Capital punishment in Poland
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment
remained in Polish
law until April 1, 1998, but from 1989 there was a moratorium on executions, with the last execution taking place one year earlier. The death penalty is now prohibited in Poland for all offences.
Since regaining independence in 1918, Polish law allowed the death penalty for murder and treason in time of peace, and a number of other offences during wartime. For example, during the Polish-Soviet War
(later to become famous) writer
Sergiusz Piasecki
was sentenced to death for armed robbery in the war zone, although his sentence was later commuted.
From 1918 to 1927 firing squad was the only method of executions. After President's decree in 1927, hanging
become a main method of executions, with firing squad retained for soldiers or people who have committed crimes against state security. Stefan Maciejowski has been serving as a first civil executioner and was well-known public figure until his firing for alcoholism
. Probably the most notable execution by firing squad during the time of the Second Polish Republic
was the execution of Eligiusz Niewiadomski
, a painter and far right-wing extremist, who assassinated President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz
in December 1922.
It's notheworthy, that for a number of years criminal law in pre-WWII Poland was considered less repressive than in Western Europe, also considering the capital punishment. When in 1931 one criminal code was passed, death penalty was incorporated there by just one vote majority. Attitude, however changed and in 1932 even 17-year old convicts were allowed to receive the death sentence.
For a brief period during the Second Republic in the 1930s special military courts were introduced in present-day Ukraine
. A number of people were hanged based upon decisions by these tribunals for crimes against state security.
For many years, there were no public executions under Polish authorities in the Second Polish Republic, but after World War II
some notable Nazi war criminals were hanged in public. Former Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss was executed before a large crowd of witnesses in the former camp area. Also former President of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig
and gauleiter
of Reichsgau Wartheland
Arthur Greiser
was hanged in public in Poznań
on July 14, 1946. This was the last public execution in Poland, although the Minister of Interior could order public execution until 1950.
During the Stalinist
era (1944–1956), the death penalty was a common instrument of political repression
. The archetypal method was shooting a single bullet up into the base of the skull from behind; among people executed that way was Witold Pilecki
, a hero of Auschwitz. Exact number of executed until 1956 is unknown, but some sources estimated these numbers as over 3000.
After 1956 (events of Polish October
) executions of political prisoners ended, and most executions were related to the crime of murder. The only exception was the case of Stanisław Wawrzecki, who was sentenced to death and hanged for economic crimes under pressure from then communist leader Władysław Gomułka. The method authorized for soldiers and people who committed crimes against state security remained the firing squad.
From 1969 to 1995 344 people were sentenced to death and 183 were executed (all of sentenced and executed were males). In contrast to other states of the Soviet Bloc, number of executions in Poland was relatively low.
The last execution took place on April 21, 1988 in Kraków
, when murderer and rapist Stanisław Czabański was hanged.
The last death sentence was imposed in 1995 (Henryk Moruś).
Protocol 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
, which Poland has ratified, restricts the application of the death penalty to times of war or "imminent threat of war". Poland has also signed, but not yet ratified, Protocol 13 of the Convention, which provides for the total abolition of the death penalty. The penal code of 1997 abolished the death penalty for all crimes; the code passed into Polish law on September 1, 1998.
Today, most political circles are opposed to the idea of reintroducing the death penalty, although it does have support from some members of the former (2005-2007) right-wing government
, namely President Lech Aleksander Kaczyński. He has expressed his desire to reinstate the death penalty, clashing with the European Union
over the issue. Also, national-conservative League of Polish Families (LPR) and agrarian Self-Defense (Samoobrona RP) showed some support of death penalty in a short period of time. Some politicians of the centre-right Citiznes' Platform (PO) stated that they would support death penalty if it was legal in the EU.
To support the move, Kaczyński has stated that the death penalty remains popular with most Poles and that abolishing the death penalty gives criminals advantages over victims. A poll by CBOS, a publicly funded Polish research institute, showed that 63% favored reinstating the death penalty. Both the Catholic Church hierarchy, as well as former President Lech Wałęsa
and Aleksander Kwaśniewski
had expressed their opposition to such a measure. Another poll, in 2007 by Angus Reid Global Monitor, showed that Poles were divided on the issue. 52 per cent of respondents said they opposed the death penalty while 46 per cent said they supported it, with a margin of error at 4.5 per cent.
The prisoner was unaware of the fact that the execution was imminent: he was not informed of the date and time when it would take place. Prisoners were only informed at the very last moment, as they entered the death chamber. Death chambers were usually located alongside washrooms and reportedly many of the condemned may have thought they were taken to wash themselves. A final meeting with their family (or the presence at the execution of a family representative) was not allowed. Families of condemned prisoners were not told in advance of the execution date. They only learned of the execution after it had taken place and their relative was dead.
Except for the prison guards, medical team and executioner, the only persons present were the prosecutor
(not the judges) and, if the prisoner wished, a priest
.
The prisoner had a right to a last wish - e.g. cigarette, simple last meal or writing a letter to their family.
After having his hands tied the prisoner was escorted to the death chamber. The execution chamber had two rooms - one for final preparations and the second containing the gallows
. Then prosecutor read the verdict and informed the condemned prisoner that his plea for mercy had been refused by the Council of State
.
There were two professional executioners in Poland (both of them members of the prison guard) who received a fee for performing an execution. Their names were kept secret to protect them from reprisals. Both were guards in Warsaw and, if the execution was to be carried out in another place, they travelled to the relevant prison before the execution.
Executions using firing squads were carried out in the military camp in Rembertów
. From 1970 to 1988 three soldiers were shot for the crime of murder and rape.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
remained in Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
law until April 1, 1998, but from 1989 there was a moratorium on executions, with the last execution taking place one year earlier. The death penalty is now prohibited in Poland for all offences.
Since regaining independence in 1918, Polish law allowed the death penalty for murder and treason in time of peace, and a number of other offences during wartime. For example, during the Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
(later to become famous) writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Sergiusz Piasecki
Sergiusz Piasecki
Sergiusz Piasecki , was one of the best known Polish language writers of the mid 20th century. His crowning achievement, published in 1937, was the third most popular novel in the Second Polish Republic...
was sentenced to death for armed robbery in the war zone, although his sentence was later commuted.
From 1918 to 1927 firing squad was the only method of executions. After President's decree in 1927, hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
become a main method of executions, with firing squad retained for soldiers or people who have committed crimes against state security. Stefan Maciejowski has been serving as a first civil executioner and was well-known public figure until his firing for alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. Probably the most notable execution by firing squad during the time of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
was the execution of Eligiusz Niewiadomski
Eligiusz Niewiadomski
Eligiusz Niewiadomski was a Polish modernist painter and art critic who belonged to the right-wing National Democratic Party till 1904 and later continued supporting it. In 1922 he assassinated Poland's first President, Gabriel Narutowicz.-Life:Niewiadomski was born into a family of gentry descent...
, a painter and far right-wing extremist, who assassinated President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz
Gabriel Narutowicz
Gabriel Narutowicz was a Lithuanian-born professor of hydroelectric engineering at Switzerland's Zurich Polytechnic, and Poland's Minister of Public Works , Minister of Foreign Affairs , and the first president of the Second Polish Republic....
in December 1922.
It's notheworthy, that for a number of years criminal law in pre-WWII Poland was considered less repressive than in Western Europe, also considering the capital punishment. When in 1931 one criminal code was passed, death penalty was incorporated there by just one vote majority. Attitude, however changed and in 1932 even 17-year old convicts were allowed to receive the death sentence.
For a brief period during the Second Republic in the 1930s special military courts were introduced in present-day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. A number of people were hanged based upon decisions by these tribunals for crimes against state security.
For many years, there were no public executions under Polish authorities in the Second Polish Republic, but after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
some notable Nazi war criminals were hanged in public. Former Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss was executed before a large crowd of witnesses in the former camp area. Also former President of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
and gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of Reichsgau Wartheland
Reichsgau Wartheland
Reichsgau Wartheland was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939. It comprised the Greater Poland and adjacent areas, and only in part matched the area of the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen...
Arthur Greiser
Arthur Greiser
Arthur Greiser was a Nazi German politician and SS Obergruppenfuhrer. He was one of the persons primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust in Poland and numerous other war crimes and crimes against humanity, for which he was tried, convicted and executed by hanging after World War...
was hanged in public in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
on July 14, 1946. This was the last public execution in Poland, although the Minister of Interior could order public execution until 1950.
During the Stalinist
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
era (1944–1956), the death penalty was a common instrument of political repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
. The archetypal method was shooting a single bullet up into the base of the skull from behind; among people executed that way was Witold Pilecki
Witold Pilecki
Witold Pilecki was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, the founder of the Secret Polish Army resistance group and a member of the Home Army...
, a hero of Auschwitz. Exact number of executed until 1956 is unknown, but some sources estimated these numbers as over 3000.
After 1956 (events of Polish October
Polish October
Polish October, also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the Polish internal political scene in the second half of 1956...
) executions of political prisoners ended, and most executions were related to the crime of murder. The only exception was the case of Stanisław Wawrzecki, who was sentenced to death and hanged for economic crimes under pressure from then communist leader Władysław Gomułka. The method authorized for soldiers and people who committed crimes against state security remained the firing squad.
From 1969 to 1995 344 people were sentenced to death and 183 were executed (all of sentenced and executed were males). In contrast to other states of the Soviet Bloc, number of executions in Poland was relatively low.
The last execution took place on April 21, 1988 in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, when murderer and rapist Stanisław Czabański was hanged.
The last death sentence was imposed in 1995 (Henryk Moruś).
Protocol 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
, which Poland has ratified, restricts the application of the death penalty to times of war or "imminent threat of war". Poland has also signed, but not yet ratified, Protocol 13 of the Convention, which provides for the total abolition of the death penalty. The penal code of 1997 abolished the death penalty for all crimes; the code passed into Polish law on September 1, 1998.
Today, most political circles are opposed to the idea of reintroducing the death penalty, although it does have support from some members of the former (2005-2007) right-wing government
Law and Justice
Law and Justice , abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing, conservative political party in Poland. With 147 seats in the Sejm and 38 in the Senate, it is the second-largest party in the Polish parliament....
, namely President Lech Aleksander Kaczyński. He has expressed his desire to reinstate the death penalty, clashing with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
over the issue. Also, national-conservative League of Polish Families (LPR) and agrarian Self-Defense (Samoobrona RP) showed some support of death penalty in a short period of time. Some politicians of the centre-right Citiznes' Platform (PO) stated that they would support death penalty if it was legal in the EU.
To support the move, Kaczyński has stated that the death penalty remains popular with most Poles and that abolishing the death penalty gives criminals advantages over victims. A poll by CBOS, a publicly funded Polish research institute, showed that 63% favored reinstating the death penalty. Both the Catholic Church hierarchy, as well as former President Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
and Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwasniewski
Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...
had expressed their opposition to such a measure. Another poll, in 2007 by Angus Reid Global Monitor, showed that Poles were divided on the issue. 52 per cent of respondents said they opposed the death penalty while 46 per cent said they supported it, with a margin of error at 4.5 per cent.
Execution procedure
During the years in which the death penalty existed in Poland, execution by hanging was carried out in eight prisons in the country. Typically, executions would take place around 6.00 p.m., when there were the most prison guards present.The prisoner was unaware of the fact that the execution was imminent: he was not informed of the date and time when it would take place. Prisoners were only informed at the very last moment, as they entered the death chamber. Death chambers were usually located alongside washrooms and reportedly many of the condemned may have thought they were taken to wash themselves. A final meeting with their family (or the presence at the execution of a family representative) was not allowed. Families of condemned prisoners were not told in advance of the execution date. They only learned of the execution after it had taken place and their relative was dead.
Except for the prison guards, medical team and executioner, the only persons present were the prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
(not the judges) and, if the prisoner wished, a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
.
The prisoner had a right to a last wish - e.g. cigarette, simple last meal or writing a letter to their family.
After having his hands tied the prisoner was escorted to the death chamber. The execution chamber had two rooms - one for final preparations and the second containing the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
. Then prosecutor read the verdict and informed the condemned prisoner that his plea for mercy had been refused by the Council of State
Polish Council of State
The Council of State of the Republic of Poland was introduced by the 1947 Small Constitution. It consisted of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Marshal and Vicemarshals of Constituent Sejm, President of the Supreme Chamber of Control and could consist of other members...
.
There were two professional executioners in Poland (both of them members of the prison guard) who received a fee for performing an execution. Their names were kept secret to protect them from reprisals. Both were guards in Warsaw and, if the execution was to be carried out in another place, they travelled to the relevant prison before the execution.
Executions using firing squads were carried out in the military camp in Rembertów
Rembertów
Rembertów is a district of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Between 1939 and 1957 Rembertów was a separate town, after which it was incorporated as part of the borough of Praga Południe. Between 1994 and 2002 it formed a separate commune of Warszawa-Rembertów...
. From 1970 to 1988 three soldiers were shot for the crime of murder and rape.
External links
- History and procedure (Polish)
- Kronika darowanej śmierci, PolitykaPolitykaPolityka is a centre-left weekly newsmagazine in Poland. With a circulation of 170,000 it is the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of Newsweek's Polish edition and Wprost. Today, the magazine has a slightly intellectual, social liberal profile, setting it apart from the more conservative...
(April 19, 2008)