A long-awaited movie is out honoring the memory of General August Emil Fieldorf, one of the most heroic and steadfast fighters for Poland's independence, mastermind of the Polish underground army in World War Two, acknowledged worldwide as a Polish patriot, who fought nobly to defend his country from the Nazis. General Fieldorf was hanged by communists after the War, after they absurdly accused him of collaborating with fascists in a fake trial.
Click on the audio icon to listen to the report by Joanna Najfeld
General August Emil Fieldorf will remain the legend of Poland's fight for independence forever. Born in 1895, in his teen years he joined a paramilitary scouting organization. At 19, he volunteered to the newly-formed 1st Brigade of the Legions under Józef Piłsudski and heroically fought throughout World War One. He graduated from military schools and continued to develop his skills and qualities as a soldier, receiving orders for his already noticeable steadfast character and heroism.
When Second World War broke out, he was 44 years old. Having been made a colonel, he made his way to France, where he helped organize Polish troops. Fieldorf wanted to return to his homeland as soon as possible and was finally made the first emissary of the Polish government in exile to Poland. He returned home to train young fighters, and later worked in espionage using the name "Nil". Soon he became the mastermind of the underground resistance, planning and carrying out hundreds of subversive operations against German Nazis.
When the war ended, Soviets invaded Poland and introduced a new form of occupation. They imposed a communist government, which tracked down and eliminated Home Army leaders, whom they saw as a potential threat to the communist monopoly on leadership in the country. In 1945 Fieldorf was arrested by the Soviet NKVD, misidentified under a fake name, and sent to a forced labor camp in the Ural Mountains. When he returned to Poland two years later, the country was under firm socialists control. Fieldorf settled in Łódź and did not return to underground activities.
When a year later the socialist government offered amnesty to Home Army fighters, General Fieldorf outed himself to the authorities. He was then arrested. Communists used torture to force him to collaborate, but he never gave in. So they put him on a kangaroo court trial and sentenced to death. The general was hanged on the 24th of February 1953 and buried in a location unknown to this day. In 1989, 36 years after the execution, the General was rehabilitated.