Poznań, 21 April 1947
Składnica Chemiczno-Farmaceutyczna (Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Storehouse)
“Bedewu”
Władysław Biertumpfel, Stanisław Drabiński Sp. z o.o.
registered with the Trade Head Office of the Chemical Industry as
Chemicals Warehouse no. 25 in Poznań, Masztarska Street 7a
telephone 40-40
To the attention of:
District Commission
for the Investigation of German Crimes
in Warsaw,
Marszałkowska Street 8, flat 6
Having returned to my home in Poznań after a short Easter holiday spent in Warsaw, I found your letter to which I am presently replying; this explains the slight delay in my response.
At the beginning of August 1944, that is shortly after the Warsaw Uprising had broken out, the German Abteilung Wirtschaft office for the Warsaw district was transferred to Pruszków, where it commenced work consisting primarily in the evacuation of Polish industrial property from the Warsaw district, mainly to the Reich. During the occupation, the said Abteilung Wirtschaft office had been located in the Zamoyskich Palace at Nowy Świat Street 69.
In Pruszków, the building housing the Abteilung Wirtschaft was shared with a newly created office, the so-called Räumungsstab, which was headed by one Dr Rodig, and thus the office was known as Räumungsstab dr Rodig. This office also had a base in Warsaw, in Lilpop factory, which had been occupied by the Germans since the first days of the Uprising.
Towards the end of August 1944 (or at the beginning of September) representatives of the management board of the company “Fr. Puls” in Warsaw, myself among them, commenced efforts aimed at securing the assets of the company and saving them from deportation. This is why and when I gained a greater knowledge about the organization of German evacuation offices. The surnames of German officials at the Abteilung Wirtschaft with whom I came into contact were as follows: Schattauer, Dr Achner and Selters.
During the Warsaw Uprising, I lived at Aleje Jerozolimskie 95. This house was captured by the Germans in the late evening of 12 August. On the morning of the next day, 13 August, we were robbed and taken to the Western Railway Station in order to be transported to the camp in Pruszków. Along the way, in Piastów, I and a few companions in misery managed to escape; we were free. In light of the above I am unable to provide any information regarding General Eisenstuck, who, as I learned from your letter, was the commandant of Warsaw during the later period.
Since it is somewhat difficult to discuss exhaustively all of the issues touched upon and provide the entirety of the detailed information which is in my possession in the form of a letter, during my next trip to Warsaw (most probably around 10 or 15 May) I shall endeavor to visit the office of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes and report in person.
Yours faithfully,
Władysław Biertumpfel