JAN MACKIEWICZ

On 18 May 1946, the Municipal Court in Opatów, represented by Judge Al. Zalewski, with the participation of reporter R. Cybulski, interviewed the person mentioned below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations, of the wording of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and of the significance of the oath, the judge swore the witness in accordance with Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, whereupon the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Jan Mackiewicz
Age 39 years old
Parents’ names Anna and Antoni
Place of residence Opatów, Ćmielowska Street 3
Occupation clerk
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

During the German occupation, in the spring of 1944, I could see through my own window the German gendarme Wiktor Berger, whom I knew by sight, with another gendarme, as he killed a young Jew by shooting him down with a rifle. The body stayed in the [same] spot for several hours until it was cleaned up by the municipal service. Another time, I saw the aforementioned Berger with Alfred Biller and a few others as they were coming back from the place where, as I heard, they had executed two young people, probably from Włostów. In the winter of 1944, the bodies of around 14 murdered victims were brought to the gendarmerie station. There, in the midst of laughter and mockery, they stood up those half- naked human leftovers against the wall and photographed them.

I worked for a year as a clerk in the District Agricultural and Commercial Cooperative, where the manager was Adam Spędowski; thus, I know that German authorities placed great trust in him. He was hostile towards his staff, as well as the farmers who were forced to give up their compulsory supplies. In the fall of 1943, Spędowski, in my presence, beat a farmer with a stick for not obeying some insignificant organizational orders. He ordered me to do the same and when I refused he made a threat he usually used against his employees: “You’ll be sent to work in Germany.” People also said how Spędowski made a great fortune by making secret, unauthorized transactions, but I can’t say anything specific about that. I also saw Spędowski leave many times alongside German gendarmerie for the purpose of collecting compulsory supplies, but I can’t tell what his role exactly was.