Warsaw, Praga, 23 November 1944
Report of the interrogation of Stanisław Santark concerning the ill-treatment of Poles by German border guards. The witness was advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations.
My name is Stanisław Santarek; I was born on 25 April 1899, I am Polish, a Polish citizen, a Roman Catholic, mechanical technician by profession, residing in Wawer, Palmowa Street 15.
In the winter of 1943 and spring of 1944, looking for food, I went to Gucin near Ostrołęka, in the border zone near the so-called Ostland. Gucin was the last station in the so-called General Government on the Warsaw-Małkinia-Ostrołęka line.
German border guards very frequently carried out raids and escorted all passengers out of the trains. I was detained during such a raid. One day at the Gucin station, the train in which I was traveling was surrounded by a dozen or so armed guards, on foot and on horses. All the passengers (about two or three hundred men, women and children) were beaten and herded to one place at the station, where they were surrounded by a cordon. Those who tried to escape were shot at, and there were several killed and wounded. Then, we were all driven to the Grodzisko farm, situated a few kilometers away, to a border guard station. We were gathered there in a yard and we had to strip naked. All our belongings, suitcases, clothes, and bundles were taken away to be searched. We stood there naked for a few hours – men, women, and children – while the guards were beating us. The commander of the station approached us with a whip in his hand, gave an order to drive nails into a fence, singled out people and told them to pull the nails out with their teeth. He kicked those who didn’t manage to pull the nails out. The families of the guards (of German citizenship) were watching, insulting us and mocking us.
After our clothes were searched, they were returned to us and we were ordered to get dressed. All other things and money were taken away. I lost 1400 zlotys and a Social Insurance card I had in my pockets.
Then, we were driven to barracks, where we were kept for two days. We were not given any food and we had to chop wood. Women and children weeded the garden and cleaned. In the evening, the guards selected young, pretty girls and women, and took them away for the night. We could hear sounds of a gramophone and a drinking spree coming from the guard building. The women taken away for the night didn’t want to say what the Germans had done to them because they were ashamed.
We were released after three days. I went back to Warsaw by train.