Stanisław Gustaw Jaster, codenamed Hel (; born 1 January 1921 in Lviv, died after 12 July 1943 in Warsaw) was a Polish scout, an escapee from the Auschwitz concentration camp, and a soldier of the Home Army.
He went missing under unexplained circumstances after 12 July 1943; presumably murdered by fellow conspirators. In 1968, he was accused by of collaborating with the Gestapo and causing the dismantling of the special unit Osa–Kosa 30, which initiated a long-standing and emotional debate. According to many historians and veterans, Jaster was innocent, and his death was the result of a tragic mistake. This case was one of the most mysterious and controversial episodes in the history of the Polish Underground State.
On 25 September 2019, Jaster was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, which can be seen as his symbolic rehabilitation.
Biography
Pre-war period Stanisław Gustaw Jaster was born on 1 January 1921 in Lviv, the elder of two sons of and his wife, Eugenia née Sosnowska. The Jaster family was known for its patriotic traditions. Stanisław Senior, a recipient of several honors, including the Virtuti Militari Order, was involved in independence activities since his school days and, after the outbreak of World War I, volunteered for the Polish Legions. Between 1914 and 1915, he fought in the ranks of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, suffering severe wounds during the Battle of Rarańcza. He also participated in the Battle of Lemberg (1918) and left the ranks of the newly formed Polish Armed Forces with the rank of major (1929). Eugenia Jaster, in her youth, was a member of the Women's Unit of the Polish Rifle Squads in Lviv and later served as a nurse in the Polish Legions and during the defense of Lviv.
In the 1930s, the Jaster family's financial situation was difficult. After leaving government service in 1936, an unemployed Stanisław Senior was forced for a time to run a fruit and vegetable stall at Mier Halls (with the help of his sons). Thanks to his mother's efforts, who was employed at the Municipal Savings Bank, the family managed to avoid a drastic decline in their standard of living.
During his adolescence, Stanisław Gustaw was known as a rebellious and restless boy. Due to behavioral issues, he frequently changed schools: he initially attended the , then transferred to in Lviv. He completed the fourth class and passed his junior high exams, but after a year, he left voluntarily, discouraged by the relationships in the corps. He was eventually admitted to the , where he passed his final high school exams in May 1939. According to some sources, he planned to pursue studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology, but the outbreak of World War II prevented this.
Like his parents, he was a member of the scouting movement. He participated in numerous sports, but his greatest passion was sailing, and he earned a skipper's license for Inland Yacht Navigation. Among his peers, he was known for his camaraderie, daring, and physical prowess. At the same time, he showed an interest in the arts, particularly in painting.
From the September Campaign to arrest In September 1939, along with his father and younger brother, Stanisław Gustaw Jaster likely participated in the defense of Warsaw. Before the city's capitulation, the Jaster family allegedly hid a large cache of weapons in their apartment at 11/13 Pogonowski Street in Żoliborz.
After the beginning of the German occupation, the Jaster family became involved in underground activities. Their apartment was used to store weapons and banned books, hold secret meetings, and read clandestine press. During this time, Stanisław Gustaw likely established contact with two members of the Union of Armed Struggle, who later played significant roles in the Warsaw resistance: and .
Despite the war and occupation, he did not abandon his artistic interests. It is known that he attended clandestine courses in painting and drawing techniques organised by the painter .
Imprisonment and escape from Auschwitz On 19 September 1940, Stanisław Gustaw Jaster was arrested during a large roundup carried out by the Germans in Żoliborz. His capture was the result of an unfortunate coincidence; while fleeing from the Germans, he hid with a group of younger boys in the ruins of a burned villa. At one point, one of the escapees accidentally knocked a brick, which fell near an officer standing by the building. The alerted Germans arrested the Poles hiding in the ruins; after some time, the younger boys were released, but Jaster, being the oldest among them, was accused of attempting an attack on the officer and imprisoned in Pawiak. On 21 November 1940, he was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp. In a group of 300 prisoners, he arrived at the camp the next day.
In Auschwitz, he was assigned the camp number 6438. As a prisoner, he first worked on road construction in the so-called Strassenbaukommando,Commando responsible for road construction (). and later in the SS warehouses located in the former Tobacco Monopoly buildings (Hauptwirtschaftslager, or HWL). In 1941, he contracted typhus but managed to recover. His family made unsuccessful attempts to have him released from the camp by appealing to the German authorities. During his time in Auschwitz, Jaster joined the underground Military Organization Union, formed by cavalry officer Witold Pilecki. He did not abandon his passion for painting. According to his fiancée, , he even painted portraits of SS officers and prisoner functionaries in exchange for food and favors.
One of the prisoners working in the HWL garages was . In the spring of 1942, the Politische Abteilung (the camp Gestapo) placed him on a list of people scheduled for execution, but the sentence was postponed due to the need for Bendera to finish repairing several cars. With nothing to lose, he decided to risk escaping from the camp. He confided his plan to two prisoners working in HWL: Kazimierz Piechowski (a scout from Tczew), and later Józef Lempart (a monk from Wadowice). The escape plan aimed to prevent retaliatory measures against fellow prisoners by having the escapees pose as members of a fake work commando operating a platform cart (Rollwagenkommando). Typically, such commandos consisted of four prisoners, so the conspirators, to avoid suspicion, had to find a fourth person. The escape was proposed to Alfons Kiprowski, who, however, withdrew when the plan's authors refused to allow his close friend to join the group. Another friend of Piechowski, Tadeusz Banasiewicz, also declined. Ultimately, Stanisław Jaster joined the group. His selection was based on his acquaintance with Piechowski and the good reputation he enjoyed among fellow prisoners.
On the afternoon of 20 June 1942,Initially, the escape was scheduled for Saturday, 13 June 1942. However, the conspirators had to abandon their plans when they realized that SS officers were still working in the HWL warehouses' office that day (). the four conspirators, posing as members of the Rollwagenkommando, made their way near the HWL warehouses. Bendera opened the garage with a counterfeit key, while his companions entered the HWL basement through a previously loosened manhole cover into the coke bunker. Using forged keys, they opened the boiler room and office, and broke open the door to the armory with a crowbar they found in the basement. In the armory, they dressed in SS uniforms and took rifles, pistols, grenades, ammunition, and food. From the garage, they took an open-top Steyr 220, a car frequently used by the head of HWL, SS-Hauptsturmführer Kreutzmann (some sources, likely erroneously, claim that the vehicle belonged to the camp commandant).In Auschwitz, a rumor circulated that the escapees had sent an ironic letter to the camp commandant Rudolf Höss, in which they "apologized" for depriving him of his car. However, this is merely a legend. Kazimierz Piechowski firmly denied that such an event ever took place (; ). They then left the camp without any interference from the Germans and drove southeast. Near Maków Podhalański, the car broke down, forcing the escapees to abandon the vehicle and continue on foot. Soon after, the group split up. Upon leaving Auschwitz, Jaster took with him a report by Captain Pilecki. This was likely one of the reasons why, despite the high risk, he decided to return to his hometown of Warsaw.
It was one of the most daring escapes in the history of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It made a significant impression in the camp and had a positive effect on the prisoners' morale. Several wanted posters were issued for the escapees, which included their descriptions. The German authorities also offered a reward of 500,000 PLN for the capture of the escapees or information on their whereabouts. As a result of the investigation conducted by the camp authorities, the kapo from HWL, Reichsdeutsch Kurt Pachala (also known as Pachale), was sentenced to death in a starvation bunker. Kazimierz Piechowski, citing Alfons Kiprowski's account, claimed that seven SS officers and non-commissioned officers, who were held responsible for allowing the escape, were punished by being sent to the Eastern Front.
No collective reprisals were taken against the prisoners. However, the families of the escapees were punished. On 21 June, the Gestapo arrested Jaster's parents in Warsaw (both died in Auschwitz).Shortly before the escape, Jaster, like the other conspirators, sent his parents a letter with a disguised warning. However, they were unable to decipher its true message (). After the arrest, the Jaster couple was detained at Pawiak. On 20 November 1942, Stanisław senior was deported to Auschwitz, where he died on 3 December of the same year (). Eugenia Jaster was transported in March 1943 to the Majdanek concentration camp. After a few months, she was transferred to Auschwitz, where she died of typhus on 26 July 1943 (). They also arrested Józef Lempart's mother (who died in Auschwitz) and Eugeniusz Bendera's wife (according to another source, his mother).
Fighting in the ranks of the Home Army Initially, Jaster stayed with his friend, Anna Danuta Leśniewska, who lived in Komorów near Warsaw. He managed to find his younger brother,Andrzej Jaster, like his older brother, fought in the ranks of the Home Army. He was a member of the Żoliborz platoon in the group Andrzej (an operational unit of Kedyw of the Warsaw District of the Home Army – later known as Kolegium A). He adopted the codename Bekas. At the end of summer 1943, shortly after Stanisław's death, he was arrested while transporting weapons on a train to Lviv. After the investigation concluded, he was sent to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, from which he was transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp in February 1945. At the end of March of that year, he died of typhus in the Litoměřice subcamp (). who had escaped arrest as he was outside the house during the Gestapo raid. The brothers lived in a rented apartment on Wilanowska Street in Warsaw's Solec district. They assumed false names: Stanisław Król and Andrzej Adamczewski. They earned a living as porters helping with moves. With the help of the Leśniewski family, Stanisław rented an additional apartment on Spacerowa Street in Komorów (he was already engaged to Anna Danuta at that time). However, he was constantly troubled by financial problems.