Janusz Piekalkiewicz
Encyclopedia
Janusz Piekałkiewicz was a Polish underground soldier
, historian
, writer
, as well as a television
and cinema
director and producer. He was a world-renowned author on many aspects of World War II
history; over 30 of his books have been printed, most of them in German
, and later translated to other languages. He also wrote from his experiences during the war and specialized in detailing operations within the secret service
s. A unique characteristic of many of his books is that chapters contain two parts. Firstly, he describes details and contemporary quoted sources and then, in the second part, he provides analysis and own commentaries to those events. According to critics, this results in a very objective presentation of the material. In addition to his well-known history books, he also wrote books about treasure hunting
.
. His uncle was professor Jan Piekałkiewicz
, a leader of the Polish resistance
, who was murdered by the Gestapo
in 1943. At age seventeen, Janusz joined the Armia Krajowa
(the Home Army), later participated in the Warsaw Uprising
, and spent the remainder of the war in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
. After graduating from high school
in 1946, he began studies at the National Film School in Łódź, in the Film Production Department. He also studied contemporary history. After three years, he was barred from continuing studies, because he was a dissident and did not subscribe to the official views of the government. Barring further studies because of this was also known as for political reasons. He then worked as an assistant producer and wrote screenplays for popular science films – which also did not have a chance to be made because of political reasons. His passion was the Tatra mountains
, therefore, he moved to Zakopane
and worked as a mountaineering
guide.
. He arrived in Hungary
in time for the Revolution of 1956 and became actively involved. After Soviet armed forces
crushed the rebellion, he fled to Austria
and was briefly detained. He worked as a laborer on road construction. Later, Piekalkiewicz became a broadcast reporter in Vienna
. He then worked in Paris
, London
, and Germany
as a television producer, as well as a writer and director for films.
His 26-episode television serial, "Secret Agents, Spies, and Saboteurs - Famous Undercover Missions of World War II” (Szpiedzy, agenci, żołnierze - tajne jednostki okresu II wojny światowej”), earned first-place (Golden Nymph) at the IX International Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo
in 1963. This series was distinguished by its accuracy, objectiveness, as well as its serious and thoughtful delivery. He finally received the award after eleven years. His book of the same title is described as "one of the most interesting and comprehensive spy books done on WWII". In June 1964, he presented “Polnische Passion” (Polish Passion – International and English title) as a documentary film
at the 1964 Berlin International Film Festival
. His life-long dreams included writing from a fresh start about recent history, as well as to make a documentary film about World War II.
It was only after 1990, and the collapse of the communist government in Poland (see: History of Poland (1989–present)
), that his books were translated from German into Polish
and finally published in his homeland. In 1997, Film Studio Wir shot a documentary film about him for Telewizja Polska
(Polish public television) TVP 1
(Program I).
.
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, as well as a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
director and producer. He was a world-renowned author on many aspects of 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...
history; over 30 of his books have been printed, most of them in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and later translated to other languages. He also wrote from his experiences during the war and specialized in detailing operations within the secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
s. A unique characteristic of many of his books is that chapters contain two parts. Firstly, he describes details and contemporary quoted sources and then, in the second part, he provides analysis and own commentaries to those events. According to critics, this results in a very objective presentation of the material. In addition to his well-known history books, he also wrote books about treasure hunting
Treasure hunting
Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure which has been a notable human activity for millennia. -In modern times:In recent times, the early stages of the development of archaeology included a significant aspect of treasure hunt; Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and later at...
.
In homeland
Piekałkiewicz was born in Warsaw, PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. His uncle was professor Jan Piekałkiewicz
Jan Piekałkiewicz
Jan Piekałkiewicz was a Polish economist and statistician, politician and the Polish Underground State's Government Delegate.-Biography:...
, a leader of the Polish resistance
Polish resistance movement in World War II
The 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...
, who was murdered by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in 1943. At age seventeen, Janusz joined the Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
(the Home Army), later participated in the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, and spent the remainder of the war in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
. After graduating from high school
Matura
Matura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
in 1946, he began studies at the National Film School in Łódź, in the Film Production Department. He also studied contemporary history. After three years, he was barred from continuing studies, because he was a dissident and did not subscribe to the official views of the government. Barring further studies because of this was also known as for political reasons. He then worked as an assistant producer and wrote screenplays for popular science films – which also did not have a chance to be made because of political reasons. His passion was the Tatra mountains
Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
, therefore, he moved to Zakopane
Zakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...
and worked as a mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
guide.
As émigré
Deciding to emigrate from Poland in 1956, he escaped his homeland by tracing the route used by underground resistance couriers during World War II through the Tatra MountainsTatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
. He arrived in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in time for the Revolution of 1956 and became actively involved. After Soviet armed forces
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
crushed the rebellion, he fled to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and was briefly detained. He worked as a laborer on road construction. Later, Piekalkiewicz became a broadcast reporter in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He then worked in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as a television producer, as well as a writer and director for films.
His 26-episode television serial, "Secret Agents, Spies, and Saboteurs - Famous Undercover Missions of World War II” (Szpiedzy, agenci, żołnierze - tajne jednostki okresu II wojny światowej”), earned first-place (Golden Nymph) at the IX International Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo
Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival was created in 16-20 January 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who wished to “encourage a new art form, in the service of peace and understanding between men”....
in 1963. This series was distinguished by its accuracy, objectiveness, as well as its serious and thoughtful delivery. He finally received the award after eleven years. His book of the same title is described as "one of the most interesting and comprehensive spy books done on WWII". In June 1964, he presented “Polnische Passion” (Polish Passion – International and English title) as a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
at the 1964 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
. His life-long dreams included writing from a fresh start about recent history, as well as to make a documentary film about World War II.
It was only after 1990, and the collapse of the communist government in Poland (see: History of Poland (1989–present)
History of Poland (1989–present)
In 1989-1991, Poland engaged in a democratic transition which put an end to the Polish People's Republic and led to a democratic regime, called Polish Third Republic...
), that his books were translated from German into Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
and finally published in his homeland. In 1997, Film Studio Wir shot a documentary film about him for Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
(Polish public television) TVP 1
TVP 1
TVP1 is a television channel owned by TVP , Poland's national public broadcaster...
(Program I).
Selected books in English
All of his works were originally published in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.