On 10 September 1947 in Warsaw, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Appellate Investigating Judge Jan Sehn, on the written application of the First Prosecutor of the Supreme National Tribunal 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 conjunction with article 254, 107, 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, heard as a witness the below mentioned former prisoner of the Auschwitz concentration camp, who testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Stanisław Hys |
| Age | 38 |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Citizenship and nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | tailor |
| Place of residence | Warsaw, Miedziana Street 3 |
I stayed in the Auschwitz concentration camp from May 1941 until autumn 1944 as Polish political prisoner no. 16667. During my stay I worked, among others, in the so-called Effektenkammer [personal effects storeroom] in Auschwitz I and in the main food warehouse for prisoners, so-called “Canada”.
From my time in the camp, I remember Schutzhaftlagerführer [head of the camp] Hauptsturmführer Hans Aumeier well. He held this position from the summer of 1942 until the summer of 1943. He was a cruel person. He abused the prisoners and beat them for the most trivial, or more often than not without any, reason.
During my work in the “Canada” food warehouse, I came across SS-Unterscharführer Schumacher who was working there. Our work team was also employed, among other things, to collect and transport foodstuff to “Canada” from the railway ramp that had been brought in by Jews transported to Auschwitz for the purpose of their mass destruction. We were often escorted by Schumacher. On the ramp, where the selections were made of those who were to go to the camp and those who would be sent directly to the gas chambers directly from the ramp, Schumacher took part in such selections and he behaved brutally. He hooked children round the neck with his cane, pulled them out of the crowd and directed them to the group destined for gassing. He did the same with the elderly. He beat the sick people who had been thrown down from the wagons and tormented them. He did this even though his job on the ramp was to monitor our work – i.e. to secure the foodstuff.
At the turn of 1942 and 1943, I personally experienced a case conducted by the Political Department, or in particular by Grabner, the head of this department, against some prisoners employed in the Effektenkammer and Bekleidungskammer [clothing storerooms]. This case was brought as a result of a report made by Malorny, an informer. In the course of the investigations, out of the 39 Poles employed in the Effektenkammer and Bekleidungskammer, only four of us managed to stay alive. The rest of the Polish prisoners were shot at block 11, apart from some, such as Jerzy Janicki from Tarnów, who were tortured in the Political Department for several months and, as I recall, only in February – I think it was 18 February 1943 – were they shot. This matter was settled without any court, only by the Political Department, and many innocent people who had nothing to do with the conspiracy fell victim, for example Dr Grabowiecki’s brother, who had been assigned to the Bekleidungskammer just a few days before the outbreak of the case.
The selection for the shooting, which took place at block 11, was carried out by Grabner personally. Unterscharführer – later promoted, I think, to Oberscharführer – Plagge, commonly known as “Little Pipe”, I remember from 1941, from his service in the parent camp. He was the terror of the camp. He beat the prisoners mercilessly and set his dog – which was always with him – on them. I remember SS-Rottenführer Lissner as a Blockführer from the parent camp in 1943. He was a brutal SS man who used to beat the prisoners.
The report was read out. At this the hearing and the report were concluded.