Stalin As Editor: The Soviet Dictator’s Secret Changes to the Polish Constitution of 1952

The article discusses Stalin's personal involvement in drafting the constitution of the Polish People's Republic in 195

Akta procesu z 1949 roku dwudziestu dwóch oskarżonych o udział w zbrodni na ludności żydowskiej w Jedwabnem

Documents from the 1949 Trial of 22 Defendants Accused of Participating in the Massacre of Jews in Jedwabne. Selected and introduced by Krzysztof Persak. The documents related to this case amount to 814 individual sheets of paper, most often handwritten and double-sided. All of the documents relevant for understanding the circumstances of the massacre of the Jews in Jedwabne, the investigation and criminal trials have been selected for publication. These are records of testimonies by witnesses and defendants, decisions of the court, indictments, protocols of the main trials and sentences handed down by the court in all stages of the trials. In addition, there are also various requests, statements and other documents written by the defendants, their friends, neighbors and attorneys and addressed to the Security Office (UB), public prosecutors, courts or other authorities. Also included are sixteen documents related to the case’s investigation and supervision originating from the District Security Office in Lomza. Those are internal UB reports related to the investigation, information about suspects in the crime and the testimonies of several witnesses and suspects that were not included as part of the case’s main investigation. Published here are also the requests for appeal made on behalf of the defendants by their attorneys from SupremeCourt documents, now housed in the Archive of New Records (Archiwum Akt Nowych). Most of the evidence consists of the suspects’ statements. The investigating authorities had difficulty finding eyewitnesses to the events. It is likely that several dozen people from the town and nearby villages took part in the massacre of Jews in Jedwabne. It is not surprising, then, that no one later wanted to testify against their own neighbors. From just the testimonies of the suspects and witnesses, one cannot learn much about the role of the Germans in the events of July 10, 1941. Information about their activities, and those of the gendarmes, is scant, and also contradictory. Most often, it is said that the Germans participated in rounding up the Jews and were present on the market square. Germans are hardly ever mentioned as participating in the final stage of the massacre of the Jews. It was the suspects who most often spoke of the Germans, justifying themselves by saying they had received an order from them to participate in the action against the Jews. This is the line of defense they adopted. Twenty-two suspects were included in the indictment. In 1941, the three youngest defendants were from 19 to 22 years old, and the rest from 29 to 52 years old. (Half were younger than 39, and half were older; their average age was 40). All except two were from that region, and the majority was from Jedwabne and nearby villages. All were married, except for one bachelor and one widower. Like most of Jedwabne’s population at that time, they had little education, and four of them were illiterate. During their questionings, ten either said they were artisans, or it became clear from their accounts that in 1941 this had been the case. Some also worked in agriculture. Two were traders and one was a janitor. Two described themselves as workers, and two others worked as bricklayers in 1941. Five were farmers. The District Court in Lomza sentenced twelve of the defendants for having participated in the massacre. One of the defendents received the death penalty (and was later acquitted), and the court sentenced the others to prison terms of from eight to fifteen year