Zdzisław Najmrodzki

Najmrodzki was born on 20 August 1954 in Czermno, Poland, and grow up within the area of modern Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland. He was a son of Sabina and Władysław Najmrodzki,[1] and had 3 brothers. He had graduated the vocational school for auto mechanics.[7][3] At the age of 19, he was conscripte for obligatory two-years-long military service. During the service, he stood out with his physical fitness. After 2 years, he got a proposition to work full-time in the military, however, he declined it, to pursue his dream of becoming a rally driver. In the autumn of 1975, he had begun working in the car workshop in Gliwice.[6] In 1977, he had married to a wife, with whom, he lived in Gliwice.[7]

At the age of 20, he got sentences, for the first time, to imprisonment without the right for the suspended sentence, after beating the officer of the Citizens' Militia,[4] in the pub near the town of Żyrardów.[6] He got sentenced to a year and a half and got imprisoned in Gliwice.[4] While in prison, he worked as a car mechanic. After a few weeks, he had escaped for the first time, while being transported by train, with another prisoner, to Warsaw, to take part in the trial of another prisoner. After a few hours of travel, two militia officers, that were meant to guard the prisoners, had agreed to remove him from the handcuffs. Following that, they had drunk with him a few beers, bought with Najmrodzki's money in Wars buffet car.[7] After the guards had fallen asleep due to drunk alcohol, Najmrodzki had jumped through a window.[6] Next, he had returned to Gliwice, where he had spent some time hiding at his friends' house, and forced his wife to remain silent to the authorities. While remaining at large, he had committed other crimes.[7]

Later, he had contracted his friend, an officer in the Polish military, who additionally was a smuggler. They have started cooperation, during which, Najmrodzki would distract patrols of Citizens' Militia, allowing convoys of lorries with clothing, mostly consisting of jeans, that were smuggled to Poland. He would do that, by recklessly driving in Fiat 131 Mirafiori, allowing the lorries to arrive at their destination unnoticed.[7] After some time, he had organised his own criminal group, with which, he had robbed over 70 Pewex stores, that sold luxury and scarce products.[4] The stored were not equipped with the security alarms at the time. To do so, Najmrodzki had developed the poster method. The robbers would cut a hole in the store window, and after walking inside, the person left outside would cover the hole with a poster taken off from the nearby advertising column.[7] The goods stolen from the stores were then sold on the marketplace, where people would quickly buy them. Najmrodzki had become an appreciated supplier among traders.[4] The case of the robberies had become popular among people and media across the entire country.[6]

Najmrodzki has been renting rooms in the hotels in Silesia and Opolian Silesia. In the evenings, he has been attending parties in the best clubs, always wearing expensive suits with a golden watch and chain on his neck. At that time, he had started using the pseudonym Saszłyk, after Polish word szaszłyk, which meant shashlik. The name was given to him, due to fact, that it was his favourite dish, and that, due speech disorder, he had pronounced the word in the way, that was fun funny by others.[7]

In 1980, after he got arrested, his criminal co-workers had hire a lawyer, that had caused, that Najmrodzki got imprisoned in the arrest in Gliwice. When dealing with him, the militia officers had taken precautionary measures. While being transported, the vehicle had parked in front of the building's doors, faces with its back doors towards it, with militiaman, pushing Najmrodzki inside the building. While in arrest, he managed to smuggle a letter with the blueprints of the building and the room, in which convicts were awaiting trial. His co-workers had partially saw off the bars of the windows, which, on 23 July 1980, allowed Najmrodzki to break them, and slide down the line outside the building and get to the awaiting him coworker, with a motorcycle.[4]

1978 FSO Polonez, the model of cars stolen by Najmrodzki.

At the beginning of the 1980s, he had organized the gang of car-stealers.[4] In 2 years,[6] they had stolen over 100 FSO Polonez cars, which was the only vehicle model, that they had been stealing.[5] The members of the gang had been breaking into the town halls, from where they had been stealing the document blanks and stamps, which they later used to fabricate the documentations of the cars. The stolen vehicles were then being sold at the automobile auctions. [1] The Civilian's Militia has been trying to stop the group, which included the formation of the special group under the code name "Polonez". On several occasions, Najmrodzki had managed to escape from various traps set on him. Eventually, he has been caught on 3 March 1983, after the car chase outside Warsaw. He has been imprisoned in the Mokotów Prison at Rakowiecka Street, Warsaw. On 5 February 1985, he has been transported to the headquarters of the Civilians' Milita, located in Mostowski Palace, Warsaw.[8][6] While being there, as he was lead to the interrogation by one militia officer, Najmrodzski had knocked down the guard, using his handcuffed hands. After that, he had taken the key to the handcuffs and the ID card, from the pocket of the militiaman. Next, he had left the building, showing the ID card to the duty officer at the exit. Discredited Civilians' Militia, had ordered to increase the intensiveness of the search operation, making him more wanted person than the members of the Solidarity movement. The announcements about search after him has been reported in the television and newspapers, which him being identified in them as the "dangerous bandit".[6]

Najmrodzki had divorced his wife, starting dating the 24-year-old woman, to whom he bought the villa near Warsaw. Among the population of Poland, his actions had been perceived with sympathy, as he was treated, as the person who took national property, which was seen as "nobody's".[1]

He got arrested again a year later. He was put in Białołęka Prison. On 19 November 1987, he got convinced by the Warsaw voivodeship court, for his previous crimes, to 15 years of imprisonment. He got then placed in prison in Gliwice. While there, he constantly planned his escape and contacted his mother about it. Eventually, over the course of three weeks, his mother, together with his coworker, had dug the tunnel under the prison. His mother, regularly contacted his son, telling him the status of the works over the tunnel.[6] After 3 years of imprisonment, on 3 September 1989, during the walk at the prison yard, Najmrodzki had fallen underground, into the tunnel, which led him outside the prison, to the motorcycle prepared for him.[4][3] He had left the letter in his cell, that was addressed to the warden, in which he thanked him for his hospitality. It was the last escape performed by him.[4]

On 19 November 1989 in Kraków, while being drunk with 2.1 promile of alcohol in blood, he had crashed Polski Fiat 132p into the street lamp. The car had been stolen by Najmrodzki in Wrocław, 3 days prior to the incident. After the accident, he had fled the car, but got captured after the fight with militia officers. He had a fake ID card, however he got correctly identified after he had his fingerprints analyzed. On 3 December 1990, Krowodrza regional court had sentenced him to 7.5 years of imprisonment. As the dangerous recidivist, he got imprisoned in Strzelce Opolskie.[4][6] In total, he got convicted for 20 years of imprisonment for his robberies, and 7 for his escapes. While in prison, he had written a volume of poetry and aphorisms titled Oblicza prawdy, that had been published by Oficynie Wydawniczej Galicja publishing house in 1900.[9] It has been sold in 7 thousand copies and had been reviewed in Słowo Powszechne journal.[10] Najmrodzki hasn't received any payment from the sales.[11]

On 15 November 1994, Lech Wałęsa, the president of Poland, had pardoned Najmrodzki, as the resocialized person.[2] Lech Falandysz, the advisor of the president had commented it by saying: "When Grzegorz Piotrowski, the killer of priest Popiełuszko, got prematurely released, the natural order of the justice for president, was to pardon Najmrodzki".[6] Najmrodzki claimed that he wouldn't go back to crime, planning to focus on business or farming instead. After that, he had changed his surname to the maiden name of his mother.

On 31 August 1995, he had died in the car crash near Mława. While recklessly driving a stolen BMW car with fake vehicle registration plate, he had skidded and drove into LIAZ lorry, on the other side of the road. He had a fake ID card with him. Additionally, his two passengers had also died in the crash. They were, 14-year-old Tomasz S. and 12-year-old Marcin S., who were sons of Najmrodzki's friend. The identity of Najmrodzki had been confirmed by the father of deceased sons.[5]

Najmrodzki has been depicted in the documentary film titled Arsen Lupin po polsku.[12] He has also been the main character of biographical book Poszukiwany Zdzisław Najmrodzki by Józef Łoziński, that was published in Wrocław in 1991.[13] One of the episodes of the Wielkie napady PRL-u criminal documentary series, has been dedicated to him.[5] The motive of his escape from the prison via a tunnel in 1989, has been used in 1991 film V.I.P. directed by Juliusz Machulski.[14]

In 2018, Gliwice Town Thetre had put on play titled Najmrodzki, czyli dawno temu w Gliwicach, that was based on Najmrodzki's life.[3]

The 2021 film The Getaway King directed by Mateusz Rakowicz, was based on Najmrodzki's life.[15]

• 1990: Oblicza prawdy, Oficyna Wydawnicza Galicja[9]