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Today, 19 SEP 2020, marks the 80th anniversary of the day when 2LT Witold Pilecki, a Polish underground Home Army soldier, allowed himself to be captured by the Germans during a "roundup" in the Warsaw Ghetto and sent to Auschwitz.
He volunteered for this mission, which was to allow himself to be captured, sent to Auschwitz, and once there, to gather intelligence on what was occurring inside the camp and to form an inmate resistance movement within the camp.
At the time (1940), a year after Poland fell, none of the Allies even knew about the concentration/extermination camps yet, let alone what was going on inside of them. He collected intel and later escaped after almost 3 years in Auschwitz, and wrote a report about his findings that gave the Allies their first news of Germany's "final solution to the Jewish question."
The Polish government-in-exile in London shared Pilecki's report with the Brits (who later shared it with the Americans), who felt that Pilecki's claims were so exaggerated as to be unbelievable. We all know how that turned out…
After the war, he was imprisoned, tortured, and interrogated by the Soviets, since he did not support Stalin's brand of governance. Along with several of his other Home Army patriots, he was given a kangaroo court show trial by the Soviets, and ignominiously executed with a shot to the back of the head in 1948.
Witold Pilecki, a true, Polish national hero…
Witold Pilecki bio on Wikipedia
Pilecki Report
He volunteered for this mission, which was to allow himself to be captured, sent to Auschwitz, and once there, to gather intelligence on what was occurring inside the camp and to form an inmate resistance movement within the camp.
At the time (1940), a year after Poland fell, none of the Allies even knew about the concentration/extermination camps yet, let alone what was going on inside of them. He collected intel and later escaped after almost 3 years in Auschwitz, and wrote a report about his findings that gave the Allies their first news of Germany's "final solution to the Jewish question."
The Polish government-in-exile in London shared Pilecki's report with the Brits (who later shared it with the Americans), who felt that Pilecki's claims were so exaggerated as to be unbelievable. We all know how that turned out…
After the war, he was imprisoned, tortured, and interrogated by the Soviets, since he did not support Stalin's brand of governance. Along with several of his other Home Army patriots, he was given a kangaroo court show trial by the Soviets, and ignominiously executed with a shot to the back of the head in 1948.
Witold Pilecki, a true, Polish national hero…
Witold Pilecki bio on Wikipedia
Pilecki Report
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