Warsaw, 3 August 1946. Judge Antoni Knoll, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:
My name is Stefan Wiśniewski, son of Stanisław and Maria, born on 21 July 1886 in Warsaw, and residing there at Zamojskiego Street 34. Horticultural engineer, criminal record – none, relationship to the parties – none.
I am the manager of the horticultural section of the municipal board for the area of Warsaw South. The Paderewski Park falls within my sphere of management. During the occupation I also administered horticultural works conducted in Paderewski Park, and even resided there for the entire duration of the War. In May 1941 the Germans started to fence off the park from the side of Kamionkowskie Lake, along its eastern border. The wires were tied on wooden or iron posts. Local residents would pull out the wooden ones and [take] them for firewood. The Germans then put up posters warning to the effect that if any [posts] were taken, hostages would be seized and shot if the damage recured. This was towards the end of May 1941.
I don’t know whether any were indeed taken and shot.
I would like to state categorically that during the period from the end of May to the beginning of June, no more damage was perpetrated in the park. The [fencing] was carried out by the ‘Todt’ organisation with the assistance of [other] civilian labourers. At the time there were no military facilities in the park. This was in a period when fencing was being put up throughout Praga, most probably in order to […]
The report was read out.