1951 Mokotów Prison execution
Encyclopedia
On March 1, 1951, the Soviet-controlled communist Polish secret police, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa
(UB), carried out an execution of seven members of the 4th Headquarters of anti-Communist organization Wolność i Niezawisłość (WiN) in the Mokotów Prison
in Warsaw
. All executed were members of WiN, who during World War II
took active part in anti-Nazi resistance.
The executed men were: Łukasz Ciepliński, Karol Chmiel
, Adam Lazarowicz
, Józef Rzepka
, Józef Batory
, Mieczysław Kawalec and Franciszek Błażej. All men were apprehended in the late 1947 and early 1948, and almost all came from the Rzeszów
area. They were personally chosen to take part in anti-communist resistance by Ciepliński, commanding officer of the WiN's 4th Headquarters, who chose them because of their moral fortitude and their unbroken spirits.
The interrogations conducted by communist investigators that ensued were particularly brutal. All seven were tortured and severely beaten; Cieplinski's legs and hands were broken, and he had to be carried for meals in a blanket. A staged trial, that took place on October 5, 1950, was led by a group of ruthless military prosecutors from the Warsaw Military District - Colonel Aleksander Warecki (real name Warenhaupt, who served as the presiding judge), Major Zbigniew Furtak, Major Zbigniew Trylinski and Lt. Col. Jerzy Tramer, who served as the Public Prosecutor.
The accused were not given opportunity to refute charges brought against them, despite the fact that on several occasions Ciepliński had stated that he was tortured and that his confessions were extracted with the use of torture. The communist judges disregarded his testimony. The courtroom was filled with the UB functionaries. With approval of the presiding chief judge Warecki, the prosecutors publicly mocked the accused. The newspaper articles which covered the case ran stories that the accused men were "Traitors, spies and American servants [who] will be prosecuted".
The accused accepted their sentences with calmness, as they had anticipated the outcome of the trial to result in their deaths. With the court ruling of five consecutive death sentences, the first of the seven men to be executed, was Łukasz Ciepliński. Colonel Warecki stated afterwards that all seven were collaborating with Nazi occupiers and had betrayed Poland. After the trial, the men were moved to the Mokotów Prison, where they spent the next 137 days awaiting for their execution.
Appeals for clemency sent to then Communist Poland's president Bolesław Bierut remained unanswered, and the condemned men were preparing themselves for death. Realizing that his tormentors will dispose of his body, Ciepliński decided to swallow a small portrait of the Virgin Mary, which he had worn on his neck. During this time, the condemned men shared the same large cell with other 80 anti-Communist fighters, among them Zygmunt Szendzielarz
. According to the surviving witnesses, the WiN members supported and helped each other, tending particularly to Ciepliński and Błażej, both of whom suffered the most during brutal interrogations.
In the letter to his wife Jadwiga smuggled out of the prison shortly before his death, Ciepliński wrote:
"My time is near. When they will be leading me out of my cell to die, my last words to my friends will be: I am happy that I will be murdered as a Catholic for my faith, as a Pole for my country, and as a human being [I will die] for justice and truth […] My last farewell will be only to you. I believe that the Holy Mother will take my soul […] and I will continue to serve Her and report to her about the tragedy of the Polish Nation - murdered by one [nation] and abandoned by the others."
Shortly before the execution, which took place in the old boiler-room of the prison, Karol Chmiel tried to escape by running along the courtyard and screaming "They are murdering us." He was captured on a pile of coal. Even though he had been promised that his letters would be mailed to his sons; the promise was never kept. However, the same Communist authorities didn't hesitate to mail a letter written by a reputed Nazi mass-murderer Rudolph Hess to his family.
All seven men were shot on March 1, 1951 execution style in five to ten minute intervals. They were executed with a single shot to the back of the head, the standard communist execution method and consistent with the executions at Katyn Forest. The executions began at approximately 8 PM, with Ciepliński being shot first, followed by Batory at 8:05, Chmiel at 8:15, Kawalec at 8:20, Lazarowicz at 8:25, Blazej at 8:35, and Rzepka at 8:45. Two of the executed men, that is Ciepliński and Rzepka, were previously awarded Poland's highest military decoration for valor, the Cross of the Virtuti Militari
. The firing squad consisted of a single man, the notorious Piotr Śmietański
, nicknamed by the prisoners the "Butcher of the Mokotow Prison." Piotr Smietanski
is believed to have emigrated out of Poland in 1968.
The burial place of the seven WiN soldiers executed by the Communist regime remains unknown to this day. The 1950 court ruling rendered by the Communist court was overturned in 1992 by the Warsaw Military Court and the seven convicted and executed men were acquitted on all counts. In the 1992 court ruling we read, among other things, that the executed WiN soldiers "Fought and Died for Free, and Sovereign Poland."
Ministry of Public Security of Poland
The Ministry of Public Security of Poland was a Polish communist secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage service operating from 1945 to 1954 under Jakub Berman of the Politburo...
(UB), carried out an execution of seven members of the 4th Headquarters of anti-Communist organization Wolność i Niezawisłość (WiN) in the Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at Rakowiecka 37 street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of Poland...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. All executed were members of WiN, who during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
took active part in anti-Nazi resistance.
Karol Chmiel
Karol Chmiel was born on April 17, 1911 in the village of Zagorzyce to a peasant family of Antoni and Katarzyna née Charchut. He graduated from high school in Dębica, then joined the prestigious Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where he studied law...
, Adam Lazarowicz
Adam Lazarowicz
Major Adam Lazarowicz was a Polish military officer who played a prominent role in the Polish resistance movement in the German-occupied Poland in the Second World War.After the war, Lazarowicz remained in hiding and become a member of the anti-Communist organization Wolnosc i Niezawislosc...
, Józef Rzepka
Józef Rzepka
Captain Józef Rzepka was born in 1913 in the village of Bratkowice...
, Józef Batory
Józef Batory
Captain Józef Batory was born in 1914 in Werynia, Poland.He fought in the 1939 Polish September Campaign, then was an active member of the anti-German resistance....
, Mieczysław Kawalec and Franciszek Błażej. All men were apprehended in the late 1947 and early 1948, and almost all came from the Rzeszów
Rzeszów
Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...
area. They were personally chosen to take part in anti-communist resistance by Ciepliński, commanding officer of the WiN's 4th Headquarters, who chose them because of their moral fortitude and their unbroken spirits.
The interrogations conducted by communist investigators that ensued were particularly brutal. All seven were tortured and severely beaten; Cieplinski's legs and hands were broken, and he had to be carried for meals in a blanket. A staged trial, that took place on October 5, 1950, was led by a group of ruthless military prosecutors from the Warsaw Military District - Colonel Aleksander Warecki (real name Warenhaupt, who served as the presiding judge), Major Zbigniew Furtak, Major Zbigniew Trylinski and Lt. Col. Jerzy Tramer, who served as the Public Prosecutor.
The accused were not given opportunity to refute charges brought against them, despite the fact that on several occasions Ciepliński had stated that he was tortured and that his confessions were extracted with the use of torture. The communist judges disregarded his testimony. The courtroom was filled with the UB functionaries. With approval of the presiding chief judge Warecki, the prosecutors publicly mocked the accused. The newspaper articles which covered the case ran stories that the accused men were "Traitors, spies and American servants [who] will be prosecuted".
The accused accepted their sentences with calmness, as they had anticipated the outcome of the trial to result in their deaths. With the court ruling of five consecutive death sentences, the first of the seven men to be executed, was Łukasz Ciepliński. Colonel Warecki stated afterwards that all seven were collaborating with Nazi occupiers and had betrayed Poland. After the trial, the men were moved to the Mokotów Prison, where they spent the next 137 days awaiting for their execution.
Appeals for clemency sent to then Communist Poland's president Bolesław Bierut remained unanswered, and the condemned men were preparing themselves for death. Realizing that his tormentors will dispose of his body, Ciepliński decided to swallow a small portrait of the Virgin Mary, which he had worn on his neck. During this time, the condemned men shared the same large cell with other 80 anti-Communist fighters, among them Zygmunt Szendzielarz
Zygmunt Szendzielarz
Zygmunt Szendzielarz was commander of the Polish 5th Wilno Home Army Brigade.-Early life:...
. According to the surviving witnesses, the WiN members supported and helped each other, tending particularly to Ciepliński and Błażej, both of whom suffered the most during brutal interrogations.
In the letter to his wife Jadwiga smuggled out of the prison shortly before his death, Ciepliński wrote:
"My time is near. When they will be leading me out of my cell to die, my last words to my friends will be: I am happy that I will be murdered as a Catholic for my faith, as a Pole for my country, and as a human being [I will die] for justice and truth […] My last farewell will be only to you. I believe that the Holy Mother will take my soul […] and I will continue to serve Her and report to her about the tragedy of the Polish Nation - murdered by one [nation] and abandoned by the others."
Shortly before the execution, which took place in the old boiler-room of the prison, Karol Chmiel tried to escape by running along the courtyard and screaming "They are murdering us." He was captured on a pile of coal. Even though he had been promised that his letters would be mailed to his sons; the promise was never kept. However, the same Communist authorities didn't hesitate to mail a letter written by a reputed Nazi mass-murderer Rudolph Hess to his family.
All seven men were shot on March 1, 1951 execution style in five to ten minute intervals. They were executed with a single shot to the back of the head, the standard communist execution method and consistent with the executions at Katyn Forest. The executions began at approximately 8 PM, with Ciepliński being shot first, followed by Batory at 8:05, Chmiel at 8:15, Kawalec at 8:20, Lazarowicz at 8:25, Blazej at 8:35, and Rzepka at 8:45. Two of the executed men, that is Ciepliński and Rzepka, were previously awarded Poland's highest military decoration for valor, the Cross of the Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
. The firing squad consisted of a single man, the notorious Piotr Śmietański
Piotr Śmietański
Staff Sergeant Piotr Śmietański , was one of the main executioners in Stalinist Poland, employed by the communist secret police Urząd Bezpieczeństwa. He was stationed at the Mokotów Prison in the Warsaw borough of Mokotów known also as Rakowiecka Prison located at Rakowiecka 37 street...
, nicknamed by the prisoners the "Butcher of the Mokotow Prison." Piotr Smietanski
Piotr Śmietański
Staff Sergeant Piotr Śmietański , was one of the main executioners in Stalinist Poland, employed by the communist secret police Urząd Bezpieczeństwa. He was stationed at the Mokotów Prison in the Warsaw borough of Mokotów known also as Rakowiecka Prison located at Rakowiecka 37 street...
is believed to have emigrated out of Poland in 1968.
The burial place of the seven WiN soldiers executed by the Communist regime remains unknown to this day. The 1950 court ruling rendered by the Communist court was overturned in 1992 by the Warsaw Military Court and the seven convicted and executed men were acquitted on all counts. In the 1992 court ruling we read, among other things, that the executed WiN soldiers "Fought and Died for Free, and Sovereign Poland."
See also
- Cursed soldiersCursed soldiersThe cursed soldiers is a name applied to a variety of Polish resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II and afterwards. Created by some members of the Polish Secret State, these clandestine organizations continued their armed struggle against the Stalinist government of Poland...
and the Polish resistance movement in World War IIPolish resistance movement in World War IIThe Polish resistance movement in World War II, with the Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance in all of Nazi-occupied Europe, covering both German and Soviet zones of occupation. The Polish defence against the Nazi occupation was an important part of the European... - Raids on communist prisons in Poland (1944-1946)Raids on communist prisons in Poland (1944-1946)The anti-communist resistance in Poland , also referred to as the Polish anti-Communist civil war, was an armed struggle of Polish Underground against the Soviet takeover of Poland at the end of World War II in Europe...
- Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)