On 21 July 1947 in Kraków, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Appellate Investigative Judge Jan Sehn, acting upon written request of First Prosecutor from the Supreme National Tribunal, this dated 25 April 1947 (file no. NTN 719/47) and in accordance with the provisions of and procedure provided for under the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293) in connection with Article 254, 107 and 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed as a witness a former inmate of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Stanisław Kłodziński |
| Age | 29 years old |
| Citizenship and nationality | Polish |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Occupation | physician |
| Place of residence | Kraków, Szpitalna Street 3 |
I was incarcerated in the Auschwitz concentration camp from 12 August 1941 to 19 January 1945 as Polish political prisoner no. 20019. Since 1942, I was employed first as a nurse and later as a doctor-prisoner in block 20 of the parent camp in Auschwitz (Stammlager). This block belonged to a hospital for prisoners (Häftlingskrankenbau) and housed the infectious ward – a ward for such diseases as typhus fever, typhoid fever, erysipelas, tuberculosis, scarlet fever and others.
The SS doctors did not treat typhus fever. As a preventive measure, they used to select prisoners who suffered from typhus and send them to gas chambers. A general action of this kind was carried out in August 1942 on the orders from SS doctor Entress, of course in consultation with his boss, Standortarzt [garrison doctor] Wirths. Some 940 people – typhus patients, patients with suspected typhus and convalescents – were then taken from block 20 and transported to the gas chambers in Birkenau. When all the sick were murdered, the camp was deloused. Nevertheless, isolated cases of typhus fever were diagnosed throughout the whole of 1943 and in the first months of 1944. Those who fell ill with typhus fever were still selected and murdered with phenol injections or else in the gas chambers.
In 1942, an SS physician, Dr. Vetter (I don’t know his name), arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp. At first he was appointed to the parent camp, then relocated to the SS Revier [hospital], and finally sent to Monowitz and Jawiszowice. At the beginning of 1943, he came to me to block 20 together with the elder of the camp hospital (Lagerältester), prisoner-doctor Fejkiel, and provided me with various preparations, for instance, a preparation manufactured by IG Farbenindustrie in Leverkusen and branded as Be 1034, and told me that these were test preparations, which had been tested in other camps and proven safe, and therefore should give positive results in typhus treatment. Vetter instructed me to use Be 1034 in the following forms and doses: in pills – 0.25 grams four times a day throughout the period of fever (13 days), then 0.25 grams six times a day, up to 12 pills a day (increasing the dose); in intravenous injections – 5 cubic centimeters two times a day throughout the period of fever, increasing the dose to 5 cubic centimeters administered four times a day; in intramuscular injections – the same doses as with intravenous injections. These various forms and doses were tailored to particular patients. With respect to all cases, Vetter demanded that we prepare very detailed case histories in accordance with a formula provided by him, noting down such observations as: the condition of the tongue: parched, coated, etc.; temperature, heart action (blood pressure), development of the rash, central nervous system, the mononuclear phagocyte system (liver, spleen), and urinalysis. He instructed us that in case of the patient’s death we were to perform an autopsy in order to determine whether the organs underwent any changes in effect of using Be 1034.
On Vetter’s orders, Be 1034 was used in cases of typhus fever, typhoid fever, and erysipelas. Large doses of this preparation gave positive results only in treating erysipelas by shortening the duration of this illness, but Be 1034 didn’t yield any results with respect to typhus fever and typhoid fever, with the sick dying during treatment. Still, the autopsies didn’t reveal any detrimental effects of Be 1034.
Vetter personally supplied us with the preparation in its original packaging, the same which I presently submit (the witness submits an original box with the following inscriptions: “Bayer”, IG Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft, Leverkusen, 10 Ampullen zu 5 ccm, Präparat Be 1034, 20%ige Lösung, Jede Ampulle enthält 1,0 g der wirksamen Substanz, Unverkäufliches Muster; inside the box there are eight ampoules with stickers with the following inscription: 5 ccm, Präparat Be 1034, 20%ige Lösung). I received the box which I have presently submitted directly from Vetter himself, and I sent it illegally out of the camp to be examined. When I came back from the camp, the box was returned to me. The serial number, 18342, is printed on the exterior of the bottom of the box.
Vetter personally supervised the administering of the preparations with which he had provided us himself, at first once a week then once every ten days, and collected the temperature charts. He made it clear that he wanted the results of treatment with the provided preparations to be positive and hinted at the possibility of presenting falsified observations. We learned privately that he received bonuses from IG Farbenindustrie for positive reviews of given preparations. It was universally known in the camp that Vetter had signed a contract with the IG Farbenindustrie company. Moreover, Vetter provided us with and ordered the administering of the following preparations: Rutenol (for a short period of time and with negative results), Be 1036 – probably an acridine drug (with a negative result), and a yolk injection (with a negative result). All these preparations were manufactured by the Bayer company, and all were used in treating typhus fever and typhoid fever. The only preparation from among those brought by Vetter that proved efficacious in treating typhus fever was Periston, also produced by Bayer. Vetter personally collected the case histories.
I don’t know the surnames of the professors from IG Farbenindustrie, and I don’t know whether any of them were in Auschwitz. I don’t know how the above-mentioned preparations were delivered to Auschwitz because we, the doctors, received them directly from Vetter. Vetter also transplanted typhus fever from sick Jews to the healthy ones by intravenous infusions of 1–10 cubic centimeters of afflicted blood in order to observe the incubation of the disease and its course. These operations ended in deaths. I had two such cases in my room in block 20. Two Dutch Jews, whose surnames I don’t know, fell victim to these practices. I would like to add that according to my knowledge, preparation Be 1034 was used throughout the occupation in an ophthalmological clinic in Kraków. More pertinent information could be provided by Prof. Wilczek.
The report was read out. At this the hearing and the report were concluded.