Stefan Michnik
Stefan Michnik | |
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Urząd Bezpieczeństwa ) |
Stefan Michnik (28 September 1929 – 27 July 2021
After
After the collapse of communism in Poland (1989), Michnik was formally implicated by the Polish justice system in communist crimes relating to his tenure as a military judge.[6]
Life
Stefan Michnik was the son of Helena Michnik and Samuel Rosenbusch
Michnik's half-brother (on his mother's side) was Adam Michnik,[7] the editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza.
Judicial career
Michnik became a judge in postwar Poland after completing an eight-month course for military judges in
At the beginning of 1951 Michnik was assigned a position with the Warsaw Regional Military Court (Wojskowy Sąd Rejonowy, WSR) and two weeks later imposed his first sentence against Stanisław Bronarski,
The list of Polish Army officers sentenced by Michnik,[10] and rehabilitated without exception (also posthumously) included:
- Major Zefiryn Machalla - death sentence issued by Michnik, the jury took a joint decision not to allow defense in the proceedings; Machalla's family was not informed about the execution;
- Colonel Maksymilian Chojecki - death sentence, not executed;
- Major Andrzej Rudolf Czaykowski - death sentence, Michnik participated personally in his execution;
- Major Jerzy Lewandowski - death sentence, not executed;
- Colonel Stanisław Wecki - lecturer at the Academy of the General Staff, sentenced to 13 years in prison, and died as a result of torture;
- Major Zenon Tarasiewicz, case Sr 12/52, 12 years;
- Colonel Romuald Sidorski - editor in Chief of the Quartermaster Review, sentenced to 12 years in prison, and died because of lack of medical assistance;
- Lieutenant ColonelAleksander Kowalski, and;
- Major Karol Sęk - artilleryman from Radom, officer of the anticommunist National Armed Forces, and death sentence, executed in 1952.
Emigration
After being denied a
He built connections with Radio Free Europe and the Paris-based Kultura, where he wrote articles under the anonym "Karol Szwedowicz".[12]
Since August 2007 the Polish
On 8 November 2018, the Military Court in Warsaw issued for the second time a European Arrest Warrant in connection with 30 offences that Michnik committed in the years 1952–53 against representatives of the democratic opposition and former members of the Underground State, including unlawful death sentences.[15] Michnik had claimed that he was not aware of the death sentences, which, according to him, was a decision made higher up in the judicial hierarchy.[16] A Swedish court in Gothenburg refused Poland's appeal for the extradition of Stefan Michnik.[17]
In his final years, he lived at a nursing home in Gothenburg. He died on 27 July 2021, at the age of 91. His half-brother Adam published his obituary in Gazeta Wyborcza.[18]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b Piotr Gontarczyk, "Agent Michnik", Wprost weekly, No: 30/2007 (1283), accessed 31 January 2011.
- ^ Nie żyje Stefan Michnik, brat redaktora naczelnego „Gazety Wyborczej”. Miał 92 lata (in Polish)
- )
- ^ a b Maciej Korkuć, IPN, "Fachowiec bezprawia. Dlaczego IPN chce ekstradycji stalinowskiego sędziego Stefana Michnika," Wprost weekly, No. 8/2007. See also: Serwis prasowy IPN (press release); 20 February 2007. Institute of National Remembrance
- ^ Tadeusz M. Płużański. "Stefan Michnik". Oczekujemy kolejnych ekstradycji. Publicystyka Antysocjalistycznego Mazowsza. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ a b c d Dr. Piotr Gontarczyk, Agent Michnik. Wprost, 30/2007 (1283). Page 2 and 3.
- Polski Słownik Biograficzny. Vol. 47. Polska Akademia Nauk & Polska Akademia Umiejętności. p. 585.
- ^ a b Paweł Felczak (2 March 2012), Bohaterowie, a nie zbrodniarze. Płock for You. Aktualności.
- ^ a b Polish Wikisource has original text related to this article: Raport komisji Mazura/Rozdział III
- ^ Krzysztof Szwagrzyk, IPN, "Sędzia Stefan Michnik Klasowo i politycznie czujny..." Nasz Dziennik, No. 48 (2761), 26 February 2007.
- ^ Jerzy Stokowski, "Zbrodnie w majestacie prawa 1944-1956 (III)" Edukacja Prawnicza, 12 (75) December 2005. Made available by Fundacja Pomocy Młodocianym Więźniom Politycznym lat 1944-1956 "Jaworzniacy"; Jerzy Stokowski, Jerzy Prószyński.
- ^ Polish Press Agency PAP. "Stefan Michnik – sędzia "bez reszty oddany władzy ludowej" - Stefan Michnik - judge "completely devoted to the people's power"". dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- Gazeta.pl], 25 February 2010.
- ^ "Nakaz aresztowania stalinowskiego sędziego już w Szwecji." Gazeta.pl, 27 October 2010, accessed 31 January 2011.
- ^ "Nakaz aresztowania Stefana Michnika". wyborcza.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "Aftonbladet nyheter: Polen ska begära svensk utlämnad". wwwc.aftonbladet.se. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ "Sweden refuses extradition of Stalinist judge". The First News. 19 December 2019.
- ^ "Nie żyje Stefan Michnik. "Mój Brat wiele wycierpiał z mojego powodu"". rmf24.pl. 30 July 2021.
Further reading
- Aldona Zaorska, Sąsiedzi. Najbardziej okrutni oprawcy polskich patriotów, Warszawa 2012, ISBN 978-83-932704-4-6.