World War II Witold Pilecki

witold pilecki, officer of polish army – 1939

shortly before outbreak of world war ii, on 26 august 1939, pilecki mobilized cavalry platoon commander. assigned 19th infantry division under general józef kwaciszewski, part of polish army prusy. unit took part in heavy fighting against advancing germans during invasion of poland. pilecki s platoon destroyed following clash panzer division kempf on 10 september.

pilecki s platoon withdrew southeast, toward lwów (now l viv, in ukraine) , romanian bridgehead, , incorporated formed 41st infantry division, in served divisional second-in-command under major jan włodarkiewicz. pilecki , men destroyed 7 german tanks, shot down 1 aircraft, , destroyed 2 more on ground. on 17 september, soviet union invaded eastern poland pursuant molotov-ribbentrop pact. involved in more heavy fighting on 2 fronts, pilecki wounded @ battle of tomaszów lubelski.

after polish government formally surrendered nazi germany on september 27, 1939 pilecki , many of men continued fighting partisans. division disbanded on 17 october, parts of surrendering enemies. pilecki went hiding in warsaw commander, major włodarkiewicz. on 9 november 1939, 2 men founded secret polish army (tajna armia polska, tap), 1 of first underground organizations in poland. pilecki became organizational commander of tap expanded cover not warsaw, siedlce, radom, lublin, , other major cities of central poland.

by 1940, tap had approximately 8,000 men (more half of them armed), 20 machine guns , several anti-tank rifles. maintain cover pilecki worked manager of cosmetics storehouse. later, tap incorporated union armed struggle (związek walki zbrojnej), later renamed , better known home army (armia krajowa, or ak). within ak, tap elements became core of wachlarz unit.

auschwitz

mass extermination of jews in german occupied poland , polish government-in-exile addressed wartime allies of then-united nations, 1942

in 1940, pilecki presented superiors plan enter germany s auschwitz concentration camp @ oświęcim (the polish name of locality), gather intelligence on camp inside , organize inmate resistance. until then, little had been known how germans ran camp, , thought internment camp or large prison rather death camp. superiors approved plan , provided him false identity card in name of tomasz serafiński . on 19 september 1940, deliberately went out during warsaw street roundup (łapanka) , caught germans, along 2,000 civilians (among them, władysław bartoszewski). after 2 days of detention in light horse guards barracks, prisoners suffered beatings rubber truncheons, pilecki sent auschwitz , assigned inmate number 4859. during imprisonment, pilecki promoted home army rank of porucznik (first lieutenant).

auschwitz concentration camp photos of pilecki (1941).

at auschwitz, while working in various kommandos , surviving pneumonia, pilecki organized underground union of military organizations (zow). many smaller underground organizations @ auschwitz merged zow. zow s tasks improve inmate morale, provide news outside, distribute food , clothing members, set intelligence networks , train detachments take on camp in event of relief attack home army, arms airdrops or airborne landing polish 1st independent parachute brigade based in britain.

zow provided polish underground invaluable information camp. october 1940, zow sent reports warsaw, , beginning in march 1941, pilecki s reports being forwarded via polish resistance british government in london. in 1942, pilecki s resistance movement broadcasting details on number of arrivals , deaths in camp , inmates conditions using radio transmitter built camp inmates. secret radio station, built on 7 months using smuggled parts, broadcasting camp until autumn of 1942, when dismantled pilecki s men after concerns germans might discover location because of 1 of our fellow s big mouth .

these reports principal source of intelligence on auschwitz western allies. pilecki hoped either allies drop arms or troops camp or home army organize assault on outside. such plans, however, judged impossible carry out. meanwhile, camp gestapo under ss-untersturmfuhrer maximilian grabner redoubled efforts ferret out zow members, succeeding in killing many of them. pilecki decided break out of camp hope of convincing home army leaders rescue attempt valid option. when assigned night shift @ camp bakery outside fence, , 2 comrades overpowered guard, cut phone line , escaped on night of 26/27 april 1943, taking them documents stolen germans.

outside camp

after several days fugitive pilecki made contact units of home army. on 25 august 1943, pilecki reached warsaw , attached section ii (intelligence , counter-intelligence) of home army s regional headquarters. after losing several operatives reconnoitering vicinity of camp, including cichociemny stefan jasieński, decided home army lacked sufficient strength capture auschwitz without allied help. pilecki s detailed report (raport witolda – witold s report) estimated march 1943 number of people gassed on arrival reached 1.5 million. .

on 11 november 1943, pilecki promoted rotmistrz (cavalry captain) , joined secret anti-communist organization, nie (in polish: no or niepodległość – independence ), formed clandestine unit within home army goal of preparing resistance against possible soviet occupation. soviet red army, despite being within attacking distance of camp, showed no interest in joint effort home army , zow free it. until became involved in warsaw uprising, pilecki remained in charge of coordinating zow , ak activities , provided limited support able offer zow.