Piotr Śmietański
Encyclopedia
Staff Sergeant
Piotr Śmietański (born 27 June 1899 in Zawady
– died 23 February 1950?), 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. From World War II
until the collapse of the Eastern Bloc
in 1989, Mokotów Prison – where Śmietański conducted his deeds – was a place of detention, torture and execution of the Polish anti-communist opposition.
Śmietański – nicknamed by the inmates, the "Butcher of the Mokotow Prison" – executed personally and supervised the executions of hundreds of opponents of the Stalinist regime in PRL
; among them prominent politicians, social activists and Polish underground fighters, including Lieutenant
s Jerzy Miatkowski, Tadeusz Pelak, Edmund Tudruj, Arkadiusz Wasilewski, Roman Gronski, Lukasik, Comdt.
Hieronim Dekutowski
(killed by Śmietański in one day, on March 7, 1949), Adam Doboszyński , Major
Zygmunt Szendzielarz
, Lieutenants Henryk Borowski, Antoni Olechnowicz, Lucjan Minkiewicz (February 8, 1951), Capt. Stanisław Sojczyński
, Wodyński from AK
, and countless others, including victims of the notorious March 1, 1951 Mokotów Prison execution
, who were given five consecutive death sentences each. Brig. General Emil August Fieldorf
was hanged rather than shot to be
The head of the Mokotów Prison, Alojzy Grabicki, was sometimes present at the executions. The victims' dead bodies – often undressed and placed in empty cement bags – were wheeled out at night and buried in unmarked digs, leveled out afterwards in the vicinity of different Warsaw cemeteries: in Służew (till mid 1948), the Mokotów
and the Powązki cemeteries, or in open fields, in around Pola Mokotowskie, Kabacki forest and Okęcie
.
On May 25, 1948, Śmietański personally executed Witold Pilecki
, Polish Righteous among the Nations
, the founder of the Secret Polish Army and prominent member of the Armia Krajowa
, famous for his daring mission to the Auschwitz concentration camp
. Śmietański is believed to have been paid 1,000 Polish złoty for each execution he carried out, a substantial amount of money under Stalinism
. He emigrated from Poland in 1968 according to Chodakiewicz
. This information however, is not confirmed by Pawłowicz. For instance, Siergiejczyk mentions a different Śmietański, named Józef, who also left Poland in 1968 as a result of the Polish anti-Zionist campaign conducted by PZPR.
In 2003 the Institute of National Remembrance
(IPN) launched an investigation in order to establish the whereabouts of Piotr Śmietański, with the intention of interviewing him about the remains of Pilecki. They found out that all personal data pertaining to Śmietański was earlier removed from official government records, including the Ministry of Defence, and the Prison Services. The investigation was halted in 2004. Historian Jacek Pawłowicz from IPN
in his 2008 book about Pilecki claimed that Śmietański died of tuberculosis at the age of fifty.
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
Piotr Śmietański (born 27 June 1899 in Zawady
Zawady
Zawady is a district of Białystok, Poland....
– died 23 February 1950?), was one of the main executioners in Stalinist Poland
Poland
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...
, employed by the communist secret police Urząd Bezpieczeństwa
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...
. He was stationed at 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 the 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...
borough of Mokotów
Mokotów
Mokotów is a dzielnica of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Mokotów is densely populated. It is a seat to many foreign embassies and companies...
known also as Rakowiecka Prison located at Rakowiecka 37 street. From 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...
until the collapse of the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
in 1989, Mokotów Prison – where Śmietański conducted his deeds – was a place of detention, torture and execution of the Polish anti-communist opposition.
Śmietański – nicknamed by the inmates, the "Butcher of the Mokotow Prison" – executed personally and supervised the executions of hundreds of opponents of the Stalinist regime in PRL
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
; among them prominent politicians, social activists and Polish underground fighters, including Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
s Jerzy Miatkowski, Tadeusz Pelak, Edmund Tudruj, Arkadiusz Wasilewski, Roman Gronski, Lukasik, Comdt.
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
Hieronim Dekutowski
Hieronim Dekutowski
Hieronim Dekutowski was a Polish boyscout and soldier, who fought in Polish September Campaign, was a member of the elite forces Cichociemni, fought in the Home Army and after World War II, fought the communist regime as one of commanders of Wolnosc i Niezawislosc.- Early years :Dekutowski was...
(killed by Śmietański in one day, on March 7, 1949), Adam Doboszyński , Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Zygmunt Szendzielarz
Zygmunt Szendzielarz
Zygmunt Szendzielarz was commander of the Polish 5th Wilno Home Army Brigade.-Early life:...
, Lieutenants Henryk Borowski, Antoni Olechnowicz, Lucjan Minkiewicz (February 8, 1951), Capt. Stanisław Sojczyński
Stanisław Sojczyński
Stanisław Sojczyński was a captain in the Polish Army and in the Home Army and later the creator and leader of Underground Polish Army . On September 11, 2009, Stanisław Sojczyński was posthumously promoted to the rank of Brigadier General by President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski....
, Wodyński from AK
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...
, and countless others, including victims of the notorious March 1, 1951 Mokotów Prison execution
1951 Mokotów Prison execution
On March 1, 1951, the Soviet-controlled communist Polish secret police, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa , carried out an execution of seven members of the 4th Headquarters of anti-Communist organization Wolność i Niezawisłość in the Mokotów Prison in Warsaw...
, who were given five consecutive death sentences each. Brig. General Emil August Fieldorf
Emil August Fieldorf
Emil August Fieldorf was a Polish Brigadier General. He was Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army or AK, after the failure of the Warsaw Uprising...
was hanged rather than shot to be
The head of the Mokotów Prison, Alojzy Grabicki, was sometimes present at the executions. The victims' dead bodies – often undressed and placed in empty cement bags – were wheeled out at night and buried in unmarked digs, leveled out afterwards in the vicinity of different Warsaw cemeteries: in Służew (till mid 1948), the Mokotów
Mokotów
Mokotów is a dzielnica of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Mokotów is densely populated. It is a seat to many foreign embassies and companies...
and the Powązki cemeteries, or in open fields, in around Pola Mokotowskie, Kabacki forest and Okęcie
Okecie
Okęcie is the largest neighbourhood of the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland.It is the location of Warsaw Chopin Airport and the PZL Warszawa-Okęcie aircraft works, and home to the Okęcie Warszawa professional association football club....
.
On May 25, 1948, Śmietański personally executed Witold Pilecki
Witold Pilecki
Witold Pilecki was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, the founder of the Secret Polish Army resistance group and a member of the Home Army...
, Polish Righteous among the Nations
Polish Righteous among the Nations
Polish citizens have the world's highest count of individuals awarded medals of Righteous among the Nations, given by the State of Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews from extermination during the Holocaust...
, the founder of the Secret Polish Army and prominent member of 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...
, famous for his daring mission to the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. Śmietański is believed to have been paid 1,000 Polish złoty for each execution he carried out, a substantial amount of money under Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. He emigrated from Poland in 1968 according to Chodakiewicz
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz is a Polish-American historian specializing in East Central European history of the 19th and 20th century. His historical works include: After the Holocaust: Polish-Jewish Relations in the Wake of World War II, and Between Nazis and Soviets: Occupation Politics in Poland...
. This information however, is not confirmed by Pawłowicz. For instance, Siergiejczyk mentions a different Śmietański, named Józef, who also left Poland in 1968 as a result of the Polish anti-Zionist campaign conducted by PZPR.
In 2003 the Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is a Polish government-affiliated research institute with lustration prerogatives and prosecution powers founded by specific legislation. It specialises in the legal and historical sciences and...
(IPN) launched an investigation in order to establish the whereabouts of Piotr Śmietański, with the intention of interviewing him about the remains of Pilecki. They found out that all personal data pertaining to Śmietański was earlier removed from official government records, including the Ministry of Defence, and the Prison Services. The investigation was halted in 2004. Historian Jacek Pawłowicz from IPN
Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is a Polish government-affiliated research institute with lustration prerogatives and prosecution powers founded by specific legislation. It specialises in the legal and historical sciences and...
in his 2008 book about Pilecki claimed that Śmietański died of tuberculosis at the age of fifty.