JANINA KULCZYŃSKA

18 January 1950, Warsaw. Trainee Judge Irena Skonieczna, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland interviewed the person named below as a witness, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Janina Kulczyńska
Date and place of birth 24 June 1891, Warsaw
Parents’ names Józef and Maria, née Pietrzak
Father’s occupation Laborer
State affiliation and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Catholic
Education Can write and read (poorly)
Occupation Spinning mule operator
Place of residence Krochmalna Street 28, flat 21
Criminal record None

At the moment when the Warsaw Uprising began, I was in the house at Krochmalna Street 28. On the morning of 7 August 1944, at about 6.00 a.m., I went to the shelter at the Mirowska Hall. Scared of staying at home, I had gone there with my husband for a few days. That day the Germans took over the Hall, and the people gathered there were ordered to come out into the street. We were marched along Wolska Street. On the way, I saw piles of bodies of those whom the Germans had murdered. Behind Okopowa Street, the men were separated from the women. The Germans escorted us to the church in Wola. We were standing in front of the church when a car containing armed Germans arrived. We were ready to die, but in reality they only wanted to toy with us. The car drove away and we were ordered to go outside Warsaw, wherever we wanted. The men, as I learned later, were taken to Pruszków and from there, further to Germany.

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