ROZALIA HABER

On 11 March 1947 in Dzierżoniów, the Municipal Court in Dzierżoniów, Second Branch, with Judge Slosarek presiding and with the participation of reporter [illegible], heard the person named below as a witness, without taking an oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the provisions of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Rozalia Haber
Age 32 years old
Parents’ names Lola and Samuel
Place of residence Piotrolesie, Mała Street, Osiedle 2
Occupation office worker
Religious affiliation Jewish
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

The witness stayed in the Auschwitz camp from January 1943 until the very end. When she arrived there, both defendants had already worked there as overseers of the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Both defendants treated the prisoners very badly, they never allowed any woman to take an additional ration of bread or put on some warmer clothes, and whenever they found anything of this sort, they would beat and kick the prisoner until she bled. The witness further testifies that once, when one of the prisoners wrapped a piece of rag around her body in order to protect herself against the cold, the overseer Maria Mandl noticed it and badly beat up and kicked that prisoner.

The defendants often carried out selections among the prisoners and chose either those women whom they didn’t take a liking to or those who were enfeebled. Then they would escort these prisoners to block 25, from where they were taken to the gas.

The witness herself from time to time received a beating from one or the other of the defendants; once, on suspicion that with a few other inmates she stole something from the kitchen, the witness and a few other prisoners were punished with the so-called “frogs”: they were ordered to do frog jumps. They had to jump while holding heavy stones in their hands, and they had to jump for three hours. If some woman couldn’t do it or grew weak, she was beaten with the cat-o-nine-tails. Once during such jumping four women passed out. Both defendants ordered this punishment and looked to it that it was carried out.

The witness further testifies that once, the defendant Mandl kicked, tortured, and finally killed the witness’s mother only because she wanted to save some young girl from being sent to the gas chamber. During one of the selections, the same Mandl chose to gas two cousins of the witness, both young and healthy girls, and the witness’s aunt, a 40-year-old woman in her prime.

The following people can also testify about the inhumane behavior of the defendants towards the prisoners: Fredek Raber (Piotrolesie), N. Blum (Piotrolesie, Stalina Street).

Then, it was decided that the witness should be sworn, and having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, the witness was duly sworn and repeated her testimony under oath, without making any changes.