KLEMENTYNA STATTLER

Warsaw, 2 April 1946. Judge Stanisław Rybiński, delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the significance of the oath, the judge swore in the witness, who then testified as follows:


Name and surname Klementyna Stattler
Date of birth 14 July 1878
Names of parents Juliusz and Cecylia née Lessel
Occupation elementary school teacher
Education high-school
Place of residence Warsaw, Filtrowa Street 70, flat 57
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none

From the outbreak of the war in 1939 I lived with my sister, Maria Jędrzejowicz, another sister, Helena Stattler, and with Maria’s son, Juliusz Czesław Jędrzejewicz (born 1 October 1916) at Filtrowa Street 68. My nephew’s father, Janusz Jędrzejewicz was forced to leave the country before the September campaign of 1939 because he had not been accepted into the army. He had been a prime minister of the Polish government years before.

My nephew was a student at university, reading the third natural science course until the outbreak of the war, and then worked for the underground resistance, most recently in diversion. We were convinced that our house was constantly under Gestapo surveillance because there were regular searches and arrests.

On 23 October 1943, my nephew left home around 3:00 p.m. At 6:00 p.m. there was a phonecall: someone under a false name announced: “Juliusz won’t be coming home. Prepare the flat.” The following day, in the morning, Gestapo agents (there were two) and two German gendarmes appeared. The agents wore civilian clothes.

I was not home at the time and learned about all this from my sisters. In the morning, I went to Dąbrowski’s transport company, operating at the Tobacco Monopoly, where my nephew had worked, to warn their staff. Meanwhile, the Gestapo searched our house, brutally treating my sisters, shouted that my nephew had two pistols on him when arrested, adding: “Bandit, bandit, premier’s son, your son, kaput.” They found nothing apart from a helmet; we had had time to get rid of things that could compromise us. We knew that my nephew had gone on a diversion operation, so arresting him with pistols was likely. At Dąbrowski’s company, I was informed that my nephew along with four companions had been stopped in the vicinity of aleja Szucha, and that two of his companions had managed to escape. One of them managed to warn us over the phone.

On 26 October, Gestapo men stormed into the office of Dąbrowski’s company, called one of the co-owners of the company named Keller to a separate room, and shot him dead on the spot, shouting at him that he had hired bandits.

The day after my nephew’s arrest, a man came over, probably a prisoner released from Pawiak prison. He said nothing and only left a small note: “Julek and Wacek in the Pawiak.” We understood that Wacek was Wacław Nowicki, my nephew’s work companion. I brought packages for my nephew to the Patronat on Krochmalna Street. Two packages with clothes were accepted, but probably failed to reach him, as he was not registered because of overcrowding in the Pawiak. The organisation checked and could not find him. Food packages were not accepted. We went to a middlewoman (I don’t remember her name). She took money from us and deceived us until the very last moment. No lawyer wanted to undertake the defence, although my sister gathered a big sum of money to defend her son. Eventually, we learned from a notice dated 10 November 1943 that Juliusz Jędrzejewicz and Wacław Nowicki had been executed along with others the previous day, that is on 9 November. I know that a public execution took place then on Wawelska Street. Later, we learned from two people that my nephew had in fact been executed there. Our friend, Janina Wrotnowska, currently living in Opole in Silesia, where she works at the Agricultural Bank, recognized him among the victims of the execution. She told me that she had recognized Juliusz by his height and his lush, black hair. He wore a black sweater. He staggered as they led the convicts out of the car. He was also recognised by a policeman, who knew him from the local station, but we learned this through third parties. The execution took place between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. The convicts were blindfolded, their mouths plastered. My sister, Maria Jędrzejewiczow, Juliusz’s mother, died after the uprising wandering without a home. She had suffered from asthma for a number of years.

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