The Radom and Kielce underground, 1944–1956: books

In brief

• Bogumił Studziński was born in Kamień Duży in the Radom region, and in 1951 the District Military Court in Kielce, sitting in Radom, sentenced him^1,2.
• The independence underground in the Radom region in 1945–1950 is the subject of the Institute of National Remembrance album „Bić się do końca” (2012)³.
• The Radom branch of the Association of Political Prisoners of the Stalinist Period published three volumes of memoirs, „Ofiary terroru stalinowskiego mówią”, in 1993–2000^4,5.
• Ryszard Śmietanka-Kruszelnicki wrote a study of the post-Home Army underground in the Kielce region in 1945–1948 (2002)⁶.

This list covers books that the National Library of Poland catalogue describes with the geographic headings Radom, Kielce, Kozienice or Skaryszew together with the headings “Podziemie polityczne i zbrojne (1944–1956)” (the political and armed underground) or “Więźniowie polityczni” (political prisoners). They include prisoners' memoirs, studies, biographies and IPN publications. They are ordered by year of publication. The descriptions give the title, publisher, length and subject headings according to the National Library catalogue, and information about the authors according to its authority file; we do not review the books. All are in Polish. The organisation Studziński belonged to is covered in our article on the youth underground.

1. Antoni Heda, „Wspomnienia »Szarego«” (1991)

The memoirs of “Szary” (his underground pseudonym). Published by Interim in Warsaw (1991, 332 pages and 32 pages of plates, with maps and photographs). National Library headings: the Home Army, political prisoners, Kielce and its surroundings in 1939–1945⁷. A biography of the author — „Antoni Heda »Szary«” by Sebastian Piątkowski and Marcin Sołtysiak — was published in 2011 by the Museum of the History of Kielce in its “Biografie Kieleckie” series⁸.

2. Stanisław Dziurzyński, „Ofiary terroru stalinowskiego mówią” (1993)

The victims of Stalinist terror speak: memoirs published by the Radom branch of the Association of Political Prisoners of the Stalinist Period in three parts — 1993 (147 pages), 1996 (106 pages) and 2000 (201 pages; co-author Kazimierz Borkowski)^4,9,5. The National Library catalogue describes them as an anthology of memoirs from 1944–1956, with the geographic heading Radom. According to the National Library authority file, the author was a prisoner of the Stalinist period¹⁰.

3. „Walka i cierpienie” (1999)

Full title: „Walka i cierpienie: wspomnienia żołnierzy BCh III Okręgu Kieleckiego z lat wojny i powojennych prześladowań” (Struggle and suffering: memoirs of soldiers of the Peasant Battalions' 3rd Kielce District from the war and the post-war persecution), edited by Stanisław Durlej. Published by the Kielce branch of the Ludowe Towarzystwo Naukowo-Kulturalne (1999, 371 pages and 56 pages of plates); the National Library catalogue describes it as an anthology of memoirs, with the headings Peasant Battalions and political prisoners¹¹.

4. Ryszard Śmietanka-Kruszelnicki, „Podziemie poakowskie na Kielecczyźnie w latach 1945–1948” (2002)

The post-Home Army underground in the Kielce region, 1945–1948. Published by the Societas Vistulana learned society (Kraków 2002, 403 pages, illustrated, with a map); the title page also names the Institute of National Remembrance. National Library headings: the Freedom and Independence association (WiN), Kielce district; the political and armed underground (1944–1956); political prisoners⁶.

5. Daniel Wojciechowski, „Kapłani kieleccy więzieni i szykanowani w PRL (1945–1963)” (2003)

Priests of the Kielce diocese imprisoned and harassed in communist Poland, 1945–1963. Published by “Jedność” in Kielce (2003, 400 pages, illustrated). National Library headings: the Diocese of Kielce, Catholic clergy, political prisoners, church and state¹².

6. Ryszard Śmietanka-Kruszelnicki and Marcin Sołtysiak, „Rozbicie więzienia w Kielcach w nocy z 4 na 5 sierpnia 1945 r.” (2009)

The breaking of the Kielce prison on the night of 4–5 August 1945: a 24-page brochure with colour illustrations, published for the Kraków branch of the Institute of National Remembrance. National Library headings: the Home Army (Kielce), Kielce prison (1939–1956), political prisoners¹³.

7. Krystyna Bień-Orlicz, „O sprawiedliwy wymiar kary” (2012)

Full title: „O sprawiedliwy wymiar kary: losy organizacji niepodległościowej Ludwika Machalskiego ps. »Mnich«” (For a just sentence: the fate of the independence organisation of Ludwik Machalski, “Mnich”). Published by Wysoki Zamek (Kraków 2012, 261 pages, illustrated); the title page names the Institute of National Remembrance. The National Library catalogue describes it as a monograph, with the headings Ludwik Machalski (1929–1951), political trials, Kielce¹⁴. The “Mnich” group is also the subject of Paweł Skowron's book „Pseudonim Skaut” (2023), which the National Library links with headings including the Rawicz prison and youth organisations¹⁵.

8. Krzysztof Busse and Arkadiusz Kutkowski, „Bić się do końca” (2012)

Full title: „Bić się do końca: podziemie niepodległościowe w regionie radomskim w latach 1945–1950” (To fight to the end: the independence underground in the Radom region, 1945–1950). An album published by the Institute of National Remembrance (Radom — Lublin 2012, 198 pages, with colour illustrations, 34 cm format); the catalogue record also lists a text by Przemysław Ochnia, „Amnestia”³. According to the National Library authority file, Krzysztof Busse is a historian who has worked at the IPN office in Radom¹⁶. The amnesties of those years are set out in our table of amnesties, 1945–1956.

9. Marian Śledź and Stanisław Prasek, „Do socjalizmu przez więzienie” (2014)

To socialism through prison; subtitle on the cover: „śladami zbrodni bezpieki na Ziemi Kozienickiej w latach 1945–56” (tracing the security police's crimes in the Kozienice area, 1945–56). Published by 3S Media in its “Biblioteka Wolności” series (Warsaw 2014, 494 pages, illustrated); the National Library catalogue describes it as an anthology of memoirs from 1944–1956, with the geographic heading Kozienice¹⁷. According to the National Library authority file, Marian Śledź was a Solidarity activist, interned under martial law¹⁸.

10. Grzegorz Motyka, „Obywatel »Igła« – krawiec ze Skaryszewa” (2018)

Citizen “Igła”, a tailor from Skaryszew; the subtitle describes it as a microhistorical analysis. Published by the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw 2018, 161 pages, with photographs); the National Library catalogue describes it as a monograph, with the headings Tadeusz Zieliński (1927–1948), the Freedom and Independence association — Kielce and Radom districts, Skaryszew¹⁹. In 2020 the Institute of National Remembrance published a brochure on the same figure, Grzegorz Makus's „Tadeusz Zieliński »Igła«”, in its “Bohaterowie Niepodległej” series²⁰.

Where next

Studziński's case was heard by the District Military Court in Kielce²¹; those courts are covered in our list “Poland's District Military Courts, 1946–1955”. Youth organisations from the Pińczów area and Staszów are described in “Poland's youth underground, 1944–1956: books by region”, and books on the prisons where convicts were sent in “Stalinist prisons in Poland in books”.