Warsaw, 11 February 1946. S. Rybiński, the judge delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, heard as a witness the person specified below. Having been advised of the obligation to tell the truth and of the criminal liability for making false declarations the witness was sworn and testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Halina Staniewska |
| Date of birth | 1905 |
| Parents’ names | Bolesław and Maria |
| Occupation | housewife |
| Education | elementary school |
| Place of residence | Warsaw, Elsterska Street 6, flat 2 |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | none |
I came to the Commission’s office after I had read a proclamation in the Warsaw papers. I show my identification card N 905 (the witness produces her Kennkarte).
In the second half of January 1940, the wanted notices appeared on the walls of Warsaw, reading that the occupational authorities were looking for a certain Kot. There were also photographs of the wanted young man.
As I learned later, that wanted young man named Kot was of Jewish descent, he was born in Warsaw. He was studying in Oxford and came from England to Warsaw in the summer of 1939, before the outbreak of the war, purportedly for a vacation, but in fact as a British intelligence agent.
After the outbreak of the war, a maid (I don’t know her name) who was working in the flat in which one room was occupied by the above-mentioned Kot as a tenant, noticed that he was behaving in a strange manner and reported that fact to the region leader, Wiśniewski (I don’t know his first name). She told Wiśniewski, “the young gentleman behaves strangely, he talks to the furnace”. Wiśniewski figured out that this meant that Kot had a radio transmitter and reported it to the German authorities. When the German gendarmes came to Kot to arrest him, he threw a grenade, killing two or three of them, and fled. Then the Germans issued the wanted notices, promised a reward of 10,000 PLN for turning him in, and threatened those who would help him hide with death. But they didn’t manage to catch Kot. Allegedly he fled on a plane to England.
This fact was to be the reason for a wave of arrests by the Germans in Warsaw. As far as I know, about 300 people were arrested, usually representatives of the Jewish intelligentsia or people of Jewish descent. But people of Aryan descent were also among the arrested. The arrested were taken to Mokotów prison, then run by the Gestapo. Among the arrested was my husband’s brother-in-law, Dr Jerzy Przeworski (a chemist and the owner of a sugar refinery), the lawyer Stanisław Ettinger, and young Königsztejn – the son of a physician (Dr Königsztejn, his father, lives and works in the Jewish Community Board at Szeroka Street in the Praga district). I don’t know any other names of the arrested. Since my husband’s sister (Przeworski’s wife) was ill and I was afraid to let my husband go to the Gestapo, I made an effort myself to obtain a release for Dr Przeworski, and I went to the Gestapo at aleja Szucha every day for two months. At first I was going there to the so- called Sicherheitspolizei, and later when I managed to find out that Przeworski’s case was being handled by the “Gestapo with skull and crossbones”, I was going to the latter ones. My husband was typing petitions in German on a typewriter and I was taking them to the Gestapo. The passes were being issued by a Polish man whom I had known by sight before the war, as he had been spending a lot of time in a Turkish bakery at Nowy Świat Street where I had been buying bread. That Pole, whose name I don’t know, was making difficulties and once even denied me a pass.
Then I would go with the pass to various Gestapo agents who were working in that building. Each of them would read my petition and check in his files in which case the name of Przeworski appeared. Then the German, so far quiet, would lose his temper, throw the papers on the desk and declare that he could not do anything in this case. On the second occasion I noticed that the cover of the file, which the German had checked, bore the inscription “Kot”. I understood that my brother-in-law had been arrested in connection with the Kot affair.
The Germans used to say – sending me away with nothing – that my brother-in-law had been deported. Once one of the Gestapo men, Schule, who, as I learned later, had all the files concerning those arrested in the Kot affair, pushed me slightly on the arm, telling me not to come again, as he couldn’t tell me anything.
Another time, in the reception, I got from a Gestapo officer of Czech nationality who was exceptionally and selflessly kind to me, a sheet of paper with the name Meisinger written on it, as this Meisinger was the man who was to decide the fate of that group of the arrested. When I reached the room of this Meisinger he was not present there. When his adjutant saw the paper with his boss’s name on it, he ran wild and began to question me through an interpreter, who had given me this sheet of paper. I do not speak German, but I explained that I had got it from a German in uniform whom I would recognize if I saw him, but who did not work in the Gestapo. They believed me. The German tore the sheet of paper with the name on it and I was again sent away with nothing.
Finally, at the end of February 1940 I went to the Gestapo for the last time, as then one Gestapo man, whose name I didn’t learn, told me through the interpreter not to come again to submit petitions, as he would be forced to arrest me. When I said that I would go to Berlin then, and when he heard the word “Berlin”, he shouted that all petitions would come to him. As I saw that I would not learn anything from the Gestapo men, I stopped going there.
I began to try to find something out in Mokotów prison, which had already been handed over to the Polish prison authorities. I finally managed to get to the administrative office, and there I learned from the prison register that my brother-in-law Przeworski had been released from prison on 4 February 1940. This was not true, since in asking the prison guards about the fate of the arrested people, I learned that at the end of January 1940 the whole group of those who had been arrested on 22, 23 and 24 January – hence at the same time as my brother-in-law and all the other people whom I have mentioned above – were taken away in three groups from the prison in cars, without clothes, just in underwear, despite the fact that it was 32 degrees below zero. The prison guards who told me this said that the arrested had not been taken far, since the car which had been used for transport was coming back quickly and transported all the arrested between 10.00 p.m. and 2.00 a.m. My brother-in-law was taken away. I learned about this from the prison guards in their flats near the prison.
I don’t remember the names of all those guards, except for one whose name is Strug. I know his wife, so I will try to submit his address. Although I learned that the arrested had been deported, I was still going to the Gestapo then in order to learn their and my brother-in-law’s future fate. I stopped going there later when I had been explicitly threatened with arrest. Only in October or November 1945 I learned from a daily newspaper “Życie Warszawy” that three mass graves were found in Kabacki Forest near Wilanów, and one of them, the biggest one, had been made at the end of January 1940. Therefore, I am sure that my brother-in- law, Przeworski, and his fellows in misfortune are buried there, since there had been no other mass execution near Warsaw at that time.
I believe that the main reason for my brother-in-law’s arrest had been a complaint against him made by Irena Przeworska, the wife of Tadeusz Przeworski (Jerzy’s cousin). The point was that my brother-in-law, as a co-owner of the sugar refinery, did not want the refineries – belonging to owners of Jewish descent – to fall into the hands of the Germans. My brother-in-law was a Catholic, but he was of Jewish descent. He decided, therefore, to “Aryanise” the company, handing all the shares and money of all the refineries over to his long-time employees who were Poles. Only two other co-owners were still in Poland at that time: his brother-in-law, Dr Józef Zandan (married to Jerzy Przeworski’s sister), and Irena Przeworska. Dr Zandan was acting in concert with his brother-in-law. Irena Przeworska, in turn, opposed his plans and submitted to the Gestapo a complaint against him, and she put him in a very bad light. Dr Józef Zandan, who was killed by the Germans in 1944 in Radość, near Warsaw, left a diary in which he had described the entire disagreement between Jerzy Przeworski and Irena. The Treuhänder – a German – was also threatening my brother-in-law with consequences to his action, but we have no proof of this. The refinery was eventually entrusted to another Treuhänder. A director of one of the refineries, Zawadziński (I don’t know his first name), also opposed my brother-in-law, and he refused to send about 1 million PLN of the refinery’s money, but instead handed the money over to the German authorities. Zawadziński was slandering my brother-in-law before the Treuhänder and reporting to the Germans about my brother-in-law’s plans concerning the Treuhänder.
The final complaint in writing was filed by Irena Przeworska with the Gestapo. She thus attracted their attention to Jerzy Przeworski. Irena Przeworska is now in the Czech Republic, in one of the camps, and is trying to obtain a permission to leave for America where her husband lives. The diary of Dr Zandan incriminating Irena Przeworska is kept by the children of the deceased.
I would like to add that at the time of his arrest, my brother-in-law Przeworski lived at Aleje Jerozolimskie in his own house, no. 23. The widow of Jerzy Przeworski, Kaziemiera, lives with me at ul. Elsterska 6/2.
Warsaw, 19 February 1946. S. Rybiński, the judge delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, heard as a witness the person specified below. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the importance of the oath the witness was sworn and testified as follows:
Name and surname Halina Staniewska (known in the case)
I came today to the Commission’s office in order to correct and complete my testimony of 11 February. First of all, I need to say on the basis of my old notes that Irena Przeworska submitted the complaint against Jerzy Przeworski not to the Gestapo, but to the Liegenschafts board at ul. Kopernika 30 in Warsaw. There she was seen and her complaint was read by Henryk Górowski, who is now the director of the Wieluń refinery (Wieluń post office), and Stefan Szyfer, the chief accountant of the Józefów refinery, who works there to this day (post office in Płochocin near Warsaw).
The same witnesses will be able to confirm the actions of Ludwik Zawadziński and the former director of the Józefów refinery, Śliwiński (the first name will be provided by the witnesses). I need to correct my testimony concerning Zawadziński, as his detrimental action did not exceed keeping my brother-in-law Jerzy Przeworski away from Treuhänder Lichtenhofer (a teacher from Wrocław who finally presided over the board of the Michałów and Wieluń refineries), slandering him before that Treuhänder, telling him that my brother- in-law wanted to “Aryanise” the company, that he disliked that Treuhänder and wanted to remove him from the board. In effect, the Treuhänder was prejudiced against my brother- in-law and was threatening him in public. These circumstances may be confirmed also by witness Bukowski (Górowski and Szyfer know his first name and address).
The money was handed over to the Germans not by Zawadziński, but by Śliwiński, the former director of the Józefów refinery. The same witnesses may confirm this, and they may also provide Śliwiński’s full name and address.
I need to add about Zawadziński that he retained his post during the German rule, but he sold a great quantity of sugar during the occupation and made money on it, and in effect the Germans arrested him and put him in the prison, but released him after some time. Zawadziński wanted to resume his post after the Germans had left the country, but the workers did not let him do it.
Where Zawadziński is now, I do not know. I suppose that his address could be provided by the witnesses. Śliwiński opposed my brother-in-law’s request to give the entire sum of money from the refinery’s coffers to the company’s board. By means of heavy persuasion, Śliwiński was made to pay only 50 thousand PLN, and the rest – about 1 million PLN – he paid to the German board, justifying this step from fear of repression.
In making this testimony, I want first of all to find out whether the actions of these people (that is Zawadziński, Śliwiński and Irena Przeworska) contributed to the tragic fate of my brother-in-law Jerzy Przeworski.
I would like to add that the Gestapo man, Schule, was tall and stout and had brown hair. He was clean-shaven. Schule was also granting permissions for packages and passes to Pawiak’s administrative office. Schule was quite civil to me, only once he lost his temper and pushed me.
Meisinger, who made the decision about my brother-in-law’s execution, I did not see. I cannot provide a description. Perhaps that young, broad-shouldered, red-haired German of medium height whom I had taken to be Meisinger’s adjutant was Meisinger himself. He was about 30 years old. The Gestapo man who took my last petition and threatened me not to come again, as he would be forced to arrest me since I was making havoc in the office, was of medium height, slim, had a pimpled face and hair of some metallic hue. I didn’t learn his name. That German was quite civil to me, but very rude to others. He pushed one claimant named Irena Gold (Aryan) so hard that she almost had her teeth knocked out, but fortunately she got hold of a windowsill. Gold was petitioning about some Jew, an owner of the petitions office, who was arrested at the same time and for the same reason as my brother-in-law (also in connection with the Kot affair).
I used to meet that Gestapo man later in town. He would then speak Polish to me with a German accent. He told me once that I deserved to be told the truth, but that he had a mother and a wife. Another time, during another chance meeting, he asked me whether my brother-in-law had returned and assured me that he would. All the Gestapo men, including that one, were wearing army uniforms, a black band with SD letters (Sicherdienst) on the cuff, and a black band around the hat with a skull and crossbones on it. When they were coming for a search they were wearing black leather or tarpaulin coats.
I would like to add that three hundred people were arrested in Warsaw with my brother- in-law, including a priest from Wilanów, and about two thousand people more across the country, and it has been said that all those people had been arrested in revenge for Kot.
My brother-in-law, Jerzy Przeworski, was a member of the board of the Refinery Joint-Stock Company which comprised the refineries of Józefów, Wieluń, Michałów, Gosławiec, and if I remember correctly also Młynów. The Przeworski family owned more than 90% of the shares. My brother-in-law wanted to prevent the company from falling into the hands of the occupier. Irena Przeworska’s complaint ruined this plan and in effect the Germans took over the board and removed many Polish employees, including Stefan Szyfer.
The children of Dr Zandan, who have the diary of their dead father, live in Gliwice. The son’s name is Tadeusz Zandan, and the daughter’s is Maria Zandan. Tadeusz Zandan works in the Institute of Chemistry and Fats in Gliwice. I don’t know their exact address. Jerzy Przeworski’s wife was ill during the arrest and execution of her husband, so she could not say anything about the case. Her name is Kazimiera Zofia Przeworska.
The report was read out.