On this day, 17 March 1947, in Skarżysko-Kamienna, the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Radom, represented by Judge Wł. Pawziński, interviewed the person named below 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 Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:
Name and surname Custos Rev. Albin Pawicki
Place of residence Skarżysko-Kamienna, Monastery of theFranciscan order
I have been the superior of the Franciscan monastery in the city of Skarżysko-Kamienna since 1945. I know, however, from stories told by the parishioners, that during the occupation of Skarżysko-Kamienna, in 1940, the Germans [committed the following acts]: On 29 January, at midnight, German gendarmes took away from the monastery custos Rev. Teodor Filip; on 30 January, at 1:00 PM, about 50 German gendarmes surrounded the monastery, whereupon some went inside and carried out a two-hour search for Father Anatol Gałucha and Father Alojzy Śmigiel. The Brothers were put under house arrest; both Fathers, after interrogation, were temporally released, but the next day they were taken again, and this time never released. On 6 February 1940, German gendarmes took all four brothers away from the monastery. On 9 February, the gendarmes brought Brother Jan Stawarz to the monastery and made him dig out buried weapons and money from the monastery cellars, whereupon the Germans took away all that was dug up. On 10 February 1940, a court martial took place and both Fathers and Brothers were sentenced to death. Subsequently, on 14 February, they were most likely taken to Bór-Osiedle to be executed and buried in previously prepared pits.
The Polish organization Biały Orzeł [White Eagle], in which Teodor Filip had been treasurer, was the reason for the arrest. The founder of this organization was probably a German. In total, the following seven Brothers and Fathers from the monastery were executed in Skarżysko-Kamienna: Father Theodore; Philip, custos, Father Anatol Gałucha; Father Alojzy Śmigiel; Brother Jan Stawarz; Brother Kazimierz Gałek; Brother Łukasz Neugelauer; Brother Hugolin Grodzki. In the same year, 1940, the Germans killed the following seven members of the monastery choir: Janina Wątła, Rawicz-Kamiński, Gula, Roman Ostrołuch, Jan Gontaszewski, Stefan Gontaszewski, and Bronisław Gontaszewski. These named members of the choir were taken away by German gendarmes during a service.
Moreover, in 1940–1944, the Germans damaged the monastery, namely: they destroyed cells, facilities, outbuildings, almost all the trees and bushes in the garden – which were of enormous value (around 80,000 zlotys) – and they removed almost all of the monastery’s furnishing (worth over 10,000 zlotys).