On Thursday, May 25, 2023, The Victims of Communism (VOC) Museum hosted an international pre-screening of The Pilecki Report, a film about Polish hero and resistance fighter Witold Pilecki. The screening was preceded by remarks from VOC President Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, VOC Trustee and IWP President Ambassador Aldona Woś, and Polish National Foundation President and Chairman of the Board Dr. Marcin Zarzecki.
In Ambassador Woś’s opening remarks, she discussed this film’s impact in shedding light on the horrors of the Holocaust and the Soviet Communist regime in Poland. Ambassador Woś referred to Witold Pilecki as “one of the most intrepid men” for his courage and bravery in following a higher calling than himself. Ambassador Woś discussed Pilecki’s role in the Polish underground as he stood against the Soviet-imposed
communist rule in Poland. Ambassador Woś also commented that Pilecki was not the exception but that many have fought for the freedom of Poland and against communism and that Pilecki represents an extreme example of heroism in the face of tyranny. As a Trustee of VOC and due to her family’s personal connection with combating both Naziism and Soviet Communism in Poland, Ambassador Aldona Woś strongly supports the work of the VOC and its contributions towards making the film.
The date of the prescreening of The Pilecki Report held special significance as it is the 75th anniversary of the execution of Witold Pilecki, who died on May 25, 1948. The Pilecki Report was produced by Documentary and Feature Film Studios in cooperation with Telewizja Polska S.A. and the Polish National Foundation and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
“A man fighting for his life can do more than he ever imagined he could.”
– Witold Pilecki