The seventh day of the hearing, 18 March 1947
The witness gave the following information about herself:
Name and surname Maria Licen
Place of residence Ljubljana
| Age | 39 |
| Occupation | housewife |
| Marital status | married |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Relationship to the parties | none |
| President: | What are the motions of the parties regarding how the witness should be heard? |
| Prosecutor Siewierski: | Without taking an oath. |
| Attorney Ostaszewski: | Without taking an oath. |
| President: | The Tribunal has decided, with the consent of the parties, to hear the witness |
| without oath. I | caution the witness about the obligation to testify the truth and about the |
| criminal liability for false | testimony. |
May the witness inform us in what circumstances she found herself in Auschwitz, and also submit what she has to say in the case against Höss?
Witness: Yugoslav women arrived on a transport, accused of serious political crimes. We arrived in Auschwitz from Ljubljana on 11 December 1943 – 57 strong and healthy women. We were unloaded from the train with all the hand luggage we had, and – well-dressed – we were taken to the bathhouse. There, we were stripped naked, our hair was shorn, all our packages were taken, all our valuables. They made us open our mouths and counted how many golden teeth we had. This was recorded in the files. Then they moved us all together to another building, where numbers were tattooed on our arms. Later, we were escorted to the next building, which was freezing cold. We stayed there hungry all day long, we did not get anything to eat. The SS men were walking around and knocking us about, and then we were assigned German women criminals who abused us. In the evening of that day, we received dirty and torn underwear, striped dresses and wooden clogs. Then they escorted us to the punitive block. So poorly dressed, we went to sleep hungry in cold beds.
The next day, at dawn, we were awakened. The German women criminals led us out into a field and ordered us to collect stones in the field with our bare hands, hungry, during this great December freeze. This work lasted 14 days. Then the female Yugoslav prisoners were assigned to the column that cleaned the toilets.
Due to hunger and exhaustion, as well as the clothing and hard work in the cold, after these 14 days we ended up in the hospital, in groups. After four weeks I too got a fever of 40 degrees. With such a high temperature, along with other Yugoslavians – and there were quite a few of us – we reported to the hospital to be examined by a doctor. We waited four days to get to the hospital barracks. The mud was terrible, we had to wait for our turn, so we sat in the mud and waited. [At this time] some SS men were passing by and they kicked and beat us, calling us “bandits.” Then we were admitted to the camp hospital, four women to one bed, without any bedding. After 14 days in hospital, I weighed 32 kilograms, I was exhausted and starving. After two weeks, my temperature dropped and, fearing a longer stay in the camp hospital, I asked the nurse to sort me out with some work.
They took us to a block for women who had left the hospital. Höss and a doctor came to this block and conducted a selection, dividing the women into those who were able and those who were unable to work. Later, I was assigned to another barrack, while those that stayed probably went to the crematorium, because they were weaker.
Then I was transferred to the sewing room, where I worked for two months. A commission came to this sewing room, and collected stool and urine samples from the women working there, putting them into glass vessels and recording the number of the given prisoner. We knew that if they found any bacteria, the prisoners would go to the crematorium.
In the sewing room there was a criminal supervisor, a woman named Ruppert, who beat us again and again, driving us to work more efficiently.
At the beginning of the summer and at the beginning of 1945, approx. 50,000–60,000 women were sorted and driven out of the Auschwitz camp over to Ravensbrück – column after column. The Yugoslav and Polish women tried to group themselves at the back of the column so that, in silence, we could overhear what the SS men were saying about these groups of us being driven and to find out what the fate of these women would be. We realized that if any of us lagged behind and could not walk, they would simply finish her off. For ten kilometers we walked over corpses. Of the 57 Yugoslavians, only nine remained. Of those 50,000–60,000 who left Auschwitz, only 12,000 made it to Ravensbrück.
That’s all I have to say.
President: The witness testified that at the time of the selection, which was made at the block, Höss came with a doctor. Is the witness sure that the accused Höss was at the block personally and that he participated in the selection?
Witness: The accused came with a doctor. The supervisor told us after the visit.
President: So the supervisor said it was Höss?
Witness: Yes.
President: Did the witness personally see the accused?
Witness: I was weak and sick, but I can see that he was similar, only at that time he was stout and strong.
President: Does the witness know about the experiments conducted on women in Auschwitz?
Witness: I heard a lot about them.
President: Can the witness elaborate on those incidents she heard of?
Witness: I can say what happened with my friend. My friend was locked up in the bunker in Auschwitz for nine months. In order to get her to testify, the SS men burned her fingernails with a cigarette.
President: What I meant was the medical experiments.
Witness: I do not remember.
President: Were some women from the witness’ surroundings taken to the block where the experiments were carried out?
Witness: I do not remember, I heard a lot.
President: I am asking what the witness heard.
Witness: I heard that women were sterilized. I heard a lot. They were Hungarian women, Jewish women from Italy, and Russians.
President: Did the witness come into contact with any of the women who were used for this kind of research?
Witness: No.
President: What did the witness hear? Were these women sick afterwards? Could the witness say something more? Were these experiments talked about?
Witness: I am embarrassed to speak about it. The female organs were examined and if they were found to be healthy, these women were sent to houses for the German Army.
Attorney Ostaszewski: Could I ask the witness for the exact date when the witness arrived at the camp?
Witness: 11 December 1943.
Attorney Ostaszewski: I have a request. I would ask the President to instruct the accused to don a cap, because the witness saw the accused in a cap during the selection.
Prosecutor Siewierski: I consider this kind of experiment unnecessary.
President: The Tribunal has ruled that this is unnecessary.
Attorney Umbreit: In 1943, when Höss arrived, was the witness weak and feverish?
Witness: Yes.
Attorney Ostaszewski: Maybe you could be mistaken as to the person’s identity?
Witness: I did not know the accused, but the senior block prisoner said that Höss and a doctor were coming.
Attorney Ostaszewski: Did the witness know the next commandant?
Witness: I did not.
Attorney Ostaszewski: The witness did not know either Höss or the next [commandant]?
Witness: I only saw Höss once. Then, when he came round to the block. Later, I did not see either of his successors.
Attorney Ostaszewski: The situation has been clarified.
President: The witness may stand down.