In 1999, two teenagers from Silesia turned a naive fascination with magic and occultism into a terrifying crime. During the black mass in the bunker, they slaughtered two of their peers with knives. All this to make a sacrifice to Satan and go straight to hell - they also intended to take their own lives.
The 90s - the times of the peak of the popularity of metal music, including its heaviest and darkest varieties - black, death and doom metal. Many of the artists of the scene admitted at least being inspired by the occult. Some - especially from Scandinavia - have spoken openly about professing dark forces.
The metal subculture was very popular among young people in Poland in the last decade of the 20th century. Heavy metal music was one of the ways to enter the subject of black magic and Satanism. Emotional, curious and rebellious young people reached for "forbidden" publications, for example The Bible of Satan Anton Szandor la Vey. There have been occasions, however, that the youthful fascination has gone too far.
This is what happened in Ruda Śląska in the Halemba estate, where an active group devoted to dark searches was formed among acquaintances entering adulthood. A "satanic" subculture flourished in combat bunker no. 44 . There were black worlds, dark symbols, alcohol, stimulants, and even casual and group sex. There were also various inept rituals that were supposed to give a taste of darkness and mystery.
Nobody was aware of what was happening in the bunker. After a terrible crime, the police found a group that fulfilled all the features of a sect, when it turned out that the circle of followers and "sympathizers" of Satan and dark games was not limited only to the perpetrators of the murder and their victims. Many young people used to be in the bunkers. However, not everyone saw it as fun.
"By killing I wanted to win the favor of evil"
- said later Robert K.
The "master of ceremonies", who treated the matter most seriously and most proficiently in the dark world of demons, was his friend, then 21-year-old Tomasz S. It was he who brought with him a bundle of cards with Latin sentences, which he read aloud, painted satanic symbols, and summoned demons . During this time, his companions were getting drunk, having casual sex. The darkness of the bunker and the atmosphere of mystery gave them courage. They all came from normal families. They had no problems with the law, they had no record, they studied decently.
Tomasz S. decided to go a step further. He considered himself the leader of the group. He called himself "Adam". The nickname referred to the first man - Adam, banished from Paradise. He proposed to his closest friend - Robert - to make human sacrifice. They were to be met with special consideration later in hell.
The 90s - the times of the peak of the popularity of metal music, including its heaviest and darkest varieties - black, death and doom metal. Many of the artists of this scene admitted at least being inspired by the occult (illustrative photo)
Robert, influenced by an older colleague, agreed. The group also included 18-year-old Kamil W. and Karina M., who was one year older. She was just starting her studies in London. Once they were a couple with Tomasz. She knew his occult interests, he impressed her and still had a crush on him. In March 1999 she was in Poland, she came to visit her family. Former love blossomed again. They met in the bunker. Tomasz S. suggested the organization of a black mass, which was to be an initiation for the two "younger ones" - Kamil and Karina.
In fact, they were both going to die. Thomas and Robert were preparing for the sacrifice for the king of darkness for six months. They chose Kamil. Apart from him originally Tomasz S. was going to murder his current girlfriend who was pregnant with him. The crime was supposed to be committed by Robert K., but they eventually gave up on this plan because Robert was not ready to kill the woman. So the choice fell on Karina, who was supposed to be killed by Tomasz.
Karina - Tomasz's ex-girlfriend - was still in love with him. It made things easier. Both she and Kamil were not supposed to guess anything and stay calm. A few days before the crime, the murderers bought the appropriate knives - a dagger with a black handle and a knife with an image of a horse.
Victim
They met on the night of March 2/3, 1999. Tomasz S. prepared the bunker accordingly. Candles were lit, a pentagram was painted on the ground, other satanic symbols on the walls:an inverted cross, three letters F, which in the Apocalypse of St. John, the number of the beast - 666. On the walls of the bunker they also painted the Confucius cross, symbols of the deity Amon-Ra and Latin sentences, clumsily translated from Polish. One of them said: This double sacrifice is good for the place of two lives.
However, Karina and Kamil did not understand Latin. They trusted their friends, and they performed similar rituals more than once.
Tomasz S. ordered Karina and Kamil to kneel inside the pentagram, with their backs to each other, and bow their heads. Standing over them, he and Robert K. were reading spells. Suddenly, knives appeared in their hands. Robert plunged the blade into Kamil's body. The latter turned and looked at him in surprise. Later, the torturer confessed to the police that he did not expect it would be so difficult to kill a man.
They were kneeling while we were reciting Satanic spells. Then I attacked Kamil with a knife. I heard Karina, being stabbed by Tom, begging me for help.
They both got a dozen or so knife blows. The girl had her hands scarred to the bone. She tried to fight for her life. Lying down, she covered herself and grabbed the blade. She failed. Subsequent blows pierced muscles and organs.
Tomasz S. prepared the bunker accordingly. Candles were lit, a pentagram was painted on the ground, other satanic symbols on the walls:an inverted cross, three letters F, which in the Apocalypse of St. John, the number of the beast - 666 (illustrative photo).
Death amid cries, groans and pleas paralyzed the perpetrators. They realized what they had just done when they saw the bodies in a pool of blood. Robert K. couldn't stand it. He ran out of the bunker. He wandered trying to control his broken psyche. When he returned, his companion ordered the work to be completed. First, they dragged the bodies to the second room. They tried to burn them (they did not admit it during the investigation).
Then it was necessary to bear witness to the forces of darkness. For this, they were also supposed to take their own lives. However, they did not have the courage. Robert ran away, leaving a friend who injured his stomach several times. Pain and fear, however, prevented him from further blows. Nothing serious happened to him. He returned home with blood and told his brother between the lines that there were two bodies in the bunker. He tried to blame his friend. The family notified the police and the wounded Tomasz was taken to hospital.
"See what's on the other side"
Both pleaded guilty. During the trial, Robert K. apologized to the murdered girl's parents. He declared to be a believer. Tomasz also spoke to the investigators about faith in God. He claimed to have killed because of the turmoil he got into. As he said, "he wanted to see what was on the other side."
Tomasz S. showed remorse in the courtroom. In the meantime, however, the prison service intercepted his secret message from the arrest. He wanted to find people who would rescue him from the prison convoy and intimidate Robert's sister - so that he would take all the blame on himself. He offered PLN 100,000.
On March 31, 2000, the District Court in Katowice sentenced Tomasz S. to life imprisonment, and Robert K. to 25 years in prison. Bunker No. 44, the so-called "Satan's bunker", still stands in Ruda Śląska. Even though the entrance to it was walled up, there were plenty of thrill-seekers who made a breach.
The dark, bulky building attracts various explorers, seekers of paranormal phenomena and fans of sensation, although it is not a sensational, but rather a sad place where two young, lost people died, stabbed to death by equally lost friends. They took the lives of others and destroyed theirs.
TV coverage:
- "Alarm":Sex, Drugs, Satan and Crime, 1/8/2019
- Ruda Śląska:a victim to Satan, True Stories, Crime + Investigation Polsat