ALEKSANDRA WARCHAŁOWSKA

On 13 July 1947 in Staszów, the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes of the District Court with its seat in Radom, Branch Office in Staszów, Judge Albin Walkiewicz, an attorney in Staszów, interviewed the person mentioned hereunder as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Aleksandra Warchałowska
Age 33 years old
Parents’ names Jan and Felicja
Place of residence Staszów, Szpitalna Street 1
Occupation shop assistant
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none

In March 1943, a unit of Germans, some in uniforms and some in civilian clothes, came to Staszów from Ostrowiec or from Radom. People were saying that they were Gestapo officers, but I do not know what formation it was. They carried out arrests in Staszów. I remember that the following people were arrested at that time and taken away: Wincenty Cukierski, Stefan Adamus, Józef Rytwiński, Józef Cholewa, Wiktor Stępień, Władysław Czapla, Michał Socha, Tadeusz Socha, and others, whom I do not remember.

On 11 March 1943, some Germans came to my apartment in order to arrest my husband, Józef Warchałowski. My husband was not home, so they took me instead. I was locked in jail for 10 days and then I was taken to the prison in Sandomierz. After we passed Osiek, my husband appeared on the road, having somehow learned that I was being taken away. He yelled and told the escorts to stop the cart. Then, blue police officers who were escorting me, Władysław Owczarek and Machniak (I do not know his name) from the Osiek station, started shooting at him and they shot him dead. Reportedly, Owczarek also shot a man called Miernowski from Osiek, which I learned from the dead man’s brother; I think he is called Władysław Miernowski and he currently lives in Kielce. Owczarek currently lives in Łodź, I think, in Doły Dolne, and he takes the tram number one. I heard it from a stranger from the village of Wiązownica, Osiek Commune. Antoni Gondek from Staszów knows Owczarek’s address. Owczarek asked the man from Wiązownica not to tell anyone that he was in Łódź. Apparently, Owczarek is a Department of Security officer. I do not know the whereabouts of the other policeman, that is, Machniak.

The chief of the blue police station in Staszów was Ratajczak, who came from the Poznań District. His daughter gave me back my engagement ring, which had been taken away by the Germans during my arrest. Everything had been taken away: my husband’s and my clothes, and the clothes of my mother-in-law and brother-in-law. My husband was a tailor and he had quite a lot of cloths delivered by his clients. The cloths were also taken away, as well as my two rings and two gold ducats. When I went to collect those things after I was released from prison, Ratajczak, who took me to the gendarmerie headquarters in Staszów, presented me as the wife of a dead bandit, emphasizing twice that I had been released from prison.

All of the above-mentioned people arrested in March are still alive, but afterwards they families, a total of about 18 people, were also arrested and taken to the camp in Auschwitz. The following people died there: Rytfińska, Mr. and Mrs. Adamus, Stępień, Czaplina and her sister, Iżyłowski – I do not remember their names. I have heard about other crimes, but I cannot provide any details.

I do not know anything else. The report was read out.

Release form

Sandomierz Prison. Prisoner Aleksandra Warchałowska from Staszów, Szpitalna Street 1, has been held in jail on remand and released today at 10.00 a.m., and is returning to the above-mentioned address.

Prisoners’ book I

11 June 1943

Der Leiter der Deutschen Strafanstalt [Head of the German penitentiary]

No. 810/42

Verwaltungsinspektor [Administrative assistant]