On 14 August 1947 in Bydgoszcz, the investigative judge of the District Court in Bydgoszcz with its seat in Bydgoszcz, in the person of Judge K. Dobrzański, with the participation of a reporter, trainee judge Pacanowski, interviewed the person specified below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Kamila Kanicka |
| Age | 42 |
| Parents’ names | Bolesław and Bolesława |
| Place of residence | Bydgoszcz, Zamojskiego Street 4, flat 3 |
| Occupation | housewife |
| Criminal record | none |
| Relationship to the parties | none |
The witness testifies: I arrived at the camp in Ravensbrück on 1 May 1942. The suspect, Maria Mandl – who is now aged 30 to 40 – was already present at my ward. Mandl’s chief qualities were profound cruelty and sadism, as manifested by the fact that on 1 May 1942 she arbitrarily ordered the prisoners to walk barefoot on the coarse camp gravel, which, along with the fairly cold weather, only added to their suffering.
I recall that a 79-year-old lady, Biedrzycka, wife of a famous prosecutor or Sanation activist, arrived at the same time as me, in the same transport from Pawiak. She also had to comply with Mandl’s orders. A prisoner whose name I do not remember died after being in the camp for just two days.
Mandl’s cruelty manifested itself in assembling frequent, unnecessary roll calls, hurling vulgar insults, as well as beating and kicking prisoners at every opportunity.
I recall instances of her dragging sick prisoners to the assembly during winter roll calls and pouring cold water over them, so that after a while they turned into icicles of sorts.
I would like to emphasize that Mandl was especially hostile towards Poles, subjecting them in particular to insults and beatings. She hated even German women, the so-called “bibelki” [short for Bibelforschers – Bible Students] – as members of a certain sect were popularly called.
When Mandl was transferred to Auschwitz in 1943, the prisoners greeted this with relief, especially since she was replaced as Oberaufseherin [head overseer] by Joanna Langefeld. I can say that she treated [prisoners] as humanely as possible within the camp environment – especially when it came to the Polish block, as she stressed that it deserved consideration on account of the orderliness and diligence of its prisoners. If she administered punishments – which were moderate – she did so in the case of a major offence, such as theft.
That is all.
The report was read out before signing and concluded.