ADAM KURYŁOWICZ

On 13 June 1946 in Warsaw, Deputy Prosecutor Zofia Rudziewicz interviewed the person specified below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Adam Kuryłowicz
Date of birth 21 December 1890
Names of parents Bronisław and Anna
Place of residence Warszawa, Karska Street 1
Place of birth Kłyżów, Nisko county
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Occupation employee of Polish State Railways [Polskie Koleje Państwowe – PKP], president of the trade union
Education secondary technical education
Criminal record none

When the Germans entered Warsaw, I was a retired employee of the state railways and a member of the Central Committee of Trade Unions [Komisja Centralna Związków Zawodowych], as well as a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Polish Socialist Party [Centralny Komitet Wykonawczy Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej – CKW PPS].

After the appointment of the German civil administration authorities, a regulation was issued, signed by Fischer, regarding the suspension of operations of trade unions and similar institutions. The only organization that had the right to exist was the Polish Red Cross. The Central Office of the Trade Unions was located on Czerwonego Krzyża Street. The district officers confiscated its entire assets, and the assets of the Trade Unions of Railwaymen, together with buildings, were transferred to the board of the Eastern German Railways. From that moment on, the official activity of trade unions ceased, but the underground activity continued.

I stayed in Warsaw until my arrest on 5 March 1941, and I am able to tell what the German attitude towards the world of labor during that period was. The Germans did not observe social legislation at all. 1) The eight-hour working day was not observed, and a worker was forced to work for as many hours as he was told to, in which overtime work was not remunerated. 2) The principles of occupational hygiene and safety were not observed; the institutions of labor inspectors were liquidated. 3) Holiday leaves were annulled. 4) Children older than fourteen were covered by the obligation to work; a district resolution was issued in this respect. The administrative authorities bear liability for this, since they were responsible for the organization of labor and production in the Warsaw district and exercised supervision over labor and production.

Workers’ wages were set in special regulations of the district. These standards could not be exceeded even in private enterprises. In German enterprises, even the statutory wages were not paid. Average remuneration of a worker during the period from 1939 until March 1941 was equal to four zlotys a day. A worker would only receive food ticket rations, around four hundred grams of bread a day, rarely any sugar; no fat or meat was distributed. It was impossible for a worker to survive on these rations. He was, however, unable to purchase food products at market prices due to his low wages. Privation and diseases spread among workers. The death rate among children was horrifying. Fischer bears responsibility for this, since the district was in charge of the distribution of food. German policy was clearly aimed at the extermination of the Polish population.

Germans organized mass round-ups in order to deport people for forced labor to the Reich.

Workers were deprived of the ability to defend their rights, since assemblies and strikes were prohibited, and any signs of dissatisfaction were severely punished. A witness who can confirm this is Piotr Gajewski, a member of the Regional Council of Trade Unions [Okręgowa Rada Związków Zawodowych] (residing at Targowa Street 15).

There were mass arrests among activists in the labor movement; by March 1941 dozens of distinguished activists were detained, for example Karol Neubauer, the president of the trade union of the power plant workers; Władysław Wtorkowski, president of the assembly in the Association of Railwaymen, and many others. I was arrested on 5 March 1941 by the Gestapo. I was accused of being a member of the Communist party. Having spent five months in Pawiak prison, I was sent to Auschwitz, from which I was released upon the entry of the Soviet troops.

It is symptomatic that during the period when the Germans were propagating slogans of restructuring Europe, together with Soviet Russia, in accordance with Socialist principles, I was convicted for being a member of the Communist party.

Fischer is directly responsible for my arrest and for sending me to the camp, since the entire police and the Gestapo in the Warsaw district reported to him.