Warsaw, 15 May 1950. Janusz Gumkowski, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Franciszek Rodak |
| Date and place of birth | 9 October 1919, in Warsaw |
| Parents’ names | Antoni and Ewa, née Lewandowska |
| Father’s occupation | hackney driver |
| Citizenship | Polish |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Education | elementary school |
| Occupation | stoker, currently an office worker |
| Place of residence | Warsaw, Powsińska Street 68, flat 1 |
| Criminal record | none |
When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was at Graff’s house, at aleja Róż 7, where I worked as doorkeeper and stoker. On 5 August 1944 at around 11.00 a.m., when the residents of our building were in the basements, SS-men who were stationed at the house at no. 2 aleja Róż entered the hall and ordered all the people to come out into the street. We joined the residents of other houses in our street and proceeded in the direction of Aleje Ujazdowskie. We were led to the officers’ casino at aleja Szucha. The Germans selected five or six of the men, and ordered them to take down the barricade at Zbawiciela Square on 6 Sierpnia Street. Amongst these men was a tramcar driver from aleja Róż 5, I don’t know his surname. They managed to escape to the area occupied by the insurgents. Only one was killed on the barricade, but I don’t know by whom. On that day (5 August) I saw five or six German tanks advancing, shielded by women. Amongst the women were German soldiers with women’s scarves over their helmets, and women’s coats thrown over their uniforms. The tanks drove in the direction of Piusa XI Street. More or less an hour later they returned, without the women. One of the vehicles carried traces of gunfire. I don’t know what happened to the women, whether they were able to escape to safety behind insurgent lines, or whether they perished.
We all spent the night at the casino. The Germans had grouped people from aleja Róż, Aleje Ujazdowskie up to Szopena Street, Koszykowa Street to Natolińska Street, aleja Przyjaciół, a part of 6 Sierpnia Street up to Natolińska Street, and Służewska Street in this building.
I don’t know whether the residents of any of the houses in this area were taken to the Gestapo before 5 August.
The next day (6 August) the Germans separated us. The women, as they said, were to go to their “bandits,” while the men were to proceed to the “intended point of destination.”
They led us out into the Gestapo courtyard. First they dragged all the Jews from amongst us, obviously including a few of those who only physically resembled Jews. My brother, Józef Rodak (currently residing at Myśliwiecka Street 11, flat 13), was also taken for a Jew. These men were taken to the basements of the Gestapo building. Next, the rest of the men were marched into the Gestapo building in groups numbering more or less forty. I was standing in the last group of forty when I suddenly heard the voice of a German acquaintance who had lived at our house until 1942, one mayor Dürfelt. I approached him, asking that he confirm that my brother was not a Jew. Following our conversation, my brother and I – together with a few other men – were taken by one of the Gestapo officers to the house at no. 12 Litewska Street. My brother was covered in blood, for every third man led down to the basements was beaten up, and he was one of the “third men.” In the house at no. 12 Litewska Street we met, among others, Professor Badmajeff. My brother and I ate at the flat of Sadowski, a locksmith, who continues to reside in the building. On 7 August 1944 the Gestapo gathered up the entire populace of Litewska Street. They were to take us to aleja Szucha. However, they did not take anyone that day, for all of the people had documents that the Germans simply could not question. During the period up to 19 August, I would look through the window of the room in which I lived with my brother and see wheeled platforms loaded full with men’s clothes enter the house at no. 14 Litewska Street from aleja Szucha. War-time identity cards lay on top of the clothes. The platforms were being pushed by Polish prisoners who had been detained for work; they lived in the house at no. 14.
I don’t know what happened with these clothes. I think that they were incinerated. Frequently at night I would hear volleys, but I don’t know who was being shot at.
On 19 August 1944, together with two women who had found themselves in the house at no. 12 Litewska Street and a Russian captain from Oleandrów Street, we were planning to escape by motorcar from the area occupied by the Gestapo. While waiting for the vehicle at aleja Szucha, we saw three groups of men – some 50 in total – being led in fours to the premises of the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces. In the last group I recognized the Kozubskis (two brothers from Sielce) and Arent (a resident at Czerniakowska Street 128). To date, no one knows what happened to them. Having recognized these acquaintances, I came to the conclusion that they were amongst groups of people taken from Czerniaków, Sielce and Siekierki.
Using the Russian captain’s motorcar, we managed to get to Okęcie along Rakowiecka and Wołoska streets. We got off at the Nadarzyn – Grójec crossroads. We stayed with family in the village of Henryków until the liberation of Warsaw.
At this point the report was concluded and read out.