Witold Pilecki
| Witold Pilecki | |
|---|---|
Pilecki in a colorized pre-1939 photo
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| Born |
13 May 1901 Olonets, Karelia. Russian Empire |
| Died | 25 May 1948 (aged 47) Mokotow Prison, Warsaw. Republic of Poland |
| Allegiance | Second Polish Republic |
| Years of service | 1918–1947 |
| Rank | Captain, Cavalry master |
| Commands held | Commander of Secret Polish Army (1939) |
| Battles/wars |
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| Awards |
 Order of the White Eagle Order of Polonia Restituta Cross of Valour (2) |
Witold Pilecki (13 May 1901 – 25 May 1948; Polish pronunciation: [ˈvitɔlt piˈlɛt͡skʲi]; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a Polish Army officer and intelligence agent during World War II. He also served as a rittmeister with the Polish Cavalry during the Second Polish Republic and was the founder of the Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) resistance group in German-occupied Poland in November 1939, and a member of the underground Home Army (Armia Krajowa), which was formed in February 1942. He was the author of Witold's Report, the first comprehensive Allied intelligence report on Auschwitz concentration camp and the Holocaust. He was Roman Catholic.
During World War II, he volunteered for a Polish resistance operation to get imprisoned in the Auschwitz death camp in order to gather intelligence and escape. While in the camp, Pilecki organized a resistance movement and as early as 1941, informed the Western Allies of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz atrocities. He escaped from the camp in 1943 after nearly two and a half years of imprisonment. Pilecki took part in the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. He remained loyal to the London-based Polish government-in-exile after the Soviet-backed communist takeover of Poland and was arrested in 1947 by the Stalinist secret police (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa) on charges of working for "foreign imperialism", thought to be a euphemism for MI6. He was executed after a show trial in 1948. Until 1989, information about his exploits and fate was suppressed by the Polish communist regime.
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