their estate was confiscated. Witold was one of five children of forest inspector Julian Pilecki and Ludwika Osiecimska. In 1910 Witold moved with his mother and siblings to Wilno, to attend a Polish school there, while his father remained in Olonets. In Wilno, Pilecki attended a local school and joined the underground Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego, ZHP). Following the outbreak of World War I, in 1916 Pilecki was sent by his mother to a school in the Russian city of Oryol, located safer in the East than Wilno. There he attended a gymnasium (secondary school) and founded a local chapter of the ZHP. Polish–Soviet War In 1918, following the outbreak of the Russian Revolution and the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, Pilecki returned to Wilno (at that time part of the newly independent Polish Second Republic) and joined the ZHP section of the Self-Defence of Lithuania and Belarus, a paramilitary formation under Major General Władysław Wejtko. The militia disarmed the passing German troops and took up positions to defend the city from a looming attack by the Soviet Red Army. After Wilno fell to Bolshevik forces on 5 January 1919, Pilecki and his unit resorted to partisan warfare behind Soviet lines. He and his comrades then retreated to Białystok, where Pilecki enlisted as a szeregowy (private) in Poland's newly established Volunteer Army. He took part in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921, serving under Captain Jerzy Dąbrowski. He fought in the Kiev Offensive (1920) and as part of a cavalry unit defending the then-Polish city of Grodno. On 5 August 1920, Pilecki joined the and fought in the crucial Battle of Warsaw and in the . Pilecki later took part in the Vilna offensive and briefly served in the ongoing Polish–Lithuanian War as a member of the October 1920 Żeligowski's Mutiny. Interwar years By the conclusion of Polish-Soviet War in March 1921, Pilecki was promoted to the rank of plutonowy (corporal), becoming a non-commissioned officer. Shortly afterward, Pilecki was transferred to the army reserves, completing courses required for a non-commissioned officer rank at the Cavalry Reserve Officers' Training School in Grudziądz. He went on to complete his secondary education (matura) later that same year. He briefly enrolled with the Faculty of Fine Arts at Stefan Batory University but was forced to abandon his studies in 1924 due to both financial issues and the