{"id":6107,"date":"2021-06-23T10:35:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T08:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/bohater-odzyskal-wizerunek-legenda-znalazla-potwierdzenie\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T14:36:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:36:11","slug":"heros-image-restored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/heros-image-restored\/","title":{"rendered":"Hero&#8217;s image restored \u2212 the legend found confirmation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cI think that everyone interested in the defense of Grodno has heard of this figure. Today, the hero is already well known. By presenting his story, we want to show what the defense of Grodno really looked like,\u201d said Prof. Wojciech \u015aleszy\u0144ski, director of the Sybir Memorial Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fate of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski, who became a symbol of civil defense of the Borderlands against the Soviet invasion, has so far been known only from Gra\u017cyna Lipi\u0144ska\u2019s memoirs. He was supposed to be one of the teenage fighters, who died while attacking Soviet tanks invading Grodno with petrol bottles. The existence of a boy with such a name and surname has been questioned more than once: he was not mentioned by other inhabitants of Grodno and the researchers describing his story relied entirely on Lipi\u0144ska&#8217;s memoirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-1024x683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"5892\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-1024x683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"5889\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5889\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>DEFENSE OF GRODNO<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Soviet aggression on September 17, 1939 was a shock for the authorities and citizens of the Second Polish Republic, who had been struggling with the German invasion for over two weeks. As most of the Polish armed forces were involved in the fight against Germany, to the defense of the country in the East \u2212 apart from the few backup units of the Polish Army and the units of the Border Protection Corps \u2212 also joined civilians: mostly youth and scouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The greatest military resistance of the civilian population to the Soviet invaders took place in Grodno. Apart from a small military garrison, schoolchildren and students, scouts, teachers and inhabitants of the surrounding villages reported on the call of the city authorities. They dug anti-tank ditches and barricades, prepared bottles with gasoline that were used to destroy tanks (so-called Molotov cocktails). During three days of fighting (September 20\u221222), the defenders inflicted heavy losses on the Soviets, calculated on at least 200 killed and wounded and over 20 destroyed tanks and armored cars. We do not know exactly the losses of the Polish side, but it is known that after capturing the city, the Soviets murdered about 300 officers and civilian defenders as well as \u2018ordinary\u2019 residents. The tragic episode of the battle of Grodno was the use of civilians, including children by the Red Army as \u2018living shields\u2019. They were tied to tanks going to attack. One of those, who died this way was a teenage boy, Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>LEGEND<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is an excerpt from Gra\u017cyna Lipi\u0144ska&#8217;s book \u201cJe\u015bli zapomn\u0119 o nich\u2026\u201d (&#8220;If I forget about them\u2026&#8221;), published in Paris in 1988 and then several times in Poland: &#8220;On the head of a tank there is a child, a boy. Blood from his wounds is guttering over the iron. Together with Danuta, we are starting to release the boy\u2019s uncrossing arms bound with rags. I do not realize what is going on around me. A black tank operator is jumping out of the tank, he is holding a BAP in his hand and the second one, behind him is threatening us. With his fist raised in the Bolshevik gesture, with the scowl on his face, with a husky voice he is screaming, he is accusing us and the boy. For me, they are not existing, I can only see the eyes of the child full of fear and torment. And I see the unleashed arms reaching out to us with boundless confidence. Danka is lifting the child from the tank in one move and lying him on a stretcher. I am already at his head. We are grabbing the stretcher and, leaving the torturers speechless with our audacity, running towards the hospital. The boy has five wounds from rifle bullets (I know \u2212 Polish bullets are hitting enemy tanks) and a strong blood leak, but he is conscious. In the hospital he is surrounded by sisters, doctors and sick. \u2212 \u00abI want mother\u00bb, the child is asking. His name is Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski, he is 13 years old. He is the only child of Zofia Jasi\u0144ska, a maid, he does not have a father, he is a foster child of the Charity Institution. He went into the battle, he threw a bottle of gasoline at the tank, but he did not light it up, he could not, he was unable to do it\u2026 They jumped out of the tank, they beat, wanted to kill, and then they tied him up at the front of the tank. Danka is bringing Tadeusz\u2019s mother. Blood transfusion is not helping. The boy is getting weaker and weaker, he is dying. But he is dying in the arms of his mother and on a patch of free Poland, because the military hospital is still in our hands\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-1024x683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"5886\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5886\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to the memoirs of Gra\u017cyna Lipi\u0144ska, Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski found a place in almost every book and article about the Polish defense against the Soviet aggression of September 1939. His name has been given to streets in several Polish cities, his symbolic grave has been created in Grodno, and Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski himself has been posthumously awarded the Commander&#8217;s Cross Order of Polonia Restituta. Nevertheless, people questioned Gra\u017cyna Lipi\u0144ska&#8217;s testimony, noting that the hero&#8217;s personalities did not appear in any of the other known accounts about defense of Grodno. The dispute over the figure of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski still raises strong emotions in Grodno itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>DETERMINING MOTHER\u2019S FATE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-683x1024.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"5898\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_5-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-683x1024.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"5901\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5901\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_6-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Information about the existence of mementoes of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski reached us, that is the members of the \u2018Grupa Wsch\u00f3d\u2019 (\u2018East Group\u2019) Association, over a few years ago. We began a tedious search. We really wanted to restore the character&#8217;s face,&#8221; said Andrzej Bieluczyk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We managed to find people, who looked after Zofia Jasi\u0144ska, the boy&#8217;s mother, at the end of her life. They confirmed the existence of Tadeusz&#8217;s portrait. In 2021, one of the new members of the Association tied his own family story to the story of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski. He heard about Zofia Jasi\u0144ska, who had been a close friend of his relatives years ago. After the war, Zofia Jasi\u0144ska came to Bialystok. She worked here as a cook. She remained lonely, remembering her son, who died during the war in Grodno until the end of her life. She did not like talking about his death. She even told people she trusted he had died throwing a bottle of gasoline on a German (!) tank. She emphasized, that her son was only 15 years old. In her apartment there was a portrait of Tadeusz, she also had another picture of him, as well as a handkerchief stained with his blood. In 1982, Zofia Jasi\u0144ska died and was buried at the Parish Cemetery in Bialystok. The bloodied handkerchief was placed in the coffin by a relative of a member of the \u2018Grupa Wsch\u00f3d\u2019 (\u2018East Group\u2019) Association, according to her will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the family caring for Zofia Jasi\u0144ska, the members of the Association have obtained testimonials partially confirming these facts and permission to search for scattered souvenirs. During long-term work, postcards and photos dedicated to Zofia Jasi\u0144ska, as well as two of her photos, have been found. A photo of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski with his mother and his portrait \u2212 monidlo (a kind of realistic painting, a portrait usually painted on the basis of a photo) have also been found. These mementos are kept in the Podlaskie Museum of Militaria in Bialystok run by the members of the Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>HISTORY VERIFICATION<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The members of the Association, looking for a worthy place to display the hero, made contact with the Sybir Memorial Museum. The Museum\u2019s researchers, together with the members of the Association, undertook research aimed at confirming the credibility of the find and explaining the discrepancy between the account of Zofia Jasi\u0144ska&#8217;s guardians and the version of events described by an eyewitness \u2212 Gra\u017cyna Lipi\u0144ska (the matter of death allegedly suffered in the fight against the Germans, not the Soviets, and the boy&#8217;s age of 15 instead of 13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Knowing that in 1939 the Germans never reached Grodno, and that the only clashes between civilians and tanks in this area took place during the city\u2019s defense against Soviet aggression, we concluded that the first discrepancy arose from the fear of speaking a dangerous truth in communist Poland,\u201d said Marcin Zwolski, PhD, head of the Scientific Department of the Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-1024x683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"5895\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5895\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Zofia Jasi\u0144ska, who experienced a personal tragedy from the Soviets, must have been aware that the story of her son&#8217;s fight against the Red Army could have serious consequences for her. So she told a story in which there could be only one aggressor \u2212 German.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second discrepancy was more doubtful. After all, it is difficult to assume that the mother mistook the age of her only son or deliberately overestimated it. A more likely mistake was Gra\u017cyna Lipi\u0144ska\u2019s, who, although she knew the boy personally, did not have to know his real age, or, writing her memoirs many years later, did not accurately recreate him from her memory. The problem was the lack of other possibilities of verification, because all those who mentioned Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski relied on Lipi\u0144ska&#8217;s memories, duplicating her version about the 13-year-old hero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2212 We have looked over the files of the investigation concerning the Soviet crimes committed in Grodno, conducted by the Prosecution Department of the Institute of National Remembrance in Bialystok. Among many testimonies of inhabitants of Grodno about anonymous boys, who died during the fights with Soviet tanks, there was one given in Szczecin in 2002 by a former student of a gymnasium in Grodno \u2212 said Zwolski, PhD. Describing defense of the city, he testified, inter alia: \u201cDuring these fights a few Soviet tanks were destroyed, the wrecks of which I saw in the streets. I remember that in Orzeszkowa Street there was one of the tanks destroyed by my friend Jasi\u0144ski, I do not remember his name. He was my friend from the street. He was 15 years old.&#8221; It should be noted that the testifying person was sure about the age of his colleague, as he was his peer \u2212 in 1939 he was also 15 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the verification of the find, it was possible to find Zofia Jasi\u0144ska\u2019s grave in the Farny Cemetery. It turned out that there was a memorial plaque on the grave telling about Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski. The family, that made the burial, did not install it. So far, its donor has not been identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>DISPLAY PLANS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The photograph of Zofia and Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski was deposited at the Sybir Memorial Museum. \u2212 The exhibition is almost finished, but we had no doubts that the hero, Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski, must be there \u2212 said Wojciech \u015aleszy\u0144ski. The exposition of the photo required some changes to the already finished composition, but the symbolic importance of Jasi\u0144ski for the history of defense of the Polish Borderlands against the Soviet aggression, and as a result \u2212 the great importance of the find presented today, made the management of the Museum have no doubt that this effort should be made .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2212 <em>We should thank the Association for the fact that the mementos of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski remained in Bialystok <\/em>\u2212 said Rafa\u0142 Rudnicki, the deputy mayor of Bialystok. \u2212 <em>Other institutions in Poland also wanted to have these exhibits in their collections. And they are with us. It is a great honor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The members of the Association decided to make the reproductions of the other mementoes of Zofia and Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski available in a free domain on the Internet so that anyone interested could have access to them. At the same time, Adam Bieluczyk and Rafa\u0142 Rudnicki appealed to schools and local authorities to become interested in the figure of the heroic teenager. \u2212 <em>Jasi\u0144ski already has its streets and squares, but he does not yet have a school named after him<\/em> \u2212 reminded Bieluczyk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-1024x683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"5910\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5910\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_9-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-1024x683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"5907\" src=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5907\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/spotkanie_22.06_8-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tragic story of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski \u2212 a heroic defender of Grodno, who was tied to a tank by the Soviets and died as a \u2018human shield\u2019 in September 1939 \u2212 happened in real! Thanks to a sensational discovery after 82 years, we found out what the boy looked like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hero&#039;s image restored \u2212 the legend found confirmation - Muzeum Pami\u0119ci Sybiru<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The tragic story of Tadeusz Jasi\u0144ski \u2212 a heroic defender of Grodno, who was tied to a tank by the Soviets and died as a \u2018human shield\u2019 in September 1939 \u2212 happened in real! 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