Po stronie przestępców czy służb porządkowych, czyli miejsce kata w systemie wymiaru sprawiedliwości w dawnej Polsce
On the side of criminals or security forces, or the place of the executioner in the judicial system in bygone Poland

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the functioning of the office of executioner in the cities of formerPoland. The study investigated executioner activity on the border between two worlds: thatof crime and the law enforcement environment connected to the judiciary. The research material includes testimonies of criminals recorded in the books of municipal courts, demonstrating contacts between the criminal world and torturers. Unlike in Western Europe and Silesia, where the profession of executioner often passed from father to son, executioners in bygone Poland often hailed from criminal circles. They lived in isolation fromthe society and were exposed to social ostracism because of their work. Criminals did notconsider the executioner as a representative of the judiciary; relationships between bothcommunities were facilitated by the fact that executioners and their wives were engagedin the organisation of prostitution in cities, and running and protecting the city’s brothels. The cases quoted from judicial practice show that the office of the executioner was oft enidentifi ed with criminal activity rather than with justice, which had an impact on the effectivenessof fighting crime in Polish cities.

• Details
• Contents