Historiske Dage in Copenhagen - lecture on the mission of Pilecki
16.10.2021
Jack Fairweather, the author of the book “The Volunteer” gave a lecture on Witold Pilecki's mission during the largest historical festival in Denmark - Historiske Dage.
On October 16, Jack Fairweather presented the biography of Pilecki, told about his secret mission in the concentration camp in Auschwitz and how his reports on the situation in the camp were smuggled out and transferred to the Polish Government in Exile in London. Fairweather also presented the post-war fate of Pilecki, who was arrested in 1947 by the Security Office, brutally tortured and sentenced to death in a political trial. The sentence was carried out on May 25, 1948.
- 1945 did not bring freedom to Poland. After the Second World War the communists executed and deleted from the history many Polish resistance heroes. Witold Pilecki's heroic activity for many years remained unknown, even to his closest family – said Jack Fairweather during the lecture.
The discussion with the author was conducted by the Danish historian Signe Bergman Larsen from the Danish Jewish Museum. The lecture was organized jointly with the Danish Jewish Museum.
Witold Piecki (born in 1901) was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1940 of his own accord and with the consent of his commanders. He stayed there for over two and a half years, organizing a secret network and sending reports on conditions and the situation in the camp as well as the annihilation of Jews to the Polish underground. After his escape from Auschwitz, Pilecki worked for the Home Army’s Directorate for Sabotage and Subversion (Kedyw). In 1944, he took part in the Warsaw Uprising, and was captured and deported to Germany upon its defeat. He returned to Poland, now controlled by the communists, in 1945 as an emissary of General Władysław Anders, tasked with setting up an intelligence network. Arrested in 1947 by the Security Office, he was brutally tortured during interrogations and sentenced to death in a show trial. The sentence was carried out on 25 May 1948.
Jack Fairweather is the author of the book "Volunteer. The true story of Witold Pilecki's secret mission ", a biography of Witold Pilecki, which won the Costa Book Award and was translated into 25 languages, including Danish (Danish title:" Den frivillige - den sande historie om modstandshelten, som infiltrerede Auschwitz ") .
