Confessions of a Home Army Executioner: A Memoir of the Polish Home Army

Stefan Dąmbski joined the Polish Home Army in 1942 at age 16. The Home Army formed the military wing of the Polish Underground, the resistance movement fighting Nazi occupation during the Second World War. During the occupation, the Home Army issued death sentences on hundreds of individuals—both Nazi enemies and Polish collaborators. Dąmbski was one of the few Home Army members who volunteered to carry out these executions, becoming a seasoned executioner while still young. In July 1945, Dąmbski was transferred to the West and eventually settled in the United States, where he remained until his death in 1993. In his final years, he recorded detailed accounts of his experiences. After his death, his memoirs passed to his niece and nephew before arriving at the KARTA Foundation in 2005. Originally published in Polish, this English translation provides insight into Dąmbski's life as an executioner and his lifelong moral struggle with his actions, reflecting on heroism, patriotism, guilt, and the nature of war itself.