A state institution dedicated to the study of totalitarianism has bought a historic townhouse in Augustów, northeastern Poland, for use as a museum commemorating communist crimes.
The building, which was used as a headquarters by the Soviet security services and served as site for interrogation, torture and execution, will commemorate the so-called Augustów roundup, a military operation in 1945 during which thousands of Poles were detained and hundreds disappeared.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Twitter that the Pilecki Institute, which the ruling party created in 2017, had purchased the property with the intention of turning it into a museum “restoring memory of Soviet crimes in Poland”. He thanked the culture minister, Piotr Gliński, and “patriotic activists” for their involvement.
#OTD 75 years ago the so-called #AugustowRoundup – the greatest #SovietCrime committed on Poles after #IIWW – ended. The #RedArmy, assisted by #PolishArmy and Security Service, conducted a major pacification operation in the area of the Augustów Forest.
➡ https://t.co/20YU7EFTWX pic.twitter.com/TVxSflT2Og— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) July 25, 2020
The Augustów roundup is considered the largest crime committed by the Soviets on Polish lands after the Second World War and has been called a “second Katyn”, referring to the massacre of 1940, when the Soviets murdered around 22,000 Polish military officers and members of the intelligentsia.
Between 10 and 15 July 1945, in the largest Soviet operation to pacify the Polish underground and destroy Polish guerrilla units in the region, soldiers searched forests and fenced off villages, detaining partisans and anyone considered to be helping them.
The exact number detained is unknown, but estimates go as high as 7,000. At least 592 of them disappeared and never returned. It is assumed that they were executed and buried in unknown locations, probably in Russia or Belarus. The true number of victims could be up to 2,000.
The house in which the museum will be located was built in the early 20th century and served as a headquarters for the Soviet secret police and intelligence in 1940, and again from 1944. After 1945 it was used by the UB, the Stalinist-era security services in Poland.
“The recovery of the house from private hands was for me and numerous citizens of Augustów a matter of honour,” said Mirosław Karolczuk, the town’s mayor, quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza.
“When an opportunity for the Pilecki Institute to buy it arose, I decided to do everything in my power to support that mission and finally commemorate the victims of the terrible crime that was the Augustów roundup,” he added.
“The families of the victims waited for such news for a long time,” wrote Magdalena Gawin, an undersecretary of state from the culture ministry. She added that the museum will be important both for the region and for the whole country.
The details of plans for the future museum are to be presented on 9 July – during official commemorations of the operation. According to media reports, a thorough search for any traces of the roundup are planned, followed by restoration of the building.
Main image credit: MorawieckiM/Twitter
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
