On this day 75 years ago Communists murdered Polish national hero Pilecki
Poland honours memory of WWII-era hero Pilecki
Witold Pilecki was born in 1901 and served as a cavalry captain during the Polish-Soviet War and WWII. He was also a co-founder of the Secret Polish Army, a resistance group in German-occupied Poland.
In 1940, he volunteered to be arrested by Germans and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in order to organize a resistance movement and to prepare a report on the situation in the camp. The information was presented to the Western Allies as early as 1941.
In the spring of 1943, the Germans began uncovering members of underground organizations in the camp. More and more people belonging to the resistance movement were being executed. After a decision was made by the Germans to deport the “old-timers” into the Reich, Pilecki decided to escape which he managed to do together with two fellow prisoners on April 26, 1943.
After his escape, he continued his espionage work and later on participated in the Warsaw uprising.
In 1944-45 he was in German captivity in Murnau, until the liberation of the camp. He then joined the 2nd Polish Corps in Italy. In October 1945, on the personal orders of General Anders, he returned to Poland to conduct intelligence activities for the 2nd Corps. In the autumn of 1945, he organized a network and began collecting intelligence on the situation in Poland, including on the Home Army (AK) and 2nd Corps soldiers imprisoned in NKVD camps and deported to Russia.
On May 8, 1947, Witold Pilecki was arrested, accused of anti-state activities in a show trial. He was executed by Communist authorities on May 25, 1948.
Despite concerted efforts by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), his body has never been found.
International Day of Heroes of the Fight against Totalitarianism
“On the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, Parliament insists on the importance of remembering Europe’s tragic past to safeguard Europe’s future,” the European Parliament wrote in a press release in 2019.
According to the EP, the day was established “as a way of fostering Europeans’ resilience to modern threats to democracy.”
In the explanation for the date of the commemoration the European Parliament pointed out that May 25 is the “anniversary of the execution of the Auschwitz hero Rotamaster Witold Pilecki.”
“The dawn of century, a boy born by a lake
Resettled from Karelia’s plains”
He was a hero, and killing him was murder, a court crime.
And it’s grim fucking irony that the current government uses him and other heroes as convenient distractions while at the same time trying to gain control of the judiciary by hook or by crook. *For very good reasons and with the best intentions*, they assure. To punish their enemies and protect their own, I suspect. Just as the communists did.
EDIT I wouldn’t make it political, I swear, were it not for the link to TVP, the govt propaganda tube. Repost it with a better link and I’ll shut up, I promise.
A hero who was executed by firing squad like a dog simply because of his association with the Home Army. His report from his time at Auschwitz is still available online and is a haunting read.
Before his murder, Pilecki said that Auschwitz was just a trifle compared to communist prison.
Daily reminder that the USSR contributed nothing to liberating Europe. Take as an example how the USSR not just didn’t help the Warsaw uprising, but refused to allow Allied planes to land on Soviet territory, forcing them to fly all the way back to Southern Italy.
Not to forget that, despite what some anti-american and cryptocommunist netizens might claim, the US and UK contributed way more to the victory than the Soviets.
Not just did the US and UK provide necessary aid to keep the Soviets going, but the Soviets started off the war clearly allied with the Nazis. And yes, Stalin has been aiming to cooperate with Hitler as early s 1933, even during talks with the Allies to see willingness for an anti-Hitler alliance, he still kept on befriending Hitler.
Sure, both might have looked for a moment to stab the other, but the Axis were an unnatural alliance as is. The initial support, in fighting Poland on two fronts, supplying Germany with grain and metal, was important for initial and rapid German expansion.
For anyone not knowing the details: He was arrested, tried and executed by the *Polish* authorities, not by the Soviets.
The whitewashing of their own communist history and collaboration with the Soviets by EE-countries here is absolutely insane. The Soviets were mostly in the background, only to suppress opposition in the most dire emergencies (1953, 1956, 1968). For most of the time, the communist states did all their oppression, secret police, show trials etc themselves.
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On this day 75 years ago Communists murdered Polish national hero Pilecki
Poland honours memory of WWII-era hero Pilecki
Witold Pilecki was born in 1901 and served as a cavalry captain during the Polish-Soviet War and WWII. He was also a co-founder of the Secret Polish Army, a resistance group in German-occupied Poland.
In 1940, he volunteered to be arrested by Germans and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in order to organize a resistance movement and to prepare a report on the situation in the camp. The information was presented to the Western Allies as early as 1941.
In the spring of 1943, the Germans began uncovering members of underground organizations in the camp. More and more people belonging to the resistance movement were being executed. After a decision was made by the Germans to deport the “old-timers” into the Reich, Pilecki decided to escape which he managed to do together with two fellow prisoners on April 26, 1943.
After his escape, he continued his espionage work and later on participated in the Warsaw uprising.
In 1944-45 he was in German captivity in Murnau, until the liberation of the camp. He then joined the 2nd Polish Corps in Italy. In October 1945, on the personal orders of General Anders, he returned to Poland to conduct intelligence activities for the 2nd Corps. In the autumn of 1945, he organized a network and began collecting intelligence on the situation in Poland, including on the Home Army (AK) and 2nd Corps soldiers imprisoned in NKVD camps and deported to Russia.
On May 8, 1947, Witold Pilecki was arrested, accused of anti-state activities in a show trial. He was executed by Communist authorities on May 25, 1948.
Despite concerted efforts by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), his body has never been found.
International Day of Heroes of the Fight against Totalitarianism
“On the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, Parliament insists on the importance of remembering Europe’s tragic past to safeguard Europe’s future,” the European Parliament wrote in a press release in 2019.
According to the EP, the day was established “as a way of fostering Europeans’ resilience to modern threats to democracy.”
In the explanation for the date of the commemoration the European Parliament pointed out that May 25 is the “anniversary of the execution of the Auschwitz hero Rotamaster Witold Pilecki.”
“The dawn of century, a boy born by a lake
Resettled from Karelia’s plains”
He was a hero, and killing him was murder, a court crime.
And it’s grim fucking irony that the current government uses him and other heroes as convenient distractions while at the same time trying to gain control of the judiciary by hook or by crook. *For very good reasons and with the best intentions*, they assure. To punish their enemies and protect their own, I suspect. Just as the communists did.
EDIT I wouldn’t make it political, I swear, were it not for the link to TVP, the govt propaganda tube. Repost it with a better link and I’ll shut up, I promise.
A hero who was executed by firing squad like a dog simply because of his association with the Home Army. His report from his time at Auschwitz is still available online and is a haunting read.
Before his murder, Pilecki said that Auschwitz was just a trifle compared to communist prison.
Daily reminder that the USSR contributed nothing to liberating Europe. Take as an example how the USSR not just didn’t help the Warsaw uprising, but refused to allow Allied planes to land on Soviet territory, forcing them to fly all the way back to Southern Italy.
Not to forget that, despite what some anti-american and cryptocommunist netizens might claim, the US and UK contributed way more to the victory than the Soviets.
Not just did the US and UK provide necessary aid to keep the Soviets going, but the Soviets started off the war clearly allied with the Nazis. And yes, Stalin has been aiming to cooperate with Hitler as early s 1933, even during talks with the Allies to see willingness for an anti-Hitler alliance, he still kept on befriending Hitler.
Sure, both might have looked for a moment to stab the other, but the Axis were an unnatural alliance as is. The initial support, in fighting Poland on two fronts, supplying Germany with grain and metal, was important for initial and rapid German expansion.
For anyone not knowing the details: He was arrested, tried and executed by the *Polish* authorities, not by the Soviets.
The whitewashing of their own communist history and collaboration with the Soviets by EE-countries here is absolutely insane. The Soviets were mostly in the background, only to suppress opposition in the most dire emergencies (1953, 1956, 1968). For most of the time, the communist states did all their oppression, secret police, show trials etc themselves.