JAN CYPRYCH

Gniezno, 18 September 1947. The Municipal Court in Gniezno, with Judge A. Grabski presiding and with the participation of a court reporter, court trainee Zgierski, interviewed the person named below as a witness. Having advised the witness of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the judge swore the witness in accordance with Art. 111 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, whereupon the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Jan Cyprych
Age 28
Parents’ names Adam and Maria
Place of residence Gniezno
Occupation certified druggist
Religious affiliation Catholic
Criminal record none

From the list presented to me, I am familiar with the following suspects: Hans Aumeier, Georg Bayer, Max Grabner, Josef Hiller, Heinrich Josten, Johann Kremer, Arthur Liebehenschel and Ludwig Plagge. I encountered the abovementioned suspects during my imprisonment at Auschwitz from May 1941 until October 1944.

1. Aumeier was the head of the camp [Lagerführer] from 1942 until mid-1944. He and Grabner signed off death sentences. Aumeier was known in the camp for beating and abusing prisoners sadistically at every opportunity. His specialty was kicking prisoners indiscriminately with his boots, even if a person fell on the ground as a result of his blows.

2. Bayer – oversaw the canteen for three months in 1944. I didn’t see him beat or abuse prisoners, but he would denounce them to the camp authorities, thus exposing them to severe repressions, including transfer to tougher camps. It was because of Bayer that Roman Nawrot (living in Tarnowskie Góry, Klasztorna Street 6) was sent to another camp whose name I don’t know.

3. Grabner – head of the Political Department throughout all of my time [at the camp]. I didn’t see him personally beat or abuse prisoners, but he would order the SS men in his service to do so. As the head of the Political Department, he decided the life and death of inmates and would sign off death sentences along with head of the camp [Lagerführer] Aumeier. He was always present during executions.

4. Hiller – head of the canteen from 1942 to 1944. A man of character, who did no harm to the prisoners. It is thanks to Hiller that I survived the camp; the same goes for Roman Nawrot, Roman Jaszczyński (living in Bierutowice at the Perełka boarding house).

5. Josten – deputy to the head of the camp [Lagerführer] and supervisor of the guards from 1941 until the end [of the camp]. Personally I cannot give any details concerning his part in abusing prisoners.

6. Kremer (Kramer) – the camp doctor throughout the whole period I was in the camp. I knew him as Kramer. The prisoners were afraid of him because he would give sick people lethal injections. He also qualified sick inmates for gassing. I cannot provide any specific facts.

7. Liebehenschel − commandant of the camp from January until April 1943. He was a kindly man and did no harm to the prisoners. He even forbade the SS men to beat and abuse [the inmates], punishing any misdemeanor. This is why, in my opinion, he was at the camp for such a short time.

8. Plagge – block leader and Rapportführer [report leader]. He abused the prisoners and beat them at every opportunity. His specialty was kicking them. Many prisoners died as a result of his violence.

I don’t know any of the names of the victims, although I witnessed many beatings. A few times I saw Plagge returning with a machine gun from an execution which he had performed himself.

I already knew the abovementioned suspects by last name when at the camp, where they were serving in their functions. As for [other] witnesses who could provide information about the SS men serving at Auschwitz, aside from those already mentioned, there are: Czesław Jaszczyński − his address can be provided by Roman Jaszczyński; Jerzy Pozimski (living at the Museum in Oświęcim), Jan Folwarczny (living in Sucha Średnia – Zaolzie), Marian Bączyk (living in Gniezno, Słomianka Street 10), [and] Antoni Konieczka (living in Gniezno, Piekary Street 52).

The report was read out.