In crime novels set in the Second Polish Republic, real geniuses of the detective art lead the way. In the real story, you would have to look for them with a candle. Incompetence, naivety and simple stupidity - this is the pre-war State Police in a nutshell.
One high-profile case tells everything about the investigators at the time. Krakow, January 11, 1921. Hours 21 with minutes. On Floriańska Street, a young woman screams panic:“Murder! Murder! ”.
Laura Majerowa, because it is she who is tearing her head off, has just run out of her parents' jewelry shop. She went there so late because her parents didn't come home, even though they always closed the place at half past eight. They didn't come back because they couldn't:they had just been butchered.
Stanisław Waltoś wrote in "Pitaval Krakowski":
The view was awful. Directly between the counter and the workbench, by the window, lay a mother who gave no sign of her life. Blood on her face and dress.
In the opposite corner of the store, crammed between an open Wertheimer's cash register and a glass cabinet, my father was lying with his head against the wall. He croaked softly, soaked with blood. There were several wounds visible on his head at first glance.
Ruthless, decisive and deadly. The most famous criminals of pre-war Poland in the book by Kamil Janicki "Fallen ladies of the Second Republic". Buy with a discount on empik.com.
Traces at the crime scene. Thousands of traces
From the very first moment, the police made an inexplicable error. The two officers who first reached the scene of the crime did not fence it off from onlookers at all.
As a result, within a dozen or so minutes, dozens of passers-by, wanting to see with their own eyes, what all the noise was about. When the senior officers finally reached Floriańska, all traces had been trampled long ago.
Lots of items got shuffled and even stolen. There were also found things that had not been in a jewelery factory before (for example, a strange pot). In a word, as Stanisław Waltoś stated, the basic condition for proceeding in such cases - securing the crime scene - has not been met.
The policemen could not follow the trail, so they only confirmed the obvious:the deaths of Rosa Zahn and Saul Zahn. In the case of Zahnowa, the cause was a few blows dealt with a blunt-edged tool to the forehead and right hand . Her husband, on the other hand, died as a result of extensive indentations of the skull bone into the brain, also caused by a blunt tool, possibly a hammer.
There will be nothing (at the police station)
Investigators were ready to use any non-standard method to push the investigation forward. Therefore, they brought the only police dog in this part of Poland:"Aida". There would be nothing strange or inappropriate about it, if not for the fact that the animal did not show up at the crime scene until ... 24 hours.
The policemen line up for a souvenir photo in front of the Zahnów jewelry store.
"Aida" could not be used earlier, because it was the private property of a policeman who left Krakow that day. Waltoś sourly commented: The Krakow police (...) did not have their own investigative dogs. Besides, she did not have at that time not only a dog, but not even a car of her own, let alone a camera.
As you can guess, after such a long time in the crowded street of a large city, "Aida" could not get the right lead. Instead, she caught ... completely wrong. She led the policemen to a random apartment where a young man who had absolutely nothing to do with the case was arrested.
Even the "Illustrated Daily Kuryer" made fun of it: Knerowicz was released (...) from police custody. (...) Probably he fell victim to "Aida".
Anyway, "Aida" in general was not a particularly skilled policewoman. I don't think she helped to catch the criminal in any case and she was acting as an eccentric mascot rather than an aid in investigative work.
Particular zeal of investigative factors
The investigation dragged on and the chances of obtaining results were diminishing with each passing day. It was only six months later (sic!) that the police arrested another suspect. Not only was it a person completely unrelated to the case, but also the detainee did not survive the visit at the police station.
Polish police officers satisfied with themselves. Dizzy from successes?
According to the journalists of "Ilustrowany Kuryer Codzienny", a man named Amsterdam fell victim to the particular zeal of investigative agents. What a euphemism! The petty thug from Kocmyrzów was neither more nor less tortured to death by the policemen.
Even this did not discourage the police inspector K. Szczepański from further search. Having no more official methods at his disposal, he decided - with the consent of the judge! - order ... three spiritualist sessions . Two in Krakow and one in Vienna. A lot of money went into it, and the results were obviously poor. Each medium saw something different and none could pinpoint the killer or killers.
As a matter of fact, in the inquiries of all three swindlers, only what they heard earlier from the policemen agreed. One of the Krakow media was mistaken the most, claiming that the perpetrators would be apprehended in Przemyśl within a few days.
Nothing of the sort happened, and the matter had to be closed for good. It was a great failure of the Kraków command. Neither the first nor the last…
Sources:
The article is based on source materials and literature collected during the work on the book "Upadłe damy II Rzeczpospolitej". You can buy the book with a discount at empik.com .