GENOWEFA WOLSZCZAK

On 31 May 1947 in Zwoleń, the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes with its seat in Radom, this in the person of a member of the Commission, T. Skulimowski, acting pursuant to Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed the person mentioned hereunder as a witness, without taking an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the provisions of Article 106 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, [the witness] testified as follows:


Name and surname Genowefa Wolszczak
Age 28 years old
Parents’ names Jan and Marianna, née Modrzejewska
Place of residence Zwoleń, Kościelna Street 9
Occupation laborer
Religion Roman Catholic
Criminal record none

On 15 January 1944 at 4.00 a.m., five Gestapo men entered my flat and dragged my husband, Józef, a laborer by occupation, from his bed. One of the Germans put a gun to his head, while another inspected our documents and thereafter checked my husband’s height. They then said to my husband, in Polish: “We, men from the forest, will now go to the forest”. My husband replied: “I am just a laborer, I am not guilty of anything, everyone around here knows me”, however the Gestapo men took him outside, threatening to shoot me if I tried to accompany him.

My husband’s two brothers, Marian and Jan Wolszczak, were taken that same night from the flat next to ours. They were all led to the local gendarmerie station, which was located in the Agricultural School. There they were interrogated and terribly beaten; I know this, because I approached the building by stealth and heard their cries and screams. After the examination, they were taken to the cellar. In the evening, at around 8.00 p.m., they were driven off to Leokadiów and executed. A month later the town hall sent me a notice informing that my husband had been shot dead on 15 January 1944 in Leokadiów.

To date, I don’t know why my husband and his brothers were executed. I heard that some 32 people were murdered in Leokadiów at the time, and that they were buried near the execution site. I was present during the exhumation; a cap, a dirty towel, and traces of burned bodies were found. I don’t know the surnames of the Gestapo men, and I am unable to describe their physical appearance. I only know that they were accompanied by a local gendarme, whose surname was Heint. I have two children, aged 8 and 6.