In August 1962, all the local and national newspapers were writing about this town near Wrocław. Several million złotys vanished from the local branch of the National Bank of Poland. This is the story of the heist of the century…
Debt
Wołów is a small town located approximately 40 kilometres from Wrocław. It was here that one of the most notorious bank robberies took place. The entire story happened quite some time ago – 19 August 1962. Yet the scale of the robbery and the sum stolen may still shock us today.
The origins of the robbery were rather prosaic. One of the residents owed a local taxi driver a considerable sum of money, and when the latter asked for it again, the debtor replied reproachfully: “What am I supposed to do? I guess I’ll rob a bank!” The thought remained in his friends’ minds. The acquaintances thought: why not? It was worth trying.
There was only one bank in the town – a branch of the National Bank of Poland. Although it was small, all the takings from nearby shops and workplaces were collected there. Let us remember that in the 1960s most of them were state-owned. The NBP also held money for the wages of employees of nearby enterprises. The sum held by the local NBP was enormous and worth attention.
The bank had poor security. Two guards took turns watching the building. From 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., there was no guard at all in the branch, which was already closed, while from 10:00 p.m. there was only one.
The press wrote, and still writes, about the Wołów gang. I think this is too strong a term for the perpetrators of the robbery. They had never had problems with the law before. Their thieving activity was merely a one-time affair.
The group consisted of:
- Mieczysław F. – owner of a television repair shop
- Józef S. – owner of a saddlery workshop
- Wiktor K. – taxi driver, who owned two taxis in the town.
Rudolf D. also joined the group – a bank employee and father of eight children, so the money obtained from the robbery would certainly have been useful to him.
This last member of the gang was an important element of the intricate plan. Thanks to him, the entire group knew what was happening in the bank. A turning point in the planned robbery came by chance. Three months before the robbery, the vault door jammed. Technicians called from Wrocław were unable to open the lock. It was therefore decided to gain access through the ceiling and open the armoured door from the inside.
Thanks to Rudolf D., information about the incident reached the other members of the group. The thieves decided to repeat the entire operation and enter the armoured vault in this way. Mieczysław F. became the group’s leader. He was clever enough to order his accomplices to paint all the assembled locksmith’s tools grey, so that they would not reflect light.
A Hot August Night
On 19 August 1962, the group of acquaintances carried out their intricate plan. The thieves sneaked into the stairwell connecting the residential section with the bank building. After the cleaner left, before 10:00 p.m., they hid in the basement. At 10:00 p.m., the guard Marian Stelmarczyk began his shift. When he began his rounds in the basement, the attackers assaulted him. At first he thought it was a joke, but when he heard, “This is a robbery, hands up!”, he realised that his situation was quite serious. The attackers laid the guard on a coat spread out in the basement and then tied him up securely.
The thieves went to the room above the vault to cut an opening and reach the money. The tension was immense. Breaking through the ceiling took two hours, while drilling through the safe took several hours. Some of them already wanted to give up and flee empty-handed. But the gang leader, Mieczysław F., had a pistol with him. It was old, from the war, but functional. He threatened that if anyone withdrew now, he would shoot them on the spot.
They succeeded. From the safe in the bank vault, they took two large sacks and several smaller ones filled with money.
What exactly was stolen? Above all, high-denomination banknotes — 500- and 100-złoty notes — as well as 20-złoty notes. Only the coins were left behind because they were too heavy. A total of 12,531,000 złotys was stolen from the Wołów branch of the NBP. For comparison, the average wage at the time was 1,680 złotys, while the minimum wage was 850 złotys. In the 1960s, a one-kilogram loaf of bread cost 5 złotys, while a block of butter cost between 16 and 18.75 złotys, depending on the variety. To buy a new Alga television, one had to spend 6,000 złotys. Thus, the stolen sum was enormous for those times.
The thieves transported the stolen money in one of their accomplice’s taxis. Outside the town, at an agreed location, they divided the loot and once again got into an argument. The group leader had to intervene again.
A Large-Scale Investigation
In the morning, when the cleaner arrived at work, she immediately became angry: “Damn it! That Gajo always brings his motorbike in here. There’s oil all over the place now.” To cover their tracks, the bandits spilled engine oil in the vault, hoping it would throw the dogs off the scent.
There was a large amount of spilled oil in the corridor and basement. Unaware of what had happened, the cleaner soon saw the tied-up guard. After helping him free himself, he ran to the militia station as fast as his legs could carry him.
The investigation got off to a flying start. Reinforcements were brought to Wołów from the surrounding counties. An investigative team from the Main Headquarters also arrived.
The guard was questioned first. There was a hypothesis that he might have been in league with the bandits. Unfortunately for him, the militia found bank sacks at his home. It turned out, however, that he had borrowed them for the harvest because he had nothing in which to pour the grain.
The investigators knew that one of the perpetrators had to come from inside the bank. The thieves knew the layout of the individual rooms too well and were aware of the previously cut opening.
They decided to use a ruse. The authorities spread a rumour that a currency exchange would soon be carried out. Although the entire operation would have been far more costly than the stolen loot, the ploy was partly successful.
The group of acquaintances decided to put more of the cash into circulation. They did not spend the money in Wołów County. However, throughout Poland, the numbers and series of the 500-złoty banknotes were known in most shops and restaurants. Those were the notes the thieves possessed mainly.
And It Was All Because of a Woman...
The group from Wołów travelled around the country more and more often, spending money. Once, during such a trip, the wife of one of the gang members noticed an elegant bedspread costing 250 złotys. She therefore took a 500-złoty note from her purse and returned to the shop. When she handed the high-denomination note to the saleswoman, the latter began examining it and realised that it was one of those that had been stolen. The woman herself aroused suspicion when she panicked and said to the saleswoman: “What, is it probably fake? Give it back. Never mind, I’ll tear it up. My loss.” This only confirmed the saleswoman’s conviction. She locked herself in one of the rooms and asked passers-by through the window to call the militia. The Wołów gang was caught. And all because of a woman’s whims…
An (Im)perfect Crime
The Wołów gang, as the group was later called, was arrested after the incident in the shop. They all immediately confessed. The trial began in December 1962. The main defendants even faced the death penalty. The office of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party demanded precisely such a sentence from the prosecutor’s office conducting the investigation. The prosecutor, however, assured everyone that there had been no pressure. Nevertheless, the gang members directly involved in the heist of the century received life sentences. Their relatives received several years in prison for aiding them. After several years, the life sentences were commuted to 25 years in prison, and eventually reduced to 17 years.
Today, most of the people involved in the robbery are no longer alive. Were they actually an organised criminal group? Probably not; rather, they were a group of acquaintances who came up with an unrealistic idea. It was also poorly executed, although some of their solutions were clever.
Does a perfect crime exist at all — or, in this case, rather a perfect offence? Theft is not considered a crime in the strict sense, although, interestingly, counterfeiting money is. Our expert in criminalistics, Dr Rafał Cieśla of the University of Wrocław, can help us. According to Dr Cieśla, the phenomenon of a perfect crime does not exist. Why? Above all, every criminal leaves various traces. Even the best, most intricate plan is only a plan. Things do not always go as someone has planned. In the age of modern investigative methods, a perfect crime is now merely a myth.
And what traces did the members of the Wołów group leave behind? Above all, a cigarette butt of the Sport brand. On the board on which the jack had been placed, the manufacturer’s name had been imprinted. This clue established that the jack had been purchased at Motozbyt in Wrocław. Tyre tracks remained on the road, possibly belonging to a Nysa, Żuk or Warszawa. Investigators opted for the latter vehicle. During the escape from the crime scene, this car hit a stone, leaving a scratch on it. A similar scratch was visible on the bodywork of the Warszawa. Most interestingly, the militia were looking for the Warszawa used during the crime, while taxi driver Wiktor K. was using precisely that car to drive militiamen to various operational activities. The taxi driver therefore knew the course of the investigation very well. Once, a police dog lightly bit the taxi driver, and its handler scolded it, saying: “Don’t you recognise your own?” In reality, the evidence was right under their noses, but only the criminals’ and their relatives’ carelessness led to their downfall.
Rudolf D., the bank employee whose colleagues did not give him away during questioning, also behaved surprisingly. He betrayed himself. He became absent-minded and nervous, arousing the suspicions of his co-workers and the militia. He too was arrested.
After the robbery of the Wołów branch of the National Bank of Poland, it was decided to strengthen security at the bank and organise its protection more effectively. The director at the time was also dismissed. As a result of the investigation, the militia recovered more than 11 million złotys.
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and history enthusiast, particularly passionate about the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he puts it: “Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning us and our ancestors.”
He adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an engaging way, not in the typical textbook style, full of dry dates and facts. The articles I present concern facts that cannot be found in textbooks or well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly interesting and fascinating, so it is worth devoting at least a short while to it from time to time.”