JÓZEF PORĘCKI

Warsaw, 27 March 1950. Janusz Gumkowski, acting as a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person named below, who testified as follows:


Forename and surname Józef Poręcki
Date and place of birth 2 May 1899, Koczargi Nowe, Warsaw county
Names of parents Andrzej and Józefa, née Szczepanik
Father’s occupation farmer
State affiliation Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Education able to sign his name
Occupation caretaker
Place of residence Targowa Street 44, flat 20
Criminal record none

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was at home at Targowa Street 44. Until around 20 August 1944, I no longer remember the exact date, we were not allowed to walk the streets, and the gates had to be kept closed. The Germans shot at people who were walking in the street. They executed a young boy in front of the house at Targowa Street 40, having first checked his identity papers. The boy was buried in the courtyard of the house no. 40. I learned about the execution from the residents of this house.

Around 20 August the Germans started deporting all of the men from Praga to Germany. They took us by trains from the Eastern Railway Station to Pruszków, and from there to Germany. Women were not displaced from our area; they stayed until the arrival of Soviet forces.

I did not hear about any crimes committed in our area.

At this point the report was concluded and read out.