Gdańsk, 10 September 1947
Name and surname Kruszewski Wojciech
Place of residence Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, Chrzanowskiego Street 32, flat 2
When I was in Warsaw, I came across a notice board near the Polonia Hotel with photographs of former SS officers and non-commissioned officers who performed various functions in concentration camps. Among them, I recognized Hauptsturmführer Hans Aumeier, the later deputy commandant of the Auschwitz camp.
I met Hans Aumeier for the first time in January 1941 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp, where he was the Lagerführer [head of the camp]. In addition to the degeneration and bestiality normally encountered in SS men, the above-mentioned caused us Poles a lot of harm, arranging the so-called standing punishment in the camp after some Poles had attempted to escape. The first standing punishment took place at the end of June 1941 after the escape of two Poles (Wiraszko and the second one’s name I don’t remember, both from block 13). It lasted from 2.00 a.m. until 10.00 p.m. The standing punishment consisted of standing to attention in ranks, without food, drink or the chance to go to the toilet and without making the slightest movement.
The second standing punishment took place two or three weeks later and lasted from 3.00 a.m. all the next day, all night [and the next] day until 11.00 p.m., so about 42 hours in total. That was the worst standing punishment. It started with 628 people (according to the report passed on to the commandant), and finished with less than 500. The rest was beaten to death, and among them 46 people were shot on Aumeier’s orders – the Lagerführer selected them personally and was present at the execution. During the standing punishment, we were forced to repeat aloud the prayers “Our Father”, “Hail Mary” and “I believe in God” for nearly 6 hours during the first standing punishment and for about 5 hours during the second. In addition, the Poles were punished by having their food rations cut by half for around two months and by losing the possibility of buying cigarettes and necessities in the canteen for theoretically six months, and practically until the end. On Aumeier’s orders, the Poles were treated the worst and were deprived of the smallest facilities (for example, the Poles were banned from eating at the table, from performing minor functions in the camp, and from using Polish, etc.).
The third standing punishment took place in September and only lasted about 12 hours. All these standing punishments were exclusively for the Poles; other nationalities were exempt from them.
On 10 May 1942 Aumeier was transferred to Auschwitz.
This is a short summary of Aumeier’s activity in Flossenbürg. I am ready to submit the above testimony and detailed explanations upon request. The verity of my statement can be confirmed by: Michał Iwaniec (Gdynia), Czesław Goławski (Łuków), Kazimierz Rękawek (Łuków), Jan Kołakowski (Łuków), Jan Kruszewski (Gdańsk) and other fellow prisoners.