All Topics  
Trial of the Sixteen

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Trial of the Sixteen
 
 
  Topics Trial of the Sixteen Topic Home

The Trial of the Sixteen was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Secret State
Polish Secret State

The Polish Underground State refers collectively to the Polish resistance movement in World War II in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian, loyal to the Polish Government in Exile in London....
 held by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 in Moscow
Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
 in 1945.


The trial took place between June 18 and 21, 1945, at the presence of foreign press and observers from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and USA
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Trial of the Sixteen'
Start a new discussion about 'Trial of the Sixteen'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Trial of the Sixteen was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Secret State
Polish Secret State

The Polish Underground State refers collectively to the Polish resistance movement in World War II in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian, loyal to the Polish Government in Exile in London....
 held by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 in Moscow
Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
 in 1945.

History


In February 1945 the Government Delegate
Government Delegate's Office at Home

The Government Delegation for Poland was an agency of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was headed by the List of Polish Government Delegates at Home, a de facto deputy Polish Prime Minister....
, together with most members of the Council of National Unity
Council of National Unity

Rada Jednosci Narodowej was the quasi-parliament of the Polish Underground State during World War II. It was created by the Government Delegate's Office at Home on 9 January 1944....
 and the C-i-C of the Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa

The Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II Nazi Germany-History of Poland . It was formed in February 1942 from the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and over the next two years absorbed most other Polish underground forces....
, were invited by Soviet general Ivan Serov
Ivan Serov

General Ivan Aleksandrovich Serov was the head of the KGB between 1954 and 1958, and also head of the GRU between 1958 and 1963. Beforehand, he was Deputy Commissar of the NKVD under Lavrentiy Beria, and was to play a major role in the political intrigues after Joseph Stalin's death....
 on behalf of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953....
 to a conference on their eventual entry to the Soviet-backed Provisional Government. They were presented with a warrant of safety, yet they were arrested in Pruszków
Pruszków

Pruszk?w is a town in central Poland. According to the 2004 census the town had population of 54,893.Pruszk?w is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship ; it was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship ....
 by the NKVD
NKVD

The NKVD or People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the leading secret police organization of the Soviet Union that was responsible for Soviet political repressions during the Stalinism era....
 on March 27 and brought to Moscow
Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
 for interrogation.

After several months of brutal interrogation and torture they were presented with the forged accusations of:
  • collaboration
    Collaboration

    Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together toward an intersection of common goals ? for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature?by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus....
     with Nazi Germany
    Nazi Germany

    Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
  • carrying-over intelligence
    Intelligence (information gathering)

    Intelligence is not information, but the product of evaluated information, valued for its currency and relevance rather than its detail or accuracy —in contrast with "data" which typically refers to precision or particular information, or "fact," which typically refers to veracity information....
     and sabotage
    Sabotage

    Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy, oppressor or employer through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction....
     at the rear of the Red Army
    Red Army

    The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
  • terrorism
    Terrorism

    Terrorism, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is the systematic use of terror, "violent or destructive acts committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands." At present, there is no internationally agreed upon definition of terrorism....
  • planning a military alliance with Nazi Germany
  • owning a radio transmitter
  • describing the liberation of Poland by the Red Army as a “new occupation”
  • dissolution of the Armia Krajowa
    Armia Krajowa

    The Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II Nazi Germany-History of Poland . It was formed in February 1942 from the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and over the next two years absorbed most other Polish underground forces....
     in order to continue the fight against the Soviet Union


The trial took place between June 18 and 21, 1945, at the presence of foreign press and observers from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and USA
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The date was chosen carefully to be at the same time a conference on creation of the Soviet-backed Polish puppet government was organized.

Immediately after the kidnapping of all the leaders, the Polish government in exile
Polish government in Exile

File:Herb Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej .pngThe Polish Government in exile was the government of Poland after History of Poland at the start of World War II ....
 sent a protest note to Washington
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
 and London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 demanding their release. At first the Soviets declared that the whole case was a bluff by the “Fascist Polish government”. When they finally admitted that the leaders had been arrested (on May 5), the American envoy of Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . As the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States, he succeeded Franklin D....
, Harry Lloyd Hopkins, was told by Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953....
 that “there is no point in linking the case of the Trial of the Sixteen with the support for the Soviet-backed government of Poland because the sentences will not be high.” Both British and American governments shared this view.

All but one of the defendants were forced to admit to the alleged crimes, and on June 21 the verdict was issued. According to international law
International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of states and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond domestic legal interpretation and enforcement....
 the trial should not have taken place. The Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 kidnapped
Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or asportation of a person against the person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority....
 and sentenced a group of citizens of a foreign country whose alleged crimes were committed on a foreign land. They were deprived of basic human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
 and tortured. General Okulicki
Leopold Okulicki

General Leopold Okulicki was a Polish general of the Polish Army and the last commander of the anti-Nazi Germany underground Home Army during World War II....
's witness
Witness

A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event through their senses , and can help certify important considerations to the crime or event....
es were not allowed to enter the court, which was a violation of even Soviet law.

People involved

  • Lt. General Vasili Ulrikh
    Vasili Ulrikh

    Vasiliy Vasilievich Ulrikh was a senior judge of the Soviet Union during most of the regime of Joseph Stalin. In this capacity, Ulrikh served as the presiding judge at many of the major show trials of the Great Purges in the Soviet Union....
     - the main judge
    Judge

    A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
    , famous for playing a major role in the Great Purge
    Great Purge

    Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin in 1936-1938. Also described as a "Soviet holocaust" by several authors, it involved the purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, repression of kulaks, Red Army leadership, and the persecution of unaffiliat...


  1. Commander in Chief of the Armia Krajowa
    Armia Krajowa

    The Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II Nazi Germany-History of Poland . It was formed in February 1942 from the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and over the next two years absorbed most other Polish underground forces....
    - Leopold Okulicki
    Leopold Okulicki

    General Leopold Okulicki was a Polish general of the Polish Army and the last commander of the anti-Nazi Germany underground Home Army during World War II....
     (Niedzwiadek) - 10 years in prison, murdered on Christmas Eve of 1946.
  2. deputy Prime Minister of Poland and the Government Delegate
    Government Delegate's Office at Home

    The Government Delegation for Poland was an agency of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was headed by the List of Polish Government Delegates at Home, a de facto deputy Polish Prime Minister....
    - Jan Stanislaw Jankowski
    Jan Stanislaw Jankowski

    Stanislaw Jankowski was a Poland politician, an important figure in the Polish Secret State during World War II and a List of Polish Government Delegates at Home....
     - 8 years in prison, never released, died in a Soviet prison on March 13, 1953, two weeks before the end of his sentence; probably murdered.
  3. Minister of Internal Affairs - Adam Bien - 5 years
  4. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs - Stanislaw Jasiukowicz - 5 years
  5. Head of the Council of National Unity
    Council of National Unity

    Rada Jednosci Narodowej was the quasi-parliament of the Polish Underground State during World War II. It was created by the Government Delegate's Office at Home on 9 January 1944....
     and PPS-WRN socialist party - Kazimierz Puzak
    Kazimierz Puzak

    Kazimierz Puzak was a Poland politician of the interwar period. Active in the Polish Socialist Party, he was one of the leaders of the Polish Secret State and Polish resistance movement in World War II, sentenced by the Soviets in the infamous Trial of the Sixteen in 1945....
     - 1,5 years, released in November 1945 and returned to Poland. Refused to emigrate, Puzak was again arrested by the Urzad Bezpieczenstwa in 1947 and sentenced to 10 years in prison; died April 30, 1950
  6. Deputy head of the Council of National Unity and head of the Stronnictwo Narodowe party - Aleksander Zwierzynski - 8 months
  7. Member of the Council of National Unity, - Kazimierz Baginski - 1 year, later released and forced to emigrate to the USA
  8. Member of the Council of National Unity, Head of Zjednoczenie Demokratyczne- Eugeniusz Czarnowski - 6 months
  9. Member of the Council of National Unity, Head of Stronnictwo Pracy
    Stronnictwo Pracy

    Stronnictwo Pracy was a Polish Christian democracy political party, active from 1937 in the Second Polish Republic and later part of the Polish government in exile. Its founder and main activist was Karol Popiel....
     - Józef Chacinski
    Józef Chacinski

    J?zef Chacinski was a Poland lawyer and politician.Chacinski was member of the Sejm from 1922 until 1930. During the Second World War, he was imprisoned in the Germany concentration camp Auschwitz....
     - 4 months
  10. Member of the Council of National Unity, - Stanislaw Mierzwa - 4 months
  11. Member of the Council of National Unity, - Zbigniew Stypulkowski - 4 months, later released and forced to emigrate to the United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
  12. Member of the Council of National Unity,- Feliks Urbanski - 4 months
  13. Member of the Council of National Unity, - Stanislaw Michalowski - acquitted of all the charges
  14. Member of the Council of National Unity, - Kazimierz Kobylanski - acquitted of all the charges
  15. Member of the Council of National Unity, interpreter for the group, -Józef Stemler - acquitted of all the charges
  16. Deputy Government Delegate -Antoni Pajdak was sentenced to 5 years in prison in a secret trial
    Secret trial

    A secret trial is a trial that is not public trial, nor reported in the news. Generally no official record of the case or the judge's verdict is made available....
     in November; he was not released until 1955.


Aftermath


As a result of the trial, the Polish Secret State
Polish Secret State

The Polish Underground State refers collectively to the Polish resistance movement in World War II in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian, loyal to the Polish Government in Exile in London....
 was deprived of most of its leaders. Its structures were soon rebuilt, but were never able to fully recover. On July 6, 1945 the United Kingdom and the USA withdrew support for the legitimate Polish government in exile
Polish government in Exile

File:Herb Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej .pngThe Polish Government in exile was the government of Poland after History of Poland at the start of World War II ....
 and all its agendas in Poland. Soviet repressions aimed at former members of the Polish Secret State
Polish Secret State

The Polish Underground State refers collectively to the Polish resistance movement in World War II in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian, loyal to the Polish Government in Exile in London....
 and the Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa

The Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II Nazi Germany-History of Poland . It was formed in February 1942 from the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and over the next two years absorbed most other Polish underground forces....
 lasted well into the 1960s.

See also

  • Anti-Polonism

Book references:


English language

  • Norman Davies
    Norman Davies

    Ivor Norman Richard Davies British Academy is an England historian of Wales descent, noted for his publications on the history of Poland, History of Europe and the History of the United Kingdom....
    , Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw. Viking Books, 2004. ISBN 0-670-03284-0. Hardcover, 784 pages.
  • Jan Karski
    Jan Karski

    Jan Karski , was a Poland World War II Polish resistance fighter and scholar at Georgetown University. In 1942 and 1943 Karski reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto and the extermination camps....
    , Story of a Secret State. Simon Publications, 2001. ISBN 1-931541-39-6. Paperback, 391 pages.
  • Zbigniew Stypulkowski, "Invitation to Moscow", 1950,1951.


Polish language

  • Waldemar Strzalkowski, Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert, Andrzej Chmielarz, Proces Szesnastu. Dokumenty NKWD. Oficyna Wydawnicza RYTM, Warsaw
    Warsaw

    Warsaw is the Capital and World's largest cities of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains....
    , 1995. ISBN 83-86678-07-0. Paperback, 543 pages.
  • Eugeniusz Duraczynski, General Iwanow zaprasza. Przywódcy podziemnego panstwa polskiego przed sadem moskiewskim. Warsaw, Wydawnictwo ALFA, 1989. ISBN 83-7001-305-8


External links