Presiding Judge: Please call witness Eugeniusz Niedojadło.
Witness: Eugeniusz Niedojadło, 28 years old, accountant; religion: Roman Catholic; no relation to the defendants.
Presiding Judge: I remind the witness of his obligation to speak the truth as per Art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. False testimony is punishable by incarceration for up to five years. Do the parties offer any motions regarding the manner of questioning?
Prosecution and defense: We do not require the witness to swear an oath.
Presiding Judge: The witness will testify without an oath. Can the witness testify to any facts relating to the defendants?
Witness: As for the defendants, I do not think I see one on the bench that I did not have some form of more or less direct contact with. There are those I had direct contact with and I will testify about them in detail, and I will describe the rest at the end.
Presiding Judge: This is not about descriptions, we are interested in what the witness can say about the defendants based on his own experience. Let us begin with defendant Liebehenschel.
Witness: As for defendant Liebehenschel, I have nothing specific to say about him, as I have not had personal contact with him. But if the Tribunal considers it important, I can testify as to what I heard from my colleagues.
Presiding Judge: We want to hear first and foremost about what the witness has seen with his own eyes. Considering that the witness has said he knows all of the defendants, maybe he would like to tell us what he knows about them in order. The first defendant is Liebehenschel, next to him is defendant Mandl. Can the witness say anything about her?
Witness: I saw defendant Mandl escort a column of female prisoners to work. I saw her beat them several times while she was doing that. I know nothing more about her.
I encountered defendant Aumeier in Auschwitz in late 1941, maybe 1942. The first time I saw him was during the arrival of a transport of French Jews in Auschwitz. Defendant Aumeier chased away the prisoners gathered around the transport, then he pulled out a revolver and shot into the crowd several times. I do not know if someone was injured or not, suffice it to say the prisoners scattered.
Presiding Judge: When was that?
Witness: In the summer of 1942.
Presiding Judge: As to the following defendant, Möckel, does the witness recognize him? Defendant Möckel, please rise.
Witness: Yes, I saw him often, but I find it hard to say anything specific about him, as the faces of the defendants merge for me right now into a single mask, one that we hated and which hated us as well.
Presiding Judge: We are not concerned with that, just with specific defendants. So the witness cannot say anything specific regarding defendant Möckel?
Witness: No.
Presiding Judge: What about defendant Kraus? Defendant Kraus, please rise.
Witness: I cannot say anything about this defendant either.
Presiding Judge: What about defendant Grabner?
Witness: I know defendant Grabner very well. In 1940 I was his bootblack, so to speak. I met him as early as June of 1940, as his orderly. At first, he even made a positive impression on me. But it changed when I saw his attitude towards the prisoners. I learned all about his cruelty and inhumane methods in that same 1940, during a standing punishment ordered by camp command after prisoner Wiejowski escaped. Defendant Grabner interrogated the prisoners who had worked with the runaways.
As can be seen in the statements of my colleagues who were interrogated, defendant Grabner beat them inhumanly. I saw with my own eyes how one of the prisoners, whose name I cannot remember, was given 125 lashes on Grabner’s orders. I would encounter defendant Grabner daily since then and my opinion of him was different from that point on. Grabner would show up wherever blood was spilled.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Kremer?
Witness: I do not know defendant Kremer, as I left in 1943 as part of a transport of 250 prisoners to Bern.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Münch?
Witness: I know defendant Münch, but I cannot say anything specific.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Mussfeldt?
Witness: A familiar face and name, but I had no encounters with him personally. His name was feared by the prisoners. He was the chief of the crematorium.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Kirschner?
Witness: I have seen him, but cannot say anything specific.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Seufert?
Witness: I cannot say anything specific.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Koch?
Witness: I cannot say anything specific about him either.
Presiding Judge: And Josten?
Witness: I saw Josten take part in an execution of prisoners by the entrance to the camp gateway. He was in charge of the execution squad. As for Josten, I know he was the commander of air defense. I also know that he did nothing for the prisoners in case of an air strike by enemy planes.
Presiding Judge: Next, Gehring?
Witness: I encountered Gehring in 1942. I got to know him better – I was his servant when he was laid up with the sciatica, I learned his face well. I saw him running past the hospital block to block 11 with a small carbine one evening. I do not know what the defendant was doing there, but entire wagons of dead bodies were carted off from the block the next morning.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Müller?
Witness: I know nothing specific about him.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Plagge?
Witness: Defendant Plagge is one of the SS men who hurt me personally and against whom I swore vengeance. I first met him on 16 June 1940. Plagge was a Blockführer [block leader] at the time and ran the infamous “sport” in the quarantine area. It lasted 11 hours every day. Plagge was particularly sadistic towards the prisoners. On 16 June I was beaten by him for not showing him appropriate respect. On that same night he held the “sport” with us because we had not learned to sing a German song. In the training field I saw a few colleagues who had been out of jail after several months, their faces were distorted by the sun. After the exercise, ironically, a pot of tea was set up in the hall, but we were forbidden from approaching it. In the night, however, my colleagues forced the door to get to the pot and spilled the tea. Defendant Plagge ran into the room with his revolver out and started terrorizing us, then we had to do squat thrusts. One of our colleagues suffered a nervous breakdown.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Lorenz?
Witness: Like the others, I only know defendant Lorenz in passing.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Lätsch?
Witness: Nothing specific.
Presiding Judge: Bogusch?
Witness: I saw him often in the Schreibstube [administrative office], I know from other prisoners that he beat them.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Götze?
Witness: A familiar face, but I do not know anything specific.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Gehring?
Witness: He was a Blockführer and beat prisoners.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Schröder?
Witness: Nothing specific.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Brandl?
Witness: As for the women, I only know of defendant Mandl.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Hoffmann?
Witness: I do not remember him.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Lechner?
Witness: I cannot remember him either.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Kollmer?
Witness: I know him, he was in charge of 3rd or 4th Company. Moreover, regarding Kollmer, he was with several commissions that visited the camp on behalf of the American or English Red Cross and with the visits of Himmler and Pohl when they arrived for an inspection. Kollmer, as well as the entire officer corps, hid all the horrors from the foreign commissions. When a foreign commission entered the camp, the band would play. Everything seemed elegant at a glance. The commission would be led to the Musterblock [model block], 15, which was decently furnished, had all the sanitary amenities and was kept the cleanest. When the commission was to come, the prisoners from the block would be brought out before dawn to clean up. After visiting block 15, the commissions left with a splendid opinion of the camp. Kollmer was always one of the guides for the commissions. I also remember him from Monowitz, in 1944, when he was in “Buna” [Werke], he took part in the execution of two prisoners who tried to escape the camp.
Presiding Judge: What does the witness know about defendant Nebbe?
Witness: I know nothing specific about him.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Ludwig?
Witness: He was a Blockführer. I remember an incident when a prisoner was caught escaping through the wire. He was shot and then seized by the Blockführers, including Ludwig. He kicked him and beat him, and then they put a pick handle on his throat and danced on it. Having beaten him up like that, they brought him to the camp later. I also saw Aumeier kicking him when he was lying in front of the gate, near the band.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Bülow?
Witness: I only know his name.
Presiding Judge: Defendant Breitwieser?
Witness: He was the boss of the Effektenkammer [prisoner property warehouse], I cannot say anything more.
Presiding Judge: Defendants Medefind, Romeikat, Dinges, Weber, and Jeschke – can the witness say anything about them?
Witness: I know they were SS men, but I cannot say anything specific about them. Only that Dinges was better than others.
Presiding Judge: Any questions for the witness?
Prosecutor Brandys: Does the witness know anything about defendant Aumeier taking part in the selection of transports brought for the gassing?
Witness: Yes, I am aware of that, as I have seen him do it in person.
Presiding Judge: Any more questions?
Defense Attorney Rappaport: The witness has said he knew Dinges and that he was better than others. Does it mean one could get something through him? What was that like?
Witness: I know from colleagues that he brought them letters from their families for a payment. He would bring food and medicine.
Defense Attorney Rappaport: The witness was in the camp for a long time and he surely knows what would have happened to him [Dinges] for these offenses.
Witness: I know that, and I can say that civilians risked the death penalty for having contact with SS men, while SS men were liable to most severe punishments.
Defense Attorney Rappaport: Is the witness aware that one day an officer was brought out beyond the camp boundary in a crate, allowing him to escape? It was done by one of the drivers. Supposedly Dinges knew, but did not tell anyone.
Witness: I know nothing about that.
Presiding Judge: Do the defendants have any questions for the witness?
Defendant Aumeier: Can I ask the witness when did defendant Ludwig supposedly torture prisoners in my presence?
Witness: I testified that defendant Ludwig kicked the prisoner himself, and defendant Aumeier independently kicked that same prisoner near the gate after he was brought to the camp, saying any prisoner attempting escape would be punished in the same way. I remember that exactly.
Defendant Aumeier: May I ask when was that?
Witness: In the summer of 1942.
Defendant Aumeier: Who was Blockführer at the time?
Witness: I cannot say who was Blockführer, as many SS men took part in that activity.
Presiding Judge: Does the defendant wish to ask the witness a question or provide a statement?
Defendant Mandl: Statement.
Presiding Judge: And defendant Kollmer?
Defendant Kollmer: Questions. I request permission to ask the witness about how he said that, if I understood correctly, I would guide an Anglo-American commission around the camp.
Witness: Yes, indeed.
Defendant Kollmer: When and where was that?
Witness: A commission arrived in 1942 – I was told by one of the SS men – from the English or American Red Cross. It was guided around the camp by the entire SS corps and Kollmer took part in that.
Defendant Kollmer: I request permission to make a statement that I have never hosted such a commission, I was not permitted to do so and I know nothing of the affair. The witness has testified that I took part in executions conducted in “Buna”. I ask the witness to say when it was that I was in “Buna”.
Witness: Autumn of 1944.
Defendant Kollmer: Did the witness see me there at an execution?
Witness: Yes, indeed.
Defendant Kollmer: I have nothing more to say.
Presiding Judge: Do any other defendants have questions for the witness?
Defendant Ludwig: I would petition the High Tribunal to be permitted to ask the witness when did the prisoner he mentioned escape the camp?
Witness: Summer of 1942.
Defendant Ludwig: Which work detail was he from?
Witness: The Bauhof [construction depot].
Defendant Ludwig: I can state that I never had anything to do with work details or runaway prisoners, as I was active in farming.
Witness: I want to testify that not only did Blockführers take part in that manhunt, but also the entire crew of Auschwitz and I personally saw Ludwig there.
Defendant Ludwig: I must refute that, as farming [personnel] never took part in that.
Witness: Therefore I ask that other witnesses be interviewed in that regard and they will determine which one of us is right.
Defendant Ludwig: I also want to state I never served on duty with defendant Aumeier.
Presiding Judge: Any more questions for the witness?
Prosecution: No.
Defense: No.