ALICJA MUNIK

Warsaw, 9 September 1949. Mgr. Norbert Szuman, member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, heard the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Alicja Maria Munik
Date and place of birth 30 January 1927 in Warsaw
Parents’ names Teofil and Wiktoria née Bisialska
Occupation of the father laborer
State affiliation and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education vocational school
Occupation beautician
Place of residence Warsaw, Poznańska Street 14, flat 29
Criminal record none

At the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising I was at Czerniakowska Street 141. For one day the area around our house was controlled by the insurgents, who retreated on the night from 1 to 2 August 1944.

On 2 September, in the early morning, a German patrol came from the direction of the barracks on 29 Listopada Street. They entered our yard through a gap in the paling made by the insurgents. The soldiers called on us to leave the house – but since it was to no avail, they began shooting at the house (by the way, when I leaned out the window, I was shot at as well). Then they set fire to the stairs inside the house and to the adjoining wooden shed in which a dozen people were hiding. Then the patrol left the premises. Those who tried to save the people burning alive in the shed were shot at by German soldiers from the barracks – one of the rescuers was killed. Two young men managed to escape the flames, but looking for help (they had severe burns), they encountered the Germans and were probably executed.

When our house burnt down, I moved to the adjacent building at Czerniakowska Street 143. I stayed there until 19 September. Throughout that time we were not harassed by the Germans – we could even walk out into the street, although we had to do it with our hands up. If I remember the date correctly, on the night from 18 to 19 September, the insurgents set up a barricade on the corner of Hołówki and Czerniakowska streets. The next day the Germans expelled all the inhabitants of Czerniakowska Street, from number 128 (by Łazienkowska Street) to number 139 (close to Nowosielecka Street); I think they also expelled the inhabitants of Nowosielecka Street. Soldiers from the barracks escorted us to aleja Szucha. Our houses were set on fire. At aleja Szucha, the entire group, comprising many people, was segregated: the men were separated from the women. The men were marched (we were escorted and separated by SS-men) to the yard of the Ministry of Education – I noticed that the entire yard was packed with people.

We, the women, were escorted to aleja Żwirki i Wigury, where we were released. As for the group of men who were separated from us on 19 September in aleja Szucha, some of whom I knew, nobody has heard from them since.

At that the report was concluded and read out.