Warsaw 4 May 1946. Investigative Judge Halina Wereńko, assigned to sit on the Committee for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes, interviewed the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the legal liability for making false statements the witness gave the following testimony:
| Name and Surname | Maria Cyrańska |
| Parents’ Names | Edward and Aniela n ée Cereńska |
| Date of birth | 12 October 1932 Warsaw |
| Occupation | Helps to run the household of her uncle Marcin Cyrański |
| Education | A student of the fifth grade at the elementary school |
| Place of Residence | Warsaw, Nieporęcka Street 10, Flat 17 |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | None |
During the Warsaw Uprising I lived in my parents’ house on Elekcyjna Street 15. The house borders the part of Sowiński Park that extends to our house. On 2 August 1944 my parents and I moved to the Orthodox Church on Wolska Street right behind Sowiński Park, where we wanted to hide from the Germans. Apart from us, there were about fifty persons in the church’s basement. On 5 August the street began to bustle with activity, lots of cars were driving to and fro. Many people decided to flee from the Church. Only my relatives and my immediate family stayed: my parents, Edward and Aniela neé Cereńska, my three sisters: Irena Kempińska and her husband Władysław, Alicja, and Janina Cyrański, my father’s sister, Antonina Piotrowska, and her daughter Grażyna, the Kempińskis’ uncle’s parents (I don’t know their names) and the uncle’s two brothers, the Kempińskis (I cannot remember their names). A man with his wife and children stayed with us too. I am not familiar with their name. At 5 p.m., Germans appeared in the doorway and shouted in German for all present to come out. It was only after these had come out into the courtyard that the Germans burst into the church’s basement to see if anyone had stayed there. We were told to come out into Wolska Street. I saw there machine-guns set up on the railway tracks. We were led up to the ditch behind the Orthodox Church, in the direction opposite to Elekcyjna Street. The Germans ordered us to step into the ditch. Then a salvo was fired. I want to note that the German soldiers who had led us out of the church had arrived in a car. A few of them got out of the car and led us up to the ditch. As we were being marched to the ditch another car full of Germans drove up and many of them got out of it. All of them fired at us with handguns. In addition, there was a machine gun set up opposite the ditch and they fired from it too. When all had fallen the shooting died down. I fell, wounded, my left arm was shot through and shrapnel harmed my temple and my cheek.
While lying, I noticed a man move. The German soldiers who had gone down into the ditch to see if anyone was still alive, finished him off. A German stepped on my back. It hurt me a lot later and my skin was abraded from the nails with which his boots were studded. Making sure that all whom they had shot were dead, the Germans drove away, taking the machine gun which they had set up on the tripod. Then I stood up and started to shout, but none of those lying reacted. Walking through the Orthodox Cemetery I returned home to Elekcyjna Street. When I arrived it was around 6 p.m. All the residents, including my grandmother, were there, and so were the Germans. After some time the Germans gathered us all in the courtyard and told us to run away. At that time my grandmother, Józefa Cyrańska, my uncle, Stanisław Cyrański, my aunt, Helena Cyrańska, and I were all that were left of my family. A tenant from Hankiewicz’s house on Wolska Street turned up and informed us of the execution that took place there in the morning. My uncle decided to go with this man to the execution site in order to help the wounded. I could see that as they climbed the Orthodox cemetery’s embankment that they encountered German soldiers walking in their direction. The soldiers killed them both. I was left with my grandma and my aunt Helena Cyrańska. We hid in the garden adjoining our house. The following day, on 6 August, my grandma and my aunt, having heard someone talking in the house, went towards the voices and were shot by the Germans. Having seen this, I ran through the Orthodox Church to Pustola Street, where I was captured by two “Ukrainian” soldiers. One of them wanted to shoot me, but the other objected. I was escorted to the road running in the direction of Jelonki. I took the road to Jelonki and reached the Wola hospital that had been evacuated from Płocka Street. Apart from myself there was also a homeless boy who, as it turned out, had survived the same execution as I had. His surname was Kempiński, I don’t know his first name. His family took care of him.
In September 1944 I went with the Wola hospital to Podkowa Leśna, where a lady took me in. I don’t know her name. She found my family in Ożarów and I moved in with my uncle Marcin Cyrański. I wish to note that Krasiuk, living at Elekcyjna Street 56, can provide many details concerning the executions in Hankiewicz’s house and on Elekcyjna Street.
The report was read out.