Talk:Witold Pilecki

Did you know nomination

{{Did you know nominations/Witold Pilecki}}

Not so saintly

There was talk after the War that Pileckis People killed Jews during the Uprising. Pilecki was in "NSZ Warszawianka" a far right organization. I am not sure if this article is purely propaganda.

NSZ join: https://www.facebook.com/swiatpatrioty/posts/rotmistrz-witold-pilecki-zg%C5%82osi%C5%82-si%C4%99-do-kampanii-nsz-warszawianka-zgrupowania-ch/1141323264682932/

Mention of his people murdering Jews: https://www.rp.pl/publicystyka/art5906061-politruk-stalinowskiego-mokotowa-ja-nic-nie-widzialem-nie-slyszalem-wyrokow-na-mokotowie-bylo-od-cholery

"In Auschwitz, yes, but during the Warsaw Uprising, his people murdered Jews. That's what they said in Mokotów"

Pilecki saying he had orders to go to the camp not volunteer https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2020/09/02/zamelduj-ze-rozkaz-wykonalem-jak-witold-pilecki-trafil-do-auschwitz/

Allies knew of death camps before Pilecki Report: https://www.thejc.com/news/world/allies-knew-of-shoah-in-1942-documents-reveal-yge7npt6?utm_source=copilot.com

I hope the wiki did not go into a propaganda mode of the Polish Far right. Kommie27 (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 07:06, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Delete your account. ~2026-39301-80 (talk) 22:43, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 27 October 2025

On Witold Pilecki's page, there is a request for clarification and a link for this part of the paragraph:

"As part of his duties, Pilecki secretly drew up reports and sent them to Home Army headquarters with the help of inmates that had been released[clarification needed] or escapees."

The administration of Auschwitz recorded all prisoner releases from Auschwitz in their documentation. The link here has more on the reasons and includes a direct mention of Pilecki getting certain people released by the Reich:

" ...a fairly large group of Polish Army officers were released from Auschwitz in agreement with Calvary Captain Witold Pilecki. Among them was one of his closest associates - Lt. Col. Władysław Surmacki, chief of staff of the Secret Polish Army and Capt. Ferdynand Trojnicki and Aleksander Wielopolski, via whom Pilecki sent out the first report from the camp describing the conditions prevailing in KL Auschwitz. A well-known aircraft designer Antoni Kocjan was also released, who later took part in the production of weapon for the underground and played a great role unmasking the secrets of the German V-2 missiles."

https://www.auschwitz.org/en/history/life-in-the-camp/releases-from-the-camp/ Bluelily17 (talk) 17:09, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

 Not done. It's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. NotJamestack (talk) 20:26, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

Category: Cursed soldiers killed in action

This article appropriately has the category tag "Cursed soldiers killed in action". Since many won't have any idea what this means, or might think that "killed in action" only applies to armed combat, perhaps someone could add a brief explanation? Dotyoyo (talk) 22:16, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

@Dotyoyo There is no good system to explain categories. In this case I'd support removing / replacing with higher level, since being killed in prison is not in action. Arguably, we was a POW, not a KIA, and murdered as such, so the relevant category could be Category:Murdered prisoners of war (since we don't have Category:Murdered cursed soldiers). I'll ping @Dreamcatcher25 for third opinion. _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 00:26, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

@Piotrus A Google search summary (I know: not a WP:RS) mentioned that, although "killed in action" generally applies to those killed in combat, for cursed soldiers this phrase is also used to describe those who died in prison or from torture, due to their actively pursuing Polish independence. Sorry, but I don't have any good WP:RS for this. If I did, I might have edited the article myself. Dotyoyo (talk) 00:52, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

I highly doubt if Pilecki should be considered as a POW after the end of WWII. Category:Cursed soldiers executed by the Polish People's Republic (see Category:People executed by the Polish People's Republic) or something similar will be more relevant.Dreamcatcher25 (talk) 05:51, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

Good point. _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 13:20, 6 May 2026 (UTC)