Warsaw, 29 January 1946. Judge Halina Wereńko, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness, without taking an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Stefan Józef Ziółkowski |
| Parents’ names | Stanisław and Franciszka, née Szymankiewicz |
| Date of birth | 4 June 1924 |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Place of residence | Warsaw, Nowogrodzka Street 18, flat 11 |
| Education | vocational school for locksmiths and mechanics |
| Citizenship and nationality | Polish |
| Profession | militiaman |
During the Warsaw Uprising I took part in an operation under the code name ‘Bógejones’, which was conducted in Muranów. Our unit, under the command of lieutenant ‘Szary’, was tasked with securing Pokorna Street, the warehouses at Stawki Street, and the customs chamber at Inflancka Street 6.
On 13 August 1944 our unit withdrew, occupying a section of Muranowska Street from Sierakowska Street to Przebieg Street. It occurred on a few occasions that the Germans sent messengers from the civilian population, calling upon the residents of houses occupied by insurrectionary forces to leave Warsaw. On 16 or 17 August (I don’t remember the exact date) a small group of civilians walking from the end of Sierakowska Street in the direction of the railway station was shot upon by the Germans. I saw a few dozen people fall. This incident was also witnessed by a certain officer cadet (I don’t know his surname), they called him ‘Zygmunt’ and he lived at Inflancka Street 1. During the night from 20 to 21 August the unit withdrew to the Old Town, while ten colleagues and I – among others Jerzy Bielski (I don’t know his address), Bronisław Kaczyński (deceased), Wiesław Królak (residing at Pokorna Street 22, plots), Edwin Ziółkowski (residing at Nowogrodzka Street 18) – were having our resting period; we were sleeping in the cellar and nobody told us about the retreat. On 21 the area was occupied by German detachments, and the eviction of civilians from the neighbouring houses commenced. My colleagues and I changed into civilian clothes and exited together with the civilian population. I saw that the people were being thrown out of their houses by the Gendarmerie, SS men, and ‘Ukrainians’ in German uniforms; the latter had shields with yellow borders on their sleeves, with some sort of inscription in the middle.
The civilian population from Muranów neighborhood were gathered in the warehouses at Stawki Street. The commandant of this point was a young, broad-shouldered, dark blonde man in an SA uniform (a sandy-coloured uniform, with the SA badge sewn onto the left sleeve, and a tall cap). We were arranged in a line and the SS men looked through our documents, asking each and every person whether he or she was healthy and would like to work, setting such people aside to a separate group. I found myself in the group selected for work. The group of those unfit for work included, among others, Bielski (father), Czesław Gańko, and Bronisław Kaczyński, and I also saw a few elderly men. Our group was led to the courtyard and ordered to load wagons. I saw that the group of those who had not been selected for work were told to lie down with their heads against the warehouse wall, and later, at around 16:00, were led away somewhere in small groups. The fate of these people remains unknown – as far as I know, not one of them has been located. On 22 August our group was taken to St Wojciech’s Church in the Wola district. There I met people who had been marched in after our group (I don’t know their surnames), who told me that they had been ordered by the Germans to bury a large number of bodies from the courtyard at Dzika Street 17.
At St Adalbert’s hospital an SS officer selected a group of young men, among them myself, Edwin Królak’s, brother and Bielski (son), to carry ammunition to German soldiers at the front line. I met many other men who were being used in this way by the Germans.
Towards the end of September I managed to get on a transport to Pruszków, from where I was taken to the concentration camp in Dachau.
At this point the report was brought to a close and read out.