Stone thrown on the rampart. Wacław Felczak 1916–1993
Wacław Felczak. A human legend. At the same time a man, many details of whose life were not even known to his closest friends. In the words of professor Henryk Wereszycki: "Wacuś joined the underground in 1939, and he hasn't left since". A man with a magnificent gift of telling stories. He was able to weave fascinating tales for hours... about others, placing himself somewhere far in the background, even if he was the main character and the driving force behind the various events. A man whom we only knew about as much as he himself wished to tell.
Jan Wacław, as these were his baptismal names, was born on 29 May 1916 in Golbice, a village in the Łęczyca county, as the eighth and youngest child of Antoni and Michalina née Pałczyńska, owners of a farm spanning a few dozen or so hectares (a communist judge once described him as the son of a rich farmer). His father was a well-known and respected local social activist. His mother came from a noble family, impoverished as a result of post uprising repressions – her ancestors were exiled to Siberia for their participation in the November and January Uprisings. That eagerness to work for the common good as well as patriotism were successfully passed on by the parents to their children. His mother's role in this was crucial. Even though life for such a large family was not easy, his parents did their best to ensure at least high school education for all their children.
Wacław attended schools in Chorki and Grabów. Then he was a pupil at the Saint Stanislaus Kostka Boys Gymnasium by the Diocese Seminary in Płock. That is where he was thoroughly schooled in Latin and Greek. He was able to recite ancient authors by heart until his final days. He had to be a lively kid, as through some school offence, a year before his matriculation, he was transferred to the Nicolaus Copernicus National Gymnasium in Toruń. That is where he took his final exams on 22 June 1934. His interest in the past was already evident at school and thus he chose history as the subject of his studies at the Poznań University. He attended seminars taught by professors such as Kazimierz Chodynicki, Adam Skałkowski and Andrzej Wojtkowski. He wrote his Master's thesis entitled "Wladysław Bentkowski's activities between 1848 and 1863" under the watchful eye of the latter. On 28 June 1938 a Master of Philosophy title was conferred upon him.
During his time at university and encouraged by prof. Chodynicki, he began studying Hungarian and showed a keen interest in Polish - Hungarian relationships. That decision was to be pivotal for his future. In the 1935/36 academic year he was one of the founders and Vice-President of the Poznań University Friends of Hungary Club. In August 1936 he went to Hungary for the first time to participate in summer Hungarian language and culture courses at the István Tisza University in Debrecen. He became so proficient in Hungarian, a language quite difficult for a Pole to master, that in May 1938, during a concert by the Szeged University Choir in Poznań, attended by numerous influential figures (Primate A. Hlond for example), he delivered a welcome speech in Hungarian.
That was also the time when his second passion began emerging – politics. His brother Zygmunt, lead activist of the National Workers' Party and then of the Labour Party and at the same time President of the Working Youth Association "Unity" opened his way to the Christian and Social Movement. In mid-1935 he represented the National and Social Youth Movement academic group at the WYA "U" Provincial Convention in Poznań. At the same time he was trying his hand at journalism. His article entitled "On youth matters", wherein he identified engaging youths from poorer social classes as one of the central goals of democratic organisations appeared in an issue of "Torch", a weekly supplement to "People's Defence" (LP body), published on 13 July 1937. That sensitivity to poverty and the ensuing political consequences accompanied Wacław throughout his life. A few years down the line, in a letter to Tadeusz Chciuk-Celt he wrote: "While pondering whether to reveal the secret of the ... atom bomb to the people, did anyone realise that hunger and poverty, daily and hopeless struggle for survival maims entire nations, creates societies of deviants? It is not the fault of the Russian people that we have to deal with them in the East [...] It is a pity there is no inventor who would save [two-thirds] of the Earth's population from poverty and hunger".
Upon his graduation, Wacław Felczak was intent upon a scholarly career. He began publishing the results of his historical research. These centred around Hungary; he remained faithful to it throughout his life. In 1938 he published "Wielkopolska's perception of the 1848 - 1849 Hungarian Revolution" in "Historical Annals". He also submitted his next article "Władysław Bentkowski's journalistic and parliamentary activity between 1848 and 1863" to that magazine, however it's publication was impeded by the outbreak of war.
Adorján Divéky’, director of the Hungarian Institute in Warsaw helped Wacław to obtain a grant from the Hungarian government which paved the way for his departure in October 1938 to study in Budapest. He took up residence at the prestigious Eötvös Collegium. Under the watchful eye of Imre Lukinich at the National Archives he gathered materials on Polish - Hungarian relations during the Spring of Nations and the January Uprising. The course of history meant that the doctoral dissertation he was working on never saw the light of day and the assembled materials burned down during the siege of Budapest in December 1944. Friendships which he struck during that time proved much more enduring. He became a close acquaintance of Zbigniew Załęski – Polish language and literature lecturer at the University of Budapest and director of the Polish Institute which was being established at the time. He met many Hungarian students, particularly of Slavic origin, such as Emil Baleczky from Carpathian Ruthenia whom he befriended; five years down the line that friendship saved his life.
Urged by his brother Zygmunt, Wacław used his time in Hungary to familiarise readers of Christian democratic press with the problems faced by that country. Between December 1938 and August 1939 he published political correspondence from Hungary in “Dziennik Bydgoski”, “Kurier Poznański” and “Zwrot” under the pen name of Peregrinus or signed with the W.F. initials. Similar to his later press and academic publications, he was a staunch critic of Hungarian nationalist policies, both former and present endeavours to rebuild the might of the Crown of Saint Stephen using Hitler's Germany as a stepping stone. He forewarned Poles against thoughtless use of the "Pole and Hungarian brothers be" phrase, which was, to some extent, reflected in the inclinations and behaviours of ordinary Hungarians, but was not echoed by political actions, for which Magyar political interests lay somewhere else.
In summer 1939 Wacław Felczak returned to Golbice with the intention of continuing his studies in Budapest in autumn. However, fate had something else in store. Germany's invasion of Poland sparked a series of historical events which meant that his academic career was interrupted for twenty years.
Wacław Felczak did not undergo military training before the war, so during the September campaign he was not mobilized and did not take part in it, although like many young men, he wandered around Poland in the hope of being conscripted. Meanwhile Golbice was part of the lands annexed by the Third Reich and in spring 1940 his family was evicted. Zygmunt - as a well-known political activist in Pomerania - was wanted by the Gestapo, nevertheless he immediately became involved with the underground. Together with his brother, Wacław arrived in Warsaw in mid-April 1940, where he met Franciszek Kwieciński, LP leader in the underground and Ryszard Świętochowski, a friend of General Władysław Sikorski and organizer of the Central Committee of Independence Organizations (its creators intended the CCIO to be a counterweight to the "sanation" Union of Armed Struggle and the Political Consultative Committee, which wanted to play an independent role with respect of the government). In April 1940 these activists suggested for Wacław Felczak to organise a communication branch in Budapest between Sikorski's government and Poland, suggesting that the personnel of the Polish legation there, unfavourably inclined towards the general is censoring official mail. With hindsight Professor Felczak said that the above to be a gross exaggeration, but at the time he eagerly set to work. In spring 1940 Wacław Felczak becomes a courier on a route which was to lead across eight countries and numerous borders, which were either crossed without being detected or using false documents. A route which instead of a few months, took up sixteen years of his life.
In early May, accompanied by Jerzy Pracki he left Warsaw for Nowy Sącz. After two weeks, together with Jan Freisler they departed towards Szczawnica and crossed into Slovakia. With the aid of Otton Ludwigh, a trusted driver, they crossed Slovakia and clipped across a second border in the forests near Košice. The entire endeavour was one big improvisation, with enthusiasm and eagerness instead of a precise plan and experience, which only came after months in this committed service. His attempt nearly ended like those of many others, who were caught en-route, handed over to the Germans and executed in Subcarpathian prisons or sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. When blundering across Košice forests at night, Wacław Felczak was apprehended by Slovak border guards, however helped by a benign office he was able to escape. Stopped by Hungarians on the outskirts of Košice, the following night he was taken back to the border. After wandering the forests all night, trying to avoid Hungarian and Slovak guards, he managed to reach Košice where he found his companions at a Polish Red Cross facility, brimming with similar "tourists". From there they departed for Budapest by train. Wacław Felczak returned to Hungary after a nine month absence. However, these were certainly not the circumstances he was hoping for. From somebody researching history he was transformed into somebody making history, no longer a scholar but a soldier, as military communications service was treated as front line service.
On 29 May 1940 Freisler put Felczak in touch with Paweł Janczukowicz vel Paweł Zaleski, who arrived in Hungary a few days before with the same task of organising communications. He was instructed on this matter by minister Stanisław Kot. (R. Świętochowski wanted to reach Hungary together with Zaleski to then continue west in order to see Gen. Sikorski. However, he was arrested by the Slovaks and handed over to the Germans. CCIO lost significance and its most important formation - LP, was incorporated by the Political Consultative Committee.) Edmund Fietz (Fietowicz according to his passport) aka "Kordian" from the People's Party arrived in Budapest at the same time from France, delegated by the government to establish a communications branch. According to the government's instructions Branch "W" was to be of a collegial nature, based on activists from four governmental factions and, apart from Fietowicz who was in charge, its members included Col. Józef Słyś "Sęp" from the Labour Party, major Stanisław Bardzik "Bednarski", "Lubelski" from the National Party and Stanisław Loewenstein "Opoka" from the Polish Socialist Party. Zaleski and Felczak were subordinate to Fietowicz, handing over to the Branch the routes they established through Košice or Sátoraljaújhely to Piwniczna or Szczawnica and then onto Nowy Sącz. Felczak assumed the pseudonym "Lech" and joined the tanks of Branch "W" as Zaleski's deputy and organisational chief. At the time his main task entailed encrypting and deciphering messages.
At the same time he was working at the Polish Institute, where, unofficially, he was director Załęski's deputy. He was also active amongst Slav academic youth, attempting to recruit them to aid Polish interests. That is how Vojto Caha, a Slovak, found himself within the Branch's structures. He was one of its most devoted couriers. Throughout the war Felczak continued publishing, edited and wrote articles for "Nasza Świetlica - Materiały Obozowe", a periodical published in Budapest by the Citizens' Committee for interned Poles. His pieces on the political situation in Hungary, Slovakia and Yugoslavia were published by "Zryw", a Polish underground magazine. Just as before the war, he wanted Polish readers to have a clearer view of Central European problems, not only by discussing current events, but also by including cultural and political philosophy matters and by commenting concepts for the post-war order in the region. He often pointed out that the a federation is the future for Central Europe, which could frustrate both Germany and Russia. However, it would be conditional upon the Czechs abandoning their ambitions to dominate Slovakia, relinquishing their pro-Russian and thus anti-Polish policies and primarily upon the Hungarians changing their attitudes towards Slavic nations. Citing Hungarian opinions he emphasised that the historic role of Hungary is waning, that Hungarians have to renounce their leading role in the Danubian basin in favour of Slavic nations and break away from the remnants of feudalism in social and political lives. Once these conditions have been met, they will find the tight to live and prosper in a Central European federation which they deserve.
He did not shy away from the political fight playing out during the war period to rule people's hearts and minds. Extremely critical of "sanation" and yet a staunch supporter of Gen. Sikorski - in this spirit he tried to influence Polish refugees. In 1942, together with Tadeusz Chciuk – Marek Celt, the government's emissary returning to the Headquarters who was in Hungary at the time, they disseminated pamphlets where they opposed anti-government propaganda.
However, maintaining communication with Poland was his most important work. Not only did he oversee and organise the efforts of couriers, but also, whenever required, he snuck into Poland to contact Government Delegates and leaders of various factions carrying mail and money. We know that he clandestinely crossed the border a few dozen or so times, sometimes in heroic style, exhibiting great competence on mountain trails even though he was born and grew up in the lowlands. One of his favourites was the Rožňava (Rozsnyó) - Tatra Mountains - Zakopane trail, which he followed accompanied by Józef Krzeptowski, an outstanding Tatra mountain guide. The love for the Tatra Mountains and the people who lived there, which he found at the time, stayed with him until the end of his days. The highlanders also considered him to be one of their own kind and reciprocated that love with the same intensity.
An atmosphere which was initially favourable to the Poles, began changing to the contrary together with the German achievements. Germany's pressure on Hungarian authorities to curb the activities of Polish cells and organisation was increasing. In January 1941 the Polish legation in Budapest, which was used to maintain radio communication with the government, was shut down. Following the April 1941 suicide of prime minister Pál Teleki, the new prime minister László Bárdossy engaged in a clearly pro-German policy. Gestapo's penetration of Hungary was increasing. Under such circumstances, Kazimierz Koźniewski "Weber", the government courier returning from Istanbul was arrested in 1941. This in turn led to the arrest of Branch "W" chief. On 24 September 1941, in connection with this matter, the Hungarian police arrested Wacław Felczak when he was attempting to retrieve a cypher book from Fietowicz's flat. He was put into a counterintelligence prison at the Hadika (Hadikláktanya) barracks, but luckily the Hungarian authorities were none too inquisitive and through interventions of influential figures from the Hungarian academic circles he had a convincing alibi and was released after 40 hours. Whereas his commander remained in prison until June 1942.
During that time Wacław Felczak's role in the operations of Branch "W" significantly increased – he actually participated in running it, whilst politically nominated members (periodically interned by the Hungarians) were not always at hand or were simply not able to perform their duties. Following Zaleski's arrest in mid-May 1942, "Lech" assumed control over the technical side of Branch “W's” operations; he remained in charge of the couriers after Zaleski was released from prison on 9 December 1942, as Zaleski remained on sick leave until 1 March 1943. After that he was excluded from the Branch as a result of a conflict with Fietowicz.
At the turn of 1941, Wacław Felczak initiated the establishment of a communications relay system, which facilitated regular monthly mail runs between Warsaw and Budapest until 1944. Each one of the five relay sections was assigned to a person who enjoyed relative freedom in moving along the assigned part of the route. Wacław himself operated on the Budapest – Košice (or Rožňava) section as he had Hungarian documents and was highly proficient in Hungarian. The border between General Government and Slovakia was initially crossed in the region of Piwniczna and then Orava.
Autumn of 1941 also witnessed another event, which reverberated across the highly politicised and bursting with gossip Polish community in Budapest. Its repercussions were to be felt many years later. On 25 October 1941, Felczak and Zaleski, searching for Stanisław Frączysty, a missing Branch courier, who failed to turn up for a pre-arranged meeting, unintentionally witnessed Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły being smuggled from Hungary to Poland. At the time Felczak did not recognise him, and he only found out that it was Śmigły during a 1949 Ministry of Public Security investigation, when the investigating officer tried to impute this "crime", alongside others, to him. Frączysty broke service discipline, trying to smuggle the former Commander-in-Chief to Poland. An attempt to stop Frączysty from acting without orders resulted in the organisers and participants of the transfer – Julian Piasecki and Bazyli Rogowski, known to Branch members, accusing Zaleski of informing the Hungarian police.
In mid-June 1942, the aforementioned Tadeusz Chciuk – Marek Cel, a Government emissary arrived in Budapest, on his was from Poland to London. Awaiting a window favourable for an onward journey, he remained under "Lech's" cordial care until November. The friendship formed at the time was to survive throughout the turbulent history and their paths were set to cross on numerous occasions in the future. In the heart of Tadeusz Chciuk-Celt, Ciuśwa – a derivative of the Wacuś diminutive – won the worthiest title of Friend above Friends.
After another change of the Hungarian government in 1942, the attitude of the authorities to Polish refugees began to change, Hungary gradually moved to withdraw from the war on the German side and wanted to use the Polish agency in this endeavour. One of the real effects of this change was a release from prison at the end of the year, arrested Brach and "Romek" military base employees, Marek Celt obtaining a Hungarian passport (in which the decisive role was played by the great friend of Poles priest Béla Varga who personally "piloted" Celt to Switzerland as his priest-brother) and a promise to issue another, which someone from the Branch would use to go to London. At the turn of 1942, Fietowicz predicted that it would be "Lech", but then Felczak's journey to the British Isles did not take place.
At the same time it was a period when relations in the Branch, not always the best, suddenly deteriorated. Its chief, an ambitious man, very irritable and jealous of his own position, who from the beginning was more a party activist than a state official, pursued his own policy, falling into conflict with underground authorities in Poland, other factions and with the army. Finally, in early 1943, he suspended all the members appointed by the government from work at the Branch and also dismissed most of the employees. At the same time, Felczak realized that the mail regularly delivered from Poland, was being held for several months by his superior in Budapest. Maria Hulewiczowa, who arrived from Krakow a few months earlier, played a major negative role in these decisions and became the "Kordian's" secretary. Fietowicz entrusted her with running the Branch, when in April 1943 he secretly went to London. He only told "Lech" that all relay communication and mail transfers should be suspended until the end of June.
When "Kordian" left the Branch, Felczak, who realized what his superior was up to, feeling responsible for maintaining communication so important for the Cause, and in agreement with existing members and employees of the Branch, went to Warsaw to present the situation to the Delegate and, above all, to continue sending mail. On 16 April 1943 he submitted a proposal for a new communications arrangement between Poland and the Polish Government in London. He argued for a purely technical (apolitical) cell, subordinate directly to the Delegate and presented the possibility for transferring mail and people to Lisbon and Istanbul. Three days later, he submitted a comprehensive written report on Branch "W", anticipating his resignation from work, if the current state was to be maintained. On May the 6th, Delegate Jan Stanisław Jankowski, who shared Wacław's the opinion about the negative role of "Kordian", instructed "Lech" to temporarily deal with the organization of communications, informed the Ministry of Interior in London of the situation and presented a reorganization proposal. There, it was seen as an attempt on government's position, and especially on the people's party, who run the ministry. The Ministry of Interior upheld and even strengthened Fietowicz's position, officially appointing him the Government Delegate to Hungary. Meanwhile, "Lech" and "Bednarski" energetically began implementing the presented work proposal. They started publishing a magazine, edited on the basis of the national press - "From the front lines", which they hoped would further influence the internees. Above all, however, using the contacts of editor Zbigniew Kosciuszko, "Lech" delivered Polish parcels using Hungarian diplomatic post to the Polish legation in Lisbon and was capable of transferring the national delegation to London, as requested by the Delegate.
When in the second half of June Fietowicz returned to Budapest, the Government Delegate for Poland, despite criticism of the Headquarters' decision, on 4 July ordered "Lech" to submit to the manager of the Branch, and the latter to deal with the issue of passports for the national delegation. However, it was too late for another compromise – in line with the position presented to the Delegate in April, Wacław Felczak withdrew from work at the Branch, while "Kordian", accusing him of disloyalty, announced that he was dismissing him. Despite Jankowski's subsequent messages, Fietowicz not only refused to help envoys from Poland, but using his powers, he obtained an assurance from the Hungarians that they would not issue a passport to any Pole without his consent. Already after Fietowicz's first refusal, "Lech" messaged for the departure of the delegation from Warsaw to be stopped, however due to a misunderstanding, the message was sent to Hungary. There, in the face of Fietowicz's attitude, its members were entirely dependent on Felczak's protection.
As of the end of June 1943, upon the Delegate's instructions, "Lech" worked in Hungary for the Government Delegation Information Department. His task was to deliver London and Swiss press as well as reports on Hungary, Slovakia and Yugoslavia on a monthly basis via the relay route (he had been doing this work since 1941). Over the following months, however, he tried to help two members of the national delegation: its chairman, Delegate representative Stanisław Ołtarzewski "Olszański" and National Party representative Mieczysław Jakubowski "Starowski", providing them with communication with the Delegate and trying to intervene in their case. The third member of the delegation - Ludwik Wojciech Droździk "Nowosielecki" quickly communicated with "Kordian" and in autumn 1943 together with Maria Hulewiczowa and the son of Prime Minister Mikołajczyk - Marian (also guided from Poland by "Wacek's" the couriers ) came to London.
The events of 1943 described here were known in political circles as the so-called Budapest scandal. Messages exchanged between the Delegation and the Headquarters in relation to him were so extensive that they could only be matched by those concerning key political problems. Wacław Felczak never wanted to publicly discuss this topic, he believed that it is not right to speak ill of people and matters that belong to the past. He was of the opinion that the most important thing was that everyone was trying to serve the Independence cause, and the fact that not everything went according to general agreement and was not always beautiful ... was of secondary importance and already completely irrelevant. Even though he had reasons to feel remorse and bitterness. He saw the fruits of several years of work and the courier's toil go to waste and that opportunities in the matter of communication with the state authorities, so important for Poland, in a situation when the Polish issue took a bad turn are not used. Instead of recognition, he was slandered. Only a few years later, when Stanisław Mikołajczyk asked him for help in bringing threatened Polish People's Party leaders to the West, the former prime minister and the minister of the interior apologized to Wacław Felczak for the intrigues and wrongs that he was subjected to during the war on the part of the people's party. Wacław Felczak did not refuse help....
There is one more secret, the details of which Wacław Felczak never disclosed, although sometimes did drop some hints. And whereas there are many sources on the Budapest scandal, in the latter he was probably the crown witness and he took the details with him to the grave. We are talking about attempts to establish political contacts in Slovakia during the war. From Delegation archives it is known that Felczak made them - without success - already in the first days of 1943. It can be assumed that he planned similar steps that summer, when the national delegation issue broke out. A positive result of these efforts appeared in May 1944. The president of the Slovak state, Fr. Tiso then suggested a Polish-Slovak Federation. The government rejected the possibility of discussions on this subject, but Felczak could not inform his interlocutors because at that time he was using, with the consent of the highest Slovak authorities, the diplomatic post of our southern neighbour - this way he delivered the Delegation's parcels to the Polish legation in Switzerland. However, before this happened, there was yet another act of war drama over the Danube.
On the night between the 18th and 19th of March 1944, Germans entered Hungary. A terror began, with both pro-alliance Hungarian politicians and representatives of the nations fighting with Germany, especially Poles falling victim to it. Surrounded by those dramatic events, luck smiled to Wacław Felcz once again. On that fateful night, he was having a good time in the bars of Budapest with his close friend, Emil Balecki who was on leave. When they emerged onto the streets after their night out, they saw masses of German soldiers. Acting upon a premonition, "Lech" evacuated the apartment at Veres Pálné u., and an hour later Gestapo knocked on the door. As it turned out, it was looking for him also in the building of the Polish Institute, where he was registered under his real name and where he actually lived under the name Jacek Dembiński. The Professor often related this story, always emphasizing the advantages of drinking Hungarian wine. With an arrest warrant issued in his name, he went into hiding under the name of Pál Horváth.
Faced almost an complete breakdown by the Germans of Polish institutions in Hungary, together with Stanisław Bardzik, Zygmunt Rusinek and Bogdan Stypiński, Felczak attempted to create a new branch that would aid the arrested and contact the Government Delegation for Poland. He was supposed to be responsible for communication with Warsaw. In April 1944 he went to Bratislava, where, through the chairman of the grain cooperative movement in Slovakia, Jan Klinovsky, he was able to send Polish mail to Switzerland. In June, the Delegate ordered him to stay in Bratislava in order to maintain communication with the Polish legation in Bern. "Lech" then escaped to Budapest to liquidate his operations in Hungary.
On July 14, 1944, on a train traveling from Budapest to the border with Slovakia, he was accidentally arrested by the Hungarian police. At the Rožňava station he tried - without success - to run away. He found himself in prison for the second time, only this time there was no one to appeal to, and the gendarmes were convinced that they were dealing with a spy; in the double bottom of the suitcase they found all the sorts of documents and money needed to move along the Budapest–Warsaw route, and what's worse, elements for a radio station. As he recalled, during the interrogation the Hungarian gendarme did not liked to use his fists... Fortunately, the return train from Rožňava to Budapest did not leave until the next morning. He escaped from jail before being handed over to the Gestapo. Throwing all his chips in, without even knowing who his cell mates are and whether they will notify the guards, he squeezed through the bars, ripping the skin off his chest and back. When unexpectedly the bars released him, he fell down unluckily and broke his ankle; his fall, however, went unnoticed. Despite the pain, he managed to climb a tree near the wall, which he skilfully rocked and managed to get to the other side. After crawling for two days, he reached a hide-out in the village of Veľká Poloma on the Slovak side; his appearance was such that the host took him for a ghost. He still managed to deliver the mail on time for the relay ... He was transported to Bratislava, where his leg was placed in a cast. However, this was not the end of his dramatic adventures. A series of events meant that he remained alone in his hide-out. At some point food supplies ran out and hunger forced him to leave. He was fully aware that he could be given away to the Germans at any time. But once again he was successful.
Summoned by the Delegation, once better he set out for Poland at the end of August 1944, to finally clarify the issue of Polish-Slovak talks. However, history was ahead of him. During his passage through Slovakia, an uprising broke out there and with difficulty - partly on foot - he reached the relay point at the Obertacz family in Orawka, where it turned out that there were no messages from the Delegation, and it was impossible to reach Warsaw, where an uprising broke out on 1 August. Together with Leopold Kwiatkowski "Tomek", a relay courier, he headed for Captain "Lampart" Julian Zapała’s detachment, who fought with the Germans as part of the "Burza" campaign. There, for seven weeks as a senior rifleman, "Madziar" took part in the partisan operations of the 4th Battalion of the 1st Home Army Podhale Rifles Regiment. The military atmosphere did not suit him well and he did not speak of the period well.
In November 1944, an activist of the District Government Delegation in Krakow and an employee of the Bureau of Information and Propaganda of the Home Army HQ, Stanisław Leszczycki "Robert" established contact with Felczak and "Lech" went to Bratislava upon his instructions, where he collected information about the Slovak uprising and the situation in Slovakia for BIP. He submitted a report on this subject and an account of the situation in Hungary to Leszczycki and he set out again for Bratislava, where he continued to collect materials. During that time he made frequent visits to the hospitable Obertacz family villa. This was a period of relative rest, as evidenced by the preserved photo with the following dedication: "To commemorate fattening me up in Orava, this here specimen of a fattened man as a token of my gratitude". That is where he also spent Christmas and New Year.
In mid-January 1945, he left Slovakia permanently and on January 28, when the front passed through Orava, he met the new occupant for the first time, with whom was to contend for years to come. And he had an opportunity to glimpse this new future; when he was in Sieniawa he was almost shot by a Soviet soldier. He was saved by the owner of the local estate, who gave her gold watch to the Russian.
It was a time of great chaos and anticipation, uncertainty about how the Polish cause would develop, of hope in the face of the overwhelming realities of the new occupation and against the attitude of the great powers. At that time underground life was concentrated in Krakow, so Wacław Felczak moved there in the second half of February. He made contact with his superior – the head of the Information Department Stanisław Kauzik "Dołęga", who due to his temperament played an increasingly important role in the underground – he was trying to reconnect the broken threads of conspiracy, create new structures. Not having a specific assignment, Felczak went first to Golbice, to see his parents and siblings; unfortunately, his sister and three brothers did not survive the war. When he asked his mother: "What shall I do now?", her reply was: "Your great-great-grandfather died in Siberia, your great-grandfather died in Siberia and you know what to do!" Knowing that, in conversation with his brother Zygmunt, who chose a different course of action and assumed the position of the Pomeranian vice governor, he rejected suggestions of breaking with the conspiracy. At the same time, he rejected a proposal to go West with Jan Freisler - he believed that he was needed in Poland.
In the spring months he went to and fro between Krakow, Warsaw and Golbice, he met with his siblings, held underground meetings, and on the order of Kauzik wrote a report on the activities of the Branch "W". And he waited, he waited for his fate. At the turn of May, during a meeting in Podkowa Leśna, Kauzik, on behalf of the acting Government Delegate Stefan Korboński, suggested for Wacław to go to London as an emissary entrusted with the task of informing the Polish government in exile of the situation in Poland under communist rule. It soon turned out that the essence of his mission would be to inform about the motives for the liquidation of the Polish Underground State. Of course he accepted the task.
In this way, he embarked upon a new route - this time leading directly to Headquarters. It soon turned out that this was only the start of his clandestine trips to the West. As a courier and emissary, he came across almost all the most distinguished politicians of the independence camp: in Poland, he tried to reach the most important activists of the illegal opposition; in exile - both before leaving for Poland and after returning - he contacted the representatives of the highest authorities and the leaders of the main political factions. The list and ranks of the people he talked with is truly impressive: Antoni Antczak, Tomasz Arciszewski, Kazimierz Bagiński, Józef Baraniecki, Zygmunt Berezowski, Franciszek Białas, Tadeusz Bielecki, Gen. Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Jerzy Braun, Adam and Lidia Ciołkosz, Aleksander Demidowicz-Demidecki, Gen. Józef Haller, Władysław Jaworski, Fr. Zygmunt Kaczyński, Stanisław Kauzik, Gen. Stanisław Kopański, Kazimierz Kumaniecki, Bronisław Kuśnierz, Jan Matłachowski, Stanisław Mikołajczyk, Karol Popiel, Adam Pragier, Kazimierz Pużak, Władysław Raczkiewicz, Edward Raczyński, Gen. Klemens Rudnicki, Konrad Sieniewicz, Stanisław Sopicki, Tadeusz Szturm de Sztrem, Adam Tarnowski, Gen. Stanisław Tatar, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, Zygmunt Zaremba, to name but the most recognisable,
Before his first trip to the West, Wacław Felczak once again avoided imprisonment - this time by secret police (UB); he left his apartment in Falenica just in time as his hosts were arrested on the streets of Warsaw. Preparing to fulfilling his mission, he met the party leaders and members of the National Unity Council and representatives of the underground Central Europe Institute (IEŚ). Under the leadership of Jerzy Braun, during the war IEŚ was conducting research on Central European issues, which in the unanimous opinion of all factions was of key importance for Polish foreign policy. "Lech" was involved in the work of IEŚ even during the Budapest period. In early July, Felczak took part in a Council of National Unity meeting, where the "Appeal of the Council of National Unity to the Polish Nation and the United Nations" containing the "Testament of Fighting Poland" was drafted.
He left Kraków on 10 July and was announced to the government in exile as Wacław Kaptur. Using the documents of a Slovakian friend, he reached Pilzno on the western side of the demarcation line separating the Allied and Soviet armies in Europe. Then, through Polish military facilities, he was transferred to Meppen - where the 1st Armoured Division was stationed. For fear of provocation he was checked with great distrust, the more that the messages he brought were not what they were hoping for. Only upon the arrival of couriers in Meppen going to Poland: Jan Freisler and another friend from Hungary - Konrad Niklewicz, was his identity confirmed and a period of several weeks of forced stay within the 1st Armoured Division ended. During this time, he held talks with Deputy Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief General Stanisław Tatar, who oversaw domestic affairs, and who facilitated his onward journey.
Once he was issued with military documents in the name of Wacław Lechicki (he will us this name from then on) did he continue onto London. Whilst there, Tadeusz Chciuk (still, despite the new leadership, an official of the Social Department of the Ministry of Interior - dealing with communication with Poland) not only shared his flat with him, but importantly introduced him to the world of Polish offices. "Lechicki" reports to the President, prime minister and members of the government. He also held talks with the leaders of the National Party, Polish Socialist Party and the Labour Party (such a circle of interlocutors was repeated later on each subsequent visit to "Polish London"). The information he brought back was taken as a bad tale, and interlocutors were mainly interested in the country's attitude to Mikołajczyk and how his return was accepted. He saw that his mission to convince the authorities in London of the necessity of disbanding the underground structures was pointless, but when he was offered to transfer Edward Sojka to Poland, he undertook this task. (Sojka's main objective was to create a network of the so-called Ministry of Interior Delegations, which would enable communication and provide information about the situation in Poland.) Felczak criticized various political decisions or views he had encountered in London, unlike the politicians there - he did not consider Mikołajczyk a traitor and he believed that the attitude of society in Poland would determine its future, but the only legal authority he recognized was the one temporarily based in London.
On October 2, 1945, he set out for Poland, through Paris, Brussels, branches in Germany and Pilsen. In early December, together with Sojka, they returned to Krakow as repatriates. Felczak put Sojka in touch with the authorities of the underground National Party and assistant professor Kazimierz Piwarski, representing the Central Europe Institute during the short detention of Braun, and obtained permanent financial help from the Ministry of the Interior for conducting and publishing academic works. In Warsaw, Wacław Felczak contacted Adam Grabowski "Alan" (a close associate of Kauzik), who informed him about the departure of former head of the Information Department to London and his contacts with underground Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence and Labour Party. Felczak, who was ill disposed towards Sojka's work, based solely on the activists of one faction - the nationalists, offered "Alan" his mediation in maintaining communication with Kauzik.
As it was Christmas time, despite his status, he could not go to his parents to Golbice. When he left Krakow, he met Tadeusz Chciuk at the train station, who came to Poland as the secretary of the Demobilisation Mission, established and headed by Józef Hieronim Retinger. This meant one task less for Friend above Friends – taking Tadeusz's fiancée, Ewa, from Poland to the West. However, he helped the daughters of Stanisław Jasiukowicz, a minister convicted in the trial of sixteen to escape beyond the Iron Curtain, he delivered money to the families or arrested activists and those in exile, he passed information to members of separated families - he did this every time he stayed in Poland. He also remembered his friends from courier routes. He organized financial assistance for Jan Freisler, who had been imprisoned by the Secret Police since October 1945, during his last stay in Poland, he went to Zakopane to find out about the fate of Józek Krzeptowski, who had been deported to the USSR.
At the end of his first post-war mission in Poland, on January 10, 1946, along with Konrad Niklewicz, a National Party courier he met in Krakow, he set out West through the Czech Republic.
After arriving in Paris at the end of the month, he received a scholarship from the Ministry of the Interior and it seemed that he would finally be able to devote himself to studying, not creating history. He enrolled at the Sorbonne and under the guidance of prof. Charles H. Pouthas he began working on his doctoral dissertation entitled "Impact of the Polish emigration on the development of the French Republican and Democratic Party between 1846 and 1848".
At the same time, however, he remained at the disposal of Józef Baraniecki - the head of the local Ministry of the Interior. In August 1946, he instructed a fresher at the Sorbonne to go to Poland, deliver mail and funds to the head of the Ministry of Interior's office in Kraków, Mieczysław Pszon, and build a Paris-Krakow transfer route. At the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Munich "Lechicki: met courier Marian Pajdak, who came from Krakow, and using his route, through the Špičák on the Bavarian-Czech border, Pilzno, the Czech-Polish border near Louka nad Olzou and Cieszyn he reached Kraków in mid-September. The apartment of Tadeusz Chciuek in Wola Justowska became his base. During this stay Felczak made several trips to Warsaw, Poznań and Katowice, he met with Pszon, and through him with the activists of the underground National Party Presidium, with whom he discussed the problem of improving communication with the National Party leadership in exile. At several meetings with A. Grabowski, J. Braun, Kazimierz Kumaniecki, priest Zygmunt Kaczyński, Tadeusz Szturm de Sztrem, he discussed ideas for the reorganization of underground structures, their role and the principles of communication with those in exile.
On October 11, 1946, he left Krakow, going with Pajdak to Munich and then to Paris. Summoned to London, he first of all convinced the President and the prime minister about the necessity to issue a statement on halting the armed operation in Poland, which he considered at this time to be absolutely pointless and its stoking as a crime.
At the beginning of December 1946, the ministry instructed him to go to Poland, exchange mail with Pszon, and settle the matter of appointing Grabowski as the delegate of the Ministry of Interior to the Warsaw District. Felczak met PM Arciszewski once again, whom he persuaded to influence a change of direction in Poland - disbanding of Freedom and Independence (similar to many political activists, he considered Freedom and Independence as the organizer of the armed struggle) and troops operating in forests, instead of sending money for a underground efforts he suggested material aid for the people and opposition groups, political prisoners and their families.
In the middle of the month, carrying funds and mail containing, among others, government resolutions on ceasing fighting in the forests and appeals to the nation regarding elections, he set out for Munich, where Pajdak was waiting for him. Adam Doboszyński accompanied them on the way to Poland, which displeased Felczak, who believed that the return of this politician to Poland would radicalize the activities of the nationalist underground and lead to unnecessary losses. They were detained by the Czech police in Pilzno, but they managed to deceive the security services. On the night of December 23, they crossed the border and arrived in Cieszyn, where Doboszyński went his own way and where "Lechicki" met Pszon and Władysław Jaworski a National Party activist. As usual, he held a series of meetings in Krakow and Warsaw with activists of the underground Labour Party and Polish Socialist Party, including Kazimierz Pużak. An accidental arrest of "Alan" complicated his mission, and made it impossible to read the mail from Kauzik.
However, these events were no longer of any significance. On January 19, 1947, in an atmosphere of widespread terror, the communists rigged the elections, which served as final proof that Stalin would not release Poland from his grip. An amnesty was announced soon. Many people urged Wacław Felczak to reveal himself (in February Pszon's made such a decision), but he rejected these suggestions. He was of the opinion that after the break-up of National Party Executive Board, falsifying the elections, arresting "Alan", paralyzing the activities of the delegations, there is no point in underground work according in its current form. However, he believed that it was necessary to maintain ties between political activists, but without organizational structures, and to focus on charity through the Church.
Heavy snowfalls, preventing passage through the mountains, prolonged his stay in Poland. He spent most of his time in Wola Justowska with the Chciuk family, with the house of Ryszard Niklewicz in Rabka used as a second hide-out. Even though he was an illegal in Poland – his papers and the alibi, would not stand up to a more thorough check – he tried to live a normal life. Serving his fatherland, Wacław Felczak did not forget that he was not only an emissary, but also a son, brother, friend, and even godfather. In 1946, he did not manage to be with his parents for Christmas, but as soon as he could, in January 1947 he went to Kętrzyn to see his beloved sister - Anna, which in those days was not an easy thing, and in his case also far from safe. He was very happy and touched when he became the godfather of Olenka - the daughter of Ewa and Tadeusz Chciuk. He approached his function extremely seriously - one day, to the horror of the hosts, he disappeared for many hours to return with a child's pram.
At the end of March 1947, conditions were finally right to go the West. On March 22, along with Gustaw Górecki - a military courier from London, he left Krakow and went to Cieszyn to collect papers and Czech money from a contact point; the secret police almost caught him in the act. He was already wanted and "targeted", of which he did not seem to be aware of (he fought off the view that "security knows everything" and as used his activities as an example).
After a few weeks in France, at the beginning of May 1947, "Lechicki" arrived to London. He had numerous conversations with the entire political émigré elite. On May 8, he submitted a report on the situation in Poland at the meeting of the National Affairs Committee, which included the Prime Minister, top ministers and a representative of the army. He spoke, among others about the discernible Sovietization of the Polish society. His report was discussed at the next meeting of this group.
That was his last visit to London. The talks which "Lechicki" held every time, and even the very fact of calling him to the Headquarters (the possibility of entering the British Isles was limited), testified to his exceptional role among couriers; known for his impartiality, without party biases, very intelligent and experienced, he had a rare political sense - all this made the parties willingly entrust him with tasks, even those which they did not give to their party couriers. He enjoyed overwhelming trust of President Raczkiewicz. No wonder that he could consider contact with Poland as almost exclusively his domain, the more so that he then had an autonomous route.
The change in the political situation in Poland coincided with a breakthrough in the balance of power in exile. At the beginning of June 1947, President Raczkiewicz died, who, contrary to previous arrangements, appointed August Zaleski and not T. Arciszewski as his successor. This gave rise to many years of division among the emigration. Wacław Felczak remained impartial in the dispute over legalism. He was more interested in the possibilities of actual action, and these were shrinking rapidly. At that time, as Minister Berezowski entrusted the bulk of work in Poland to Kazimierz Tychota, a National Party activist and faced with a gradual reduction of the Ministry of Interior apparatus, "Lechicki" was side-tracked. He prepared monthly reports on the situation in Central Europe on the basis press information for the Ministry of the Interior. He prepared similar reports on the socialist movement in this region for Z. Zaremba. Upon Felczak's initiative in the autumn of 1947, Zygmunt Rosiński started to put together a backup route through Innsbruck, Vienna and Slovakia to Poland.
In principle, however, since June 1947, Wacław Felczak devoted himself to academic work at the Sorbonne and that's how he would probably have spent the rest of his life if not for the his Friend calling for help, who led him back onto the clandestine routes. At the turn of September 1948, he used his new route to bring T. Chciuk, his wife Ewa and their year and a half old daughter Oleńka as well as the "silent unseens" second lieutenant Tadeusz Żelechowski, second lieutenant Jerzy Niemczycki and Home Army runner Elżbieta Ungerówna, at risk of being arrested by the secret police out of Poland. He personally guided them across the Czech-Austrian border. Soon, at the request of Stanisław Mikołajczyk, who – as I have already mentioned – apologized to "Lech" for intrigues and wrongs on the part of the people's party while working in Branch "W", Felczak agreed to organize a transfer from Poland of Polish People's Party leaders threatened with arrests. As he was exposed by the previously arrested activists (his name appeared in the public trials of National Party leaders, the Pużak and companions), he was to remain in the Czech Republic. At the same time, Baraniecki, as part of another Ministry of the Interior reduction, dissolved the professional relationship with Felczak on December 31, 1948, although there was a search for a way to keep him in the communication apparatus.
At the beginning of December, Felczak with Żelechowski and a young people's party activist Józef Rogoziński set out from Paris, through Innsbruck, Vienna, and crossed the border near Bratislava. Then came the unfortunate day of 22 December, which was to have tragic consequences. Two years earlier, "Lechicki" was stopped by the Czech security service, but then he managed to deceive them. This time luck was not on his side. In the evening, after arriving in Moravian Ostrava, where they expected to reach a hide-out, they were arrested by the security authorities. Twice did Wacław Felczak attempt to escape. During his second try, he broke his leg when jumping out of a prison window.
Soon after, on 16 February 1949, he was handed over to the Provincial Public Security Office in Katowice. Thus began the most difficult period in his life. Initially, he tried pretending to be someone else, counting upon the security services not being aware of whom they have caught. However, he was his hopes were dispelled by an officer who, with a smile of satisfaction, showed him a picture from the arrest warrant and said that he was looking for him for several years. After the initial interrogation, "Lechicki" was handcuffed, thrown into the back of a lorry between two rows of soldiers and transported to the Ministry of Public Security in Warsaw at ul. Koszykowa. He was subjected to a prolonged and cruel investigation, during which he turned grey in one night. After three months of the "operative" investigation in Departments III and V of the Ministry of Public Security, he was sent to a prison in Mokotów, where the Investigation Department was to prepare court materials, for the accused to be sentenced.
The available reports show that for the first two weeks he was interrogated on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day by various investigating officers. What these interrogations were like, we can only try to imagine based on the accounts of other prisoners. Wacław Felczak would usually dismiss questioned about this part of his life, saying with a smile that he was "guesthouse." We do know however, that he was refused any medical assistance, and during interrogations he had to jump on one leg, kicked and punched by the guards. Only a small group of people were to hear his detailed account of how he was made to stand up for many days (and his leg was not healed properly!) to get a testimony out of him. This torture, often used by investigators, consisting of standing naked to attention with the window out in the cell – in summer called "the beach", in winter "Zakopane". In his case it was interrupted after six days, when close to fainting he stopped responding to any stimuli. His situation was further aggravated by the fact that he "was caught" very late; many people who knew the activities of "Lech" during various periods were already in prisons and testified about him, some cooperated with the security authorities. Also, his stay in the cell during breaks between interrogations did not bring respite, as one of his inmates was a so-called cell agent, reporting on the behaviour and other conversations of others.
In Mokotów, the investigation against Wacław Felczak was directly supervised by the director of the Investigation Department, Colonel Józef Różański, his deputy Lieutenant Colonel Adam Humer, the head of the II Department of Investigation of the Ministry of Public Security Maj. Lt. Col. Ludwik Serkowski and the Section Director, Cpt. Jerzy Kędziora known for his ruthlessness. Deputy ministers Romkowski and Mietkowski also received copies of the interrogation reports. After a nearly two year investigation, during which his case was linked to the case against "Unia" and Labour Party activists, the Ministry of Public Security investigating officer drafted an indictment. Initially, the trial was to take place on 19 February 1951 at the headquarters of the Military District Court in Warsaw. However, at the request of Lt. Col. Helena Wolińska, who was responsible for political affairs at the Chief Military Prosecutor Office, the case was removed from the court calendar. Only the third date for the trial - April 4 - turned out to be final. When the second date was being assigned it was decided that the trial would be held in prison. This delay and circumstances of issuing Felczak's sentence were related to the finalization of the case against Labour Party activists (he was needed as a witness uncertain of his fate).
On March 30, 1951, he acted as a witness at the trial of Józef Kwasiborski and fellow Labour Party members. According to the press, "he testified in an evasive manner, did not answer questions directly." Two days after the prison based proceedings held on 4 April, the Military District Court in Warsaw sentenced him to life imprisonment pursuant to Article 86 § 2 Polish Army Criminal Code (intention of removing the authorities by force and of changing the political system) and Article 6 (receiving benefits from a foreign government or organisation) and 7 of the Small Criminal Code (espionage), loss of rights for 5 years and confiscation of all his goods (prosecutor major Henryk Ligięza was demanding a death sentence). Only then was his family told about his fate. Despite the issuing of the sentence, Felczak was kept in the Mokotów investigative prison, further interrogations were carried out, and after several months he was deprived of visits and correspondence with his family. He spent the winters of 1952/53 and 1953/54 in an unheated cell. In May 1954, his mother approached the Polish Council of State and the prime minister with a request for leniency and the conditions for serving it. The military court did not accede to this request. However, the political situation was slowly beginning to change.
In February 1955, he was transferred to Rawicz, where he spent eight months in a prison hospital. In March 1956, he was transferred to Wronki, where he was also hospitalized. Under the amnesty, on May 5, 1956, he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with additional penalties. Several days later, after a prosecutor's office inspection in Wronki, he appealed to the General Prosecutor's Office for the first time since the arrest (including the description of torture used against him) to reconsider his case. On October 27, at the request of a lawyer, the court permitted a break in serving the sentence for 12 months due to health ("significant body deterioration") and on October 30, 1956, Wacław Felczak left the Wronki prison. All he had was what he collected from the prison deposit: 449.92 zł (40 percent of an average salary). He had to start his life anew. Invited Andrzej Rozmarynowicz, a recent companion in misery from the Mokotów prison, he settled in Kraków.
And although it was already after October, he – an enemy of the people – still could not be sure of his fate. Only a few days before the deadline for the return of "Lechicki" to prison, on October 22, 1957, the Supreme Military Prosecutor made a revision request in his favour and on October 31 the Supreme Military Court decided to suspend the execution of the sentence pending an examination of the application. However, because the authorities, for political reasons, refrained from making decisions in revision matters of Catholic Labour Party activists, Felczak had to wait. Finally, on December 23, 1957, Supreme Military Court revoked the charge of espionage and finally sentenced him to 7 years and 4 months in prison and loss of rights for two and a half years (he spent 7 years, 10 months and 9 days in prison). (he did not intend to do it with "violence"). He never sought full rehabilitation, thinking that he was actually fighting to overthrow the communist government
Very soon after being released from prison, the security service became interested in him. In the summer of 1957, the security service decided to recruit him, but when he refused tactfully to be an informer he was examined and observed for twenty years within the scope of various cases dealt with at the provincial and ministerial level. Regardless of this, he was subjected to security services and the communist party monitoring at the university, where he could find employment after the review of the sentence.
Through to the intercession of prof. Henryk Wereszycki in January 1958, Wacław Felczak became his assistant at the Jagiellonian University in the Department of Modern and Recent General History. For the third time in his life, at the age of 42, he began his academic career and started to write his doctorate. Despite the fact that the UJ authorities banned him from going to Hungary, in 1962 he defended his doctoral dissertation (Hungarian national policy before the outbreak of the 1848 uprising ) written on the basis of Hungarian archival materials – micro-formed and sent by friends from Budapest. It was not until 1965, thanks to the intervention of an accidentally met former co-prisoner, and then deputy and deputy minister of national defence Grzegorz Korczyński, he received a passport and could continue his research on the history of Hungary. In December 1968 he obtained a postdoctoral degree on the basis of the work "The Hungarian-Croatian settlement in 1868". In 1975, the University authorities applied for the title of professor to be conferred upon him, which was opposed by the ministry. His 1980 application met a similar fate. Despite widespread recognition for academic achievements, it was not until October 1993 that he received a professorial appointment. He authored significant academic papers on the history of Central Europe, including "The History of Hungary" and "The History of Yugoslavia". For a dozen or so years he was the vice-president of the Polish Section of the Polish-Hungarian Historical Commission, exerting a significant influence on its activities; he also participated in the work of the analogous Polish-Bulgarian Commission.
As he wrote in a letter to T. Chciuk-Celt, he found a "great candidate for a wife", with a biography similar to him. However, lack of his own housing and material troubles with which he constantly struggled, prevented him from starting a family, although he wanted it very much. Towards the end of his lonely life, working with youth was actually the only source of joy and brought him the greatest satisfaction. He taught seminars really well, he was a legendary lecturer, his classes also attracted students from other subjects. He not only taught but also educated.
He was given the opportunity to live up to the ideas, to which he devoted the best years of his life - Poland regained its independence, cooperation of Central European nations began. He played a significant role in these processes.
From 1958, he was a member of prof. Wereszycki's an informal club, bringing together independent Kraków academics. He radiated his attitude and ideas to a large part of this environment. He was closely associated with the Kraków's "Tygodnik Powszechny". With great hope and care he took on the changes that took place in Poland after August 1980, he did not directly engage in any social or political actions. He believed that his formal presence may – due to the attitude of the authorities towards him – harm the given matter. He preferred to remain in the shadow, to advise, to help with his historical or moral reflections. In the early eighties, when traveling to Austria, he met Tadeusz Chciuk-Celt, who at the time – as Michał Lasota – was an employee and deputy director of the Polish Radio Free Europe Station, giving him first-hand news about the situation in Poland.
After the 1989 uprising, he watched the development of the internal situation with increasing scepticism. He criticized the immaturity of politicians, their exuberant ambitions, the lack of political vision, and he was alarmed by the attitude of the society, which could not overcome several decades of "Asian treatment".
In the mid-1970s, he made contact with the emerging national opposition (unconnected with party dissidents) in Hungary. He was instrumental in shaping it, initially counteracting the pessimism of the Hungarian intelligentsia, arousing faith in the future of this nation. His "spiritual students" include many of the greatest Hungarian politicians who took power in Hungary in 1989. When he retired in 1986, this environment honoured him with a memorial book, handed in at Collegium Maius (his last denunciation comes from this ceremony). In 1987, he was behind the creation of Hungary's one of the most important opposition parties, the Alliance of Young Democrats – FIDESZ, who in 1991 granted him honorary membership.
Mountains were his great passion. Whenever he could, he went to Zakopane, where hid away in a "hide-out" made available to him by his brother-in-law Józek Krzeptowski or went to the Tatra Mountains. That's when he really found peace.
Since his retirement, his health deteriorated steadily, the years spent in the "guesthouse" were taking their toll. That is why, after the "Autumn of Nations" he could not take over the function of the Polish ambassador in Budapest. However he did, albeit unofficially – meeting his Hungarian friends, advising them, discussing the past and the future of Central Europe.
Seriously ill he went to Warsaw to receive a professorial appointment on October 4, 1993. He did not mention this to anyone, but on that day he was very happy. Because although he never solicited support for his affairs and was unpretentious, he enjoyed it immensely when his attitude and efforts were appreciated. He was under the loving protection of his friends from the Hungarian Embassy, but his heart could not stand this effort. Two days after receiving the appointment, he was hospitalized and died on 23 October 1993.
He was buried in the Cemetery of the Distinguished in Pęksowy Brzyzek in Zakopane, and his funeral was a testimony of the respect which his friends, acquaintances and students held for him and confirmation of the role he played in matters of Poland and Hungary. The President of the Republic of Poland added a post-mortem Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta to the V Class War Order of Virtuti Militari and Cross of Valour received during the war.
Wacław Felczak was already veiled in legend during his life. However he thought that he did nothing extraordinary, that he only did what everyone would do in his situation. In the context of this biography, the words written by him a few years before his death sound utterly surprising: "It was easier to be a stone thrown on the rampart than consistently follow one's own intentions".