Sent to the Auditor General in Brussels
Brussels, 5 November 1945
Commissioner for State Security
Kingdom of Belgium
Ministry of National Defense
State Security
PV [procès-verbal] 290/45
The events described took place at Auschwitz between the end of 1944 and May 1945.
Continuation of the witness interview report from 7 September 1945, forwarded on 5 November 1945, complaint filed by Hilda Daneels, widow of Dirk Sevens.
Prosecution of the entire staff of the Ravensbrück camp, in particular:
a. Rapportführer [report leader] Tauber [Taube] – for beating the prisoners acutely, even with fatal consequences, for carrying out selections to the crematoria, etc.
b. A certain Aufseherin [overseer], promoted to the rank of Oberaufseherin [senior overseer] – for beating prisoners, even with fatal consequences.
c. An Aufseherin, promoted to the rank of Rapportführerin, known as Brandl, who beat prisoners acutely and selected those to be gassed.
d. An SS man – for having his dog bite the prisoners, in particular Maria Kruszel, who is filing this complaint and testifying below.
PRO JUSTITIA
On 10 September 1945 at 9.00 a.m., I, Alfons Bellens from State Security, judiciary police officer, plenipotentiary of the Auditor General, am conducting a detailed interview with
Maria Kruszel, single, born 14 January 1929 in Brussels, Polish national, living at rue de Roumanie 5 in Saint-Gilles, who states:
I wish to testify in French.
I was arrested along with my parents on 24 February 1943. At the time we were already living in hiding at rue de Roumanie 5. We were arrested because we were Jewish. The arrest was carried out by one Jacques, a Jew working for the Gestapo. We spent two days in the Gestapo basements but we were not mistreated.
We were sent to the camp at Malines, where I was treated like all the other Jews, i.e., a ring was taken away from me. On 19 April I was put on a transport headed for Germany with my mother. We were [placed] in cattle cars (20th transport). On 21 April we were placed at Birkenau, close to Auschwitz, where I remained until 11 November 1944 along with my mother. Afterwards we were separated and I went through more camps of which I will tell [in due course] and provide the dates.
Because of my young age I worked in the field, then in a type of weaving workshop, and then I was dispatched to get things from different storehouses in the camp.
When I arrived at the camp my personal clothes were taken away, I was shaved completely, and I got a tattoo on my left forearm with the number 48499 and an upturned triangle. Malnourishment was the rule, which means that daily we would receive a quarter of [a loaf of] army bread, a bit of infused water as coffee in the morning and in the evening, and about half a liter of water with vegetables, which was almost inedible, at noon.
Like the other prisoners, I was beaten frequently, and the staff that oversaw us had no qualms about telling us that we would all die in the camp.
The German SS-Rapportführer Taube was particularly cruel to the prisoners. He was born ca. 1909, around 180 cm tall, light brown hair, blue-green eyes, lean, [suffering] of stomach ailments. He was there from the moment of my arrival and left in mid-1944. He took part in the selections for the gas chambers, and in addition to his cruelty he bragged that he would drain the last Jew of blood. He would also beat prisoners with a whip, a metal rod, etc., until dead.
During this time there were also two female German SS overseers who stood out on account of their cruelty. The first was even promoted to the rank of Oberaufseherin, she looked as though born ca. 1908, 165 cm tall, thin, a chestnut blonde, very short hair, blue eyes. She would strike [inmates] with her fist, kick them or beat them with a stick, often until dead.
The other one was also an Aufseherin and was subsequently promoted to Rapportführerin. Her name was Brandl, also in SS uniform, born ca. 1909, 170 cm tall, lean, dark brown hair, she also beat [people] a lot, but she said she was denying herself the killing of Jews with a stick, preferring to send them to the gas chamber.
I also knew two German doctors who were SS men, but I don’t remember their last names. The first was at least 185 cm tall, thin, he looked as though he had been born ca. 1908, he was an SS officer, he wore glasses. He oversaw the selections for the gas chambers. He treated sick people with particular cruelty – or so I was told since I had never witnessed it myself. But I know he did not take the care to examine the sick. I didn’t see him often but I saw him beat the sick with a riding-crop on several occasions.
The other one was shorter, around 175 cm, of medium weight, dark, brown eyes, born ca. 1908, he also took part in making the selections for the gas chambers. Like his colleague, he would send even healthy individuals to the gas.
In September 1943 one of the numerous overseers, who was only at the camp for a couple of days, unleashed his big dog on me for no reason. The dog bit me on the nose and the overseer did nothing to keep the animal back, on the contrary, he poked fun at me when he saw the bite wound. I received no dressing and only a nurse, an inmate like myself, would give me a bit of Vaseline from time to time.
I was freed by the Danish Red Cross on 2 May 1945, when on a train taking us from a camp near Hamburg to Denmark. At this time the front was rapidly approaching Hamburg, and our train stood all night on the bridge at the Hamburg-Altona station.
I am formally demanding that the individuals who mistreated me be prosecuted.
Having read the report, I am maintaining what I have testified and signing [it].
The interview will be continued when Miss Maria Kruszel has presented us with a written document concerning the other camps she was [detained] in.
Dont acte, A. Bellens.