WŁADYSŁAW ZIEMNICKI

The report of Władysław Ziemnicki, attached to the report dated 20 May 1946.

Starting on 2 August, namely:

Puławska Street all the way from Unii Square to Madalińskiego Street, Rakowiecka Street, the whole of Wiśniowa Street, Sandomierska Street, Kazimierzowska Street, aleja Niepodległości, Opoczyńska Street, Fałata Street, Andrzeja Boboli Street, Narbutta Street, parts of Kwiatowa Street, parts of Madalińskiego Street and additionally the neighboring adjacent streets, I do not remember the names. On 2 August in the evening, a lot of people, maybe 500, were brought in from streets located closest to the Stauferkaserne. The women and children were separated from the men and the latter divided into uneven groups. The first group comprised some 150 persons, while the other – some 300. From among the first group, whose members had to face the wall, their hands in the air, a couple of dozen men were selected (I do not know how many exactly) and then executed at the rear of the barracks, against the wall on which traces of bullets could later be seen. The following incident took place as an SS-man was making the selection: those selected were to step out of line, ten steps, and form another line. When the SS-man pointed his finger at a young boy, the latter – sensing that he would die – burst spontaneously into tears. The German looked at him and sent him to the back of the line. After taking the convicts to the execution site, he returned and took the boy and the one standing next to him to the kitchen for labor. After a couple of days, when we already knew that the other men were dead, the German came downstairs to where the kitchen was and, looking at the boy, said: “You ought to kiss my boot, I have saved your life.”

The remaining men who had been gathered in the courtyard were addressed in a longer speech by Lieutenant Patz, the SS battalion commandant, who stressed the murders committed by “Polish bandits” in other districts of the city, where the “Polish bandits” were, among others, said to have murdered 5000 wounded German soldiers in military hospitals. In light of this, he, Patz, now sentenced all of the detainees to death as hostages. The sentence would be suspended as long as the Uprising ended immediately. Any attempted escape or turmoil created by the hostages would result in the immediate execution of all the others. Meanwhile, the women and children were released and the men put in ground-floor rooms with barred windows.

53 persons had been placed in room 6, 3 by 3 meters, where I was staying. They included the owner of the Motor factory, Mr. Ryl (resident of Wiśniowa Street), and his brother-in-law, the son of the owner of the Hulskamp factory on Wiśniowa Street, Rondio. His uncle was a Gestapo dignitary, which did not prevent an SS-man from kicking him when he requested better treatment.

The execution sites are generally unknown because the Germans would conceal them, also executing those who took part in burying the dead. We were strictly sealed off from the outside and only whispered messages could shed some light on the situation. As regards public executions, I witnessed one when in mid-September, Lieutenant Patz had concluded that communist ferment had crept in among us. Everybody was taken out to the yard and marched off, walking in line, to the National Library, to a chestnut tree growing in front. After a semicircle was formed, one of the non-commissioned officers gave a speech, saying that it was they – that is the SS – who had saved us from dying at the hands of Polish bandits who would have shot every single one of us, and that we were so ungrateful, could not appreciate it and did not want to work for them, and also that there were now communists in our ranks, who were sabotaging the work: “Lieutenant Patz is not having any more of it and has ordered the hanging of 50 of us, but out of his good heart, he has agreed to only hang one person. Unless we buck up our ideas, the other 49 will be hanged tomorrow.” He surveyed the people gathered and pointed his finger at a handicapped man, who walked on crutches. He took him to the center and, pointing his finger at him, said: “This is the worst communist, who knowingly crushed both his legs to avoid working, and he is mainly responsible for sabotaging orders and distracting people from work etc.” The boy, terrified, could not utter one word and just dropped his crutches to the ground and started to cross himself with both his hands. At one point, he noticed Patz and, putting his finger to his temple, he started to beg in broken German: “ Herr Obersturmführer, ich bitte beschiessen.” Patz, a tall young man, holding a cigarette between his teeth, started to laugh and then, shaking his head, pointed to a rope. Moments later, the convict was stood on a barrel and a German standing on the ladder threw the rope around his neck, while another kicked the barrel away. His body instantly dropped, swaying like a puppet. At one point, when he was in his last agony, he started to abruptly wave his arms and legs. Because he was swaying all this time, his hand hit a rung of the ladder, which he then clasped and started to pull himself up. The German who was still on the ladder grabbed his hand and twisted it, unclenching it from the rung, and with his other hand he grabbed the rope above the convict’s head and, jolting his body as if it were a sack, strangled him, thus concluding the execution in such an unexpected way. At that point, an order was given to about-turn and march off to lunch. As we made the turn, we spotted machine guns right behind us, with shooters ready to intervene if need be.

With 300 prisoners overall, the kitchen issued only ten portions. Lieutenant Patz himself was present as the portions were being issued to see the effects of his actions.

The name of the hanged man was Sowiński or Sosiński; he was buried by the fence bordering aleja Niepodległości.

Around this time, the Gestapo came twice, taking people away, allegedly for labor. All were taken to the yard in three ranks and one of the Gestapo men, a fat man in battle gear and helmet, his hands behind his back, surveyed the prisoners, looking each one in the eye. The first time, around 36 people were selected, the most physically developed, and then another 30. It was announced to the rest that those who had been selected were to take their things, as they were being transferred to aleja Szucha. Their wives and families still on the German side would be allowed to bring their relatives lunch to aleja Szucha. Unfortunately, the next day all of them were removed from Unii Square by the Gestapo men posted there. None of those taken away has been heard of since. On the third occasion, when the Gestapo came to collect people, an argument ensued because Patz said that if they were blowing everybody’s brains out in the districts they had withdrawn from and shooting people they had taken from him, then he was not able to satisfy their demands. As a result, a deal was struck whereby a Gestapo van came every day to collect 20 or 30 people, who were then driven back in the evening. The Gestapo used them exclusively for constructing entrenchments in Aleje Ujazdowskie near Szopena Street and digging trenches connecting aleja Szucha and Piusa Street, through Ujazdowski Park. One of our friends died while working and was buried there. During one such visit to aleja Szucha, in the Gestapo courtyard, they witnessed an execution of women, children and elderly men brought in from Powiśle.

After a couple of days, the Poles imprisoned at the Stauferkaserne were divided into groups. The first group comprised craftsmen, that is tailors, shoemakers, watchmakers, carpenters, electricians and so on. These groups were organized by the first interpreter, supposedly a Polish army lieutenant by the name of Engel. They received better treatment: the best of them had their own kitchen, better food and separate rooms for workshops and to live in. The rest was treated as a “black” workforce. In the morning, at 6 a.m., there was a wake-up call, the so-called Aufstehen. If the guard was reasonable, nobody was beaten in the process. At 7 a.m., all prisoners in groups of three had to line up in the courtyard on the Rakowiecka Street side. Then, tasks were assigned. SS-men on bikes came from the so-called szpicpunkty [outposts] and stated their requirements. Then, the deputy commandant of the guards, a Czech by the name of Franc, would call out: “ Kazimierzowska, 20 mann,” after which twenty men were sorted out and marched off; Opoczyńska Street – 15, the barracks – 30, Okęcie – 30, and so on. The sick or those who could wriggle out of work were later picked for cleaning work inside, such as digging up latrines, cleaning and moving the toilets for the guards etc. Those at the szpicpunkty, in their turn, carried sand for boxes placed inside windows, walled up window openings that were under insurgent fire, dug trenches through streets, for instance at aleja Niepodległości, broke through walls in individual rooms or knocked loopholes in the corners for heavy machine guns. The work had to be done at night. Since the prisoner count was already low and since the craftsmen did not go out to work at all, the same people had to work during the day from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Then, there was a one-hour break and a roll-call again at 8 a.m., and then the so-called nachtarbeit, which lasted until 1 a.m.

The night work was the most dangerous because it took place at the outermost posts, which were additionally in the open. We were supposed to provide cover for ourselves. In any case, at a later juncture, that is to say in the second half of September, the insurgents were less cautious and opened fire whenever they saw movement of any kind. Apart from that, when Praga was seized by the Red Army, the intensity of night bombings increased and the Soviet artillery began to hit the German posts located in Pole Mokotowskie, behind the Stauferkaserne. Luckily, none of us was injured; only a few Germans were killed, including a Volksdeutsch from Łódź, who had his arm torn off in a shell explosion, while our three men were unscathed.

Because of this organization of work and the resulting danger, people would hide in all types of nooks and crannies before night work, for instance in the remaining cupboards, or they would lie flat and cover themselves up with a blanket, hoping that the guard would miss them. This was driving the Germans round the bend and the end effect was a public execution by hanging.

Another victim was Engel himself, the interpreter. He had been consolidating his relations with the Germans until once, during a bout of heavy drinking, he spoke insultingly of Hitler. Patz ordered him killed. The sentence was carried out by one of the non-commissioned officers during the so-called nacht spazieren, night walk, and Engel was shot dead in front of the National Library and buried under a carpet beating rack. Meanwhile, some of the elderly (over 40 years of age) and sick, as well as women and children still living in the neighborhood were taken to Pruszków. The craftsmen could keep their families, who were admitted to the Stauferkaserne and placed in the basement of the National Library. The Germans tried to turn them into tailors, and the remaining non-skilled workers were sent to work at the szpicpunkty. The women were given the same tasks as the men, among other things they built a barricade at the junction of Narbutta and Łowicka streets. This happened during the day, at a location most vulnerable to gunfire. The Germans were afraid to use shells there because they would have had to expose themselves to gunfire along with us, and since the insurgents no longer really took account, they preferred to use women.

At the end of September, but before the liquidation of Mokotów, almost all the craftsmen along with women and children were transferred to Kullmark. The exact address was Kullmark SS Pz. Gren. Ausb, Ers Batl 3, Post Neuzelle Kreis Guben. Today, Guben is the Polish town of Gubin on the river Nysa.

After the liquidation of Mokotów, almost the entire 13th battalion went to Neuzelle, while the so-called “ rest batallion” transferred to Włochy, near Warsaw. They used those of us who remained (a couple of dozen people) for dismantling the barracks in Okęcie. These barracks were then transported to Kullmark, where they were put up by the Poles previously transferred there, while a dozen or so people would go to Warsaw for the so-called Organization für Deutschland. Then, in mid-October, in Mokotowska Street, where the Krikson warehouse was located (at no. 70 or 72, I believe), a group of our boys with an Unterscharführer came from Włochy to empty the warehouse. Having paid off the German, four residents of Włochy got themselves on the ride. They came to take their belongings from Warsaw, and they agreed to give the German leather and vodka they had allegedly kept in their basement. It turned out that the basement had already been emptied. The German got angry, swore at them all and made them remove cables from the warehouse. One of them tried to smuggle a bicycle. The German noticed this and through an interpreter announced to him, in all seriousness, that there was a standing order to punish every act of robbery with death, and since he had been trying to steal a bicycle, he, an SS non-commissioned officer, was now sentencing him to death. Moments later, he marched him, in the company of the interpreter, to Trzech Krzyży Square, by Galiński’s sweetshop, and shot him dead (with a shot to the back of the head).

I do not know the name of this non-commissioned officer.

The commandant of the battalion was Obersturmführer Patz, who was appointed commandant of a Völkssturm unit in East Prussia after the Uprising. His deputy was Sturmführer Ecelt. The last commandant of the guards supervising the Poles was Unterscharführer Tomas and his deputy was Edward Franckowiak, who came from Siemianowice and was a Silesian; he had distinguished himself during the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, as he was wont to boast.

Patz is the most responsible, being the one who gave orders, the master of life and death. Aside from executions, he would also use whipping as punishment, ordering whole groups of people beaten, each receiving 50 or 25 lashes. Individual tasks were supervised by SS-men, Germans or Slovaks, of whom there were a lot in the battalion. I have to emphasize that the Slovaks provided help as long as they could, they did not rush people to work, supplied food, cigarettes etc. They also encouraged people to try to stay in Warsaw for as long as possible, to avoid being transported to Germany. One of them took me to a rooftop in Narbutta Street so that, through binoculars, I could see Praga, which was already in the hands of the Soviets.

The addresses of the people who were at the Stauferkaserne with me:

1. Knapp Tadeusz, Warsaw, Lachowska Street 15, flat 36
2. Pokorski Adam, Warsaw, Narbutta Street 27a.

The latter, being a permanent resident of Mokotów, can furnish the addresses of people from neighboring streets.

The last interpreter at the Stauferkaserne

1. Ficek Jerzy, resident of Łuczany, Sienkiewicza Street 5
2. Skrzypkowski, Olsztyn, Orkana Street 3
3. Czajkowski Włodzimierz, Olsztyn, Krakowska Street 6.

Olsztyn, 20 January 1946