FRANCISZEK ZAWIERUCHA

On 8 January 1948, at the police station in Słupia Nowa, Investigative Judge Tadeusz Nyga from the Investigation Department of District Citizens’ Militia Headquarters in Kielce, with the participation of reporter Stefan Jawor, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as of the significance of the oath, the Judge took an oath from her in accordance with the provisions of Article [missing data] of the Code of Criminal Procedure, after which the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Franciszek Zawierucha
Age 53
Parents’ names Piotr and Marianna, née Skrzyniarz
Place of residence Bieliny, Bieliny commune, Kielce district
Occupation farmer
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record reportedly none
Relationship to the parties father to his murdered son Władysław

During the night, from 8 March [19]44 to 9 March [19]44, at 4:00 AM, the Germans came up to my door and noisily demanded that someone open it. So I got up and asked who was there, and they replied [that it was] the police and told me to open [the door]. So I opened the door, they entered and asked who lived there, and I said Zawierucha; so they walked around, searched the flat, and left. Later, they returned and said: “Oh, there is your son here, from the post office, right?” I said no, from the fire brigade, and they said: “It’s all the same, get dressed.” When my son got dressed, they told me to give them a cord. There was a cord lying on the bench; they took it, tied it to [his] belt, and led him out through the hallway.

The agronomist, Kanew, [who was] also arrested, was already there. They tied them together and led them to the station. They untied Kanew there and let him go; then they tied my son alone and led him out to the yard. About an hour later, my wife went to the police station with Kanew’s wife, but they didn’t let my wife into the station, only Mrs. Kanew [was let in]. From the police station, my wife went towards Łysa Góra, where she heard the sounds of shots coming from, and when she reached the site of the execution, my son had already been shot – only his hands were still twitching. A list of all the people shot was prepared by Giering, a gendarme, Polish Police Commandant Antoni Grubin, as well as police officer[s] Iwański and Nowacki.

At this point the report was concluded, read out, and signed.