Warsaw, 23 May 1946, Judge Halina Wereńko, 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 swore the witness in accordance with Art. 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The witness testified as follows:
Name and surname | Justyna Paulina Czyżewska née Giza |
Names of parents | Franciszek and Adela née Bekier |
Age | 60 years old |
Occupation | living with sister |
Education | secondary school |
Place of residence | Warsaw, Mickiewicza Street 37, flat 24 |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Criminal record | none |
My husband Jan Czyżewski (born in 1889), a graphic artist by profession, worked in the Security Printing Works during the German occupation. He belonged to an underground organization whose purpose was to fight the Germans.
Both of our sons are also dead now, killed in guerrilla warfare.
On 17 or 18 November 1943, in my absence, four Gestapo men came to our flat at Barcicka Street 34 at midnight. They asked where we kept the weapons and even said that they would not arrest my husband as long as he handed over the weapons. They conducted a detailed inspection, during which they stole a whole suitcase of things from my mother, but found nothing of interest to them.
I underline that there really were weapons hidden in our flat, but the Germans did not find them. They hit my husband, told him to bring down the things they had stolen from us, and left, taking him away.
Sometime later, a package for my husband was accepted at the police station on Krochmalna Street, hence I know that he was held in Pawiak prison.
Later, I read on a notice that on 3 December 1944 [sic] my husband had been executed. I did not learn any more details about him.
On the same night as my husband, my sons’ friends were arrested from their homes, Witek Stypułowski and the other one – Leszek, whose surname I do not remember. Their surnames were also on the notice with [the surname] of my husband.