LEON BORZUCHOWSKI

On 7 November 1945 in Warsaw, District Investigating Judge of the Warsaw District Court, K. Szwarc, interviewed the person named below as a witness:


Name and surname Leon Borzuchowski
Parents’ names Ignacy and Maria, née Olszak
Date and place of birth 11 April 1912 in Warsaw
Criminal record none
Occupation paver
Place of residence Warsaw, Okęcie, Centralna Street 6, flat 1

Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations, [the witness] testified as follows:

On 19 September 1940 I was caught by the Germans in a street roundup in Warsaw and, without being interrogated, deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where I remained until 8 June 1942, after which time I was deported to Gusen and remained there until the end, i.e., 5 May 1945.

Having read the list of war criminals no. 2 in Głos Ludu newspaper from 4 November 1945, I declare that the SS men and kapos under positions 10, 14, 15, 16 and 23 on the said list are known to me:
1) Rudolf Beckert [?], who was a Blockführer at Auschwitz
2) Bock (I don’t know the first name), who was a German criminal and a kapo at Auschwitz, overseeing a group of prisoners
3) Arno Böhm, whose first name is all I know; I suppose he is identified with Böhm; he was also a kapo in Auschwitz;

4) Roger [?] (I don’t know his first name), an SS man and Blockführer at Auschwitz 5) Chmielewski (I don’t know the name), Kommandant of the Gusen concentration camp since its establishment, i.e., since 1940, until the second half of 1943.

All of the mentioned individuals abused prisoners, i.e., beat them, shut them up in bunkers, kept them out in the cold, etc. SS men Beckert and Roger unleashed dogs on the inmates that tore their flesh and also killed inmates with revolvers and sticks. I don’t remember the names of those killed.

But the worst criminal of those I have named was Chmielewski, Kommandant of the Gusen camp, whom I personally saw shoot a number of inmates with a revolver (I don’t remember the names); their bodies were thrown to the dogs. Moreover, Chmielewski abused us in an inhuman way, for example:
a) In the winter, at night, he would order us to be sent to a cold shower, as a result of which people died of pneumonia; he himself was often present as this was happening. b) He would order us to stand for a long time in the cold, and so, for example, once we stood in the cold for 48 hours without a break or food, after which he immediately sent us to work. c) We would be hanged from a pole with our hands [tied] behind it, etc.

Chmielewski was a dog, not a man, and he hated the inmates with a passion.

The report was read out.