WIKTOR OSUCHOWSKI

Warsaw, 11 March 1947. A member of the Regional Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, Halina Wereńko, interviewed Wiktor Osuchowski, named below as a witness. The witness did not swear an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false statement, the witness gave the following testimony:


Name and Surname Wiktor Ludwik Osuchowski
Date and place of birth 23 March 1879, Lwów
Education Doctor of Law
Parents’ names Roch and Antonina, née Hanke
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Place of Residence Warsaw, Rozbrat Street 10/14, flat 5
Occupation Deputy Director of the Gospodarstwa Krajowego Bank

During the German occupation I lived on Racławicka Street 128 in Warsaw in the officer colony, usually referred to as Fort Mokotów. Before the outbreak of the war I served as Vice-President of the Society of Friends of Fort Mokotów. Following the capture of Warsaw by the Germans, I sometimes spoke to the occupiers on the inhabitants’ behalf about various issues that concerned the civilian population such as, for example, allotments.

In September 1939, the Flughafen Commando was stationed in the Fort. One year before the outbreak of the uprising, General Doerfler was in command there. Several months before the uprising, in June 1944, Doerfler summoned the Fort’s inhabitants, several hundred in number, to inform them of how to behave during an air raid alarm. One more meeting regarding the same issue was held.

On 1 August 1944, after repulsing the insurgents’ attacks, a German officer, accompanied by an NCO, arrived at the house’s gate at 7 p.m. and ordered people to quit their homes during the night and come to the Fort. The Germans’ conduct was calm. As I spoke German, the Germans treated me as a guide of the local Poles.

At 9 p.m. German soldiers reappeared in order to find out why the civilians had not yet left their homes. They permitted us to take personal belongings and we went to the Fort’s dungeon. I don’t know whether other inhabitants were subjected to any violent treatment when they were being led out of their homes.

Having left my house, I noticed that the house that stood on the corner of Racławicka and Balonowa Streets was on fire. I heard that the house residents, including the Konarski family, were murdered by the Germans in revenge for the house having been used by the insurgents during the fighting.

On 2 August I discovered that four houses on Płatowcowa Street had been burned down, supposedly for military reasons. It was probably on 13 August, on Sunday, that General Doerfel left, as I heard, for Kutno. A Lieutenant Colonel was appointed commander of the Flughafen Commando.

On 20 August at about 10 a.m., people were removed from the dungeon to the transit camp in Pruszków. Women and children were transported in cars. I know that mass graves were discovered within the premises of the Fort. One grave was dug in my presence because, on Doerfler’s orders, I organized the burial of the insurgents who were killed in action on 1 August 1944.

At this the report was concluded and read out.