On 5 August 1947 in Kraków, Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal in Kraków, Edward Pęchalski, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, acting on the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293), with the participation of a reporter, Trainee Judge Krystyna Turowicz, and pursuant to article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure, with connection to article 107 and 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, heard the person named below as a witness, who testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Helena Przetocka |
| Parents’ names | Antoni and Agata, n ée Noworyt |
| Date and place of birth | 22 December 1889, Kraków |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Occupation | seamstress |
| Criminal record | none |
| Place of residence | Kraków, Wenecja Street 7, flat 2 |
I was arrested on 13 February 1942 in Kraków by the Gestapo, suspected of belonging to a Polish underground organization. Initially, I was imprisoned in Montelupich prison in Kraków, from where, along with the transport of 68 other women, I was transported to the concentration camp in Auschwitz on 27 April 1942. In the Auschwitz camp, I was initially in the Stammlager [main camp], and in August 1942 all the female prisoners were transferred from that place to the newly built women’s camp in Birkenau. My camp number was 6798. This number was tattooed on my left forearm in 1943.
I came across the accused Maria Mandl in the Auschwitz camp in Birkenau. I recall that she came to this camp sometime in the autumn of 1942. She was the Oberaufseherin [senior overseer] in the women’s camp and always walked around in a uniform with a short firearm in her belt. I remember her very well, because she terrorized all the women in the Auschwitz camp. She was characterized by exceptional severity and sadism in her harassment of the prisoners. For the slightest offense, she would strike the prisoners across the face, and her hand strikes were so strong that the prisoner would fall to the ground after the first blow. Then Maria Mandl would kick her victim until she lost consciousness. Regardless, she sent reports to the camp command, demanding a severe punishment for the prisoners. As a result, a lot of women later received flogging punishments and many of them were detained in the bunker or were assigned to the penal company. I would like to mention that these cases only involved minor offenses against the camp order, such as finding warmer underwear on a prisoner or something to eat from items “organized” by a given prisoner. Maria Mandl very often carried out personal searches of the prisoners or inspections of the beds throughout the blocks, and whenever she discovered some item of clothing or food, she sent reports on these matters, regardless of the fact that she had already punished the prisoner on the spot by beating her.
I recall that in late autumn in 1944, when the camp discipline had already relaxed considerably and many SS men behaved much more decently towards the prisoners, Maria Mandl, noting that the prisoners from a transport destined for Germany and waiting to be loaded onto the train were wearing two sweaters, ordered them to be stripped completely. Then she told them to wear only underwear and dresses, and one sweater, and to leave the rest on the spot. Stripped of the warmer clothing, the prisoners were loaded onto the freight wagons, where there were not even any benches or straw on the floor and sent into the depths of the Reich. The SS officer present was shocked at Maria Mandl’s behavior, and seeing what she was doing with this transport, he drove away from this place after arguing with Maria Mandl.
Maria Mandl was also present at almost all the selections of women prisoners from the camp to the gas chambers. She didn’t limit herself just to assisting, but she played an active role in the selections, personally allocating the prisoners to the gas. Such selections took place at least twice a month. Apart from Maria Mandl, Dr. Mengele usually took part, then a senior SS officer called Taube and Oberaufseherin Drechsel.
Maria Mandl must have been very well-connected, because everyone in the camp had to reckon with her and sometimes even her superiors respected her orders, though they might have disagreed with them. Therefore, the prisoners were afraid of Maria Mandl the most in the camp.
The report was concluded, read out and signed.