BAZYLEWSKA LUDWIKA

QUESTIONNAIRE

on camps

Township: Kielce
Commune: Kielce
District: Kielce
Voivodeship: Kielce

1. Name of the camp:

“Prison” – Zamkowa Street 3 in Kielce

2. Location of the camp:

Prison building.

3. Size of the camp:

6,449 square meters

4. Date of establishment of the camp:

6 September 1939

5. Date of closure of the camp:

15 October 1939

6. Were the prisoners only Poles, only Jews from Poland, or Poles and Jews from Poland?

Prisoners of war (privates and officers) and civilians treated as prisoners of war (mothers with children).

7. Were there any foreigners in the camp (nationality, number)?

No

8. Average number of prisoners in the camp:

Approx. 2,000 people. The cells were so overcrowded that the prisoners had to spend whole days in a lying position.

9. Total number of prisoners who passed through the camp during its period of operation:

Approx. 3,000 people

10. What happened with the prisoners upon liquidation of the camp?

The prisoners of war were deported to POW camps in Germany; the fate of the civilian population is unknown.

11. Did the prisoners work in the camp? (types of work performed, types of workshops)

No

12. Did the prisoners work outside the camp? (types of work performed, locations)

No

13. How were the prisoners fed?

The prisoners received insufficient food rations and they were fed by the local community with the help of the Polish Red Cross.

14. Was there an infirmary or a hospital in the camp?

There was an insufficient infirmary.

15. Where there any epidemics in the camp? (If yes, what kind)

Dysentery, typhoid fever. The sanitary conditions were horrifying; the cells were overcrowded and stuffy. Prisoners had to take care of their physiological needs on the spot.

16. Are data on the death rate in the camp available?

No

17. Were executions held at or outside the camp?

It is known that one execution was carried out in the camp. 19 soldiers were executed, but their bodies were not identified.

18. Were the corpses destroyed?

No

19. Was there a crematorium in the camp?

No

20. Was the burial site of the murdered victims determined?

At first they had been buried in the prison yard by the wall, but after an exhumation conducted by the Polish Red Cross they were buried in the military cemetery in Kielce.

21. Current condition of the camp – what was destroyed? What is located on the site of the camp?

Currently operating prison.

22. Has any material evidence survived from the camp? (Type, place of storage, has it been secured?)

No

23. Are the surnames and, possibly, addresses of the people who had been imprisoned in the camp known?

No

24. Are the surnames of the Germans, the camp commander and other functionaries known?

Captain Trapp

On 6 October 1945, the contents of the above questionnaire were officially certified by Ludwika Bazylewska, acting on the authorization of the president of the city of Kielce, with the Municipal Court in Kielce.