Warsaw, 11 June 1946. Judge Antoni Knoll interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:
My name is Feliks Krawiecki, son of Stanisław and Emilia, born on 26 August 1900 in Pieczyska, district of Grójec, a labourer by profession, Roman Catholic, criminal record – none, resident at Okęcie, aleja Krakowska 32.
On the morning of 9 January 1943, I was at Kazimierza Wielkiego Square. I was approached by my son Zbigniew, whom I asked where the rest of the children were; he replied that my 10-year old Krystyna was playing with them near the Karol Boromeusz Church on Chłodna Street.
When I returned home after an hour or so, I saw a bunch of children who told me that several of the kids playing near the church had been shot and wounded by the Germans. I proceeded to the location and learned that the children had been laid behind the wall separating the Ghetto, in the backyard of a house (I think it was number 4), near a shed in which coal was stored.
I enlisted the help of some soldier who knew Polish and happened to be passing by, and asked the gendarmes who were guarding the premises to let me take those children who were still alive, but I was unsuccessful.
Then I walked to the corner of Żelazna and Chłodna Streets, where there was a sentry post, but they would not let me through either, instead telling me to go to the next sentry post, at the corner of Żelazna and Leszna Streets. I did not achieve anything there, either, and was driven away with rifle butts. From there I proceeded up Leszna Street in the direction of Wronia Street, where there was a German office in which higher ranking officers worked. I was unsuccessful there as well. And so I walked up Krochmalna Street to the VIIth State Police Precinct. There, after the constables communicated with other precincts located at the gates of the Ghetto, I was informed that they knew nothing about any children being killed.
I therefore returned to the corner of Żelazna and Leszna Streets, and started asking once again for them to let me have my child. Since they did not want to comply with my request, I acted on the advice of a Jewish militiaman and as early as Saturday went to the Ghetto entrance gate, directly opposite the Jewish cemetery, and there in the dusk I spotted a large wagon with high sides and a rear wall leaving the Ghetto. Making use of the inattention of the gendarmes, who were at the time searching Jews returning from work, I looked inside the wagon from the cart driver’s side and saw the children laid down with their feet arranged towards the rear of the wagon, heads forward; they were placed one on top of the other, while on the very top I saw the body of a 24- or 25-year old man.
At my request a sergeant of the Polish police stepped onto the wheels of the wagon and determined that one of the children was still alive. However, there was nothing that we could do.
A moment later the wagon was driven into the cemetery, and from there we heard two shots – clearly, the child that was still alive had been finished off. On Monday, 11 January, following continued requests on my part, a decision was taken to give me my daughter’s body, and I brought her home on the same day. Initially I knew neither what had caused my daughter’s death, nor where she had been killed.
Only some time later, at Pańska Street near Żelazna Street, did I meet a boy, eleven or so years old, who was in the bunch of children that died on 9 January – since he was only wounded in the head and leg, he managed to slip from under the bodies and escape. According to his account, the course of events was as follows.
The children were playing near the church. Some time later, they were approached by two gendarmes, who led them to the backyard, near the coal shed. There they started to hit the children. After a while the senior gendarme left, while his junior colleague lined the children up near the coal shed and started shooting them with his revolver. An inspection of the bullet that I removed from my daughter’s right hand showed me that they were shot with a small arms weapon, 5.65 mm calibre.
I do not remember the surname of the boy.
This is everything that I know in the case.
The report was read out. At this point the interview was closed.