HEALTH AND SANITATION DATA ON RADOM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A001600780004-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2003
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: July 21, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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SUBJECT
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Health and Sanitation Data on Radom
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
21 July 1953
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1. Radom was known for its leather industry and small arms production. It had
more than 30 tanneries producing all grades of leather, as well as a modern
small arms factory, a plant, and workshops for the manufacture and repair of
railroad cars, a factory producing telephone sets and another producing glass-
ware. The buildings in the town were mostly brick. Some were of stone. In
the suburbs one found frame houses. The principal streets were three-laned.
There were three parks, three sport and soccer stadiums, athletic fields,
bicycle and motorcycle :.race tracks and a large market place. The town had
several elementary schools, 7 high schools, and 10 churches. It suffered
little damage during the last war. Some bombed-out houses were later rebuilt
Almost all houses had electricity, but only about 20% had gas. In the year
1952, I would estimate the population of the city between 80,000 and 100,000,
and that the city covered an area of about 20 km. square..
2. There was no water transportation, for the Mleczna River, which flowed through
the city, was only eight meters wide and relatively shallow. The water of this
river was very dirty. I do not know the source or the mouth of this river.
3. There were four double-track railroad lines that served the city with freight and
passenger traffic. One line led north to Warsaw, which was a distance of about
105-km. Another set led east to Deblin (513.4N-2150E which was about 80 km.,,
and east to Lublin which weds about 135 km. The third set of tracks led in a
southwesterly direction to Kielce Z5_050N-2040EJ, Krakow, and Katowice. Th
fourth line led in a westerly direction to Tomaszow Mazowiecki Z5132N-2001EJ.
The highways leading to these various cities were mostly asphalt or of rough
gravel with tar. These highways were about three cars wide.
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There were no comn e :gal or passenger airlines, although oeveral
years ago there was some speculation on th. Installation of air
communication. There was an army airport-and an air f -,= ce school.
Community Health Conditions
5. I -do not know what the annual birth rate waF4, I would estimate that
there were about 20 births for every 1,000 people annually. 1 4. 0
not know the annual death rate, nor the infant mortality rate.:
I cannot give five leading causes of death, but one often heard
of such causes as cancer, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, and
jaundice. Of these, I do not know which ranked highest in cause
of death.
I do not know the total number of deaths from typhoid and para-
typhoid fevers, cholera, typhus, plague.,yell.ow fever, leprosy,
small pox, malaria, amoebic dysentery, bacillary dysentery. I
never heard of anyone dying of any of these diseases. During the
war, many died of typhus, but I cannot estimate the number.
Tuberculosis seems to be the most prevalent disease. I would
estimate that between, 20 and 25% of the people have tuberculosis,
but I do not know the total number of deaths during the past three
years. I do not know if there are any locally regarded endemic
diseases.
Water
8. The city had a public water supply system. The water was piped in
from Wisla River which is about 45 km. east of the city and from the
Radomka River which is about 15 km. north of the city. If the
water was treated with purifiers, I have never heard of it. The
water never had any taste of chlorine, for it was. always goods
to the taste. A filtering system was used where the water was
filtered through sand, gravel and other Ingredients. There was
one water tower to serve. the residents of the:,city. Factories and
railroads had their own water towers. Water was piped'into the homes,
and its maximum flow of pressure was 57 lbs. per square inch which
fact I learned when .1 was a member of a fire fighting squad.
I believe the public water system was adequate to furnish the
whole population, for. I never heard of a shortage of water. I do
not know what the daily water consumption was, but about 95%
of the population used the public supply. I do not know.how the
sanitary quality of the water was checked, but the water was safe
to use without further treatment such as boiling. In the spring,
however, in the months of April or May, signs were posted on the
streets stating that the water was to be boiled before drinking.
So bottled waters were ever used, and I have never heard of other
sources of water supply in use in the city.
10. The Health Department (Miejeki Wydzial Zdrowl.a) controlled the
slaughter of cattle. Meats sold in retail stores had to have the
stamp of the health department thereon. Butchers were not allowed
to kill their own cattle. These cattle had to be taken to the
slaughter yard for examination and killing. I do not know if the
fish were controlled by the Health Department. Fish were probably
controlled in the ports of Gdynia and Gdansk. Markets and retail
stores were periodically checked.by the Health Department. The in-
spectors were concerned with the cleanliness of d:'ihes, eating
.utensils, cleanliness of the merchants and the markets and .
stores in general. Bakeries were controll.ed the same way. Fruits
were not allowed to be sold on the streets or in open market places
for fear that they may not be Olean. Fruit wan only sold In shops.
Washing of fruits before eating was recommended.
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11. All milk -"as paste;.: ...d and r_-. -1..n liter bottles w eb were capped
and then addition . .w, :overed t a sans a ~_v *js.p,
_ ; =sae also
MI ",
41,
sold in hulk. Milk sold by ineivIdual far a :. in 1? however
was not pasteurized. i do not know the percentage of f? tale
which were tuberculin tested, and I do not know if any official
agency controlled the sanitary quality of milk,
12. The entire city was served by an operating sanitary sewerage system.
I do not know the ultimate disposal of the sewage. Human excreta
was not used for fertilizing land. Artificial fertilizers and horse
or cow manures were used. As far as I know, the drainage of surface
runoff had never been a problem. No special system was used. I
do not know if there were any storm sewers, but this could not have
been a problem, since surface water did not collect and stand after
a heavy rain. .
13. There was a general collection of garbage. The law stated that; all
garbage disposal units be either of brick or concrete. Garbage
was collected, I would estimate, once every two or three weeks.
Other refuse was also collected for this was disposed '.of :.inUe same,
container that held the garbage. The garbage was ultimately taken
to a sandy area, burned and buried. There was also a system for
the collection of dead Inimals. This was usually taken care of
by the dog catcher. Dead people were buried. No cremation was
practiced,
14. Pests, such as mosquitoes, flies, or lice were examined to to determine whether disease was being carried by them. For
;, `',;. ....,.
control of rats and mice, in the springy; and fall,
which), a department of the city placed a poison around many of the
homes. Signs of caution would be placed of these homes stating that
rat poison had been applied. Sample rats were. taken for examination.
Medical and Hospital Facilities
15. There were four hospitals in the city. One was an army hospital,
one a hospital for contagious. diseases, and two were general
hospitals. There was no cancer or tuberculosis hospital. Cancer
patients were sent to Warsaw or Gdansk. I do not.know the number
of beds in these hospitals. I do not know the number of charity
beds, but most hospitals accepted charity oases. Services'such as
medical, surgical, dental, nursing, and obstetrical were available.
There did not seem to be any shortage or lack of these services,
Drugs such as morphine and codein, and vitamin tablets such as B-i,
B-6, and B-2 were not readily available since these were smuggled
from England by members of ships' crews and then sold.
Local Health and Welfare Administration
16.
There were active divisions for the detection of tuberculosis.
Trucks mounted with X-ray machines went to factories and other
places of employment for the purpose of X-raying the employees.
This service, however, was not readily available for children or
for persons not employed. A child would be put on a waiting list
which would take as long as four months before it was X-rayed.
The people attributed the great incidence of tuberculosis that
existed to lack of proper diet and lack of soap in order to keep
clean. Soap was rationed to four ounces per month per person.
This four ounces included bath and laundry soap. Infants were
rationed a pound of laundry soap, in powder form, per month.
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17 . Venereal , sease of use controll .) by the Cooperative Clinic i cz~-
pieczaina Spoleczui ) per: o contracted this inease
de was gi ea books :wining
ti
on.
reported here for examina
to be treated until cured. There were also divisions of
sanitation. Pre-natal and infant care was handled individually
between the mother and the doctor. I do not know if there were
active divisions in maternity. I have not heard of child health
divisions or of social services for the follow-up of infectious
diseases. Cases of communicable diseases had to be reported
even though; the individual was allowed to be treated at home.
Vaccination was obligatory for all children. Immunization pro-
cedures as applied to the general public included annual injections
against typhus diseases. I do not know of other immunization pro-
cedures followed.
18. All hospitals accepted cases of charity, but I do not know the
circumstances under which these cases were accepted. There was no
public home for the aged. These people were usually cared for by
family or friends who were willing to help.
19. My personal opinion as to the-general conditions of the following
services is as follows: health conditions, fair; sanitation, fair;
available medical care, between poor and'Very poor; there were,
not enough drugs available, and even aspirin was at a premium;
dental care, poor, because of lack of.materials; hospital care,
poor. Theskill of the doctors or nurses was as good as could be
expected, but again there was the usual lack of materials. Because;
of the critical shortage of soap, many things, particularly bed
linen, lacked clg~anliness. The climatic effect on men, women, and
children was fair.
20. It is difficult to state what special precautions bad to be taken
in order to remain in good physical and mental health. If one had
enough living space, soap, meats, fats, flour, and fruits, the
physical and mental health would be good.
21. I do not know the education facilities available on the primary and
high school levels. Before the war, the facilities were good. The
teaching of English ranked with other foreign languages in the
following order: Russian, German, French,.English, and Latin.
Although the learning of English was neither stressed nor discouraged,
one could learn English for four years in a gymnasium and for two
additional years in. a lyceum. As to recognized colleges and universitJ
and facilities available, the years of attendance have dropped from
five to four years. Because of the no longer existing free
atmospheres in the universities, and because of increased government
control, the theory of various studies have been affected by the
Communist influence. I have heard that the technical facilities
in laboratories was lacking. The Polytechnical Institute in Gdansk
(Polytechnika Gdanska) specialized in ship building, ahip.,engines,
and electrical engineering. The Polytechnical Institute in Warsaw
(Polytechnika Warszawa) specialized in Electrical Engineering
and Architecture.
22. As to medical schools, I do not"know if special courses for
training in Public Health Work were given to doctors, dentists,
nurses, sanitary inspectorsor technicians. The most highly
recognized medical school was the Akademia Lekarska, which was
located in Gdansk-Wrzeszcz 5L23N-1837E7. I would estimate that
it had about 700 students, and I have Heard that the quality of
training was very good. I do not know of the teaching facilities,
nor of medical research and developments.
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