Warsaw, 14 May 1945. The testimony of citizen Bohdan Chomentowski, born on 8 March 1916, residing at Podskarbińska Street 8, flat 42.
In January 1940 I was arrested in a café by the Gestapo (H no. 2) and taken to Daniłowiczowska Street. After spending nine weeks in a solitary confinement cell, I was sent for interrogation to aleja Szucha. I was interrogated from 8.00 until 18.00. I was beaten with a rubber truncheon, I had objects thrown at me (whatever my torturer had at hand), and shots were fired to frighten me. Then I was sent back to Daniłowiczowska Street, where I spent another week in a solitary confinement cell. After this I was transferred to block V, cell no. 3, where I did time with Grabowski (he worked for the Polish Radio before the War). He had received a death sentence. He was in the solitary confinement cell for six weeks and received up to 120 lashes. Only after the prison doctor intervened did they (the Gestapo) promise that he would not be beaten again. This promise was broken during his next interrogation at aleja Szucha.
After a week, both of us were taken to Pawiak. Janusz Kusociński was detained there at the time, and I saw him during an inspection of prisoners carried out by Himler. They say that he was killed later on. Following Himler’s “visit”, the Gestapo men beat us up in a terrible way. The next day all of the prisoners were taken to various camps. Bread was thrown in front of the carriages – but only to have this event filmed. I saw:
Tadeusz Faliszewski, who was taken away [to a camp].
the three Bursches
Dr Marczyński (MPL chief physician)
Dr Sylwestrowicz
Captain Ryl
Major Bolman
We were herded in groups of 60 into cattle wagons; the windows were boarded up, while
some had their floors coated with lye, and there were numerous instances of burns. One of
the prisoners died from burns. We were beaten incessantly with rifle butts. The doors were
closed and we were left without water, so people started asking for something to drink –
their pleas were met with light machine gun fire from the Germans, who aimed at the height
of a sitting man. In my wagon, Jerzy Kraiński was killed. This same bullet killed another of our
comrades in misery, whose surname I don’t remember. The journey took 2.5 days, without
food and without any possibility of relieving ourselves. During the trip one of the prisoners
was shot in the stomach – and no medical assistance was given.
After reaching Oranienburg, we waited at the station until morning. At dawn, SS men came from the camp and the doors were opened; throughout this time we were subject to severe verbal and physical abuse, and even shot at. We were cleared from the wagons and had to run to the square, where we were lined up, facing incessant blows and torrents of abuse. Once we had formed a line, we were marched into the camp. When we finally got inside, we were sent to the so-called confinement area. This was made up of a few barracks fenced off from the rest of the camp with barbed wire. We took the man who had been wounded in the stomach (whom I mentioned previously) with us. Later on we were visited by the camp commandant, Oberführer Loritz, with his retinue, and Obersturmführer Dr Mayer. The latter noticed our wounded colleague, went up him, struck him with his foot and said: “Polish swine, German bullets are sharp”. He left him without any medical assistance. He died the next day in great pain.
Once we were arranged in a row, the commandant gave a speech in which he said, among other things: “This is not a concentration camp, but a school. Those who behave properly will be released after six weeks. There are two categories of people in this school: the living and the dead. There is no room for the sick”. Next we were ordered to hand over all of our food. There were a few priests going through quarantine, and they were harassed and persecuted. We marched naked to the bath and were beaten by the SS men. After the bath we handed over out clothes and received camp clothes, without underwear and socks. We were distributed among the blocks. I was allocated to block no. 37. The following did time with me: 1) Father Piechocki, 2) Chromecki – still alive, 3) general Roja – he was murdered on the fourth day after his arrival, under the shower (he was placed under the shower and a strong stream of water was directed at him), 4) the director of the Warsaw “Orbis” – he was led out of the barrack and forced to squat while cold water was poured on him all day long; he died, 5) Zagorski Mieczysław, 6) Kraiński 7) […], 8. Błaszczyk – a barrister, 9) [Strożak?] – a tailor.
We were occupied with so-called “penal sports”. After the exercises, a few dozen corpses would be left on the square. The weaker ones were eliminated immediately in the shower. Food was starvation-level, while later we faced hunger.
Schubert, who received a cross for murdering, was particularly cruel; Zayfert; Bugdala – who distinguished himself by taking prisoners to the washroom, placing a motor pump hose in their mouths and turning the tap open (in this way he simply drowned people); and Rotenführer Hempel – a specialist in hanging.
Later on a hospital was opened, and the sick would die there after two days. They reportedly received special intracardiac injections. Some 30 per cent of the prisoners died.
Following quarantine, we were taken to a large camp and used for work. We worked in the brickyard, performing everything on the double. The weight that we were ordered to carry exceeded human strength. The food was starvation-level. Offenders were buried in sand right up to their necks, and Bugdala would pour earth into the poor wretches’ mouths; people were drowned in clay pits, shot to death. Bodies were incinerated in the crematorium. Apart from that we had the gas chamber and the torture room.
One day I myself heard Mayer saying to a colleague of his: “Today was the most beautiful day in my life, I walked over bodies”. The fate of Soviet war prisoners was particularly harsh, for they would not receive food for a few weeks, which led to cannibalism. All of them, 15 thousand in total, were subsequently shot and incinerated in the crematoria (1943). The wounded were burned alive.
[…] November 1940 some 43, [33?] prisoners were taken from the block and shot dead. Theprisoners did not know that they were going to their deaths – rather, they were certain that they would be freed.
Experimental surgical procedures were conducted in the hospital. Knees were cut open, cellulose wadding put inside, and the wound sutured. When decay set in, the knee would be cut open again and the wadding removed; this was followed by treatment.
Furthermore, all sorts of substances were injected. These experiments nearly always ended in death.
When the Red Army began drawing near, we were evacuated west. We were forced to march in columns without any food or water. The weakest prisoners were killed during the march. As a result, a few thousand people died.
We were led to the forests near Below. We were kept there for three days without any food, so we ate all of the surrounding grass, tree buds and nettles.
When the opportunity arose, I escaped with two companions.
I testify to the truth [of these statements]. I have read the report before signing it.