Piotr Leszczyński - Instytut Pileckiego
Piotr Leszczyński was commemorated by the Pilecki Institute on 9 June 2019 in Poręba-Kocęby.
He lived with his wife Aleksandra and their five children in the village of Poręba-Kocęby in the Ostrów district. The family led a simple life on a farm. During German occupation Piotr helped his neighbor, Antoni Prusiński, hide a young Jewish man in a forest bunker located near their farm buildings. Leszczyński would bring food to the hideout, often with the help of his son Eugeniusz. On 15 May 1943 at 4.00 a.m. several units of German gendarmerie from Ostrów Mazowiecka joined by Wehrmacht soldiers arrived in the village, which indicated that a manhunt was afoot and the area was about to be searched. They were among others after Eugeniusz, who was suspected of being involved with the partisan movement, but when they did not find him at home, they arrested his father Piotr and their neighbor Prusiński (who was an active partisan). The Germans tied them to a tree, interrogated them, and beat them senseless. Afterwards, both men were killed with shots to the head and spine. The Jew whom they had been hiding was murdered as well.