JADWIGA JĘDRZEJOWSKA

On 22 August 1946 in Jelenia Góra, the investigating judge M. Góralski heard as a witness the person specified below; the witness did not swear an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Jadwiga Jędrzejowska
Age 42 years old
Parents’ names Ksawery Franciszek and Zofia
Place of residence Podkowa Leśna, Lilpopa Street 57
Occupation inspector in the Ministry of Social Assistance
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

On 13 November 1942, I was arrested in Warsaw by the Gestapo and incarcerated in Pawiak prison. I remained there until 30 July 1944, on which day I was deported, along with other prisoners, in the last transport to the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

I was incarcerated in a common cell, with up to 34 other prisoners. The cell was about 5 meters wide and 5 meters long. There were five beds. There was only one little window and it was barred. Two prisoners had to share one bed. During two years, the straw from the mattresses was changed only once. We were using our own blankets.

The way the schedule went was that the wake up call was at 6.00 a.m. By the roll call at 6.30 a.m. the cell had to be in perfect order. The roll call was to ensure that all prisoners were present. Then we had breakfast: a cup of unsweetened black coffee (so-so) and 250 grams of black bread (our daily ration). From 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. the prisoners were allowed to go to the toilet. It depended on the whim of the female sergeant, that is, the German ward guard, or a Ukrainian man, her deputy. At that time the prisoners would also dispose of their night soil. Dinner was from 12.00 noon to 1.00 p.m. It consisted of rutabaga soup or a soup of greens. The water was disgusting and dirty. Supper was from 5.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m., again the same soup as for dinner. At 6.00 p.m. there was the evening roll call. The prisoners had to go to bed quickly and remain absolutely quiet. Before the roll call, one could go to the toilet once more.

Before incarceration, each prisoner underwent a gynaecological search. All small belongings were being taken away, except for underwear and clothes. This search was always carried out by the female sergeants.

On the female ward, beating was not very common, but yells and threats were being used to keep prisoners in a permanent state of anxiety and fear. The prisoners would often be locked in the dark cell, usually after interrogation by the Gestapo or for the slightest offence. During interrogations the prisoners were often being beaten unconscious, usually with rubber truncheons, and then splashed with water.

At the end of June and in July 1944, one of the prisoners named Marta Szulc was several times cruelly beaten, tortured, and underwent the so-called pillar torture: she had her hands tied in back, a rope put through and tied up to something overhead. After such hangings the prisoner was unable to put her hands down. In the middle of July, Marta Szulc was executed in the yard opposite the prison, where the executions usually took place.

The days when prisoners would come back from interrogation unscathed were rather rare.

Today I don’t remember any names.

I was in the medical service. I often came into contact with beaten prisoners; I was helping them with compresses of water and anaesthetic powder.

The prisoners were often being harassed. The methods included: the so-called żabki [frog jumps], when all the women from a cell had to jump on all fours to the yard; throwing all the things from a cell into the corridor, including sheets and mattresses, which had to be put back in order in five minutes; punitive exercises, especially for pregnant women. Harassment also included the fact that the use of the toilet depended on the whim of the guards, with no regard for women suffering from stomach problems.

The transports of prisoners were of two kinds: to the concentration camps (Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Ravensbrück), and to execution. The former took place about once a month, and were of 30–300 female prisoners each. Women would be called by name to separate cells and immediately put in the cars. A prisoner had to take a bath and was allowed to take a small package with her. The latter transports, to execution, were significantly smaller, of one to twenty-odd prisoners. A prisoner from such a transport was not allowed to take anything with her and would not get a bath.

In 1941 and 1942, the transports for execution were less frequent, one every few weeks. In 1943 and 1944 they would go almost every day.

Today I cannot recall the names of prisoners taken away in those transports. Every transport would include also some prisoners from the hospital. Transports for execution would include also very ill prisoners, taken away on stretchers.

I have nothing more to add.

The report was read out.