Język Polski
English
Death and obvilion. The fate of the "bandits" dead bodies
Aparat Represji w Polsce Ludowej 1944-1989, No. 1(13) (2015), pages: 351-391
Publication date: 2023-03-28
PDF (Język Polski)
Abstract
In the years 1944–1956 more than 50 thousand people died as a result of communist acts of terror. A very large number of the victims were members of the anti-communist armed underground, of whom more than ten thousand were killed in combat or during anti-insurgency operations. Their bodies were usually buried in secret places, which to a large extent still remain undiscovered. The article attempts to reconstitute, on a microscale, the manner of handling the corpses of those killed from the moment of their transfer from the place of combat until burial. The authors reconstruct the events of February 1952 in the district of Krasnystaw and in the headquarters of the Krasnystaw security office. The raid organised by Internal Security Corps (KBW) resulted in the death of two members of the Aleksandra Sobonia „Wichra” division: Mieczysław Bodek („Lew”) and N.N. („Stach”). The bodies were transferred to the Security Office (PUBP) headquarters in Krasnystaw, where they remained for several days. There they were subjected to the „standard” procedure (medical examination, identification, and photographing). In the meantime they were robbed of clothing, and in the case one body several gold teeth were pulled or knocked out for profit. Next, the bodies were moved at night away from Krasnystaw and secretly buried. The matter ended in an unexpected way: upon the lapse of several weeks the officers involved in the burial were denounced by a colleague and subsequently charged with theft and the profanation of corpses. The investigation covered six of them, with final charges laid against two officers – both convicted by the decision of the Regional Military Court in Lublin.
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