Eugeniusz Świerczewski (18 September 1894 – 20 June 1944) was a Polish journalist, soldier and drama critic. During World War II, Świerczewski worked as an undercover agent for the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in the

Polish Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the a ...

. He is one of those blamed for betraying Home Army leader

Stefan Rowecki Stefan Paweł Rowecki (pseudonym: ''Grot'', "Spearhead", hence the alternate name, Stefan Grot-Rowecki; 25 December 1895 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in ...

. Świerczewski was later discovered, tried for treason by the

Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State (, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Government of the Republic of Poland ...

, and executed by hanging.

Military service

During the 1919 to 1920 Polish-Soviet War, Świerczewski served as a lieutenant in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

. In 1923, he was made an officer of the reserve in the 15th Wolves Infantry Regiment in

Dęblin Dęblin is a town at the Confluence (geography), confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which together have over 100,000 inhabitan ...

. He was made a second lieutenant with a seniority date of July 1921 and continued until 1923.''Rocznik Oficerski Rezerw 1934'', Biuro Personalne Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych, Warszawa 1934, L.dz. 250/mob. 34, s. 208.

Journalist

After the war, Świerczewski lived in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and worked as a journalist and theater critic. He was also a member of the society of Promoting Culture. In 1934, he remained in the records of the District Recruiting Command for Warsaw City III. During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, he worked with the ZWZ- AK under the pseudonym "Gens" with the number "100". After his wife was arrested by the Germans, her brother Ludwik Kalkstein persuaded Świerczewski to become a German agent in exchange for her release. He took part in the dismantling of the branch of the AK Headquarters and the exposure of underground General Stefan "Grot" Rowecki. After being uncovered as a spy, Świerczewski was tried and convicted of treason by the

. Under the command of Stefan "Józef" Ryś, Świerczewski was hanged in the basement of Krochmalna Street 74.

References

Bibliography

* Leszek Gondek: ''Polska karząca 1939-1945'', Instytut Wydawniczy Pax, Warszawa 1988,
strona poświęcona Stefanowi Roweckiemu

Waldemar Grabowski: "Kalkstein i Kaczorowska w świetle akt UB". Biuletyn IPN z 2004
1894 births 1944 deaths Executed Gestapo informants Executed Polish collaborators with Nazi Germany 20th-century Polish journalists {{Poland-bio-stub People executed by the Polish Underground State Polish Army personnel Polish spies for Nazi Germany