False rumours spread that the boy, Henryk Błaszczyk, was to be subjected to ritual murder.
The news triggered a series of assaults against the city’s Jewish residents.
The Kielce Pogrom was carried out by Poles on 4 July 1946, ten months after the official end of the Second World War.
Some 40 people perished in the massacre, and the crime prompted thousands of Jews who had survived the war to emigrate.
Police and soldiers, accompanied by an angry mob of hundreds of locals, surrounded a building occupied by members of the Jewish community. Waves of violence broke out shortly thereafter.
Some Jews were murdered within the building, while others were dragged out into the street and beaten by the mob. Nine death sentences were later handed down to some of those accused of taking part in the murders.
Polish Radio’s Marta Rebzda looks into the story in her latest radio documentary titled “Pogrom”.
“Each day, I would leave the house to buy bread,” recounts eyewitness Ryszard Janiszewski. “I went out onto the street and saw a man run and tell passers-by that at Planty Street a boy had jumped out of a first-floor window in a building inhabited by Jews. He allegedly did it to save his life, because the Jews wanted to kill him, draw his blood, and all other sorts of ridiculous things. Back then I didn’t give much thought to whether it was logical."
Professor Jan Śledzianowski, a priest and the author of a book called Pytania nad pogromem kieleckim (Questions concerning the Kielce Pogrom), says: “People were walking down the Sienkiewicza thoroughfare [in the city centre] and the communist authorities directed them to the building located at 7 Planty Street.
“When we reached the building, we heard shots fired inside. We – this group of people – we ran down to the river and jumped in to hide from the bullets. After a while the shooting died down and so we went up to the building."
Testimony by survivor Hanka Alpert reads: “The army surrounded the house, but they did not disperse the civilians gathered around. In the meantime, a second lieutenant approached the head of our [Jewish] Committee and ordered that anyone who possesses a weapon must turn it in, and so they did.
“At one point, several soldiers entered a flat on the second floor, where some 30 people were residing. The soldiers began hitting everyone with rifle butts and drove them out onto the courtyard.
“One of the men didn’t want to give away his watch, so they shot him – they hit him in his right collarbone. Then they battered him with their boots. At the same time, several soldiers took off their uniforms, their caps, and began shooting at the civilians standing in front of the committee. Soldiers standing outside started panicking that the Jews were allegedly firing shots at them. We had barricaded ourselves in one of the rooms. We heard the soldiers demanding that we open the door.
"When they came in, they ordered all the men to come out. They searched everybody, taking away money, watches, rings, and so on. Then they led them out onto the courtyard in front of the building. Some were killed on the spot. Some were killed, some were heavily beaten, the rest who weren't injured as much managed to escape inside. The soldiers were hitting them mostly with rifle butts.”
Eyewitness Eugeniusz Skuza said: "At some point when the crowd stepped away from the building and the soldiers managed to bring the crowd under control and told them to move away, a young woman in advanced pregnancy came out to the balcony on the southern side of the building with her arms raised, signalling surrender. A soldier started shooting at her, I think he must have gotten an order to do so because I do not think he would have done it by himself. She fell to the ground... It was very, very sad.. even when I think about it now. Why? I asked, why is someone shooting at an unarmed woman? It was so, so... [sobbing] as a religious man I feel that it was a crime. This is not the way one should behave but, oh well, history has its own rights."
Eyewitness Ryszard Janiszewski said: "People were throwing stones here, breaking those windows... then the soldiers came running to the door, a dozen or so of them plus some civilians, they forced their way into the building and the massacre started... they started throwing people through the windows from those balconies. I spotted one of the bodies on the ground moving, the man wanted to stand up and sit but a few men jumped out of the crowd and simply killed him, they kicked him to death.”
Another eyewitness said: "I would like to appeal now to all people who cannot think logically, who are somehow stupefied by propaganda, one does not even know how. I would like to appeal to them to actually start thinking and realise that the whole thing was indeed perfectly orchestrated. What's more - why did it take place in Kielce? First of all, when it come to the partisan movement and its power of operation and resistance - I am sure these were the strongest wartime operations in the Kielce region. I am sure they were aware of the fact that this is a strong resistance centre, which is why they have to strike here, to carry out a pogrom here, to massacre a group of Jews here in order to prove that this is the most terrible nation in the world - those from Kielce! I am saying that I feel very sorry for the Jews, their families and so on that they experienced such hell here in Kielce. By the same token, however, one has to face the facts and admit who was the conductor of this funeral orchestra of crime and who led it. These things have to be told. I am sure neither General Anders nor members of the Freedom and Inpedendence Association or the Home Army did this. It was the SB - the Communist security forces and the NKVD.”