On 21 December 1971 in Mława, Antoni Lamperski, prosecutor for the District Court in Mława, with the participation of court reporter Teresa Zimnowłocka, heard the person named below as a witness. The witness was warned of the criminal liability for giving false testimony, after which the witness stated with her own signature that she had been cautioned about this responsibility (Article 172 of the Criminal Code). The witness, [also] cautioned about her responsibility regarding the content of Art. 165 of the Criminal Code, then testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Janina Knappe |
| Maiden name | Karczewska |
| Parents’ names | Albin and Józefa née Małynicz |
| Date and place of birth | 16 February 1916, Nowogródek |
| Place of residence | Świdwin, [...] |
| Occupation | District Clinic in Świdwin |
| Criminal record | none |
| Relation to the parties | none |
In July 1943, I came to Iłowo, where my husband, due to his training, was employed as a doctor in a transit camp. In the camp there was an infirmary, where there were infants and children under the age of two. Only one boy, named Wiktor, was a year older. He was certainly Russian.
I personally served there as a nurse, although this wasn’t my profession, but I figured that declaring this profession would be the most appropriate solution, guaranteeing that I could stay there with my husband. I would like to point out that although I am not a nurse by education, I did have some practical preparation from the pre-war period, and I also acquired practical experience while working with my husband.
Initially, I took care of the newborns, and later I was delegated to care for sick children. The sister was a German, whose surname I don’t know, I only remember her first name—Matylda. She was a very mean, despotic woman who was generally ill disposed towards the Poles. This could be felt at every step. She was the same with regard to the children, she was a person undeserving of praise, because she robbed the children of items such as biscuits or medicine. I don’t know Sister Matylda’s method of issuing the medication, but disputes arose as a result, because she didn’t issue quantities consistent with those prescribed by the doctor, requesting a receipt for everything included in the prescription.
In the camp, specifically the infirmary, there were three nuns from Płock whom I knew only by their first names. They were Anzelma, Łucia and I don’t remember the third name. At the time of their arrival in the camp there were about 30 children in the infirmary. The mortality rate of the infants and [other] children was high and rose to particularly high levels during the summer months. During the whole time I was in the camp, I witnessed babies being brought in who were just a few days old. Most often they were sick children, I suppose [because] due to long transportation in bad conditions. The babies were brought in by nurses, and in some cases by their mothers. Children brought to the camp were affected by diarrhea relatively often.
Regarding the registration of children staying in the camp, this was conducted only by the Germans, so that the number of children who were there or who had died is difficult to provide.
In the initial period I didn’t know where their parents were, especially their mothers, but as time went on, the mothers of some children reached the camp. They were mostly Russian. These people, although they were isolated cases, came in legally. I witnessed some drastic moments during such meetings when the children couldn’t recognize their mothers because they had never been brought up by them, so they turned to the nurses.
I am convinced—and all those employed in the camp were of the same opinion—that the children were intended to boost the population of the German nation. For this purpose, it was forbidden to speak to the children in Polish or Russian. As a rule, this ban was violated and if German was ever spoken, it was only in the presence of Sister Matylda.
Morwiński was the commander of the camp, while the quartermaster was a German named Wardat. I can’t give any personal details about these people, because I don’t know them. Morwiński was a German. I recall that he once talked to my husband and suggested that he be written on the volkslist. He expressed himself in the following words: ‘Why are you not a German if you have a German name?’ My husband then [asked] him in response, why in that case did he have a purely Polish surname. This ended the conversation.
The camp in Iłowo was guarded day and night by the gendarmerie. There were four brick buildings and four or five barracks on the site. These were typical German wooden barracks, similar to those in Auschwitz. I mean the size of the barracks and their architecture.
I remember that in the camp there was a Russian girl named Małyszew who gave birth to twins. One of them died and the other boy remained until the liberation. Małyszew worked for a long time, that is, for a period of several months, in the camp. However, she was sent for forced labor. She wasn’t allowed to take her child with her. I witnessed Małyszew asking Sister Matylda to let her stay in the camp and thereby give her the opportunity to take care of her child or to return her child. Sister Matylda strongly opposed this, and in that respect she didn’t have much to say.
The report was read out.