originally from ] (Narach, currently Belarus). They had two children, born in Wilno: Andrzej (16 January 1932) and Zofia (14 March 1933). Pilecki and his family would later take up residence at Sukurcze. Pilecki developed a reputation as a community leader, a prominent ]er and amateur painter. He was also a vigorous advocate of ], founding an ], heading the local ] and also serving as chairman of a local ] built in the district.<ref name="IPNweb" /> In 1932, Pilecki established a cavalry training school in ]. Shortly afterward he was appointed commander of the newly established ] ], a position he would hold until 1937, when this unit was absorbed into the ]. In 1938, Pilecki received the Silver ] for his community activism and his social work.<ref name="IPNweb" />


==World War II== ==World War II==
{{Polish Underground State sidebar}} {{Polish Underground State sidebar}}
Pilecki was mobilized as a cavalry platoon commander on 26 August 1939. He was assigned to the 19th Infantry Division under General Józef Kwaciszewski, part of the Polish Army Prusy,<ref name="IPNweb" /> and his unit took part in heavy fighting against the advancing Germans during the ]. The platoon was almost completely destroyed following a clash with the German forces on 10 September,<ref name="IPNweb" /> and it withdrew to the southeast toward ] (now L'viv in Ukraine) and the ]. It was incorporated into the ], in which Pilecki served as divisional second-in-command under Major ].<ref name="IPNweb" /> He and his men destroyed seven German tanks, shot down one aircraft, and destroyed two more on the ground.<ref>Beadle, Jeremy and Harrison, Ian (2008) ''Firsts, lasts & onlys: military''. Anova Books. {{ISBN|1-905798-06-7}}. p. 129.</ref><ref>Wysocki, Wiesław Jan (1994) ''Rotmistrz Pilecki''. "Gryf". {{ISBN|83-85521-23-2}}. p. 32.</ref> Pilecki was mobilized as a cavalry platoon commander on 26 August 1939. He was assigned to the 19th Infantry Division under General Józef Kwaciszewski, part of the Polish Army Prusy. He was then part of the ], in which Pilecki was second-in-command under cavalry commander Major ]. On September 22 Włodarkiewicz and Pilecki disobeyed orders to retreat through Romania to France, instead opting to stay in the underground in Poland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=283 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>

On 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland following the ]. After the fall of Warsaw on 27 September 1939, Pilecki and many of his men continued fighting as partisans. His division was disbanded on 17 October, with parts of it surrendering to the enemy.<ref name="IPNweb" />


===Polish resistance=== ===Polish resistance===


On 9 November 1939 in Warsaw, Major Włodarkiewicz, Second Lieutenant Pilecki, Second Lieutenant Jerzy Maringe, Jerzy Skoczyński, and the Jan and Stanisław Dangel brothers founded the ] (''Tajna Armia Polska'', TAP), one of the first underground organizations in Poland. TAP was based on ideological Christian values.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=283 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref> Pilecki was organisational inspector and Chief of Staff in TAP from 25 November 1939 until May 1940. From August 1940 he was in charge of the 1st branch (organizational and mobilization).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=286 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
Pilecki went into hiding in Warsaw with his commander Major Włodarkiewicz.<ref name="IPNweb" /> On 9 November 1939, the two men founded the ] (''Tajna Armia Polska'', TAP), one of the first underground organizations in Poland.<ref name="IPNweb" /><ref name="l389">{{harvnb|Lewis|1999|p=389}}</ref> Włodarkiewicz became its leader, while Pilecki became organizational commander of TAP as it expanded to cover Warsaw, ], ], ], and other major cities in central Poland.<ref name="IPNweb"/> To maintain his cover, Pilecki worked as a manager of a cosmetics storehouse.<ref name="IPNweb" />


Though some TAP members were arrested, these were mainly from accidental unmaskings through August 1940. However in September 1940 arrests were made due the organization being infiltrated by informer Borys Pilnik. Towards the end of August 1940, after the arrest of two leaders of TAP (Doctor Dering and Lieutenant Colonel Surmacki), Włodarkiewicz called a meeting in which was proposed a TAP member would infiltrate Auschwitz. Pilecki was urged by his superior to take this task.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=284-287 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
While Pilecki wanted to avert a religious mission so as not to alienate potential allies, Włodarkiewicz blamed Poland's defeat on its failure to create a Catholic nation and wanted to remake the country by appealing to right-wing groups.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 65.</ref> In the spring of 1940, Pilecki saw that Włodarkiewicz was "flirting with ] views"<ref>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 75.</ref> and had put ] dogma into their newsletter, ''Znak''; Włodarkiewicz had also entered talks about a union with the far-right underground including a group that had offered Nazi Germany a Polish puppet government.<ref name=f78>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 78.</ref> To stop him, Pilecki went to Colonel ], the chief of TAP's rival resistance group, the ] (ZWZ), which called for equal rights for Jews and was focused on intelligence gathering of German atrocities and delivering it by courier missions to the Western Allies in an attempt to gain their involvement. The ZWZ had alerted the ] that the Germans were inciting Polish racial hatred as a diversion from their own crimes, and that a Polish ] could emerge as a result.<ref name=f78/>

Pilecki called for TAP to submit to Rowecki's authority, but Włodarkiewicz refused and issued a manifesto that the future Poland had to be Christian, based on national identity, and that those who opposed the idea should be "removed from our lands."<ref name=f82>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 82.</ref> Pilecki refused to swear the proposed oath.<ref name=Fleming>{{cite journal |last1=Fleming |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Fleming (historian) |title=The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz: by Jack Fairweather (London: WH Allen, 2019), 505 pages |journal=Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs |date=2019 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=289–294 |doi=10.1080/23739770.2019.1673981}}</ref> In August, Włodarkiewicz announced at a TAP meeting that after all they would join the mainstream underground with Rowecki – and that Pilecki had been nominated to go to Auschwitz.<ref name=f85>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 85.</ref> Włodarkiewicz said it was not an order but an invitation to volunteer, but Pilecki saw it as a punishment for refusing to back his ideology. Nevertheless, he agreed.<ref name=f85/>


===Auschwitz=== ===Auschwitz===
] documented by the ], addressed to the wartime allies of the United Nations, 1942]]
{{main|Witold's Report}} {{main|Witold's Report}}

In 1940, Pilecki presented a plan to his superiors to enter Germany's ] at ] to gather intelligence on the camp from the inside and organize inmate resistance.<ref name="l389" /> Little was known about how the Germans ran 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 with a false identity card in the name of "Tomasz Serafiński".<ref name="l390">{{harvnb|Lewis|1999|p=390}}</ref> He went out during a Warsaw street roundup on 19 September 1940 <ref>{{cite web |title=Meet The Man Who Sneaked Into Auschwitz |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129956107 |website=NPR.org |access-date=17 September 2020 |language=en |date=18 September 2010 |quote=Pilecki was eventually cleared to insert himself into a street round-up of Poles in Warsaw on Sept. 19, 1940. Upon arrival, he learned Auschwitz was far from anything the Resistance had imagined.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ackerman |first1=Elliot |title=The Remarkable Story of the Man Who Volunteered to Enter Auschwitz and Try to Tell the World About It |url=https://time.com/5635746/the-remarkable-story-of-the-man-who-volunteered-to-enter-auschwitz-and-tell-the-world-about-it/ |website=Time |access-date=17 September 2020 |date=26 July 2019 |quote=Witold Pilecki, a Polish cavalry officer turned resistance fighter, undertook the most audacious of missions: to get himself arrested by the Germans and sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. On September 19, 1940, he went out during a Warsaw street round up and was arrested. He was also successful in the mission that followed: to sabotage the camp and smuggle news to the world through Polish resistance networks of the atrocities occurring within. Only the world wasn’t ready to listen.}}</ref> and was caught by the Germans along with 2,000 civilians, including ].<ref name="l390" /> He was detained for two days in the Light Horse Guards Barracks, where prisoners suffered beatings with rubber truncheons,<ref name="Pilecki 2012 460">{{cite book|last=Pilecki|first=Witold|title=The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery|year=2012|publisher=Aquila Polonica (US) Ltd|location=USA|isbn=978-1-60772-010-2|page=460}}</ref> then he was sent to Auschwitz where he was assigned inmate number 4859.<ref name="l390" /> During his imprisonment, Pilecki was promoted by the Home Army to the rank of ''Porucznik'' (first lieutenant).<ref name="IPNweb" />
Pilecki was one of 2000 men arrested on 19 September 1940. Pilecki used the identity documents of Tomasz Serafiński, who was assumed dead by mistake. He was caught at the flat of Eleonora Ostrowska at Wojska Polskiego Street. Along with 1705 other prisoners he reached Auschwitz between 21-22 September 1944 an d was assigned prisoner number 4859 under the name of Serafiński. In autumn 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant by his superiors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=286-294 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>


] ]
Pilecki organized the underground ] (ZOW) at Auschwitz while working in various kommandos and surviving pneumonia.<ref name="IPNweb" /><ref name="w1">{{harvnb|Wyman|1976|p=1168}}</ref> Many smaller ] eventually merged with ZOW.<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="Foot"/> ZOW's tasks were to improve inmate morale, provide 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 ] based in Britain.<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="w1" /> Pilecki organized the underground ] (ZOW) at Auschwitz while working in the camp. ZOW's tasks were to improve inmate morale, provide 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 ZOW was organized along secret cells of five.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=294 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>


ZOW provided the Polish underground with invaluable information about the camp;<ref name="w1" /> they sent reports to Warsaw from October 1940,<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|1999|p=393}}</ref> and the reports were forwarded via the Polish resistance to the British government in London beginning in March 1941.<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|1999|p=394}}</ref> In 1942, Pilecki's resistance movement was also broadcasting details on the number of arrivals and deaths in the camp and the conditions of the inmates using a radio transmitter that was built by camp inmates. The secret radio station was built over seven months using smuggled parts; it was broadcasting from the camp until the autumn of 1942, when it was dismantled by Pilecki's men after concerns that the Germans might discover its location because of "one of our fellows' big mouth".<ref name="Pilecki 2012 460"/>


During his time in the camp, Pilecki prepared reports and sent them to the main command of the ]. None of these reports have survived, and it is unclear to what extant they were used by the main command. Pilecki urged his superiors to grant permission for ZOW to fight for the liberation of the camp, however these pleas were met with silence. This disappointment led to Pilecki deciding to escape. <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=296 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
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 that the Home Army would organize an assault on it from outside.<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="Foot">{{harvnb|Foot|2003|pp=117–126}}</ref> Meanwhile, the Camp Gestapo under SS-Untersturmführer ] redoubled its efforts to ferret out ZOW members, killing many of them.<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref>Garlinski, Jozef (1975) ''Fighting Auschwitz: the Resistance Movement in the Concentration Camp''. Fawcett. {{ISBN|0-904014-09-6}}. pp. 191–197.</ref> Pilecki decided to break out of the camp with the hope of convincing Home Army leaders personally that a rescue attempt was a valid option.


===Escape=== ===Escape===
On the night of 26–27 April 1943 Pilecki was assigned to a night shift at a camp bakery outside the fence, and he and two comrades managed to force open a metal door. The left the SS guards in the woodshed, barricaded from outside. Before escaping they cut an alarm wire. They headed east, and crossed into the ] after several hours.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=296 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>

Pilecki was assigned to a night shift at a camp bakery outside the fence, and he and two comrades overpowered a guard, cut the telephone line, and escaped on the night of 26–27 April 1943, taking with them documents stolen from the Germans.<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|1999|p=399}}</ref> The men fled on foot to the village of ] where they were helped by a priest, and then on to ] where locals assisted them. After that, they reached the Polish resistance ] near ], owned, coincidentally, by commander Tomasz Serafiński—the very man whose identity Pilecki had adopted for his cover in Auschwitz.<ref name="Jack Fairweather 2019">{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}} At one point during the journey, German soldiers attempted to stop Pilecki, firing at him as he fled; several bullets passed through his clothing, while one wounded him without hitting either bones or vital organs.<ref name="Jack Fairweather 2019"/>{{page needed|date=September 2020}}


===Outside the camp=== ===Outside the camp===


During June 1943, in Nowy Wiśnicz, Pilecki drafted his first informal report covering the situation in Auschwitz. However this report was buried at the farm he was staying, and was only revealed after his death. In August 1943, already in Warsaw, Pilecki started preparing ] (''Rapport W''), which focused on the Auschwitz underground. The report covers three main topics: ZOW and its members, Pilecki's experiences, and to a lesser extent a description of the extermination of prisoners, including Jews. Pilecki's intent in writing the report was to convince the Home Army command to liberate the prisoners in the camp, however the Home Army command rejected this proposal since the resistance in the camp lacked basic fighting equipment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=297-300 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
After several days as a fugitive, Pilecki made contact with units of the ].<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="Foot"/> On 25 August 1943, Pilecki reached Warsaw and was attached to ] (intelligence and counter-intelligence) of the ]. After losing several operatives reconnoitering the vicinity of Auschwitz, including the ] Stefan Jasieński, it was decided that the Home Army lacked sufficient strength to liberate the camp without Allied help.<ref name="w1"/> Pilecki's detailed report (''Raport Witolda'' – ]) estimated that "By March 1943 the number of people gassed on arrival reached 1.5 million", which was remarkably accurate considering post-war estimates suggest 1.1&nbsp;million people died in Auschwitz during the war.<ref>{{cite news|title=Raport "W" Witolda Pileckiego AD1943|url=http://www.polandpolska.org/dokumenty/witold/raport-witolda-w.htm|publisher=polandpolska.org|language=pl|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref>


On 19 Feburary 1944 he was promoted to captain of cavalry ('']'').<--the promotion was backdated to 11 November 1943, but was from 1944--><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=294 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref> Pilecki was involved in the Home Army ] unit and joined a secret anti-communist organization, ]. He fought in the ], and after its fall was captured and taken prisoner by the Germans. He survived until liberation in 1945 at ] in Bavaria.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=300 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
On 11 November 1943, Pilecki was promoted to '']'' (cavalry captain) and joined a secret anti-communist organization, ] (both the Polish word for "no" and short for ''niepodległość'' "independence"), formed as a clandestine unit within the Home Army with the goal of preparing resistance against a possible Soviet occupation.<ref name="IPNweb"/> The ], despite being within attacking distance of the camp, showed no interest in a joint effort with the Home Army and the ZOW to free it.<ref name="w2">{{harvnb|Wyman|1976|p=1169}}</ref> Until he became involved in the ], Pilecki remained in charge of coordinating ZOW and AK activities and provided what limited support he was able to offer to ZOW.<ref name="IPNweb"/>

In Auschwitz, Pilecki had met the author ], whose Jewish wife, Barbara, was hiding in Warsaw. The Newerlys had been working with ] to try to save Jewish lives. Pilecki gave Mrs. Newerly money from the Polish resistance that she passed on to several Jewish families whom she and her husband protected. He also gave her money to pay off her own '']'', or blackmailer, who said he was Jewish and threatened to report her to the Gestapo.<ref name="The Volunteer:The true Story of the">{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 534.</ref> The blackmailer disappeared, and it has been said that "it is likely that Witold arranged for his execution".<ref>{{cite book|author=Jack Fairweather|title=The Volunteer:The true Story of the Resistance Hero Who infiltrated Auschwitz|publisher=WH Allen|place=London|date= 2019|isbn= 978-0753545164|author-link=Jack Fairweather (writer)}} p. 490.</ref>

==Warsaw Uprising==

When the ] broke out on 1 August 1944, Pilecki volunteered for service with ]'s ]. At first, Pilecki served as a common soldier in the northern city center, without revealing his rank to his superiors.<ref name="IPNweb"/> Later, after many officers were killed in the fierce fighting that occurred during the early days of the uprising, Pilecki disclosed his true identity to his superiors and accepted command of the 1st "Warszawianka" Company located in ] in downtown Warsaw. Pilecki fought under the ] "Captain Roman".<ref name="IPNweb"/>

After the capitulation of the uprising, Pilecki hid a cache of weapons in a private apartment and surrendered to the ] on 5 October 1944. He was sent to Germany and imprisoned at ], a prisoner-of-war camp near ], ]. He was later transferred to ] in ], ] where he was eventually liberated by troops of the ] on 28 April 1945.<ref name="IPNweb"/>


==Communist Poland== ==Communist Poland==
] (1947)]] ] (1947)]]
In July 1945, Pilecki left Murnau and was reassigned to the ] division of the ] under General ] in ], ]. While stationed there, Pilecki began writing a ] on his experiences at Auschwitz.<ref name="IPNweb"/>

In October 1945, as relations between the ] and the ] of ] deteriorated, Pilecki was ordered by General Anders and his intelligence chief, Lt. Colonel ], to return to Poland and report on the prevailing military and political situation under ].<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="Foot"/>

Pilecki arrived in Warsaw in December 1945 and proceeded to begin organizing an ], which included several wartime associates from ] and the ] (TAP).<ref name="tch"/><ref name="IPNweb"/>

To maintain his cover identity, Pilecki lived under various assumed names and changed jobs frequently. He would work as a jewelry salesman, a ] painter, and as night manager of a construction warehouse. Nevertheless, Pilecki was informed in July 1946 that his identity had been uncovered by the ]. He was ordered to leave the country, but he refused to do so.<ref name="IPNweb"/>

Pilecki provided Anders and the Polish government-in-exile with an intelligence report on the ]; he referred to it as "a tragedy" in which a Polish mob and local officials murdered 37 Jews.<ref name="The Volunteer:The true Story of the"/>

===Arrest and execution===
] ]
] ]
] ]
In July 1945, Pilecki left Murnau and was reassigned to the ] division of the ] under General ] in ], ]. By December 1945 he was sent back to Warsaw with the mission of gathering intelligence for II Corps.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=300 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref> As NIE had been disbanded, Pilecki recruited former ZOW and TAP members. Pilecki was arrested on 8 May 1947 by the communist authorities, and despires pleas for pardon writtent to president ], he was exeucted on 25 May 1948.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=300 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref>
Pilecki was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Public Security on 8 May 1947,<ref name="IPNweb"/> Pilecki sought to protect other prisoners and revealed no sensitive information.<ref name="IPNweb"/>


A show trial took place on 3 March 1948,<ref>].</ref> and testimony against Pilecki was presented by future Polish prime minister ], also an Auschwitz survivor. Pilecki was charged with illegal border crossing, use of forged documents, not enlisting with the military, carrying illegal arms, espionage for General ], espionage for "foreign imperialism" (government-in-exile),<ref name="tch"/> and planning to assassinate several officials of the Ministry of Public Security of Poland. Pilecki denied the assassination charges, as well as espionage, although he admitted to passing information to the ], of which he considered himself an officer and thus claimed that he was not breaking any laws. He pleaded guilty to the other charges. He was sentenced to death on 15 May with three of his comrades, and he was executed with a shot to the back of the head at the ] in Warsaw on 25 May 1948.<ref name="eh"/>

{{Quote|text=I've been trying to live my life so that in the hour of my death I would rather feel joy, than fear.|sign=Pilecki after the announcement of the death sentence|source=Bartłomiej Kuraś, Witold Pilecki – w Auschwitzu z własnej woli, "Ale Historia", in '']'', 22 April 2013.}}

Pilecki's place of burial has never been found, but is thought to be somewhere within Warsaw's ].<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="Wyborcza">{{in lang|pl}} Gazeta Wyborcza, PAP, 23 May 2008.</ref> After the fall of Communism in Poland, a cenotaph was erected in his memory at ] Cemetery. In 2012, Powązki Cemetery was partially excavated in an effort to find his remains.<ref>Puhl, Jan. (9 August 2012) . Spiegel.de. Retrieved on 19 September 2015.</ref>


==Legacy== ==Legacy==
] ]


From the 1990s, following the fall of Polish communism, Pilecki was rehabilitated and has been the subject of popularised myth making by state institutions, NGOs, and even football fans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz”|journal=Holocaust Studies and Materials |date=2017 |volume=4 |pages=281-301 |url=https://zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/download/720/679}}</ref> In line with the ], this was further emphasized.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piątek |first1=Katarzyna |title=Memory politicized. Polish media and politics of memory-case studies. |journal=I SPOŁECZEŃSTWO |date=2016 |issue=6 |pages=72-73 |url=http://www.mediaispoleczenstwo.ath.bielsko.pl/art/06/06_baldys_piatek.pdf}}</ref>
Pilecki and all others sentenced in the show trial were rehabilitated in September 1990.<ref name="IPNweb" /> He was awarded the ] in 1995, and he received the ] in 2006, the highest Polish decoration.<ref name="IPNweb"/><ref name="Wyborcza"/> On 6 September 2013, he was promoted to Colonel by the Minister of National Defence.<ref name=rmf24>{{cite web|title=MON awansował Witolda Pileckiego|url=http://www.rmf24.pl/fakty/polska/news-mon-awansowal-witolda-pileckiego,nId,1022059|publisher=RMF FM/PAP|access-date=10 October 2013|language=pl|date=6 September 2013}}</ref>


Pilecki's granddaughter has spoken out against the usurpation of his memory, stating:<blockquote>“I find it outrageous that recently the political and national groups use the profile and biography of my grandfather to their own individual aims and games. Captain Witold Pilecki did not serve divided Poland but Poland which was free of prejudices, divisions and hatred. Witold did not categorize people based on their worldview and religion, he did not exclude anybody. He was a man of great faith in God and human. (…) Patriotism and nationalism are the opposites! A patriot wants 25 all the best for his country while a nationalist wants all the best for himself ..."</blockquote><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piątek |first1=Katarzyna |title=Memory politicized. Polish media and politics of memory-case studies. |journal=I SPOŁECZEŃSTWO |date=2016 |issue=6 |pages=72-73 |url=http://www.mediaispoleczenstwo.ath.bielsko.pl/art/06/06_baldys_piatek.pdf}}</ref>
Films about Pilecki include ''Śmierć rotmistrza Pileckiego'' (The Death of Captain Pilecki, 2006) starring Marek Probosz,<ref>. FilmPolski.pl. Retrieved on 19 September 2015.</ref> ''Pilecki'' (2015) starring Mateusz Bieryt,<ref>{{cite web |title=Pilecki (2015) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5145444/ |publisher=IMDb}}</ref> and the documentaries ''Against the Odds: Resistance in Nazi Concentration Camps'' (2004)<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624035840/http://www.capitaljfilms.com/products/against-the-odds/ |date=24 June 2015 }}, Capitaljfilms.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.</ref> and ''Heroes of War: Poland'' (2014) produced by Sky Vision for the History Channel UK.<ref>. Realscreen (25 April 2013). Retrieved 19 September 2015.</ref> A number of books have been written about him, and his comprehensive 1945 report on his undercover mission at Auschwitz was published in English in 2012 under the title ''The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery |first=Witold |last=Pilecki |author-link=Witold Pilecki |translator-first=Jarek |translator-last=Garlinski |publisher=Aquila Polonica |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-60772-009-6}}</ref> '']'' called it "a historical document of the greatest importance".<ref name="Were We All People?"/>

Pilecki is the subject of ]'s 2019 book entitled ''].''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/in-pileckis-footsteps-the-story-behind-the-book-the-volunteer-6661 |title=In Pilecki's footsteps: the story behind the book 'The Volunteer' |access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref>

The song "Inmate 4859" by Swedish ] band ] is about Pilecki.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/sabaton/status/1132239925527621632?lang=en|title=Today we honour the death of Witold Pilecki, the only known voluntary inmate of Auschwitz, who spent two and a half years gathering intelligence from within the camp. He was Inmate 4859|last=Sabaton|date=25 May 2019|website=@sabaton|access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref>

==Polish Army career summary==
* ] ('']'') from July 1925
* ] ('']'') from 1926
* ] ('']'') from 1941 (promoted while at ])
* ] ('']'') from 23 February 1944 (with seniority from 1943)<ref name="IPNweb"/>
* ] ('']'') from 6 September 2013 (posthumously)<ref name=rmf24/>


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===

* {{Citation |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=Rising '44: "The Battle for Warsaw" |publisher=Pan Books |year=2004 |isbn=0-333-90568-7}}
* {{Citation|last=Foot|first=Michael Richard Daniell|title=Six Faces of Courage: Secret agents against Nazi tyranny |chapter=Witold Pilecki|year=2003|publisher=Leo Cooper|isbn=0-413-39430-1}}
* {{Citation|last=Garliński|first=Józef |title=Fighting Auschwitz: The Resistance Movement in the Concentration Camp |chapter=Witold Pilecki|year=1975|publisher=Julian Friedmann Publishers|isbn=0-904014-09-6}}
* {{Citation|last=Lewis|first=Jon E.|title=The Mammoth Book of True War Stories|year=1999|publisher=]|isbn=0-7867-0629-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-S_7VlBe8tAJ2eCpc}}
* {{Citation |last=Patricelli |first=Marco |title=Il volontario |language=it |trans-title=The Volunteer |publisher=Laterza |year=2010 |isbn=978-88-420-9188-2}}
* {{Citation|last=Piekarski|first=Konstanty R.|title=Escaping Hell: The Story of a Polish Underground Officer in Auschwitz and Buchenwald|year=1990|publisher=] Ltd.|isbn=1-55002-071-4}}
* {{Citation|last=Staff correspondent|date=5 March 1948|title=Polish Left-Wing Relations: No Fusion as Yet|work=The Times |location=London |page=3}}
* {{Citation|last=Tchorek|first=Kamil|date=12 March 2009|title=Double life of Witold Pilecki, the Auschwitz volunteer who uncovered Holocaust secrets|work=The Times |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5891132.ece|access-date=16 March 2009 }}
* {{Citation|doi=10.2307/1853043|last=Wyman|first=David S.|s2cid=159644414|title=Review: Jozef Garlinski. ''Fighting Auschwitz: The Resistance Movement in the Concentration Camp''|periodical=American Historical Review|volume=81|issue=5|date=December 1976|publisher=American Historical Association|issn=0002-8762|pages=1168–1169|jstor=1853043}}
==Further reading==

* Ciesielski E. ''Wspomnienia Oświęcimskie'' . Kraków: 1968.
* ]. ''Ochotnik do Auschwitz – Witold Pilecki 1901–1948'' . Oświęcim: 2000. {{ISBN|83-912000-3-5}}
* Cyra, Adam. ''Spadochroniarz Urban'' . Oświęcim: 2005.
* Cyra, Adam and Wiesław Jan Wysocki. ''Rotmistrz Witold Pilecki''. Oficyna Wydawnicza VOLUMEN, 1997. {{ISBN|83-86857-27-7}}
* ], '']'', Custom House, 2019. About Witold Pilecki.
* "Journalist ] recounts the efforts of Witold Pilecki, a member of the Polish resistance during ], who volunteererd to be deliberately captured and sent to ] in order to sabotage the Nazis' operations." (Documentary.) Interviewed by ]. Video provided by ], ]. ] ], broadcast 30 June 2020. Rebroadcast 9 August 2020.
* Gawron, W. ''Ochotnik do Oświęcimia'' . Calvarianum: Auschwitz Museum, 1992.
* Pilecki, W. (Translated by Jarek Garlinski) ''The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery''. ], 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-60772-010-2|978-1-60772-009-6}}
* ''"Rotmistrz Pilecki bohaterem popularnej audycji w kanadyjskim radiu"'' ("Captain Pilecki, hero of a popular Canadian radio program"), '']'', vol. 110, no. 20 (28 September 2019), p.&nbsp;21.
* Wysocki, Wiesław Jan. ''] Pilecki''. Pomost, 1994. {{ISBN|83-85209-42-5}}
* Adam J. Koch. Freedom Publishing Books, Melbourne Australia, 2018 {{ISBN|978-0-64823-035-9}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Cuber-Strutyńska |first1=Ewa |title=Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz” |journal=Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały |date=2017 |issue=Holocaust Studies and Materials |pages=281–301 |doi=10.32927/zzsim.720|doi-access=free }}


==External links== ==External links==

Revision as of 10:41, 14 February 2021

Polish soldier

Witold Pilecki
Pilecki in a colorized pre-1939 photograph
Born(1901-05-13)13 May 1901
Olonets, Olonetsky Uyezd, Olonets Governorate, Russian Empire
Died25 May 1948(1948-05-25) (aged 47)
Mokotów Prison, Warsaw, Poland
BuriedUnknown; possibly in Powązki Military Cemetery or Mokotów Prison
AllegianceSecond Polish Republic; Polish Government in Exile
Years of service1918–1947
RankCaptain, Cavalry master
CommandsCommander of the 1st Lidsky Squadron (1932–1937)
Battles / warsPolish–Soviet War

Polish-Lithuanian War

World War II

Awards
Alma materUniversity of Poznań, Faculty of Agriculture (1922) Stefan Batory University, Faculty of Fine Arts (1922–1924)
Spouse(s) Maria Ostrowska ​(m. 1931)​
Children2

Witold Pilecki (13 May 1901 – 25 May 1948; Template:IPA-pol; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a Polish cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader. He was also a co-founder of the Secret Polish Army resistance group during World War II. After a disagreement with his superior, in 1940 he infiltrated Auschwitz concentration camp and organized resistance activities there. He is the author of Witold's Report, an intelligence report on Auschwitz.

Following the fall of Polish communism, from the 1990s Pilecki has been the subject of popularised myth making by state institutions, NGOs, and even football fans. In line with the historical policy of the post-2015 Polish government, this was further emphasized.

Early life

Witold Pilecki was born on 13 May 1901 in the town of Olonets, Karelia, in the Russian Empire. His ancestors were deported to Russia due to their participation in the January Uprising of 1863–1864. Witold was one of five children of forest inspector Julian Pilecki and Ludwika Osiecimska. In 1910 Witold moved with his mother and siblings to Wilno to receive a Polish education, while his father remained in Olonets. During his time in WIlno, Pilecki joined the secret ZHP Scouts organization. During the First World War he was part of the Wilno self defence force.

Polish–Soviet War and later career

As a cavalyman, Pilecki foguht in the Battle of Grodno and the Battle of Warsaw of the Polish–Soviet War. When the war with the Soviets ended he completed his school examinations while continuing his military service. In 1926 he was promoted to reserve second lieutenant (seniority from 1923).

In September 1926, Pilecki became the owner of his family's ancestral estate, Sukurcze, in the Lida district of the Nowogródek Voivodeship. In 1931, he married Maria Ostrowska. They had two children, born in Wilno: Andrzej (16 January 1932) and Zofia (14 March 1933). Pilecki was active in the local community, he was the chairman of a dairy and founded a famrer's association. He also organized Krakus Military Horsemen Training, and was appointed to command the 1st Lida Military Training Squadron, which as placed under the Polish 19th Infantry Division in 1937. In 1938, Pilecki received the Silver Cross of Merit for his activism.

World War II

Part of a series on the
Polish
Underground State
Parasol Regiment, Warsaw, 1944History of Poland 1939–1945
Authorities
Political organizations
Major parties
Minor parties
Opposition
Military organizations
Home Army (AK)
Mostly integrated
with Armed Resistance and Home Army
Partially integrated
with Armed Resistance and Home Army
Non-integrated but recognizing
authority of Armed Resistance and Home Army
Opposition
Related topics

Pilecki was mobilized as a cavalry platoon commander on 26 August 1939. He was assigned to the 19th Infantry Division under General Józef Kwaciszewski, part of the Polish Army Prusy. He was then part of the 41st Infantry Division, in which Pilecki was second-in-command under cavalry commander Major Jan Włodarkiewicz. On September 22 Włodarkiewicz and Pilecki disobeyed orders to retreat through Romania to France, instead opting to stay in the underground in Poland.

Polish resistance

On 9 November 1939 in Warsaw, Major Włodarkiewicz, Second Lieutenant Pilecki, Second Lieutenant Jerzy Maringe, Jerzy Skoczyński, and the Jan and Stanisław Dangel brothers founded the Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska, TAP), one of the first underground organizations in Poland. TAP was based on ideological Christian values. Pilecki was organisational inspector and Chief of Staff in TAP from 25 November 1939 until May 1940. From August 1940 he was in charge of the 1st branch (organizational and mobilization).

Though some TAP members were arrested, these were mainly from accidental unmaskings through August 1940. However in September 1940 arrests were made due the organization being infiltrated by informer Borys Pilnik. Towards the end of August 1940, after the arrest of two leaders of TAP (Doctor Dering and Lieutenant Colonel Surmacki), Włodarkiewicz called a meeting in which was proposed a TAP member would infiltrate Auschwitz. Pilecki was urged by his superior to take this task.

Auschwitz

Main article: Witold's Report

Pilecki was one of 2000 men arrested on 19 September 1940. Pilecki used the identity documents of Tomasz Serafiński, who was assumed dead by mistake. He was caught at the flat of Eleonora Ostrowska at Wojska Polskiego Street. Along with 1705 other prisoners he reached Auschwitz between 21-22 September 1944 an d was assigned prisoner number 4859 under the name of Serafiński. In autumn 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant by his superiors.

Auschwitz concentration camp photographs of Pilecki (1941)

Pilecki organized the underground Union of Military Organizations (ZOW) at Auschwitz while working in the camp. ZOW's tasks were to improve inmate morale, provide 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 ZOW was organized along secret cells of five.


During his time in the camp, Pilecki prepared reports and sent them to the main command of the Home Army. None of these reports have survived, and it is unclear to what extant they were used by the main command. Pilecki urged his superiors to grant permission for ZOW to fight for the liberation of the camp, however these pleas were met with silence. This disappointment led to Pilecki deciding to escape.

Escape

On the night of 26–27 April 1943 Pilecki was assigned to a night shift at a camp bakery outside the fence, and he and two comrades managed to force open a metal door. The left the SS guards in the woodshed, barricaded from outside. Before escaping they cut an alarm wire. They headed east, and crossed into the General Government after several hours.

Outside the camp

During June 1943, in Nowy Wiśnicz, Pilecki drafted his first informal report covering the situation in Auschwitz. However this report was buried at the farm he was staying, and was only revealed after his death. In August 1943, already in Warsaw, Pilecki started preparing Witold's Report (Rapport W), which focused on the Auschwitz underground. The report covers three main topics: ZOW and its members, Pilecki's experiences, and to a lesser extent a description of the extermination of prisoners, including Jews. Pilecki's intent in writing the report was to convince the Home Army command to liberate the prisoners in the camp, however the Home Army command rejected this proposal since the resistance in the camp lacked basic fighting equipment.

On 19 Feburary 1944 he was promoted to captain of cavalry (Rotmistrz).<--the promotion was backdated to 11 November 1943, but was from 1944--> Pilecki was involved in the Home Army Kedyw unit and joined a secret anti-communist organization, NIE. He fought in the Warsaw Uprising, and after its fall was captured and taken prisoner by the Germans. He survived until liberation in 1945 at Oflag VII-A in Bavaria.

Communist Poland

Photographs of Pilecki from Mokotów Prison (1947)
Pilecki in court (1948)
Trial of Pilecki (1948)
Show trial of Pilecki (1948)

In July 1945, Pilecki left Murnau and was reassigned to the military intelligence division of the Polish II Corps under General Władysław Anders in Ancona, Italy. By December 1945 he was sent back to Warsaw with the mission of gathering intelligence for II Corps. As NIE had been disbanded, Pilecki recruited former ZOW and TAP members. Pilecki was arrested on 8 May 1947 by the communist authorities, and despires pleas for pardon writtent to president Bolesław Bierut, he was exeucted on 25 May 1948.


Legacy

Witold Pilecki memorial plaque in Warsaw

From the 1990s, following the fall of Polish communism, Pilecki was rehabilitated and has been the subject of popularised myth making by state institutions, NGOs, and even football fans. In line with the historical policy of the post-2015 Polish government, this was further emphasized.

Pilecki's granddaughter has spoken out against the usurpation of his memory, stating:

“I find it outrageous that recently the political and national groups use the profile and biography of my grandfather to their own individual aims and games. Captain Witold Pilecki did not serve divided Poland but Poland which was free of prejudices, divisions and hatred. Witold did not categorize people based on their worldview and religion, he did not exclude anybody. He was a man of great faith in God and human. (…) Patriotism and nationalism are the opposites! A patriot wants 25 all the best for his country while a nationalist wants all the best for himself ..."

References

  1. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 281–301.
  2. Fleming, Michael (2019). "The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz: by Jack Fairweather (London: WH Allen, 2019), 505 pages". Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. 13 (2): 289–294. doi:10.1080/23739770.2019.1673981.
  3. Paliwoda, D. (2013). "Captain Witold Pilecki". Military Review. 93 (6): 88–96 – via ProQuest.
  4. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 281–301.
  5. Piątek, Katarzyna (2016). "Memory politicized. Polish media and politics of memory-case studies" (PDF). I SPOŁECZEŃSTWO (6): 72–73.
  6. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 282.
  7. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 282–283.
  8. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 282–283.
  9. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 283.
  10. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 283.
  11. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 286.
  12. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 284–287.
  13. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 286–294.
  14. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 294.
  15. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 296.
  16. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 296.
  17. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 297–300.
  18. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 294.
  19. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 300.
  20. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 300.
  21. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 300.
  22. Cuber-Strutyńska, Ewa (2017). "Witold Pilecki. Confronting the legend of the "volunteer to Auschwitz"". Holocaust Studies and Materials. 4: 281–301.
  23. Piątek, Katarzyna (2016). "Memory politicized. Polish media and politics of memory-case studies" (PDF). I SPOŁECZEŃSTWO (6): 72–73.
  24. Piątek, Katarzyna (2016). "Memory politicized. Polish media and politics of memory-case studies" (PDF). I SPOŁECZEŃSTWO (6): 72–73.

External links

Home Army (Armia Krajowa)
Main articles
Polish resistance movement in World War II
Polish Underground State
Operations
Uprisings and battles
Underground, field,
and espionage
Propaganda
Directorates
Political
Personnel, emblems and decorations
Commanders
Senior officers and
prominent members
Membership lists
Emblems and
decorations
Units, affiliates, and predecessors
Headquarters and Directorates
Combat units
Warsaw commands
Other
Predecessors
Affiliates
Successors
Opponents and rivals
Opponents
Rivals
Related articles
The Holocaust in Poland
Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Holocaust in German-occupied Poland
Main article
The Holocaust
Related articles by country
Belarus
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Latvia
Lithuania
Norway
Romania
Russia
Slovakia
Ukraine
Camps, ghettos, execution sites and attacks
Camps
Extermination
Concentration
Mass shootings
Pogroms
Ghettos
Other atrocities
Perpetrators, participants, organizations, and collaborators
Perpetrators
Organizers
Camp command
Gas chamber
executioners
Physicians
Ghetto command
Einsatzgruppen
Personnel
Camp guards
By camp
Organizations
Collaboration
Resistance, victims, documentation and technical
Organizations
Uprisings
Leaders
Victim lists
Ghettos
Camps
Documentation
Nazi sources
Witness accounts
Concealment
Technical and logistics
Aftermath, trials and commemoration
Aftermath
Trials
West German trials
Polish, East German, and Soviet trials
Memorials
Righteous Among the Nations
Categories: