STANISŁAWA LATAŁA

On 21 November 1947 the Municipal Court in Iłża, with Judge M. Pytlewski presiding, heard the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the provisions of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Stanisława Latała
Age 26 years old
Names of parents Franciszek and Marianna
Place of residence Podsuliszka
Occupation farmer
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

Before sunrise on 14 August 1944, the village of Podsuliszka was surrounded by German troops. They wore black and grey uniforms. They took all the men except for a few who managed to hide. They also took several women. All these people were marched to the Modrzejowice estate, where 27 men were selected for interrogation. The remaining men were not interrogated, and they stood at a considerable distance from the first group.

When the interrogation of these 27 men was over, all the men were placed in the basement for the night. In the morning of 15 August 1944, all the numbered men – 27 – were led to the Pakosław Forest, from where I heard shooting. In the afternoon I went to the forest and saw one grave covered with earth and two dead men lying on the ground. They were Józef Czyż and Bronisław Fajdek from Podsuliszka. It was only a few days later that the families uncovered the bodies and buried them in the cemetery in Alojzów. The pit contained the bodies of Władysław Lis, Bolesław Nogaj, Władysław Janik, Józef Latała, Józef Lisek, Józef Czyż, Tadeusz Belica, and Stefan Nadgradkiewicz. A few were wounded, and they were those who managed to run away: Józef Mazur, Stanisław Kowalczyk and Jan Kowalczyk.

My husband, Józef Latała, was also taken to the Pakosław Forest and killed there; five days later I uncovered his body and buried him in the cemetery in Alojzów.

The remaining people were released from the Modrzejowice estate on 15 August 1944 at about 7.00 a.m., after these 27 people were executed.

It is said that the arrests were brought about by a denunciation of the residents by Bronisław Kopania; I personally saw him pointing German soldiers to the houses where they were to arrest people. He was wearing a coat and a cap of a German soldier, and it was on 14 August 1944 that he accompanied them.

The report was read out.

I would like to add that 14 farmsteads were burned down, namely that of Andrzej Fajdek, Józef Latała, Władysław Mazur, Stanisław Jarosz, Piotr Pacholec, Mateusz Lisek, Władysław Ziętek, Adam Noga, Franciszek Prykuł, Władysław Książek, Jóżef Czyż, Jakub Ziętek and Jan Mazur. At noon of 14 August 1944, after the interrogation of the arrested men at the estate, German soldiers came to the village of Podsuliszka and doused Andrzej Fajdek’s barn with petrol. Then they set it on fire, and 14 farmsteads burned down as a result. They had previously announced to Andrzej Fajdek that they would burn his property. When these soldiers were passing by my flat and that of my brother Władysław Mazur, they threw a grenade into the barn, causing other buildings to catch fire and all our property to burn down.

The report was read out.