Kraków, 5 January 1948
Kalwaryjska Street 63/5
Samuel Stoeger
former concentration camp inmate
Tattoo number B. 917.
DECLARATION
for the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Radom
During the occupation, at a distance of some 30 km from Radom, near the Radom–Dęblin railway line, there stood a large gunpowder factory – Pionki (Zagożdżon). In this factory, which was surrounded by forests, there was also a concentration labor camp, which had some 3,000 Jewish inmates.
As regards this camp, I am able – if so requested – to submit exhaustive testimony as an eyewitness and a former prisoner, having been incarcerated there from 16 November 1943 to 30 July 1944, that is until the facility was evacuated due to the approach of the front.
The more important incidents that I remember include a few mass executions (hangings) carried out by the head of the Radom Gestapo (I do not remember his surname).
In January 1944, Polish partisans organized an assault on the camp, however this was unsuccessful. A few people were killed, among them a former inspector of the Polish State Police (whom we buried with due honors) and quite a number of “Ukrainian” guards. In April or May 1944, when functionaries of the Radom Gestapo executed a couple of prisoners and were on their way back to Radom, they were ambushed and slaughtered by Polish partisans; we were told this by some Polish laborers.
Regarding surnames, I only remember that of the camp commandant, a former air force officer, Captain Brand, who however had nothing to do with the other Germans criminals. Unfortunately, I don’t remember any other surnames, although I think I could recognize some of them by sight. Finally, I feel obliged to mention the foremen who worked at this factory, among them Jan Wyłup from Pionki and Paweł Bogacz, who behaved like good citizens and treated the prisoners as if they were their own children, thereby helping them survive this very difficult period.