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Kazimierz Damazy Moczarski (21 July 1907 – 27 September 1975) was a Polish writer and journalist, an officer of the
Polish 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 ...
(''
noms de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...
'': Borsuk, Grawer, Maurycy, and Rafał; active in
anti-Nazi resistance Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...
). Kazimierz Moczarski is primarily known for his book ''
Conversations with an Executioner ''Conversations with an Executioner'' ( pl, Rozmowy z katem) is a book by Kazimierz Moczarski, a Polish writer and journalist, officer of the Polish Home Army who was active in the anti-Nazi resistance during World War II. On 11 August 1945, he wa ...
'', a series of interviews with a fellow inmate of the notorious UB secret police prison under Stalinism, the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
war criminal
Jürgen Stroop Jürgen Stroop (born Josef Stroop, 26 September 1895 – 6 March 1952) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era, who served as SS and Police Leader in occupied Poland and Greece. He led the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 19 ...
, who was soon to be executed. Thrown in jail in 1945 and pardoned eleven years later during
Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...
, Moczarski spent four years on death row (1952–56), and was tried three times as an
enemy of the state An enemy of the state is a person accused of certain crimes against the state such as treason, among other things. Describing individuals in this way is sometimes a manifestation of political repression. For example, a government may purport to m ...
while in prison.Stéphane Courtois, Mark Kramer
''Livre noir du Communisme: crimes, terreur, répression''.
The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, ''
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
'', 1999, 858 pages. . Pages 377–378.


Biography

Born on 21 July 1907 in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Moczarski was the son of Jan Damazy, teacher and school principal, and Michalina Franciszka ''
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Wodzinowska, also a teacher. Kazimierz began studying law at
Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
in October 1926. During his studies, he was drafted to Reserve Infantry Battalion No.9 and served at
Bereza Kartuska Biaroza ( be, Бяро́за, official Belarusian romanization standard: ''Biaroza'', formerly Бяро́за-Карту́зская; rus, Берёза, Beryoza; pl, Bereza Kartuska; Yiddish: קאַרטוז־בערעזע, tr. ''Kartùz-Bereze'' ...
in 1929–1930 for 10 months.Andrzej Szczypiorski, ed. (1992)
Moczarski Kazimierz, ''Rozmowy z katem''.
Full text with a ''Foreword'' by Andrzej Szczypiorski and closing ''Notes'' and author's ''Biography'' by Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert (PDF 1.86 MB, available from Scribd.com). Retrieved
Following his graduation in December 1932, he continued his studies in France at the
Institute of Higher International Studies The Institute of Higher International Studies (french: Institut des hautes études internationales, commonly referred to as "IHEI") is a public institution of research and higher education in Paris, France. It was founded in 1921 by Paul Fauchille ...
of
Paris University , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
. In 1935, he returned to Warsaw and became an advisor to the Ministry of Labor and Social Services, specializing in Polish and
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
. He was also a member of the “Youth Legion,” and a member of the progressive organization “Labor Club Maurycy Mochnacki.” In 1937, he took part in the setting-up of the Democratic Club of Warsaw. Their first meeting took place at his own Warsaw apartment.


World War II

During the 1939 Polish-German
September campaign The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after ...
, Moczarski commanded a
platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...
subordinate to the 30th Infantry Division. He saw combat during the Siege of Warsaw. After the
Fall of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...
, Moczarski remained an active member of the clandestine Democratic Alliance. He also joined the Polish Resistance and became an officer in the Polish Home Army (''
Armia Krajowa 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 ...
'', AK) under the ''
nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
'' of "Rafał". Until the fall of 1943, he was assigned to the "Bureau of Intelligence and Propaganda" (BiP) for the AK's Warsaw District. In May 1944, under the new pseudonym "Maurycy", Moczarski took the post of the Head of Department of Personnel Sabotage. His assignment, at which he excelled, was to assassinate members of the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
, collaborationists, and Gestapo informers in the AK's ranks. It was his idea to rescue, on 11 June 1944, Polish prisoners incarcerated by the Gestapo at Warsaw's Jan Boży Hospital (pl). Shortly before the
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
by the underground resistance, Moczarski was given a new post as the head of the radio and telegraph services of Home Army's headquarters. During the uprising, Moczarski was directing one of the insurgent's radio stations, "Rafał" located in Warsaw's district Śródmieście-Północ. In September 1944, he moved to another station, "Danuta" located at 16 Widok street. At the same time, he was editor-in-chief of ''Wiadomości Powstańcze'' (Uprising News), which was a daily regional addition to the Home Army's ''
Biuletyn Informacyjny ''Biuletyn Informacyjny'' ("Information Bulletin") was a Polish underground weekly published covertly in General Government territory of occupied Poland during World War II. The magazine was edited by Aleksander Kamiński and distributed as the ...
'' (Information Bulletin). On 14 September 1944 he was promoted to the post of reserve Lieutenant. After the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising on 7 October 1944 he left the city with a group of coworkers from BiP along with the evacuees of the Red Cross, and stopped in
Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
, but returned shortly afterwards, to help with the escape of
Jan Stanisław Jankowski Jan Stanisław Jankowski (6 May 1882 – 13 March 1953; noms de guerre ''Doktor'', ''Jan'', ''Klonowski'', ''Sobolewski'', ''Soból'') was a Polish politician, an important figure in the Polish civil resistance during World War II and a ...
, the delegate of Polish Government in exile. He was appointed head of the Home Army's Information and Propaganda office BiP on 26 October 1944. Destroyed during the uprising, the office was reinstated in
Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...
. Moczarski continued his underground activities there, changing his nickname to "Grawer" (Engraver).


Postwar

The Polish Home Army (AK) was disbanded by High Command on 19 January 1945 as peace in Poland took hold. Moczarski was promoted to captain of the reserve team. Meanwhile, in place of the AK a new organization was formed by
General Anders A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
against the communist takeover, called 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 contin ...
(''Delegatura Sił Zbrojnych na Kraj'', DSZ). Moczarski remained the head of BiP, using a new pseudonym "Borsuk" (Badger). Together with Włodzimierz Lechowicz and Zygmunt Kapitaniak, he co-authored a memorandum to his headquarters which stipulated that a new order must be made out to all underground soldiers in the field about laying down arms in the name of reconstruction. Their proposal was accepted and on 24 July 1945 an order was issued by the Head of DSZ, Colonel Jan Rzepecki, entitled "To former soldiers of Home Army" which stated:


Imprisonment

On 11 August 1945, five days after the Delegation for Poland officially dissolved, Moczarski was arrested by Ministry of State Security headed by Gen. Romkowski and put on political trial. On 18 January 1946 Moczarski was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military court in Warsaw. Even though his penitentiary sentence was shortened to five years in February 1947, he was not released from the notorious
Mokotów Prison Mokotów Prison ( pl, Więzienie mokotowskie, also known as ''Rakowiecka Prison'') is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at 37 Rakowiecka Street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of ...
upon his sentence's fulfillment four years later. The darkest years of Stalinism in Poland were yet to come. Interrogated by Romkowski's subordinates from 9 January 1949 till 6 June 1951, Moczarski endured 49 different types of torture later described in his memoir. Beatings included truncheon blows to bridge of nose, salivary glands, chin, shoulder blades, bare feet and toes (particularly painful), heels (ten blows each foot, several times a day), cigarette burns on lips and eyelids and burning of fingers. Sleep deprivation, resulting in – meant standing upright in a narrow cell for seven to nine days with frequent blows to the face – a hallucinatory method called by the interrogators "Zakopane". General Romkowski (b. in Moscow as Natan Grünspau-Kikiel) had already told him on 30 November 1948 that he had personally requested this "sheer hell". Beginning 2 March 1949, as means of psychological torture, Moczarski was locked up for nine months (or 255 days) with two German SS-men: SS-
Untersturmführer (, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of ''Sturmführer'' which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921. ...
of BdS Krakau Gustav Schielke and SS-Gruppenführer
Jürgen Stroop Jürgen Stroop (born Josef Stroop, 26 September 1895 – 6 March 1952) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era, who served as SS and Police Leader in occupied Poland and Greece. He led the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 19 ...
. Stroop was responsible for the annihilation of the
Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
after the 1943 uprising. His crimes resulted in the death of over 50,000 people. A committed Nazi, arrogant and unremitting until the very end, he was put on trial on 18 July 1951 for the war crimes committed in Poland and executed on 6 March 1952. Also in 1952, a brand new Stalinist trial of Kazimierz Moczarski opened on counterrevolutionary charges falsified on site by MBP. On 18 November 1952, by the decision of Warsaw's District Court, he was sentenced to death as an
enemy of the state An enemy of the state is a person accused of certain crimes against the state such as treason, among other things. Describing individuals in this way is sometimes a manifestation of political repression. For example, a government may purport to m ...
. The following October, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, but he was not informed about it. He thought to have remained on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
until January 1955, awaiting execution at a moment's notice until someone finally informed him of the verdict.


Rehabilitation suit

During the massive anti-Stalinist upheaval known as the
Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...
thaw, Kazimierz Moczarski was retried for the last time, pronounced innocent and released from prison on 24 June 1956. He was cleared of all trumped-up charges against him and fully rehabilitated in December 1956, at the end of Stalinist terror in Poland. After his release, Moczarski rejoined the Democratic Party of Poland. He worked as a journalist at the ''Kurier Polski'' (''Polish Courier'') newspaper, being responsible for contacts with readers. He was also active in the anti-alcohol movement, and for some time he was editor-in-chief of a ''Problemy Alkoholizmu'' (''Issues of Alcoholism'') magazine.


''Conversations with an Executioner''

Immediately after his release, Moczarski began writing down notes about Stroop. In 1971 he turned them to a full-length book, verifying what facts he could in publications, court transcripts and archive materials. In April 1972, the first installment of his ''Rozmowy z katem'' (''Conversations with an Executioner'') was published by the ''Odra'' monthly. The story continued to run in parts until February 1974, ending with an interview with Moczarski about its origin. ''Rozmowy z katem'' was published in book form in 1977 by the ''
Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy The State Publishing Institute PIW ( pl, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, PIW) is a Polish publishing house founded in Warsaw by the Polish state after World War II, in 1946. ''PIW'' specializes in literature, history, philosophy, and the social sc ...
'' with various details censored by the regime. Moczarski did not witness the publication of his book. He died on 27 September 1975 in Warsaw. The unabridged edition, with a foreword by Andrzej Szczypiorski and followed by Moczarski's biography and a glossary of German names and terms by
Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert (born 12 October 1952 in Warsaw) is a Polish historian and lecturer, specializing in the history of Polish resistance movement in World War II. Since April 2010 he is the secretary general of the Council for the Protectio ...
, was published after the collapse of Communism by the
Polish Scientific Publishers PWN Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i P ...
in 1992. The book was published in English, "edited by Mariana Fitzpatrick", in 1981 by
Prentice-Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari B ...
. Prominent translations include German, published by ''Droste'' in 1978; French by ''Gallimard'', in 1979; Hebrew by Loḥame ha-Geṭaʼot, in 1979–80; Czech by Mladá fronta in 1985 (the full version by Jota in 2007); and Ukrainian, by Černìvcì in 2009, among several others. Moczarski's biography written by Kunert was published in 2006 with foreword by
Władysław Bartoszewski Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the ...
.
Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert (born 12 October 1952 in Warsaw) is a Polish historian and lecturer, specializing in the history of Polish resistance movement in World War II. Since April 2010 he is the secretary general of the Council for the Protectio ...
, ''Oskarżony Kazimierz Moczarski.'' Wydawnictwo "Iskry", Warszawa 2006
(foreword).


In popular culture

* In the 2006 Polish
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''Rozmowy z katem'' (''Conversations with an Executioner''), based on Kazimierz Moczarski's memoir, Stroop is played by the actor
Piotr Fronczewski Piotr Fronczewski (born 8 June 1946 in Łódź, Poland), is a Polish actor and a cabaret and theatre singer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most popular actors of his generation. Life and career He was born to a Polish mother, Bogna ...
. * In 2007, filmmaker Maciej Englert created a DVD documentary entitled ''"Conversations With An Executioner"'' based on Moczarski's book. * On April 18, 2012,
Philip Boehm Philip Boehm (born 1958) is an American playwright, theater director and literary translator. Born in Texas, he was educated at Wesleyan University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the State Academy of Theater in Warsaw, Poland. Boehm ...
's stage adaptation of Moczarski's ''Conversations with.an Executioner'' premiered at the Upstream Theater in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
.


Notes and references


Bibliography

* Kazimierz Moczarski "Conversations with an Executioner" Prentice-Hall 1981, * Kazimierz Moczarski "Zapiski" Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1990, {{DEFAULTSORT:Moczarski, Kazimierz 1907 births 1975 deaths Home Army members Polish anti-fascists Polish anti-communists Polish Army officers Polish prisoners and detainees Warsaw Uprising insurgents Writers from Warsaw 20th-century Polish journalists