Tadeusz Wiejowski (died 1941) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as ''cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen a ...

who was the first person to escape the Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1941 he was recaptured and committed to the

Jasło Jasło is a county town in south-eastern Poland with 36,641 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2012. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), and it was previously part of Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in Lesser ...

prison camp, where he was executed.

Auschwitz escape

Tadeusz Wiejowski was imprisoned in Auschwitz on 14 June 1940. His assigned number in the camp was 220. He escaped on 6 July 1940 with help from Polish civil workers employed in Auschwitz: Bolesław Bicz, Emil Kowalowski, Stanisław Mrzygłód, Józef Muszyński and Józef Patek. Four of them were members of

Związek Walki Zbrojnej Związek Walki Zbrojnej (abbreviation: ''ZWZ''; Union of Armed Struggle;Thus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. also translated as ''Union for Armed Struggle'', ''Association of Armed Struggl ...

, a Polish military organization. From the civil workers, Wiejowski received civilian clothing, food and money. On discovery of the escape, the Nazi guards held a twenty-hour roll call, from 6 p.m. on July 6 to 2 p.m. the next day, of the 1311 prisoners who were flogged, beaten and kicked while standing for the roll call. The first death at Auschwitz occurred when prisoner Dawid Wongczewski collapsed and died from having stood for so long. On 8 July 1940, Wiejowski's helpers were arrested and imprisoned in Auschwitz. Ten prisoners were selected to be punished; however, five of the spots were filled by Bicz, Kowalowski, Mrzygłód, Muszyński, and Patek. Unique to this case, an additional prisoner named

Eugeniusz Hejka Eugeniusz Hejka (16 October 1918 – 2009) was a Polish soldier who was captured by the Germans and made a prisoner in the first mass transport to Auschwitz concentration camp on 14 June 1940. Hejka was allocated number 608 upon arrival at Auschwi ...

received equal punishment after a letter written by him was found on one of the civil workers. Of the five Polish civil workers, only Bicz survived the war. Wiejowski spent a year in

Kołaczyce Kołaczyce is a town in Jasło County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Kołaczyce. It lies approximately north of Jasło and south-west of the regional ca ...

, where he lived secretly with family, but at the end of 1941 he was again arrested and imprisoned in

, where he was executed.

References

External links

Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiejowski, Tadeusz Polish people executed in Nazi concentration camps People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm 1941 deaths Shoemakers Escapees from Auschwitz Year of birth missing People from Jasło County Executed people from Podkarpackie Voivodeship