STANISŁAW PARAPURA

Warsaw, 9 May 1968. Assistant public prosecutor Zbigniew Grędziński, delegated to the District Commission for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes in Warsaw, heard the person named below as a witness, without an oath. Having been warned about the criminal liability for giving false testimony, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Stanisław Parapura
Parents’ names Jan and Antonina
Date and place of birth 2 May 1895, in Pruszyn, Siedlce county
Place of residence Warsaw, Wileńska Street 5, flat 25
Occupation retired
Criminal record none
Relation to the parties none

During the German occupation, I was the concierge of the building at Wileńskiej Street 5, Warsaw. On the first day of the Warsaw Uprising, that is, on 1 August 1944, I was an eyewitness to the Nazis shooting at the windows of the building where I was the concierge. That’s when I saw one of the Nazis shoot at a window on Wileńska Street 5 where Mr. Dąbrowski’s sister was standing. She was seventy years old.

I don’t recall the name of Dąbrowski’s sister.

I cannot say what the Nazi who committed this crime looked like or what division he came from.

On the third day of the Uprising, that is on 3 August, around noon, the Nazis started banging at the gate of the building where I was the concierge. At that time I was forced to open the gate for them. After opening the gate, a dozen or so Nazis dressed in German military uniforms entered the yard.

However, I cannot say what Nazi division these German fascists were from. Some of them stood in front of the gate, some stood in the gateway, and most entered the yard. The Nazis looked at the windows of the building. They asked me if there were any Jews in the building, to which I replied that there were no Jews. In fact, in the building where I was the concierge, many Polish families were hiding Jews at that time. I was perfectly aware that if the Nazis found any Jews hiding in our building, they would have shot all the residents.

One of the Nazis knew some Polish and spoke in Polish. They issued the order that all men residing in this building should immediately come out into the yard. The Germans threatened that if all the men didn’t leave and come down to the yard straight away, a search would be carried out and any man found in any apartment would be shot. Therefore, all the men in the building at Wileńska Street 5 of Polish nationality went out into the yard. Then the Nazis ordered them to stand against the wall and raise their hands. They told me to go and find shovels right away and other tools necessary to dig pits. I found some shovels and an ax and, following orders, handed these items over. Although I didn’t hear this personally, the Nazis were saying that a German officer had been killed in front of the building’s gate and that all the men in the building would be shot. Then, the Nazis led all men out onto the street. I remember that nine or ten men of Polish nationality were brought out, all residents of our building. When I was taken to the street, I saw some women crying. From among those brought out, I remember only the following names now:

Zygmunt Rzeźnicki, currently residing in Warsaw, Wileńska Street 5, flat 49 Franciszek Krakowiak, currently residing in Grochów, in Osiedle Młodych My son, Mieczysław Parapura, currently residing in Warsaw at Środkowa Street 11, flat 23.

A few hours later, on the same day, all the men whom the Nazis had taken away earlier returned home. My son also returned. The men who returned later told me and other people that the Nazis had taken them out and led them over to the church, where they were forced to dig pits and bury several dozen men murdered earlier by the Nazis.

I have read this report personally and I hereby sign it as being truthful.