Warsaw, 6 June 1946. Judge Antoni Knoll, as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, heard as a witness the person specified below. The witness testified as follows:
My name is Stanisława Weinzowa, daughter of Jan and Zofia Beker, born on 1 March 1910 in Warsaw, Roman Catholic, occupation: clerk. Domiciled in Warsaw, Wileńska Street 13, flat 23, widow, criminal record: none, relationship to the parties: none.
I was incarcerated in Pawiak prison from 1 July 1940 to 1 February 1942.
After I had been arrested I was taken directly to Pawiak. I was arrested at night, and in the morning I was taken to the Gestapo at aleja Szucha. Directly after I had been arrested I was taken to my brother, who was also arrested.
When we arrived at Pawiak, one of the Gestapo men asked me where from I got the bibuła (underground press) [literally “blotting paper”] which they had found in my flat, and told me that if I told the truth, they would drive me home, since they still had the car in Pawiak. I told them that I had received the press by post, and that I did not know the sender. Then the Gestapo man showed me a cell in which I was to be incarcerated, and by convincing me that the cell was filthy and damp, tried to persuade me to admit that I received the press from my brother. When I stood my ground, he told me that for sure I would tell them the following day. I was to be kept in absolute isolation.
On the following day, that is, on 2 July, I was taken to aleja Szucha for interrogation. My brother was also brought, but we could not talk. We arrived at aleja Szucha at 7.00 a.m. I was taken directly for interrogation. I was interrogated by a Gestapo man named Lorenz. During interrogation, there was a rubber truncheon on the table, longer and thicker than the pre-war police ones. When I still stood my ground, Lorenz and some other German began to yell at me and threaten me with a revolver. When this did not produce any effect, they walked me downstairs to the basement and summoned my brother.
The first time they interrogated me until about 12.00 a.m. The second time I was interrogated on the same day from 3.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. When I entered the same room as in the morning (117 or 119, I think) they showed me a pool of blood. Lorenz said to me, “this is your doing, you can guess whose blood this is, can’t you? Your brother confessed, but you stood your ground”. In a moment several Germans called by Lorenz had entered the room. I was told to sit at the table, on which there was the above mentioned rubber truncheon. The SS man Lorenz sat opposite me, and, taking the baton and beating me about the hand between the elbow and the fist, began exhorting me to confess. He was beating me in such a way that I had bruised hands. Since I was still claiming that I had received the press by post and that I didn’t know the sender, the Germans exchanged a few words in German (I could not understand what they said as I was distressed). The SS man left the room. A few moments later another German from the adjacent room came in, grabbed the truncheon and began to beat me on the back. Although at first I did not scream, the Germans shut the windows promptly. I was being beaten so severely that I was biting my hands in pain, and then I fell to the floor. Kicking me, they ordered me to get up. Several times I tried to get up, but I could not do it due to the weakness caused by beating and distress. Then they grabbed me by my hair, lifted me and seated me in a chair. In order to bring me back to full consciousness, they began to pour coffee down my dress collar, causing me great pain and smarting. Then they brought water, which they forced down my throat, causing me to choke. They were doing this in such a way that they would force my mouth open, keep it that way and pour an entire large bottle of water, without any pause to let me breathe. Immediately afterwards they resumed the beating. I would like to emphasise that when I fell for the first time, the Germans asked me how many times I had received the package. I would answer “it was the first time”, and they would beat me harder.
I was beaten so severely that my entire back to my knees was blue-black. Except for a thin band around my waist there was no spot of lighter hue. My left leg was entirely beaten. After the beating two Gestapo men took me by my hands and led me to the basement. As we were leaving, the Gestapo man who had been beating me kicked me on the back.
It is interesting to note that on our way downstairs, when we were passing by any clients, the Gestapo men would surround me in such a way that the passer-by could not notice that I was beaten.
I would like to add that after the beating they told me that it would happen again the following day. In the basement they gave me coffee. I did not want to drink it, and asked for water instead, but they refused to give it to me. I don’t remember what happened next, as I had a heart attack and fainted. When I came round, I saw that two prisoners from the same cell were rubbing my temples with water. Then a German physician came and wanted to give me an injection. As I protested, he gave me some valerian.
After the attack I was taken to Pawiak and put in a transit cell. There were nine women in that cell. One of them offered me her bed. I asked them to help me undress, which they did, and they put water compresses against my body. On the following day I was interrogated in the prison and beaten about the face.
After several weeks another Gestapo man, Vogt, took the case over from Lorenz. When I was being taken for interrogation, I heard that in an adjacent cell there were men who were also waiting for transport to aleja Szucha for interrogation. Among the voices from that cell I recognized the voice of my brother. I began to call him by his name through the keyhole, and when he approached the door, I told him not to confess to anything, to seeing [anything]. A man who was in the cell with my brother denounced us to the Gestapo. He told them during interrogation that we had communicated. I did not know that he had been there and had heard what I had said to my brother. Before interrogation, Vogt and other Gestapo men stormed into the cell in which I was awaiting interrogation, and beating me with files about the head and the face, Vogt demanded that I tell him immediately what I had said to my brother. I said that I had told my brother not to worry, as everything was going to be all right.
In the room in which I was being interrogated there was again a rubber truncheon on the table. As he was leading me upstairs, Vogt nudged me in the back to hurry me and I winced; he asked me what was the matter. I told him that I was sick. Before interrogation, he demanded that I tell him what it was. At first I did not want to admit that I had been beaten, but then I confessed, and then Vogt hid the baton. Since that time, although I was interrogated many times, I was not beaten anymore.
On 1 January 1942, I was taken from Pawiak to the Wolski Hospital, as I was suffering from typhoid.
I also testify that my and my brother’s case was heard on 30 January 1941. I did not learn the sentence officially. On the next day my brother was deported to Auschwitz, along with all the men who had been tried during the previous three days. After five weeks I received information about my brother’s death; he had died allegedly of a heart condition.
This is all I know about this case.
The report was read out.