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Tomek was a small child when his parents separated. His father, Tadeusz W., quickly found a new partner, a young teacher named Ewa T. The three of them lived in a dormitory because Tomek's guardians were still studying.
Neighbors often heard what was happening behind the closed doors. They even saw the peculiar set of rules that Tadeusz W. had hung "for educational purposes." According to the students, the severest punishment awaited Tomek for lying. However, the six-year-old was also beaten for minor offenses.
The students did not interfere in Tomek's family situation. No one reacted to the peculiar rules because in the 1980s, many people believed that physical punishment was normal. The Ombudsman reminds us that the constitutional ban on corporal punishment has been in place in Poland since 1997 and was only incorporated into the Family and Guardianship Code in 2010. Because of this, the police had limited means of intervening in cases of parental violence.
Tomek's guardians effectively hid his bruises, so few people knew how severe the violence against the little boy was. One day, the six-year-old was beaten from dusk till dawn because he struggled to put a cover on his blanket. According to a famous report by Mariusz Szczygieł, which brought this case to light in "Duży Format," Tomek was not allowed to cry or scream. If he made a sound resembling a scream, his guardians would take up a belt. It seemed that the violence in this family had no end until Tomek's death.
She asked Tomek how he would solve the shoelace problem. The boy did not know how to answer
In 1982, Tomek lost a shoelace. The next day, Ewa T. did not let him go to kindergarten because he had not bought a new one. When she returned from work, she demanded that Tomek tell her how he would solve the shoelace problem. The boy had no idea what to do. Ewa T. then took a military belt with a buckle and started beating him. This lasted for an hour.
After this time, Tadeusz W. returned home. Tomek was in terrible condition. When he saw his father, he tried to call him over with his finger and ask for help. However, the man chose to ignore his son. The way Tomek tried to communicate with his father displeased Ewa T., who began beating the boy again as punishment. When the beating finally ended, the child went to the bathroom. As he walked toward the door, Tomek decided to pet the dog. This too displeased Ewa T., who hit the boy in the face.
Tomek took a long time to answer his stepmother's questions. He didn't know how to solve the shoelace problem. The woman beat him intermittently. Only after several hours, when Tomek was already exhausted, did he manage to give the correct answer—he told Ewa T. that he would buy new shoelaces with money from his piggy bank. Only then did the beating stop.
Tomek was in a tragic state. After everything, he managed to change into his pajamas and lay down to sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep. After a while, Ewa T. lay down next to Tomek. Renovations were taking place in her room, so she couldn't sleep in her own bed. That night, Tomek begged the woman for some water. However, the stepmother had no intention of bringing it, and when Tomek's pleas began to irritate her, she threatened him with the belt.
She killed the child, but she could still teach in school. All according to the law
When Ewa T. noticed that Tomek was in bad shape, she sent Tadeusz W. to fetch a doctor. When the paramedics arrived and saw the child's battered body, one of them fainted. It was already too late for Tomek. The doctor who signed the autopsy report stated that she had never encountered such a case of sadism.
Tomek's guardians stood trial. Their testimonies were shocking.
"I came up with the rules. Tomek never asked to be spared from punishment. She beat him hard, always made him undress and lie down. Because, your honor, you can't beat otherwise. The child has to undress and lie down," said Tadeusz W. in court.
"I broke a plate on his head because he didn't wash it properly. He just put it under the tap and wanted to put it away," Ewa T. responded when the judge asked about the scar on the boy's head.
Tadeusz W. and Ewa T. were found guilty of Tomek's death and were sentenced. Tomek's stepmother was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but she was released after 10 years for good behavior. Another 10 years later, her conviction was expunged, allowing Ewa T. to be listed as having no criminal record. This meant she could work in a school. Thus, she became a math teacher and catechist.
TVN24 reports that although Ewa T. committed murder, the existing law allowed her to conceal this crime.
Currently, the court can impose a lifetime ban on working in professions related to upbringing, education, or treating children, but only in cases of a sentence of imprisonment for a crime against sexual freedom or morality committed against a child
- explained lawyer Dariusz Pluta, a specialist in criminal law. This means that the employer did not even have to know about the brutal murder she committed. According to journalists' findings, Ewa T. provided the school principal, where she later taught, with a certificate of no criminal record. All this was in accordance with the law.
Ewa T. spoke to students about faith in God. She also boasted about giving out failing grades
The NaTemat.pl portal indicates that Ewa T. became known in the teachers' lounge for her love of rules. The one she implemented in her classes stated that students in the classroom could not make any sounds. Furthermore, the only allowed pen color was blue, and a student who, for any reason, did not hear the teacher, immediately received a failing grade. Ewa T. boasted that she enthusiastically gave out failing grades.
"I have no qualms about issuing reprimands and failing grades, in issuing very good grades too. I believe that only the eleventh reprimand or the ninth failing grade can sober a student," Ewa T. said in the school newsletter. In an interview with students, she also confessed that she was deeply religious and attended church almost every day. In her youth, she had considered joining a convent.
Ewa T.'s career did not end with teaching at school. Over time, she became an expert for the Ministry of National Education, helping to create many educational programs that were widely implemented.
Some parents defended Ewa T. "She may be a poor teacher, but a WONDERFUL PERSON"
When the media publicized Ewa T.'s case, news of her past also reached her students. It turned out that not everyone considered her strict. "Gazeta Wyborcza" writes that many students and their parents were surprised when they learned that the woman had been convicted of murder. Some were worried about her, and others were outraged that they learned the truth from newspapers. They felt that such information should be appropriately conveyed to the youth.
Ewa T. had students who liked her very much. They considered her extremely understanding and warm, and they had never heard of the rules she had implemented. While not everyone liked the teacher, even those who didn't sympathize with her did not describe her as strict.
"I didn't like that woman, it was hard for me to get along with her. But our children often repeated: 'She may be a poor teacher (in the sense of explaining things unclearly), but a WONDERFUL PERSON,'" wrote a mother of Ewa T.'s students to "Gazeta Wyborcza."
After the "Śliczny i posłuszny" ("Pretty and Obedient") report by Mariusz Szczygieł was published in "Duży Format," Ewa T. resigned from her job at the school, and the ministry removed her from the list of experts. In an interview with Polsat News, the teacher stated that the report contained false information.
