page_title: Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia
hierarchical_section_title: Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia
caption_attribution_description: English: Historical photograph depicting accused Catholic priests during the Stalinist show-trial of the Kraków Curia, January 21-26, 1953. Polski: Ława oskarżonych w procesie Kurii Krakowskiej, 21-26 stycznia 1953. W ostatnim rzędzie od lewej: Edward Chachlica, ks. Wit Brzycki, przed nimi ks. Jan Pochopień, w pierwszym rzędzie: Michał Kowalik, ks. Franciszek Szymonek, ks. Józef Lelito.
context_page_description: The 1953 trial of the Kraków Curia was a public trial of four Roman Catholic priests and three lay persons of the Kraków Curia who were accused by the Communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland of subversion and spying for the United States.
  The staged trial, based on the Soviet Moscow Trials, was held before the Military District Court of Kraków from January 21 to 26, 1953, at a public-event-hall of the Szadkowski Plant.
  The court, headed by Judge Mieczysław Widaj, announced its verdict on January 27, 1953, sentencing to death Józef Lelito, Michał Kowalik, and Edward Chachlica. The priests were stripped of all civil and constitutional rights, but their death penalties were subsequently not enforced.
  The remaining defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from six years in prison to life. The judgments were endorsed politically by a resolution of the Polish Writers Union in Kraków on February 8, 1953, signed by many prominent members. A series of similar trials followed.
context_section_description: The 1953 trial of the Kraków Curia was a public trial of four Roman Catholic priests and three lay persons of the Kraków Curia who were accused by the Communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland of subversion and spying for the United States.
  The staged trial, based on the Soviet Moscow Trials, was held before the Military District Court of Kraków from January 21 to 26, 1953, at a public-event-hall of the Szadkowski Plant.
  The court, headed by Judge Mieczysław Widaj, announced its verdict on January 27, 1953, sentencing to death Józef Lelito, Michał Kowalik, and Edward Chachlica. The priests were stripped of all civil and constitutional rights, but their death penalties were subsequently not enforced.
  The remaining defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from six years in prison to life (Franciszek Szymonek). The judgments were endorsed politically by a resolution of the Polish Writers Union in Kraków on February 8, 1953, signed by many prominent members. A series of similar trials followed.
caption: The defendants during the trial, January 1953
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