MIECZYSŁAWA JAWORSKA

Warsaw, 13 May 1949. A member of the Main 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, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Mieczysława Jaworska, née Tarmanowska
Date and place of birth 8 December 1901, Odessa
Parents’ names Piotr and Apolonia, née Jaczewska
Father’s occupation locksmith
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education 4 classes of elementary school
Occupation old age pensioner
Place of residence Warsaw, Madalińskiego Street 69, flat 7
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was in the house at Madalińskiego Street 69. Until 15 September 1944, the area delimited by the following streets – aleja Niepodległości, Narbutta, Kielecka and Madalińskiego – was a no-man’s-land. During the day it would be occupied by the Germans, but the insurgents would come at night and demolish the German barricades. Throughout this time I did not witness any German crimes. I only heard that more or less in mid-August the Germans abducted some 15 men from the houses at nos. 80, 71, 73 and 75 Madalińskiego Street. They ordered them to search for “bandits” in the villas standing between Madalińskiego and Szustra streets, and – when the men ran in the direction indicated – they fired bursts from their machine guns after them. Two of the men died. On 15 August (if I remember correctly), a part of Madalińskiego Street (the even-numbered addresses) was set on fire by the Germans. On that day some of the residents of our house and others, which had been set ablaze, escaped from Warsaw following their own initiative. I know that some of them ended up in German camps and were deported to Germany.

On 15 September 1944, I was thrown out of my flat together with the other residents of Madalińskiego and Kielecka streets; we were taken along Wołoska Street to the Stauferkaserne, and from there – a short while later – to the Western Railway Station, through Pole Mokotowskie and Narutowicza Square. I don’t clearly remember when and from whom I learned about the crime committed in the house at no. 29 Kielecka Street. The caretaker of the house at Kielecka Street 29 should be able to provide more details.

After 15 September 1944, only a first-aid post for civilians (mainly the elderly) remained in Madalińskiego Street; it was located in the house at no. 71 and managed by Dr Koeppe and Dr Sadowska. I later heard that the Germans evacuated this small hospital on a platform to Okęcie.

At this point the report was concluded and read out.