On 24 September 1947 in Kraków, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Municipal Judge Dr. Stanisław Żmuda, acting on the basis of the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293) on the Main and District Commissions for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, interviewed the person specified below as a witness in accordance with Art. 254, 107, 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The witness testified as follows:
Name and surname Aleksander Kołodziejczyk (known in the case, Plagge’s files)
On 30 August 1947, I testified before the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Kraków with regards to the conduct of the SS man Plagge. I sustain that testimony and additionally testify with regards to the conduct of the other members of the former Auschwitz crew.
I was detained in the Auschwitz camp from 14 June 1940 until 29 October 1944 as prisoner number 112. My colleagues and I felt relieved when Liebehenschel took over from Höß as camp commandant at Auschwitz. He abolished the obligation for the prisoners to take off their hats, released the prisoners detained in the bunker, and forbade unannounced inspections, public executions and floggings. The commandant himself had a habit of walking around the camp in his free time, especially on Sundays. He allowed prisoners to address their complaints about relations in the camp directly to him. All of these orders pertained to the parent camp and offered some novelty and relief to the prisoners. I do not know if the relations improved also in Birkenau and other subcamps under Liebehenschel’s command. I also do not know whether he participated in selections of the prisoners to the gas chambers that took place on the railway ramp in Birkenau. As one of the methods of punishment, Liebehenschel introduced transfers of the prisoners to other camps.
I knew Aumeier well as the first Schutzhaftlagerfürer [camp leader], both by name and by sight. I also recognize him on the presented photograph. Aumeier was notorious in the camp for being a sadist who beat and kicked prisoners at every opportunity. He clearly enjoyed doing that. He introduced the punishment by flogging, which was carried out publicly every day after roll call, as a result of prisoners being reported while they worked. He also used the punishment by the “post” more extensively. Besides that, he took part in public executions by hanging and flogging. He selected prisoners for execution and participated in executions in block 11. I personally got hit in the face by Aumeier several times for no reason. He also introduced the punishment by the so-called Stehbunker [standing cell] that lasted an entire night. When he was in command, up to a dozen or so prisoners suffocated to death while standing in this bunker. One prisoner from the first transport from Tarnów was among them – Palitzsch had found a piece of bread when he had searched him. I remember that Aumeier shot at the prisoners from Kraków who were marked with red circles and worked in the penal company on the marshes outside the camp. I do not know how many people died then. I also remember that Aumeier assisted during the execution of a civilian who was detained in the camp after a camp prison uniform had been found in his field – the man was suspected of complicity in aiding an escape.
I know Grabner by name and sight as the head of the political department which determined the fate of the prisoners at Auschwitz. He personally killed the prisoner number 63, Jan Lupa from Kraków. Grabner dragged him out of the paint shop (where I worked at the time), ordered to give him 300 lashes and then locked him in the bunker, where the prisoner died. Lupa was suspected of corresponding with his family, which he denied. On his own initiative, Grabner also ordered a female Slovak prisoner Lilka Gabani to be shot in block 11 for sending a letter from the camp in Rajsko to the main camp in Auschwitz. Even when she was taken to the main camp to point out the person to whom she had sent the letter during roll call, she did not confess. Another victim of a death sentence arbitrarily passed by Grabner was the prisoner number 3456, Willi Kmak who worked in the paint shop, and was executed for stealing meat from a slaughterhouse. Stanisław Witek from Grybów and Stanisław Fanfara from Kraków, who worked in the slaughterhouse, and another prisoner from Silesia, whose name I do not remember, were shot along with him.
I remember the SS man Lissner from the time of his service in Budy, where he escorted prisoners and supervised them during work. He was notorious for beating prisoners.
SS-Sturmscharführer Carstensen worked in the political department for a while, holding the highest non-commissioned officer rank after Grabner. I know this because I painted a sign on a trunk in his room in the office. Not until later did I see him supervising the guard posts and labor details. He was a policeman by profession.
I know SS-Unterscharführer Ludwig from his activities in the agricultural area [Landwirtschaft]. He was a cavalryman who always held a whip in his hand. I frequently saw him beating and kicking the prisoners from his kommando. He wore trousers lined with leather and long boots with spurs.
At this the report was concluded, read out and signed.