Presiding Judge: I would ask the next witness, Zdzisław Pałasiński, to approach.
(The witness Zdzisław Pałasiński approaches.)
Presiding Judge: Please provide your personal details.
Witness: Zdzisław Pałasiński, 27 years old, a student at the Jagiellonian University, resident in Kraków, religion – Roman Catholic, relationship to the accused – none.
Presiding Judge: I hereby instruct the witness, pursuant to the provisions of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that you are required to speak the truth. The provision of false testimony is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years. Do the parties want to submit any motions as to the procedure according to which the witness is to be interviewed?
Prosecutors: No.
Defense counsel: No.
Presiding Judge: I hereby exempt the witness from taking an oath. I would ask the witness to tell us what he knows in the case, and in particular what is known to him about the accused.
Witness: I arrived at Auschwitz with the first transport, on 18 June 1940. Nearly immediately, I met the accused Plagge, who welcomed me in a most friendly manner, that is with a strong blow between the eyes and a kick to the stomach. Thereafter I encountered him during the so-called “sports”. Plagge turned out to be an excellent physical education instructor. And his “sports” were organized in a military manner. What did these activities consist in? First, we would be forced to jump, drop to the ground, roll over, and then perform short jumps (German Hüpfen). Next, we marched and sang songs, which were quite cheerful, truth be told. We found the singing difficult, however, for not only did we not know the songs well enough, but we also spoke no German. For this reason we would have to perform various penal exercises – running, jumping, dancing, rolling, etc., all over again. After 10 days of such exercises, when we were very tired, Plagge burst into the block one night completely drunk (he was often inebriated) and started shooting; luckily, he did not wound anyone. As a consequence, one of the prisoners – a young man barely 17 years old – went mad. He was later subjected to extreme maltreatment: bound with a chain, he was doused in cold water and beaten by Plagge and the kapos, all 30 of them. I next encountered Plagge personally when, tired, I fell to the ground. A professor from Tarnów – whose surname I do not know – and his father collapsed beside me. [Plagge] hired all of us out to the office of Lagerälteste [camp elder] Wieczorek, who tormented us mercilessly. He beat the professor with the butt of his revolver; I was beaten differently, but some marks still remain, thanks primarily to Plagge’s boxing and footballing skills. I next saw him when he was the Rapportführer [report leader] at block 11 and was responsible for carrying out shooting executions; I saw him in action myself, from block 20, where I was employed as the chimney sweep and therefore allowed to climb into the attic and onto the roof.
The accused Kirschner, he was known as “the Frog” or “the Duck” ... But I would like to return to the period of quarantine − following the first escape, of one Wiejowski, the camp authorities ordered us to stand until the escapee was found. This was in the beginning of June or July, I do not remember exactly. We had just returned to the block following some tough “sports” and started undressing, when suddenly we were called out into the roll call square. The Germans started counting prisoners at individual blocks. No one was missing from our block, but we nevertheless had to stand until the fugitive was found. We stood there from 5.00 or 6.00 p.m. without our shirts, with no food, right through the night, and the mosquitoes and chilly weather really made us suffer. Throughout this time “the Frog” showed off his boxing prowess. He aimed solely for the ear, in order to damage the auricle. Hundreds of people were beaten up in this way. We stood like that until the next day, until 3.00 or 4.00 p.m., when Doctor Papież [Popiersch] intervened and they finally let us go (he was later sent to the front, for he was too good to the prisoners). At this point I would like to mention another of Kirschner’s standard “tricks”. Namely, he would come up during exercises or at dinner time and start smoking a cigarette, but after finishing only one half of it, he would toss the butt behind him. The prisoners, most of whom had already spent some time in the camp, were dying for at least a whiff of cigarette smoke, and would throw themselves onto the butt-end. Kirschner meanwhile would turn around and “hire out” such prisoners for “sports”, so as to show off the power in his hands.
Amongst those sitting in the dock today, I recognize Gehring. He served at block 11. He was the so-called Blockältester [block elder]. I personally ran into Gehring when I was carrying letters (written by the women prisoners) for the block leader. He caught me and asked what I was doing there, and whether I knew that entry there was forbidden. Of course I knew. I did what I did, however, because you had to live well with your block leader to be able to help your colleagues. And then Gehring asked who had let me in. Obviously, I could have got in only through the gate. He therefore summoned the prisoner, a young boy, who was guarding the gate. When asked if he had let me in, he said yes. Gehring then gave me his whip and ordered me to hit him. But I could not do this, and I gave the whip to the boy, so that he would hit me. He started beating me, but not in the way that Gehring wanted. He then took back the whip and showed him how you should beat someone. I received some 15 strokes, but that was not all. He then asked me, again, why I had gone there. I explained as best as I could, saying that I was a chimney sweep and wanted to ask the block leader whether the chimneys needed cleaning. But Gehring saw that I was lying and resumed the beating. All of the blows fell around my ear; my auricle was soon shattered and I had to undergo treatment.
The next of the accused whom I recognize is Koch. There is a lot that I can say about him, however I think it will be sufficient to recall that on a few occasions I saw him with gas canisters.
I also recognize the accused Mussfeldt, who was even my Oberschef [superior or overseer] once. But he did not hold this position for long, since he was capable enough to be promoted to Blockführer [block leader]. When he was a Blockführer, I was forced to deal with him personally, and I also heard a lot said about him. In April 1945, possibly on the 14th, I once again met my former Oberschef at the station in Dachau, where he was receiving a transport of evacuees from the camp at Buchenwald. While there, we unloaded a mass of bodies of prisoners who had died along the way. Suddenly, one of the men in the transport jumped out of the wagon and started running directly at a guard. The SS man did not shoot at him, but Mussfeldt immediately took out his sidearm and killed the bloke, whereafter he started shouting at the SS man, telling him off for nearly having let the prisoner escape. He was assisted by other SS men and so-called Ausichts, that is prisoners who were professional criminals.
And the accused Josten – I recognize him very well. I did not see him beating people, but I saw him leading long execution companies. This was towards the end of 1941 or in the beginning of 1942. I also know, although I was not a direct witness, that he was the commandant of the camp in Nordhausen – the camp which, with a population of 3,000, had 250 fatalities per day.
I recognize the accused Müller, too. Initially, he was relatively gentle; we even thought he might be a pastor. But this did not stop him from hitting people, nor from carrying around tools which he used to beat prisoners. He became particularly difficult after his promotion to Arbeitsdienstführer [head of the camp labor service]. This “monk” then showed what he was really capable of: he would torment people when the kommandos left for work, and when any of the exhausted inmates collapsed by the gate, he would drag them aside, kicking, beating and otherwise manhandling them.
The next is Götze, also a quiet Blockführer – at least by Auschwitz standards. He was not particularly into beating people, but when he met someone one on one, he was also capable of giving a good dressing down for any odd infringement. He would frequently visit the block leader, in whose quarters he would eat the prisoners’ food parcels, and order that he be given Bratkartoffeln [baked potatoes], while later, when I was incarcerated at Buchenwald and we did not want to leave the camp when it was being evacuated, and the Blockführers and SS men started throwing us out of the blocks, I saw the accused with a revolver in his hand; I am sure that he had cleaned its barrel adequately.
The next is Breitwieser. I am very sorry that I must testify against him, because on a few occasions he gave me some soap and a towel, however I cannot forget how once, after an inmate had stolen something from the Unterkunft Kammer [living quarters], he reported the man to his superiors; the prisoner was immediately thrown out of the kommando and beaten up on the spot, whereafter, having been ordered to report to the Lagerführer [camp leader] (I assume that this was Aumeier, for the incident occurred in 1943), he was sentenced to receive 25 blows – if I remember the number correctly. This boy later broke down, fell ill and was sent to the Krankenbau [hospital], where he contracted typhus fever and died.
The next of the accused, Szczurek, is from Chorzów (German Königshütte). Obviously, he was also a talented boxer, however that was a relatively unimportant skill of itself, for all the personnel were good at this martial art. But when he led the female kommandos, I saw full well how he tormented the prisoners, beating and kicking them.
I know the accused Mandl from the women’s camp, where I would go on various “errands”, in order to supply drugs or see my friends. I remember that once, when I was entering the camp with my chief, who in comparison with these 40 was an angel, Mandl herself walked up to us and inquired about the so-called Ausweis zettel [pass document] and searched us to find out whether, by chance, we were not carrying any medications or food. I saw her on a few occasions in the company of Rapportführerin [report leader] Drechsler, who chased around the camp and the blocks; together, they would torment the prisoners, ripping out their hair (if any had grown on their heads), kicking them in the breasts, and trampling them underfoot if they fell. I saw how she behaved in other situations, too. When during delousing the women were standing naked, she made sure that passing SS men could have a good look at them, so they were standing with their heads bowed and burning with shame. But this meant nothing for Mandl, she was not the one who had to be ashamed.
Another of Mandl’s companions was Brandl. I saw this lady on a few occasions in the company of a large Alsatian, which she would set on the female inmates who lagged behind and could not keep “in step” (German gleichschritt).
One of the main figures amongst the accused is the head of our camp, Aumeier. He was typified by his liveliness and readiness to beat, kick and otherwise torment prisoners. He would mete out severe penalties – whippings, the “post”, the penal company, or the standing bunker – for the slightest infringements. He also took part in the selections that followed each escape from the block. Obviously, he would seek out the elderly and those who were generally weaker. We, the stronger prisoners, would usually have more luck. The elderly and the physically weaker were the regular victims of maltreatment. Aumeier took part in each and every shooting execution. He would devolve his duties to others only when he had to go to Berlin on official business, or when he went on leave. I would like to mention one such shooting; the victims were people from the Lublin transport – some 300 of our friends – who had already been in the camp for approximately nine months. In typical fashion, he [Aumeier] carried out the execution personally, with the assistance of Rapportführer Palitzsch. He himself [i.e. Aumeier] would shoot his victims in the back of the head with a small caliber carbine. But it was normal that not everyone perished on the spot; some died along the way to the crematorium, while others were thrown into blaze alive and conscious. After this particular shooting, a stream of blood flowed from block 11.
I noticed Aumeier when he was returning (a so-called Blocksperre [a ban on leaving the block] had been ordered, but I was privileged and allowed to walk around). I also saw Grabner – and one of the prisoners, who ran out of block 11, took out a handkerchief and dipped it in the blood. Maybe his father had just been shot ... or perhaps a close friend or colleague.
Aumeier took part in the shootings, too, and I witnessed this from the attic of block 21.
Once – either in 1942 or 1943, although I do not remember the exact year – there was a special “action” aimed at exterminating all the Jews, in order to make room for a fresh transport. What did this consist in? All the Jewish inmates had been assigned to the penal company, where they were specially cared for by the kapos and SS men. These prisoners were taken to work in the Kiesgrube [gravel-pit], which was located just behind the wire fence, next to the old theater. There, the kapos and SS men savaged them with rifle butts, murdering a great many. I remember one Jew, a fat man who weighed some 100 kg, but otherwise strong, who literally fought for his life; they killed him all day long. Naturally, the camp command looked on, laughing that, finally, “Juden sind vernichtet” [the Jew is destroyed]. The trick the Germans used was this: an SS man or kapo would take a cap and throw it towards the wire fence. The prisoner was then instructed to fetch it, but this was extremely risky, seeing as inmates were not allowed to go near the wire, and thus the guards had themselves a hunt.
In addition to Aumeier, I would like to say something about his wife. I got to know her while working as a chimney sweep (I told them that I had been working as a sweep for 10 years already, even though I was only 19 at the time). I was summoned to clean out the stove that heated the radiators in his villa. The building, which used to belong to a Pole who had been dispossessed by the camp authorities, was improved by locksmiths and carpenters from the camp.
It was decorated with plundered items, including opulent carpets that had been brought along with the Jewish transports from Czechoslovakia and other countries. But I was working on the soot, a difficult and dirty job. When I spilled some on the floor, Aumeier’s wife turned to me with the words “What is this muck?” and hit me in the face. This incident was witnessed by a cleaner, one of the female prisoners. I met up with her later at the SS hospital. We exchanged a few words. She complained about how Aumeier’s wife tormented her.
Maybe Aumeier, now shaking his head, will care to remember how he left for Riga with his assistant Stilz to set up a new camp?
I read in the newspapers that the accused Grabner asked the prisoners not to trumpet about his kindness. In the context of Auschwitz, this was a very wise request. Grabner used the files to select people for executions – he would take the first file he found and choose victims for shooting. This fact may be confirmed by prisoner Tadeusz Szymański, who is currently employed at the museum in Auschwitz. Shootings were also carried out at block 11, and nobody cared to determine what these people had been imprisoned for.
He selected people on the basis of whether he disliked their physical appearance. He had an informer, one Kowalski, in block 15, and numerous others elsewhere. Those chosen to be shot were executed on Polish national holidays. I remember the anniversary of the Silesian Uprising, when amongst the 30 people who were executed was a man by the name of Alfons, an eminent representative of the region. Another of the victims was Józef Moroń, who worked at the SS pharmacy and supplied drugs to the camp hospital; I lived with him for a time in block 34.
When the accused Grabner was in office, a special barrack was built behind the old crematorium. The most important element of this barrack was the interrogation room. It contained a special instrument used for examining prisoners – the swing, and I myself was unfortunate enough to gain a very good insight into its practical application. Other items of equipment included a dozen or so whips, American handcuffs, and other murderous tools. I would like to present the swing in greater detail, for I myself received some 10 strokes on this contraption; or maybe it was more, but I do not remember, for after five I was unable to count. I was given this punishment because I had been caught carrying various letters to the female prisoners, as well as some sausage and a slice of cake baked in the SS men’s kitchen. I was led together with a friend of mine, K. Pękała (no. 776), to the political department. He was interrogated first, and Grabner hit him a few times in the face, kicked him, and then took him to the room with the swing. I only heard wailing, even though prisoners usually behaved very quietly when they were whipped. One prisoner, who worked in the kitchen, received 105 strokes, and he had to count every one in German. After Pękała’s interrogation drew to a close (and he had taken all the blame), they summoned me. I was beaten by some other men: a Sturmmann, who was said to have been of American origin, and Grabner’s informer, whose surname however I no longer remember. In any case, he came from Silesia and he spoke Polish. In the room with the swing they placed a bar behind my knees, passed my arms under it and fastened them together with handcuffs, whereupon the bar was suspended on two tables and I was swung backwards and forwards. Not one SS man beat me, but two – one of them with his left hand. One would hit me once, and the other twice, and so I would receive three blows, but they only counted as one. As regards the accused, I have recognized a few of the other SS men, however I do not remember their surnames. One of them is sitting in the dock, in the second row.
Presiding Judge: Are you referring to the accused Lechner?
Witness: Yes. If I am not mistaken, he served in the Unterkunft [accommodation or living quarters] block and behaved badly. I remember how he once beat up a prisoner, calling him a Polish pig and a bandit. The next is Schumacher. As the head of the prison storehouse, he was in charge of the so-called Rollwagen [roller weigher]. The prisoners who worked for him would frequently be woken up at night and ordered to go to the “Canada” barracks, where all of the inmates’ belongings were gathered. The better items were passed on to the SS warehouse. Neither was Blockführer Ludwig a calm and quiet SS man, but it was logical that he had to beat and kick prisoners from time to time, for otherwise he would have been no Blockführer. Aumeier selected only those who had an inclination to beat and torment people.
I would just like to ask the accused Breitswieser whether he was not the head of the Entwesungskammer [disinfection hall] kommando? Because I think he was.
The accused Breitwieser: I worked at the clothing warehouse.
Witness: I know that you worked at the clothing warehouse, but you were later transferred to the Entwesungskammer. The kapo there was a friend of mine, Zdzisław Michalik, a student at the Mining Academy. I must also mention the “Canada” barracks, where the personal belongings of gassed victims were gathered. Scharführer Dülle had a peculiar trait – namely, when the female prisoners completed their shift, they would have to undress in order to be checked whether they had not stolen anything.
Presiding Judge: Does the witness have anything else to state?
Witness: There is nothing much that I can really say about the other accused.
Presiding Judge: Are there any questions?
Prosecutors: We have no questions.
Defense counsel: We have no questions.