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07.08.2021

The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021

On Friday, 6 August, at noon, a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński, a forgotten hero of the Polish Underground State, was unveiled on the building located at 15a Marszalkowska Street.

The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating Stanisław Peszyński – Warsaw, 6 August 2021. Photo: Sławek Kasper (IPN)
Stanisław Peszyński "Szumowski", "Krechowiecki" 05.08.1902-06.08.1944

Stanisław Peszyński was an associate of two successive Government Delegates for Poland: Minister Jan Piekałkiewicz (murdered by the Germans in June 1943) and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Stanisław Jankowski (arrested by the Soviet security services in March 1945, tried in the Moscow trial of the leaders of the Polish Underground State, and probably murdered in a Soviet prison in 1953), as well as head of the Control Section in the Delegation. He was in fact the chairman of the Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK) in the Polish Underground State. He was shot by the Germans on 6 August 1944.

The plaque was unveiled by Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance Mateusz Szpytma, Ph.D., and the NIK’s President Marian Banaś.

Before the ceremony, the IPN's 'History Point' Educational Center at 21/25 Marszałkowska Street hosted a meeting during which Professor Grzegorz Nowik, head of the Polish Scouting Association, talked about Stanisław Peszyński, and Professor Jacek Sawicki from the IPN’s Historical Research Office recalled what had happened in Warsaw on 5 and 6 August 1944. The participants also discussed the cooperation between the IPN and the NIK.

The day before the ceremony, on 5 August, the NIK’s President Marian Banaś and the Director of the IPN’s Office for Commemorating the Struggle and Martyrdom Adam Siwek laid flowers and lit candles at Peszyński’s grave.

Close to Stanisław Peszyński’s grave, there is the grave of Alojza Trauguttówna, daughter of Romuald Traugutt. 5 August marks the 157th anniversary of the death of this leader of the January Uprising in the Warsaw Citadel. A. Siwek and M. Banaś lit candles at Trauguttówna's grave. The inscription on the memorial plaque states that she asks for prayers for herself and for her father.

* * *

The Polish Underground State was not only an underground army: Service for Poland's Victory, Union of Armed Struggle, since 14 February 1942 – Home Army. Its civilian structures, such as courts, the police, respective ministries, were also established. Substantial financial resources were flowing from London to the German-occupied Poland. Although the extreme, dangerous conditions of the underground justified limited control over their spending, the spirit of the Supreme Chamber of Control reigned even in the resistance. The office was established by a decree of the Head of State Józef Piłsudski in February 1919, its motto being alive since the times of the Duchy of Warsaw: "Whoever takes a public penny for his own disposal, he should justify the expenditure of it".

A structure code-named „Izba” [Chamber], later commonly known as the NIK, was created at the Government Delegation for Poland. Stanisław Peszyński, a scout instructor and renowned solicitor (his name was entered into the list of Warsaw’s solicitors in 1929), became the head of the underground NIK. He was not only the head of the Control Section, but also a member of the Secret Bar Council, a man devoted to Poland. His marriage was childless, hand thus e believed he could risk more than others. He continued the patriotic tradition of the Peszynski family who came from the distant Polish Borderlands (Kiev and Bratslav provinces). The list of January Uprising insurgents, Siberians, and those who died for Poland includes numerous members of the Peszynski family.

The apartment located at 15 Marszałkowska Street in Warsaw hosted clandestine meetings, as well as secret exams for judicial assistants.

The Warsaw Uprising began on 1 August 1944. 5 August 1944 went down in Poland’s history as Black Saturday, especially in the Wola and Ochota districts. There was also Black Sunday on 6 August and several other, equally bleak days. The most severe, in terms of intensity, crimes against civilians during World War II were committed at that time. During one week Germans had killed thousands of inhabitants of the Wola and Ochota districts, as well as other districts – men, women and children. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 people perished.

Hunting Poles took place also in other districts. On Sunday, 6 August between the Zbawiciela Square and today's Konstytucji Square, the Germans were entering the apartments and driving people out into the streets. Stanisław Peszynski was driven together with others in the direction of the former Officer-Cadet School. There he was reached by a German bullet.

He was forgotten because he died childless and because it was not allowed to write about the "Chamber" and "NIK" in the first decade after the war. His name appears in historical studies, but these are only brief mentions. Fortunately, an account of him was preserved by Edward Muszalski, Ph.D., his colleague from the faculty of law, and a member of the Polish Scouting Association. He included his friend's biography in the 25th volume of the "Polish Biographical Dictionary. That way we know that a teenage scout Stanislaw Peszynski was a leader of the 2nd Kiev Scouting Troop. After they heard that the Second Polish Republic was established, the Peszynski family moved to Poland and settled in Warsaw. Stanisław graduated from secondary school in 1919 and was a troop leader of the 13th Józef Sułkowski Scout Troop, and later the chief troop leader. He volunteered for the war with the Bolsheviks. He received his law degree from University of Warsaw. He was a leader of capital city troops associated in the Warsaw Scouting Club. He completed judge and barrister trainings. This scarce information about his further life is awaiting supplementation.


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