MARIA KACPRZAK

On 17 May 1946 in Warsaw, Z. Rudziewicz interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 106 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Maria Kacprzak
Date of birth or age 1912
Parents’ names Piotr and Emilia
Place of residence Warsaw, Skaryszewska Street 6, flat 5
Occupation office worker of the municipal board
Religion Roman Catholic
Relationship to the parties none
Criminal record none

I currently occupy apartment no. 5 at Skaryszewska Street 6, on the basis of an order of the State Office for Living Accommodations. I moved here in November 1944. The apartment was previously occupied by Seweryn Jaworski. The former administrator of the house, Izabella Bryl, told me that when the Germans began to retreat in disorder and flee from Warsaw – just before the uprising – Jaworski removed a file of persons deported by the Germans to work in the Reich, who had been detained in a transit camp at Skaryszewska Street, and hid it in his cellar. When I moved into the apartment, I found the file strewn all over the floor. I collected everything, not damaging any of the contents. On 16 May 1946, the Citizen’s Militia from the XVth Precinct came and took the entire file.

I would like to add: I reported the fact that I had the file in my possession to the Temporary Board for Abandoned Property in November 1944. In addition, I requested that Jaworski and his wife take the file from me.

SUSPECT INTERVIEW REPORT

In Warsaw on 17 May 1946, at 10.00, I, clerk Górski from the investigative unit at the Regional Commission of the Citizen’s Militia in Warsaw, acting on the basis of instructions received from Deputy Prosecutor Mr […], in the presence of witnesses Adam Maleza and Józef Kostka, both from the XVth Precinct of the Citizen’s Militia in Warsaw, whom I advised of their obligation to certify the conformity of the report with the course of the proceedings with their signatures, interviewed the person named below as a suspect. Having received an explanation as to the crime with which she is charged and the evidence that has been gathered, the suspect declared:

Name and surname Kacprzak Maria
Age 8 September 1912
Parents’ names Piotr and Emilia
Mother’s family name Molwros
Place of birth Warsaw
Citizenship Polish
Nationality Polish
Marital status unmarried
Place of residence Warsaw, Skaryszewska Street 6, flat 5
Education secondary
Religion Roman Catholic
Occupation office worker
Sentences received none

As regards the crime with which I am charged, I would like to explain as follows: I have been occupying apartment no. 5 at Skaryszewska Street 6 since November 1944. I was referred there by an officer of the State Office for Living Accommodations and the administrator of the house. At the time, the apartment in question was unoccupied, while I knew that during the War it had been occupied by an employee of the Arbeitsamt. All of the furniture in the apartment was inventoried, and taken away by the Abandoned Property Office after at most two weeks. While this furniture was being taken away, the administrator of the house, citizen Izabella Bryl, notified the officers that in the cellar of my apartment was a file of Poles deported to Germany, to which the said officers replied that they would collect it in the next few days. I waited until January 1945, but nobody came, after which the first owner of the apartment that I occupied appeared, citizen Jaworski, who took various things from the cellar, and was also supposed to take care of the file that he had collected there. In the same month, citizen Jaworski was detained by the MUBP [Municipal Public Security Office]. He was charged with collaborating with the Germans, and as a result […] MUBP asked me whether Jaworski had any weapons in his apartment. I replied that he had no weapons, but that there was a file in the cellar. They, too, told me that they would take care of it, but there was no follow-up in the matter, until on 15 May 1946, reportedly when I was at work, the Militia came and found the contents of my cellar. When I returned at 17.00, the entire file was removed and transferred to the Precinct in my presence.

I would like to explain that following Jaworski’s arrest, his wife also took certain things from the cellar, and also said that she would personally take care of the file. I myself, acting in good faith and not wanting to take credit for their services, waited for them to hand these documents over to the appropriate persons. Indeed I helped them, for all through this time I took care of the file and protected it against destruction. I must stress that the cellar is very damp, to the extent that it is penetrated by water, and therefore I arranged all the documents in good order on shelves, waiting for someone from the Jaworski family to come and personally hand over the file.

I have provided information concerning everything that I know in the case, and duly undersign.