Kakolewnica - Little "Katyn" - The Secret of Uroczysko Baran

The inhabitants of the area surrounding Uroczysko* Baran in Kakolewnica near Radzyn Podlaski, call this place “Little Katyn”. (pol. “Maly Katyn”) During Fall of 1944 and January and February of 1945 stationed here were units of the II Polish People's Army. The Home Army (abbr. AK - Armia Krajowa) soldiers were not the only ones shot here, but also those from WiN (pol. Wolnosc i Niezawislosc - Freedom And Independence) and BcH (pol. Bataliony Chlopskie - The Peasant's Batalions), real and imagined deserters, and others who fell in disfavor with the new communist regime. To this day, an accurate number of those shot here is unknown. The most conservative estimates give number of several hundreds, but others claim, it should be between 1,300 to 1800 dead. This is their story ... Read the entire article here ...

Augustow Roundup, The - Unsolved NKVD Crimes In Poland ...

In July, 1945 the Soviet Red Army units supported by the UB (Urzad Bezpieczenstwa – The Polish State Security), and MO (pol. Milicja Obywatelska – The People’s Militia) conducted a grand-scale pacification in the Puszcza Augustowska, and in the surrounding area. The Soviet forces combed through the forests and villages, arresting all those suspected of collaboration with the Polish Underground. During the course of the roundup, nearly 2,000 individuals were detained. Some of those returned home after being interrogated and tortured, while 600 were sent to an unknown location, never to be heard from again. This is their story. Click Here to Learn More About the Augustow Roundup

Polish Secret Police Dossiers On-Line - Part 1

"If it is possible at all, that an image of evil can be reflected in a human face, than perhaps, the faces of the 'bezpieka' functionaries are its best example. For 45-years, the work in the Urzad Bezpieczenstwa [UB] andSluzba Bezpieczenstwa [SB], was the most shameful profession in the entire apparatus of the communist regime. This work was undertaken not only by those who were weak enough to succumb to the temptation of inflicting violence with impunity, but also by those insufficiently equipped to reject it, and those who without any scruples could partake in the murderous enterprise of crime. They were surrounded with preponderant fear, and also with a prevailing contempt - even from within the ranks of their protectors, and willing collaborators. For there aren't any more insulting words in the Polish language than those [used to refer to them] like 'ubek','bezpieka', or 'esbek'" Excerpt from the Preface to "The Faces of the Krakow's Bezpieka", at al, Institute of National Remembrance, Krakow, 2006  Read More Here ...

Battle against the NKVD at Surkonty

Nicknamed by the NKVD, the “handless major" ("besrukhii major"), Maciej Kalenkiewicz was one of the most distinguished officers in the ranks of the Polish Home Army. Kalenkiewicz was also one of the first victims of the organized mass terror, conducted by the Soviets against Polish democratic underground, and against the Polish population at large. - He was among the most ideologically fateful individuals whom I have met in my entire life – reminisces his former colleague form the Cichociemni (Silent and Invisible - sabotage and diversion commando formation), Capt. Stanislaw Sedziak nom de guerre “Warta”. - He believed that the moral fortitude of our men will at the end bring Poland its freedom. Major Kalenkiewicz began his underground service as a second in command in the unit of the legendary, Major Henryk Dobrzanski “Hubal”, the first partisan commander of World War II, and died as a symbol of the underground resistance against Soviet terror in the Eastern Boarderlands (pol. Kresy Wschodnie) of Poland. Read More Here

A Volunteer for Auschwitz - Witold Pilecki, Cavalry Captain

Volunteer for Auschwitz - Witold Pilecki, Captain (1901–1948)

His daring plan to free those imprisoned at Auschwitz with the help of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, never materialized. Fearing that his mission was about to be compromised, after spending 945 days in Auschwitz, he escaped in 1943. In 1944, Cpt. Pilecki fought in the Warsaw Uprising in the ranks of the “Chrobry II” Unit. In 1945, he was attached to the II Corp of the Polish Army In Italy. On orders from General Anders, he returned to the communist-occupied Poland [...] In May, 1947 Captain Pilecki was arrested by the Polish secret police (pol. UB - Urzad Bezpieczenstwa), and incarcerated at the Warsaw’s infamous jail at the Rakowiecka Street. Despite being subjected to the most horrifying torutures, until the end, he remined faithful to his military oath – “God, Honor, Country.” After listening to death sentence charges against him, he responded to the "court": 

“I tried to live my life in such fashion, so that in my last hour, I would rather be happy than fearful […] I found happiness within me, resulting from the realization, that this fight was worth it”.

Witold Pilecki, an unsung hero of the Holocaust, was executed by the communists on May 25, 1948.  Gloria Victis!

Visit the Doomed Soldiers website to learn more about this most extraordinary of heroes  ...