On 27 August 1947 in Kraków, a Member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Municipal Judge Dr. Stanisław Żmuda, acting pursuant to a written motion submitted by the First Prosecutor of the Supreme National Tribunal, dated 25 April 1947 (file no. NTN 719/47), interviewed as a witness – this in accordance with the provisions of and procedure provided for under the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293), in connection with Articles 254, 107 and 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure – the former prisoner of Auschwitz concentration camp mentioned hereunder, who testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Tadeusz Paudyn |
| Date and place of birth | 16 December 1899 in Radom |
| Parents’ names | Roman and Helena, née Wesoła |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Citizenship and nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | shopkeeper |
| Place of residence | Kraków, Łobzowska Street 15/4 |
I was arrested by the Gestapo on 9 June 1941 in my flat in Zakopane. From 24 July 1941, I was detained in Zakopane at the "Palace" prison. I was transferred from Zakopane by train to the prison in Tarnów, where I was held until 14 December 1941, whereafter I was deported to the concentration camp in Auschwitz. I was incarcerated at Auschwitz from 15 December 1941 to 30 November 1944, and was later sent, in turn, to the camps in Dachau, Buchenwald, Dora and Flossenbürg.
While in Auschwitz, I worked in the following kommandos (in the order given): Tischlerei [carpenter’s shop], Industriehof [industrial workshop], for some six weeks at the hospital (KB [Krankenblock]), since due to the very hard labor and insufficient food rations I had become a "Muslim", weighing no more than 49 kg, thereafter at the Kartoffelschellerei [potato cellar], the prisoners’ kitchen (Häftlingsküche), the Kartoffelfahrerkommando [potato carriers], the Bauhof [construction], and finally in the Schlachthaus [abattoir].
I remember the then Rottenführer, Schumacher, from my period of employment at the prisoners’ kitchen. It was in September 1942 and I was working as a cleaner (Reiniger) in that kitchen. Schumacher was the leader (Kommandoführer) of the Brotabladerkommando [bread unloading squad]. From that time on, I would encounter Schumacher directly nearly every day, while from April 1943 until September 1944 I worked in his squad, the Kartoffelfahrer, of which he was chief. Thus, I had the opportunity of getting to know Schumacher quite well, and also observing his activities over a longer period of time. I know him well, both by his surname and by sight. The prisoners gave him the nickname "the Long Guy", for he was a tall and thin man. He himself boasted that he was a coal miner by profession, and also a boxer.
Schumacher’s immediate superior was Unterscharführer Schebeck, who was in charge of all the warehouses containing foodstuffs for prisoners. Schumacher and five other SS men worked under Schebeck’s command. Schumacher did various jobs, as ordered by Schebeck. For example, he would take part in the receipt of Jewish transports, and he would then take Rollwagen I [roller weigher] to the so-called Jewish ramp, track 21, and subsequently to Birkenau. There, he participated in unloading the Jews, and carted all the foodstuffs taken off the Jews to Schebeck’s storehouse. In 1944, the foodstuff warehouses located within the camp were full to the brim, and one of the potato storage buildings – 70 meters long and approximately 15 meters wide – within the large Postenkette [network of guard posts] was set aside as a sorting facility for the food taken from the Jews. Schumacher was the head of this sorting facility. Supervised by Schumacher, the prisoners diligently sorted the foodstuffs and oftentimes found valuables, such as dollars, jewelery, etc., hidden in bread, marmalade, fats, flour, etc. At the end of the working day all these valuables were sent to the Schumacher’s office, which was located just outside, and he hid them in a chest fitted with a lock. Once the chest was full, Schumacher would take it to the command of the “Canada” barrack and leave it there, without obtaining any confirmation of receipt. Schumacher was therefore in a position to appropriate some of the valuables. In my presence Schumacher did not hid or appropriate any valuables, for he was both careful and cunning.
Once the prisoners finished their work in the sorting facility, Schumacher subjected them to a very detailed search, while sometimes he used the senior prisoners to perform this procedure; these "seniors" included me and my camp colleague, Łojas. If Schumacher found any valuables on a prisoner, he would beat him at once with his hand or a stick, although he preferred the stick, and also report the offender to Schebeck. I remember one instance when Schumacher flew into the bunker in which I was employed, his hands lacerated and bloodied, and ordered me to immediately give him iodine and spirit to wash his hands, for – as he said – he had just beaten up a prisoner, injuring himself in the process, and that he had to disinfect his hands because he could “pick something up from a dog like that” (he was referring to the prisoner whom he had just maltreated).
Schumacher was the scourge of the camp, for he always screamed at the prisoners and beat them daily with a stick whenever he got the chance, for no reason whatsoever. Apart from this he was ruthless and a strict disciplinarian, while at the same time timid in contacts with his superiors. Through his zeal, and the ruthlessness and harshness displayed in his dealings with prisoners, he wanted to curry favor with his superiors and at the same time maintain his cozy job, which allowed him to avoid front-line service (many of the SS men were like that). He enjoyed drinking vodka, and when he got drunk, he was particularly dangerous. But if he failed to have a drink all day, he would walk around angry and agitated. During work he always had his stick, with which he beat the prisoners. He put particular effort into tormenting Jews, and he had many opportunities of doing so, especially during the unloading of potatoes and vegetables from railway wagons, and when loading [food] from the bunkers onto the trucks that supplied the subcamps. Our kommando numbered approximately 50 people, while during loading and unloading as many as 200 prisoners were present, sent from other kommandos on an ad hoc basis. To give but one example, the unloading of 30 wagons of potatoes, carrying them down to the bunkers, and arranging them in clamps took half a day – when some 120 inmates were available for work. Some of the prisoners simply threw the potatoes down from the wagons into hand-barrows, whereas others carried them down into the bunkers, with each hand-barrow – weighing some 60 kilos – being handled by two prisoners. When the hand-barrows were loaded, the prisoners had to proceed swiftly, but when they were empty, they had to run. Schumacher observed their work personally, chasing after inmates and beating them wildly with a stick. Furthermore, if he found that a prisoner had stolen some potatoes or other foodstuffs, he would punish him summarily with a whipping, sometimes administering even 25 lashes. The least number of strokes that Schumacher meted out was ten. In relations with prisoners from his own kommando he was a bit more lenient, however he had no mercy for those from other details.
Schumacher behaved with particular cruelty in the autumn of 1942, when prisoners spent up to three weeks unloading potatoes from wagons and arranging them in clamps. This work was very hard, and it was performed in the rain, which turned the ground into a sticky mud. At the time, a few hundred wagons were delivered to the so-called Jewish ramp, while the potato clamps occupied a number of kilometers of area. Schumacher was one of the supervising SS men detailed by Schebeck. Prisoners were as terrified of this job – even if they were assigned for only one day – as they were of the penal kommando, for a dozen or so inmates handling potatoes would die every day; through being beaten, lacerated by dogs, or simply shot. There were times when up to 500 prisoners were employed there. Throughout this time Schumacher would torment them as best he could, hurrying them along and beating them, and thus I am sure that he has many human victims from this period on his conscience. He was more lenient towards the prisoners only once, when he returned to his post after a stay in hospital, but this state of affairs did not last long. Whenever he learned of any setbacks suffered by the German army, he would scream at the inmates with great vigor, and particularly at the Jews, whom he considered guilty of starting the War and bringing about such defeats. He was a staunch party member.
Whenever Schumacher noticed that a prisoner was resting during work, he would beat him. He threatened the Jewish inmates by shouting that he would send them to the crematorium. I remember when Schumacher once heavily beat a Jewish prisoner; this was sometime in the summer of 1944. His victim was a lawyer from the transport of Hungarian Jews and had refused to perform physical work, stating that he had been given assurances that he was to perform only intellectual work in the camp. This prisoner had been in the camp for only a few days, and he was unaware of the realities of life there. I myself was beaten by Schumacher only once. When he caught a prisoner stealing potatoes, he would beat him up and thereafter order him to eat all the raw potatoes found on his person, which on a number of occasions resulted in the prisoner falling ill.
More detailed information about Schumacher’s activities may be provided by Franciszek Łojas, resident in Zakopane at the Inland Revenue Office, who was a clerk in Schumacher’s kommando.
The report was read out. At this point the interview report was brought to a close and signed.