LOCATION: ON THE SQUARE IN FRONT OF THE MUSEUM
This biographical installation presents the life of one of the greatest Polish heroes – Captain Witold Pilecki, a man of extraordinary destiny. He was the grandson of an insurgent from the January Uprising, a scout, an artist, a participant in the Battle of Warsaw, a landowner, a philanthropist, a happy husband, and a good father. He defended Poland in 1939, was a member of the resistance movement, fought in the Warsaw Uprising, and served as a soldier in Anders' Army. After the war, he returned to the country to create underground independence movements against the Soviets.
He demonstrated unprecedented courage on a global scale – in 1940, he volunteered to enter the Auschwitz concentration camp, from which he daringly escaped after 947 days. (This moment is captured by a monument to him standing in Władysław Bartoszewski Square 1.)
In the report he wrote after his escape, he revealed the truth about the criminal activities of the Germans to the world.
After the war he was arrested, brutally tortured, and sentenced to death by the communists for activities hostile to the People's Republic of Poland, but he never renounced his ideals. Until the end, he protected his wife, children, colleagues, taking all the blame upon himself.
The exhibition is a modern interpretation of the monument to Captain Pilecki, an opportunity to learn about the values that guided him in life, and a personal exploration of the mystery of one of the bravest people of World War II.
Gallery
