STEFAN GARBALSKI

On 15 January 1946 in Radom, Investigating Judge Kazimierz Borys of the II District of the Regional Court in Radom with its seat in Radom 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 Stefan Garbalski
Age 45 years old
Parents’ names Jan and Marianna
Place of residence Firlej, commune of Wielogóra
Occupation farmer
Religion Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

During the occupation, I lived in Firlej only until 1942. In the spring of 1940 I noticed that a great many trucks would drive from the direction of Radom towards the sands, and stop there. People were unloaded from the vehicles and led deep into the sands. I didn’t see the shootings themselves, however I heard the sound of machine gun fire. The day after the execution I walked up to the site and saw skull fragments, mixed with hair, and shreds of clothes.

On that day the trucks drove to and fro between 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m., a few dozen in total. According to my calculations, maybe as many as a few hundred people died in Firlej at the time.

The executions that followed were on a smaller scale. They were rather frequent, however. I was not an eyewitness to the shootings. Only from afar did I see the trucks driving up to the sands and hear the sound of gunshots. The executions were carried on with short interruptions until I moved from Firlej in 1942.

After I left, I would often return to holiday with my wife. Residents of Firlej told me that the executions were held until the very end of the German occupation. In the winter of 1943/1944 the Germans incinerated the bodies of the murdered victims in Firlej. Those who were shot after this time were buried on the spot. The Nazis didn’t carry out a second wave of incinerations.

The report was read out.