MICHAŁ RYMKOWSKI

Warsaw, 5 December 1947. Judge Halina Wereńko, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness, without taking an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Michał Kazimierz Rymkowski
Parents’ names Józef and Mieczysława, née Majewska
Date of birth 15 September 1909
Religion Roman Catholic
Education three years of vocational school
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Place of residence Warsaw, Filtrowa Street 75
Profession automotive mechanic

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was in the flat of my sister-in-law, in the building of the State Forestry Authority at Wawelska Street 52/54. On 1 August 1944 at around 16:45 the insurrectionists attacked the building of the State Forestry Authority from all sides. Krawczyk and I were organising the resistance movement in the building, however the early commencement of operations by the attack unit caught us unprepared. Towards nightfall the insurrectionists withdrew. The Germans who were occupying the building withdrew on the morning of the next day. During the following days, that is, from 2 August, our building was fired upon from the Filter Station and the ANP, even though there were no insurrectionists on the premises.

At noon on 7 August, "Ukrainians" from Kamiński’s brigade entered the building. Everyone was ordered out into the courtyard, where we were arranged in two groups – the men separate from the women. The SS men stationed at the ANP selected a few men for work; all of them are alive. There was a senior officer amongst the "Ukrainians", and they treated him with respect.

Judging by what the soldiers were saying, I think it was Kamiński himself. I heard the officers ask him what they were supposed to do with the people gathered in the courtyard. I heard him reply that the people were to be shot.

I heard his answer clearly, for I was at a distance of some five metres from them.

The group that I was in, numbering some 56 men, was led to Pole Mokotowskie and placed between the embankments. The "Ukrainians" surrounded us and opened fire. I, along with a few men, bolted. I jumped over the embankment and fell into the allotments. The men who were fleeing with me perished. I lay in the allotments until 23:00, and thereafter proceeded towards the Piwera Gardens at Pasteura Street. I stayed for two days in my home at Opaczewska Street, and then joined a group of civilians marching to the Western Railway Station.

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