Warsaw, 23 July 1948. Judge Halina Wereńko, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person specified below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:
Name and surname | Józef Ignacy Maciejewski |
Names of parents | Karol and Antonina |
Date of birth | 17 March 1887, Krośniewice near Kutno |
Education | MA in mathematics and physics |
State of affiliation and nationality | Polish |
Place of residence | Warsaw, Grottgera Street 12 |
Occupation | teacher |
The outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising caught me in my flat at Grottgera Street 12. The area was in German hands from the outset. Before and during the Uprising, the command of the District Gendarmerie was located at Dworkowa Street 3. A few days before the Uprising, the school in Pogodna Street was taken over by the “Ukrainians.” I heard that on 4 August 1944, the gendarmes from Dworkowa Street executed civilians. The execution was carried out on the steps leading to Zajączkowska Street. On the same day (4 August 1944), around 2.00 or 3.00 p.m., I saw a few people running away from the direction of the steps and who were then killed by the gendarmes.
Around 15 August, German planes made the first airdrop of leaflets calling on the civilians to leave the city. The second drop was on 18 or 19 August. I enclose to the report such a leaflet, which I picked up in Grottgera Street.
On 23 August, around 6.00 p.m., the “Ukrainians” occupying the school in Pogodna Street forced out the civilians from Pogodna Street 2, 4 and 6, as well as from Grottgera Street 16, 14 and 12. When the residents left, the houses were set on fire. Our group was taken to the space between the houses at Pogodna Street 18 and Grottgera Street 2. There, the people were robbed and the Germans and the “Ukrainians” argued about whether we should be executed. We were taken to the yard of the school in Pogodna Street. At the same time, two men from our group were made to move an injured Ukrainian to Dworkowa Street. These men never returned and it was said that they had been executed. One of them was Stanisław Thugutt, a grandson of a well-known activist of the Wyzwolenie organization. Eventually, we were taken through Rakowiecka Street to the transit camp in Pruszków.
At this point the report was concluded and read out.