ALOJZY SOSNA

On 11 November 1947 in Rybnik, the Municipal Court in Rybnik, Second Branch, with Municipal Judge A. Grzybek presiding and with the participation of a reporter, W. Lampart, interviewed the person specified below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations, of the provisions of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and of the significance of the oath, the Judge administered the oath. The witness then testified as follows:


Name and surname Alojzy Sosna
Age 50
Parents’ names Jan and Katarzyna
Place of residence Rybnik, Rudzka Street 26
Occupation accountant
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

I was detained in the concentration camp in Auschwitz from June 1940 until January 1943. Aumeier came to Auschwitz as deputy commandant of the camp (Lagerführer) at some point in 1942, I don’t remember the exact month. I never met Aumeier in person.

One day in the autumn of 1942, other prisoners and I were loading flour into the “colonial” warehouse for the SS. A column of Polish and Jewish female prisoners was working nearby, sifting gravel. I noticed that one of them was being especially tormented by a kapo who regularly beat her with a thick stick. It was a very hot day and I could see that the prisoner was staggering while she was carrying the gravel that had been sifted through on a stretcher.

I also saw that the prisoner, close to exhaustion, who was constantly being abused by the kapo who hit her with a stick, tried to run in front of the cordon of the SS, wanting to be shot by an SS man. At first she didn’t succeed, because the SS men drove her off and directed her back to work. Finally, she managed to get in front of the SS cordon. One of the SS men shot her and she fell on the ground. She began to twitch, because she was not fatally wounded. When the prisoner’s mother who also worked with gravel saw this, she started running towards her daughter, but was stopped by the SS men. At that moment a car with Aumeier drove up to the scene of the accident. The car stopped and Aumeier asked the guard about the reason for shooting the prisoner. The guard reported that the prisoner had attempted escape. Aumeier approached the prisoner who was twitching on the ground, drew his revolver, and killed her with one shot to the head. He put her mother in the car and took her in the direction of the crematorium. It was clear to all prisoners that the mother was then gassed and burnt. Apart from this one incident, I do not have first-hand knowledge about Aumeier’s crimes.

I learnt from some prisoners from the column which cleared the corpses from the place of execution, and whose names I no longer remember, that Aumeier personally shot prisoners and beat them. I also learnt from prisoners that he gave orders to beat and abuse detainees.

The female prisoner about whom I talked and her mother were Jewish.

The report was read out before signing.

The report was concluded.