MARIA SŁONAWSKA

Warsaw, 11 February 1946. Judge St. Rybiński, delegated to the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes, interviewed the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the obligation to speak the truth and of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:


Forename and surname Maria Słonawska
Date of birth 1898
Names of parents Wincenty and Albina
Occupation old age pensioner
Education elementary school
Place of residence Warsaw, św. Wincentego Street 12, flat 15
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none

I have appeared after reading an appeal posted in the newspapers. I present the following communication as proof of my identity (the witness presented a communication from the Treasury Office, made out in the name of Maria Słonawska).

When the Warsaw Uprising broke out in 1944, I was living in my current place of residence. My children lived with me, and among them was my son, Szczepan Słonawski, 19 years old at the time. On the day preceding the outbreak of the Uprising, Szczepan and his younger brother Kazimierz Słonawski (13 years old) went to visit friends in the village of Buchnik, some 15 km away from our house. When the Uprising started on 1 August, both boys did not return home. Fighting commenced on the road leading through Buchnik to Jabłonna, and it continued until the Russians arrived in Praga. I had no information about either of my sons. Only in January 1945 did Kazimierz return and tell me that they were in Buchnik when the Uprising broke out. The friends whom they were visiting wanted them to stay, saying that they should not return home for the time being. Kazimierz agreed to stay, but Szczepan left, saying that he wanted to go home because I would be worried about them. Kazimierz and the friends whom they were visiting in Buchnik were evacuated to the other bank of the Vistula, but he knew nothing about what happened to Szczepan, who had left for home.

To date, Szczepan – my son – has not returned home, and I do not know what has happened to him.

The friends in Buchnik go by the surname of Wadzyński or Wadyński. The forename of the head of the family is Henryk.

The report was read out.