JÓZEF SAREK

On 5 May 1947, at the site of the exhumation of victims of German crimes from mass graves in the Jabłonna Forest by the village of Suków-Papiernia, Dyminy commune, Kielce district, the Radom District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, Branch Office in Kielce, in the person of a member of the Commission, assistant public prosecutor of the District Court, Edward Laskowski, acting in accordance with Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, heard the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, this pursuant to Article 140 of the Criminal Code, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Józef Sarek
Year of birth 1901
Occupation farmer
Place of residence Suków
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none

I have a house by the road, near the woods, some 400 meters from the site of the exhumation that was carried out today. The German gendarmes would often bring arrestees from Kielce to execute them here. During the harvest season of 1943, I witnessed the arrival of three trucks and two cars with detainees, several dozen of them, and an escort. I heard single shots and the screams of the murdered people. Afterwards it was said that some of the victims were from Niewachlów. The pit with the bodies was filled in by the Germans themselves. Later, in September 1943, another group of arrestees was brought in from Kielce, and they were also executed by shooting. I counted 39 single shots. The Germans again filled in the graves themselves.

On the following day, as we were curious, Wincenty Chardotka [?] from Suków and I uncovered the grave. It contained more than 36 bodies. I remember that at the very top there was the corpse of a young woman, maybe 23 years old, dressed in a white floral dress and clean pink shirt. We didn’t recognize anyone, so we reburied the corpses. [...] was some 50 cm below ground. It often happened that [...] were brought here and executed. The above facts can be confirmed by many eyewitnesses from Suków.

The report was read out and signed.