He killed informers, agents and Nazi officers on whom the Home Army issued a death sentence. "It was not easy for us to execute sentences," he admits years later. What actions does she remember best? Did his hand never tremble, even when a beautiful woman was his target?
Witalis Skorupka, aka "Orzel", was only sixteen years old when the war broke out. Despite his young age, he participated in the September defense of Warsaw. "Seriously" he joined the underground a little later, when he moved to his uncle's farm in Stok Lacki near Siedlce.
Initially, he dealt with the distribution of the underground press. His task was also to select and involve trustworthy colleagues. He made contacts and raised money for the needs of the Polish Underground State.
After the German attack on the USSR, he also took part in sabotage and subversive actions, such as cutting telephone cables in the vicinity of Siedlce in October 1942 or blowing up a German holiday train in February 1944.
In Kedywa AK
In fact, however, the main duties of "Orzel" were different. He joined the elite Kedyw, i.e. the Diversion Management of the Home Army Headquarters. As he tells in the book , "Ja, Orzeł. From Kedyw to Death Row ” :
I was a soldier of the 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Home Army Infantry Division commanded by Maj. Marian Zawarczyński pseud. Ziemowit. The Kedyw company, i.e. the diversion, operated within this regiment. I was serving in this company. Our company consisted of the so-called section. Together with my two colleagues Zygmunt Kulis pseud. "Kula" and Miśek Pogonowski I was one of the liquidation sections, whose task was to eliminate all kinds of informers and dangerous people .
The activities of Polish conspirators gained momentum after Germany's aggression against the USSR. The photo shows German tanks on Piłsudskiego Street in Siedlce in July 1944.
Skorupka and his colleagues from the section carried out death sentences issued by the Home Army. These were extremely difficult actions, also mentally, and often arousing great emotions. One of their first targets was, for example, a certain Kiełkiewicz, an agent of the Abwehr ... and also the brother of one of their underground colleagues! He left Siedlce at the beginning of the war. He returned in 1941, already in a German uniform.
The Kedyw unit together with "Orzel" caught up with Kiełkiewicz in a large wooden house in the city center. It housed his apartment and the brothel he managed, as well as a restaurant. In order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the Polish executors first asked all the staff of the tabernacle to go down to the basement. Later they set off on the informant. He tried to defend himself, but after a short struggle he was defeated.
"To kill a man at home in the presence of his family ..."
However, there was a case that Skorupka recalled even worse than the liquidation of a colleague's family member. Maybe because then he was pulling the trigger himself? It was about a displaced person from the western territories who served as the supervisor of the German contingents. He was also suspected of denouncing the inhabitants of nearby villages.
Initially, the execution of the sentence was to be carried out by the locals, but they asked for Kedyw's support. In this way, the case fell into the hands of "Orzel". Seeing that there was a party going on in the house, decided to shoot the informant outside, through the window . He asked his guides to identify him, aim him, and shoot him. He hit it straight in the head. "To kill a man at home, in the presence of his family, wife and children, to hear their despair, is not an easy matter" - he recalls years later. "However, I am aware that this man has hurt many innocent Poles in the past," he adds.
Such situations happened more often. Like when Skorupka and his friend Misio Pogonowski "Sęp" shot and killed Szumski, a navy blue policeman known for his cruelty towards Poles and Jews. Immediately after the execution, they saw the crying wife of the victim running behind them. Baby in hand.
Beautiful agent Zielińska
The liquidation of a Gestapo informant named Zielińska also turned out to be demanding, though for other reasons. She was the wife of an officer of the Polish Army, whose actions led to the arrest of many of her husband's friends. Her killing was first commissioned to the comrade of "Orzel", Zygmunt Wróblewski, "Kulis". However, this did not complete the task within the allotted time, most likely because ... he liked the woman very much.
The boys from Kedyw:Witalis Skorupka, Józef "Misiek" Pogonowski and Zygmunt Wróblewski, at ul. Piłsudski in Siedlce, 1943 Photo from the book "Me, Orzeł. From Kedyw to Death Row. ”
"She was a really beautiful, very handsome woman," admits Skorupka. He himself was not seduced. Together with "Sęp", he forced his infatuated companion to point Zielińska to the street. Though she tried to flee, they managed to catch up with her and knocked her to the ground. Unfortunately, Pogonowski's gun jammed at this point!
The action was dangerously protracted. Two conspirators killed the informant literally at the last minute. Shortly after they fled, a German patrol appeared on the street, alerted by the shots. But he could only protect the traitor's slowly cooling body.
The execution of death sentences handed down by the Polish Underground State only apparently did not differ from other combat actions. Executions were often carried out by surprise, on unsuspecting and unarmed victims. It was a huge burden for the conspirators. How did Witalis Skorupka deal with it?
"You have to have an extremely resistant psyche and a strong body to digest it all inside yourself" - admits Witalis Skorupka. A photo from the book “Ja, Orzeł. From Kedyw to Death Row. Congress of the Union of Political Prisoners Sentenced to Death during the Communist Regime, held at the Field Department of the Polish Army at ul. Długa in Warsaw.
Years later, in the book I, Orzeł. From Kedyw to Death Row ” says:
You need to have an extremely resilient psyche and a strong body to digest it all inside you. Thanks to our chaplain, we somehow endured it. The priest, who was the chaplain of our department, was able to help and build us up. Only thanks to him I did not go crazy. It is one thing to shoot an enemy in battle when we defend our lives, and another thing is to execute sentences, even in the worst of jerks.
Source:
- Witalis Skorupka, Beata Sławińska, Me, Orzeł. From Kedyw to Death Row , Bellona 2018.
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