Polish communists not only murdered Witold Pilecki, but also condemned him to eternal oblivion. They turned out to be very effective in blurring the memory after him. Years later, even the censors did not know who the captain was. And they allowed a series of articles praising the deeds of this "enemy of the people." In a nationwide newspaper!
Pilecki was shot on May 25, 1948. Not only was the body not released to the family, but the date of the execution was not even disclosed. The burial place of the captain remains unknown to this day, and for many years it was impossible to speak about it in public. His son Andrzej mentions in the book “Pilecki. In the footsteps of my dad ":
I was revolting. Most against the fact that an attempt was made to kill the memory of him. (...) Probably in the 1960s I wrote various hourglasses or posters by hand and stuck them on churches (...) and also on the wall of the cemetery in Powązki. “Let us pray for the soul of Witold Pilecki and remember that he was murdered in the prison on Rakowiecka Street,” I wrote, for example, attaching a short biography to it. It's good if they were hanging for a week.
It was only a decade later that, unexpectedly and unconsciously, Andrzej Pilecki was helped by ... the media of the People's Republic of Poland.
Witold Pilecki during the trial. Soon he was about to be sentenced to death and oblivion (photo:public domain).
Censors ignorance
July 14, 1979 An inconspicuous article appears in the Polish daily "Kurier Polski":a review of the book "Six Faces of Courage" published in England. And yet it is a breakthrough text: for the first time in the communist press, there was a positive opinion about Witold Pilecki.
The author was the journalist Rafał Brzeski, and the reviewed publication contained the profiles of the six bravest members of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Europe, selected by the well-known historian, prof. Michael Foot. Among them was also the Auschwitz Volunteer.
The article presented the history of Pilecki's activities in Auschwitz and ended with the words:
The most important thing is that after many years, when little was written about Poles and their participation in World War II, Western writers are finally discovering the truth that we know. The truth about the strength and range of the Polish resistance movement and the courage of its soldiers .
It is hard not to notice today that Pilecki's heroism was also a discovery for the Poles themselves. How is it possible that the text was even published? After all, he glorified a man sentenced for treason "socialist homeland"? Everything indicates that the censors simply had no idea who Pilecki was and what happened to him after the war . This is also what Brzeski himself thinks.
Six Faces of Courage - the first positive article about Pilecki in the post-war press.
Patriotism and courage
After the publication of the above-mentioned review, the emotional Zofia Pilecka-Op Titowicz, the captain's daughter, came to the editorial office of the newspaper. The information she provided served as material for another, much more extensive article, this time by Juliusz Smoczyński. He wrote on August 11:
The Polish nation honors its heroes. One of them is undoubtedly Witold Pilecki. His self-sacrificing deeds in the fight against the Nazis show the strength of Polish patriotism.
How ironic these words sounded! The figure of this great man could only be recalled because even the censorship forgot that he was once condemned to non-existence . Some, however, remembered who murdered Pilecki and were not delighted that the "enemy of the people" was praised ...
"Witold Pilecki was our enemy"
On June 3, 1980, the authorities added to the censorship record No. 15 / XIII an order to consult publications concerning Pilecki with the management of the Central Office for the Control of Press, Publications and Performances.
Nevertheless, on July 4, 1981, in the middle of the "Solidarity carnival", the third text devoted to the captain was published in "Kurier Polski". It turned out that after previous publications:
one of the then establishment members rebuked us, scolding us - Who are you writing about! Who are you popularizing! Do you realize that Witold Pilecki was our enemy ?!
"Three years ago (...) it was forbidden to write the whole truth"
Smoczyński replied: Enemy ?! Let the readers form their own opinion on this tragic matter today. Further, the journalist described what he could not have mentioned three years earlier:the trial and execution of Witold Pilecki. He described the death sentence as shameful and finally he asked:
It is a historical truth that in the first period of People's Poland, many were confused. Today we are in favor of socialism, and the Polish People's Republic system is being questioned only by a handful of extremists. (...) Can it not be assumed then that the hero of Oświęcim (...) if he lived (...) would not have become a full-fledged citizen of People's Poland?
"A handful of extremists" is an interesting term, as the opposition to the Solidarity party numbered 10 million people at the time. On the other hand, the vision of Witold Pilecki in favor of socialism in the communist era seems absurd.
However, it is worth appreciating the courage in writing about the Stalinist judicial crime, even if it was not explicitly named as such. It took years to fully describe and unravel this story.