ZYGMUNT BOCIAN

Warsaw, 23 January 1946. The investigating judge, Alicja Germasz, heard the witness mentioned below. The witness was warned of the criminal liability for false testimony and the meaning of the oath. The judge took an oath from him, and then the witness testified as follows:

Zygmunt Bocian, aged 36, son of Stanisław and Marianna, residing in Warsaw, Majdańska Street 18 flat 2; Occupation: turner; religious affiliation: Roman Catholic; no criminal record.

Before the uprising in Warsaw, I worked in the "Bielany" factory under German management. A week before the uprising, I was forced into hiding because I was wanted by the Gestapo due to my allegedly inappropriate behavior towards the German factory authorities. In connection with the this, I found myself in Praga, where I hid in various places one after the other. Between 24–27 August 1944, I was staying at Tadeusz Surgiewicz’s place in Golędzinów (Praga). The windows of the apartment overlooked the Jewish cemetery. Standing in the window, hiding behind the curtain, I saw the following incidents: on 24 August 1944, at 7:30 p.m., a car drove up in front of the Jewish cemetery, four Gestapo officers (uniformed) got out and dug two pits in the cemetery. Two Gestapo men remained in the cemetery, two of them left by car. After a few minutes they returned, and four people got out of the car: a priest, a woman, a little girl and a woman. These people were led by two Gestapo officers who brought them to the pits that had been dug there. One of the Gestapo men shot each of them in turn in the back of the head as they stood over the pit. When they fell to the ground, the Germans immediately threw them into one of the dug-out holes and barely covered them with earth. Then two Gestapo men remained and two of them left by car. After ten minutes they returned, carrying the next batch of people: a woman and three men. In the same way, they shot those people and threw them into the second pit.

The next day, on 25 August, again at 7:30 p.m., the same car pulled up at the same place. Four Gestapo men and three civilians got out. The Gestapo men took those men to the cemetery grounds and told them to dig a hole (about four hundred meters from the holes dug the previous day). Then the Germans ordered them to lie down in this pit and one of the Gestapo men shot the men with his revolver as they lay there. They then lightly sprinkled some earth on the pit and drove away.

On 26 August, the same car came twice to the same place (before noon and in the afternoon). The four Gestapo men who drove in it dug up two or three large pits in the cemetery with the help of some random passers-by.

On 27 August, a covered truck arrived at the same place at 7:30 p.m. Eight Gestapo men with automatic rifles got out of it, then they took five people out of the car (three men and two women) and ordered them to approach the dug-out holes. These people shouted loudly: "Help!", "Oh, Jesus". Two men began to run away. One of them was shot by the German just above the pit, while the second one managed to get a few steps further away. They fired a salvo from an automatic rifle at the other three people. Then they threw everyone into the pit and went to the car for the next batch. The next five didn’t want to get out. I heard screams, crying, and the Germans shouting Raus. Finally, the Germans led them out, and just beyond the cemetery gate, before reaching the dug holes, they fired a salvo at them from a machine gun. All the people were killed. Then the Germans returned to the car for the last batch who, like the previous ones, didn’t want to get out. There were more screams and cries. Again, when the final five (men and women) left the car, the Germans herded them to the cemetery and immediately past the gate shot them with a salvo from a machine gun. Then, all those who had been shot were dragged into the dug-out pits and they threw them in haphazardly, lightly covering them with earth.

I add that the above incidents were also witnessed by the following:

Ryszard Krawczyk, residing in Warsaw, Majdanska Street 18 flat 13;

Henryk Surgiewicz, residing in Warsaw, in Golędzinów;

Tadeusz Surgiewicz, residing in Warsaw, Majdanska Street 18 flat 17.

The report was read out.