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Source: Law-Reports of Trials of War Criminals, The United Nations War Crimes Commission, Volume II, London, HMSO, 1947 [Some sections have been highlighted provisionally until hyperlinks can be added to appropriate files. Page numbers precede text]
THE BELSEN TRIAL
BRITISH MILITARY COURT, LUNEBURG, Part III Foreword Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX Part X Part XI Part XIII The Evidence for the Prosecution (Continued)
This witness, a Polish Jewess, stated that she was sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz in November, 1943. She was later transferred to Belsen. p.20 The witness said that she had seen many selections for the gas chambers. Dr. Klein, Hoessler and others carried out a selection in January, 1944. During this selection Helene Klein herself was chosen for the gas chamber, but before her number could be written down by Hoessler she was cunning enough to hide herself. She then asked Hoessler to excuse her, but he said : " You have lived long enough. Come, my child." He took Klein to the tables where the numbers were being written down ; but the witness escaped and her number was not taken. Weingartner used to stand at the gate in Belsen as the working parties went in and out, and frequently beat the prisoners. The witness agreed, however, that the accused struck only with his hand. Weingartner also beat the kapo Lidia Sunschein till she was ill on an occasion when, at Belsen, people wanted to join the food Kommando. Grese " made sport " with the internees, making them fall down and get up for hours or crawl at an increasing speed. If anyone stopped, Grese beat them with a riding-whip she always had with her. The witness had been among the victims who were beaten. Sauer used to beat people who came to get rotten turnips at cookhouse No. 2 at Belsen. The witness knew Roth well as a night guard at Belsen, but under the name of Johanna Schmidt. She beat people terribly with a broomstick or anything that was available. She beat people who had to get up at 3 o’clock to work or sick people who went to the toilet. A certain prisoner named Ida Friedman, a sick woman, was beaten by Roth and died the following day. This beating was carried out because Ida Friedman, when going to the lavatory at night, shouted out. This victim lived in hut 199 ; the witness slept in a different block but saw the incident at 3 o’clock in the morning when assembling for a Kommando. Under cross-examination the witness confessed that she only thought the name was Friedman and was not sure ; and that she did not see Friedman die but heard about it the next day. Hempel was the worst Overseer in Belsen. She worked in cookhouse No. 2. If anyone approached the kitchen to get food she beat them terribly with a special riding-whip which she kept in her room. If she noticed the cookhouse personnel doing anything wrong, for instance having food in their mouths, she took the food out of their mouths and beat them .Another Overseer had taken her place for two weeks when Hempel was away, but, the new Overseer told Klein, Hempel went to Kramer and said that the substitute did not beat the prisoners sufficiently. Ehlert was also among those who beat prisoners at Belsen. Kopper was an informer who denounced people and was a Block Senior. Dr. Bendel, a Rumanian, stated that he was arrested in Paris, and sent to Auschwitz in December, 1943. Here he worked in the crematorium, and he was able to supply the Court with a description of how the system of gassing prisoners was operated. He said that " the political department of Birkenau " directly controlled the Sonderkommando, who were the people who worked in the gas chamber and who actually did the gassing and cremating. Prisoners were made to undress in the belief that they were to have a bath, and were then forced into the gas chambers. Dr. Bendel also p.21 spoke of experiments with lethal injections carried out by Dr. Mengele in the crematorium. (Footnote: This witness also gave evidence in the Zyklon B Case (See Volume 1 of this Series, P. 96)) This witness, a Jew from Poland, said that he was sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz in the autumn of 1943, and was transferred to Belsen on the approach of the Russian troops. Hoessler was the Kommandant of a crematorium at Auschwitz. (In the cross-examination and re-examination, however, it appeared that the witness had come to this conclusion because Hoessler was in charge of the transports arriving there.) On the arrival of the witness and his two brothers at the railway station near Auschwitz the accused sent the two latter to the crematorium. The witness claimed to have been employed in the cleaning of gas chambers, in undressing the bodies and taking them away and loading them into lorries. In the course of his evidence, the witness testified that the wire surrounding the compounds at Auschwitz was never electrified during the daytime for the reason that the prisoners were away from the camp. It was only during the night that the wire was electrified. At Belsen, three days before the liberation, the witness went to the cook-house to get some soup for his friends. Some rotten potatoes were lying on the ground and he and others started to take some. Kramer started shooting, killed two and wounded the witness in the arm. The other two were Hungarians. At Belsen Kraft was in charge of people dragging corpses to their graves ; he beat and shot the prisoners engaged in the task. Kraft was also in charge of a store near Block 9. The witness first saw him in the concentration camp seven days before the liberation. Schlomowicz had no particular function at Auschwitz but at Belsen he arrived about eight days before the arrival of the British and became Block Senior in Block 12 three days before the liberation. Before this he was a prisoner. When he was Block Senior he behaved very well to the prisoners. Aurdzieg lived with Sompolinski in No. 12 Block. This accused had no functions, and he and the witness brought food back to the others in the block who were exhausted. Polanski arrived in Belsen seven days before the liberation, He had no functions at all and lived in Block No. 12 together with the witness. Anita Lasker, who lived in Breslau before her arrest, was sent to Auschwitz in December, 1943. She was transferred to Belsen in November, 1944. She claimed that she saw Kramer, Hoessler and Dr. Klein take part in selections for the gas chamber. Borman had a dog with her and the prisoners were afraid of her ; but the witness never saw her doing anything of which to complain. Lobauer collaborated with the S.S. Starotska was a Camp Senior at Auschwitz and at Belsen, and a notorious collaborator with the S.S.; people seemed more frightened of her than of the S.S. Kopper was known to be a camp spy at Auschwitz. p.22 There were no roll-calls in Belsen until Kramer came in December, 1944. Kramer started long roll-calls and introduced Auschwitz conditions, which were very strict. Everyone, including the sick, had to attend roll-calls. Ehlert used to work with Volkenrath at Belsen but the witness had not seen her beat anybody. Irma Grese carried a whip in Belsen and a revolver at Auschwitz. The witness added, however, that she had not seen her beating anyone . The witness had seen Fiest ill-treating people who tried to steal turnips. Sauer was in charge of a kitchen at Belsen and beat people when they tried to steal from the kitchen, using a whip as well as her hands. This witness, a Jewess from Poland, stated that she arrived at Belsen as a prisoner in July or August, 1944. She said that Hoessler took her mother from her at a selection parade and sent her to the gas chamber. Zamoski, a Polish Jew, stated that he was arrested in 1941, and after being at Buchenwald and Dora was sent ultimately to Belsen, where he stayed for two weeks. He said that he first saw Calesson at Dora. He was in charge of the transport which brought the witness from Dora to Belsen. The journey lasted seven days and the prisoners were provided with no water or bread. There were 190 men in one wagon and more than 50 per cent died. The bodies were left abandoned in the wagon on the arrival at Belsen. Calesson walked along the train and when the witness asked him for some bread and water he said he would give the witness water with his pistol. Zamoski then drew his attention to the bodies, in the hope of getting more space, but the accused said : " You are going to die very soon, too, so there is no difference." When the prisoners got to Belsen the accused was dealing out blows with an iron bar. He beat a friend of Zamoski’s called Maidan who, as a result, had to go to hospital. After a few days the witness took some turnips for him and the sister said he was dead. Calesson beat the witness himself because he was a Jew, and the latter had to stay in bed for three days . The accused beat everyone in the camp when he had an opportunity to do so. An affidavit made previously by Zamoski included the words " Otto Calesson was in charge of the transport arriving at Belsen on the 7th April coming from Dora. The journey took six days, and there was great hardship. Maidan, my friend, died in hospital in Belsen on arrival." This witness, a Polish Jewess, claimed to have been arrested on 16th January, 1943, and sent to Auschwitz, whence she was transferred, after two years and two days, to Belsen. She said that in April, 1943, at Auschwitz, a Polish woman had a swollen knee and could not keep up with the rest of her Kommando. She was stopped by Borman who set her dog on her. The dog first went for her clothes and then Borman made it go for her throat. The woman was killed by this treatment. p.23 Tuchmann,.a Jew from Poland, stated that he spent the period from 5th November, 1943, to 30th May, 1944, as a prisoner in Birkenau. He prepared for the Court a map of that camp, which was entered by the Prosecution as an exhibit. A Polish Jewess, Gryka claimed to have been sent to Auschwitz on 15th July, 1943. A prisoner named Grunwald went to a lavatory at a prohibited time and Lothe the kapo beat her over the head with a stick. She fainted and was missing from the parade next day. The witness saw her being taken to Block 25 and never saw her again. Lothe beat other prisoners too. This witness introduced certain death certificates made by the German authorities at Belsen and entered by the Prosecution. They provided particulars of seven persons who died at Belsen from either general weakness, exhaustion or tuberculosis. These victims were Marcel Freson de Montigny, Maurice van Eignsbergen, Maurice de Meulenaar, Jan Markowski, Georg Johann Ferenz, Salvatore Verdure and Therese Klee. (Footnote 1: These victims were all specifically mentioned in the Belsen Charge. See p. 4.) These seven certificates were among a collection which had been found in a sack and which provided particulars of the death at Belsen of 1,875 people. Captain Stewart stated that 22 were said to have died of old age, 46 from exhaustion, 31 of pneumonia, 199 of tuberculosis, 1,297 of weakness and 280 from other causes. They included French, Dutch, British, Hungarians, Poles, Belgians, Italians, Albanians, Yugoslavs, and stateless persons. 32. Afidavits and other Statements (Footnote 2: Many of the witnesses who appeared in Court had also made affidavits previously, but the contents of these prior statements are not in most cases referred to here, since the witnesses usually gave testimony in Court on the same topics as were contained therein. Defence Counsel in their closing addresses, however, made a number of references to contradictions between the evidence contained in these affidavits and that of their authors when questioned in Court (see pp. W-104).) A number of affidavits and several unsigned statements were also entered by the Prosecution. (Footnote 3: Except where stated the deponents are to be taken as ex-internees.) The names of their authors and the evidence provided are set out below. Dora Almaleh, a Jewess from Greece, recognised the photograph of Egersdorf as being that of an S.S. man who was in charge of the bread store at Belsen. One day in April, 1945, the deponent was in the vegetable store and a Hungarian girl came out of the bread store with a loaf. The accused shouted, " What are you doing ? " ; the girl said : " I am hungry," and the accused shot the girl in the back of the head. Almaleh was sure that she was dead. Hilde Lisiewitz, at Belsen in April, 1945, was in charge of a working party carrying vegetables from the store to the kitchen. Two male prisoners took turnips off the cart and she then beat them and stamped on their hearts. The witness felt their hearts and was sure they were dead. p.24 Arnost Basch, a Czechoslovak Jew, said that he knew Schlomowicz in Belsen. The latter was a kapo and his beatings with a stick or cable were not necessary for keeping order. The accused was very callous. On parade he said : " 50 people died to-day and unless order is kept I will see that a hundred die to-morrow." Basch had never seen anyone die as a result of his beatings. Margarete Berg, a Czech Jewess, identified Fiest from a photograph and said, that about three days before the liberation, the accused was escorting a working party including the witness as far as the gate of the camp. As the party got to the gate a woman collapsed. The accused came out and kicked her in the back. The victim died in the deponent’s presence. The evidence of Regina Bialek, a Polish Jewess, included the statement that, during the summer of 1943, she saw, from about 40 metres, Kraft catch a man who was speaking to a woman. Kraft battered the man’s head with a stick and blood poured from his mouth and ears. She later saw his body taken away. No one could have survived this beating. She knew Ilse Forster as an Overseer in kitchen No. 1 at Belsen. She had often seen her beating prisoners with a stick in the kitchen, sometimes until they were unconscious and were left bleeding on the floor. She saw through a window beatings taking place in a room in the cookhouse. Girls were beaten because they asked for their food from the kitchen. She had seen some of these women taken on a wheelbarrow to hospital. She did not know whether any of them died as a result of their injuries, but many were covered with blood. Kopper was assistant Block Senior of Block 27 of the women’s camp at Belsen, where the deponent lived. Kopper deprived people of their share of food and kept it for herself. She frequently beat women across the head and all parts of the body with a stick. She did not inflict serious injuries but there was no necessity for these beatings. Ehlert struck Kopper and set other prisoners on her. Michael Bialkiewicz said that Aurdzieg was an orderly in Block No. 12. He killed hundreds of people and demanded valuables from prisoners and if he did not get these he beat them to death. The deponent’s comrade Bauer had a gold tooth. The accused threatened to kill him if he did not give it up. Regina Borenstein, a Jewess from Poland, said that she knew Lobauer by the name of Hilda. In February or March, 1945, she was on a working party. One girl appeared with no shoes and had a piece of wood and blanket round her feet. She was beaten for this on the head-with the accused’s hand. Lobauer tore her dress and made her take off her home-made shoes. The girl worked all day bare-footed. The accused was a very brutal person ; she beat women with a truncheon. Pavel Burger, a Roumanian Jew, identified Polanski as an assistant Block Leader in Block No. 12, Camp No. 1, at Belsen, where the deponent lived. In the early morning on the 8th April, 1945, the inhabitants had to rise early to bury the dead. As they passed the accused he beat them with a leather belt and many fell down. The accused frequently beat prisoners with a wooden club. On the 15th April, 1945, when the work of burying the dead was going slowly because of the weakness of the people, the accused picked out a Pole, Jacobovitch, who was very weak, and beat him with a wooden. p.25 club. The latter sat down and said that he was too ill to go on, and later Burger saw his dead body. Paul Cech, a Czech, recognised the photograph of Fritz Mathes as being that of an Unterscharführer and kitchen chief of No. 2 kitchen in Belsen. On about the 1st April, 1945, several men tried to steal carrots piled in front of the kitchen. Mathes fired at them with his pistol, wounding some and killing others. Two or three died and the witness and others had to take their bodies to a big pit. He estimated that over the period from that incident to the liberation Mathes shot 30 men dead. Adelaide de Yong, a Dutch Jewess, stated that on the 29th August, 1943, she was, against her will and for no reason of health, sterilised by a Dr. Samuel, a German Jew, also a prisoner in Auschwitz. Many other persons were sterilised in this camp. The orders for the operation were given by the Kommandant of the camp named " Essler," whom later she identified by photograph as Hoessler. The affidavit of Jadwiga Dembouska, a Pole, stated that she first met Lobauer as a Lagerkapo in 1942, at Auschwitz. She often beat women with a stick for no reason ; she was always brutal to women later when acting as Arbeitsdienst. Jozef Deutsch, a Czech Jew, said that he had identified Polanski in person as a former Assistant Block Leader in Block No. 12, camp No. 1, at Belsen. Deutsch lived in that block, and was employed on carrying bodies with his father for two or three days before the British came. At roll-call, for no reason at all, the accused started beating the father over the head and body. The deponent believed that he died of this beating since he could not subsequently trace him. He himself had not recovered from the beating the accused gave him on that occasion. The wounds still remained. The accused also beat many persons in the deponent’s working party. Gertrude Diament, a Jewess from Czechoslovakia, stated that during 1942 she had seen Volkenrath make selections ; she would give orders that prisoners be loaded on to lorries and transported to the gas chamber. Grese was also responsible for selecting victims for the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Grese, at both Auschwitz and Belsen, when in charge of working parties, beat women with sticks and when they fell to the ground she kicked them as hard as she could with her heavy boots. She frequently caused blood to flow and in the deponent’s opinion many of the people she injured were likely to die from such injuries, but she had no direct evidence of such deaths. Lobauer was not a member of the S.S. but a prisoner at Belsen. Diament had seen her savagely beating women and girls with a stick. Her ill-treatment was worse than that of the S.S. women. Many victims collapsed but the deponent had no evidence that they died. Lobauer was in charge of working parties under Grese. Hempel was an S.S. woman employed in the kitchen at Belsen. She beat people with a rubber stick for stealing. Once the deponent saw her beat a very sick man who collapsed on the ground, but she did not know whether he died of his injuries. According to other prisoners, Schreirer was extremely cruel ; the deponent identified him by photograph as a former S.S. man at Auschwitz.. p.26 Gitla Dunkleman, a Polish Jewess, said that Grese was the chief S.S. woman and that she had seen her commit many acts of brutality. When paraded before her at roll-calls the deponent had seen her strike and kick women. She was the worst of the S.S. women. Etyl Eisenberg, a Belgian Jewess, stated that Volkenrath used to come into her block and take food and clothes from women. She was very cruel and made a habit of beating them and pulling their hair. The S.S. woman Ehlert used to deputise for Volkenrath and was also cruel and acted in the same manner. Vera Fischer, a Jewess from Czechoslovakia, stated that Borman used to be in charge of women working outside Auschwitz and that she had a large dog which she used to set on women if they became weak and could not work. Many went to hospital and died of blood poisoning. At Auschwitz in 1942, Volkenrath was the S.S. Block Leader of the hospital. One day Fischer had pains and could not stand upright ; the accused beat her so severely that she was in hospital for three weeks. The deponent saw an S.S. cook shoot dead a Hungarian nurse named Anna Kis. (Footnote: Anna Kis was one of the victims named in the Belsen charge sheet.) Halma Furstenberg, a Jewess from Poland, said that at Belsen she had seen Kopper beating other women with a stick or strap. She made old women kneel at roll-call for a long time. A Polish Jewess, who was sick, missed her food and asked Kopper for it ; whereupon Kopper beat her again and again over the head with a leather strap. Beaten to the ground, the victim suffered from concussion and three or four days later died. The deponent saw her die and saw some other prisoner take out the body. Kopper was beaten by other Block Seniors because she had informed the S.S. that they were in possession of jewellery. Bohumil Grohmann, a Czechoslovak national, said that, on 5th April, 1945, he was one of a party of about 650 persons going to Belsen. Dorr was second in command to Stofel on this transport. Near a stable between Herzberg and Braunschweg, he saw Dorr shoot two of six men who had escaped from a party of prisoners from Nordhausen. The next morning Dorr shot the other four men and their bodies were buried near the stable. From that time onwards Dorr began to shoot all stragglers. He shot about 46 persons. Stofel was present at some of these shootings but did not interfere. Wilhelm Grunwald, a Czech, stated that at Belsen he saw two persons crawl through the wire round kitchen No. 2 to steal carrots piled up there. He saw Fritz Mathes shoot at them with a pistol and the prisoners fell. Twenty minutes later the bodies were collected and carried to a pile of corpses. He also recognised Herta Bothe on a photograph as an S.S. woman at Belsen. Between the 1st and 15th April, 1945, he saw weak female prisoners carrying food containers from the kitchen to the block. When they put them down for a rest he saw Bothe shoot at them with a pistol. They fell down but he could not say whether they died. Jekel Gutman, a Jew from Poland, identified by photograph Otto Calesson as an S.S. man who was at Dora and Belsen. He corroborated from personal knowledge the sworn deposition of Syncha Zamoski. p.27 Stanislaw Halota, a Polish Jew, identified Anchor Pichen as an S.S. man at Belsen in charge of kitchen No. 1. The former on 13th April, 1945, was waiting outside Pichen’s kitchen when two male prisoners started to take turnips. The accused immediately shot at them at a distance of 25 metres. Two men fell and Pichen walked away. Halota assisted to put the bodies on the stretcher, and both were dead from bullet wounds. Josef Hauptmann, a Czech, said that on the 4th April, 1945, 10,000 workers were transferred to Belsen. The journey took five days and many were shot on the way. At Bergen station, Hoessler came up and gave instructions for nine sick people to be shot. Hauptmann did not see them shot, but he did not see them again. Elizabeth Herbst, a Jewess from Czechoslovakia, said that in August, .l942, a working party was at work near the perimeter of the camp by a ditch. The ditch was about 2 metres from the wire, about 39 metres wide, about 3 metres deep and half filled with water. The wire was electrified. There were ten or twenty women struggling in the water, and 10 bodies, apparently dead, floating in the water. Lobauer, another kapo called Krause (now dead) and others were on the bank. Lobauer and Krause had poles in their h a n d s . Some of the women were crying out for help, and Lobauer gave one a pole, and then pushed her back in. She was highly amused and did the same with several women. Herbst said that she watched this scene for 20 minutes and when she returned at night the ditch was empty. The affidavit of Helene Herkovitz, a Czech, included the statement that in Belsen, about seven weeks before 3rd May, 1945, when she made her affidavit, she was caught in possession of a ring and a locket by " Ellers " and beaten with a stick until the blood came from her nose and ears. Then she was taken to a room where S.S. men beat her with a rubber truncheon. She was also three weeks in the cells and when she came out she was put on the duty of emptying the latrines. " Volgenrat " was also present and also took part in beating the deponent. Peter Iwanow, a Russian prisoner of war, identified Ostrowski as a kapo who went with a transport of prisoners from Dora, which arrived at Belsen on 8th April. The journey took eight days ; Ostrowski beat the prisoners all the way, knocking down 15 to 20 to the ground. In Belsen, Iwanow lived in Block 19, where Ostrowski was the kapo in charge. When the prisoners rushed for their soup Ostrowski beat them with the iron handle of a broken soup ladle. People were injured on the head and other parts of their body. On 15th April, Ostrowski came into the block at about 5.15 am. and the deponent saw him tread on sleeping people and beat them with the handle to make them go out to the roll-call. He could not say what injuries were inflicted, because of the darkness. Anne Jakubowice, a Czech, stated that she went to Belsen on 1st January, 1945. She was employed as a cook, and Josef Klippel was the cook in charge. She saw him frequently beating women with a rubber stick when they approached the kitchen for food. On two occasions in March, 1945, she saw him shoot a woman dead, Both were Jewesses but she did not know their names. p.28 Alina Jasinska, a Pole, said that at Auschwitz she worked in the hospital. She recognised Lobauer as a Lagerkapo who took part in selections for the gas chamber. She had frequently seen her beat women with a whip or stick. She was very cruel. Once she gave Jasinska a blow with the stick which drew blood. Vaclav Jecny, a Czech, in an unsigned statement, (Footnote: The deponent disappeared without signing the draft affidavit) said that he identified Schmitz as an S.S. man at Belsen. On April 13th or 14th, 1945, prisoners were attempting to get through wire to get at turnips. The accused came up on his cycle, pulled out a pistol and fired several times into the prisoners. Three men fell and the rest ran away. Jecny later heard that the three men were dead. It was the accused’s custom to fire at any group of men standing near the wire. Ladislaus Judkovitz said that in Belsen in March or April, 1945, there was a kapo called Schlomowicz, whom he had seen hit people with a big piece of wood. This treatment went far beyond what was required to obtain order. He only saw a man bleed once as a result of beating. He was an elderly man and he fainted as a result. Alegre Kalderon, a Greek Jewess, named Franz Hoessler, whom she identified by photograph, as being responsible for repeatedly administering severe and brutal treatment to half-starved internees. She had also personally seen Juana Borman committing brutal and savage assaults on internees. Nikolaj Kalenikow, a Russian prisoner of war, said that while he was in Belsen in Block 19, Ostrowski was a camp policeman. When the prisoners lined up for food he would go down the line beating them with a wooden stick. One morning, before the liberation, Ostrowski ordered all men in Block 19 on parade, including the sick. A Frenchman or Belgian, by the name of Albert, was too sick to move ; the accused hit him on the head and this blow caused his death. Ivan Karobjenikow, a Russian prisoner of war, identified Ostrowski as a kapo in charge of Block 19 at Belsen, and a camp policeman. He saw the accused beat many sick persons, mostly at appel times, or when prisoners were lined up for food. One morning, Ostrowski called everyone to roll-call. One prisoner, a Frenchman, was too sick to move. Ostrowski hit him on the head with a soup ladle handle and his head was covered with blood. The deponent later saw the body of the victim dragged away and put on a heap of dead bones ; he saw that he was dead. Zlata Kaufmann, a Czech Jewess, claimed to have seen Volkenrath at selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz in 1942 and 1943. She also saw her throw people to the ground at selections and brutally beat them ; many died. Rachela Keliszek, a Polish Jewess, said that Borman, in the summer of 1944, was in charge of a Strafkommando, when Keliszek’s friend, a girl named Regina, was set upon by Borman’s dog at her orders. When the dog had finished mauling her, she was sent to hospital. Keliszek said she thought her friend had blood poisoning as a result of the attack. About a fortnight later the nurse said that she had died. p.29 Rolf Klink’s affidavit contained further evidence regarding the death of Keith Meyer. Sevek Kobriner, a Polish Jew, spoke of brutalities allegedly committed by Burgraf at " Camp Drütte ". (On introducing this deposition the Prosecutor said that, from the cross-examination, it had been made clear that one of the points which the Defence intended to make was that events at Belsen were such that the accused were reduced to behaving at any rate somewhat roughly. That was why the Prosecution wanted to prove that before he ever arrived there Burgraf was, in fact, behaving in precisely the same way in a camp where these conditions had not arisen. The Judge Advocate later advised the Court : " This is outside the scope of the charge, and even if you thought it true you could not punish Burgraf in respect of it. It has been introduced because the Prosecution say in the circumstances of this case they are entitled to show system and to rebut a defence which Burgraf is raising in the particular charge ".) Alexander Kurowicki from Warsaw said that at Auschwitz he knew Schreirer who frequently ill-treated prisoners as Block Leader of No. 22 block, from about November, 1942, until the middle of 1943. He held roll-calls twice a day and during them beat the prisoners. The deponent had seen him knock people to the ground and kick them on the head and stomach; the victims were carried away unconscious. He felt sure that one particular victim had died, but had not actually seen anyone dead as a result of this ill-treatment. Kurowicki said that Schreirer was slightly knock-kneed, but that he did not require this to identify him. Zoddel he identified by photograph as a camp leader or prisoner in charge of a party of prisoners at Belsen. He had seen him ill-treating prisoners and beating them so severely with a stick that injury must have been caused. Paul Lichtenstein, a Hungarian, said that at Belsen he was removing corpses from the blocks and had to pass kitchen No. 2. He saw Mathes, whom he recognised by photograph as chief of the kitchen, shooting at people trying to steal food. He saw three fall down, but could not say if they were dead. He saw the accused shooting prisoners from his office on several occasions. Adolf Linz, an ex-S.S. man, said that on the march of his Kommando from Klein Bodungen to Belsen, Dorr shot 13 or 14 prisoners because they had bad feet or were suffering from other diseases and could not carry on. This was done in full view of all the prisoners on the march. Hila Lippman, a Polish Jewess, said that at Belsen she was a cook in kitchen No. 1 in camp 1. The S.S. woman in charge was Ilse Forster. She delighted in catching men and women attempting to steal food. She would take the culprits to a small office adjoining the kitchen and beat them with a rubber stick and kick them, often drawing blood. The deponent saw her once beat a sick man so badly he had to be carried away. Klara Lobowitz, a Czech, said that Grese was in charge of roll-calls and that she made internees go on their knees for hours and hold stones above their heads, and that she kicked people on the ground. Her roll-calls took place twice a day and lasted two hours and more often three or four hours. If a mistake was made in counting the prisoners were made to stand until the p.30 mistake was found. No time was allowed for food and people used to faint as a result. Against the accused she also alleged beating with a rubber truncheon and kicking. Internees were not allowed to carry anything in their pockets and Grese would often stop and search internees and beat them un-mercifully if she found anything. The deponent had often seen the accused with Dr. Mengele selecting people for the gas chamber and for forced labour in Germany. Hilda Loffler, a Czech Jewess, said that she was employed as a supervisor over parties of working women at Auschwitz. Gollasch, Volkenrath and Ehlert were jointly responsible for the deaths of many people through starving, beating and overworking. Ehlert was very cruel to Helen Herkovitz, who was beaten by her and kept in an air raid shelter for two weeks with little food or drink and no bedding. The victim was ill for a month afterwards. Irene Loffler, a Jewess from Poland, recognised the photograph of Francioh as being that of a kitchen chief in Belsen. In February, 1945, when a Russian girl was talking to a girl in the kitchen the accused shot her. The body was brought to the hospital, and the doctor told Loffler she was dead. Izaak Lozowski, a Pole, identified Zoddel on a photograph as being a man named Erich, a Camp Senior in No. 1 camp at Belsen. He had frequently seen the accused beat prisoners. In the middle of March, 1944, the accused killed a Jew who was too sick to work. The deponent saw Zoddel striking him on the head, and the blows split his skull. Lozowski had heard that the victim died and had no doubt that as a result of this injury the sick man must have died. Yilka Malachovska, a Jewess from Poland, said that one day at Auschwitz, in January, 1943, Borman took part in a selection from a working party of 150 girls, and Malachovska’s sister was one of the 50 selected. A lorry went out that night in the direction of the crematorium outside the camp with the girls and she never saw her sister or any of the girls again. Peter Makar, a Pole, recognised Borman as the woman in charge of a pigsty in Belsen. He saw her on two occasions in March, 1945, beating woman prisoners for stealing vegetables and clothing from the clothing store. He had frequently seen both Borman and Klara Opitz beating woman prisoners. The latter was an S.S. woman in charge of female working parties at Belsen. On one occasion he was passing a party when he saw her kicking a girl and beating her on the face and body with her fists. Max Markowicz, a French subject, provided further evidence regarding the shooting of Keith Meyer at Belsen. Adam Marcinkowski said that a friend, George Grabonski, from Warsaw, went to Block 19 at Belsen on the 12th April, 1945, at about 3 p.m. Burgraf, the Stubenältester (Room Senior), was standing at the door. The friend asked to be allowed to enter and was refused, and the accused struck him a two-handed blow on the head with a square table leg. He collapsed, and the deponent dragged him away with an open wound in his head. Three hours later he died. Burgraf beat people on soup parades indiscriminately with his table leg. Marcinkowski had seen the accused beat about 50 persons p.31 to death in this way over a period of four to five days. The deponent belonged to Block 21. Chaim Melamed said that he saw Aurdzieg beat a Russian to death in five minutes on the day the English came. The Russian was a strong healthy man. Adam Mocks corroborated what Poppner said. (See p. 32). Szaja Muller, a Jew from Poland, recognised the photograph of Calesson as that of an S.S. guard on the transport which brought Muller from Dora to Belsen. On the 4th April, 1945, 3,000 males left by rail for Belsen. On the third day there was a stoppage ; there were some carrots lying on the ground which certain prisoners started to eat. The accused shot a man and Muller judged him dead. The accused was an S.S. guard at Belsen. Just before the liberation he came into Muller’s block, No. 87, and ordered out all Jews to clean up roads. He beat them with a stick, and one Russian collapsed whom Muller never saw again. Katherine Neiger, a Czechoslovak Jewess, said that Grese was the chief S.S. woman at Auschwitz ; she had roll-calls lasting six hours, and during the time she made internees hold their hands above their heads each holding a large stone. She put on gloves before beating people with her fists. On the day before the British came Neiger saw Volkenrath catch a girl taking vegetables. The latter, who was very sick, pale and thin, had to kneel, holding the vegetables above her head. After four hours she was exhausted and Volkenrath beat her ; she lay on the ground until midnight. Neiger had often seen Volkenrath hitting girls on roll-calls. She beat the deponent herself in the face with a stick because her coat was open. The S.S. woman Herta Ehlert searched blocks for food and if she found any she beat the girl responsible. Neiger had seen Bothe beat sick girls with a wooden stick. Neiger named Gertrud Fiest as " guilty of great cruelty ". She made roll-calls last as long as possible, often from six o’clock in the morning till noon. The sick and the dying often collapsed. The deponent had seen the S.S. woman Gertrud Sauer frequently beat girls without reason and Haschke on a number of occasions beating sick girls with a rubber stick. Maria Neuman, a Jewess from Poland, who described herself as a nurse, identified Francioh as an S.S. man at Belsen. In March, 1945, she saw him shoot a woman outside No. 1 kitchen. She was shot in the chest and lungs and died after 30 minutes. Gertrud Sauer was an S.S. woman who was at Belsen in March, 1945. Outside No. 1 kitchen Neuman saw her beat a man very severely on the head for taking a meatless bone from a swill tub. She then threw him in a ditch. The deponent thought that the man must have died from injuries. Sauer beat her for watching this incident. Andreg Njkrasow, a Russian partisan, said that he was in Belsen in Block 19 and that Ostrowski was a camp policeman. When the prisoners lined up for food distribution Ostrowski beat them and heads were cut open, but he could not say that anyone was killed. Ostrowski deprived the weak of their food to give it to the strong. Wanda Ojreyzska, a Polish national, said that Lobauer was a member of the Arbeitsdienst at Auschwitz. She forced old women to work and often p.32 beat them. The prisoners used to call her " The S.S. woman without a uniform ". She was a prison leader in the camp. Filo Pinkus, a Pole, said that on his arrival at Belsen he met Aurdzieg, a Pole, who was an Overseer in Block No. 12. The accused received him with blows from a stick and an iron bar. On the 12th April, 1945, a painter, Grunsweig, a Pole from Wilna, was too weak to work and the accused beat him so that he collapsed and died. The deponent had some teeth knocked out himself by the iron bar. On the 15th April, 1945, at 8 a.m. a Russian brushed against the accused, who hit him. The Russian returned the blow. The Russian was then attacked and killed by the accused. On 10th April, 1945, some hot soup was being distributed. The accused demanded from a prisoner named Lajward five Russian roubles. The accused also got a diamond from one Marx who asked for more soup, but when he had got the diamond he did not give the prisoner the soup. Pinkus had seen the accused beat hundreds of prisoners. . Ernest Poppner, a German soldier who had been in prison since 1941 on the ground of alleged sedition, said that on 5th April, 1945, he was one of a party of 613 prisoners of mixed nationalities who were on a march to Belsen. There was no food and most of the men wore clogs. On the 6th April, Dorr, who was an N.C.O., took two sick men, who Poppner thought were Germans, and another into a barn. Poppner saw him shoot two of them and the third might have escaped. The deponent thought that two others in a distressed condition were shot later, because he heard shots after they were taken aside, and he never saw them again. One was a Pole and the other was a Frenchman. Near Salzgitter, he thought two more, one a foreigner and the other a German he believed, were shot ; they never came back from the wood where they were taken. The column was in the charge of Stofel who rode up and down on a motor-cycle but was not present as far as Poppner knew when these incidents took place. Michal Promski, a Russian prisoner of war, in an unsigned statement, spoke of brutality on the part of a Polish kapo who arrived at Belsen on 5th April, 1945, and become Block Leader of Block 19. Most of the victims died as a result. He had identified Ostrowski in person as the kapo involved. Schmul Raschiner, a Jew from Poland, said that on about the 2nd April, 1945, he arrived at Belsen in the charge of Calesson. Some persons tried to get at some carrots ; they had had no food for six days. The accused shot one of these prisoners in the leg and ordered S.S. men to finish him off. Raschiner then heard two shots and had no doubt that the victim was dead. His body was left on the ground. Ten prisoners died on the journey and they were left in the lorries. Szparago Rozalja, a Polish national, said that Starotska was the only Polish woman to be a blockleader at Auschwitz. She chose persons for the crematorium, and killed, beat and tortured thousands of Polish women and other women. Luba Rorman, a Jewess from Poland, stated that in March, 1945, a Polish girl, Hoffman, was outside cookhouse No. 1 at Belsen and wanted to go to the lavatory. Roth would not let her go and she beat her. Rorman protested and Roth beat her too. Rorman heard that Hoffman died. Foreword Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX Part X Part XI Part XII |