JÓZEF WIEWIÓR

Warsaw, 15 December 1947. Judge Halina Wereńko, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named 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 Wiewiór
Names of parents Franciszek and Franciszka, née Smolaga
Date of birth 14 June 1904, Goszczyn, Grójec county
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
State affiliation and nationality Polish
Education elementary school
Occupation shopkeeper, shop owner
Place of residence Warsaw, Opaczewska Street 24, flat 6

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was in my flat at Opaczewska Street 15. Before 1 August 1944, a Wehrmacht unit had been stationed in the school adjacent to the Zieleniak. On 1 August the insurgents attacked the school, but without success. On the morning of 5 August, the Wehrmacht unit withdrew to the south, taking the furniture and everything from the warehouses. At around 8.00 a.m. I looked through a window on the second floor of our house and saw units in German uniforms marching along the roadway from the direction of Okęcie. Their uniforms were worn. I later determined that the soldiers were speaking in Russian. I saw them throw an object (I later learned that this was a grenade) near the house at Grójecka Street 104.

The units marched into Opaczewska Street and, starting from number 32 and going down to number 2, threw out the residents and set fire to the buildings. The displaced people were not allowed to take anything with them. The first groups were initially taken to the allotments, and around noon to the Zieleniak. I and the other residents of the house left the building at Opaczewska 24 of our own accord, for the “Ukrainians” had set it on fire. This was around 3.00 p.m. The “Ukrainians” robbed the people of valuables. I myself had my “Cyma” watch, wedding ring, 30 thousand zlotys in cash and various smaller items stolen. They beat up me and other men for no reason. Three female residents of our house: J.[...] T.[...] (currently living near Raszyn, in the village of Grocholice), [...], and a third one, whose surname I do not know, were raped by the “Ukrainians” in the burning house, and later joined our group in the Zieleniak.

I stayed in the Zieleniak until 9 August 1944, when a few transport columns were formed and taken to the Pruszków transit camp. During my last day in the Zieleniak, before the transports left, the “Ukrainians” detached a group comprising other nationalities which was taken separately.

At this point the report was concluded and read out.