MIECZYSŁAW OŁOWNIA

In Brześć on this day, 26 November 1948, at 9:00 PM, I, Officer Kwiecień from the Citizens’ Militia station in Bliżyn, acting in accordance with the instructions of the Citizen Deputy Prosecutor the Fourth Regional Prosecutor’s Office of the District Court in Radom, this dated on 25 August 1948, L. 825/48/2 issued on the basis of Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the participation of reporter Stefan Baran from the Citizens’ Militia station in Bliżyn, whom I informed about his obligation to attest by his own signature to the conformity of the Protocol with the actual course of the procedure, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having been advised of the significance of the oath, the right to refuse to testify for reasons specified in Article 104 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and of the criminal liability for making false declarations in accordance with Article 140 of the Penal Code, the witness was sworn and testified as follows:


Name and surname Mieczysław Ołownia
Parents’ names Ignacy and Maria
Age 46
Place of residence Brześć, Bliżyn commune
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Occupation farmer
Place of residence Brześć, Bliżyn commune, Kielce district
Relationship to the parties none

Regarding this matter, I am aware of the following facts. From the beginning of the German occupation, I lived in the colony of Brześć, Bliżyn commune, and I know the following facts regarding the execution of Poles by Germans that took place in the village of Brzask, Bliżyn commune, on 29 June 1940. On that day, at 2:00 PM, the transport of Poles by Germans commenced in the village of Brzask through the village of Bzin by way of cars escorted by German police. From what I know, around 700 Poles were brought [to Brzask], who were stood next to pits dug by the German military, and then shot dead on the spot. I heard volleys of gunfire and people screaming, after which again I heard a variety of shots from a handgun. They finished off those still alive so that the whole action lasted one day. On the second day, I went to the scene of the crime where I saw one mass grave, and a large puddle of human blood; the graves masked by a variety of bushes to make them invisible.

The report was concluded and read out.