I carried out my orders until arrested. I had no sense that I was spying, and I ask that this be taken into account in deciding my verdict.

Arrest and execution

On 8 May 1947 he was arrested by the Ministry of Public Security. While in the reserves he actively supported local paramilitary training activities. Meanwhile the Gestapo redoubled its efforts to ferret out ZOW members succeeding in killing many of them.

Witold Pilecki (13 May 1901 – 25 May 1948; Polish pronunciation: [ˈvitɔlt piˈlɛt͡skʲi]; codenames Roman Jezierski Tomasz Serafiński Druh Witold) was a soldier in the Second Polish Republic the founder of the Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) resistance group and a member of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). While in the camp Pilecki organized a resistance movement and as early as 1941 informed the Western Allies of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz atrocities.