ADAM RZESZOTARSKI

Warsaw, 16 May 1949. Mgr. Norbert Szuman, member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, 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 Adam Rzeszotarski
Date and Place of Birth 6 February 1903, Kutno
Parents’ Names Bronisław and Melania née Żeromska
Father’s Occupation farmer
State Affiliation and Nationality Polish
Religious Afiliation Roman Catholic
Education duża matura and military schools
Occupation white-collar worker
Place of Residence Ciechanów, Kilińskiego Street 24
Criminal Record none

The outbreak of the Uprising caught me in Marymont on Marii Kazimiery Street, at my headquarters. I was in command of the insurgent unit “Marymont.” In this area the insurgents were to attack the buildings of the old Gas School on Gdańska Street, which were occupied by a German battalion.

Once our assault collapsed, the German troops set out to burn the wooden houses on Marii Kazimiery Street using incendiary projectiles. At dusk they ceased fire, which made it possible for me to start an operation to extinguish the fires. Then, approaching from the direction of Bielany, “Ukrainian” patrols, led by young German officers, began looting the area, setting fire to the houses they could get to. They also killed some civilians – on Jana III Street, for example, (I cannot remember the date, the address, or the names) a rich merchant, along with a number of other people, was killed; some girls, dragged into a school near the Central Institute of Physical Education, were raped and then murdered. Our patrols found their bodies in a nearby field. Women from the neighboring houses, having recognized the murdered girls, said that they had been captured by the “Ukrainians”.

On 14 September 1944, the Germans launched an assault, supported by heavy artillery fire, tanks, and flame-throwers. Units made up of “Ukrainians” took part in the assault under German command. Heavy weaponry units were made up only of Germans. The assault was led by a Wehrmacht major (I cannot remember his name). In the afternoon of 14 September, the Germans seized control of Marymont as far as Potockiego Street, killing civilians and setting houses on fire on a large scale. I moved my headquarters to the “police houses” on Drużbackiej Street, from where I could observe what was happening in Marymont. Screams could be heard coming from that direction. Fleeing civilians provided information about the atrocities committed by the troops and about people being transferred to Pruszków.

When it got dark, after the German troops had moved towards the Vistula, I went along with a medical patrol towards Marii Kazimiery Street. At the street’s exit, in front of the so-called “palace,” we came across a pile of murdered civilians, mostly women and children, around 25 in number. Among them, I found the bodies of my wife and son. The wounds suggested they had been killed with a machine gun. We took some of the bodies with us and returned to Żoliborz. The following day, 15 September, on Bieniewicka Street, in the house standing on the corner of Bieniewicka and Gdańska streets, 18 civilians, mostly women and children, were murdered. A commission appointed by the insurgent authorities arrived at the crime scene the following day. Its members informed me of what had happened and even presented me with photographs of those murdered; this time handguns were used.

I can remember that during my stay in Żoliborz, some liaisons (young girls) were executed by SS-Men from the Gas School on aleja Wojska Polskiego. Information about this execution, which took place on the eve of the Żoliborz surrender, was included in the Newsletter published in Żoliborz. Following the surrender, when the insurgent units were being taken captive by the SD, insurgents were beaten and robbed of their watches and jewelry, the wounded were subjected to inhuman treatment, women were brutally searched. The wounded, who for want of space were laid on top of each other, were given neither help nor water.

At that the report was concluded and read out.