TADEUSZ JAWORSKI (1904)

Kielce, 3 December 1948, 10.00 a. m. Marian Poniewierka from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Citizens’ Militia Station in Kielce, on the instruction of the Deputy Prosecutor from the Regional District Court Prosecutor’s Office in Radom, with the participation of court reporter Józef Łukasik, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 140 of the Penal Code, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Tadeusz Jaworski
Parents’ names Józef and Władysława
Age 44 years old
Place of birth Częstochowa
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Occupation laborer
Place of residence Kielce, Wojska Polskiego Street 314

The camp in the "Fijałkowski" barracks in Kielce was established by the Germans in the summer of 1941. The Germans brought the first inmates to the camp in September 1941.

The influx of Russian prisoners-of-war to the camp was irregular. Russian and Ukrainian prisoners were kept in this camp. The average number of inmates ranged from 6,000 to 9,000 prisoners. The prisoners were used for various works, such as felling trees, digging ditches etc.

As for food, it was very poor with regard to both quality and quantity. The main meal was a soup of rotten potatoes, swede, beetroot and other smelly ingredients. The prisoners received little bread, as they had 1 kilogram of bread for twelve prisoners per day.

There was an infirmary in the camp, but its sole purpose was to make an exhausted, sick prisoner die more quickly. The highest death rate in this camp – reaching indeed terrifying levels – was from November 1941 to March 1942. At that time, probably about 12,000 prisoners perished in the camp. They were buried in the woods in Bukówka in common graves, in which the corpses were placed one upon another. The majority of these prisoners died of cold and hunger. One might say that no special executions by shooting were held on the camp premises, but they took place during several occasions of mutiny.

During its period of operation, about 50,000 people passed through the camp.

I have nothing more to add. The report was read out and signed.