Captain Józef Rzepka ( noms de guerre "Krzysztof", "Rekin", "Stefan", "Znicz") was born in 1913 in the village of Bratkowice in Austrian Galicia (now in

Rzeszów County __NOTOC__ Rzeszów County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed ...

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshal, it is governed by the Subcarpathian Regional As ...

). He graduated from the 1st High School in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

, then went to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

to study law at

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializat ...

. During the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...

, he fought as a colonel in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

, then became a member of Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej (later:

Home Army The Home Army (, ; 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) established in the ...

), in the area of Rzeszów. In the summer of 1944, Rzepka was commandant of the Home Army field forces around Rzeszów, which took part in

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Arm ...

. When the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

captured Rzeszów, he decided to continue fighting against the communists. On the night of 7-8 October 1944 Rzepka participated in a failed attempt to free members of the Home Army, who were incarcerated by the Soviet secret police, the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

, in the Rzeszów castle prison. In the mid-1940s, Rzepka joined the anti-Communist organization Wolność i Niezawisłość (WiN), as a member of its Information Department. During the fall of 1945, he moved to

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

and settled in

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: , full form: , , ) is an industrial city put under direct government rule in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the western part of the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of around 2 m ...

. While there, he became a member of the 4th Headquarters of WiN, led by

Łukasz Ciepliński Łukasz Ciepliński (; 26 November 1913 – 1 March 1951) was a Polish soldier who fought in the Polish anti-Nazi and anti-communist resistance movements. He used various aliases: ''Pług'', ''Ostrowski'', ''Ludwik'', ''Grzmot'', and ''Bogdan' ...

. Arrested in 1948, along with a group of other members of WiN, he was transported to the infamous

Mokotów Prison Mokotów Prison (, 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 Poland. During the Nazi Ge ...

in Warsaw. Brutally tortured, he was sentenced to death in 1950. His appeal for clemency sent to the then president of Poland

Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of History of Poland (1945–1989), communist-ruled Poland from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 ...

was rejected. Captain Rzepka was executed on 1 March 1951, at 8:45 pm, in the 1951 Mokotów Prison execution with 6 other men. His body was never returned to his family and his remains were buried in an unknown location. In 1992, the Warsaw Military Court voided the 1950 sentence and posthumously cleared Rzepka of all charges. He was married to Zofia Sieniawska and had one daughter with her, Anna, who does not have any children.

Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110724160700/http://www.rzeszow.uw.gov.pl/main.php?muid=3&mid=127&akID=5022&cid=809070c69fd2cd36

Notes and references

Polish secret police torture methods

WiN , Freedom and Independence - A Historical Brief
by Dr. Janusz Marek Kurtyka, Ph.D., Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, IPN, Poland. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rzepka, Jozef 1913 births 1951 deaths People from Rzeszów County Military personnel of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Cursed soldiers killed in action Polish Army officers Executed Polish people Executed military personnel People executed by the Polish People's Republic by firearm Executed people from Subcarpathian Voivodeship

See also

Sources

Notes and references