Bolesław Feliks Burski, aka “Jasieńczyk,” was born on September 1, 1905 in Warsaw to the family of Helena, née Boczkowska and Mamert Burski. He was an agricultural engineer by profession. He graduated from a gardening school in Warsaw and Węgrów with a diploma of gardening technician. In his school days he was a member of the Polish Scouting Association. Between 1923 and 1927 he studied landscape architecture in France.

In the years 1928–1929 he served in the military, and graduated from the Infantry Officer Cadet School at the 70th Infantry Regiment in Jarocin. At the age of 26 Burski was appointed an officer. He also conducted scout courses, and as a scoutmaster he organized senior scouting circles. Until 1935, he completed his studies at the Agricultural Faculty of the Jagiellonian University and the University of Life Sciences in Warsaw.

Before the outbreak of World War II, Burski lived and worked as a landscape architect in Dąbrowa Górnicza. In 1932, he designed and supervised the construction of a workers' park with a sports yard in Koszalewo.

During the Polish defensive war, he commanded a company in his home regiment on the Różan – Kałuszyn section of the front. He was wounded twice. From November 1939, he became involved in the resistance. His task was to create an underground network of the White Eagle Organization in the Dąbrowa Basin, as well as Częstochowa and Kłobuck. After the merger with the Union for Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, ZWZ), he was assigned to the Directorate of Diversion of the Kraków branch of the ZWZ. He was responsible for the production of combat means.

In November 1940 he was delegated to Warsaw. He undertook the organization of sabotage networks in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Lublin, Chełm, and Kielce.

In September 1941 he began his cooperation with Capt. Kazimierz Leski, aka “Bradl,” commander of “the Musketeers” intelligence and counterintelligence network codenamed “37.” As part of this cooperation, together with Janina Siwińska, aka “Anna,” whom he had known well from the activities of the PPS, and her husband Bronisław, he produced mobile caches for the “Musketeers.” After the incorporation of this organization into the Home Army, Burski was transferred to department 997, dealing with the activities of foreign intelligence.

On the night of December 26–27, 1942, due to a denunciator's report, Burski as Bolesław “Jasieńczyk” was arrested by the Germans. Together with Bronisław Siwiński they were sent to the Gestapo prison in Pawiak. Documents in the name of “Jasieńczyk,” which Burski had with him at the time of his arrest, indicated that he was employed as a conductor in Electric Commuter Railways in Warsaw.

On January 17, 1943, after a few weeks spent in the prison cell, he was deported to the German concentration camp at Majdanek (Konzentrationslager Lublin), where he was given the number 1058 and the so-called Fluchtpunkt, which indicated the prisoners suspected of going to escape. Together with Siwiński he was directed to prisoner field III to barracks No. 9. He worked in the Strassenbau labour unit (building camp roads) and Häftlingsküche (prison kitchen). However, he remained the longest on the post of the head cook in field III. At Majdanek, Burski met his comrades from the underground, including Dr. Romuald Sztaba from Dąbrowa Górnicza. This directly contributed to the organisation of a conspiracy network in the camp and the launch of intelligence activities. This facilitated earlier reconnaissance of Majdanek and establishing contact with civilian workers employed in the camp. Burski also stayed in contact with Janina Siwińska, who forwarded reports on the situation at Majdanek to the command of the Home Army. Władysława Paplińska, an owner of a butchery, whose house stood in the immediate vicinity of the camp, paid a lot of merit for the efficient functioning of the camp resistance. It was there that the contact point was located. The place was used by the prisoners from the immediate surroundings of Burski, as well as Siwińska herself.

On April 18, 1944, Bolesław Burski was deported from Majdanek to Auschwitz in an evacuation transport. There, he received the number 182593 and was sent to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. He was employed at the Desinfektionskommando (disinfection unit) and then at the Dampfkessel Kommando (servicing the steam boiler).

In January 1945 he escaped from the evacuation transport near Wodzisław Śląski. He joined the partisans operating in the Pszczyna forests. Recognised by the new communist authorities as a soldier of the Home Army, he was kept in prison of the security office in Katowice, from which he was not released until August 1945. He regained his freedom thanks to his acquaintance with the Katowice voivode. After his release from prison, he returned to Dąbrowa Górnicza. He worked in his learned profession and dealt with arranging urban green areas. He also opened his own florist. He died on March 26, 1984. After the war, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Cross of Valor, the Silver Cross of Merit and posthumously the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Between 1945 and 1948 Bolesław Burski wrote down his memories from World War II. The typescript was entitled “Pawiak – Majdanek – Oświęcim.” In the autumn of 1980, he sent it to the State Museum at Majdanek in response to a competition announced in 1979 regarding the functioning of the German concentration camps and prisons in the Lublin region. According to the evaluation sheet, his work was awarded the most points, and for the general value it was proposed up to the first prize. However, the work was not printed at the time.

We have recently started to prepare Burski's occupational memories for printing. Given the “Jasieńczyk’s” camp activity, his knowledge of the art of conspiracy and the ability to win people over, we can count not only on a reliable chronicle of life in Majdanek prisoner fields III and IV, but also on a fascinating story about the strength and passion of a man who survived the ordeal of concentration camps.

Anna Wójcik
e-mail: archiwum@majdanek.eu

Photo source: Muzeum Miejskie Sztygarka w Dąbrowie Górniczej