FELICJAN KORSAK

Lublin, 19 April 1948. Deputy Prosecutor M. Nowakowski interviewed the person specified below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Felicjan Korsak
Age 64
Names of parents Jan and Helena
Place of residence Lublin, Aleje Racławickie 16 (Bobolanum)
Occupation monk
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

On 1 August 1944 at 5.00 p.m. an uprising broke out in Warsaw and consequently, six or seven people who could not get to the place of their permanent residence took refuge overnight in the Jesuit monastery at Rakowiecka Street 61. Among these civilians, there were two or three women and a ten-year-old boy by the name of Mikołajczyk, who having come to discharge his duties as an altar boy accidentally ended up in the house. On 2 August, after 10.00 a.m, the Germans entered the house and summoned Prior Edward Kosibowicz, who heard the accusation that "bandits" were being given shelter in the Jesuit College and that the Germans in the street had been shot at from the windows. After these accusations were levelled against Father Kosibowicz, two German soldiers took him away to Rakowiecka Street. There he was probably shot. We found his body in February 1945 opposite the city gardens in Rakowiecka Street, covered with a little soil. In a pocket, there was Father Kosibowicz’s identification card, which helped to identify the body.

When the Germans entered the College building, all people were ordered to gather by the gate and then told to move downstairs, to the shelter located in the basement corridor, and wait there. There were 25 clergymen, 10 employees, six or seven civilians, including two or three ladies and the boy. When we were gathered in the shelter, the Germans searched the College building and after some 20 minutes to an hour maximum, they came to the shelter and started to call us individually to the corridor, after which they told us to get inside another small room, occupied by a carter. Those leaving the shelter were frisked by the Germans, who then took away their watches and other items. The carter’s room was small and there were over 40 of us, so we were packed together and could not breathe. We had been waiting like that for about 15 minutes. At one point, the door opened and one of the Germans threw four or five grenades inside. People fell to the ground, or onto one another. Then, the grenades started to explode and soon, the cries of the wounded and the dying could be heard. The following priests were killed: Herman Libiński, Jan Pawelski, Władysław Wiącek, Mieczysław Wróblewski, Henryk Wilczyński, Jan Madaliński, Franciszek Szymaniak and Zbigniew Grabowski, as well as brothers Adam Głandan, Feliks Bajak, Antoni Biegański, Stanisław Orzechowski, Klemens Bobrytzki, Czesław Święcicki and Stanisław Tomaszewski.

I do not remember the names of the ten employees, having known some of them only by their first names. Likewise, I do not know the names of the civilians, apart from Mikołajczyk, the ten-year-old boy. The following priests survived: Karol Sawicki (currently in Kalisz), Aleksander Kisiel (Warsaw), Stanisław Jędrusik (Silesia, I do not know the exact address), Hubert Kwas (Gdynia), Jan Rosiak (Stara Wieś Małopolska), Aleksander Pieńkosz (he died a month later in the Warsaw Uprising), Leon Mońko (currently in treatment in Zakopane) and Julian Reszka, who quit the Society of Jesus and I do not know his current address.

I do not know which German unit carried out the execution I have described. Likewise, I do not know the name of the commander of the unit which entered the building. I only know that he was a corporal or a sergeant, a German, and his six companions, who wore German uniforms, spoke to each other in Ukrainian. This unit was probably stationed in the nearby barracks.

After the grenades were thrown into the room where we were gathered, not everybody was killed. I and a few other people managed to get out and we hid in the basement, behind the coal. I stayed there for four days and then I managed to reach the Polish units stationed in Akacjowa Street.

I know that after the Germans threw grenades into the room, they shot at those who showed any signs of life. After a while, the Germans got into the room, poured petrol onto the corpses and set them on fire.

I also heard about other executions carried out by the Germans, but I do not know if the same unit was responsible.

I do not know the names or addresses of people who could provide details on the crimes perpetrated in aleja Szucha and in Mokotów. I am not in possession of the leaflets circulated by the Germans nor the posters circulated by the Polish Underground. Likewise, I do not know any persons who could have any information on that.

The accusations which concerned giving shelter to bandits, shooting at the Germans or being in possession of weapons were baseless, since there was nothing in the Jesuit building which could have justified such a harsh penalty.

This is all I know. The report was read out.