Warsaw, 19 August 1947. A member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Warsaw, Acting Judge Halina Wereńko, heard the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the obligation to tell the truth, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Tomasz Stanisław Sobański, former prisoner no. 13,609 of the concentration camp in Auschwitz |
| Parents’ names | Stanisław and Anna, née Janczarek |
| Date of birth | 22 September 1922, in Warsaw |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Place of residence | Warsaw, Zygmuntowska Street 14, flat 48 |
| Education | 2nd year student at the School of Political |
Sciences
Occupation office clerk at the General Board of the Union of Former Political Prisoners
I stayed at the concentration camp in Auschwitz from 4 April 1941 until 27 June 1944. From December 1943 until June 1944, I was in Birkenau.
At the time of my arrival, Fritzsch was the camp Lagerführer in Auschwitz, then Aumeier.
In the photograph shown to me (the witness was shown a photograph of Hans Aumeier, sent with the letter from 7 August 1947, no. 774/47 from the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Kraków), I recognize Aumeier.
I don’t remember the date of his arrival at the camp. I know that in 1942 he was already the Lagerführer. I didn’t have any contact with Aumeier personally, I saw him at work during the roll calls. He was characterized by his cruelty, especially toward the weak prisoners, the so-called Muslims, whom he harassed. I saw him beat and torture Muslims while searching the prisoners at the camp gate, after they had returned from work. I then saw them being transported to the roll call square, where they often died.
I don’t remember the names of Aumeier’s victims.
I cannot say when and how many times Aumeier tortured the prisoners, as it happened all the time.
During the roll call, supervised by Aumeier or Obersturmführer Schwarz, I also witnessed the torturing of the prisoners, especially those who were weak. Aumeier always assisted at public executions, when prisoners were hanged for attempting to escape, he also played some part in the executions at the wall of death, which took place between blocks 11 and 10. I often saw him walking toward that place with Grabner, a doctor, and the SS men, leading a group of prisoners.
At the time of my arrival at the camp, Untersturmführer SS Grabner was the head of the Political Department.
In the photograph shown to me (the witness was shown a photograph captioned “Maksim Grabner,” sent by the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Kraków with the letter from 7 August 1947, no. 774/47), I recognize the head of the Political Department, Untersturmführer SS Grabner.
I didn’t meet Grabner in person. However, I saw that he was always present at the public executions, as well as the executions at the wall of death. I heard from the prisoners employed at the camp administrative office that Grabner had spies among the prisoners, who helped him catch the more outstanding individuals, causing them to be exterminated or sending them to the SK [Strafkompanie] and to the bunker. I don’t know exactly if Grabner was subordinate to the camp commandant or directly to Berlin.
I don’t recall the names of Grabner’s victims at the moment.
The person shown in the photograph captioned “Kurt Müller” (the witness was shown a photograph sent by the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Kraków with the letter from 7 August 1947, no. 774/47), I recognize as Kurt Müller, who was the Blockführer of different blocks in Auschwitz from the moment of my arrival until I was sent to Birkenau, then he received the rank of Untersturmführer and the function of Rapportführer or Arbeitdienstführer, which he kept until the end of the camp’s existence.
The person shown in the photograph captioned “Paul Szczurek” (the witness was shown a photograph sent by the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Kraków with the letter from 7 August 1947, no. 774/47), I recognize as Paul Szczurek, a Blockführer I met in Birkenau. Szczurek knew Polish well. He was thought to be a rather calm man. I don’t know anything more about him.
The person shown in the photograph captioned “Fritz Wilhelm Buntrock” (the witness was shown a photograph sent by the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Kraków with the letter from 7 August 1947, no. 774/47), I recognize as Buntrock, a Blockführer in Birkenau. After the so-called Tschechenlager was created, Buntrock became the Lagerführer there, the master of life and death. Covering the lager with roofing felt, in the late spring of 1944, I saw Buntrock beat and torture the Czech Jews, women and men.
The Czechs came to Birkenau in two transports (about 12,000 people) from Theresienstadt, a town for Jews in the Czech Republic. They were killed in the gas chambers in Birkenau in two stages. Only the younger ones, included in working groups, survived. The first extermination took place in the spring of 1944, the second one – after my escape, after June 1944. Buntrock assisted with the transport of the Jews to the gas chambers.
Further details about his activity can be provided by the Jews from that transport who survived Auschwitz, and their names and addresses can be provided by Dr. Neuman, deputy of the Czech Parliament, vice-president of the Union of Former Political Prisoners in the Czech Republic.
I don’t know the person presented in the photograph shown to me, captioned “Ludwik Herb Paul.”
More material about the members of the Auschwitz crew can be provided by: Józef Paczyński (residing in Kraków, Smoleńska Street 33 TPZ);
Józef Dyndar (Wojewódzki Komitet PPS Kraków [Regional Committee of the Polish Socialist Party]);
Mieczysław Kieta (editorial office of the Naprzód, Kraków).
At this the report was concluded and read out.