Centralne Muzeum Jeńców Wojennych

Witold Pilecki (1901–1948), after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, became a prisoner in German POW camps: Stalag 344 Lamsdorf in Łambinowice in Opole Silesia and Oflag VII A Murnau in Bavaria. This seven-month captivity is a little-known period in the life of this cavalry oficer, who – for the second time – was demoted to a number – 101892. During the registration in Lamsdorf, this successful escapee from KL Auschwitz, disclosed his real name and made plans to flee both POWs camps.

When considering the figure of Witold Pilecki, one may ask who he was and what he achieved in his relatively short life of just 47 years that earned him a place among the bravest members of the anti-German underground in Europe, and why monuments are erected in his honour and books continue to be written about him today.

He was a defender of Poland’s independence in 1920 and 1939, a conspirator, and a soldier of the Home Army. He was also a voluntary prisoner and organiser of the resistance movement in KL Auschwitz, as well as the author of the so-called Witold's Reports remaining amongst the earliest testimonies to the Holocaust. He was a prisoner of war and, finally, an activist in the anti-communist underground.

The post-war communist authorities in Poland accused Witold Pilecki of treason and sentenced him to death; the sentence was carried out in 1948. They also attempted to erase him from collective memory—unsuccessfully, as evidenced, among other things, by this very book.