JANINA PALUCHOWSKA

Warsaw, 19 December 1949. Trainee Judge Irena Skonieczna, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, heard the person named below, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Janina Paluchowska
Date and place of birth 6 November 1913, Warsaw
Parents’ names Wawrzyniec and Ludwika, née Krokowska
Father’s occupation trader
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education secondary
Occupation snack bar manager
Place of residence Warsaw, Aleje Ujazdowskie 16
Criminal record none

From the very beginning of the Uprising I was a nurse at the field hospital of the unit commanded by Captain "Kryska". Initially, the hospital building had housed the Paid Work House for the Elderly at Czerniakowska Street, at the corner of Zagórna Street. Due to the lack of space and insufficient security, the hospital was soon transferred to the building of the school at Zagórna Street 9. The hospital was administered by Dr. Kubik and Dr. Nowakowski (I think that he is deceased). On 15 or perhaps 16 September 1944 before noon (I do not remember exactly) the school was occupied by the Germans – Wehrmacht soldiers. In the evening, after undergoing a thorough body search connected with the robbery of valuables, the entire medical personnel (the doctors and nearly all of the men had ran away) was led by the Germans to the highest floor; the wounded were left in the basements and on the ground floor. I can state with all certainty that the number of wounded exceeded 200. We stood on the upper floor throughout the night, under threat of death. On the morning of the next day the Germans pulled me and nurse "Iskra" – Stanisława Toska out of the group of women, and ordered us to carry wounded Germans on stretchers to the Ujazdowski Hospital. When we returned, no one from amongst the personnel and lightly wounded was present in the school at Zagórna Street. Only those who could not walk remained, approximately 80 people, without any care, food or medication, for these had been destroyed by the Germans. Not only Wehrmacht soldiers, but also the Gestapo men were present at the hospital.

After a few days, around 19 or 20 September, the Germans ordered the people (whom they had brought into the hospital from various houses in nearby streets) to leave the hospital. "Iskra" and I did not exit the building, for we did not want to leave the wounded completely alone. We hid under the beds. Some time later, towards the end of the day, in the evening, young siblings from the group that had previously been led out came back to the hospital. They told us that all of those who had been walked out, approximately 100 people, had been executed in the garden connecting the Paid Work House with the school.

I do not recall the surname of these siblings.

The Germans evicted the population of our area between 16 September and the day of the said crime. Executions were conducted in the garden on a daily basis. The Germans killed those whom they still managed to find in the nearby houses.

A few days after this terrible crime had been committed in the courtyard connecting the school with the Paid Work House, two Germans came to the hospital. They took me and one other young nurse from the hospital located in the "Citroen" factory. We were led to a basement in Solec Street. We figured out that the Germans had taken us in order to have some fun. However, this crime of theirs did not come to fruition, for in the evening another German barged into the basement and ordered them to get out immediately. We were thus left alone. Sounds of fighting reached the basement. We sat there for two days, afraid to leave, with no food or water. After this time we decided to make our way to the school at Zagórna Street. We had to pass through Idźkowskiego Street. It was in Idźkowskiego Street that I saw the traces of a mass execution. It was difficult to pass through this street, for dead bodies were strewn over its entire width.

I remained in the school at Zagórna Street until 28 September. [Then] the Germans ordered us to close down the hospital within 20 minutes. We carried the wounded to the courtyard of the "Citroen" factory. I think that we managed to carry all of them out. Toska was the last to leave, assisting a woman who had recently given birth. The Germans were supposed to have provided motorized transportation for all of the wounded from the "Citroen" factory. No vehicles, however, arrived. We had to convey the wounded ourselves. We could take only the lightly wounded.

At the present moment I do not remember which streets we used to get to Narutowicza Square. I know that we must have wandered around terribly, for we left the "Citroen" factory in the morning and reached the hostel in the evening. I remember that we crossed aleja Szucha.

I do not know what happened to the seriously wounded in the "Citroen" factory. The "Citroen" hospital was administered by Dr. Zawadzki, with the co-operation of Dr. Załęski (currently resident in Warsaw at Puławska Street 5, where he has an X-ray clinic). At the hostel, the Germans detached three or maybe more Jews from the men, among them Dr. Mieczysław Załęski and Dr. Zawadzki. These Jews remained at the hostel, while the rest of the populace was transported to Pruszków.

I think that these Jews were executed.

At this point the report was concluded and read out.