Jakubowski Teodor "Wodzibor"

Jakubowski, Teodor, son of Antoni and Zofia née Miętkowska, born May 27, 1924, in Warsaw, in a working-class family (father was a locksmith). J. attended the Konarski Mechanical High School in Warsaw (Wola).

In the early days of the occupation, he organizes a secret group (including Romuald Luterek), which joins the Grey Ranks, and in 1940 they establish contact with the Zadruga circle (through Kazimierz Majewski, a classmate of J. from the Konarski Gymnasium). In 1941, J. along with his group members joins the Independent Poland's Cadres, using the pseudonym "Todek" there. The pseudonym "Wodzibor" used by him in the Zadruga circle did not become popular, although he used it in contacts with Zadruga members, even after the war. He fought in the "Perkun" combat units formed in 1942, which were an elite part of the National Armed Forces used for current fighting. He participated in, among other things, disarmament and expropriation actions. During one such action in 1943, a Volksdeutsche woman was killed (struck by J.'s colleague), and during another, J. shot an unidentified businessman who was shooting at a fellow participant in the action (Zbigniew Chwalbogowski, wounded, died). Both of these events will be used against him by the communist court.

J. joins the Stronnictwo Zrywu Narodowego in 1942 according to his own information (the SB material sets this date for 1943).

At the same time, he maintains contact with Jan Stachniuk throughout the entire period in question.

In March 1943, the Zadruga member Henryk Rybka proposed to Ryszard Remiszewski the liquidation of leading figures in Zadruga, motivated by the belief that an unidentified Catholic organization that had made him this proposal would come to power after the war and would certainly reward the perpetrators. Remiszewski informed J. about this, who, after confirming the truth of his words, killed (strangled) H. Rybka in Podkowa Leśna, with the assistance of Z. Chwalbogowski, K. Majewski, and R. Remiszewski.

This event led to a temporary break in contact with J. Stachniuk, who, warned through other channels about an assassination attempt on him, changed his place of residence after this fact.

The Zadruga views preached by J. were likely the cause of being shot by a soldier (probably from the National Armed Forces) in spring 1944 in Warsaw, an attempt to kill him (shot at close range in the head) was unsuccessful, the wounded man survived.

In May 1944, promoted to the rank of second lieutenant by the Main Headquarters of the Polish Internal Army (KG KPN), but this promotion was not recognized by the Home Army (AK).

In the Warsaw Uprising, J. fought in the ranks of the Independent Polish Army (3rd Company in Major Bartkiewicz's Group), and was a platoon commander. He was promoted to the rank of platoon sergeant (AK leg. 1713). He was wounded. He was decorated with the Cross of Valor.

After the surrender, he was deported to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany.

In April 1945, the camp is liberated by American forces, and after liberation, he travels through France to Italy, where he joins the II Polish Corps in Italy (Gen. Anders) and serves in the gendarmerie as a platoon sergeant. In 1946, he leaves Naples for England.

He returned to the country in January 1947. He worked briefly in the ZHP, then completed a course for Department Store Managers and worked as an inspector at PDT until his arrest.

Arrested in 1949 in connection with an investigation into Jan Stachniuk and „Zadruga”. During the investigation, his hearing in one ear was damaged. Charged under Article 225 paragraph 1 of the Penal Code (two murders, one participation in a murder) and Article 259 of the Penal Code (robbery). The indictment included the above actions committed by J. as part of the fight against the German occupier, and when considering the murder of Henryk Rybka, the court did not take into account the defendant's explanations and the political context of the case. He was tried in the same process as Jan Stachniuk, Bogusław Stępiński, and Janina Kłopocka.

He was sentenced by the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw on July 9, 1952, to a total sentence of 12 years and 6 months in prison (after applying the provisions of the 1947 amnesty).

He was serving his sentence at the OPW Piechcin, where (after working hours) he studied Marxist literature, declaring himself to fellow inmates as a Marxist. His behavior (he twice informed about planned escapes of prisoners, he was diligent, did not drink or smoke) drew the attention of the officers. He was recruited for cooperation while serving his sentence (March 1, 1956) as TW „Dalemir”. The SB used him to infiltrate the Jehovah's Witnesses community, for which he was transported to Poznań where, in the local detention center, he met a member of the sect and gained his trust. After being released from prison (1956), he continued his activities within the sect while working as a toolmaker in Warsaw. For several months in 1959, he was an official activist of a sect (he agreed to this at the request of an SB officer, who hoped for better access to information by the TW) receiving a monthly salary from the SB, exceeding his salary as a locksmith. This was his condition for such extensive involvement. In 1959, he provided information about the circle of Kazimierz Majewski (a former AK soldier as mentioned), when one of Majewski's associates proposed his participation in smuggling allegedly stolen paintings by M. out of the country. He knew some people from this circle from the underground. The MO officer used these details to expose J. to a member of Majewski's group, who was also an MO agent, Romuald Luterek (born 1923, died 2008, former soldier of the Independent Poland's Cadre, codename „Marynarz”). The fact of exposure (Luterek threatened J.) and the related grievances of J., as well as the SB's assessment of "Dalemir's" work (information true, but did not present greater operational value, and the TW himself he was primarily interested in achieving personal material benefitscaused his elimination from the operational network in March 1960. This was also due to the fact that J. did not receive sufficient support from the SB during a trial for fraud against a private individual in 1960, in which he was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 2,000 PLN. J. explained that he became involved in an endeavor contrary to PRL law (selling kilims above their established value) in connection with tasks as an IM, which his handler denied.

In 1960, he purchased 0.5 hectares of land in the village of Pieńków near Warsaw, where he built a house and lived there until his death. He ran a piglet and chick farm, achieving significant financial gains. Occasional checks carried out by the SB in those years did not reveal any political activity on his part, but he was denied a passport in 1966.

He supported Jan Stachniuk in the last period of his life. He financially supported the construction of his tombstone (at the initiative of J. Kłopocka) at Powązki Wojskowe Cemetery in Warsaw.

Since the early 1990s, he contacted Andrzej Wylotek and Tomasz Szczepański. He declared his desire to revive the Zadruga movement and transfer part of his property to it. He financially supported the "Toporzeł" publishing house founded in 1990. He also contacted the circle around Eleonora Noszczyńska, but he critically assessed it and broke off contact (1997).

He gave some of the books he had stored to T. Szczepański. In a conversation with him in the 1990s, he stated that after leaving prison, he understood that he needed money to restore „Zadruga” in the future and that he tried to acquire this money in the PRL by any means necessary.

He died in Pieńków in a car accident on March 4, 2000. He is buried at the Wólka Węglowa Cemetery in Warsaw.

Married to Danuta née Kisiel, he had children: Rosław (born 1965) and Ludana. Other children include: Halina (born 1962).

Tomasz Szczepański

Sources: Archive IPN, W-wa: IPN BU 1010/10581 (passport files from 1966); IPB BU 00945/869 (microfilm – TW „Dalemir” files); IPN 507/398; letter from J. to M.S. Czarnowski of 18.03.1997, photocopy in the author's collection; letter from J. to E. Noszczyńska of 07.04.1997, in the author's collection. IPN 00231/153 t 1. k 1-30 (Information about "Zadruga", April 21, 1950);

 Documents from the trial of Jan Stachniuk and his comrades, “Trygław” 5/2001;

Kledzik M. Major Bartkiewicz's AK Group, Warsaw 2002; Radzymińska J. Always independent, Wrocław 1991;

Information: Halina Jakubowska-Wrzosek, Kazimierz Majewski. Author's own information.