The Vampire of Krakow

In 1964, an unknown offender took to the streets of Krakow to stab elderly women in what appeared to be a string of senseless, unprovoked attacks. The victims had no connection to one another, nor were they robbed or sexually assaulted, leaving police with no obvious motive to go by. 

In communist Poland, censorship laws meant that violent crimes were mostly kept out of the newspapers, but Krakow soon became overrun with gossip that a knife-wielding attacker nicknamed “The Vampire of Krakow” was hunting the streets looking for defenceless women.

The pressure was on for police to make an arrest but with minimal evidence, they had little choice but to wait for the offender to strike again.