It happened in the 20th century (24)
‘It happened in the 20th century’ by Rafał LEŚKIEWICZ is an overview of the most important historical events to remember in the coming week (24 March – 30 March 2024).
Wiktoria and Józef Ulma with their children Source: Institute of National Remembrance.
On 24 March 1944, in Markowa near Łańcut, the Ulma family were murdered by the Germans. Wiktoria and Józef Ulma and their seven children, the youngest of whom was still in her mother’s womb, were killed for sheltering the Jewish families of Goldman, Didner, and Grünfeld. The oldest of the Ulma children was 8 years old. In addition to the Ulma family, the Germans also shot the eight Jews they were hiding.
Józef and Wiktoria Ulma ran a small farm before the war, where Józef implemented numerous innovative solutions. He founded the first nursery of fruit trees in Markowa, maintained an apiary, and bred silkworms. With a keen curiosity about the world, he avidly read books from his home library, which contained several hundred titles, and subscribed to magazines such as ‘Wiedza i Życie’. He also introduced modern agricultural techniques, including a household wind power plant and a bookbinding machine. Photography became Józef’s passion over time. He crafted his first camera and later acquired professional photographic equipment, documenting the everyday life of Markowa and his family Several hundred of the photographs he took have survived to this day. He was active in the Association of Male Youth and the Union of Rural Youth ‘Wici’. Meanwhile, Wiktoria, twelve years Józef’s junior, managed the household and raised their children. She was dedicated to their education, teaching them to read and write. Additionally, she participated in local social activities, including acting in the village theatre. The outbreak of the Second World War abruptly disrupted their peaceful life. Like thousands of other Polish families under German occupation, the Ulmas experienced daily fear and lived under the yoke of German terror.
During the occupation, the terror against the Jewish population, numbering nearly 120,000 in the Podkarpacie region, escalated relentlessly. In Markowa alone, with a population of around 4,500, approximately 120 Jews resided. Initially, in 1939, Jews were compelled to wear armbands adorned with the Star of David, followed by their forced relocation to ghettos. The systematic deportation of Jews to concentration and extermination camps commenced in 1941, reaching its horrifying peak with the initiation of Operation Reinhardt in March 1942. By December 1942, the Ulmas found themselves approached by their Jewish neighbours seeking refuge. Despite the inherent dangers and the threat of death for extending aid, Wiktoria and Józef welcomed several Jews onto their farm. It is believed that the Ulmas was betrayed by Włodzimierz Leś, a member of the Blue Police from Łańcut, who was later sentenced to death by the Polish Underground State. He met his fate on 11 September 1944.
On the night of 23/24 March 1944, German gendarmes and blue policemen, under the command of Lieutenant Eilert Dieken, descended upon the Ulma family’s property. It was Dieken who issued the order to execute the hidden Jews and subsequently the Ulma family themselves. Following the heinous act, the farm was plundered, and the victims were buried by local residents, and coerced into doing so by the Germans. In January 1945, after exhumation, the bodies of the victims were laid to rest in a grave at the cemetery in Markowa. Among the perpetrators, only one faced justice – military policeman Josef Kokott, who received a death sentence, and later commuted to life imprisonment. He passed away in 1980 in a prison facility in Bytom.
Since 2018, 24 March has been commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance of Poles who rescued Jews during the German occupation, in honour of the martyrdom of the Ulma family. Their heroism and sacrifice have been officially recognized, with the entire family, including their unborn child, being beatified by Pope Francis on 10 September 2023.
Source: mbc.malopolska.pl
On 24 March 1945, the first issue of ‘Tygodnik Powszechny’, a Catholic periodical published by the Metropolitan Curia in Krakow, was issued. Initially, the magazine’s editorial committee comprised Father Jan Piwowarczyk, Jerzy Turowicz, Konstanty Turowski, and Maria Czapska. ‘Tygodnik Powszechny’ stood as the sole uncontrolled and independent press publication in Poland, and more broadly, within the countries of the Eastern Bloc. However, the magazine’s editors and authors endured relentless surveillance by the communist security services.
Among the authors were Karol Wojtyła, Paweł Jasienica, Zbigniew Herbert, Stefan Kisielewski, Leopold Tyrmand, Stanisław Lem, Czesław Miłosz and Father Jan Twardowski.
The magazine’s activities were suspended twice. The first time was in 1953, after the death of Joseph Stalin, because the editors refused to publish his obituary. Again, the magazine was suspended in 1981, after the introduction of martial law. The milieu surrounding ‘Tygodnik Powszechny’ supported the 1989 Round Table compromise between the communist authorities and the democratic opposition. The title continues to be published to this day.
On 25 March 1977, the Human and Citizen’s Rights Defence Movement (ROPCiO) was established with the primary goal of advocating for civil rights within communist Poland. The formation of ROPCiO was officially announced the following day at a press conference held in Antoni Pajdak’s apartment. At this event, an appeal titled ‘To the Polish society’ was presented, signed by 18 individuals representing various political opposition circles. They included General Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz, Andrzej Czuma, Karol Głogowski, Kazimierz Janusz, Stefan Kaczorowski, Leszek Moczulski, Marek Niesiołowski, Antoni Pajdak, Rev. Bohdan Papiernik, Zbigniew Sekulski, Zbigniew Siemiński, Bogumił Studziński, Piotr Typiak, Rev. Ludwik Wiśniewski, Adam Wojciechowski, Andrzej Woźnicki, Rev. Jan Zieja, and Wojciech Ziembiński.
Following the establishment of the Workers’ Defence Committee in 1976, not all oppositionists were inclined to join due to ideological differences, particularly regarding the left-wing orientation of the organization. Thus, the idea arose to create an entity that would draw upon the traditions of the Home Army and foster cooperation with the Catholic Church. ROPCiO operated openly, embracing an inclusive approach. Activists within the movement advocated for fundamental rights, invoking international provisions despite the communist regime’s suppression. Their demands included freedom of speech, assembly, respect for beliefs, and the right to assemble.
ROPCiO also focused on educational activities and the organisation of discussion meetings. The magazines ‘Opinia’, ‘Bratniak’ and ‘Gospodarz’ were published for farmers. Several hundred people were active in the movement. ROPCiO’s activity was curtailed after the emergence of Solidarity in August 1980, as the trade union adopted most of the demands of the movement’s activists. The de facto dissolution of this social initiative took place after 13 December 1981, when most of the people involved were sent to detention centres and prisons.
NKVD, mug shot – Official NKVD photo from Okulicki personal file after arrest 1945.
Leopold Okulicki (1898-1946) General of the Polish Army and the last commander of the anti-German underground Home Army during World War II. He was murdered after the war by the Soviet NKVD. Source:pl.wikipedia.org
On 27 and 28 March 1945, the Soviet NKVD arrested 15 leaders of the Polish underground state in Pruszków. The Soviets had lured them into talks with the promise of immunity. They were to meet with Colonel General Ivanov of the 1st Belorussian Front Command. In reality, it was Ivan Serov, head of the SMIERSZ counter-intelligence service. The detainees were taken to Moscow and then imprisoned in the Lupianka prison, shrouded in grim legend. Shortly afterwards, on 18 June 1945, they were brought before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court, together with Aleksander Zwierzyński, the leader of the National Party, who had been arrested a few days earlier on 8 March. The ‘Trial of the Sixteen’ was a demonstration of communist manipulation aimed at eliminating political activists inconvenient to the authorities.
The defendants were accused of acting against the Soviet Union and the Red Army. The verdict was announced on 21 June after only three days of trial. General Leopold Okulicki received the maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. The others were sentenced to between 8 years and 4 months in prison. Three people – Stanisław Michałowski, Kazimierz Kobylański and Józef Stemler-Dąbski – were acquitted. On their return to Poland, virtually all of them, both those who were acquitted and those who returned after serving their sentences, faced further repression by the communist authorities. Kazimierz Pużak died in Rawicz prison in April 1950. General Leopold Okulicki, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and Stanisław Jasiukowicz did not return to Poland – they died in Soviet prisons. The last to return to Poland, in 1955, was Antoni Pajdak, who had been convicted in a separate trial in November 1945.
On 28 March 1947, near Jabłonki near Baligród in the Bieszczady Mountains, General Karol Świerczewski, alias ‘Walter’, was killed in an ambush organised by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Born in Warsaw, Świerczewski was a Soviet officer who fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War and the Spanish Civil War, commanding the XIV International Brigade. During the Second World War, he was Deputy Commander of the 1st Polish Army in the USSR. From 1946 he was deputy minister of defence. He was an alcoholic and a disastrous commander. His battlefield was stained with the blood not only of his enemies but also of his subordinates, whose loss he never reckoned with. He was responsible for the crimes committed against the soldiers of the Home Army and later the anti-communist underground.
During an inspection tour in the Bieszczady Mountains, the convoy in which he was travelling came under fire from Ukrainian partisans. Świerczewski was hit by two bullets and died. Two soldiers were also killed and several wounded in the shelling.
After his death, Świerczewski became a symbol of communist propaganda. He was presented as a hero, a soldier ‘who did not bow to bullets.’ Monuments were erected to him and streets were named after him all over Poland. Walter’s image appeared on the 50 zloty banknote. In the narrative of the authorities, Świerczewski’s death was the direct cause of the start of Operation Vistula, the operation to resettle Ukrainians from south-eastern Poland to the so-called Recovered Territories.
Historian, archivist, IT manager. Director of the Office of the Spokesperson of the Institute of National Remembrance. In the past, he was in charge of the archival department of the Institute of National Remembrance and the Central Information Technology Centre in Poland. Author, co-author and editor of over 160 scientific, popular science and journalistic publications.
Source: dlapolonii.pl
