STANISŁAW CEDRO

Kielce, 19 February 1948, 9.00 a.m. Marian Poniewierka from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Citizens’ Militia Station in Kielce, acting on the instructions of the Prosecutor from the District Court in Kielce, with the participation of reporter Jan Zielono, heard 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 Stanisław Cedro
Parents’ names Józef and Maria, n ée Sochan
Date of birth 14 December 1912
Place of birth Kielce
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Occupation shoemaker
Place of residence Kielce, Domaszowska Street 165

The camp for Poles was established in 1942. Poles were sent there from the prison – but only those who were serving sentences of up to a year. In the summer of 1943 the camp was closed due to epidemic diseases, mainly typhoid fever.

On average, there were up to 40 people in the camp at one time. I cannot say exactly how many people passed through the camp during its period of operation, but they weren’t many, maybe some 80 people. Upon liquidation of the camp all prisoners were sent back to the prison in Kielce.

The prisoners worked mainly in the courtyard: they loaded chips onto carts, loaded steel, and performed other similar tasks. During my stay, from January to March 1943, I worked with coke and at tearing down the walls of the Granat factory, and I also carried equipment to that factory. Meals in the camp were very meager, as the Germans gave us only swede, 20 decagrams of bread, and half a liter of coffee per day. As a result, diseases spread in the camp.

During my stay in the camp there was neither a doctor nor any medical assistance. There were no deaths in the camp. I heard that one person died of typhoid fever, but I would say that there were no shootings or executions, since I didn’t witness any.

The behavior towards the prisoners was markedly cruel. At work the prisoners were beaten with chains, mainly by the supervisors who assigned people to particular tasks. The surnames of these people were as follows: Czarnecki, from the region of Poznań, whose address I don’t know, and Kalwat, who resided in Kielce; he probably has a house on Zagórska Street.

I don’t know whether anyone was killed or whether the corpses were destroyed.

As far as I know, the following people were imprisoned in the camp:

1) Śmiglarski Szczepan, residing in Zagórze
2) Misiec, a blacksmith, he has a workshop on Chęcińska Street
3) Jan Zieliński, from some village
4) Szaliński, a miller residing in Ruda Strawczyńska
5) Stąpur, residing on Wojska Polskiego Street.
I don’t know the surname of the commander of that camp, but I know that he was nicknamed

“Bomber.” A certain Stobiela was the factory director; he was a higher-ranking officer, but I don’t know whether he was a captain or a major.

At this I conclude my testimony and, having read it, sign it.

I would like to add that Jan and Wacław Włodarczyks were also imprisoned in the camp. They moved to the west and they run a beer bottling plant in Kłodzko.