In Karolin on this day, 9 April 1948, at 4.30 p.m., I, Zenon Wilk from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Citizens’ Militia Station in Kozienice, acting under Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, following instructions from the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Radom issued on 31 March 1948 (L. 532/48/2) under Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, observing the formal requirements set forward in Articles 235–240, 258 and 259 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the participation of a reporter, a Militia functionary from Zwoleń, Władysław Adamczyk, whom I have informed of his obligation to attest to the conformity of the report with the actual course of the procedure by his own signature, have heard the person named below as a witness. Having been advised of the right to refuse to testify for the reasons set forward in Article 104 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and of the criminal liability for making false declarations, this pursuant to the provisions of Article 140 of the Penal Code, the witness testified as follows:
Name and surname Adam Wach
| Parents’ names | Karol and Marcjanna, née Rychiel |
| Age | 65 years old |
| Place of birth | Sycyna, commune of Grabów nad Wisłą |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Occupation | farmer |
| Place of residence | Karolin, commune of Grabów nad Wisłą |
With regard to the matter at hand, I know the following: the events of which I am giving an account took place on the morning of 18 March 1942. Jan Wawrzak, our village administrator, arrived at my place and told me to take a spade, a pickax or an ax, and go with him. On the way we were joined by other men to whom Wawrzak gave the same instruction. Finally, there were twelve of us. We went to Józef Gramm’s colony. When we arrived on the spot, Gestapo men and German gendarmerie forced us to dig a pit. It was 13 meters long, 6 meters wide and 3 meters deep. On the way to Gramm’s property I saw the Germans walking across the village and taking other men with them. Machine guns were set up all over the village and after a while shots rang out. The Germans were shooting at those who tried to escape. A lot of Germans gathered around the school. There was also the civilian population there.
Once the pit of the size mentioned above had been dug up, the Germans led out groups of five men tied together and arranged them standing next to each other. The men had been badly beaten with rifle butts and birch sticks. Soaked in blood from the wounds they had received, the prisoners were so weak that they could hardly walk. After being lined up, each group was led to the pit and executed. Once shot, the men fell into the pit. Those who didn’t were approached by the Germans and kicked into the hole. The boots and uniforms of the perpetrators were all covered in the blood of those whom they had murdered. Then the local population was ordered to level the tangled bodies, fill the pit up with soil and cover everything with snow. However, this method wasn’t effective. The snow melted away and the soil, soaked with the blood of the dead, grew red, quivering with the death throes of the people who hadn’t died immediately after being shot. Finally, the Germans gathered us together and we were given a speech. We were told that if we were found to be involved in that kind of activity again, they would put us all to the sword. Then we were ordered to go home.
The execution was carried out by the Gestapo, the gendarmerie, and German colonists settled in Karolin and led by Gramm and Hejniok. The number of those who were executed was 73 or 74, I don’t remember exactly. They were killed for being members of some clandestine organization. However, the Germans failed to prove their victims’ involvement in underground activity. Two years after the barbarous crime, that is on 18 February 1944, Gestapo men accompanied by the gendarmerie and local Germans led by Gramm arrived at the execution site. The village of Karolin was sealed off and its inhabitants were ordered to screen their windows and remain inside their houses. The Germans enclosed the area of the tomb with some makeshift fence and burned the bodies so as to eliminate all traces of their criminal activity. The families and loved ones of the victims of this crime are still alive, working on their farms in their villages. They remember what happened and they will never forget it.
At this the report was concluded, read out and signed.