19 January 1950, Warsaw. Trainee Judge Irena Skonieczna, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:
Name and surname | Stanisław Kwel |
Date and place of birth | 10 October 1909, Warsaw |
Parents’ names | Stanisław and Bronisława née Muszyńska |
Father’s occupation | Bleacher |
State affiliation and nationality | Polish |
Religious affiliation | Catholic |
Education | Elementary school |
Occupation | Car locksmith |
Place of residence | Bagno Street 3, flat 45, Warsaw |
Criminal record | None |
At the moment when the Warsaw Uprising began, I was in the house at Bagno Street 3. Until the surrender of the Śródmieście (City Center) district, that is until 7 October, the area around my house was controlled by the insurgents. The German units – Wehrmacht and “telephonist soldiers” – had taken up positions in the PAST house, at the corner of Zielona and Prożna streets. Things were calm in Bagno Street. Not even once did the Germans manage to get to the street, and consequently, none of their crimes was committed there. On 7 October, a unit of “Ukrainians” entered Bagno. The “Ukrainians” ordered the residents to come out of their houses. There were no insurgents in our area. They had left on 3 October after surrendering their weapons. While leading people out of their houses, the “Ukrainians” robbed them of all their valuables. They took away my watch and even my electric lamp. We were sent along Aleje Jerozolimskie to Grójecka Street, where the Germans directed us further, to the Western Railway Station, where there was an assembly point for all the people who had been rounded up.
Many fled across the fields and out of Warsaw. With my own eyes I saw a group of about 50 people taking flight. We learned that a number of men were about to come from Włochy to Warsaw in order to work at trenches. These men, while returning to Włochy, were joined by several dozen or so men, including myself, and that way I managed to avoid the camp.
During the Uprising I witnessed no German crimes.
At this point, the report was brought to a close and read out.