The story of Witold Pilecki is a story of testicular fortitude and tragedy.
I know it’s been a hot minute, but welcome back to History With Heston. I’m J.R. Heston, a teacher and student of history. I’ve been teaching history for 18 years. My students have been paying attention for none of them. These little retards are more concerned with the newest Tik Tok dance. I have a new dance move for you stupid little shits, it’s called the “F” and it’s really easy to do. You play around on your phone instead of paying attention to your teacher and you flunk the class.
Anyway, today’s lesson is about a read bad-ass son of a bitch. Today we’re going to learn about Witold Pilecki.
Many of you have probably never heard of Witold Pilecki, because not only didn’t you pay attention in history class, but most World War 2 curricula don’t even so much as mention the man. And that’s a goddamn shame, because Witold Pilecki might be the bravest motherfucker to fight in the second world war.
World War 2 produced some of the bravest men to ever live, for example the young men who stormed the beaches of occupied France on D-Day. But few men exhibited the bravery of Polish soldier Witold Pilecki, a man who volunteered to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp to gather intelligence.
Yes, this man willingly agreed to allow himself to be captured by the Nazis and thrown into one of the most notorious concentration camps of the war. I wonder who made this man’s underwear, because his balls must have been the size of fucking watermelons.
80 years after the end of the war, what happened in Auschwitz is common knowledge. That knowledge comes not only from the information given by Holocaust survivors, but also from the bravery of men like Pilecki who selflessly put themselves in harm’s way to obtain it. Imagine having the courage to willingly be taken to fucking Auschwitz so you can find out what’s going on in there. This man heard the rumors about the atrocities occurring in the camps, but he had to know for sure, and he knew the easiest way to get that information was to go into the camp as a prisoner. Pilecki volunteered to be imprisoned in a concentration camp. Meanwhile my students won’t volunteer for a goddamn blood drive because they’re afraid of needles.
On September 19, 1940, Witold Pilecki assumed the identity of Tomasz Serafiński, a man believed to be dead, and allowed himself to be captured by the Germans during one of their routine roundups. He was interred in Auschwitz, where he wasted no time forming a resistance movement, gathering intelligence, and eventually breaking out of the camp three years later. All according to the plan.
For most men, this would have been more than enough, and they would have taken it easy for the rest of the war. But Witold Pilecki wasn’t “most men”. Upon his escape from Auschwitz, Pilecki joined the Polish uprising in August of 1944, continuing to fight the Nazis in the streets of Warsaw. During this time, he hid his rank from his superiors, preferring to serve anonymously in a display of valiance and humility. Only after many Polish officers were killed and leadership was needed did Pilecki step up and reveal his true rank. He was placed in control of the 1st Warszawianka Company, responsible for defending downtown Warsaw.
Because God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, the Polish uprising ultimately failed, and Pilecki was captured and placed into a German POW camp, where he remained until the camp was liberated on April 29, 1945. Hitler killed himself in the Führerbunker the very next day, possibly in fear of Pilecki, a man who survived the camps not only once, but twice.
The war may have been over, but Witold Pilecki wasn’t done just yet. Now that the Soviets were running Poland, there was more shit to get done and more asses to kick. Eager to get back to it, Pilecki was sent by the Polish government-in-exile based in Italy to return to Poland and continue doing what he did best: Gathering intelligence and raising hell. Not even a full year after being freed from the prison camp, Pilecki returned to work.
But such a legendary man can only stay hidden for so long. By mid-1946 the Soviets figured out what Pilecki was up to, and his commanding officer ordered him to get the hell out of there. But Pilecki wasn’t having any of that shit. There was work to be done, and this bad ass motherfucker was going to get it done. He also had a wife and kids who didn’t want to uproot their lives because things got a little rough. After putting his gigantic brass balls on the table, Pilecki’s order to return was rescinded and he was allowed to continue working inside Soviet-controlled Poland.
There’s only one way this could have ended for such a legendary man as Witold Pilecki though. In May of 1947, Pilecki was captured and interrogated relentlessly. In his final act of defiance to the enemy, Pilecki refused to give up anything. For many of my students, the threat of detention is more than enough to get them to drop a dime on their homeboys. But Pilecki withstood torture and kept his mouth shut, only opening it to spit in the faces of his captors. He was then tried, found guilty of a multitude of crimes, and executed on May 28, 1948 by a single shot to the back of his head, finally bringing to an end the story of one of the greatest men to ever walk this Earth. His story remained largely untold until the fall of the Soviet Union in the 90’s.
Sadly, this man continues to be overlooked by history, and I think that’s bullshit. While there were many brave men who gave everything during World War 2, Witold Pilecki deserves particular attention for not only volunteering to infiltrate Auschwitz, but continuing to fight all the way up to his capture and execution by his own countrymen.
His death may be one of history’s greatest injustices, but his life is certainly one of history’s greatest displays of valor and courage. The name of Witold Pilecki is synonymous with bravery and should be remembered by everyone.