Presiding Judge: Next witness, Ludwik Nagraba.
Witness: Ludwik Nagraba, 37 years old; religion: Roman Catholic; no relation to the defendants.
Presiding Judge: I remind the witness about his obligation to speak the truth as per Art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. False testimony is punishable by incarceration for up to five years. Do the parties offer any motions regarding the manner of questioning?
Prosecutors and Defense: We do not require the witness to swear an oath.
Presiding Judge: The witness shall present what he knows about the case itself and name specific facts regarding the defendants’ behavior in relation to the prisoners.
Witness: I worked in the Sonderkommando [special squad] under Mussfeldt. He was a cruel man. Thousands died in the crematorium by his hand. There were incidents where hale and hearty children were sent into the gas chambers. There were even shootings held in the chambers. Mussfeldt would do the shooting. When I worked there, Kirschner was the gas chief. That man has gassed thousands in the gas chamber. Moreover, we would bring hundreds of dead bodies from the women’s camp to the crematorium. I saw with my own eyes how commandant Mandl oppressed, tortured, and beat women. Once, in the night, on the ramp, when transports of people from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands arrived, during the sorting for the crematorium, I saw a panic start and Aumeier respond by shooting.
Grabner and a doctor whom I currently cannot remember were also present for each sorting on the ramp. I was an eyewitness to Soviet prisoners of war being shot in the chamber. I have seen hundreds of victims brought to the crematorium without internal organs, lacking hearts, lacking lungs. I saw small prison cars bring in 9 or 10 people, tortured, beaten up, half dead. We had to take those people out of the cars and put them in the ovens – as they were. That would be all.
Presiding Judge: Whom did the witness work with? As for Kremer, for example, can the witness say anything?
Witness: I saw Kremer for a brief time on the ramp when transports from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands arrived.
Presiding Judge: So he was present at the selection?
Witness: Yes, he motioned for some to go to the left, some to the right. Meaning some were meant for the camp, others for the crematorium.
Presiding Judge: What about defendant Kirschner?
Witness: He was the gas chief, it was he who dumped Zyklon[-B] into the holes in the ceiling. He was a cruel man who did this with great satisfaction.
Presiding Judge: Does the witness know defendant Koch?
Witness: I know Koch as well. He was present for the gassing.
Presiding Judge: What can the witness say with regards to defendant Mandl?
Witness: As to Mandl, I witnessed several times how she tortured women and oppressed them.
Prosecutor Szewczyk: How long did the witness work in the Sonderkommando?
Witness: Eight months.
Prosecutor: When was that?
Witness: From late 1941 until around July of 1942.
Prosecutor: The witness cannot recall any specific dates?
Witness: No. I never thought in my life I would get out of that kommando, as those who worked there were usually killed.
Prosecutor: For what reasons did the witness go to the ramp?
Witness: Because after leaving the train cars everyone was sorted into tens and divided into those who could work and those who would go to the crematorium, and we picked up the belongings of those who went to the crematorium.
Prosecutor: Meaning the witness was already present during the sorting of the prisoners?
Witness: Yes. I also saw gas being dumped into the gas chamber.
Prosecutor: Did the witness see Dr. Kremer?
Witness: Yes, I also saw Doctors Mengele, Rohde, and Thilo.
Prosecutor: Who decided who would go to the gas chamber?
Witness: It was decided by Dr. Kremer.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: Did the witness work in the Sonderkommando in 1943 as well?
Witness: No. By then I worked in the Entwesungskammer [disinfection chamber].
Prosecutor: Did the witness see Koch dump Zyklon[-B] into the crematorium where the witness worked in 1943?
Witness: Yes.
Prosecutor Brandys: Did the witness ever see defendant Aumeier during an execution by hanging? How did he behave?
Witness: One time there was a rail in the camp with twelve ropes hanging from it. Twelve prisoners were hanged before our eyes. Aumeier was there. The first of the victims – I cannot recall his name – shouted “Long live Poland!” and kicked away the stool. Then Aumeier went mad and started to knock down the stools of everyone else so that no one would do so by themselves and say anything in the process.
Prosecutor: We hear there was an execution the next day as well?
Witness: The next day four Häftlings [prisoners] were hanged. Aumeier performed the execution.
Prosecutor: What does it mean that he “performed the execution?”
Witness: He stepped on the pedal that made the trap door fall.
Prosecutor: Did Aumeier also take part in the selections on the ramp?
Witness: He did, I saw him myself.
Defense Attorney Rappaport: Would the witness affirm decisively that defendant Kremer took part in selections on the ramp? Because defendant Kremer claims he was not on the ramp, he never sorted the prisoners and did not point them to the left or the right.
Witness: I declare with full consciousness that defendant Kremer took part in selections on the ramp.
Defendant Kremer: The witness just stated he had seen me on the ramp and near the crematorium. For that reason I would like to ask when did he see me there, at what time?
Witness: In the summertime. I cannot think in terms of months, only times of year, and it was summertime.
Presiding Judge: When, what period was it?
Witness: I cannot recall exactly, as I was in the SK [Strafkompanie, penal company], where I was in danger of dying at any moment and I had that on my mind. I cannot recall precisely.
Defendant Kremer: The witness says I served at the crematorium, may I ask which crematorium?
Witness: I did not say Kremer served there, I said he would come there.
Defendant Kremer: So, was it the crematorium in Birkenau? I must state that there must be a mistake, as I left Auschwitz before it was completed. As stated in the indictment, the crematorium went into service between March and June of 1943. I myself had already left Auschwitz on 18 November 1942. That is all I wanted to say in this regard.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: Does the witness remember that before the crematorium was built in 1943, there were two roadside huts in Birkenau used for gassing?
Witness: Yes indeed, there was a crematorium there, the so-called “little white house”. It was there that Kirschner rejoiced over how easy it was to dump Zyklon[-B]. It was in early 1941 and in 1942.
Defendant Kremer: I know nothing about that, I do not know the crematorium and I have never seen one.
Witness: That is true, because there was no crematorium, but the “little white house” was used for gassing, then the bodies were pulled out of it and buried in large holes.
Defendant Kremer: In 1942, as far as I am aware, there were old bunkers there.
Witness: The bunkers are exactly what I am talking about.
Defendant Kremer: As I have already stated, I was often assigned to the old bunkers, it was 1942.
Prosecutor Cyprian: The important thing here is – may the defendant say – were people gassed in those old bunkers or not?
Defendant Kremer: People were gassed in the old bunkers.
Prosecutor: Then everything is correct, the difference is only in the name.
Defendant Kremer: My task was to look after the health of the crew and provide aid to SS men.
Defense Attorney (to Defendant Kremer): I wanted to ask the defendant – as the witness claims, the defendant was on the ramp and motioned to the left and the right – is that true?
Defendant Kremer: In response to that question I can state that – as I said before – I never personally performed the selection on the ramp.
Defense Attorney Rappaport: Did the defendant motion to the left and the right?
Defendant Kremer: I never did that.
Witness: The defendant definitely did do that. Mengele, Grabner, Rohde, and others were there.
Defendant Kremer: As I have already stated, I never took part in the selection. I usually came late, so it was impossible, as I had to be brought from the hotel first. When I arrived at the front of the train, the selection was already done. It was performed by the officers and non- commissioned officers of the SS on duty. I can say nothing more about that matter.
Defense Attorney Rappaport: Could the witness say whether the selection was performed when trains with Jews arrived or was it deemed unnecessary, as they would go straight to the gas chambers?
Witness: They did not go straight there, only after the selection. They would go to the crematorium in hundreds, so that when the first ones reached the crematorium, the last were still on the ramp. The others went to the camp. I remember an incident when a mother abandoned her child, as she was young and wanted to save her life, and was sent to the camp with the rest of the transport.
Presiding Judge: Which of the defendants have further questions?
Defendant Koch: I petition to be allowed to ask the witness when it was that I would supposedly conduct the gassing operation and how frequently.
Witness: The defendant would [dump] gas into a crematorium very frequently. He was the one who dumped gas into those crematoria. Another accusation: I asked Koch’s colleagues, other SS men, who it was that gassed the people working at crematorium IV in Birkenau. They told me specifically it was Koch.
Defendant Koch: I would like to ask the witness if it is possible that he could recall what year it was?
Witness: In the autumn, I cannot recall the year. The defendant gassed the French crew of the crematorium at that time; it was replaced by Slovaks.
Defendant Koch: The witness has stated that the Sonderkommando was gassed in a building that was to be deloused. Did the witness personally see me there?
Witness: Not personally, as it was after the evening roll call. Those people were dressed and duped into being taken to be gassed in the evening. It was in a location four kilometers away from the crematorium.
Defendant Koch: Can the witness recall the names of the SS men who told the witness it was I who conducted the gassing?
Witness: SS man Lachmann from the political department.
Presiding Judge: Any more questions for the witness?
Prosecution: No.
Defense: No.
Presiding Judge: Therefore the witness is excused.