In Karolin on this day, 10 April 1948, at 8.00 a.m., I, Zenon Wilk from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Citizens’ Militia Station, 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 | Stanisław Kwapiński |
| Parents’ names | Władysław and Marianna, née Kubic |
| Age | 40 years old |
| Place of birth | Karolin, commune of Grabów nad Wisłą |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Occupation | village administrator |
| Place of residence | Karolin, commune of Grabów nad Wisłą |
| Relationship to the parties | none |
With regard to the matter at hand, I know the following: on the early morning of 18 March 1942 Jan Wawrzak, the village administrator, arrived at my place. He told me to take a spade, a pickax and an ax, and go with him to a place indicated by Gestapo men and the gendarmerie. There were twelve of us to dig the pit: Stanisław Kaca, Teofil Wawrzak, Stanisław Pawlak, Józef Szewczyk, Franciszek Kustra, Szczepan Kustra, Bartłomiej Bednarczyk, Jan Rusinek, Władysław Pietrzyk, Marian Sałek. All of them still live in Karolin, commune of Grabów nad Wisłą.
Having arrived on the spot, we learned that many people from Karolin and the surrounding villages had been arrested and that they were going to be executed. For the time being they were detained in the school building in Karolin, at a distance of about 200 meters from the pit we had dug up. After digging the hole, which was 13 meters long, 6 meters wide and 3 meters deep, the Gestapo men and the gendarmerie ordered us to take a few steps back and started to lead the men, whom they had tied together in fives with ropes and strings, out of the school. The groups were first lined up next to each other and then the Germans took each of them to the pit and shot the prisoners in the back of the head, as was their way. As the men were led for execution, I noticed that they were half unconscious, having been severely beaten with sticks and rifle butts. Covered in blood from the beatings they had received, they were beyond recognition. Their hands and arms were broken.
The following men from Karolin were killed on that painful day: Józef Wach, Franciszek Kaca, Jan Kaca, Aleksander Sałek, Stanisław Chołuj, Józef Gładysz, Jan Sałek, Stanisław Sałek. All of them were good, decent Poles who worked on their farms in Karolin and enjoyed a good reputation. They left behind their families. Józef Wach is survived by his deaf father Adam, 68 years of age, who is unable to work, and his mother Franciszka, 67 years of age; they have a farm. Franciszek Kaca, unmarried, is survived by his parents, Stanisław and Aniela, both in advanced age, who work on their farm in Karolin, Jan and Franciszek Kaca (brothers). Aleksander Sałek is survived by his wife Marianna and a child less than one year old. Stanisław Chołuj is survived by his wife, Józefa, and six children, three of whom are already married, while the other three, less than 15 years old, are still supported by their mother; they have a farm in Karolin. Józef Gładysz is survived by his mother Józefa, a 56-year-old widow, and his four siblings, less than 23 year old. Jan and Stanisław Sałek, brothers, one of whom was married and is survived by his wife, Weronika, and three children, less than three years old, while the other one, unmarried, left his mother Władysława who [the text is missing]. The victims’ families live in Karolin, the commune of Grabów nad Wisłą, and work on their farms.
When the last group was executed, we were told to move a few meters away from the grave. We were left waiting there for one hour and a half. Then six more men were brought in a peasant wagon and shot. While we were waiting for the arrival of these men, the Gestapo and the gendarmerie ordered the twelve of us to go to the grave and level the bodies. As we were doing so, Stanisław Kaca recognized his son, Franciszek, among the dead. As he tried to untie his son’s hands – they had been tied behind his back – he was pounced on by one of the Gestapo men who hit him a few times with his rifle butt, saying: "You bandit, you want to steal a string". After the bodies were levelled and after the Germans killed the six unknown men, we were ordered to fill the pit up with soil. When the hole was filled up and the soil was levelled, we covered the grave with snow so as to remove traces of [the crime]. However, this wasn’t effective. The snow melted and the layer of soil, which was 50 centimeters thick, grew red as it got soaked with blood. It quivered with the throes of people who hadn’t died immediately after being shot and were thus buried alive. There were 73 or 74 people buried in the pit.
At the end, the Germans gathered us together and we were given a speech. We were told to inform the gendarmerie of any appearance of partisans in our area. We were also obliged to inform on those who were involved in the underground activity, including in the distribution of illegal newspapers. They threatened to put the whole village, both men and women, to the sword, if it was proved that any of us had failed to report this kind of information. When the speech was over we were ordered to go home. The execution was carried out by the Gestapo, the gendarmerie and German colonists. The latter, settled in Karolin and connected by family relationships with the local population, were considered loyal Polish citizens.
The colonists were led by Józef Gramm, Karol’s son, and Hejniok, who were at that time Gestapo men. The execution was carried out for political reasons. Those who were killed were accused of being part of the underground movement. The smartest and most capable men, suspected of being members of clandestine organizations and considered Polish bandits, were picked up in this village. Their list was drawn up by Józef Gramm, Karolin’s German colonist, who demanded that the German authorities arrest people from Karolin and from other villages. I wish to add that on 18 February 1944 the Gestapo and gendarmerie, assisted by Józef Gramm from Karolin, arrived at the village. The village was surrounded and its inhabitants were ordered to screen their windows and, on pain of being shot, to remain inside their houses. The Germans went to the grave, enclosed it with some makeshift fence, so that no one could see [what they were doing], and burned the bodies of those whom they had murdered. I wish to note that the perpetrators led their victims out of their houses and killed them in a German way, that is, by a shot to the back of the head. Józef Gładysz, Stanisław Sałek, Władysław Mannicki, all from Karolin, were killed in their courtyards. The Germans also killed a student from Warsaw, whose name is unknown. All of them were brought in a wagon to the pit and dumped into it.
At this the report was brought to a close, read out and signed.