"Letters from the Underground" by Grzegorz Wasowski

As we begin this until now untold story, let us set the stage by reading a letter dated February 3, 1948.

My Dearest Witek,

I am profoundly grateful to you for helping my family, knowing that it has certainly added to your already overwhelming problems. However, if it would not be too difficult, I would be only so happy and grateful, if my wife with [my daughter] Marta could stay with you […]. Witek, you couldn’t imagine how much I would appreciate it if my boys could stay with you as well, but it certainly would have been too much for your overburdened shoulders. I don’t know if you would be able to handle it, because, after all, the boys are always rambunctious, and Jędrek the most. There would be yet another chore of putting them in time-outs, and swinging the belt in the air for at least two hours a day - because your [son] Wićka, has become rambunctious like them as well.

Witek, I read in your letter that you are starting to get little nervous, but don’t worry, this is only a war of nerves, and all of these politicians should go to hell. And I tell you, they don’t know squat, keep on guessing, and each one of them predicts something different; because each one of them has different convictions […]. It is difficult for me to write about what is going on with us, as it would take me a few days to describe. Keep Antoś [Antoś is short for Antoni or Anthony] around a little longer, and he will tell you exactly what is going on. We spent Christmas on the move. You could never imagine what a mass of men [K.B.W. Korpus Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego - Communist Internal Security Corps] they threw at us, but I firmly believe that this is the right fight, and that God is with us. He keeps on leading us out of situations that should be impossible to survive. It is impossible to believe how many soldiers and equipment they threw against us. And so what - they keep on pounding against a proverbial void, and carry out reprisals against innocent civilians, terrorizing them in horrible ways. Antoś will tell you what these arrests look like. I have reached the conclusion that an armed resistance unit supported by society at large, is impossible to destroy, as it will be able to escape serious attrition. Recently, we took away their [the communist KBW forces] field radio transmitter, ciphers, and their orders, and now we know who they are. They are furious because of their failures, and don’t know what to do next; seeking to contact us, so that we return what we took from them, and saying that they have nothing against us […]. During the last engagement, there was one dead officer, a First Lieutenant, and two wounded soldiers. I ordered to have them thoroughly patched up as well as we could, and told them that the ambush wasn’t set up against them, but rather to capture the UB [Polish secret police] snitch. The wounded man who survived (because the other one had died) opened up that he knew that it was a mistake, because they all knew that “Młot” [Eng. ‘Hammer’] doesn’t shoot at soldiers […].

I would like for you to come and see us, if even for a day, and your state of mind would certainly improve. Not a sign of winter here, even though its January, and spring seems to be all around us […].

If Kukuś is well, he could come with Antoś; or, if you will come, bring your Wicek and Kukuś along […]. Write more about what is going on in the world out there, and don’t believe these politicians too much. That’s about all, please let Danka, Kukuś, and the little one know that I send them my best wishes. To you, I offer my soldier’s handshake. Also, let the Major know that we all send our soldiers’ greetings to him.

Best, Władek

		We can easily guess, that the author of this letter didn’t send it by dropping it in a mailbox at the local post office, and neither was it a mailman who delivered it to the addressee. Władek, [short for Władysław], the man who signed this letter, was Captain Władysław Lukasiuk, nom the guerre “Młot”. Beginning in February 1946, he was the second in command - and from October 1946-on - the commanding officer of the6th Wilno Brigade of Home Army. The addressee of “Młot’s” letter was Lucjan Minkiewicz, nom the guerre “Wiktor”, the first commanding officer of this partisan unit, after it was formally established in February 1946. I will continue this story in a little less formal fashion, perhaps, as if it was a movie script. In the beginning of 1948, Władek leads his unit through countless battles against the communist forces in the Podlasie area, while Lucjan lives in Wrocław, a large city in southern Poland. He is hiding there under an assumed name along with his pregnant wife Wanda, and their two-year old son. Wanda, who passes herself off as “Danuta”, was a medic in the 5th and then 6th Wilno Brigades of the Home Army. He left the unit in October 1946 because of failing health and a complicated family situation.
Above: Wladek’s letter to Lucjan from April 1948
Above: Lucjan and Wladek’s unit. Podlasie area in Poland in April 1946.

He was relieved from duty for an undetermined period of time by the “Major”. The Major was no other than Major Zygmunt Szedzielarz, nom de guerre “Łupaszka”. But, he feels uneasy about his men in the unit who now, under the command of Władek, remain in the forests, fight, die, and escape from ambushes and battles waged against them by the communist regime. The sense of responsibility, let us not kid ourselves, lays heavily on his conscience. After all, he is living almost a normal life in a large city being rebuilt from the ravages of war. He sees the cars driving on the streets, and people who live there, are going to the movies, and restaurants. He also sees his growing son, and joyfully awaits the arrival of his second, yet unborn child.

		Left: Sec. Lt. Lucjan Ninkiewicz “Wiktor” (1) with his son (2) and his wife Wanda (3). Lo and behold, there is a knock on the door to his apartment. It disturbs this almost-peaceful existence, as out of nowhere, a visitor from some other century, or from some parallel dimension, delivers the letter we read earlier. The man named “Antoś” who delivered the letter from “Władek” - and you already know they didn’t have post offices and mailmen in the anticommunist underground - was the 2nd Lt. Antoni (Antoś) Wodyński, nom de guerre “Odyniec”. Wodyński has served in the anti-communist partisan units from 1945, and beginning in June 1946, was attached to the security detail of the 6th Wilno Brigade of the Home Army. Having been among Władek’s most trusted subordinates, starting in 1947, “Odyniec” becomes the courrier between Władek and Lucjan, delivering periodic reports from Władek about the situation in the field. Along with this letter dated February 1948, Antoś also delivers to this brave soldier, a shy plea. It isn’t only a soldier’s plea. It is also a father’s plea: please take care of my wife and my children, and in particular, my rambunctious boys. I have been honored to have met both of Władek’s boys, and I dare say, Jędrek and I have become really good friends.

But, let us get back to our story. You may have guessed that fearing the wrath of communist reprisals, Władek’s wife has left the Podlasie area for Wrocław. She keeps in touch with Lucjan and Wanda, and for some time, even lives there with her daughter Marta. Władek’s boys are sheltered by their distant family; hence, Władek’s plea to Lucjan to help his wife Jadwiga and their children.

		Left: Lucjan with his wife Wanda vel. “Danuta” Perhaps I am in error, but I think that even this brief and sketchily drawn sequence of events, describing Władek and Lucjan, would make an incredible movie. Wouldn’t you think? After all, these men are surviving under the most extreme of conditions, and only by a miracle, are still alive. While history, as you may or may not know, has already deemed them dead. We can, as if we were filmmakers crafting sequences of a movie, imagine what they must have felt […]. Both Władek and Lucjan are loving fathers and husbands, who at any cost want to comfort their wives. But, because of the decisions they made, they are unable to provide them with one thing that they desire the most - their safety. While on some superficial level, we may think that both men live diametrically different lives - they really don’t. They are both beset, with no way out. They are both dead. The third man, Antoś, a brave and uncompromising partisan and courier between these two parallel worlds - one of the never ending battles carried out by the resistance, and the other a definitely suspenseful life on the “outside”, lived out by Władek. He is sought by the secret police, the UB, and doesn’t have a way out either. He is already dead too. A director’s crafty play with scenes, and some producer’s interest, is all that is needed ... But, let us return to our Polish reality.

LUCJAN AND WŁADEK

Now, let us say a few words about both Lucjan and Władek. Lucjan was born and raised in the Litwa Kowieńska area. As early as 1940, he is involved in operations against the Germans, and from 1943-on, takes part in the partisan operations around Wilno and beginning in 1945, in the Białystok and Podlasie areas. He takes part in many well known engagements against operational units of the Soviet NKVD, Polish UB, LWP, and KBW. Among these were the operations around Sikory, on August 8, 1945, Miodusy Pokrzywne on August 18, 1945, Łempice on November 29, 1945, Brzozowo-Antonie, on April 28, 1948, Śliwowo, on April 30, 1946, Łosice on August 2, 1946, and others. Each and every engagement against the NKVD or UB was fought to the last man.

		Left: 2nd Lt. Lucjan Minkiewicz, nom de guerre “Wiktor” Both Lucjan and Władek fought their way through the battles from Sikory through Łempice. Władek, a native of the Podlasie area, lived with his wife and their three little children in the beautiful, scenic village of Mężenin, near the Bug River. A Home Army soldier through and through, he distinguished himself in many operations during the “Action V”. Only by a miracle, he avoided being arrested by the Soviets. From that day on, he’ll live in the forests. Both Lucjan and Władek are very different from each other in both appearance, and in demeanor. Lucjan, is a tall, skinny man with an elongated face. He is a sensitive intellectual. Right before the Second World War erupted, he was readying himself to begin studies at the Technical Institute, and was a gifted violinist. Władek, on the other hand, is well built man of medium height; one could say that he is stocky. He is very strong and physically fit, and fights in the partisan units despite the fact that he has a stiff leg resulted from an injury he received during cavalry exercises with the Polish army before the war. He is a strong man with an uncompromising character. He is an excellent commanding officer who knows the Podlasie area like the back of his hand. He is determined to fight to the bitter end, and believes in neither the phony communist amnesties, nor their make-believe olive branches. In this respect, he has no illusions about the realities brought upon by the communists, and doesn’t ponder intellectually how to bring about the end of the fighting that would lead him out of the forests. Lucjan is different though. He still hopes that regardless of all that is taking place around him, he will somehow manage to get his men out of the forests and to live as a civilian. Beginning in the fall of 1945, he doesn’t want to fight anymore, and doesn’t see any sense in continuing armed operations. This attitude accompanies him throughout the months that follow. But, the Major requires of Lucian to carry on commanding the unit. And Lucjan, the man of high ideals and a profound sense of responsibility for his men, continues to fight. He is doing it despite very severe heath problems and frequent, and at times, scolding reprimands from his wife Wanda, who is carrying his yet unborn first child. She demands from him to stop fighting and to take care of her. There is a letter from Lucjan to Wanda written during mid-1946 that had survived. While reading it, you’ll notice that he is using her assumed name "Don" from the resistance. Let us quote it here:
Above: Captain Władysław Łukasiuk, nom de guerre "Młot"

My Beloved Don,

Your last letter sent through “Bóbr” [Władysław Rymaszewski, KIA on April 3, 1947 by the Polish secret police, the UB], caused me a lot of pain. I know that you love me very much, but you are either unable, or unwilling to understand […]. You know you are the only one I love, and I want to be with you forever, but I can’t do that under the present circumstances. Truly, I would have left all of this behind in a heartbeat if I could, but when I think about those who have done it, and whom I will never respect again, I have to go on with the torment of being away from you. And, I would rather die a man of honor, than be like those others! You write that I can’t stay with you for any long periods of time, so that the others wouldn’t criticize me. No, Don! I am not afraid of their criticism, but I can’t mix my personal life with my responsibilities [to the unit …] Don! I do see how much you are suffering, and I can feel it, but I can’t help you, and it is killing me […]. If only all of this had finally ended, we could be so happy together. Do you remember, the time when I was sick? I asked God for something to happen to me, so I could convalesce longer, because then we could be together. Don! How much I envy those who have left the unit, and who were able to make new lives for themselves. On the other hand, I am afraid that I will share the fate of “Mścisław” [2nd Lt. Marian Pluciński, nom de guerre “Mścisław” was captured, sentenced to death, and murdered by the communists in a Białystok jail on June 28, 1946}. I'd rather die fighting than die on the gallows. You know that the "gentlemen" from the UB will have no mercy for me, and yet I want to live for as long as I can, so I could be with you, and at your side. Don! You have to get used to the fact that we will have to be apart for a long time. Danuś [an endearing shortened form of Danuta], remember that you are my wife, and that just like me, you were a soldier once. You have to remain at your post as well. You have to raise our child in the same spirit we were both raised! […]

Above: August 1946, Podlasie area. 1. Unknown and unidentified “Orzełek”; 2. Unknown and Unidentified “Sokolik”; 3. Sgt / 2nd Lt. Antoni Borowik “Lech”, KIA May 7, 1948 while attempting to pierce through the encirclement; 4. Czesław Pilecki “Jaskółka”; 5. 2nd Lt. Lucjan Minkiewicz “Wiktor”; 6. Unknown and unidentified “Krzak”; 7. Sgt. Władysław Wasilewski “Grot”; 8. Unknown and Unidentified “Żbik”; 9. Józef Cegliński “Zemsta”.

ANTOŚ

After a brief stay with Lucjan, and meeting Władek’s wife, Antoś, the one who became the mailman by necessity - as these people couldn’t use the post office - delivered the news and letter, and returned to his unit holding up in the Podlasie area. Regardless of the degree of danger or difficulties of couriering messages back and forth on Władek’s orders, he always got back in one piece. Beginning in 1948, he travels between the hiding places of Władek’s men who dreamt of normal lives in Wrocław and its bustling streets. He weaves the images of death during fighting - an uneven fight to boot - but, also that other world of deceitful calmness. The calmness that in the end is often a messenger of death after the hell of interrogations. He weaves these two superficially unrelated realities, where the dream of freedom is equally unattainable on both accounts.

The “gentlemen” from the UB mentioned in Lucjan’s letter to Wanda are busy. The secret police, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, UB, has been working for months on the Operation “X” targeting the Wilno conspiratorial cells. Several thousand people find themselves under surveillance - among them Major, and his attractive and brave companion, Lidia Lwow, nom de guerre “Lala”, a medic in the 5th Wilno Brigade between 1943 and 1947. Lucjan, Wanda, Jadwiga and “Kukuś” (Janusz Rybicki, nom de guerre “Kukułka”) mentioned in Władek’s letter, are also closely watched by the secret police.

		Left: 1948, Osielec in the Podhale area. From right, wearing civilian clothes after 4 years in the forests are: Major Zygmunt Szendzielarz “Łupaszka”, Lidia Lwow “Lala”, Wanda Minkiewicz “Danka” (“Wiktor’s” wife) The communists carry out a thorough surveillance leaving nothing to chance. They strike in mid June and July 1948. Nearly six thousand individuals are arrested during the Operation “X”. Among them are the Major and Lidia Lwow, who fall into the Bezpieka’s [derogatory name used to describe Polish secret police men] hands on July 1, 1948. Lucjan and Wanda are also arrested, and on July 3, 1948, Jadwiga, Wladek’s wife, is arrested as well. The UB set up a trap in her apartment. Fate has it, that around this time Antoś arrived in Wrocław again - reaching Jadwiga’s apartment on July 5, 1948. Already there, and practically at the doorsteps to her apartment, he realizes that it is a trap. He leaves, and despite a chase given by the UB, is able to escape. We will never find out how he realized that a trap was set up for him behind these closed doors. We will also never know why he returned later, trying to establish contact with Władek’s wife. Fate works in mysterious ways, we could say.

Having failed an earlier attempt at contact, he probably didn’t want to go back to Władek and his unit without any news about the fate of Jadwiga, Lucjan, and others. One way or the other, two days later, on July 7, 1948, he makes yet another risky attempt to reach Władek’s wife. But this time, his luck runs out. He is severely wounded in the abdomen while trying to escape from the UB. The UB knows very well who Antoś is, and what kind of treasure chest of information he is. A race against time begins. But it is isn’t the race to save his life, but rather a race to extract as much information about the location of Władek’s unit, and his contact points; as quickly as possible. Severely wounded Antos is rushed to the WUBP headquarters in Wrocław. We will spare you the description of the horrors that Antoś endured during these interrogations. But, if you care, you can see some scenes form the “Akcja pod Arsenalem” depicting interrogations of Janek Bytnar, nom de guerre “Rudy” at the Gestapo headquarters on Aleje Szucha. Antoś’s interrogations probably looked just like that, and on the top of it, he was also severely wounded in the stomach …

Above: 2nd Lt. Antoni Wodyński “Odyniec”, soldier in the 6th Wilno Brigade of Home Army, and one of the most trusted collaborators of Captain “Młot”. He was shot and captured by the UB in Wrocław on July 2, 1948, and died at the UB hospital on July 8, 1948, after horrific interrogations.		Above: Sitting from left:  Antoni Wodyński “Odyniec”, Czesława Czarnecka, Janusz Rybicki “Kukułka” (Kukuś), and Marian Jankowski “Marek”.

Can we, for the sake of our narrative, imagine for a moment what the UB beasts were saying to each other about Antoś's interrogation? 

- Did you get anything out of him?  Where is “Młot”?

- I didn’t get shit out of him.  One tough motherfucker. Go, see for yourself.

We can only imagine the surprised UB-ek [UB-ek is derogatory name used to refer to a secret policeman] looking at the protocol of Antoś’s interrogation - the last physical piece of evidence that he ever existed, and the testimony to this soldier's conduct at the UB slaughterhouse. 

The remaining protocol of the interrogation lists only three answers given by Antoś.

Asked where “Młot” is, he responded: - along with his entire unit, “Młot” is in the forests, and as of late is considering outing himself.  Of course, Władek had no such intentions.

Asked where “Lufa” is (“Lufa” is nom de guerre of Henryk Wieliczka, partisan in the 5th, and 6yth Wilno Brigades of Home Army), he responded: - Only by happenstance, sometime ago, I have seen him at the railroad station in Warsaw.  I don’t know where he is.

Asked where Cyrski is (“Cyrski” was an assumed name of one of the partisans in the 5th Wilno Brigade of Home Army) he responded: - I don’t know.

He didn’t sign the protocol of the interrogation. He wasn’t able to. There is an imprint of his thumb in the place where his signature should have been ...

While the UB knows very well who he is, they write “an unknown man” in the protocol of interrogation.  Because of that, he is transported to the UB controlled hospital in Wrocław as an NN (pol. Nieznany I Niezidentifikowany - Unknown and Unidentified).  This is where he dies on July 8, 1948.  His “Unknown and Unidentified” remains are transferred to the Pathology Department at the University of Wrocław hospital, where they are kept for over six months.  At the end of January 1949, Antoś’s remains - of course, as an NN - are given to the medical students to practice post mortem examinations.  After that, maybe a month later, Antoś’s remains - or whatever was left from him - are disposed in some unknown to this day location.

Above: Antoni Wodyński “Odyniec” (1), in the center 2nd Lt. Lucjan Minkiewicz “Wiktor” with his wife Wanda (4 and 5) in one of their safe houses in the Podhale area.

WŁADEK

Władek’s unit was hopelessly awaiting Antos’s return at a previously agreed contact location. Because of his heroic conduct during interrogations, the partisans could safely leave their contact point location. Antoś’s absence is obviously disturbing Władek - but, it could still mean nothing. After all, he always comes back. Only after several weeks of waiting, a sad realization dawns on Władek - something horrible had happened. He will never see Antoś standing among the soldiers of his unit again. Antoś wasn’t coming back - plain and simple. Loosing this brave soldier also meant that Władek lost his contact with Jadwiga. For a number of months he won't know, that along with Lucjan and others, she was also arrested by the UB. He stays put in his stronghold - Podlasie - but, no longer with any contact with the outside world. He is also facing an ever increasing in strength and more accurately striking communist forces. These bring about more and more terror against the local civilian population. In this way, he survives fighting during a number of months that follow …

It is time to end our story, because by now, I suspect, even the most die-hard readers are probably already tired of it.

Władek dies on June 27, 1949 at the outskirts of village Czaje-Wolka;

After horrific interrogations, Lucjan is sentenced to death.  His life ends at 7:55 P.M., on February 8, 1951, at the Mokotów prison in Warsaw.

The Major is also sentenced to death during the same “trial” along with Lucjan.  His life comes to an end twenty minutes after Lucjan’s.  He is also shot in the back of the head - in the Katyn-manner - by the jail executioner named Piotr Smietanski, known to the prisoners as the “Butcher of the Mokotów Prison”;

Wanda is also put on "trial" with Lucjan.  She is sentenced to 12 years.   She leaves the prison walls in 1956.  Partially paralyzed during interrogations, she spends her remaining years under the loving care of her daughter Ewa.  She dies in 2001;

Jadwiga is sentenced to 9 years in prison.  She is incarcerated until August 1954.  She dies the same year as Wanda.

Written by Grzegorz Wąsowski

Grzegorz Wąsowski is an attorney, historian, and writer, who co-directs activities of the Fundacja "Pamiętamy" in Warsaw, Poland.