The fourteenth day of the trial, 24 January 1947.
Witness Ludwik Hirszfeld, 62 years of age, resident of Wrocław, university professor, no relationship to the parties, exempt from taking the oath.
Presiding judge: Professor, would you please tell the Tribunal, in a brief and concise fashion, what you know concerning the case.
Witness: Your Honor, I have just heard the tragic testimony of Dr. Warman, who provided details concerning the orders, but my impression is that the medical side of all these things has not been sufficiently explored so far.
Presiding judge: Maybe not today, but the Tribunal has looked into this issue in the course of the proceedings.
Witness: Still, I would like to provide some details which only I know.
I was one of the directors of the National Institute of Hygiene and I was dismissed by the German authorities. Then, a few months into the occupation, the German authorities opined that the Jews were carriers of diseases and as such should be isolated. It was an attempt to justify the initial steps toward enforcing various regulations, such as banning the Jews from trains, introducing separate cars, and obliging them to wear an armband so the Aryan population could give them a wide berth as carriers of dangerous diseases.
Then, the board asked me as an expert bacteriologist and epidemiologist to write a memorandum for the German authorities arguing against this hypothesis, which the Germans tried to use as grounds for isolating the Jews. Needless to say, such a hypothesis was complete tripe, with nothing to support it.
In said memorandum, I emphasized that relocating people from the contaminated areas to uncontaminated ones would inevitably lead to an outbreak of spotted typhus, and I also know that other Polish doctors also pointed to the untenability of such action, especially in the circumstances of the artificially created destituteness and proletarianization which resulted from a rapid transfer of assets and their appropriation. Therefore, the German authorities were no doubt informed of a prospective epidemic and still issued orders which – as Your Honors may see on this curve – inevitably led to one of the largest pandemics in history (the witness submits the relevant chart). This curve outlines the epidemic of spotted typhus in Warsaw and it shows that spotted typhus, which for years had been successfully contained in central Poland through the efforts of Polish authorities, erupted cataclysmically, and it could not but erupt seeing as people from the contaminated areas were brought to the Warsaw ghetto, without being disinfected at all.
Your Honors, another piece of evidence of either the medical ineptitude of the Germans or of deliberate inefficiency in containing the disease concerns the particular procedures, which I had an opportunity to study because I was appointed head of the Healthcare Council of the Jewish district in the ghetto. Sanitation procedures were characterized by utter naivety in that they might have been suitable in cases whereby an instance of spotted typhus would have occurred where no other instances had been recorded. Such extreme isolation might yield some results, but in the circumstances of a raging epidemic it was never possible and only subjected the population to a terrible ordeal. Orders were issued that in the event of a single instance of spotted typhus being recorded on the premises, everybody was supposed to be showered, and their belongings were disinfected in one flat. Unbeknown to the authorities, I ordered an audit of such disinfections, which was partly conducted under the supervision and in the presence of German disinfectors, and I concluded (I submitted to the chairman a paper pertaining to this issue, authored by Mr. Herman, a student of mine, who had been since murdered) that in such conditions the lice were not eliminated, really. I will discuss the technical aspect of this issue. It can be concluded that such disinfections escalated single instances into a house- wide epidemic. Then, the showers, ordained regardless of whether people were lice-ridden or not, inevitably created such long lines that people from different districts got infected, and epidemics in individual houses turned into epidemics affecting entire urban blocks.
My entire activity in the district was focused on trying to ensure that these procedures were carried out under the proper conditions. Around that time, I submitted to the chairmen the memorandum which underlined the unsuitability of these procedures and the necessity of providing new clothing for the people if spotted typhus was to be effectively countered, for the basic condition for eliminating the disease is ensuring that they can change their shirts. If people are so poverty-stricken that some of them do not even have shirts, it is impossible to successfully combat spotted typhus.
Hence, let me very clearly state that the spotted typhus epidemic in the Warsaw ghetto, and probably all over the country, was an effect of the ineptitude and cruelty of the German sanitary authorities, who additionally had no qualms about invoking the prestige of German science to justify the crime. I believe that this is a fair assessment because later, when 3 million Jews were already buried in the ground, I read in the German newspapers about the sanitary authorities’ meeting with Governor Frank, and Governor Frank then motivated these murders with sanitary necessity and said it was necessary to remove the carriers of dangerous bacteria in order to cure Europe. In that context, it needs to be said that German medical science was an accessory to the crime.
I will not be expanding on further issues nor on our attempts to suggest a more prudent course of action with regard to these matters, but I would like to discuss a few details which were not mentioned in Attorney Warman’s testimony. In my capacity as head of the Healthcare Council, I also inspected prisons, and I can recall one situation in an extremely crowded prison, where one relatively small room housed some one hundred people: when I entered there wearing an armband and asked them why all these people, every one of whom was facing death penalty, were in prison, the response from each of them was that, in the case of the proletariat, it was for getting behind the walls, and in the case of a few members of the intelligentsia, for staying on the other side. There is one small detail which I believe it is my duty to emphasize, although it does not concern the German issue. I asked these convicts, sentenced to death, what it was like on the other side of the wall. I feel obliged to share their response with those in attendance here today and with the whole world. I only heard from these convicts expressions of gratitude. The Poles are good, they gave me bread, they gave me some clothes, despite what the prosecution has emphasized, namely, that it was punishable by death. I was friends with the warden, a judge of the Polish courts, Mr. Winderfeld, who told me about the first executions for crossing the wall. The trial was brief. Sentencing one person to death was a matter of one or two minutes. The honor of tying the convicts fell to the Jewish police. Killing was the responsibility of the Polish police. They had waited for Mr. Auerswald for quite a long time. At one point, when he was still nowhere to be seen, the police gave the order to shoot. Warden Winterfeld told me that the Polish police were unsure, so the leader said, “Boys, be strong, this blood will not stain your conscience”. A few minutes after the execution, after the bodies were hanged, Mr. Auerswald’s car drew up. According to Winterfeld, he said, “Ach, wie Schade, dass ich so spät kam. Das haben Sie gut getan”.
Presiding judge: Please translate it.
Witness: “Oh, what a pity I came so late. You did a good job”.
Killing children has been mentioned here. I set up a blood transfusion center in the district. The youth who studied there donated blood. My student, who was murdered together with Dr. Raszeja while he was attending to a bedridden patient, was the director of this center. He told me that blood transfusions for injured children had to take place almost daily. The particulars which I cite in my book prove such terrifying indifference to human life as can only occur following a long training period.
Now onto the issue of the district’s alimentation. Once, I asked the municipality statistician to report on this issue. On average, a single Jew received 300 calories. 300 calories means death by starvation. With regard to the best-off echelon, that is, the municipal officials, they received, if memory serves me right, 1,500 calories, so half of what is needed to survive.
I recall that hardly a day went by when I did not come across people who were dying from starvation on my way to the hospital. When I compiled the statistics concerning the mortality of the population, it turned out that the difference between the mortality from spotted typhus and general mortality was such that it can only be explained in one way: people were dying of hunger.
Your Honors, these matters are obviously most gruesomely reflected in the numbers. On average, the mortality among the Polish population was more or less 12 per thousand. The efforts of the occupier saw a roughly twofold increase, to 22-23 per thousand. Meanwhile, in the Jewish district, mortality was ten times as high. In these circumstances, the district would have likely become extinct in eight years. Of course, a handful would have remained who were able to survive.
But clearly that was not enough and the time of liquidation came, which the previous witness discussed, and to which I would like to add one thing. Namely, I remember that reprieve was also granted to members of the Umzugskommando [relocation unit]. These were people who themselves apprehended Jews. I witnessed scenes that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck: I saw children snatched from their mothers and thrown onto carts. Becoming a butcher of your own nation was a price for having your mother or father released, because it was said at that time that the Umzugskommando members and their families would be free and avoid deportation. As far as I can remember, the order was signed by Gen. Greiner, but since I do not have any notes and everything I have written and am now citing is from memory, this may not be accurate. I believe that history knows no case whereby a person would be forced to become a butcher of his countrymen in exchange for the life of his parents. Anyway, we know that the Germans did not even hold their end of the bargain.
I will not go into the details of the liquidation itself, but maybe Your Honors would be interested in some of my memories from the period when I was already in hiding, under an assumed name, in a Polish manor house. Members of the police would come there and they often told us how they were forced – let me emphasize this: forced – to execute the anti- Jewish campaign.
I will share one memory which is particularly painful to me. When, as an ostensibly free man, I was in the countryside, I had an opportunity to speak to a young, 18-year-old man. Recruited for the Baudienst, he told me how these young boys were forced to murder Jews. First, they underwent training: they were shown pictures of Jews in which the latter were represented as particularly odious animals, such as lice or leeches. Then, these 18-year- old children were given alcohol, and when they were half-conscious, they were ordered to capture Jews and bring them to the Germans, who then killed them. I remember that this poor boy said he had guilty conscience and that he felt bad looking at all this, but when one of his friends burst into tears, he was killed on the spot. Thus, they had no other option but to catch people drunkenly and take them to the butchers, and then they often had to throw wounded people into one collective pit.
I remember a story of a senior district official who amused himself by shooting at children whom their mothers held in their arms.
I was told about scenes where German drivers who were passing by were encouraged to shoot at Jews as if they were ducks, for pleasure, while there was a small party close by, with vodka and snacks.
Whoever looked at these matters could see the kind of mental preparation needed to desensitize the entire nation.
I have just mentioned a visit by the local sanitary authorities. I read an article in “Reich” which was authored by Hewerer, who at that time, when 3 million Jews were already buried, said, “We have freed Europe from this disease, and I hope that we will likewise free the whole world”.
You surely understand that under such circumstances, a Polish scholar treated German science with reserve. Presently, having miraculously survived, I am a Polish Microbiologist Society representative for international contacts, and in this capacity I wrote to the chairman of the international congress in Copenhagen, listing all my associates and bacteriology professors who had been murdered. A Kraków university professor was murdered – one of the most eminent professors of bacteriology, Dr. Weigl, was murdered. I have lost 13 associates of mine. Only one of them died in combat, while the rest were murdered. This is a list of our murdered comrades, and we neither want to forget about it nor have the right to.
Presiding judge: Are there any questions?
Prosecutor Siewierski: Professor, I would like to ask about the situation of the Poles of Jewish origins, Christians, who were in the ghetto. Under the German regulations, were they treated on a par with other citizens or were they subject to any special regulations?
Witness: There were no regulations. The Jews who were Christians were treated literally the same, except those who died, for when a Christian of Jewish origins died, then he could be buried in a Christian cemetery, but the family was not allowed to accompany him on the way to the cemetery, and if you wanted to be granted exception, you had to jump through hoops to get special permission. The only group which was exceptionally allowed to leave the district was the dead.
Prosecutor: Did the liquidation, which started in November 1942, affect the Christians of Jewish origins in a different manner?
Witness: No, everybody was affected equally. I lived at the All Saints’ parish and I remember when they came and murdered everybody; they did not discriminate.
Prosecutor: Were the organizations founded by the Christians in the ghetto liquidated as well?
Witness: Yes, they were likewise liquidated. Let me mention, with profound gratitude and reverence, the name of father Godlewski, in recognition of all the good he did on behalf of the people sentenced to death.
Prosecutor Sawicki: Professor, could you please tell us about Mr. Korczak’s fortunes?
Witness: I can only tell you what I heard. I was at Mr. Korczak’s place often, and I have to say that I cherish these memories. I heard that they wanted to let him go, but he refused and led the procession, until they killed him next to a wagon.
Prosecutor: You mentioned the name of Prof. Raszeja, who was murdered in the ghetto; could you provide some details concerning that case?
Witness: Dr. Raszeja was asked to see a patient in the ghetto. Tending to him were his family, a nurse, and a doctor. Then, SS-men came and murdered everybody: the doctor, the nurse, and the professor.
Prosecutor: Professor, could you tell us how you were treated by this German healthcare officer, who was asked on your behalf for permission to leave the ghetto?
Witness: The German doctor said that he would find a proper doctor in the ghetto and that there was no need for me to go to the other side.
Judge Grudziński: Did you, in your capacity as head of the Healthcare Council, have contacts with the German authorities?
Witness: Doctor Milejkowski was head of the health service and the district’s representative for contacts with the German authorities. I was chairman of the Healthcare Council and I did not have to communicate with the Germans. I only attended two meetings concerning the epidemic and then I came across Dr. Hagen. As I said, the Jews did not have professional hygiene personnel. Therefore, I convinced Dr. Hagen to come the ghetto and advise us. He came a couple of times and then his pass was revoked by the German authorities. I can also remember a certain detail. One of the Jewish doctors approached Dr. Lambrecht and requested increased rations. Dr. Lambrecht was a doctor at the district. He asked for increased rations for patients with tuberculosis. He heard a telephone conversation – whether the authorities wanted to let the Jews live or destroy them. The request was denied and the rations were not increased.
Defense attorney Chmurski: Professor, you mentioned the stance of German medicine toward spotted typhus in Warsaw. Could you please provide more details? Were they German scientists or ordinary people?
Witness: I cannot answer this question.
Defense attorney: In the course of the proceedings, the name Kulicke was mentioned; is he a scientist?
Witness: Yes, he is a bacteriologist.
Defense attorney: Did he write the memorandum?
Witness: I do not know.
If any Jew was transported into the district, he had to go through a disinfection column.
Witness: Let me say that I cannot imagine that similar orders could be issued by sanitation authorities. I do not know, however, how the sanitation authorities described this problem to their superiors.
Defense attorney: Was Prof. Kulicke in Warsaw?
Witness: He was.
Defense attorney: How long?
Witness: He departed with the Germans.
Defense attorney: How long was he there?
Witness: A few years.
Defense attorney: Would he travel regularly, or was he there on a permanent basis?
Witness: On a permanent basis. He was director of the State Institute of Hygiene.
Prosecutor Sawicki: During your time in the district, did you hear about the German’s guided tours or did you see them?
Witness: Yes, this is one of my most tragic memories. I saw buses with signs which read “Kraft durch Freude” [strength through joy]; they passed through the district to see the zoo.
Prosecutor: I suspect that such trips through the ghetto could not take place without permission from the administrative authorities?
Witness: (Throws his hands up).
Presiding judge: Thank you, professor, you are excused. I am ordering a break until 9 a.m. tomorrow.