JAN GARBAT

In Kielce on this day, 5 February 1948, I, Tadeusz Stelmaszczyk from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Citizens’ Militia in Kielce, acting on the basis of the following: Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 257 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, due to the unavailability of a judge in the township, in consequence whereof any delay could result in the disappearance of traces or evidence of a crime, which traces or evidence would cease to exist before the arrival of a judge, observing the formal requirements set forward in Articles 235–240, 258 and 259 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the participation of reporter Czesław Tworek, whom I informed of his obligation to attest to the conformity of the report with the actual course of the procedure by his own signature, have heard the person named below as a witness. The witness, having been advised of the importance of the oath, swore the requisite oath, and was also notified of the right to refuse testimony for the reasons set forward in Article 104 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and of the criminal liability for making false declarations, this pursuant to the provisions of Article 140 of the Penal Code, thereupon stating:


Name and surname Jan Garbat
Parents’ names Franciszek and Katarzyna, née Garbat
Date and place of birth 25 July 1902, Jaworznia, commune of Piekoszów, district of Kielce
Religion Roman Catholic
Occupation coal mine manager
Place of residence Jaworznia, commune of Piekoszów, district of Kielce
Relationship to the parties none
As regards the present case, I am aware of the following facts: that the Baudienst camp in

Jaworzno was set up in the autumn of 1942 by the occupation authorities, and liquidated in 1944 in light of the approach of the front. In the main, sons of peasants and workmen were kept in the camp. There were no foreigners, only Poles, with the exception of the camp administrator, a German inspector of the Baudienst camp. At any given time there would be some 300 men at the facility. Some 1,000 men could have passed through the camp during its period of existence. Towards the end, some of the prisoners detained in the camp ran off to their homes, while others were deported to perform various types of labor. The inmates would normally work at breaking stone and loading the product onto wagons. Although there was an infirmary at the camp, medical assistance for inmates was practically nonexistent.

There were no fatal incidents at the camp, nor did the Germans carry out any executions there. An execution was performed in Łopuszno – of 5 prisoners taken from Jaworznia by gendarmes stationed in Łopuszno. It was said that these men were executed there, but I do not know where they were buried. They were suspected of collaborating with a certain organization with the objective of carrying out an armed robbery of food and clothes warehouses in the camp. As I have just mentioned, I do not know where they were buried. The prisoners were treated very badly, and regularly forced to work – mainly by Aleksandrowicz, the Werkmeister, who was later assassinated by partisans. No evidence has survived.

Inmates at the camp included Wincenty Filipiak and Jaśkiewicz, resident in Kielce; I did not know the others. Both Filipiak and Jaśkiewicz were deported by the Germans, and neither has returned to date. The camp inspector was one Howbaer. Tadeusz Naszalski was the proprietor of the plant, while I did not know the others.

I have recounted all that I know and signed the present document after it was read out.