STEFAN FESTEN

6 May 1946, Warsaw. Investigative Judge Halina Wereńko, delegated to serve on the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness. The witness has been advised of the criminal liability for making false statements and of the significance of the oath. The witness was sworn and testified as follows:


Name and surname Stefan Jan Festen
Parents’ names Bolesław and Maria, née Heyman
Date of birth 10 March 1906
Occupation court legal trainee
Education University
Place of residence Warsaw, Niemcewicza Street 9, flat 164
Religious affiliation Catholic
Marital status Married
During the U prising, in the period between 11 and 14 August 1944, I was assigned to the

platoon of the Polish gendarmerie at Lwowska Street. At the time, I interviewed Ratajski, who had been brought to our station. I don’t remember his name. He was the son of Cyryl Ratajski, the first Government Delegate for Poland, and had managed to get to the city along with another man from the German side.

I interviewed him about his work for the Gestapo and his experiences of the past few days. He said that during the last days prior to the outbreak of the Uprising he was in the prison at Rakowiecka Street, and on 1 August 1944 he failed to get out of it. After bringing the situation at Rakowiecka under control, the Germans reputedly shot the prison guards and took the prisoners to the Stauferkaserne. Ratajski reported that he had witnessed a great number of executions which the Germans carried out there. He said that he, as a Gestapo worker, and his friend, who he vouched for, were the only people who survived. They were then escorted to Aleja Szucha.

I don’t remember his friend’s name. He said he was a railroad worker. Slim, of short height, he had a small black moustache. After his interrogation, Ratajski was referred to the Special Judicial Committee and, as I heard, executed by firing squad. I don’t know what happened to his friend.

At this the report was concluded, read out and signed.