One of the most influential men of the 20th century that you have never heard about, 1940

One of the most influential men of the 20th century that you have never heard about, 1940

Wiltold Pilecki was an intelligence officer agent from Poland who was responsible for exposing the mass murders taking place at the Auschwitz concentration death camp. Pilecki had a long military history. He fought against the Soviets, Lithuanians, and Germans in World War II. Pilecki was a skilled and calculated man who gathered information and performed sabotage. He eventually was one of the first people who exposed one of the worst genocides in history, the Holocaust. Pilecki volunteered in 1940 to be arrested and taken to Auschwitz. At the time, the camp was considered a prison and not a death camp, but as soon as Pilecki got there, he began to witness brutal executions and the horrific treatment of the victims. Pilecki organized small groups of agents in the camp to gather Intel, keep morale high, and provide extra supplies to prisoners. This group collectivity became known as the Military Organisation Union. The MOU gave the gathered intel to prisoners who volunteered to escape or prisoners who were released. This Intel was then given to Polish authorities. Pilecki ran this system all while surviving pneumonia and the harsh life in the camp. The MOU even made a small radio transmitter they built using smuggled parts. They used this transmitter to send Intel to the Polish army, though it was destroyed in 1943, so it could not be traced. In 1943, the camp guards learned of MOU and killed many members. Pilecki then escaped and was even shot at by a German patrol, in which a bullet hit him on his way to a Polish army base. He survived and participated in the Warsaw Uprising against German troops but was recaptured and sent to another concentration camp for Polish officers in Bavaria. Pilecki survived the war. However, he was sadly executed in 1947 by the Soviets, as he was viewed as a threat due to his military history and spy skills. His body is buried in an unknown grave. Photographer: unknown