In the old, dark times, when faith in witchcraft and the witches engaged in it were part of the culture of the time, the church and its secular institutions made women a real hell on earth.
The year 1623 went down in the history of Chojnice as the one in which the piles burned. On September 14, the walls of the Witch Tower, also known as the Witches' Tower, trembled with the scream that Lorenz Lewe gave for the first time.
This simple servant, born in Konarzyny Wielkie, has just begun to testify. Not just any testimony, but in the first serious witchcraft trial in many years.
The interrogation was conducted by a city executioner, perfectly trained in his trade, as evidenced by screams and spreading pleas for mercy. However, there was no question of pity in any way, as the testimony had to be written down quickly because at least 3 people were waiting in the queue for the interrogation.
Under the influence of the "charisma" of the interviewer, Lorenz quickly lets go of his mouth, and this is how the story begins.
20 years ago, a tramp came to a small estate and stayed in the farmyard of Lorenc for 8 days, and after 8 days, in gratitude for the care, he sold him the spirit of a guardian, whom he called Margarethe (Margaret), for a small amount.
Lorenz agreed to such an arrangement and took the otherworldly entity under his roof. The tramp warned him, however, that the spirit can also take a material form and when it appears on his floor, let him not get angry, but receive him calmly.
And so it happened, after some time Lorenc saw a purchased ghost, which took the form of a beautiful woman with skin as gray as the sky before the storm, which Lorenc, who lived eagerly alone, took advantage of. The last time this ghost appeared was one Sunday and said to him.
"Go to the Town Farm and find David Woerlaman and tell him that the disease he complained of until recently was caused by Peter Splittstoser's wife." The reason for bringing the disease was the fact that once she received milk and bread from Woerlaman, but when she asked for the same again, he refused her.
Lorenc obediently obeyed this order, but he did not receive the expected reward for his "denunciation", only what awaited him was a trial.
Kat interrupted the hearing, after all, he had already heard what he wanted to hear.
- Get him ready. - He said in a booming voice and went to wash the blood from his hands.
The trial was extremely short. Lorenc Lewe was sentenced to death by burning for unworthy deeds, for cooperating with the spirit, and for using witchcraft. Soon after that, the first pile caught fire, and the sickening smell of roasted protein spread through the crowd, which, like theater audiences waiting impatiently for the performance to begin, gathered on the Katowice hill.
Another person who appeared at the interrogation in the Witches' Tower was Mrs. Blingkrähm, whom Lorenz Lewe, already charred at this moment, indicated in his testimony. The mere sight of the torture devices caused Ms. Barbara Blingkrähme, wife of the city servant Peter Splittstoser, to testify.
The scribe meticulously wrote down the testimony in which the accused informed in 19 points as follows. While still living in Hammerstein (today Czarne), she received a household spirit named Nickel as a gift from an unknown person.
The accused did not want to accept this troublesome "gift", but the spirit itself had completely different plans and threatened that if it did not accept it, it would tear her to shreds. Terrified, she agreed, and from then on Nickel, who turned out to be an extremely malicious spirit, began his reign.
The first victims of the poltergeist were 2 piglets, the only offense of which was that they fell into the beds that were cared for by their owner and destroyed all planted plants. The ghost didn't think too long and just broke the necks of both culprits.
The next in line, who fell in love, was the son of the carpenter Hinz, who at school made fun of Barbara's son, but in this case, it did not end tragically, and only young Hinz suffered a slight shock. Salomon Buckwitt of Nieżyży, who once broke the beer mug on the head of her husband, Peter Splittstoser, during a row in the inn also deserved the disease.
The scribe, seeing that this list was not going to end yet, asked for a break so that he could sharpen the pen again. Kat complied with this request, after all, his hands were sore from work, and there was no end in sight.
- Let's breathe a little. He said and sat down, still staring in disgust at the witch. After all, this is an unusual sight.
The writer finished sharpening the pen, picked up a new parchment, and, prepared in this way, waited for the next testimony of the Chojnice witch. Between the screams, he skillfully picked up the names of people whom Nickel's ghost was supposed to harm.
David Woerlemann, because he did not want to give the woman free milk and bread again. Also, a certain Ascherbarner deserved punishment, it is not even known for what reason. Kara also reached the wife of the host of the house, Georg Berend, who dared to mock her. In this case, the poltergeist killed her animals.
Interestingly, the defendant also testified that every year on the holiday "Walpurgisnacht" (Walpurgis night - a popular medieval festival that always took place on April 30), a Sabbath was held in the Człuchów county, in which she and other nearby witches, along with with their spirits helpers joyfully participated.
Usually, as the accused herself admitted, they met on the Blocksberg hill and after a feast consisting mostly of groats, peas, and meat, they would start dancing on the rope, to the beat of the music played by the old peasant, who gave the rhythm with a drum made of pig's head.
The testimony continued for many days. Many pages of the parchment were written in black ink and only at the end of October did the judge, having examined the collected evidence, issue a verdict. Death by burning at the stake.
- Hello Mr. Splittstosser. Please, sit down, we have a very long day ahead of us. As the executioner spoke these words, you could see the gleam in his eyes for a brief moment. He knew he had a lot of work to do today, but he didn't complain, after all, he liked what he was doing.
It was his profession, this was his life. Nobody else in the area was able to get a statement as efficiently as he did. He got used to being around him from afar. Sometimes he heard insults against him behind his back, but is it important? It is important that today he is to extract a testimony and he will do so, even if he has to torture the accused for several hours.
- Do you know, Mr. Piotr, why we met here today? The executioner's gaze pierced Peter's soul, who, sitting tied to the chair, stared in horror at the torture devices on the table. The tongue, out of fear, refused to obey him and with only a nod of the head, he confirmed that he knew perfectly well why he was in such a poor situation. His wife, of whom only a burnt carcass remained, had to tell about all his misdeeds.
This is how a third-person witchcraft interrogation began. The accused city servant, whose wife had previously burned at the stake, was put on trial as a result of her testimony in which she told how he not only knew about her dealings with demons but also committed other nefarious offenses.
It turned out that the Splittstosser liked to appropriate other people's property in his spare time, especially those that belonged to the city.
Many hours have passed, which have turned into many days in which they were forced to testify to the accused. Many times the executioner had to revive Peter, who could not endure the enormous pain he was inflicting on him and fell lifeless in the Katowice chair.
The defendant turned out to be so resistant to cooperation that the torturer had to rise to the heights of his skills, depriving him of a few fingers and breaking countless bones. However, after four days the scribe had everything that the city councilors wanted to hear written down.
Four years ago, Peter had come up with a brilliant plan to appropriate the property that was kept in the city council building. To this end, he persuaded his son Georg, and they ransacked the town hall together.
The plan, surprisingly, worked perfectly well and after searching a few wardrobes, with pockets stuffed with valuables, they fled to their farm, where they buried the loot in a pile of manure behind their house so that after the matter died down, they could enjoy their prey.
To divert suspicion from himself, Splittsotsser left the sword on the bench at the scene and ordered his son to leave a ladder at the walls, so that investigators would think that someone outside had done it.
A year later, he managed to cash in part of the loot by selling the stolen goods to a fence named Christoffer. The transaction was to be made outside the city walls on Wzgórze Wolności. After the deal was concluded, they drank with the fence - according to the testimonies - 500 liters of beer, which Peter's son brought from the city along with the food.
However, the most important question from the executioner's lips was yet to be asked.
- Did you know about the magic that your spouse used to practice?
- Yes, I knew. - Peter replied.
- She came to me once, and it was after I had been hit in the head with a pint of a mug by a man named Solomon Buckwit of the Dead, while I was sitting in the inn, and she told me.
- I'll take revenge on him, I'll hurt him.
- I did not know what she meant, but I replied that if he is able to do damage, let him do it. A few days later Buchwitz fell seriously ill and I already knew that my wife was witchcraft, but it didn't bother me. Anyway, why should it disturb me, it wouldn't hurt me.
It was October 13, when the testimony read out before the judge-led to Peter's conviction. As a punishment, the criminal was sentenced to cage around the city, so that potential thieves, wishing to reach the city's coffers, could see what could happen to them.
During this show, the route of which ran along the streets of Chojnice, it was ordered to make stops and tear the body of the accused with red-hot pliers on each of them. At the end of this bloody procession, the body was dismembered into four parts and hung on the city walls. On the other hand, the separated head was impaled, as a warning, on a stake.
And in two weeks' time, the city executioner will try to extract the testimony of the last person who sat in the dock in this trial, the son of Peter Splittstosser.
- Next? How many more will you bring? The slightly tired executioner looked at the condemned man. He did not expect an answer, he knew perfectly well that the demand for his services this year was exceptional and that the whole situation was also exceptional.
After all, city councilors hate it when the city treasury is robbed, and even more so when the son of a witch does it.
The ex officio torturer got up, stretched the stiff muscles of his neck, and then he laced the fingers of both hands bending them backward at the same time, the effect of which was crackling like broken bones. Anyway, this sound will fill the walls of the cell more than once, but this time the source of the sound will be Georg Splittstosser's bones.
The torture began. All the "toys" at the oppressor's disposal went into motion. More bones cracked, and the city scribe dipped his pen in ink over and over again, noting everything related to the case from four years ago, when young Georg heard these words from his father for the first time
- Son, we are poor, we have no food at home and we are starving. However, I know that our fate will change soon, but you have to help me, I will not be able to cope without you.
At first, the young man did not know what his father was talking about, but after a few days Peter described the plan to rob the Town Hall.
- It's not a stupid idea. - He thought. - Anyway, if we don't do anything, we'll probably starve anyway.
- Okay, father, I will help you, what should I do?
A few days after this conversation, he and his father began the implementation of the evil plan. As he was smaller and more agile than Peter, his task was to enter the building unnoticed on the facade and open the front door, which he managed to do without any problems. Overall, it went better than he thought. For the first time in his life, he had seen so many material things, and now it was all theirs.
After looting everything that could be looted, in order to direct suspicion on strangers, they left their swords at the crime scene.
- Leave them in sight, George. - said, Peter. - Let them think that it is these poor Poles who sneaked in here.
As his father ordered, he did so. You could see Peter knew what he was doing. Many days after the robbery, they were looking for thieves in the city, but they disappeared like ghosts. Suspicion, as the clever Peter had predicted, fell on the Polish thugs who were supposed to get into the city unnoticed and loot the city treasury.
- Managed to. George shouted.
- It really worked. Coins glittered in the young man's hands, many coins. He looked at his father with pride, finally, fate smiled at them, they will no longer be slapped by poverty, whatever that is. From today they will be great Lords. However, for this to happen, this hot time should wait, and the loot should be hidden somewhere.
Huge drops of sweat ran down the executioner's forehead. It took a great deal of effort to get these statements. However, once again it was successful, although the testimony suffered "slightly", but it is obvious that they will only testify if one breaks a bit. A satisfied scribe, drying the parchment, went to the judge, who, after reading the case files, decided about the fate of Georg, the son of a witch and a thief.
- The audacious robbery of the city treasury, minor thefts of pigs from neighbors, and the fact of knowing about the dark practices of his mother.
- I find him guilty. The punishment must be severe so that others will think twice as to whether it is worth reaching for someone else. Therefore, I order the death penalty by beheading. Throw the carcass into an unmarked pit and cover it up, impose its head on a stake and place it next to his father's rotting head.
The sentence was carried out on the same day.
This is the end of the story that Lorenz Lewe began on September 14 with his testimony. As a result of his testimony, he and the whole Splittstosser family - Barbara, Peter, and their son Georg - said goodbye. In the trial of 1623, the "helpers" of the witch were tortured, but their testimony did not have a great impact on the investigation, and their guilt turned out to be so slight that after the testimony was written, "exceptionally" was sentenced to exile with a lifetime ban on entry to the areas belonging to the city of Chojnice, on pain of death.
There was little in this episode about witchcraft, so as a curiosity I would like to add that in 1661 the executioner from Chojnice, Hans Mölenbeck, famous for his exceptional efficiency, was summoned to the Prussian Friedland, where he was to be tortured to obtain testimony from a witch called Troiksche.
However, after entering the accused's cell and unfolding the tools he had brought with him, the executioner fell dead as if struck by a thunderbolt. A smile appeared on the accused's face as her body fell limp to the floor. A few weeks later, the accused was to testify that it was her helper demon who had killed the previous executioner.
Let me know if you liked it, maybe I'll look for something else in a similar atmosphere. After all, there were lots of witches in Poland, and the Inquisition had a special use in some places.
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