Harrowing images taken from inside Poland’s incest house of horror have revealed the dingy basement where depraved Piotr Gierasik allegedly threw the newborn babies of his own daughter to die while they continued their four-year relationship.
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, are facing life in prison for murder and incest after the remains of three infants were discovered at the property in the village of Czerniki, in northern Poland, last week.
Police had conducted a visit at the property after receiving a disturbing tip-off from social services, but while combing the property for evidence discovered a filthy stench emanating from a basement inside the house.
Upon further inspection, they made the horrific find – the rotting corpses of three children who had been tossed into the pitch-black pit.
Two of the babies were stuffed in plastic bags and buried in a shallow grave in the soft ground beneath the house. A third – believed to belong to another of Piotr’s daughters – was simply left to decompose.
Inspectors were forced to pick their way along a dank corridor crudely held together by cement and crumbling brickwork before lowering themselves into the gloom to make their gruesome discovery.
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, allegedly dumped all three of the incest-born children in their basement
Two babies were buried in shallow graves in the basement, while a third is understood to have been left in a bag
The infants were found in the basement of their family’s home in Czerniki, northern Poland
Paulina Gierasik, 20 (pictured), was arrested along with her father Piotr after the babies’ remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property in the village of Czerniki
Piotr was allegedly in a sick incestous relationship with his daughter for four years
Locals interviewed by local media told how the father and daughter were in a relationship for four years and ‘walked around hand-in-hand’.
Colleagues of Paulina at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa have now told how her father ‘shaved her head so that other boys wouldn’t look at her’ and that she looked up to him ‘as if he were God’.
The father and daughter – who are said to have ‘lived like a couple’ – were each charged with multiple counts of murder and each of incest.
Paulina’s colleagues said they became suspicious that she was pregnant after she started to wear large, loose-fitting clothes. She then took three weeks off work but returned a week later.
One fellow shop worker told the Super Express newspaper: ‘We all guessed she was pregnant, I think she had tied belts around herself like a sort of corset.
The front door has been shut as Polish police continue their investigation
According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father
Prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby
Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died
The tiny rural village in the middle of northern Poland has just 180 residents
‘When she returned early from her holiday the change was visible. She was much thinner, weaker, and constantly tired.
‘When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it.’
Another local told Fakt newspaper: ‘They lived like a couple. She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand.
‘A few months ago, he shaved her head so that other boys wouldn’t look at her.
‘She looked up to him as if he were God.’
Addressing the arrests earlier, Mariusz Duszyński from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk said: ‘The woman has been charged with two counts of murder and a charge of having an incestuous relationship with her father.
Czerniki’s citizens have been accused of holding a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over the allegedly known relationship between the father and daughter
Unconfirmed reports say that one of the bodies wrapped in a black plastic bin liner was about three weeks old at the time of death
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, are facing life in prison for murder and incest
Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues
‘The man was charged with three counts of murder, a charge of incest with his 20-year-old daughter, and a charge of having incestuous relations with another daughter.’
According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father.
The third baby was from a relationship he had with another daughter after forcing her into sex.
The prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby.
Grażyna Wawryniuk from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk told the Polish Press Agency: ‘Our system’s data shows that in recent years, proceedings have been conducted regarding abuse of other family members.
‘Even earlier, proceedings were conducted on suspicion of incest.
‘All these proceedings were ended at the stage of the prosecutor’s office due to the lack of data sufficient to justify the suspicion of committing the offences.’
She added that prosecutors would now re-examine the previous evidence.
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services. One of Paulina’s work colleagues is reported to have alerted social services after seeing a ‘disturbing’ text message the 20-year-old had sent to her father.
Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died.
The house where the remains of three newborns were found is seen in this general view
Czerniki is just 50km (31 miles) away from Gdansk
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died
A family friend has said that Piotr Gierasik who lives off social benefits used to beat his former wife.
Described as a ‘loving and caring’ mother, the friend told Fakt newspaper that Hania, who died 15 years ago on 18 September, was regularly abused by her husband.
The friend said: ‘She was a caring mother and a very good woman.
‘But he was picking fights with her every day. The whole village could hear him shouting at her. Hania was regularly beaten up.
‘He had sex with his daughters when Hania was alive, she was not able to defend them.
‘She was never sick, but suddenly she lost weight, her hair fell out, she was hospitalised and never came out alive, her death was never explained, I don’t believe she just died like that, she was only 38 years old.
‘Hania was very important to her daughters, the children regularly visit her at the cemetery.’
One local told the Super Express newspaper: ‘The father was left alone with the children.
‘There are a lot of them, ten or twelve, the oldest ones have already left.
‘Piotr made a good impression. The yard is neglected, but he installed new windows in the house.
‘There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms.
‘Just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home.’
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland, September 16, 2023
Police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house
But other locals told Fakt that while he ‘seemed calm’ he ‘had the devil under his skin’.
It comes as the small town of Czerniki – with a population of less than 180, located 50km from Gdańsk – has been accused of holding a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over the allegedly known relationship between the father and daughter.
Locals said they ‘always suspected something was wrong’ with the family.
One neighbour said: ‘We often heard him shouting at the children. His verbal abuse was shocking. Sometimes we’d hear one of girls screaming.
‘What people say now is that he used to go for walks with them. Maybe he did, but the whole village knew that something like this was happening.
‘It’s a tiny village, so everyone knew about these things.
‘Around ten years ago, the police were told that he was sleeping with one of his daughters. But after they investigated they couldn’t find any concrete evidence.
‘The older daughter, who we suspected he had slept with was so scared she refused to say anything.
‘He [the father] has such a personality that everyone in this village was afraid of him. That’s why this case didn’t appear for so long’.
‘She later moved away, as did many of his other children. There were about twelve of them.’
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland
A neighbour of the older daughter told Super Express: ‘She now lives in our village.
‘She has a decent husband. As far as I remember, everyone said that she ran away from that father.
‘If I were her husband, I would kill that monster. If someone hurt my wife like that, I would kill him too.
Police have so far discovered the remains of three babies buried in the family’s house.
Unconfirmed reports say that one of the bodies wrapped in a black plastic bin liner was about three weeks old at the time of death.
Katarzyna Matyszczak, the manager of the confectionery shop where Paulina worked, said: ‘Everyone was gossiping about it.
‘His youngest daughter Paulina is a beautiful girl. Everyone said she was pregnant. So I asked about it directly.
‘She denied it. One of her friends didn’t believe it. I won’t say who, but she was the one who informed the relevant services about the whole matter, because she suspected that she had given birth to a child.’
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died. Meanwhile, police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house.
Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues.
