Historical story

Which party would Witold Pilecki vote for?

In the German concentration camp, Auschwitz, he reconciled the hating Polish socialists and nationalists. He united them with a common vision of working for the Republic of Poland and against a common enemy. Who could he vote for in the parliamentary elections in free Poland?

On December 24, 1941, a dozen or so men in striped uniforms met in room no. 7 of block no. 25 of the Auschwitz German concentration camp. Among them were representatives of Polish political organizations, incl. prof. Roman Rybarski (National Party), Stanisław Dubois (Polish Socialist Party), Lt. Col. Kazimierz Rawicz (ZWZ-AK) and Witold Pilecki - the creator of the conspiracy in "hell on earth".

During this Christmas Eve meeting, all the groups operating in the camp united. As the heroic captain wrote in his report:

So Poles had to be shown a mountain of Polish corpses every day so that they would make peace and decided that beyond the differences and hostile position they took towards each other, there was a greater right - agreement and one front against a common enemy .

Observation tower in Auschwitz. The guards did not realize that Witold Pilecki was organizing a conspiracy in the camp (photo:Jacomoman, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Pilecki himself set an example and put aside his own ambitions, handing over to Lt. Col. Rawicz the position of the underground commander in the camp and subordinating the entire organization of the ZWZ-AK. He treated the unification of Poles as his success:

Finally, I lived to see a moment that once could only be dreamed of - we organized a political unit in our organization, where colleagues who ate each other in the Seym on the ground cooperated very unanimously .

"I was a believer in the first place"

Where was the source of Pilecki's views? He himself wrote about himself in the context of his escape from Auschwitz: I was first and foremost a believer and I believed that if God wanted to help, I would leave for sure . According to witnesses, in a communist prison he talked with God .

Pilecki was a Christian. He put his ego aside and laid down his life for others. No wonder that, faced with death, he instructed his wife to read to their children the book by Tomasz á Kempis, "On the Imitation of Christ".

He did not like politics. He was a straightforward man, and did not like partying, quarrels and forgetting about the most important . He concentrated on acting. His son Andrzej emphasizes in the book " Pilecki. In the footsteps of my dad "That he was a state citizen and believed that Poland's interests were above the party's interests . He did not think in terms of political benefits, he did not calculate whether anything was profitable.

This is why he made urgent requests to the Home Army Headquarters to start an uprising in Auschwitz and liberate the camp. He couldn't believe that these people could be left to the Germans . As Andrzej Pilecki recounts:

He could not come to terms with the fact that the fate of thousands of Auschwitz prisoners seemed indifferent to the commanders of the Home Army and the Allies [...] He promised his friends that he would do everything to free the prisoners of the camp […] he wanted to be at least faithful to people he couldn't help himself.

Witold Pilecki during a military exercise (photo:Andrzej Pilecki's private archive).

"Dinosaur" and "Landlord"

His social and political views can be summarized in a few words:service to Poland and Poles. Brought up in a patriotic family, scout. While still a teenager, he participated in the battles for Polish independence. He fought the Bolsheviks and saw with his own eyes what their new order looked like , their "paradise" on earth.

Conservative and landowner. For the communists, "dinosaur" and "landlord", an anachronistic product of the epoch of history that is going into darkness, doomed to death, damnation and eternal oblivion. He managed his property in Sukurcze in the Vilnius region excellently.

He also treated the profession of a landowner as a service. He was socially involved and helped others. He commanded the fire brigade, founded an agricultural club, and organized a dairy cooperative. He cared for his wife and raised his children with dedication. In addition, he was a reserve officer and fulfilled his duty to participate in military exercises. Orchestra man. His son recalls:

My father was bursting with energy, he got involved in difficult matters, he helped people. Being the host in Sukurcze, he was also, in a way, today's social worker.

When World War II broke out, Pilecki put his life on a special, war track, as the President of Warsaw, Stefan Starzyński, called for. He put all his effort into the ministry. This was at the expense of his family and private life, which had not been prioritized anyway.

After his defeat in the defensive war with Germany, he became involved in the underground. He was active in the Secret Polish Army, which had a Christian-national character. He brought people together in his work:

In order to bind as many good Poles as possible, I didn't want to introduce any moments that would make them different. I approached people apart from each other and tied them only on the soldier's level explaining that party interests should be left until after independence ”.

The Pilecki family house in Sukurcze (photo:Andrzej Pilecki's private archive).

A sense of duty led him to voluntary imprisonment in Auschwitz. He was not a sufferer. He did not complain or whimper over his fate. He took joy and power from the service.

A man from another planet

When we read about Pilecki today, he appears to us as a figure from another planet. After all, there are no such people today, we live in different times. Putting the interest of Poland above particular interests is rare today.

And yet Pilecki can also today be a model of concerted service for Poland and a hero of all Poles, regardless of their political preferences. Many politicians would like to enroll him in their party, but he would not be happy about it .

Pilecki would probably still insist on working beyond divisions in the name of the common good. He wrote about politicians at the end of his report from Auschwitz:

let them think a little more about their own life , let them look around at people and start fighting with each other, with the usual falsehood, hypocrisy, business shuffled cleverly for ideas, truth, and even a big cause .