On September 19, 1940, Witold Pilecki, a soldier in the Polish Secret Army, allowed himself to be arrested during a “łapanka”, a roundup of Polish civilians by German occupation forces, in Warsaw’s Zoliborz district, in order to to infiltrate the German concentration camp Auschwitz, organize a resistance movement there and conduct intelligence activities.
During his time in Auschwitz, Pilecki collected information about, among other things, the extermination of Jews. He was the author of the world’s first reports on the Holocaust, the so-called Pilecki Reports, revealing the German crimes.
On September 19, 1940, the Germans organized a large roundup of Polish citizens in the Żoliborz, Grochów, and Mokotów districts. At the time, Pilecki was staying in an apartment on Wojska Polskiego Avenue. He allowed himself to be captured by the Germans and, posing as Tomasz Serafiński on the night of September 21-22, 1940, he was sent to Auschwitz, where he remained for nearly three years.
On September 19, 1940, the Germans organized a large roundup of Polish citizens in the Żoliborz, Grochów, and Mokotów districts. At the time, Pilecki was staying in an apartment on Wojska Polskiego Avenue. He allowed himself to be captured by the Germans and, posing as Tomasz Serafiński on the night of September 21-22, 1940, he was sent to Auschwitz, where he remained for nearly three years.
Pilecki's goal was to unite all the underground groups and prepare an uprising. In April of 1943, he decided to attempt an escape in order to mobilize the command in Warsaw for action.#OTD in 1940, the Germans organized one of the biggest roundups in occupied Warsaw. Over 2,000 Polish men were arrested for forced labor.
— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) September 19, 2023
Among them was Witold Pilecki, who allowed himself to be captured to infiltrate KL Auschwitz.
He was sent there a few days later. pic.twitter.com/X4dTfYizAM
He escaped from the camp in April 1943, and later he was active in the Polish underground and took part in the Warsaw Uprising.
Witold Pilecki was a soldier in the Home Army, and after the war he was one of the so-called “Indomitable Soldiers”, fighting in the independence underground. Arrested by the security police in 1947, he was accused by the communist authorities of spying. He was sentenced to death in a show trial and executed in a prison in Warsaw’s Mokotow district on May 25, 1948. To this day his body has not been found.
After exhumations in 2012, it was determined that he was buried in a mass grave in the Łączka quarters at Warsaw’s Powązki cemetery. Search work continues.
Pilecki’s conviction was overturned in 1990, by the Supreme Military Court. He was also posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle in 2006 and promoted to the rank of colonel in 2013.
Witold Pilecki was a soldier in the Home Army, and after the war he was one of the so-called “Indomitable Soldiers”, fighting in the independence underground. Arrested by the security police in 1947, he was accused by the communist authorities of spying. He was sentenced to death in a show trial and executed in a prison in Warsaw’s Mokotow district on May 25, 1948. To this day his body has not been found.
After exhumations in 2012, it was determined that he was buried in a mass grave in the Łączka quarters at Warsaw’s Powązki cemetery. Search work continues.
Pilecki’s conviction was overturned in 1990, by the Supreme Military Court. He was also posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle in 2006 and promoted to the rank of colonel in 2013.
Source: Polskie Radio Rzeszów
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