Presiding Judge: Please summon the next witness, Henryk Porębski.
Henryk Porębski, 36 years old, an office worker by profession, religion – Roman Catholic, resident in Oświęcim, relationship to the accused – none.
Presiding Judge: I hereby instruct the witness, pursuant to the provisions of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that you are required to speak the truth. The provision of false testimony is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years. Do the parties want to submit any motions as to the procedure according to which the witness is to be interviewed?
Prosecutors: We release the witness from the obligation to take an oath.
Defense counsel: We likewise.
Presiding Judge: I would request the witness to present what is known to him in the case, and in particular as regards the accused sitting today in the dock.
Witness: I was deported to Auschwitz in 1940. In 1942, I was transferred to Birkenau and therefore remember only the SS men whom I encountered during this time. From 1942, I remember the third person in the first row. I do not remember his surname, for I tried to avoid these people and therefore saw them only from afar.
Presiding Judge: This is the accused Aumeier.
Witness: I remember the accused because he was the commandant and struck fear into all of us. I recall him from the admittance of transports arriving to be gassed, and I remember how if any transport tried to resist and refused to leave the wagon, it would be driven out by force. At night, we heard the sound of gunshots. In the morning, when our kommandos left for work, I saw streams of blood and the bodies of people who had been killed already at the ramp and were being taken away to the crematorium. In February 1942, a prisoner was brought; he wore trousers and a shirt, and had been sentenced to death by hanging. The noose was put on the man’s neck by the then block leader of the SK [Strafkompanie, penal company], and he was also supposed to operate the drop. Just prior, the accused had noted that the prisoner was going to be hanged for attempting to escape. When the block leader, due to his extreme nervousness, was unable to open the drop, Aumeier walked up and operated the mechanism, thereby hanging the prisoner himself. I was surprised by the fact that the prisoner had hair, for at the time all of the inmates were shaved bald.
Amongst the accused I also recognize Mussfeld, whom I saw near crematoria I and II. He arrived in 1944 from Majdanek. During this period there were rather a lot of transports, amongst others with English POWs. I avoided this man, for he knew how to beat people, and was notorious for selecting inmates for death.
The next of the accused is Koch. He was occupied with the gassing of clothes, the so-called delousing. An expert at maltreatment, he would catch prisoners who were trying to smuggle in a larger quantity of cigarettes. I had the honor of installing a radio in his living quarters. He tormented people during roll call, and decided about their transferral to the SK.
Next there is “the Pipe” – as we called him – the accused Plagge. On 8 December 1944, during the liquidation of the SK, no one was allowed to leave for work. At the same time, a few patients – closely guarded – were brought into Auschwitz. The accused Plagge arrived at around 10.30 a.m. and sent those unfit for work to barrack 27. He then went to them with a small caliber weapon, and subsequently returned. We surmised that he had shot dead the people who were no longer able to walk.
Presiding Judge: Does this concern Plagge?
Witness: Yes.
(The witness points out the accused Buntrock.)
I remember him, too; he would order prisoners from the SK to work at the “white house”. I recall when he was the Rapportführer [report leader] or something of the sort at camp B or C. He would search and maltreat prisoners at the gate, and it was difficult to bring anything in.
The accused Götze, a Blockführer [block leader] was also good at tormenting and beating prisoners. I would like to explain that for the inmates, emaciated and exhausted, even a single blow was difficult to endure.
The last man in the second row, Medefind, guarded the food warehouses. I sometimes managed to get through to these buildings, but the guards would always chase me away. The Russkies could say something about his maltreatment of prisoners, however as far as I know they are all dead.
I also recognize Kirschner – “the Frog” – amongst the accused. I knew him since 1940, from my first day in the camp. He had great problems writing up reports; I do not know what he did later.
Once when inspecting the fence, I was shot and wounded by a guard in the watchtower next to the Gypsy camp, which was isolated from ours. I was called to the Blockführer in Plagge’s staff, and he recognized me and said that I was allowed to walk around, for conducting inspections was one of my duties.
That would be all regarding the men.
Among the women, I recognize Mandl. I saw her at selections, when people were being herded into the crematorium. I saw her during searches carried out at the block; she would take bread, utensils and other items from the female prisoners. I also saw her at the ramp in 1943, when the Hungarian transports were arriving.
I think this information is sufficient.
Presiding Judge: Are there any questions?
Prosecutor Szewczyk: As regards the commandant towards the end of 1943/beginning of 1944, Liebehenschel, I would like to ask the witness whether he remembers anything about his period of office? Specifically, did he take part in selections at the ramp?
Witness: I could not have seen this, for the siding was opened in the spring of 1944, however I heard a few things about him.
Prosecutor: What did the witness hear?
Witness: That he shot at people.
Prosecutor: Did the witness see this for himself?
Witness: I did not see the transports that arrived at the newly opened ramp.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: In the summer of 1941, did crematoria I and II in Birkenau operate day and night?
Witness: During this time the camp received Hungarian transports, some 6 to 24 per day. The wagons were so tightly packed that once they were opened, bodies would fall out.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: And so the incinerations were carried out all day and all night long?
Witness: Yes, incinerations were carried out at these crematoria throughout the day and night.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: Did the witness encounter the accused Mussfeldt there?
Witness: Yes, I did.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: What was done with the ashes of the burned victims?
Witness: Some were dumped into the Vistula, some were placed in a warehouse, while the rest was thrown into pits.
Prosecutor Pęchalski: Does the witness want to recall his encounter with the accused Mussfeldt?
Witness: Yes. I encountered him only once, but I was terribly afraid of him, for he hit people with great strength. I think Morawa could testify to this fact, for Mussfeldt gave him a black eye.
Presiding Judge: Are there any questions?
The accused Kraus: Does the witness remember for what length of time I served in Birkenau?
Witness: Yes I do – from December until the closure of the camp.
The accused Kraus: Does the witness remember when the gassings in Birkenau were suspended?
Witness: Yes, I do remember. They were suspended towards the end of 1944. The kapo of the crematorium hid himself amongst the prisoners, however he was fished out of the crowd by the crematorium commandant, Kraus, and thereafter – as I heard – sent to Mauthausen.
The accused Kraus: Where was this supposed to have happened?
Witness: I remember that this happened at the Gypsy camp; the Lagerälteste [camp elder] did this in the camp courtyard.
The accused Kraus: Did the witness see this?
Witness: Yes, I did.
Presiding Judge: Are there any further questions?
The accused Koch: I would request that the witness be asked when and where he saw me at the gassings?
Witness: But of what?
The accused Koch: The witness has accused me of taking part in gassings.
Witness: I said that the witness took part in the gassing of clothes. But it was widely taken for a fact that those who took part in the gassing of clothes also participated in the real gassings, and worked at the crematoria.
The accused Koch: I am only asking whether the witness saw me in the crematorium during gassings – when and where.
Witness: I did not see the accused at the crematorium.
Presiding Judge: Are there any other questions for the witness?
Prosecutors: No.
Defense counsel: No.
Presiding Judge: The witness may therefore step down.