On 31 May 1947 in Zwoleń, the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes with its seat in Radom, this in the person of its member, Deputy Prosecutor J. Skarżyński, acting pursuant to Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed the person mentioned hereunder as a witness, without taking an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Kazimierz Oleksik |
| Age | 37 years old |
| Parents’ names | Wojciech and Marianna, née Kwiatkowska |
| Place of residence | Zwoleń, Staropuławska Street 6 |
| Profession | state secondary school teacher |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | none |
I was born in Zwoleń and lived here throughout the German occupation. During the War, I held clandestine teaching classes, while from 1943 – in order to avoid deportation to Prussia – I worked as an agronomist in Grabów nad Wisłą. I remember that in the first year of the occupation (or so I recollect), the Germans took over many shops and items of real estate belonging to local citizens, this without paying any damages, and set up their own businesses in these properties. In 1941, the Germans were setting up Jewish ghettos all around the so-called General Government, and one of them was established in Zwoleń.
A year later, it was liquidated; the task was accomplished by German gendarmes, SS men, and special detachments from a “Ukrainian” legion. The ghetto was wound up in half a day.
Those who could walk were led under guard to the train station in Garbatka, while many of the children and the elderly were executed on the spot. As I remember, the victims’ belongings were auctioned off by the gendarmes. If my memory serves me right, the arrests started already in 1941 (on 30 November). The following were among the victims: Wasiak, Talaga and Piechota. I don’t know the reasons for the arrests. In any case, Wasiak and Talaga died in concentration camps. The arrests in March 1944 were soon followed by executions. In January 1944, a few dozen people were detained and, as I remember, some of them were shot dead (and buried) in Leokadiów, in the commune of Góra Puławska.
On Good Friday 1944, more than 20 people – none of whom were citizens of Zwoleń – were executed in the market square in Zwoleń. I myself was detained on 16 May 1944, along with 40 or so people from Zwoleń and the vicinity. As far as I could establish, the Germans’ objective was to destroy an underground organization that was fighting for the independence of Poland. While detained in Radom prison, I learned that a few dozen or so from amongst those arrested in June [19]44 had been shot dead in the market square in Zwoleń. I am aware that in order to bolster his economy, the invader organized mass deportations of people to forced labor in the Reich. Many such round-ups took place in Zwoleń and nearby areas. Some of those captured managed to escape along the way, mainly in the vicinity of Częstochowa.
I myself was freed (on 30 June 1944) thanks to my acquaintances – simply put, they ransomed me. I don’t know who received the bribe, but I am aware that a sum of 90,000 Polish zlotys was paid. I don’t know the surnames of those who participated in the persecutions, arrests and executions. I do however know that the Political Division of Radom prison was headed by one Koch, who distinguished himself with particular cruelty. I heard that nicknames were given to two of the Gestapo men: “Apfel” (a fat black-haired man, of medium height, with a thin mustache and thin hair, who spoke Polish) and “Ludwik”. The surnames of the gendarmes from Zwoleń were Kule, Heint, and Mulre. I would be able to recognize the gendarmes and some of the Gestapo men if they were presented to me. One of the severest torture techniques which I myself experienced consisted in placing a suffocating mask over my face.