When I think of Auschwitz, I think of Hell. I think of gas chambers, torture, hangings, starvation. Disease wrought havoc among the prisoners and so many people were slaughtered that the crematoriums were kept running all day. Despite all this, Witold Pilecki wanted to be there.
As a Polish resistance agent, he believed that the information he could gather from inside the concentration camp was vital. Nobody on the outside knew what was taking place in Auschwitz, and he made it his mission to find out.
It proved to be quite easy to get inside. All Pilecki had to do was get himself arrested.
In the beginning, Pilecki though Auschwitz was like any other POW camp. Unpleasant, yes, but a corpse factory? Even Hitler wasn’t that bad, or so the Allies thought. His first clue about the camp’s true purpose was the prisoner’s rations. They were calculated so that each man would only last six weeks. Anyone who lived longer, an SS officer told him, was stealing.
About this time I’m sure Pilecki was thinking, what have I thrown myself into?
No matter. He couldn’t turn back now.
Pilecki set about establishing a clandestine resistance network among the prisoners, seeking to improve living conditions, smuggle information back to the Allies, and arrange escapes. At the beginning, his spy network included only five prisoners; towards the end, it encompassed over a thousand.
In the course of his two-and-a-half years at Auschwitz, Pilecki and his team pulled some incredible stunts in Hitler's backyard. At one point the Germans set up a mailbox for informants to drop tips in; anyone giving away significant information would be rewarded. Pilecki broke into the mailbox, destroyed the most dangerous letters, and replaced them with some of his own to denounce the informants.
Another difficult task that Pilecki faced was removing SS agents. He couldn’t just walk into the mess hall and start shooting--that would only result in his death as well. No, he needed a quieter way. Somebody had the bright idea of exposing them to typhus-carrying lice, and it worked like a charm.
In order to deliver reports back to his superiors, Pilecki had to organize several prison breaks. Perhaps his most successful involved escapees dressed in SS uniforms stealing the camp commander’s car and driving out the front door. A little cocky, but it worked.
In his reports, Pilecki detailed all sorts of aspects about life in Auschwitz. He was the first to mention the gas chambers to the Allies, but this was met with skepticism. Nobody believed that the Germans would trouble themselves to build a gas chamber when they could just shoot the Jews instead. It made no sense, unless you factored in the Nazis’ irrational cruelty, which the rest of the world wasn’t ready to believe yet.
In 1943, the SS started to catch onto the resistance movement. Several operatives were arrested, and it was decided that it was too dangerous for Pilecki to remain in Auschwitz any longer. So on the night of April 26th, he and two other prisoners planned their escape.
Witold Pilecki's story is so incredible that I can’t fit it all into one blog post. Sorry to leave you hanging, but I’ll post the second half on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, can you think of another outstanding historical figure that I could do a special on?
As a Polish resistance agent, he believed that the information he could gather from inside the concentration camp was vital. Nobody on the outside knew what was taking place in Auschwitz, and he made it his mission to find out.
It proved to be quite easy to get inside. All Pilecki had to do was get himself arrested.
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| Mugshot of Witold Pilecki |
In the beginning, Pilecki though Auschwitz was like any other POW camp. Unpleasant, yes, but a corpse factory? Even Hitler wasn’t that bad, or so the Allies thought. His first clue about the camp’s true purpose was the prisoner’s rations. They were calculated so that each man would only last six weeks. Anyone who lived longer, an SS officer told him, was stealing.
About this time I’m sure Pilecki was thinking, what have I thrown myself into?
No matter. He couldn’t turn back now.
Pilecki set about establishing a clandestine resistance network among the prisoners, seeking to improve living conditions, smuggle information back to the Allies, and arrange escapes. At the beginning, his spy network included only five prisoners; towards the end, it encompassed over a thousand.
In the course of his two-and-a-half years at Auschwitz, Pilecki and his team pulled some incredible stunts in Hitler's backyard. At one point the Germans set up a mailbox for informants to drop tips in; anyone giving away significant information would be rewarded. Pilecki broke into the mailbox, destroyed the most dangerous letters, and replaced them with some of his own to denounce the informants.
Another difficult task that Pilecki faced was removing SS agents. He couldn’t just walk into the mess hall and start shooting--that would only result in his death as well. No, he needed a quieter way. Somebody had the bright idea of exposing them to typhus-carrying lice, and it worked like a charm.
In order to deliver reports back to his superiors, Pilecki had to organize several prison breaks. Perhaps his most successful involved escapees dressed in SS uniforms stealing the camp commander’s car and driving out the front door. A little cocky, but it worked.
In his reports, Pilecki detailed all sorts of aspects about life in Auschwitz. He was the first to mention the gas chambers to the Allies, but this was met with skepticism. Nobody believed that the Germans would trouble themselves to build a gas chamber when they could just shoot the Jews instead. It made no sense, unless you factored in the Nazis’ irrational cruelty, which the rest of the world wasn’t ready to believe yet.
In 1943, the SS started to catch onto the resistance movement. Several operatives were arrested, and it was decided that it was too dangerous for Pilecki to remain in Auschwitz any longer. So on the night of April 26th, he and two other prisoners planned their escape.
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| Typical selection process outside a concentration camp. |
Witold Pilecki's story is so incredible that I can’t fit it all into one blog post. Sorry to leave you hanging, but I’ll post the second half on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, can you think of another outstanding historical figure that I could do a special on?
Whoa. Now that's…something. I am eagerly awaiting the second half. (It's Tuesday here…)
ReplyDelete*nods* Yes, they don't make 'em like Pilecki anymore… :) And thanks for reminding me to post that! :P It had totally slipped my mind.
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