JAN CHIMA

On 6 May 1947 in Busko-Zdrój, the head of the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes with its seat in Busko-Zdrój, Judge Jan Jurkiewicz, interviewed the person specified below as a witness, with the participation of a reporter, senior court registrar S. Głodek. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations, of the provisions of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and of the significance of the oath, the Judge took an oath therefrom pursuant to the provisions of Articles 111–113 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, following which the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Jan Chima
Age 41 years old
Parents’ names Jakub and Elżbieta
Place of residence Dobrowoda, commune of Radzanów
Occupation farmer
Religion Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

In October 1942 I became the village administrator of Dobrowoda. I held this post under very difficult conditions, for the Germans tormented us by requisitioning food and taking away our livestock, sending people to perform forced labor in Germany, or deporting them to a penal camp in Słupia in our district – especially those who didn’t meet the milk quotas. A gendarme from Busko called Fiszer frequently came to our village and often beat people, usually for failing to show up at night watch.

In 1943 or 1944 (I can’t remember exactly) gendarmes from Busko killed a resident of our village, one Bogusław Grzegorzewski, a technician by trade. I don’t know why they killed him – I only know that the Germans called him a bandit. Grzegorzewski was a very decent man and people grieved for him deeply. The Germans didn’t allow us to bury him in the cemetery, they buried him where they had killed him, namely in some farmer’s barn in which Grzegorzewski had been hiding. Without the Germans’ knowledge, the family soon buried Grzegorzewski in the cemetery. Members of the so-called Sonderdienst [special service] often came to the village and smashed people’s pots as punishment for failing to fill the milk quotas on time.

One time, these Sonderdiensts came to a farmer who didn’t provide enough milk. Having realized that something bad was about to happen, the farmer, Stanisław Stępień, locked his door and escaped into the field. The Germans returned to his house several times, but it was always locked. Finally, they smashed the door and windows, and threw pots and chairs into the yard.

This Fiszer, who I mentioned earlier, brutally beat a farmer from our village, Stanisław Wójcik, for his failure to keep the watch. Fiszer beat him in autumn, when the temperature was low and Wójcik had no clothes on. But Wójcik survived. One evening, the infamous Gestapo man Hans had me stand against a fence and threatened to shoot me, but when my son started crying and pleading with him, Hans smiled and let me go. He ordered us, however, to give him our pigs, so the village gave him the sheep and the pigs.

I have no other information concerning this case.