Murder on the Makowieckis and Widerszal. Old Case, New Questions, New Doubts
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, No. 2 (2006), Pages: 23-53
Submission Date: 2020-10-11Publication Date: 2006-12-02

Abstract
This article deals with the most notorious political crime committed by the Germans on independence -oriented underground in German-occupied Poland. On 13 July 1944, Ludwik Widerszal and Jerzy Makowiecki with his wife were killed by a patrol of “Andrzeja Sudeczko” sabotage group. Both were prominent officers of the Information and Propaganda Bureau (BiP) of Home Army High Command, who exerted a powerful influence on the ideology of the key agency of the Polish underground army. Both assassinated men were also political activists involved in the left-wing Stronnictwo Demokratyczne (Democratic Party), which was accused of pro-Soviet sympathies and crypto communism. The author demonstrates that allegations of treason or communist influences levelled at Makowiecki and Widerszal have no foundation in sources. They originated from prejudice and misunderstanding, easily begotten in the stuffy air of conspiracy, when no open political discussion was possible due to the terror of German occupation authorities.
Since Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert several years ago finally dismissed the thesis that this murder was inspired by Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (National Armed Forces, NSZ), and demonstrates the involvement of a “conspiratorial mafia group” which used a few high-ranking conspirators, we know that this group was made up of three men. It is also certain that at least two of them: Wit old Bieńkowski and Władysław Jamontt (both brave and distinguished conspirators with big political ambitions) acted purposely, carrying out a political plan, which, in their opinion, was to block the political influence of the BiP in the underground and bring them some profit. Finding the culprits and the potential supporters of the plot is impossible. The author analyses in detail the circumstances of the investigation carried out by underground authorities and considers the actual motive behind the crime. He dismisses the thesis that the murder was ideologically inspired by the NSZ. The death of Makowiecki and Widerszal, veteran conspirators and patriots shot in infamy as traitors was a hopeless attempt by Bieńkowski and Jamontt to get involved, identifying a threat where there was none. The real enemy – Moscow's agents, concealed within the Delegatura (Government Delegate's Office at Home) and the Home Army, remained undetected, patiently waiting for the Red Army to arrive.
License
Copyright (c) 2006 Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Similar Articles
- Zuzanna Schnepf-Kołacz, The Fate of Journalists of the German ‘Reptile Newspaper’ – Nowy Kurier Warszawski in the Light of Post-War Trials on the Basis of the ‘August Decree’ , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 2 (2006)
- Lars Jockheck, From Agent to Collaborator? The Collaboration of the Jewish Journalist Fritz Seifter of Bielsko with the German Authorities in the 1930s and the 1940s. , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 2 (2006)
- Dariusz Libionka, On Henryk Woliński’s correspondence with Adolf Berman , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 4 (2008)
- Jan Olaszek, Jews and the Anders Army. The case of Roman Zimand , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 20 (2024)
- Alina Skibińska, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, “Barabasz” and the Jews: From the history of the “Wybraniecki” Home Army Partisan Detachment , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2013)
- Jan Grabowski, “I Wish to Add that I was not Aware and Carried out the Task as a Soldier of the Home Army”. On the Murder of Jews Hiding near Racławice by a Company of the Miechów Home Army , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: 2010: Holocaust Studies and Materials
- Klaus Peter Friedrich, Nazi Murder on the Jews in Polish Communist Press (1942–1944) , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 2 (2006)
- Jerzy Mazurek, Alina Skibińska, “Barwy Białe” on their Way to Aid Fighting Warsaw. The Crimes of the Home Army against the Jews , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2013)
- Anna Bikont, “They did not need to burn the house. They could have led the Jews out and killed them off” , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2013)
- Bartłomiej Rusin, Deportation of Jews from Vardar Macedonia, Belomorie, and Pirot in Bulgarian Historiography , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 11 (2015)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.