STANISŁAW MAZURKIEWICZ

Warsaw, 15 March 1949. Judge Halina Wereńko, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Warsaw, interviewed the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the obligation to speak the truth, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Stanisław Mazurkiewicz
Date and place of birth 25 April 1895 in Warsaw
Parents’ names Jan and Antonina, née Olejniczak
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Religion Roman Catholic
Education elementary school
Occupation laborer
Father’s occupation laborer
Place of residence Warsaw, Olesińska Street 7, flat 9
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was at Olesińska Street 9 in Warsaw. On 2 August 1944 a few German soldiers burst into our house, and on the ground floor, in the flat of the Sobolewski family, they shot Sobolewski, Kacperski and his small son, and Podstawek, for no reason whatsoever.

At the time there were no insurgents in our house.

The German soldiers came from Puławska Street and withdrew in the same direction. Before leaving they also set fire to the shop on the ground floor.

On 4 August a detachment of German soldiers, mainly “Ukrainians”, came to our house and ordered everyone to come out. I left the building amongst a group numbering a few dozen people. In the street I saw a great many armed German soldiers. One of the “Ukrainians” removed my watch from my hand. It was just past 12.00 p.m. We were led with our arms raised to the basement to the right of the entrance to the house at no. 5. People from Grażyny and Olesińska streets were already there. I recognized acquaintances from the houses at nos. 5, 7, 11, 13 and others. The German soldiers threw three grenades in through the window from Olesińska Street. I heard screams and groans. The basement was terribly crowded. Somebody tore out the window bars from the side of the courtyard and I escaped into the courtyard together with the others. There were a great many bodies there. The Germans were shooting into the courtyard from machine guns set up at Puławska Street 51, as I managed to determine.

After half an hour, when the noise had quieted down somewhat, I passed through the fence to the garden, and from there to the house at no. 9 Olesińska Street. While running, I noticed that the German soldiers were stopping the fleeing men and shooting them on the spot. The women were stopped and detained. Later, when I was in the house at no. 9, I heard a loud detonation, and on the next day I saw that the house at no. 5 had collapsed. I continued to hear individual shots until the evening of 4 August. On that day I also saw that many of the buildings in Olesińska Street were ablaze. On the next day I managed to get through to the insurgents in Wierzbno.

At this point the report was brought to a close and read out.