TUWIA BORZYKOWSKI

[The left column of the text is missing] 28 June 1948 in Łódź
[The left column of the text is missing] S. Krzyżanowska
[The left column of the text is missing] S. Bukowski


Name and surname Tadeusz Tuwia Borzykowski
Age 38 years old
Parents’ names Szlama and Chain
Place of residence Łódź, 1 Maja Street 18, flat 4
Occupation journalist
Religious affiliation Jewish
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

The Germans set out to exterminate the Jewish population right after the establishment of the Ghetto. Their goal was to annihilate the Jewish nation. They pursued this goal by isolating the Ghetto from the rest of the city, by imposing supply restrictions, by bringing people from around the Warsaw district (overpopulation), by limiting the possibility of purchasing all sorts of medicaments by Jewish doctors and by using terror. This situation persisted until the first Jewish transport was dispatched to the death camp in Treblinka. The German authorities ordered the Jewish commune (Judenrat) to designate a number of people to be sent, as they said, to labor, starting from 22 July 1942. The Germans said nothing of sending these people to death. These transports departed every day from 22 July 1942 to the first half of September 1942. If people failed to appear for the transport the Germans carried out round-ups in the grounds of the Ghetto. The first order issued by the Germans as regards these transports set the number of Jews to be deported at 11,000. The round-ups were carried out by the Jewish police, actively assisted by the Germans and “Ukrainians”. In the conduct of these round-ups [the text is missing].

to the sewers in order to find a way back. I was also at Franciszkańska Street 22 and 30 and in a number of other bunkers in the Ghetto. I had the opportunity to see the enormity of the destruction the Germans engaged in, setting houses on fire and shooting at those who were trying to escape. The Germans shot at everyone regardless of whether those shot at were or weren’t fighting. I saw hundreds of charred bodies of both sexes and at different ages. On the second day, the Germans began to set houses on fire. Deprived of their homes, people stayed in the basements which were a tight squeeze and stuffy. Having little air to breathe, the people were suffocating. During the days which followed the Germans cut water supply. With most of the houses burnt-down, the Germans began to penetrate the basements. The basements were concealed from view. After discovering such a basement the Germans threw gas bombs inside. By that time they had already dropped the idea of bringing people out of the Ghetto, focusing on the extermination of those who were hiding in the bunkers and the basements. By the time I left the Ghetto, on 8 May 1943, the Jewish action had already been suppressed. The remains of the fighters were still trying to put up resistance.

During the Uprising in the Ghetto I never came across the name of SS-Polizeiführer Stroop. It wasn’t until later that I found out he was in charge of the troops involved in the liquidation of the Ghetto.

The report was read out.