MICHAŁ PIĘKOŚ

On 25 August 1947 in Kraków, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Municipal Judge Dr. Stanisław Żmuda, upon written request of the first prosecutor of the Supreme National Tribunal, this dated 25 April 1947 (file no. NTN 719/47), 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 Art. 254, 107, 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed the former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner specified below as a witness, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Michał Piękoś
Date and place of birth 7 November 1915, Rajcza, Żywiec district
Parents’ names Jan and Paulina, née Hagel
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Occupation student at UJ [Jagiellonian University]
Place of residence Kraków, Felicjanek Street 11, flat 5

I was arrested on 30 March 1940 in Kraków, in the apartment at Felicjanek-Boczna Street 3. I was detained at the Montelupich prison in Kraków, where I stayed until 19 July 1940. I was then transported by truck to Auschwitz. I stayed at Auschwitz until October 1944 and was then transported to Sachsenhausen and subsequently to Barth.

At Auschwitz I was assigned to work in several kommandos. I no longer remember when I worked in each of them, but the prisoners’ kitchen was the place where I worked for the longest time.

I met Hans Schumacher, who at the time held the rank of Rottenführer, in connection with my work at the prisoners’ kitchen from May 1942 to the end of 1944. I knew him by name and by sight. Schumacher worked at the warehouse with food for prisoners. The warehouse was overseen by Unterscharführer Schebeck, nicknamed “Schveyk” by prisoners. Schumacher was his assistant of sorts, and he oversaw several warehouses which stored food for prisoners including food that arrived with transports meant for gassing. For this reason, the storages were also referred to as the “food Canada”. Schumacher oversaw the prisoners who sorted food and took the food away from prisoners who managed to secure some for themselves. Schumacher undoubtedly made a fortune on this post, since I heard from my colleagues that this food contained valuables. I know that Schumacher thoroughly searched prisoners who worked in the warehouses and those who just walked around that area. I heard from my colleagues that Schumacher beat prisoners, but I never witnessed that. I have no other information about Schumacher’s conduct. I would like to stress that everything I know about his conduct comes from what I was told by my colleagues and from what I observed through the kitchen windows. More detailed information about his conduct can be provided by Tadeusz Paudyn, residing in Kraków, Szczepański Square (shop with household articles) and Mieczysław Wiatr, residing in Nowy Sącz – I do not know his exact address.

The report was read out. At this the report was concluded and signed.