The Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia was a public trial of four Roman Catholic priests – members of the Kraków diocesan Curia – including three lay persons, 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 formula, 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 the hardline Stalinist judge Mieczysław Widaj, announced its verdict on January 27, 1953 sentencing to death Father Józef Lelito, Fr. Michał Kowalik, and Fr. Edward Chachlica. The priests were stripped of all civil and constitutional rights, but their death penalties were subsequently not enforced. The remaining def