Witold Pilecki was a Polish soldier and resistance fighter during World War II. He is best known for voluntarily entering the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1940 to gather intelligence on the atrocities committed there. Pilecki's reports were among the first to inform the world about the horrors of the Holocaust. After escaping from Auschwitz, Pilecki continued to fight against the Nazi regime and later against the Soviet influence in Poland. He was captured by the communist government in 1947 and executed in 1948. Pilecki is remembered as a hero for his bravery and commitment to justice.