SALOMEA PUDEŁKIEWICZ

Warsaw, 28 March 1950. [Janusz Gumkowski], 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:


Forename and surname Salomea Pudełkiewicz née Gasperowicz
Date and place of birth 17 February 1905, Bogdany, Dźwińsk county
Names of parents Kazimierz and Donata née Gasperowicz
Father’s occupation farmer
State affiliation Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education elementary school
Occupation housewife
Place of residence Szwedzka Street 39, flat 48
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was at home at Szwedzka Street 39. For the first two weeks of the Uprising we were not allowed to walk around in the streets. The Germans would fire machine guns at anyone who appeared in the street. On the first or second day of the Uprising they killed a woman at the corner of Kamienna and Szwedzka streets. The nearest German units armed with machine guns were from the 36th Regiment, at 11 Listopada Street, quartered in the lineman’s building above the tracks. Wehrmacht detachments were stationed in Schicht Factory at Szwedzka Street. When we were no longer allowed to use the streets, Polish men worked there all the time. They lived in the factory, for they were not allowed to go to their homes for the night. The Germans treated them quite well.

On 29 August 1944 the Germans started taking men from our whole area. They had set up an assembly point at the corner of 11 Listopada and Ratuszowa streets. By and large everyone obeyed the German order, for they announced that if they found any man in our area who had contravened the instruction, he would be shot on the spot.

Already in September, I do not remember the exact date, women were also taken from our area. However, not all of them gave themselves up to the Germans. The penalty for women who disobeyed the order was not as severe as the one threatening the men. Among others, I ran away from the assembly point and remained at home until Soviet forces entered our area.

The Germans took some of the people in the direction of Modlin, and others to Warszawa- Śródmieście. Of the latter, not many returned.

I did not hear about any crimes committed in our area.

At this point the report was concluded and read out.