KATARZYNA MAŁYSZKO

26 January 1950, Warsaw. Trainee judge Irena Skonieczna, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Katarzyna Małyszko, née Sadowska
Date and place of birth 5 May 1897, Topolany, Białystok district
Parents’ name Adam and Anna, née Choćko
Father’s profession blacksmith
State affiliation and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Catholic
Education 4 grades of elementary school
Occupation manual worker
Place of residence Bracka Street 18, flat 4
Criminal record none

At the moment when the Warsaw Uprising began, I was in my house at Bracka Street 18. Many pedestrians who found themselves by chance in our area and who were taken by surprise by the Uprising, wanted to return to their own places. Some tried to get through Aleje Jerozolimskie to the other side. However, these attempts usually ended in death, for the Germans, who were staying in the building of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, shot at everyone who appeared in the street. Until 11 September 1944, I stayed in the house at Bracka Street, at the corner of Aleje Jerozolimskie.

I heard from the insurgents that the Germans would drive civilians in front of their tanks, and in such situations the insurgents wouldn’t fire at the tanks. At the end of August 1944, the Germans were for a few hours in control of the house at Bracka Street 20. During this time, as I heard, they murdered the Brzozowski family – mother, daughter, and son, who hadn’t managed to escape before the Germans’ arrival. On 11 September 1944 I was passing by the barricade at Widok Street 9. After being wounded on the way, I was taken to the hospital at Bracka Street 23. I stayed there until the end of the Uprising, that is, until 2 October 1944. After the insurgents surrendered their weapons, we were taken to the transit camp in Pruszków.

I saw no other German crimes in this area.

At this point the report was brought to a close and read out.