Warsaw, 4 May 1950. Judge [no surname], 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:
My name is Helena Zdanowska, née Woźniak [born on] 19 May 1908, Łaskarzew, Garwolin county housewife Klonowa Street 20, flat 26
When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was in my house at Klonowa Street 20. On the morning of 5 August, “Ukrainians” in German uniforms – drunk – appeared in our area. They had come from the Gestapo building in aleja Szucha. They ordered the entire population to leave, without allowing us to take any personal belongings. We were taken to the Gestapo building. There they separated the women from the men. The men were led out into the courtyard, already crowded with men from other houses and streets. Some of the men were led deeper inside the building. We, the women, were kept in the street. The Germans pulled out the younger women from amongst us (and some of the older ladies, too). They separated mothers from daughters. The selected women were led as a human shield for the tanks towards the barricade in Piusa XI Street. Late in the evening, three of the German tanks returned (two had been destroyed by fire), accompanied by only a few women. The rest had, in the main, run away. The Germans told us that the operation aimed at assisting German soldiers in houses in Piusa XI Street, who were surrounded by “bandits,” had been unsuccessful. We spent the entire night in the courtyard between the casino and the Gestapo building. Mothers with children were placed in a shed in the courtyard. Around noon on 6 August we were released through Litewska and Marszałkowska Streets into Zbawiciela Square, to the insurgent lines. The Germans told us that they would be detaining our men as hostages. The number of detainees was enormous – they came from all the streets in the vicinity of aleja Szucha. Some 20 men were taken from our house, including Dr. Krauze, Czesław Golański and Szymon Woźniak. Not one of them returned. The caretakers of houses at Flory, Bagatela and other streets, who were also taken to aleja Szucha, did not return either. None of them has given any sign of life to the present day.
At this point the report was brought to a close and read out.