On 28 April in Łódź, Judge S. Krzyżanowska interviewed the person named below:
Roman Jan Szmidt-Madaliński, age 58, son of Ludwik Roman and Helena, resident of Łódź, 6 Sierpnia Street 22; merchant by trade, of Roman Catholic faith, no criminal record, relationship to the parties: none.
The outbreak of the Uprising caught me at Kazimierzowska Street 59 in Warsaw. In that house (as well as in a neighboring one), there was an insurgent post, from which attacks were launched on passing tanks and on the barracks at the junction of Kazimierzowska Street and Narbutta Street. On 2 August, in the morning (8 a.m. – 9 a.m.), I was in the shelter in the house in Narbutta Street. The insurgents had withdrawn from the area, warning us that the Germans would come soon.
Having gained access to the shelter I was in, the Germans ordered the children, women and elderly people to move outside. Then, they told the rest to leave. They cordoned off the entire group and took it to the barracks (Stauferkaserne). Meanwhile, the houses on both sides of Kazimierzowska Street were on fire, and in the street, there were a lot of corpses of civilians. Flammable materials were used to set the houses on fire. When I entered the barracks area, my attention was drawn to the segregation of the people there. On one side, men, mostly young were standing, their faces to the wall and their hands in the air. On the other side, there were elderly persons, women and children. This group (the residents of Kazimierzowska Street, Narbutta Street and Rakowiecka Street) was around 2,000-strong and it had been awaiting further orders for quite a while. All this was happening in front of the entrance to the barracks area, in a small yard from the direction of Rakowiecka Street. There were a lot of soldiers there, who were shooting above our heads from a machine gun.
After a few hours, all the men had been detained and all women and children released. They were told they could go home. Indeed, I know from my wife that the women and children did return to their homes. As the group was leaving, however, it was announced that in the event of any attacks on the German military, those who had remained would be executed as hostages. Consequently, all men regardless of age, had been arrested.
Our entire group was placed in a couple of rooms on the ground floor of the barracks complex. But earlier, whilst still in the yard, a group of mostly young men was selected from among us, which was then taken in smaller groups to Mokotów Prison and – so we heard – to the Gestapo in aleja Szucha. As I heard later, these people were executed. In this group, there was among others, Engineer Stefan Krupiński, whose wife currently works in the Widzew factory as a secretary to the board. I know from her that Krupiński never returned. I also remember the name Pankrac – he remained in the same group that I was in (his address is Łódź, Kilińskiego Street 224) – and Henryk Drozdowski, director of the Gdańsk Fair.
All these events took place on 2 August. The group sent to Mokotów Prison or to the Gestapo was around 150-strong. Next morning, we noticed plenty of bloody traces under the windows in the yard. An execution must have taken place there. We had not heard the shots, probably because the Germans had started their engines. In any case, we were in rooms which were completely blocked off from the outside.
I heard nothing about any possible subsequent executions.
I was in the barracks until 10–12 August. During that time, we were employed for internal work.
The food rations were skimpy, but women and children were allowed to bring us food in large common pots. One Gestapo officer terrorized us psychologically, threatening us that if the Uprising continued, the men would be used for dismantling barricades and executed if they mounted any resistance.
I was released from the barracks around 12 August because of my senior age. All the Germans in the barracks were with the SS. When I left the barracks, around one thousand people from my group remained there. I heard that the people from this group were being gradually released, except for the craftsmen, who it is said were kept until the end.
The house where I lived during the Uprising is currently still occupied by a considerable number of its old residents, who might provide more details. I recall the following names: Olak, Jastrzębski, Samulak.
I cannot remember any of the names of the Germans. The names Franckowiak and Patz are also unknown to me.
The report was read out.