National Memorial Day of the “Cursed Soldiers”
Members of veteran associations have been making efforts for years to establish the memorial day. In 2010, President Lech Kaczyński motioned the parliament to proclaim 1 March the memorial day. On 9 February 2011, President Bronisław Komorowski signed a relevant bill into law.
The National Memorial Day of the “Cursed Soldiers” is commemorated on 1 March, the anniversary of the execution of several members of the Main Board of the ‘Freedom and Independence’ Association.
It is estimated that as many as 180,000 people could be engaged in fighting the communist regime in the post-war period. Many of them died in battle, were sentenced to death, or imprisoned.
The notion of “cursed soldiers” is problematic and stirs controversy among historians. According to some, “cursed soldiers” were not only heroes fighting against the communist regime in order to regain Polish freedom and independence. Romuald Rajs aka ‘Bury’, accused of crimes against the civil Orthodox populace of Belarus, is also included in the “cursed soldiers” group. The post-war armed underground comprised a varied mix of people; next to former soldiers of the Home Army, there were also extreme nationalist and anti-Semitic individuals, responsible for murders committed on Jews and for the anti-Jewish propaganda. They should not be placed in the same league with the likes of Władysław Bartoszewski, Kazimierz Moczarski, Witold Pilecki or Makary Sieradzki – “cursed soldiers” engaged in helping Jews during the Holocaust, after the war persecuted by the communists. For those heroes, we ought to pay special homage and respect.
Witold Pilecki – author of reports on homicide in KL Auschwitz
One of the “cursed soldiers” was Witold Pilecki, participant of the 1920 war against the Soviets, cavalry captain during the September Campaign of 1939, co-creator of the underground Secret Polish Army which in time became part of the Union of Armed Struggle.
In the late 1940, as part of an intelligence operation, the 39-year-old Witold Pilecki intentionally allowed the Germans to catch him, and was sent to KL Auschwitz. In extremely difficult conditions, he set up the underground Military Organization Union in the camp.
Witold Pilecki wrote reports from KL Auschwitz-Birkenau which were smuggled to Warsaw and then sent to the West. In his reports, he also described the fate of Jews:
“What did this unknown town name mean for Jews in France, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Greece, where these letters were sent. Even Poles in Poland still knew little about Oświęcim (Auschwitz) and were very naive when faced with somebody being sent to Oświęcim. Our own Polish Jews were usually finished off in Treblinka or Majdanek. To Oświęcim, they brought Jews from nearly all over Europe.”
“Transports of Jews from all over Europe, directed straight to Birkenau, started to come in, thousands every day.”
“Piles were burning day and night for two and a half months, spreading the stench of burnt meat and human bones around Oświęcim. The commandos performing this jobs consisted solely of Jews and survived only two weeks. After that time they were gassed and their bodies were burnt by other Jews, newcomers, formed into new labour commandos.”
Witold Pilecki got out of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27 April 1943. He tried to persuade Home Army units to attack the camp and free its prisoners. However, the plan was considered too risky and doomed to fail.
Having escaped from the camp, Witold Pilecki was active in the Home Army structures and fought in the Warsaw Uprising. After the uprising was suppressed, he was sent to a POW camp in Murnau. In December 1945, he returned to Poland and became active in the underground ‘NIE’ organization. Arrested by the Security Service on 8 May 1947, he was sentenced to death on 15 March 1948. The sentence was carried out.
Makary Sieradzki – Cursed and Righteous
Another “cursed soldier” was Makary Sieradzki, Witold Pilecki’s fellow member of the Secret Polish Army and later the Home Army. In the fall of 1942, Makary Sieradzki and his wife Helena took care of Klara Szapiro and her seven-year-old daughter Nina (Inka), who were taken out of the Warsaw ghetto. Klara Szapiro did not know anyone in Warsaw because she came from Kraśnik. Her acquaintances told her to go to Mr. and Mrs. Sieradzki’s home, where she and her daughter found a safe hiding place.
After the war, Makary Sieradzki started to cooperate with cavalry captain Witold Pilecki for whom he collected information about the new education system. The Sieradzkis’ home served as a contact point for underground activists.
Makary Sieradzki was arrested on 6 May 1947. He received a life sentence, but was released in 1956.
On 12 February 1991, Makary and Helena Sieradzki were awarded the Righteous Among the Nations title.
Kazimierz Moczarski – author of Conversations with an Executioner
Kazimierz Moczarski was engaged in political activity prior to WWII. He was active in leftist-liberal circles. In January 1940 he joined the Union of Armed Struggle. Member of the Information Department of the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Home Army Headquarters, he took part in armed combat, fought in the Warsaw Uprising and engaged in information activity.
In 1945 Moczarski served in the headquarters of Armed Forces Delegation for Poland. He was arrested on 11 August 1945 and sentenced to 10 years of prison. In 1952 the sentence was changed to death sentence.
In 1949 Kazimierz Moczarski shared a prison cell with Jurgen Stroop, German Nazi responsible for the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Conversations they held served as the basis for the book titled Conversations with an Executioner, published in sequels, initially in the Odra monthly in the years 1972-74. The book was translated into many languages and today is considered one of the most vital sources of knowledge on the Holocaust.
Władysław Bartoszewski – co-founder of ‘Żegota’
Teenage Władysław Bartoszewski was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. On his release from the camp in 1941 he became active in the catholic Front for the Rebirth of Poland and in the Home Army. He collaborated with the Information Department of the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Home Army Headquarters and with the Internal Affairs Department of the Government Delegation for Poland (Prison Department and Jewish Affairs Department).
In the face of impending genocide on Polish Jewry, in December 1942 Władysław Bartoszewski, along with a number of political and social activists, initiated the establishment of the Council to Aid the Jews aka ‘Żegota’, part of the Government Delegation for Poland.
The Council’s actions were financed by the Polish government in exile and the Joint Distribution Committee. ‘Żegota’ was the only conspiratorial state institution in Europe established with the sole purpose of rescuing Jews. To quote Prof. Bartoszewski: “I believe ‘Żegota’ was a unique phenomenon. It was the first ever organization comprising Zionists, Bundists, Catholics, Polish democrats, Polish socialists – Jews and Poles, all sitting at one table and conspiring against the Germans.”
Following the end of WWII, Władysław Bartoszewski continued to be active in the 6thDivision of the Armed Forces Delegation for Poland (Information and Propaganda Division) for several months. In 1946 and 1952 he was sentenced to prison on the account of false accusation of espionage. He spent almost 9 years in prison, with a short break in-between the two sentences.
Władysław Bartoszewski was one of the first Poles to be awarded the Righteous Among the Nations title. In 1991 he was granted the Honorary Citizen of the State of Israel.
