JÓZEF GAJEWSKI

On 21 October 1947 in Radom, the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Radom with its seat in Radom, this in the person of a member of the Commission, lawyer Zygmunt Glogier, 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 Józef Gajewski
Age 47 years old
Parents’ names Jan and Teresa
Place of residence Żeromskiego Street 66, Radom
Occupation office worker
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

From March or April 1943 I was the head of the labor department in Radom prison. When I assumed the position, the Sonderabteilung [special unit] had already been separated from the general prison records and made independent of the administration – even that run by the Germans. Thus, prison employees had no contact at all with the guards from the Sonderabteilung, and in any case we avoided meeting them, for these encounters usually ended in beatings. Insofar as I could tell, at the time the regular personnel of the Sonderabteilung numbered more than 240. From time to time, I would see prisoners – handcuffed – being driven in for questioning. Sometimes I saw prisoners being loaded one on top of another into open trucks – and Gestapo men would then sit atop them. We concluded that these people were being taken for execution. I can say that throughout my period of employment at the prison, that is from 1943 until the end of 1944, there was a constant flurry of activity at the Sonderabteilung, both in the day and the night. As a result, it was difficult to determine the day to day status of the Sonderabteilung, and I cannot easily say how many people passed through the unit – but a few thousand for sure. The only Gestapo man whom I knew was Koch, the commandant of the unit. I don’t know the surnames of the others, for when prisoners were brought in or dispatched, no one from the Polish prison personnel was allowed to stand near and look what was going on. I knew that gymnastic exercises and walks took place in the secret courtyard, but I don’t know which Gestapo men were on duty at the time. I cannot provide the surnames of any of the Gestapo men – I knew only a certain Bauman from the criminal police, who frequently visited Koch, but I am unable to say anything about his activities.

The above is concordant with my oral testimony.

The report was read out.