ANDRZEJ MIRECKI

Warsaw, 14 December 1949. Irena Skonieczna (MA), acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, heard the person named below as a witness, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Andrzej Mirecki
Date and place of birth 3 August 1895, Pękoszew near Łowicz
Parents’ names Andrzej and Franciszka, née Mikołajew
Father’s occupation farmer
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education rudimentary
Occupation merchant
Place of residence Warsaw, Idźkowskiego Street 3/5, flat 2
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was at home at Idźkowskiego Street 4. We stayed in the basements of that building for some six weeks. Around the 17 or 18 of September [1944], I no longer remember the exact date, our house was occupied by the Germans. Until that day there had been insurgents in our house, but they were forced to withdraw under strong pressure from the Germans.

The Germans occupied our house. They arranged themselves in double file along the staircase and ordered everyone to exit with their arms raised. The young married couple Bercholc were killed on the stairs immediately after exiting the basement. When we came out into the street with our hands raised, the Germans did not stop shooting. They ordered us to walk in the direction of Zagórna Street. I myself was wounded in my left hand, which I held to my temple.

The Germans ordered us to proceed to the school at Zagórna Street 9. We were walking over bodies – literally. There could have been some 400 of us in the bunker. I suppose that one half of the people died on Idźkowskiego Street.

I remained in the school at Zagórna Street for a few days. There was an insurgent hospital in the basements of the school building.

After two days we – that is the healthy and those who could walk – were led to the Western Railway Station, and from there transported to Pruszków.

I do not know what happened to the wounded in the hospital. Following the Uprising, in the spring of 1945, the Polish Red Cross conducted an exhumation at Idźkowskiego Street.

At this point the report was concluded and signed.