JÓZEF KURAN

Warsaw, 25 March 1948. Judge Halina Wereńko, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as a witness, without taking an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Józef Kuran
Parents’ names Franciszek and Katarzyna, née Gajewska
Date of birth 27 May 1905 in Łódź
Education Master of Arts in Philosophy and the Pedagogic Sciences
Place of residence Warsaw, Krechowiecka Street 6, flat 56
Religion Roman Catholic
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Occupation inspector at the Ministry of Education

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was in my flat at Okopowa Street 55a in Warsaw. Until 11 August 1944 the area was controlled by insurrectionists from the "Zośka" battalion. "Radosław" had his command headquarters there in the second half of the first ten days of August.

On 11 August the school at Okopowa Street 55a was occupied by the Germans, and I heard both German and Ukrainian being spoken. Around the middle of August (I don’t remember the exact date) I heard the hubbub of voices and the sound of individual shots coming from the direction of the square at Okopowa Street 59. This was repeated nearly everyday.

I don’t remember the date when this noise ended – I think I still heard the shots in September. I could not see the people being brought in from the premises of the school were I was hiding. Towards the end of August (I don’t remember the date), at night, I walked through the square at Okopowa Street 59 towards Spokojna Street, and from there returned to the school. There were no guard posts. At the spot where the wooden logs were lying I saw pyres (on fire at the time) and human remains. The pyre had an area of some 30 m. I would see the burning piles frequently at night. During this period I met Father Zalewski, who had been hiding all this time under a chimney in the square at Okopowa Street 59, and one S. Trzciński, who was hiding in the vicinity of square after having escaped execution.

At this point the report was brought to a close and read out.