Warsaw, 28 March 1946. Judge Stanisław Rybiński, delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the significance of the oath, the Judge took the oath, following which the witness testified:
| Name and surname | Jan Delingowski |
| Date of birth | 19 June 1888 |
| Parents’ names | Adam, Aniela née Barańska |
| Occupation | AGRiL official |
| Place of residence | Kabaty, post office: Wilanów |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | none |
From the year 1934 until the Uprising’s outbreak in Warsaw in 1944, I was the head of Population Records Office in the City of Warsaw. After the occupational authorities had been established, the Population Records office as well as the whole Municipal Board were subject to the German starost’s jurisdiction, whose post was taken by Ludwik Leist in mid-1940. Direct control over the office was exercised by one of the Leist’s associates – Becher. After his resignation, the police, to which our office was subject, was taken over by Dr. Betke and later Major Kilian of the SS.
I didn’t encounter Leist once. I only know that he had the title of SA Brigadeführer. I had encounters with Becher, Dr. Betke and Kilian, as mentioned above. To what degree Leist was involved and responsible for Becher’s (I don’t know his first name) actions, I do not know. Nevertheless, it was possible that Becher – his deputy –functioned independently. Dr. Betke was the head of police, a department subject to Leist’s direct authority. Finally, SS Major Kilian was not Leist’s subordinate, he was in charge of the police presidium which was liable to the district’s head, Fischer, or to the Gestapo, situated at Szucha Avenue 25, directly in the neighborhood of the Gestapo’s headquarters.
Allow me to provide a description of the specific proxies of the occupational force that supervised my department. Becher was a fierce Nazi, a vindictive and vicious person. He used every opportunity to harass the members of the Polish Municipal Board. There was an incident when some text was printed in the city printing house without having gone through German censorship, and Becher ordered the arrest of Kaczyński, the head of the printing house; Dr. Wągiel, the General Division director; his deputy, Jerzy Wertun; and Mayor Kulski. After two days they were set free though, seemingly by Leist’s orders. Becher was stout, medium-height, plump face, dark hair, about 50 years old. Dr. Betke, a man of limited intelligence, hated Poles with all his guts. His bad temper made him even more dangerous. According to my knowledge, Dr. Betke was one of the initiators of the Treblinka camp, and he issued the most orders sending Warsaw civilians there in comparison with Leist’s other functionaries. I learned from Olga Januszewska, a department official, that Dr. Betke had Polish servants at home whom he treated very badly. He sent one of his female servants away to Treblinka for some minor offense (I don’t know why exactly). What happened to her later, I don’t know. A Polish janitor, moved from Municipal Board to the German police headquarters, barely avoided Treblinka, where Betke was intending to send him. I don’t know the reason. Seemingly, it was for beating the carpet in a wrong way or something like that.
During his tenure, Becher was residing in Blank’s Palace. Betke was there too, initially, and then was moved along with the police board to Czackiego Street 14. Betke was around 50, he was above medium-height, balding, with grey hair on the sides of his head and a red, plump face.
SS Major Kilian was a clever, cunning man, careful and secretive, ruthless in his demands and fully expecting his orders to be executed scrupulously. Obviously, he was the fiercest Nazi. He took part in the ghetto’s liquidation and personally ordered the synagogue in Tłomackie Street to be blown up. Becher and Dr. Betke, mentioned above, were just puppets compared to him. He also oversaw public executions in the street of Warsaw. He was the deputy of the SS General Kutschera and he had his personal office in Ujazdowskie Avenue 23 or 25, and his office was in Szucha Avenue, where he had it moved to from Czackiego 14 Street. Kilian was around 32-33, he was tall and dark, with greyish hair, slim, thin face, dark eyes, blushed cheeks.
An official, Olga Januszewska, whom I mentioned above, knew Nechwilla – Dr. Betke’s and Kilian’s secretary– well, and we learned about their tendencies and moves through her. Presently she goes by her husband’s surname, Girejkow, who recently worked in the Ministry of Industry in Koszalin. I don’t know the first names of Becher, Betke and Kilian.
But I do remember a case of lawlessness on Becher’s account. He came to the Municipal Board in 1941 with a demand to deliver a quota of furniture from private Jewish apartments. When the Municipal Board wasn’t able to meet that demand quickly, Becher – in writing, but in a very rough manner – ordered mayor Kulski to deliver furniture for two rooms from Kulski’s private apartment.
The report was read out.