KAZIMIERZ PUCZYŃSKI

Warsaw, 29 November 1947. A member of the Warsaw District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Judge Halina Wereńko, heard the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Kazimierz Puczyński
Names of parents Daniel and Zofia, née Strzelczyk
Date of birth 3 March 1908, in Łowicz
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Place of residence Warsaw, Sarbiewskiego Street 2, flat 113
State affiliation and nationality Polish
Education engineer, Warsaw University of Technology
Occupation site supervisor

During the Warsaw Uprising I was a commander of the 104th Company of the Union of Polish Syndicalists. The company command was stationed in the Szlenkier factory at Świętojerska Street. On the night of 31 August/1 September 1944, in the vicinity of Podwale (I don’t remember the exact spot), I was buried under the rubble of a house which had been hit with a bomb and was collapsing, together with my deputy, Witold Potz (currently residing in Łódź, Żeligowskiego Street 40), and a liaison, Jadwiga Michalak, currently employed in Warsaw in the “Społem” at Kazimierzowska Street 47. When we got out, we stayed in the Old Town until the middle of October, hiding out in the area controlled by the Germans. At first we went into the sewers at Świętojerska Street, and we remained there for several weeks. When we recovered, we made ourselves a more comfortable shelter in Świętojerska Street. At night we would go out in search of food and water, roaming Świętojerska, Freta and Długa streets, and then also Bonifraterska and Ciasna streets. On the night of 3/4 September we met an elderly couple at Świętojerska Street 10 (I don’t know their surname). These people, about 70 years old, were hiding in the factory cellars. We learned from them that the civilian populace of the Old Town had been evacuated by the Germans.

A few days later (two or three) at the same place, in a burnt out cellar, we came across the charred bodies of these two old people. I think that their deaths were caused by incendiary grenades.

When we came from Podwale to Świętojerska Street, only a few houses were on fire, but a few days later I saw houses being systematically burnt from the basements.

I don’t remember the date, but it was at Ciasna Street, when I was seeking shelter in a house that had not been burnt out, that I saw with my friends how the arson was done. First, an armed German unit stormed in with dogs. When the area had been searched, some Russian-speaking German units arrived, and they began plundering the flats. Then the units of sappers would come and set the houses on fire.

During the night sorties I saw many corpses as I passed through various basements. For example, in Świętojerska Street, in the area previously controlled by the AL [People’s Army], I saw a dozen or so corpses of men and women with bullet wounds, lying in various positions, which testified to the fact that they had died a sudden death. In the basement at Ciasna Street (close to Świętojerska Street, but I don’t remember the number) I saw a few corpses of women and men with bullet wounds, also lying in various positions. I saw single corpses in almost every house through which we passed in Świętojerska and Freta streets.

During the first two weeks I heard the horrifying howling of people who had been buried under the rubble of collapsed houses. On about 15 September the shouts were no longer to be heard.

While we were in the sewers, during the day I constantly heard the barking of dogs, rushed steps, and the sound of shooting. I figured that the Germans were hunting for the residents hiding in the Old Town.

At this the report was concluded and read out.