Skaryszew, 2 December 1947
Rev. Stefan Świetlicki
Skaryszew near Radom
To the Supreme National Tribunal
(judging the Auschwitz criminals),
Kraków
Since I have not heard any witness testify about probably the most cruel method of murdering people in Auschwitz, I believe that the Tribunal should be informed of the account of an eyewitness who saw people being burnt alive in holes in Birkenau.
The above-mentioned witness, who came to Auschwitz relatively early, saw with his own eyes how people brought to Auschwitz, mainly Jews from different countries, were stripped naked, regardless of their sex and age, loaded onto trucks and transported to Birkenau. There were huge holes dug in the ground, filled with constantly burning fatwood (tree trunks), which were always being poured with melted human fat. The cars, stuffed with people, would drive up to such a burning hole and unload the “cargo” down into the blazing flames.
This system of murdering people lasted until one of the chauffeurs, apparently not devoid yet of all human feelings, having performed his cruel task, got out of the car, got a gun out of his pocket, and shot himself in the head with the words, “I’ve had enough of this job”. Following that event, the camp personnel stopped burning people alive in those holes, and switched to crematoria.
The witness in question is a local resident. He does not remember the names of the criminals, but he was terrified when he told me about the burning of people alive in the blazing holes, which is why I do not doubt the truthfulness of his story.