sala 1 – Investigative Files (en) – Radogoszcz 1945

An investigation into German crimes in the former Abbe’s factory in Radogoszcz was initiated on the motion of prosecutor J. Korytkowski of October 23, 1945. The decision was made by W. Bednarz, Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź. Examining Magistrate associate judge S. Krzyżanowska started interrogating witnesses on November 17, 1945. She looked for people who had been imprisoned in the Radogoszcz Extended Police Prison during the occupation, particularly those who had survived the prison liquidation in January 1945. Other people testifying were those who had been indirect witnesses of events taking place during the liquidation of the prison on January 17-19, 1945, arriving at the prison right after Germans had left or helping survivors. Moreover, on February 26 and March 20, 1946, crime scene examinations were carried out. They revealed that buildings of the former prison were not secured, and in the one-storey building one could still find prisoners’ everyday items, such as clothes and aluminium bowls. In the assembly square, there were still some unburied human bones. Therefore, a representative of the Polish Red Cross in Łódź was asked to ensure a proper burial of the body fragments found. Ultimately, on March 26, 1946, the investigation was suspended until those responsible for the crimes were apprehended and handed over to the Polish judiciary.

Investigative Files

: The cover of the folder “Investigative Files on German Crimes Committed in the Former Abbe’s Factory in Radogoszcz.” The material gathered in relation to the trial that started on October 24, 1945, was in 1947 included in the files of the trial of Walter Pelzhausen, Radogoszcz prison warden. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 1

: A letter from Prosecutor J. Korytkowski to District Examining Magistrate W. Bednarz from Łódź, requesting that an investigation be launched into German crimes committed in the prison in Radogoszcz, October 23, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 2

: A decision to launch an investigation into German crimes committed in the former Abbe’s factory in Radogoszcz, October 24, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 3

: A letter from a District Court Judge from Łódź to Special Court Prosecutor concerning the sending of witness testimony of Michał Błaszczyk and Feliks Błotnicki owned by the Prosecutor’s Office, October 25, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 4

: A letter from Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź to the Citizens’ Militia Headquarters in Łódź concerning the sending of material connected with the crimes committed in the prison in Radogoszcz, October 26, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 24

: A letter from Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź to the Prosecutorial Supervisory Body of the Ministry of Justice concerning the sending of material connected with the crimes committed in the prison in Radogoszcz, November 8, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 45.

: A letter from J. Kacerski, Head of the Magistrates’ Court in Brzeziny, to District Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź, November 13, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 46

: A letter from acting Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź S. Krzyżanowska to the Magistrates’ Court in Wieluń, asking it to conduct a deposition hearing of witness Dr Zygmunt Patryn, who took care of Stefan Fengler wounded in the massacre, November 20, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 75

: “W rocznicę spalenia Radogoszcza” (“On the Anniversary of Burning Down Radogoszcz”), a text by Wacław Ślizowski, read by an announcer of the Polish Radio in Łódź on January 17, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 131

: “W rocznicę spalenia Radogoszcza” (“On the Anniversary of Burning Down Radogoszcz”), a text by Wacław Ślizowski, read by an announcer of the Polish Radio in Łódź on January 17, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 132

: “W rocznicę spalenia Radogoszcza” (“On the Anniversary of Burning Down Radogoszcz”), a text by Wacław Ślizowski, read by an announcer of the Polish Radio in Łódź on January 17, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 133

: “W rocznicę spalenia Radogoszcza” (“On the Anniversary of Burning Down Radogoszcz”), a text by Wacław Ślizowski, read by an announcer of the Polish Radio in Łódź on January 17, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 134

: “W rocznicę spalenia Radogoszcza” (“On the Anniversary of Burning Down Radogoszcz”), a text by Wacław Ślizowski, read by an announcer of the Polish Radio in Łódź on January 17, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 135

: Witness interview report of an interview with Stanisław Jabłoński conducted by Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź associate judge S. Krzyżanowska, February 15, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 167

: Witness interview report of an interview with Stanisław Jabłoński conducted by Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź associate judge S. Krzyżanowska, February 15, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 168

: A report on a court inspection of the evidence secured by active members of the Polish Workers’ Party of Radogoszcz, found in the grounds of the Radogoszcz prison, conducted by Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź S. Krzyżanowska, March 8, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 202

: A decision of Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź to include in the case file fourteen photographs taken by Wiesław Kaszyński, showing the prison in Radogoszcz a few days after it had been burnt down, January 15, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 204

: A report on court inspections of the grounds and buildings of the prison in Radogoszcz conducted on February 26 and March 20, 1946, by Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź S. Krzyżanowska. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 208

: A report on court inspections of the grounds and buildings of the prison in Radogoszcz conducted on February 26 and March 20, 1946, by Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź S. Krzyżanowska. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 209

: A copy of a letter from Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź S. Krzyżanowska to a representative of the Polish Red Cross in Łódź, asking to bury the unburied human bones found in the grounds of the former prison in Radogoszcz, April 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 213

: A decision of Examining Magistrate of the 3rd District of the District Court in Łódź S. Krzyżanowska to suspend the investigation into the burning down of the prison in Radogoszcz until the perpetrators are apprehended and handed over to the Polish judiciary, March 26, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 215

: The medical record of Stefan Fengler, former Radogoszcz prisoner, drawn up when he was in hospital from January to March 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 231

: A description of the grounds and buildings of the former prison in Radogoszcz. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 232

: A report on the investigation into the liquidation of the prison in Radogoszcz on the night of January 17, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 250

: A report on the investigation into the liquidation of the prison in Radogoszcz on the night of January 17, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 251

: A report on the investigation into the liquidation of the prison in Radogoszcz on the night of January 17, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 252

: A report on the investigation into the liquidation of the prison in Radogoszcz on the night of January 17, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 253

: A report on the investigation into the liquidation of the prison in Radogoszcz on the night of January 17, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, pp. 254

: A copy of a letter from acting Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź to President of the District Court in Łódź as President of the Committee for Commemoration of Those Fallen in Fights Against Germans from 1939 to 1945, asking to popularise the idea of taking care of the graves of people murdered during the liquidation of the Radogoszcz prison on the night of January 17, 1945, considering their catastrophic condition, April 13, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 261

: A request to transfer “The Case of German Crimes Committed in the Former Abbe’s Factory in Radogoszcz” from the Prosecutor’s Office of the District Court in Łódź to the Łódź Division of the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, November 19, 1946. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 262

: A letter from Examining Magistrate of the District Court in Łódź to Prosecutor of the Special Criminal Court for the Appellate Court District in Warsaw with its seat in Łódź, with information about the launching of “Investigation Into German Crimes Committed in the Former Abbe’s Factory in Radogoszcz”, October 25, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 264

: A letter from President of the Łódź Division of the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland K. Rudnicki to Prosecutor of the Special Criminal Court in Warsaw with its seat in Łódź, asking to launch a court investigation “Into German Crimes Committed in the Former Abbe’s Factory in Radogoszcz”, October 23, 1945. The District Court in Łódź. Prosecutorial files on the case against: Walter Pelzhausen, ref. no. Ld 498/28, vol. 4, p. 265