HELENA MĄCZKA

Warsaw, 23 March 1946. Investigating Judge Alicja Germasz, delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the significance of the oath, the judge swore her in, following which the witness testified as follows:


Forename and surname Helena Mączka, née Kaczorowska
Names of parents Maria and Józef
Age 57 years old
Occupation housewife
Education two grades at elementary school
Place of residence Warsaw, Stalowa Street 52
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none

On 1 August 1944 at around 5.00 p.m. my son, Stanisław Mączka, was returning from work at the turner’s shop at Szeroka Street to his house at Żerańska Street. He was accompanied by his wife and child. Suddenly, shooting started in Targowa Street; German tanks fired into the streets. Thereupon my son, together with his wife and child, sought refuge in the shelter in the Orthodox church at Targowa Street. At 7.30 p.m. German soldiers led out all of the people who were sheltering there. They separated the men, 17 in all, and took them to Cyryla i Metodego Street (located at the back of the Orthodox church), where they executed all of them with machine guns. The women and children were set free. I was informed of these events two days later by my daughter-in-law, Stanisława Mączka (resident at Żerańska Street 6 in Warsaw), who provided all the details cited above. When I went to Cyryla i Metodego Street in order to see my son, I found that German sentries had been posted at the site, and they did not let anyone approach the bodies lying in the middle of the roadway. After three days I learned from the caretakers of Wileńska Street 3 and 5 (I do not know their surnames) that on 3 August the Germans ordered them to bury the bodies of the victims in the small square near the Orthodox church.

In April 1945 an exhumation was carried out at the site with the participation of the Polish Red Cross. During the exhumation, at which I was present, I recognized the body of my son, Stanisław. The bodies of 16 other men were uncovered together with him. All of them had gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

The report was read out.