On 30 July 1947 in Kraków, Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal in Kraków, Edward Pęchalski, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, acting on the basis of the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293), with the participation of reporter Krystyna Turowicz, pursuant to Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, in connection with Art. 106, 107, 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed the person specified below as a witness, who testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Kazimierz Smoleń |
| Date and place of birth | 19 April 1920, Chorzów Stary |
| Parents’ names | Józef and Helena Olszówka |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Citizenship and nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | law student |
| Place of residence | Lublin, Lubartowska Street 31 |
I already gave my testimony in the case against the armed crew at the Auschwitz concentration camp before the Kraków District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland on 10 December 1946. Having listened to that report today, I fully agree with its content and add the following:
As the head of the Political Department, Grabner and his subordinates answered to the camp command, strictly speaking to the camp commandant (Lagerkommandant) himself. The entire time he worked at Auschwitz, Grabner wore an SS uniform of an Untersturmführer. He belonged to Stapoleitstelle [Gestapo] in Katowice. Just before he came to Auschwitz, he worked in Aussendienststelle [field office] in Rybnik, which was subordinate to Stapoleitstelle in Katowice, where Grabner was at first Kriminalsekretär and was later promoted to Kriminalobersekretär [police ranks]. Grabner always signed lists of the so-called Zugangs – lists with names of the prisoners transported to Auschwitz and imprisoned there after being given identification numbers, as Der Leiter der Abteilung II [leader of the Division II], SS-Untersturmführerund Kriminalsekretär. Since the Auschwitz camp was located in the area subordinate to Stapoleitstelle in Katowice, the function of the head of the Political Department at the camp was performed by the Gestapo officers from that post.
Block 11, located on the premises of the Auschwitz camp, was the auxiliary prison for Mysłowice (Polizeiersatzgefängnis Myslowitz Auschwitz). This was the place used for detaining prisoners who could not fit in the prison in Mysłowice. They were not strictly camp prisoners but rather police prisoners who were supervised by Stapoleitstelle in Katowice. Around the camp they were referred to as Polizeihäftlings [police prisoners], abbreviated as "PH". Polizeihäftlings detained in the Auschwitz camp were subordinate to the Political Department which did not answer to the camp command with regard to these prisoners, but to Stapoleitstelle in Katowice. The prisoners were tried on the premises of the Auschwitz camp by the courts consisting of the members of Stapoleitstelle in Katowice. These were police summary courts – Polizeistandgericht. The Auschwitz camp command did not interfere in the decisions of these courts, and the Polizeistandgericht was completely independent from Lagerkommandant [camp commandant]. The Political Department was subordinate to these police summary courts as their executive body. The sentences passed by these courts were carried out by the Political Department – strictly speaking by Vernehmungsabteilung [Office for Interrogations and Investigations]. As a result, the camp command had nothing to do with how the Political Department treated these Polizeihäftlings, and the department itself was subordinate either to Stapoleitstelle in Katowice (as regards conducting investigations) or to police summary courts (as regards carrying out the sentence). Among the members of these summary courts were functionaries of the Political Department at Auschwitz. With regards to camp prisoners sent to the camp by various einweisende Dienststellen [referring offices], the Political Department at Auschwitz answered to the camp commandant and could not determine the fate of these prisoners without the approval of Lagerkommandant and the appropriate einweisenderDienststelle. However, since the head of the Political Department at Auschwitz, Grabner, was a powerful individual who used his connections in the Gestapo, he pretty much determined the fate of the prisoners on his own and Lagerkommandant’s approval was just a formality. This is why Grabner was referred to as the "actual Lagerkommendant". He was seen as such not only by prisoners, but also by the SS men, who feared him more than they feared Höß. Grabner was such an authority to them that whenever a prisoner was caught doing something against the rules and explained himself by saying that he had Grabner’s permission, the SS men did not object.
Correspondence from the Political Department to the RSHA [Reichssicherheitshauptamt – Reich Main Security Administration] and other higher offices, such as the WVHA [Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt Oranienburg – The Economic and Administrative Office in Oranienburg] had to go through the camp command and receive the approval of the camp commandant. However, Grabner often signed documents as camp commandant im Auftrage or in Vertretung [on behalf of the camp commandant] and in such cases communicated directly with these higher offices. I do not know what deal he had with the camp commandant and whether the camp commandant even knew about this.
The entire time when Höß was the camp commandant, Grabner was the head of the Political Department. He was dismissed from this post at the end of 1943, when Liebehenschel became the camp commandant at Auschwitz. I do not know the exact reasons behind Grabner’s dismissal. The talk in the Political Department was that he abused his position in two ways: first, he allegedly had two large transports from Silesia executed in 1942 without the approval of the RSHA or Stapoleitstelle in Katowice. Second, he allegedly stole a lot of personal effects taken from the prisoners and stored in the so-called “Canada”. As for this last charge, I know first-hand that Grabner often even sent furniture and other items in large packages by train to Vienna, to the address of Anna Krüger. More detailed information on this subject can be provided by SS-Unterscharführer Josef Hofer from Śląsk Opolski, who worked in the Political Department at Monowitz (the other SS-Unterscharführer Josef Hofer from Baden Baden worked at Aufnahme [admissions office] in Auschwitz). This Hofer was Grabner’s confidant who helped him conduct his private deals, especially concerning these packages sent to Vienna. Another person who could provide substantial information on this subject is the former Auschwitz prisoner number 3637, a Ukrainian man called Bohdan Komarnicki, who worked at Aufnahme in Birkenau and “organized” many things for the functionaries of the Political Department – especially for Grabner. Willy Boger from the Office of Interrogations and Investigations (Vernehmungsabteilung) at the Political Department also knows a lot about these things.
As for Bogusch, who most recently held the rank of Hauptscharführer or Oberscharführer – at first he worked at Schutzhaftlagerschreibstube [camp administrative office], and was employed in the Political Department only in 1943 or 1944, but he wasn’t an important figure there. He held some minor functions.
The post of Schutzhaftlagerführer [camp leader] at Auschwitz was first held by Fritzsch (most recently Hauptscharführer). His duties involved keeping the camp in order and administering punishments to the camp prisoners. In February 1942, he was succeeded by Hauptscharführer Aumeier. For prisoners, this change provided no improvement. The punishment of Stehbunker [standing bunker] or Stehzelle [standing cell] was introduced under Aumeier’s command. He administered this punishment to some thirty-odd prisoners after forbidden items such as sausage, cigarettes, money and other things that came from outside the camp were found in their possession during a search. All these prisoners were placed in one cell in block 11. Due to the small size of the cell, the prisoners could not endure standing up for a long time. On the very first day about ten of them suffocated to death due to the lack of air, and the next four or six died the following day. This incident occurred in the summer of 1943. It was very well known and everyone in the camp talked about it.
As for the two transports shot in 1942 on Grabner’s orders that I mentioned earlier, I would like to add that the prisoners were from Silesia and that they were sent to the camp as early as 1940. On the basis of the files stored in the Political Department office, Grabner selected about 60 people from their group and had them all executed on 12 June 1942. Palitzsch was the one who shot them. He did so in Grabner’s presence. Stanisław Dubiel, a former prisoner who worked as Höß’s gardener was also selected as part of this group. Höß personally intervened on his behalf and saved him from execution. On 16 August 1942 Grabner selected another group, also numbering about 60 people, who were then shot by Palitzsch on Grabner’s orders and in his presence. No death sentences were passed by the court in the case of these prisoners, and no decisions were sent by Stapoleitstelle in Katowice which was the appropriate einweisende Dienststelle for these prisoners. Even though the executions took place on two dates, the death notices concerning these people stated that they had died naturally from various diseases in the camp hospital – on different days across the span of two weeks. The camp register office sent messages of this kind to the families of these people. From the prisoners who were shot I remember brothers Ryszard and Alfons Czajor from Chorzów, Kawka from Chorzów, Murłowski from Świętochłowice, Karwat from Chorzów, Mlostek from Bielsk, and Gładki from Chorzów.
Zyklon used as the poisonous gas for gassing in the crematorium located on the premises of the parent camp in Auschwitz was stored in a warehouse in the Political Department, namely in Blockführerstube [guardroom] at Aufnahmeabteilung [admissions office]. Unterscharführer Hans Stark from Darmstadt was the head of the Aufnahme office at the time. I saw the Zyklon supplies myself. They were stored in metal cans located in large wooden boxes. The supplies were depleting in proportion to how often prisoners were gassed in the crematorium. I have to add that gassings at that time occurred mostly at night. Boger and Claussen who worked in the Political Department answered to Grabner as the head of the Political Department, and they could not make any decisions on their own. Claussen became the Rapportführer [report leader] at the camp in 1944, and at that time, he answered not to Grabner or his successor Schurz but to the camp commandant or to Schutzhaftlagerfürer. From the SS men working in the Political Department I remember Pery Broad. He started working there at the beginning of 1942. If I recall correctly, he had no major function and was most frequently seen in Vernehmungsabteilung with Boger.
Both the camp command and the Political Department received announcements prior to the arrival of all prisoner transports that came to the camp. These notifications were sent by the Gestapo units that directed a given transport to the camp. Grabner was very frequently present during these arrivals and selections conducted on the railway ramps for the purposes of determining which prisoners were to be sent directly to the gas chambers (marked in the official correspondence with the letter "B" for gesondert untergebracht [placed separately] or “SB” – Sonderbehandlung [special treatment], and which of them were to be sent to the camp (marked with the letter "A" meaning zum Arbeitseinsatz [to a work detail]). The Political Department always notified the RSHA, Eichmann’s Division, about the arrival of each transport. These notifications were meant to be signed by the camp commandant but were usually signed by Grabner as Lagerkommandant i.A. [on behalf of the camp commandant] and contained the exact number of prisoners placed in groups A and B and information about the provisions that came with the prisoners to the camp. I described this fact in detail in my testimony on 10 December 1946.
As for Grabner’s involvement in the gassing of prisoners, I never personally saw if and to what extent he participated in such actions. I never witnessed the moment of gassing. I think, however, that Grabner had to possess the information about the number of people who had been gassed and about the process of gassing itself, since the post of the head of the crematorium was always held by the Political Department functionary subordinate to Grabner. At first, the position was held by Moll, then Quakernack, and most recently Erber (also known as Houstek).
Larger executions of the prisoners occurred usually during Polish national holidays. I suspect that Grabner was the one who compiled the list of these prisoners, since those shot on a given national holiday were from various places in Poland, and it is hardly possible that execution orders coincidentally came on that day from different einweisende Dienststelle. One large execution usually involved prisoners sent from one einweisende Dienststelle. It follows from there that Grabner personally compiled the list of prisoners who were to be executed on a national holiday based on the files he possessed. In any case, these executions were conducted with the knowledge and in the presence of Grabner. I never noticed a change in Grabner’s disposition or behavior after an execution. He was usually very calm. In my opinion, the people who bear responsibility for all the executions that were not ordered by the RSHA or the local einweisende Dienststelle are, first and foremost Grabner, and then his close associates: Kirschner, Boger and Lachmann.
At this the report was concluded, read out, and signed.