It is all deeply saddening – in 2026, Włodzimierz Czarzasty serves as Speaker of the Sejm, and the left intends to push for compensation to be paid to the “victims of the Cursed Soldiers.” Once again, calumnies, lies, and a sludge of epithets are being directed at the Unbroken – both in opinion pieces and in statements by representatives of left-wing circles. Just like in the old communist days. And once again, we must stand in defense of the Cursed Soldiers – the struggle for memory continues – writes Tomasz Łysiak in a column for the portal Niezalezna.pl.
This year, the National Day of Remembrance of the Cursed Soldiers has a particular significance – it marks exactly 75 years since the execution of the members of the IV Main Board of the “Freedom and Independence” Association (WiN): Łukasz Ciepliński, Mieczysław Kawalec, Józef Batory, Adam Lazarowicz, Franciszek Błażej, Karol Chmiel, and Józef Rzepka.
Łukasz Ciepliński, nom de guerre “Pług” (“Plough”), wrote the following to his wife in prison notes smuggled out on a handkerchief:
“My dear Wisia! I am still alive, although these are probably my last days. I am sitting with a Gestapo officer. They receive letters, but I do not. And how I would love to receive at least a few words written by your hand (…). I lay this pain at the feet of God and Poland (…). I thank God that I may die for His holy faith, for my Homeland, and that He gave me such a wife and such great family happiness.”
In the courtroom, Ciepliński revealed the horrific circumstances of his interrogations, beatings, and torture:
“During the investigation I lay battered in a pool of my own blood. My mental state under those conditions was such that I could not be aware of what the investigating officer was writing.”
Beyond the physical annihilation of the soldiers of the anti-communist underground, the security apparatus aimed at their total “cursing” – stripping them of the respect and esteem they had enjoyed in society. “Our task,” said one of the secret police officers, “is not only to destroy you physically, but we must destroy you morally in the eyes of society.” Thus, a dark image of the soldiers of the anti-communist uprising was constructed – portraying them as bandits, murderers, people devoid of conscience. The communist press reported on fights against “gangs.”
It might have seemed that for the past 15 years (the holiday honoring the Unbroken was established in 2011, thanks to earlier efforts by President Lech Kaczyński and IPN President Janusz Kurtyka – both of whom perished in the Smolensk disaster), as we commemorate the Cursed Soldiers, honor them, and restore them to public consciousness, the current of memory had been set in the right direction. Meanwhile, it turns out that this current is once again being forced back and muddied with a “red stick.” It is all deeply saddening – in 2026, Włodzimierz Czarzasty serves as Speaker of the Sejm, and the left intends to push for compensation to be paid to the “victims of the Cursed Soldiers.” Once again, calumnies, lies, and a sludge of epithets are being directed at the Unbroken – both in opinion writing and in statements by representatives of left-wing circles. Just like in the old communist days. And once again, we must stand in defense of the Cursed Soldiers – the struggle for memory continues!