The thirteenth day of the trial, 23 January 1947
(After a recess).
Presiding judge: The Tribunal has decided to admit as evidence the documents revealed during today’s proceedings. Please summon witness Orzeszek. Has the witness been sworn in?
Witness: I have.
Presiding judge: I advise the witness of an obligation to tell the truth and of criminal liability for making false declarations.
Witness Władysław Orzeszek, b. 1897 in Warsaw, resident of Warsaw, Szwedzka Street 7, chairman of the General Board of Tanners’ Association, no relationship to the parties.
Presiding judge: I would like the witness to briefly present what he knows concerning the case.
Witness: As the war broke out in 1939, we were united in trade unions. After the war started, in September (I do not remember the exact date), as a result of military operations, the house at Leszno Street 23 where we were headquartered was destroyed. In that house, we used to go about our organizational and professional business. After the Germans entered Warsaw, the premises of our union was plundered. I do not exactly know why it was plundered, but when I talked to the then chairman Dąbrowski (?), I learned that nothing remained of the library which used to be run by Mr. Modzelewski. Of course, the value of these items was around several thousand zlotys. We realized that after the Germans entered Warsaw we could not defend the workers’ rights and salaries.
Presiding judge: Were trade unions retained by the occupying authorities?
Witness: No, they were disbanded. Then, the workers asked the more active members of the union what they should do because the conditions created by the German occupation were catastrophic. After the Germans entered, the Arbeitsamt [employment office] was set up. People were hired for different jobs on unacceptable terms. If we bear in mind that a worker made a maximum of five zlotys a day for an eight-hour shift, and the price of bread was between five and eight zlotys, or even upward of ten zlotys, then it is clear that it was unacceptable for the worker. There were workers who did not want to go for labor but the German administration forced them. Those workers who refused to work for this salary, because they could not get by, were deported to Germany. Those who remained tried to manage somehow – let me mention the shop on Kowelska Street where shoemakers, saddlers, etc. worked; they also tried to sell their old and new items on the free market, thus saving their own lives.
The place was periodically searched, sometimes less and sometimes more forcefully, and a worker who was removing old broken soles was beaten. I can recall one Pilatowski, who was beaten so severely that he died four months after he was released from jail – all this because he was saving his life and the lives of his children, trying to keep afloat.
The German administration did not appoint persons with whom we could discuss the issues of salaries and working conditions, setting the terms unilaterally instead, so that no minimum livelihood was guaranteed.
No leaves were granted, juveniles under 15 were used for labor, and during round-ups children were taken to Skaryszewska Street. Maybe, at a stretch, they could be identified, but I did not know that I would be testifying concerning this issue today.
Presiding judge: With regard to the actions of the German administration, testimonies from other witnesses have been heard and the Tribunal is familiar with this matter. You are just stating that the trade unions were disbanded, welfare legislation was not respected, and neither was an eight-hour working day.
Witness: It was not respected in the case of Polish workers, but if it was German workers, then it was indeed respected.
Presiding judge: They would hire children.
There are no further questions. The witness is excused.