The body of Stanislaw Pyjas, the student murdered in 1977 by the Communist secret police, has been exhumed.  

The exhumation, ordered by the Krakow branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, which reopened investigation on Pyjas’ case, is to shed more light on the death of the opposition activist.  

Stanislaw Pyjas’ family, who initially did not agree to the exhumation, have identified the student’s remains. The remains will now be examined at the forensic medicine institute in Krakow to establish the cause of Pyjas’ death.

In the prosecutors’ opinion, the examination may determine beyond doubt whether Stanislaw Pyjas died from injuries sustained in a drunken fall down the stairs, which was communist authorities’ official version, or was killed by, or on the orders of, the communist Security Services. 

The dead body of the 24 year-old Pyjas was found on 7 May 1977 in a staircase in a Krakow apartment house. Investigation into the Pyjas murder was dropped four times due to lack of evidence. The fifth investigation and third autopsy of Pyjas’ remains may be an important step forward in the three-decade long case. (mg)