FRANCISZEK PTASZEK

16 February 1950, Warsaw. Judge Janina Skoczyńska, 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:


Name and surname Franciszek Ptaszek
Date and place of birth 20 June 1898, Borowe, Grójec district
Parents’ names Franciszek and Zofia, née Bębenkowska
Father’s occupation laborer
State affiliation and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Catholic
Education 4 grades of elementary school
Occupation janitor
Place of residence Warsaw, Koszykowa Street 59, flat 35
Criminal record none

At the moment when the Warsaw Uprising began, I was in the house at Koszykowa Street 59, where I stayed throughout the Uprising, that is until 6 October 1944. The area enclosed by Noakowskiego, 6 Sierpnia, Mokotowska, Hoża and Emilii Plater streets was occupied all the time by the insurgents. The nearest German positions were in the Post Office building at Nowogrodzka Street and at the Polytechnic, which was taken over by the Germans in mid- August (I don’t remember the exact date). St. Barbara’s Church also remained in German hands, and so did some houses on Emilii Plater Street.

On the day of the surrender, that is on 2 October 1944, the residents of the area occupied throughout the Uprising by the insurgents began to leave their houses and go in the direction of Wawelska Street and the Western Railway Station. Up to 6 October, that is by the day on which I was leaving Warsaw, the Germans had committed no crime against the civilian population in this area. People were leaving their houses of their own accord. I was walking through Lwowska and 6 Sierpnia streets. At Pole Mokotowskie I saw burned bodies. From the hospital on 6 Sierpnia Street we walked through streets filled with German soldiers. We were told to go through Wawelska and Kopińska streets to the Western Railway Station. In the evening we were put on trains and taken to Pruszków.

I haven’t heard of any crimes committed by the Germans during the Uprising.

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