Edward Wasilewski (1923 – 22 August 1968), pseudonym Wichura (Strong gale), was one of the best known anti-communist fighters in the Polish resistance during the Soviet takeover of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Under his command, 44 underground soldiers successfully attacked the NKVD camp in

Rembertów Rembertów () is a district of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Between 1939 and 1957 Rembertów was a separate town, after which it was incorporated as part of the borough of Praga-Południe. Between 1994 and 2002 it formed a separate ...

on the night of 20–21 May 1945, and liberated 700–1000 NKWD prisoners. Wasilewski was arrested on 26 March 1946 and, after a year spent in prison, was broken by agents of the Ministry of Public Security. He worked as an informant until 1960, denouncing many of his former colleagues. He committed suicide by jumping out of a window in 1968, on the day of the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

.Kazimierz Krajewski, Tomasz Łabuszewski
Bohater i antybohater: Edward Wasilewski „Wichura”
PDF (298 KB). Accessed 20 March 2011 Wasilewski grew up in Stanisławów near

Mińsk Mazowiecki Mińsk Mazowiecki () "''Masovian Minsk''") is a town in eastern Poland with 40,999 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999) and is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is the capital of Mińsk County. Locate ...

. He got engaged in anti-Nazi resistance as early as December 1939 – being merely 16 years old. In the summer of 1940 he joined the underground scouting group ''

Szare Szeregi "Gray Ranks" ( pl, Szare Szeregi) was a codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association (') during World War II. The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939, actively resisted and fought German occupation in ...

'', and became one of its organizers. He entered the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

(Armia Krajowa) with his scouting platoon. Simultaneously, Wasilewski continued his education in a clandestine secondary – which allowed him to pass the Polish high school exam. In the Home Army, he was assigned to combat division, where he served until the end of the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. In 1943 he completed a clandestine course at a cadet school and received the rank of a platoon officer. In 1944 he was promoted to the rank of the Second Lieutenant and joined the forest battalion. He ended his fight against Germany with the participation in action "Burza" (Storm).

Anti-communist civil war

Colonel Edward Wasilewski returned to his hometown and continued his underground activities in the

Armed Forces Delegation for Poland The Armed Forces Delegation for Poland (''Delegatura Sił Zbrojnych na Kraj'') was a Polish anti-communist resistance organization formed on May 7, 1945, by the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, General Władysław Anders, as a conti ...

(Delegatura Sił Zbrojnych). In spite of the young age (21 years) in February 1945 Wasilewski received an order from the commander of the Circumference

to form an independent guerrilla unit and to commence self-defense activities against the Soviet takeover. Soon, his unit expanded from a dozen soldiers to over fifty, armed with 25 rifles, over 20 machine guns, pistols and 3 anti-tank rifles. Together, they destroyed several MO and NKVD strongholds, and on 20–21 May 1945 liberated the camp in Rembertów.Kazimierz Krajewski
"Akcje uwalniania więźniów z więzień, obozów oraz placówek UBP i NKWD 1944–1948."
PDF (193 KB). Arrested after a mock amnesty and persecuted, Wasilewski became a Stalinist informant in September 1950 while suffering from depression. He joined the Department 3 of MBP in May 1951, and in the following years took part in many anti-partisan operations, resulting in capture and execution of numerous underground fighters including Kazimierz Kamieński "Huzar",Jan Warpechowski
Huzar - Testament Jana Warpechowskiego, czyli jak zdradzono Kazimierza Kamieńskiego. ''Ciechanowiec OnLine''. 29.01.1960.
/ref> and Jan Kmiołek with dozens of others. He drank heavily and contracted tuberculosis. He was laid off from MBP in April 1960, got a job as a petty journalist (never under a real name), and committed suicide 8 years later, on 22 August 1968.

Notes and references

Artykuły historyczne. ''Fundacja Pamietamy''. 5 May 2010.

* ttp://www.ciechanowiec.info/articles.php?article_id=47 "Huzar – Testament Jana Warpechowskiego, czyli jak zdradzono Kazimierza Kamieńskiego." ''Ciechanowiec OnLine'', 26 January 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasilewski, Edward 1923 births 1968 deaths Home Army members Cursed soldiers Suicides in Poland Military personnel who committed suicide Suicides by jumping

Anti-communist civil war

See also

Notes and references