Idea - Instytut Pileckiego
Augustów Roundup
In July 1945, the Red Army and the Soviet security apparatus, supported by the Polish army and the Security Office, carried out an operation that went down in history as the Augustów Roundup. Units with a total combined strength of over 40,000 soldiers and officers were ordered to comb through the entire area of the Augustów Forest. Anyone suspected of conspiratorial activity was arrested and brutally interrogated by SMERSH, the Soviet military counterintelligence service. As a result of the Augustów Roundup, over 7,000 people were detained; around 5,000 were later released, and more than 500 were handed over to the Soviet authorities in Lithuania. 592 people were executed by the Soviets and buried in an unknown location. Most likely, the same fate befell several hundred more detainees. In Augustów and the Suwałki region, the victims of the roundup are referred to as “Lipcowi” (“July people”).
Learn more about the Augustow Roundup (click).
Concept of the Augustów Roundup Memorial House. Commemorating the victims of the largest crime against Poles after the Second World War
To commemorate the victims of the largest crime committed against Poles after the Second World War, the Pilecki Institute established the Augustów Roundup Memorial House, which is located in the “Dom Turka” building – the former headquarters of the NKVD and the Security Office. During conservation work, numerous inscriptions were discovered on the walls of the former cells, testifying to the detentions of people associated with the Polish pro-independence underground in the basements of “Dom Turka”. Among others, calendars carved into the walls by prisoners to keep track of time, a cross above the entrance to one of the cells, hand-drawn pictures, names, surnames, dates, and places of origin of the detainees were uncovered. Examples of inscriptions that have already been deciphered include: “God save me”, “fight for independence”, “arrested on 23 September 1951”, and many others.
The main inspiration for the concept of the Augustów Roundup Memorial House was the edge of a forest or a clearing. The designers wanted to create a coherent composition aimed at conveying to present and future generations the symbolism of the forest as a refuge, a home, and a substitute for the freedom for which the victims of the Augustów Roundup fought and died. The vision of a building that carries the weight of history, integrated with greenery, aims to create a place full of symbolism relating to the events of those years. The renovation of the building was a huge challenge, and the creators made every effort to preserve as much of its original form as possible.
An integral part of the site is the Wall of Remembrance of the Victims of the Augustów Roundup, an artistic installation symbolizing the aforementioned edge of a clearing surrounded by trees – the last thing the victims saw before their execution.
