
Pilecki's Report - jorgenveisdal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilecki%27s_Report
======
JackFr
Jan Karski
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karski)
had a similar story, though he went in an out of the Warsaw Ghetto a few times
during the war, rather than Auschwitz. He ended up as a professor at
Georgetown University until the 90's. If he drifted off topic in class, his
stories of being in the resistance in occupied Poland were amazing.

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GreeniFi
These were his words after his death sentence:

“I've been trying to live my life so that in the hour of my death I would
rather feel joy, than fear.”

What a hero.

~~~
DoofusOfDeath
I'm nearly speechless. Those are amongst the most moving words I've heard in
my 40+ years. Thank you for posting that.

Those words are also quite a challenge. They make so much of my own life
sound... trivial.

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NeedMoreTea
Probably the bravest man, for the longest time, I have ever read about of any
period in history. If ever a life deserved a major movie...

He did so much for Poland, yet was ultimately shot in the back of the head by
a communist Pole, after the show trial in 1948, and after months of torture.
He'd been trying to gather information of Soviet bloc atrocities.

The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather, published last year is well worth a read.

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Volunteer-Mission-Underground-
Ausch...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Volunteer-Mission-Underground-Auschwitz-
Greatest/dp/0753545160)

Edit: You can also get the reports themselves, with little extra translated to
English. [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Auschwitz-Volunteer-Beyond-
Bravery/...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Auschwitz-Volunteer-Beyond-
Bravery/dp/1607720094)

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isolli
"He remained loyal to the London-based Polish government-in-exile after the
communist takeover of Poland and was arrested in 1947 by the secret police on
charges of working for "foreign imperialism". Pilecki was executed after a
show trial in 1948."

Incredibly sad, and probably typical of how communist regimes dealt with
resistance heroes after the war. See František Fajtl [0] for instance.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franti%C5%A1ek_Fajtl#Persecuti...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franti%C5%A1ek_Fajtl#Persecution_\(1948%E2%80%931989\))

~~~
arethuza
Pilecki after the announcement of his death sentence:

 _" I've been trying to live my life so that in the hour of my death I would
rather feel joy, than fear."_

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki)

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hpoe
Incidentally wonderful song called Inmate 4859 by Swedish power metal band
called Sabaton that is about Pilecki.

If you think this story is interesting Sabaton has an entire album dedicated
to stories of people like this called Heroes.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Surprisingly they also have a history channel, with the real stories behind
many of their songs.

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msadowski
I recommend reading his Wikipedia Page:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki).

In 1948 Pilecki was executed by communists after a show trial.

The Polish entry has a bit more info
([https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki)).
What is horrifying are his words during the last seeing of his wife:
"Auschwitz was a plaything". While in arrest he was tortured: the denailed his
feet, crushed his genitals, impaled him on a table leg.

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gadders
The historian Dan Snow recently did a podcast with the author of a new book
about Pilecki. Definitely worth a listen.

[https://www.historyhit.com/podcasts/](https://www.historyhit.com/podcasts/)

(2nd one down on the left)

Book: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Volunteer-Mission-Underground-
Ausch...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Volunteer-Mission-Underground-Auschwitz-
Greatest/dp/0753545160)

------
paulie_a
This guy is badass. He went to auchswitz and escaped. Then did it again.

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igorgnot
He is our hero! The core of polish “magical” heroism. It’s unbelievable that
Poland after second war war, abounded by allies, stood agains oppression of
communism and won after 50 years.

~~~
jacquesm
America takes all the credit for the fall of the Iron Curtain but Poland
played a crucial part and this is often forgotten or ignored.

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pastor_elm
The Allies and the USA knew all about the Holocaust thanks to this man but
kept it a secret. Total farce of a narrative that American troops 'discovered'
concentration camps when they went into Germany.

~~~
bobthechef
There are a lot of silly lies about the War that have yet to be dispelled.
Actually, a recent book that contributes to this effort is "First to Fight" by
Roger Moorhouse[0].

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/First-Fight-Polish-
War-1939/dp/184792...](https://www.amazon.com/First-Fight-Polish-
War-1939/dp/1847924603?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-
ffab-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1847924603)

