Waldemar Pernach

* 1936

  • My father served in the second battalion of the Kedyw. One man from his group was arrested and spilled the beans. They arrested everyone. There were three of them - Zawiślak, Dudziński and my father. Dudziński understood German, he said: "they are taking us to be shot, we have to do something about it". It was on Kiejstuta Street in Warsaw. They thought they had to pounce on them. It was on 17 December 1943. They turned on the Germans, beat them, but out of the stress they made a mistake of not taking their guns. They started to run, but they were wearing heavy boots and did not get far. They were shot at, and the shooting continued until all that was left of my father was the keepsake. A wallet that has been shot through with photos inside. These were photos of us with my father, my mother and me. This is a very precious keepsake for me. I am always touched when I take it out. My father got 33 bullets. This is an important date for me - on 17 December my father was executed, on 17 December I was incarcerated in Bialoleka, and on 17 December my beloved father-in-law was incarcerated in Bereza Kartuska.

  • There were three-tier bunk beds in the cell. It was impossible to look through the windows because they were frozen. There was also frost and ice on the walls, you could scratch it off. In the corner there was a toilet without a seat or a cover. You had to do your business in public. When I say I spent nine months in prison, some say: no, you were interned. But, no, I was in prison. We had to follow prison regulations. The friendlier jailers would tell us that there were no internment regulations, so we were subject to the prison regulations regime and we had to be treated as such. I had one and a half threadbare blankets and we slept in all we had, because it was freezing cold. If there was a ladder there I would even cover myself with it. In the morning we had to warm up, we ran one by one between beds and did squats. At 7:30 the door swung open and a prisoner brought in black coffee and some food.

  • And they put me in the Black Maria. I wondered whether they were taking me to be shot like my father, only this time by Polish authorities. The van didn’t have windows, so I didn't know where they were taking me - maybe to the Kampinos Forest to be shot? As we were driving, I felt the bridge over the Vistula. They took me to Bialoleka. I was relieved they were going to put me in prison, rather than shoot me. Antoni 'Szary’ Heda, who had five death sentences and fought against the communists and the Germans, was locked up with us. He told me that he also thought that it might end in execution and that we should be polite to the jailers, not tease them, because they might open the cells and let us escape. And there I was, locked up in Bialoleka on 17 December.

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    Warsaw, 02.06.2022

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    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Memory of our Nations - Never forget our totalitarian heritage
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We Wanted Poland to be Independent

Portrait photography of Waldemar Pernach. Photo by Gosia Kawka
Portrait photography of Waldemar Pernach. Photo by Gosia Kawka
zdroj: Nizio Foundation archive

Waldemar Pernach was born in 1936 in Warsaw. His father, a Home Army soldier, was killed by the Germans during World War II. After the war he worked at Huta Warszawa, from where he was expelled in 1970 because of his views. In the 1970s he joined the circle of associates of the KOR Committee for Social Self-Defense, but differed from them in his views. He stood on independence and anti-communist positions. In 1980-81, he provided advisory support to the NZSS Solidarity in the energy sector. After martial law was imposed, he was interned and stayed in the Warsaw-Bialoleka detention center until August 1982. After his release, he continued his opposition activities within the framework of the Workers‘ Thought Clubs and the Baza (Base) Political Group. He was involved in publishing the second-circulation magazine Baza, publishing books by Jozef Mackiewicz. He also organized summer camps for the children of opposition activists. He was negative about the Polish Round Table Talks, considering them a compromise with the communists.