Warsaw, 11 April 1946. Judge Halina Wereńko, delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the significance of the oath, the judge took an oath therefrom.
The witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Jadwiga Ludmiła Komornicka, née Kern |
| Parents’ names | Jan Alfred and Maria Emilia, née Zasławska |
| Date of birth | 2 January 1891 in Stepań, district of Równe |
| Occupation | old age pensioner |
| Education | 7 classes of secondary school |
| Place of residence | Żoliborz, Słowackiego Street 38 |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | none |
During the German occupation I lived together with my husband in Warsaw at Natolińska Street 5, flat 18. Since our apartment – located in a German quarter – was occupied by the Germans, on 5 August 1943 we moved to the company flat at the factory where my husband worked, at Grzybowska Street 27, flat 6.
My husband, Józef Marian (born on 4 October 1883), a mechanical engineer by profession, had worked for 30 years (and during the occupation) at the company ’Konrad, Jarnuszkiewicz i S-ka’. This was a metallurgical plant that manufactured hospital instruments.
I don’t know whether my husband was a member of an underground organisation that fought against the Germans, for he never spoke with me on this topic, nor did I notice him meeting with any strangers at our flat.
I must stress, however, that my husband was occupied all day long with his job at the factory, so I don’t know whether he engaged in any clandestine activities there, or whom he met.
During the night from 5 to 6 November [1943], at around 1.30, eight armed gendarmes burst into our flat. The female caretaker, who was present during the arrest, said that the gendarmes had come by car. Having entered our flat, they put a revolver to my husband’s chest. After conducting a superficial search, the Germans took my husband, having first allowed him to dress. When I asked for how long they were taking him, the gendarmes replied that right now for an investigation, and after that they would see what transpired.
I later learned that before arresting him, the gendarmes had searched for my husband at the apartment at Natolińska Street which we had occupied previously. They came to our flat only after verifying our new address with the administrator. On the same night they arrested a colleague of my husband from the factory, engineer Zygmunt Przybyłko, who had been working for the company for the previous two years.
I turned to Gustaw Rothert, the director of the factory that employed my husband, to help me with his release. The director then contacted the director of the Chamber of Industry and Trade, Dr Krug, who referred the matter to Dr Galien; he in turn went to the Gestapo (at aleja Szucha 25), where he was told not to meddle in the affairs of the two engineers – my husband and Przybyłko – for it was a political case.
The director of our company then contacted, through semi-legal channels, the German director of the ‚Bistal’ company, Gruhner, who was sympathetically disposed towards Poles, requesting the he use his connections to save my husband and Przybyłko. Director Gruhner later said that at the Gestapo office he read the testimony of my husband and of Przybyłko, in which they admitted to the following: 1) distributing underground press materials, 2) belonging to a military organisation, 3) providing financial support to a military organisation. This testimony was purportedly signed by my husband and engineer Przybyłko. In light of the above, there was nothing that Gruhner could do.
On 8 November 1943 both men – my husband and engineer Przybyłko – appeared in a list of hostages, while a subsequent poster carried the announcement that they had both been executed by firing squad on 12 November. During this time, executions were being held at Kępna Street and Nowy Świat Street. I believe that my husband was shot dead at Kępna Street, for a labourer from the factory where my husband worked saw him during the execution at Kępna Street, standing next to engineer Przybyłko, who had grey hair and was rather tall.
This labourer perished during the uprising. I know no details concerning the last moments of my husband’s life.
The report was read out.