EDMUND CIELECKI

5 May 1949, Warsaw. A member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Norbert Szuman (MA), interviewed the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the obligation to speak the truth, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Edmund Cielecki
Date and place of birth 7 October 1888, Stefanowo, Poznań county
Parents’ names Józef and Maria, née Radomska
Father’s occupation farmer
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Religion Roman Catholic
Education one class of elementary school
Occupation butcher
Place of residence Warsaw, Puławska Street 69, flat 6
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was in my house at Puławska Street 69. The premises of our house, and of the neighboring houses, that is, nos. 71 and 73, were occupied by the insurgents. My house at Puławska Street 69 was not fired upon by the Germans. The insurgents who were in the building did not fire, either. On 3 August 1944 a German tank drove up to the corner of Puławska and Belgijska streets from the direction of Dworkowa Street. The tank appeared in the afternoon, when there were no insurgents on the premises of my house. The Germans who got out of it (I didn’t recognize their unit, nor do I know whether they were “Ukrainians”) walked off in the direction of the houses at nos. 69, 71 and 73 Puławska Street. The gate to my house was closed. The Germans shot off the lock in order to open it. At that time, some of the residents of our house were in the basement, and some in their flats. I was in the restaurant, which was located on the ground floor. When I heard that the Germans, shouting raus, were throwing the residents out into the street, I hid in my flat on the fourth floor. After more or less twenty minutes, being unable to determine what was happening with the other tenants, I looked out through the window onto the street. I saw three bodies lying on the pavement just outside my house. On the other side of the street I saw Germans kicking the wounded residents of our house in the head and finishing them off with single shots; I think that some of them may have been trying to flee and save themselves. Moving away from the window, I noticed that the stairs of my house were burning. When I looked through the window that opened onto the courtyard, in order to check whether there were any Germans there, I saw that the entire ground floor was on fire, and the flames were reaching as high as the third floor. I therefore turned on the taps in a few of the flats and let the water flow throughout the building. In this way I managed to extinguish the fire on the stairs. I went downstairs. The Germans had left, but there were no residents either. Those who had survived had escaped or had hidden themselves. Using a rubber hose, I put out the entire fire.

Some 18 people died in this execution, including women and small children.

Apart from myself, the following persons also survived the execution: Maria Grubert (currently residing at Szustra Street 15), Ms Jeske (currently residing in Łódź), Ms Leśniewska (currently residing at Różana Street 42).

The victims of the execution carried out at Puławska Street 69 on 3 August 1944 were buried some three weeks later by the Red Cross on Odolańska Street, near the police station.

I remained in Mokotów until 27 September, that is, until the capitulation, after which I was transported through the Mokotowskie Forts to the transit camp in Pruszków.

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