The Trial of the Sixteen was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the WW2 Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All of the captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service under a false pretext, tortured, and accused of various forms of 'illegal activity' against the Soviet Red Army.
The Polish Government Delegate, together with most members of the Council of National Unity and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armia Krajowa (AK) the Polish Home Army, were invited by Soviet general Ivan Serov (with agreement of Joseph Stalin) to a conference on their eventual entry to the Soviet-backed Provisional Government. Some historical accounts say approaches were made in February, with others saying March 1945. The Polish politicians were presented with a warrant of safety, but were instead arrested in Pruszkow and brutally beaten by the NKVD on 27 and 28 March. Leopold Okulicki, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and Kazimierz Pużak were arrested on the 27th with 12 others the following day. Alexander Zwierzynski had been arrested earlier. They were brought to Moscow for interrogation in the the infamous Lubyanka Prison.
After several months of brutal interrogation and torture they were presented with the forged accusations of:
- Collaboration with Nazi Germany.
- Carrying-out intelligence gathering and sabotage at the rear of the Soviet Red Army.
- State terrorism.
- Planning a military alliance with Nazi Germany.
- Owning a radio transmitter, printing machines and weapons.
- Propaganda activities against the Soviet Union.
- Membership in underground organisations.
The trial took place between 18 and 21 June 1945 with foreign press and observers from the United Kingdom and United States present. The date was chosen carefully to be at the same time as a conference on the creation of the Soviet-backed Polish puppet government was organized. The verdict was issued on 21 June, with most of the defendants coerced into pleading guilty by the NKVD. General Okulicki's witnesses for the defense were declared unreachable "owing to bad atmospheric conditions", and no evidence was offered during the trial. Of the sixteen defendants, twelve were sentenced to prison terms ranging from four months to ten years, while charges against the four others were dropped by the prosecution.
Immediately after the arrest of all the leaders, the Polish Government in Exile sent a protest note to Washinton and London 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 5 May), the American envoy of Harry S. Truman, Harry Lloyd Hopkins, was told by Joseph Stalin 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.
In his book, Europe at War, Norman Davis described it as "obscene", that there was no official protest abroad. As a result of the trial, the Polish Secret State was deprived of most of its leaders. Its structures were soon rebuilt, but were never able to fully recover. On 6 July 1945 the United Kingdom and the USA withdrew support for the legitimate Polish Government In Exile, and all its agendas in Poland. Soviet and Polish Communist repressions aimed at former members of the Polish Secret State and the Armia Krajowa (AK) lasted well into the 1960s, corporal Jozef Franczak being killed in a shootout with paramilitary-police in 1963.
THIS PROPAGANDA STAMP SET WAS ISSUED BY THE POLISH UNDERGROUND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT AS A DIVERSIFICATION STATEMENT AGAINST MARTIAL LAW WHICH HAD BEEN DECLARED BY THE COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES IN POLAND.
IT IS A VERY RARE AND COLLECTABLE ITEM . THE UNDERGROUND MEMBERS WHO ISSUED THIS STAMP RISKED A LOT, BECAUSE IF CAUGHT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO OWN A UNIQUE PIECE OF HISTORY. IT IS A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS HISTORIAN AND COLLECTOR OF THIS PERIOD AND WILL MAKE AN INTERESTING ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION.
General Wojciech Jaruzelski announced the introduction of martial law in a speech first broadcast on radio and television at 6:00 am on December 13, 1981. In order to isolate members of the opposition (from the Solidarity movement), 52 internment centers were created. A total of 10,132 internment orders were issued against 9,736 people during the period of martial law.
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