BOLESŁAW SAMEK

Kielce, 3 March 1948, 3.00 p.m. […] from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Citizens’ Militia Station in Kielce, on the instruction of the Prosecutor from the District Court in Kielce, with the participation of court reporter Marian Poniewierka, heard the person named below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 140 of the Penal Code, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Bolesław Samek
Parents’ names Marcin and Katarzyna
Age 37 years old
Place of birth Potok Wielki
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Occupation shopkeeper
Place of residence Kielce [...]

In 1939, I was called up to the army. After a few months I was taken into German captivity, transported to Kielce and incarcerated with other people in the camp in the Castle. Three days later, I was deported to the West. When several months passed, I was released home. There were both Poles and Jews in the camp. In total, there were some 1,000 prisoners. Upon liquidation of the camp, the prisoners were deported.

We weren’t taken for labor. There was no hospital in the Castle. There were epidemics in the camp; the prisoners suffered mostly from dysentery.

The executions were carried out in the following manner: if the prisoners attempted escape, the Germans would shoot them. The corpses were buried in the park in Kielce.

The Germans didn’t leave any material evidence.

As for the surnames of the prisoners from the camp, I know only one, of Jaręczuk who resides in Kielce. I don’t remember any other surnames apart from that one.

I don’t know the surnames of the camp commander or other German functionaries.

At this point the report was concluded, read out and signed.