Ludwik "Hanka" Kalkstein, also known as Ludwik Kalkstein-Stoliński (13 March 1920, in Warsaw – 26 October 1994, in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

),Adam Zadworny
"Ostatnia misja Kalksteina."
''

Gazeta Wyborcza ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...

'', 12 December 2009. was a Polish Nazi collaborator of German descent. He worked as a Nazi police agent during the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and then as a Stalinist informant after the Soviet takeover of Poland. Along with his wife (Blanka Kaczorowska "Sroka" (b. 13 October 1922 in Brest, d. 25 August 2004), they became traitors to the Polish AK resistance organization under not one but two consecutive totalitarian regimes. Kalkstein was responsible for the arrest and execution by the Nazis of at least 14 officers of the Polish underground, including General

Stefan Rowecki Stefan Paweł Rowecki (pseudonym: ''Grot'', "Spearhead", hence the alternate name, Stefan Grot-Rowecki; 25 December 1895 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in ...

. Arrested by 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 ...

in April 1942 and interrogated, Kalkstein and Kaczorowska had followed a path taken by other Nazi agents. After collaborating with the Germans and even fighting on their side against the Poles during 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 ...

of 1944 (Kalkstein joined the SS as "Paul Henchel"), they would later collaborate as informants with the Communist UB after their internment in prison. "Ostatnia misja Kalksteina," page 2 (ibidem).
12 December 2009. Kalkstein was arrested by the UB in August 1953 and then sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of the betrayal of General Rowecki. The sentence was reduced to 12 years in prison. He was released from prison in 1965 under an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

. In 1973 and settled in

Piaseczno Piaseczno is a town in east-central Poland with 47,660 inhabitants. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship, within the Warsaw metropolitan area, just south of Warsaw, approximately south of its center. It is a popular residential area and ...

, Poland where he ran a chicken farm and then moved to the village of Utrata near

Jarocin Jarocin () (german: Jarotschin) is a town in west-central Poland with 25,700 inhabitants (1995), the administrative capital of Jarocin County in Greater Poland Voivodeship. Jarocin is a historical town, having been founded and granted city right ...

where he owned a large pig farm. In 1981 or 1982, he travelled to France, where his son lived (from a relationship with Blanka Kaczorowski). The family claimed that he died in France in the 1980s. In fact, in the mid-1980s, he emerged in Munich, where he worked in the library of the Polish Catholic Mission under the name of "Edward Ciesielski". He died on 26 October 1994 in Munich, Germany.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalkstein, Ludwik 1920 births 1994 deaths Gestapo personnel People from Warsaw Polish people of World War II Polish prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Polish collaborators with Nazi Germany Polish people of German descent Polish emigrants to Germany Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Poland

See also

Notes and references