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Escape on 21July 1944

ESCAPES FROM AUSCHWITZ

Escape on 21July 1944

Escape of the Pole Jerzy Bielecki and a Jewish woman Cyla Cybulska-Stawiska on 21 July 1944

Source: A-BSMA

Jerzy Bielecki, photograph taken three months after the escape.

Bielecki Jerzy was born on 28 March 1921 in Słaboszów near Cracow. During the German occupation of Poland, he attempted to reach the Polish Army created in France. He was arrested while crossing the border between the General Government and Slovakia. He was brought to Auschwitz on 14 June 1940 in the first transport of Polish political prisoners. During registration in the camp he received number 243. During registration in the camp he received number 243.

Source: A-BSMA

Cyla Cybulska, photograph taken in June 1945.

Cyla Cybulska (Stawiska in the camp) was born on 29 December 1920 in Łomża. During the German occupation, due to her Jewish origins, she was sent to the ghetto in Zambrów. From the ghetto, on 19 January 1943, she was deported to Asuchwitz. After the selection on the ramp, she was sent to the camp, where she received number 29558.

In 1944 Jerzy Bielecki was employed in the grain warehouse located in the building of the so-called Unterkunft in the vicinity of the main camp. A small group of female prisoners was also working there, repairing grain sacks. Cyla Cybulska (in the camp Stawiska) was one of them. Bielecki and Cybulska met at work and fell in love. When the group of female prisoners was later employed in the neighbouring building, so-called Stabsgebäude, it did not prevent the lovers from continuing their secret dates. At the time, Bielecki began the preparations for their joint escape. He proposed the participation in the escape to his friend Tadeusz Srogi, employed in the SS clothes warehouse. However, he refused, but provided Bielecki with the uniform and an SS pass enabling the potential escapee to leave the camp. Based on this pass, Bielecki prepared six documents the same type in different colours. It was necessary due to the fact that every couple of days, the colours of passes used in the camp by the SS men were changed. The printing of documents was possible thanks to the prisoner employed in the camp printing house, who provided Bielecki with appropriate fonts.

The escape took place on 21 July 1944. In the afternoon Bielecki asked the SS man employed in the warehouse to let him leave work for a few moments in order to collect the sausage presumably “organized” for him by prisoners from the butchery. The SS man agreed on condition that he would receive part of the cold cuts. Then the escapee headed towards the place where he had hidden the uniform, got changed and went to Cyla’s workplace. Presenting himself as a Politische Abteilung functionary, he called her for interrogation and then took her outside the building. They both headed towards the Raisko sub-camp, near which one of the exits beyond the large guard chain was located. At the checkpoint he presented his fake pass. It did not arise any suspicion, so they easily left the area around the camp. Marching at nights, they reached the outskirts of Cracow, where they were hiding in different villages. After some time, Bielecki joined a Home Army partisan unit, in which he fought until the end of the war. Cyla, in turn, having received the information that her beloved perished in combat, left the Czernik family, in Przemęczany village, where she found refuge. Eventually, she emigrated to the United States after the war. They did not meet until 1983. Two years later Jerzy Bielecki was awarded the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations and the title of the Honorary Citizen of the State of Israel.

Testimony of Jerzy Bielecki:

I left via the main staircase of the grain warehouse. After a moment I went into the same building from the direction of the ramp, via the stairs which were very rarely used. I headed towards the attic, where I had previously hidden the uniform and some food. In the attic I took off my striped uniform, put on the SS garment and sunglasses and took a package with the cloak and a spare pair of shoes for Cybulska.

That day, pink passes were in use, and I had one of those with me. I checked how I looked. On my head I had the so-called field cap (Feldmütze). I filled the gun holster with a piece of metal. I had prepared a piece of paper with the surname, first name, date of birth and number of Cecylia Cybulska. I left the grain warehouse premises also through the exit from the side of the ramp. I reached the Stabsgebäude building, where Cybulska worked. I went inside and told them that I am from the Political Department. SS-Aufseherin, who was talking with me, did not figure anything out. I read Cybulska’s name and personal details out loud, adding that she is being called for interrogation. They called her and we headed towards the exit. The prisoners met on our way were taking off the caps. It convinced me that I was not going to be recognized. From Stabsgebäude we headed towards Gartnerei Rajsko, in the vicinity of which the exit from the large guard chain (grosse Postenkette) zone was located.

To clarify I would like to add that the pass was supposedly issued by Landwirtschaft [agricultural farm] Budy, so continuing the escape towards that direction could not arise any suspicion either. We passed the guard chain. A checkpoint booth stood near the road, one of the SS men was on duty there.

While crossing the line of the grosse Postenkette, I stopped by the tower, presenting my pass to an SS man. He looked at the document and gave me a sign to leave. …

We were about two kilometres away from the camp when I decided to turn into the direction of the Soła river. We reached the river and then kept walking along its bank, covered by thick wicker. We kept on almost running. Sweating and tired, we finally hid in the bushes. We could not continue our escape as there was no more wicker and people were working in the nearby field, as it was the season of harvest. We did not hear the camp siren.

Hidden in the wicker, we waited until 10.30 p.m. and set off when it was completely dark. I remember that we passed a mine, then crossed the bridge on the Soła river and continued along the river. We were walking across the fields, avoiding human settlements and roads. I was reluctant to head directly towards Cracow, where I used to live before the war as I was afraid of pursuit and checkpoints on the way. We continued the escape exclusively at night. Initially in the southern direction, then east and north. I did not know the villages we were passing. …

Exhausted, after nine nights of walking, we approached the border zone village of Bachowice near Spytkowice, where we received help from its inhabitant Stanisław Kosowski, who was a sacristan or an organist. The woman indicated by him, whose surname I do not remember, accompanied us across the border. After we passed the border of the General Government, we walked also during the day. We crossed the Vistula river by ferry near Czernichów, and then, after two days, we visited my relative Jan Marus in the village of Muniakowice, Miechów county. It was 1 August 1944.

Source: Jerzy Bielecki, A-BSMA, Testimonies Fonds, vol. 16, pp. 59‒61.

Source: NARA

The escape route of Jerzy Bielecki and Cyla Cybulska. Aerial photograph taken by the Allied reconnaissance aircraft, 1944.

Source: APAM-B

In the foreground so-called Stabsgebäude [headquarters building], where Jerzy Bielecki accompanied Cyla Cybulska from. Photo by Z. Klawender, probably September 1945.

Source: A-BSMA

Telegram sent from Auschwitz on 22 July 1944 informing about the escape of Cyla Stawiska.

Source: A-BSMA

Telegram sent from Auschwitz on 22 July 1944 informing about the escape of Jerzy Bielecki.

Source: A-BSMA

The card of Jerzy Bielecki in Ziechenau (Ciechanów) Gestapo records after his escape from Auschwitz.

Honorary diploma confirming that Jerzy Bielecki was awarded a medal of the Righteous Among the Nations.