MARIA DYMERSKA

Warsaw, 26 April 1950. Janusz Gumkowski, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:


Forename and surname Dymerska Maria, née Bielińska
Date and place of birth 30 September 1911, Chruszczewka, Sokołów county
Names of parents Józef and Rozalia, née Kowalczyk
Father’s occupation farmer
State affiliation Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education 3-year commercial course
Occupation office worker
Place of residence Wincentego Street 44, flat 7
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was at home at Wincentego Street 44. At around 5.00 p.m., when my husband, Stanisław Dymerski (presently deceased), returned home from work, shooting started in our street. My husband ordered me to go down to the basement. All of the residents of our house had already gathered there. The door from the courtyard to the entrance hall was closed. The shooting grew in intensity. Some time later we heard a banging on the door; the windows were being shot out. The Germans – I do not know their unit – set fire to the shop on the street. Our house started to burn. Through the wall of the basement adjoining the basement of the neighboring house, no. 44a, we heard shots and women screaming.

After some time everything went quiet. One of our neighbors, Domański, from across the way, ran into the courtyard of our house shouting for us to leave for the house was on fire. By then, the Germans had already left. We took to the job of saving our house.

I went out to the street. I then saw men from the building at no. 44a; they were lying in front of the house, in the street and the gate, dead. The next house, no. 46, was also ablaze. I later learned that the Germans had thrown a grenade into the basement of that building, causing some harm to the people. A certain woman, Jóźwiak, was amongst those killed at the time.

On the day after this crime we were informed that the Germans had burst into the courtyard of the house no. 44a at św. Wincentego Street. They ordered everyone to leave the basement. The women together with a few men (among others Wielociński, presently deceased) and Sroczyńska’s brother, Pruski (currently resident at Wincentego Street 44a), were led out into the cemetery, and the men were executed on the spot. People who happened to be in the street at the time were also taken to the cemetery.

On 1 August 1944, the following people, among others, were murdered in an execution in the house no. 44a at św. Wincentego Street: Wacław Górski, Kociszewski, the two Stachowiaks, Tadeusz Wielociński. I do not know any more surnames, but there were around 18 people in all. Only Pruski (resident at Wincentego Street 44a), Leoniecki (resident at the same address) and the deaf caretaker of the house, Pęsko, managed to survive.

Until 24 August the men from our area stayed with us. On that day the Germans ordered all of the men to come to an assembly point in Radzymińska Street, and checked the houses to see if anyone was hiding there. Next, all of them were deported to Germany from the Eastern Railway Station. Many did not return from the camps, my husband among them.

Women were not displaced from our area.

At this point the report was concluded and read out.