Helmut Kapp

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Helmut Kapp (born as Konstanty Kapuścik) was a member of the Gestapo and a war criminal. He was executed in Jędrzejów for his crimes against Polish citizens in 1943.

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Kapp was born in Polish Silesia. After the outbreak of World War II he signed the German Volksliste and joined the Gestapo. Initially a translator, with time he was promoted to the deputy commander of a Gestapo outpost in Jędrzejów. Among his tasks were recruitment of collaborators and assisting in the arrest of people in the powiats of Jędrzejów and Włoszczowa. He was also one of the people to brutally interrogate and torture those arrested by the Germans. According to his own testimony, he personally murdered 452 Poles, including 365 Jews.

In the early months of 1943 Kapp was sentenced to death by the Special Courts for the Jędrzejów area and the verdict was supported by the local command of the Armia Krajowa. As a pre-war Polish citizen he was found guilty of high treason, murder and betrayal. After several initial attempts to execute the verdict by poisoning him, it was decided to create a death squad. In mid-May the Armia Krajowa was warned by an informer that Kapp was highly likely to leave Jędrzejów for Germany. Officials decided to create the death squad as soon as possible.

On May 31, 1943 the squad composed of 2nd Lt Zola, Cpr Ryszard and private Wituś. The squad, armed with pistols, was notified that Kapp was having a meeting at the gardens near the Gestapo building in Jędrzejów. They reached the gardens and found Kapp returning home with a German Gestapo driver named Tierling and certain miss Erna Meyer. After a short fight, Tierling was killed, Kapp was heavily wounded and the woman was allowed to return to Gestapo. Kapp died the following day.

As a reprisal for this action, on June 9, 1943 the Germans killed 11 random civilians of Jędrzejów while additional 25 were arrested, tortured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp.