On 19 January 1948 in Częstochowa, the Investigating Judge from the region of the District Court in Częstochowa in the person of the Judge M. Domagała [?], heard the person named below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the wording of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the significance of the oath, the witness was sworn in accordance with Article 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Jakub Gutman |
| Age | 37 years old |
| Parents’ names | Nadma and Taja, née Lubkowska |
| Place of residence | Krótka Street 38, Częstochowa |
| Occupation | tailor |
| Religious affiliation | Mosaic |
| Criminal record | none |
| Relationship to the parties | none |
I encountered Böttcher for the first time in September 1942, during an action carried out by the Germans in the ghetto in Częstochowa. On 25 September, I was designated for deportation together with other Jews. When the populace was being divided into groups, the Germans assigned me to the "Metalurgia" factory at Krótka Street 1 in Częstochowa. I saw Böttcher once again on 25 September 1944 at Nowy Rynek in Częstochowa, where the segregation of Jews was taking place. Böttcher was standing in the company of Segenhart, Heinrich Trembuwski and others. They were segregating the Jewish populace and Böttcher and a group of Gestapo men were supervising the process. The third action took place on 28 September 1942. At that time I worked at provisioning [?] in the "Metalurgia" factory. When we were collecting bread from Soldbag’s bakery at Nadrzeczna Street, a blue policeman Piasecki, came running up to us and told us that the platform on which we were to take the bread to the factory was needed at the train station where the Jewish populace was being loaded. Complying with the order, Abe Winer, Suleh Dąbrowicz, Moszek Zębek [?] and I went to the railway siding by the "Warta" factory. There I noticed Böttcher and a whole group of higher-ranking German officers. I saw that all Jews were being divested of their shoes, which we then loaded onto the platform. I would like to emphasize that during the first and second actions shoes were not taken away. Böttcher must have given that order himself when he had arrived at the site. I took the shoes of the Jews to 1 Maja Street.
In the spring of 1943, I don’t remember the exact date but it was already after the establishment of the small ghetto in Częstochowa, Böttcher arrived for an inspection. He visited all the places of work and also the hospital at Garncarska Street 65. I saw him enter the hospital premises. He must have issued some special orders, as the day after his departure all gravely ill Jews were taken out and executed at Rynek Warszawski. As far as I know, Böttcher ordered his subordinates to inspect all places of work and check whether children worked there. The order was carried out the day after Böttcher’s departure. During this inspection, my acquaintances, Mrs. Cymerman and her daughter, were executed at the market place for not being at work.
In January 1944, Böttcher inspected the "Hasag" factory in Częstochowa. Before that, however, I saw him on Garibaldiego Street, where he was inspecting some places of work. One Pole told me that on the evening of the day of the inspection at the "Hasag" factory and on Garibaldiego Street, Böttcher got from Hess [illegible fragment], one of the Jews, Teigl Tajentein, who had tin cans for food on him. Asked where he got them, Tajentein replied that he had made them himself. He was taken to the guardhouse and nobody has heard from him since then; he hasn’t returned to this day.
In July 1944, following the evacuation of Radom and Skarżysko, I worked at a tailor’s workshop (at 3 Maja Street 77), where I again saw Böttcher, who was sending Germans to the Warsaw Uprising, as some of them later told me. All the Germans were mortally afraid of him. I once saw how one of the gendarmes hid from Böttcher in a rubbish bin. As I was soon transferred to "Hasag", where the conditions markedly deteriorated after Böttcher arrived in Częstochowa, I don’t know anything else pertaining to Böttcher.