The Head of the Municipal Court in Wałbrzych. Presidium No. 41/47. 30 January 1947. The report was drawn up at the Municipal Court in Wałbrzych on the request of the Head of the Municipal Court in Jędrzejów. Presidium No. 26/47, dated 10 January 1947.
The following witness appeared:
| Name and surname | Henryk Szwejcer |
| Age | 60 years old |
| Occupation | director of the Coal Industry Union in Wałbrzych |
| Place of residence | Młynarska Street 18 |
Having been duly advised, the witness was sworn, and testified as follows:
Since 1940, when I moved to Jędrzejów, I was a member of the underground movement, at first of the Union for Armed Struggle (ZWZ) and later the Home Army (Bataliony Chłopskie – Farmers’ Battalions), with which I stayed even after the liberation. In connection with my clandestine activities, I observed the more prominent Germans and also some people who cooperated with them closely. I don’t have any notes pertaining to my findings. I do, however, possess in my memory general descriptions and information pertaining to people and events. These are based on systematic observations and hard facts.
When it comes to details, as I don’t have any notes, I could confuse dates or surnames. I can provide some details, but only by answering questions on particular facts. Otherwise I can offer some recollections and reminiscences which are perfectly accurate, but general in nature.
1) Dr. Fritz von Balluschek. The second governor of the Jędrzejów district, stupid and evil. A puppet in the hands of the Bonks and Sterlacks. He contributed to the murder of the son of an ex-senator, Józef Kruk, in Jędrzejów. He would send Poles to concentration camps for the slightest offence.
| 2) | Berhalter. I remember him as the Gestapo chief. He is undoubtedly responsible for all acts of terror and crimes committed against Poles in the Jędrzejów district. He administered the arrests and shootings of hostages. He also liquidated the ghetto. |
| 3) | Dr. Karl Glehn. The first German governor of the Jędrzejów district. A very able organizer and a zealous persecutor of Polishness. The decrees which he issued immediately after the German occupation of Poland took a heavy tool on both Jews and Poles. As a skilful organizer, he was transferred to Tomaszów, where he commanded a bunch of a dozen or so thousand renegades. |
| 4) | Ernst Heppke. A man trusted by the Gestapo. All the hardships suffered by Poles during the rule of the last German governor of Jędrzejów, Dr. Höfer, were brought about by Heppke. When a German informer was shot on Strażacka Street in Jędrzejów and Heppke learnt that the assassin was allegedly wearing a light-colored overcoat, he ordered that all people wearing such coats that day be arrested. He exploited the Judenrat, using it to enrich himself. |
| 5) | Walter Koch. Political chief of the Gestapo, one of the most dangerous enemies of us Poles in the Jędrzejów dsitrict. He organized German informers into groups of “quasi- partisans”, tasked with penetrating groups of real partisans with the aim of destroying them. He set up an autonomous group of about 200 people, and acted as its commander – a captain. His subordinates didn’t realize that he was a German and a Gestapo man. He used this group to get into contact with other groups that also operated in the woods, but were under proper Polish command, as in this way he was able to detect and liquidate Polish partisans. |