On 16 July 1946 in Katowice, Judge Mgr. Artur Lubik interviewed the person mentioned below as a witness, without oath. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Ryszard Kordek |
| Age | 25 |
| Parents’ names | Stanisław and Feliksa Matusz |
| Place of residence | Katowice, Kilińskiego Street 23 |
| Occupation | MO [Citizens’ Militia] officer |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | none |
| Relationship to the parties | none |
On 12 December 1940, I was arrested by the Gestapo in Ząbkowice for alleged anti-German activities. First, I was kept in the Mysłowice prison, and then – along with 74 others – I was transported to the camp in Auschwitz (I am the only one to have survived from that group).
The living and hygienic conditions were simply terrible. There were 80 people in one room. We slept lying side by side because there was not enough space. Fleas, lice, scabies, etc. were everywhere. As for food, we received three meals a day: a quarter of a liter of water with flour or some groats in the morning, a quarter of a liter of rutabaga or cabbage soup at noon for dinner, and a quarter of a liter of coffee and [illegible] grams of bread (resembling clay, with no nutritional value whatsoever) in the evening. Sometimes we were given small amounts of marmalade or margarine. A normal man could survive in such conditions for a maximum of a month unless he got some help from prisoner functionaries or unless he was a functionary himself (or worked feeding animals, in the kitchen, etc.). Until 1943, we were not allowed to receive any parcels.
Medical assistance was very limited. For example, in the initial period (when there were 6,000 people in the camp), the doctor worked for only an hour a day.
The prisoners had one set of clothes, wooden clogs and earflaps without hats.
By the time I escaped, that is, by 14 January 1944, the number of people in the prison had reached 200,000 (I mean the numbering). The actual number of prisoners in the camp never exceeded 80,000.
The food conditions improved a bit in 1943 and in the following years because we were allowed to receive parcels and because food was taken away from the masses of Jews arriving at the camp from Hungary. That food was sent to the camp kitchen.
When it comes to individual events proving the unprecedented violence, let me describe the following facts. The Auschwitz camp was divided into two parts: Auschwitz I, the representative camp, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the extermination camp. In the first camp, there was one crematorium for burning the dead, while in the second camp there were four.
In Auschwitz II-Birkenau, there were devices for gassing and burning people. In one crematorium, 1,200 bodies of gassed prisoners were piled up to be burned (within a day). Normally, the gassing was supposed to last 15 minutes. Later on, due to the huge influx of prisoners, that time was shortened to only seven minutes. Sometimes children were still clinging to their mothers’ chests when the mothers were already dead. I myself saw still- moving children being thrown onto a pile to be burned, together with their mothers. Then, again due to the enormous influx of prisoners, the dead were not burned in crematoria, but in special pits with dimensions of 10 by 20 m.
I remember when a train from Greece arrived with Jews after a three-week journey. I noticed that in one car with 46 people inside only five were alive (stumbling on their feet), while the rest had died on the way. I saw those 46 people being loaded onto a truck (along with those who were still alive) and simply unloaded into burning pits together with their clothes. The floors of the emptied cars were scattered with chloride and lime.
I would like to add that at the very beginning of the war between Germany and Russia, 12,000 Russian prisoners of war were brought to the Auschwitz camp. Within six to eight weeks, 11 thousand of them had died of exhaustion and for other reasons. The Germans placed them in pits, poured or covered them with lime, some dirt, then again with lime, etc. When the world found out about Katyń, the Germans dug up all the remains and burned them.
I would like to add that people who arrived by train in mass transports (mostly Jews) did not receive numbers.
After the prisoners were gassed, (if there was time) they had their faces (cheeks) cut and their golden teeth removed; women had their hair cut. There were specially prepared tables with drains operated by special personnel consisting of prisoners.
Once, I saw a transport going to a gas chamber. When the truck turned suddenly, a woman’s child fell out of the truck. The head of the crematorium, Otto Moll, who was driving behind the truck, took the child by the neck (a boy of about three years of age) and then by a leg, and smashed his head against a guardhouse wall. Then, he drove up to the truck and threw the corpse to his mother.
I believe that a total of 4 million people were gassed, because every day three or four transports were sent to the gas chambers. One transport consisted of 3,000 to 5,000 people. On average, one transport was gassed per day (later on more). The crematoria operated 24 hours a day, and prisoners worked there in three shifts.
Executions took place quite often (up to three times a week). The number of people executed by shooting reached 300. Initially, they were shot by an SS military firing squad, then one by one with a gun, and finally with an automatic machine gun. There were rumors that the shooter was paid five marks for each killed person. The prisoners who were executed had usually been sent to the Auschwitz camp for that purpose. For example, if one prisoner escaped, 20 others were placed in the bunker. They stayed there until they died (it happened within a few days, because they received no food or water).
One of the punishments was the so-called standing cell (the prisoners worked by day and stood in there all night). I stood in such a cell for five nights because a button was missing from my shirt.
Sometimes men were castrated. There was also a women’s block (about 200 people), where research on artificial insemination was carried out. Sterilization procedures were also performed.
Rudolf Höß was the commandant of the Auschwitz camp (if I am not mistaken, he was dismissed from Auschwitz at the end of 1943). He held the highest rank and position (he was a lieutenant colonel). During my stay in Auschwitz, he was promoted twice.
After Himmler’s visit, which took place in the summer of 1942, he became (as I was told by some SS men) the Supreme Inspector for the Special Gassing Operation in Camps. I heard from the SS men that Himmler really respected Rudolf Höß because he gassed people in the most efficient way.
I also heard that Höß once had a discipline problem caused by a large number of typhus cases, as a result of which some SS men contracted the disease. Höß immediately solved the problem by ordering the gassing of all the sick and convalescents. The operation was completed within three days. During that time, that is, during the anti-typhus operation, over 1,300 people were gassed.
Rudolf Höß behaved well because he never beat prisoners or abused them – he only sneered. Of course, everything passed through his hands (all lists, etc.).
I heard that when Höß’s mansion in Auschwitz was constructed, the floors were insulated with human bones.
I saw Rudolf Höß choosing prisoners for the so-called death cell (for the escape of other prisoners). He was calm and serious (he always had one expression on his face).
I very often saw Höß at the unloading of transports from trains and at the initial sorting of prisoners. He was there with other officers and the chief doctor. I saw him very often as he drove by car to the crematorium. He would spend several hours in the crematoria, even with Himmler. Generally speaking, Höß ran the whole operation with the help of others.
I often saw a plane flying over the camp, especially over the crematoria. SS men were saying that it was Höß. He did so because he wanted to find the best ways to cover the crematoria against possible air raids.
As for the diary – I lost it. One could write whole books about the Auschwitz crimes. I am willing to testify as a witness against Höß.
Henryk Mandelbaum, a UB [Polish political police] officer from Będzin, who worked in the gas chambers, could possibly provide more details.
I would like to mention that any association of political prisoners could provide further data.