Decorated with the Cross of Valor for sacrifice and courage during the Nazi occupation, after the war with equal dedication ... denounced her colleagues from the Home Army. It was thanks to her that the security officers caught the 17-year-old "Inka". Why did Regina Mordas-Żylińska go over to the enemy's side?
Mordas-Żylińska joined the partisans in 1942 - she was 18 years old. As a liaison officer, she became famous for her bravado and courage. Zygmunt Szendzielarz, the commander of the famous "Death Brigade" of the Home Army, as one of the few soldiers (and the only woman from the unit) received a golden signet ring with a special dedication:"To the Soldier - Friend of" Łupaszek "1943". For her services to the underground, the government in London awarded her with the Cross of Valor.
“It was she who worked on the release of 'Łupaszka' when it fell into the hands of the Germans in the Vilnius region. It was she who made her way to the District Headquarters during the Operation "Gate of Dawn". She brought information about the arrest of general "Wolf" and the disarmament of the troops by the Soviets "- emphasizes the IPN historian Marzena Kruk in the book by Luiza Łuniewska". And it is she who started raining at 22.
Guerrillas on defense
From the moment of its creation, the 5th Vilnius Brigade of the Home Army of Zygmunt Szendzielarz sowed panic among enemies in the Borderlands. In February 1944, the Poles first defeated the German-Ukrainian unit in Worniany, and a day later, in the area of Radziusze, clashed with the five times stronger Soviet partisan forces . Łupaszka's soldiers smashed the enemy with accurate fire. The brigade's losses were minimal and the victory was widely echoed.
Despite this, pressure from the Red Army grew stronger. After the failure of the Operation "Storm" and the Operation "Ostra Brama" (in which Szendzielarz's people did not take part, rightly sensing treason), the partisans had to leave the Vilnius Region. Attempts were made to recreate a branch in the Białowieża Primeval Forest from the survivors of the Home Army. Soon, however, the forests of Podlasie ceased to be a safe haven.
In view of the increasing pressure from the NKVD, the Citizens' Militia, and the Internal Security Corps, in September 1945 Łupaszka disbanded the brigade to re-establish it in Pomerania a year later. Partisans disarmed not only the MOs. In order to survive, they attacked cooperative banks, post offices, spirits plants, depots, trains . Mordas-Żylińska was not with them then. In the spring she "fell in" - and started her affair with the UB.
Soldiers of the 5th Vilnius Brigade of the Home Army. In the center is Łupaszko.
Was it because she was exhausted by living in hiding constantly, "Regina", because this was the nickname given to her by the Security Office, that she decided to cheat? The informant's biography seems to indicate that this was not the right reason, or at least not the only one. The zeal with which the heroine of the Home Army cooperated with the secret police is shocking.
She was arrested on April 20, 1946, after meeting another underground soldier in a "burned" apartment - and began sharing information almost immediately. She did it extremely scrupulously. As reported by Jarosław Molenda, author of the book "Wilczyce znad Wisły":
Security service officers probably broke a record, listing as many as thirty-seven personal data of people associated with the underground and the unit of Major "Łupaszka". She gave away everything:names, addresses, descriptions . Diligently, in the spirit of the UB's expectations, she wrote their characteristics, pointed out their weaknesses, flaws, and strengths, summing up:“they are mostly young boys with wild instincts”.
Traitor? It can't be!
Based on Regina's testimony, the security officers liquidated 120 conspiratorial apartments. Even during her stay in custody, she was constantly receiving information "from the field". A woman who knew very well the behavior of Łupaszka and his people, on this basis tried to predict what would be the next steps of her former colleagues.
For the betrayal she committed, the 17-year-old nurse, Danuta Sieikówna, the famous "Inka", paid with her life. She was detained on July 20, 1946 in an apartment disclosed to her by her former comrade-in-arms . She was arrested at ul. Kurkowa. Szymon Nowak describes in his book "Zdrajcy Wyklętych":
It is assumed that "Regina", confronted by the UB with "Inka", urged her younger colleague from the guerrilla to reveal all the details of the conspiracy. The young nurse turned out to be tougher than an experienced secretary. Danusia Sieikówna, in spite of her only seventeen years old, had to die.
Before her death, the famous nurse was tortured and humiliated. Nevertheless, this petite girl, "sad to die," "acted as it should be" at the final test. Contrary to Mordas-Żychlińska, who let go of all moral brakes with time.
Meanwhile, the soldiers of the "Death Brigade" did not believe for a long time the reports that their close friend had gone to cooperate . Initially, even Łupaszka himself did not believe in her betrayal. He thought she did it only to get out of the way and return to the squad. He couldn't have been more wrong…
Death for a serving of ice cream
Why did she cheat? Perhaps she was tired of the fight or she was brutally broken. The Stalinist security service could do this as well as no one else. The secret police knew how to humiliate and taint the victim's femininity. They burned their breasts with cigarettes, raped with a vodka bottle, with a gun. On the other hand, the scale of Regina's betrayal far exceeds the necessity caused by fear , pain and torture.
The commander of the 5th Vilnius Brigade of the Home Army, Zygmunt Szendzielarz "Łupaszko", could not believe Regina's betrayal for a long time.
She traveled with security officers for actions, wrote extensive personal characteristics of underground soldiers, as well as civilians helping the partisans. Jarosław Molenda in his book emphasizes:
If it were only a moment of weakness - understandable in the face of the brutal methods of the security services - Mordas could have acted like the liaison officer of the Home Army Vilnius District, Wacław, who had been arrested a few weeks earlier Beynar "Orszak", who, after leaving the UB, immediately notified his superiors about the recruitment. Meanwhile, the woman transferred to the service of her existing enemies and served it with total dedication for four years . Moreover, it was just as effective as during the years in the guerrilla warfare.
Today it is difficult to say exactly how many guerrillas were released by Regina Mordas-Żylińska, but during only one interrogation in June 1947 she gave exact data of forty people. “She even reported on doctors, stating that professor surgeon Kornel Michajda from the Medical Academy in Gdańsk cooperates with the department. (...) She mentioned another doctor named Kieturakis, Michajda's associate and trusted man of "Łupaszka" "- writes the author of" Wolf from the Vistula River ".
She herself explained her betrayal in various ways. Among other things, she claimed that she fell in love with one of the investigators. She was not supposed to charge any money for denunciation - sometimes only donations in the form of food. She bragged to the security services that one time she sent to death a group of eight guerrillas in return for a portion of ice cream ...
Emotional dummy
After the war, Regina moved to Szczecin, where she ran a shop with her family. According to people from the former underground who had contact with her, she was not doing very well. She was very old, complained of loneliness and tried to limit further cooperation with the security services. On the other hand, she wanted the officers not to forget about her. Rather, she had no remorse.
In the Gdańsk cathedral there is a plaque commemorating the soldiers of the "Death Brigade". The name of Mordas-Żylińska was not on it.
In the 1950s, she tried more and more desperately to interest the communist security authorities with further denunciations. She claimed to be blackmailed by her former brigade colleagues. Nobody fell for it. “The blackmailers have not been noticed. There was, however, a dummy in the store where she worked. The conclusions were straightforward, ”says Molenda in his book.
Soon, the manko grew to PLN 26,000, which was a huge amount (the average salary at that time was PLN 1,500), and Regina tried even more desperately to attract attention to herself. She claimed, for example, that in Lithuania she would find a stone under which Łupaszka's archive is buried. All the time she was looking for contact with the security services. She bombarded the militia with telephones. So it soon stopped being taken seriously - despite the fact that she kept adding new revelations to the pot.
At the end of the 1950s, the SB finally broke off contact with her, considering her a confabulant. Mordas-Żylińska was left alone - with a debt which the prosecution became interested in. She died in 1970, at the age of only 46. According to rumors, she was supposed to be hit by a car. Was it an accident, a suicide, or was it someone who had deliberately pushed her under the wheels? There is no answer to this question. The heroine, who turned out to be a traitor, was buried in the central cemetery in Szczecin - far from the alley of merit.