On 22 January 1957, 15‑year‑old Bohdan Piasecki vanished in Warsaw after being taken into a black taxi, sparking a 25‑year‑old mystery that ended in a gruesome burial.
The Abduction
On January 22, 1957, 15‑year‑old Bohdan Piasecki left school near the Wejnert intersection in Warsaw. A man in a black Warsaw taxi approached him, asked for his identity, and handed him a card resembling a police document. The boy entered the taxi, ridden by a presumably security‑service officer, and the vehicle’s license plate, T‑75‑222, was logged by a kiosk worker.
Militia and the Ransom
Bohdan’s father, Bolesław Piasecki, received phone calls demanding a ransom of four thousand dollars and one hundred thousand zlotys. Over the following weeks he was instructed to travel to various sites—an office, a church, a street pole—to deliver the money, yet no concrete information about the recipients was given.
Investigation and Twisted Clues
Police gathered the taxi’s registration from the traffic department and identified its driver, Ignacy Ekerling, a former army sergeant who had worked as a taxi driver for a Jewish Historical Institute. Ekerling’s inconsistent testimony and the absence of any evidence linking him directly to the kidnapping raised suspicion of deeper involvement.
Uncovering the Body
On 8 December 1958, maintenance workers at the apartment on Aleja Świerczewskiego found the body of a young boy in a basement toilet, shot with a blade used by special‑forces officers. Beside the corpse, notebooks and textbooks bore the name Bohdan Piasecki, confirming the identity.
End of the Mystery
After almost two years, the case culminated in a 25‑year‑long investigation that highlighted inconsistencies among witnesses, failed ransom payments, and the alleged manipulation of security forces. The truth behind Bohdan Piasecki’s disappearance remains shrouded in what can only be described as cold certainty.
