Helena Wolińska-Brus

Who was Helena Wolińska-Brus?

Lt. Col. Helena Wolińska-Brus, born Fajga Mindla Danielak, was a military prosecutor in Poland with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, involved in Stalinist regime show trials of the 1950s. She has been implicated in the arrest and execution of many Polish anti-Nazi resistance fighters including key figures in Poland's Home Army. From 1999 to 2008, Poland sought the extradition of Wolińska from the United Kingdom to stand trial in Poland. The official charges against her were initiated by the Commission for Investigating Crimes against the Polish Nation.

Wolińska was accused of being an "accessory to a court murder," classified as a Stalinist crime and a crime of genocide, which is punishable by up to ten years in prison. Among other alleged crimes, she organised the unlawful arrest, investigation and trial of, Poland's wartime general Emil August Fieldorf, a legendary commander of the underground Polish Home Army during World War II. Emil August Fieldorf was executed on 24 February 1953 and his family were never shown the body.