Trial of the Sixteen

The Trial of the Sixteen (Polish: Proces szesnastu) was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service under a false pretext, tortured, and accused of various forms of 'illegal activity' against the Red Army.

The Government Delegate, together with most members of the Council of National Unity and the Commander-in-chief of the Armia Krajowa, were invited by Soviet general Ivan Serov (with agreement of Joseph Stalin) to a conference on their eventual entry to the Soviet-backed Provisional Government. Some historical accounts say approaches were made in February, with others saying March 1945. The Polish politicians were presented with a warrant of safety, but were instead arrested in Pruszków by the NKVD on 27 and 28 March. Leopold Okulicki, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and Kazimierz Pużak were arrested on the 27th with 12 others the following day. Alexander Zwierzynski had been arrested earlier. They were brought to Moscow for interrogation in the Lubyanka.

After several months of brutal interrogation and torture they were presented with the forged accusations of:

The trial took place between 18 and 21 June 1945 with foreign press and observers from the United Kingdom and United States present. The date was chosen carefully to be at the same time as a conference on the creation of the Soviet-backed Polish puppet government was organized. The verdict was issued on 21 June, with most of the defendants coerced into pleading guilty by the NKVD. General Okulicki's witnesses for the defense were declared unreachable "owing to bad atmospheric conditions", and no evidence was offered during the trial. Of the sixteen defendants, twelve were sentenced to prison terms ranging from four months to ten years, while charges against the four others were dropped by the prosecution.

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