How Father Jerzy was murdered

What do we know about the death of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko? What was established during the trial in the court in Toruń and later? How has knowledge about the circumstances of the murder of the Solidarity chaplain expanded in free Poland?

The location on the dam in Włocławek where Father Jerzy’s body was thrown into the Vistula River. This is what it looked like a few days after the priest’s body was retrieved from the river.
Erazm Ciołek /Forum

The murder of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko by officers of the Security Service was an unprecedented event in the history not only of the Polish People’s Republic, but of the entire Soviet bloc. The killing of a priest by members of the communist secret services was not unique. From the beginning of its existence, the totalitarian system considered the Churches as competitors to the rule of souls in a society dominated by communism, which is why the number of victims among the clergy was huge. However, the conviction of regime officials for a murder committed on the orders of their superiors, as part of their official duties, was unprecedented. In addition, the trial was public, which gave the subjects of the communist authorities a detailed insight into the bestial actions of the secret service, murdering an innocent man, and one who had called for overcoming evil with good. Thanks to this, the circumstances of the cruel murder became widely known. Paradoxically, this relative openness of the regime has become the breeding ground for alternative versions. Many people have never believed that a totalitarian power, based on multiple, multi-level lies and using violence and crime, really punished its own people for a murder that they’d been ordered to carry out or allowed the true circumstances of the crime to be presented.

Dziękujemy, że z nami jesteś

To dla nas sygnał, że cenisz rzetelne dziennikarstwo jakościowe. Czytaj, oglądaj i słuchaj nas bez ograniczeń.

W subskrypcji otrzymujesz

Nieograniczony dostęp do:
- wszystkich wydań on-line tygodnika „Gość Niedzielny”
- wszystkich wydań on-line on-line magazynu „Gość Extra”
- wszystkich wydań on-line magazynu „Historia Kościoła”
- wszystkich wydań on-line miesięcznika „Mały Gość Niedzielny”
- wszystkich płatnych treści publikowanych w portalu gosc.pl.
brak reklam na stronach;
Niespodzianki od redakcji.