MIECZYSŁAW KOTLARSKI

Presiding Judge: Next witness, Mieczysław Kotlarski.

Presiding Judge: I am advising the witness in accordance with art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the obligation to tell the truth. Making false declarations is punishable by conviction with a maximum penalty of 5-year imprisonment. Do the parties wish to file motions as regards the procedure of interviewing the witness?

Prosecution: We are exempting the witness from taking the oath.

Defense: As are we.

Witness: Mieczysław Kotlarski, 34 years of age, teacher, Roman Catholic, no relationship to the parties.

Presiding Judge: When did you end up at the camp?

Witness: On 18 December 1940.

Presiding Judge: How long did you remain there?

Witness: Until 28 October 1944.

Presiding Judge: Which kommandos did you work with?

Witness: I worked at “Buna”, and from 1942 at the food storage.

Presiding Judge: Do you recognize any of the defendants, and if so, which of them?

Witness: Aumeier, Grabner, Josten, Schumacher, Medefind, and Szczurek.

Presiding Judge: Please provide the details concerning said persons, their activities and their conduct at the camp.

Witness: Between 1942 and 1943, Aumeier was a Blockführer [block leader]. During this period, defendant Grabner was head of the political department. Between 1942 and 1943, executions at block 11 took place two or three times a week. On 13 March 1942, 12 June, 18 September, 28 October, and in 1943: on 14 January, 8 February, and the last one at the camp was on 25 June 1943.

My comrades were executed and their families were served notices, which said that they had passed away. As such, comrade Czaja supposedly died of appendicitis, and as regards the two Mierzejewski brothers, one supposedly died of pneumonia and the other of heart muscle inflammation.

In 1943, the wife of a comrade of mine was served a notice and her letter was returned to her with the following note: “husband left the camp, new address forthcoming”.

Aside from executions at block 11, years 1942 and 1943 saw the killing of prisoners via injection. I lived at block 25, which was located opposite block 20, from which every evening, after the roll call, the bodies of all those who had been shot were loaded onto carts. Sometimes there were four carts, filled to the brim, so that the bodies fell off.

Later, there were selections of the sick, and not only of the sick, but also those who had now recovered.

I know prisoner Kowalski, who had been in quarantine for three weeks, and even though he felt well and was healthy, he was loaded onto a van, which took him to Birkenau.

The public punishment of whipping was also frequent.

Presiding Judge: All this happened on Aumeier’s orders?

Witness: Yes, it was on Aumeier’s orders. And so, on 9 July 1942, two prisoners were hanged following an attempted escape, on 13 July 1942 another two people were also hanged and in July 1943, 12 prisoners were hanged for attempted escape.

Presiding Judge: Did you see these executions? Did defendant Aumeier participate in them?

Witness: Yes, I saw Aumeier kicking the stools (initially, others did that) so they toppled and the convicts then hung from the gallows.

I saw defendant Aumeier in August 1943 with a transport which came from Będzin. At that time, I worked with a kommando which went to collect the food brought on Jewish transports, since Jews were always told to bring food supplies sufficient for two weeks.

Polish transports never brought food. At night, we went to the ramp and hardly had we unloaded the food, that we were told to move aside and lie face down, because a transport from Będzin was coming in. Before the train arrived, be heard gunshots fired by SS men. When the train arrived, we saw them standing on buffer stops and on steps, shooting at closed wagons. I also saw defendant Aumeier fire a volley from an automatic at a closed wagon. The wagons were packed full of people. When the wagon’s door was opened, everybody was unloaded. Some women were wounded in their heads and legs and I saw it very well. After unloading the transports, stacks of dead bodies were piled up on the ramp, and the rest was sent to the gas chambers. Those who were to go to the camp were grouped in rows of five and all the others were loaded onto vans. Since the road was bumpy, people would fall off the vans, which had the SS men in stitches. I also remember defendant Aumeier from 1942, when women were passing through the camp, some without shoes. Aumeier came up to them and proceeded to kick them. Once, before a roll call, I also saw 17-year-old boys taking bread from a garbage container. Defendant Aumeier pounced on them with a revolver, but he did not shoot and instead chased and kicked them. We later laughed that for an officer and Lagerführer [camp leader], there was no gravitas about him whatsoever.

Presiding Judge: Where did you have an opportunity to witness all this?

Witness: As regards the incident involving the women, that was by the Schreibstube [administrative office] windows and I was working at the storage. The other incident, involving these boys, happened at block 25, shortly before roll call, and I lived next to that block. This is all I wanted to say about defendant Aumeier.

Presiding Judge: And what about defendant Grabner?

Witness: Defendant Grabner set up the denunciation network at Auschwitz. There were numerous informants at the camp, including Ołpiński, Molony, Dorosiewicz, and many others. Each of them also had their helpers. Following their reports, which were often wrong, prisoners were summoned to block 15 for interrogation, and then detained at the bunker and often sentenced to death. In February 1942, defendant Grabner sentenced my comrade from Bielsko to death by starvation. He lived for 27 days before he died of hunger.

Presiding Judge: What about defendant Josten?

Witness: In 1941, I worked at rollwagen [rolling cart] 4. We carted in the bodies of people executed behind the kitchen, at the pits from which gravel had been dug. One of them was executed near the camp, and he was shot by Fritsche. We loaded that man and those from the pit onto the cart. The execution was also attended by defendant Josten.

Presiding Judge: You also named defendants Medefind, Schumacher, Plagge, and Szczurek. Tell us something about them, please.

Witness: I had contacts with defendant Schumacher every day because I worked at the food storage, and he was one of the persons in charge there. I saw him beat people during the issuing of bread and rush and beat prisoners on their way to work, and he beat us in the same way. Once, we were reading a newspaper and the defendant spotted it. He addressed us, saying, “Don’t be so joyous about our defeat because you’re going to the crematorium, anyway”. As regards Szczurek, he was a Blockführer [block leader] in 1941. I saw him come to block 21a. Later, I saw him fulfilling his duty with the Sonderkommando [special kommando]. When a transport came in, Szczurek and Kaduk always went to process them. A transport once came from Holland, probably from a mental institution. Kaduk hit one of the newcomers, and the latter, thinking he had been hit by his comrade, fell on him and started to beat him. In such ways the defendants played with these people. I also saw defendant Szczurek at Buchenwald in 1945, when he served at the gate, especially during air-raid alerts.

Presiding Judge: Can you say anything about the other defendants?

Witness: I do not recall anything in particular.

Presiding Judge: As regards defendant Liebehenschel, how long was he at the camp?

Witness: From November 1943 until May 1944.

Presiding Judge: Are there any questions for the witness?

Prosecutor Pęchalski: You said that you were quite often with prisoners who would be gassed. Were Müller and Gehring present when these transports were being unloaded?

Witness: That is correct.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: And what about Grabner?

Witness: I did not see him personally.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: What period are you referring to?

Witness: 1942 and 1943, as that is when the frequency of transports intensified.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: Can you tell us anything about Müller and Gehring?

Witness: I used to see Gehring at block 11, or when he walked to the block with a rifle. We knew that he was going to execute people then.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: When did you arrive at the camp?

Witness: On 18 December 1940.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: Did you undergo the quarantine with penalty exercises?

Witness: No, because this quarantine was earlier.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: So you avoided these exercises?

Witness: That is correct.

Prosecutor Pęchalski: Thank you.

Prosecutor Brandys: During the investigation, you mentioned defendant Ludwig. Can you tell us something about him?

Witness: Ludwig was Blockführer at my block, that is block 25, in 1944. He came there often and carried out inspections.

Prosecutor Brandys: Did you see him beat anyone?

Witness: I did not.

Prosecutor Brandys: As regards defendant Schumacher, do you know if he personally beat people and filed penal reports witch Schebeck?

Witness: Yes, he filed reports.

Prosecutor Brandys: What did Schebeck do after receiving such reports?

Witness: He tortured the prisoners.

Defense attorney Kossek: You specified the period during which Liebehenschel was at the camp. Could you tell us about the conditions at the camp at that time?

Witness: Under Liebehenschel, the conditions at the camp were much improved. The punishment of flogging was handed out as previously, the difference being that Liebehenschel was typically present when they happened, he dealt with the reports himself and decided on the sentence for each prisoner. I remember when he once came to the store house and he did not like the fact that there were too many people who had no work to do.

Defense attorney Kossek: What about executions by shooting and gassing under Liebehenschel?

Witness: I do not remember any executions or gassings at that time.

Defense attorney Kossek: Can you tell us what reputation Liebehenschel had among SS men and what they said about him?

Witness: the SS men had a mainly disapproving attitude towards Liebehenschel. When Liebehenschel was in the store house, the boss Schebeck asked me “Is that clown still here?”

Defense attorney Kossek: Did this negativity result from the change of stance toward the prisoners under Liebehenschel, or from the fact that he punished the SS men who beat prisoners?

Witness: I heard nothing about his punishing them, but he said that if any of them beat prisoners, they would be sent to the front.

Defense attorney Kossek: Did prisoners come to Liebehenschel to complain?

Witness: I did not see that.

Defense attorney Kossek: What can you tell us about the kapos with green triangles? Were they replaced?

Witness: When Liebehenschel came they were replaced with political prisoners. Mostly, they were Austrian communists. An Austrian communist also became the Lagerältest [camp elder] then.

Defense attorney Kossek: Do you know that Liebehenschel barred members of the political department from accessing the camp grounds?

Witness: They could only enter the camp escorted by Blockführers.

Defense attorney Kossek: Do you know Dubiel? What did you hear about him in connection with the killing of an SS man?

Witness: This was the case of Dorosiewicz, who was an informant.

Defense attorney Kossek: What did SS men say about this murder? What, in their opinion, led to this murder? Was it because of too lenient a stance toward the prisoners?

Witness: That is correct.

Defense attorney Rappaport: Do you know defendant Dinges, and if so, what can you tell us about him?

Witness: Nothing in particular. I often saw him in a van.

Defense attorney Rappaport: Do you know anything about his favorable treatment of prisoners?

Witness: No, I did not have contacts with him.

Defense attorney Minasowicz: You spoke about a volley fired by Aumeier at the closed wagons on the ramp. Could you specify when this happened?

Witness: In August 1943, at night.

Defense attorney Minasowicz: How did you witness it?

Witness: I was present during the unloading of food, and it happened nearby. We lay on the ground, faces down, but everybody could raise his head. They were not paying attention to us, anyway.

Defense attorney Minasowicz: Did the unloading happen under light?

Witness: There were lamps fixed to the posts, and they gave off light.

Defense attorney Minasowicz: Where did the light fall?

Witness: Along the tracks.

Defense attorney Minasowicz: How far out from you was Aumeier?

Witness: 20-30 meters, tops.

Defense attorney: Despite the darkness, can you confirm beyond all doubt that the person firing the automatic was Aumeier?

Witness: Any Auschwitz prisoner would have recognized his silhouette, even at night.

Defense attorney: So you did not see his face, just his silhouette?

Witness: I saw it. Anyway, he was shouting out loud so I even recognized his voice.

Defense attorney: What was the purpose of this shooting?

Witness: I do not know.

Defense attorney: Were these people designated for gassing?

Witness: Yes. All of them went to the gas chambers. Women and children.

Defense attorney: Was the site under heavy SS guard?

Witness: Yes, it was specifically reinforced because the transport came from Będzin, and there had been some incidents in Będzin and everyone expected retaliation, so even the commandant and all SS officers were present.

Defense attorney: You are saying you saw injured people then?

Witness: Yes, I did. There were also casualties.

Defense attorney: Were there people wounded in their legs as well?

Witness: I saw a woman whose dress bore a bullet mark and blood traces. The bullet mark was above the knees.

Defense attorney: Were SS men posted on both sides of the train?

Witness: That is correct.

Defense attorney: Was there a risk that, firing an automatic, he could wound an SS man?

Witness: No, because the ramp was elevated and the guards were lower.

Presiding Judge: Defendant Szczurek.

Defendant: Your Honor, I am asking for permission to ask the witness when he saw me with the Sonderkommando.

Witness: It was April 1943, a Sunday, I cannot provide the exact date.

Defendant: Let me say that rollwagen 4, which the witness operated, was never at the Bauhof.

Witness: Rollwagen 1 was used during this transport and it went there all the time, and it was a Sunday, before noon, at the ramp, not at the Bauhof, since transports only started to arrive there later. Then, branch lines of the Oświęcim – Bielsko railroad line were connected to this ramp, and only later was this line extended to Birkenau.

Presiding Judge: Other than that, are there any more questions from the defendants? (None of the defendants have questions).

Prosecutor Pęchalski: You said you knew prisoner Dubiel. Is that the prisoner who was a gardener for commandant Höß?

Witness: That is correct.

Prosecutor: Do you know that Grabner designated this prisoner to be executed?

Witness: Yes.

Prosecutor: Why did he escape death?

Witness: Because the wife of commandant Höß put in a word in for him.

Prosecutor: Did commandant Höß intervene concerning this case?

Witness: He did. He came to the main office and he took him from there.

Prosecutor: So Dubiel’s pardoning from death was issued not by Höß in his capacity as camp commandant but by Grabner?

Witness: That is correct.

Prosecutor: Thank you.

Defendant Grabner: You stated that I had informants, Ołpiński and Dorosiewicz, and that I kept in touch with them. I would like to ask the witness if he saw me in the company of these informants.

Witness: I cannot say that I saw it. But Grabner was head of the political department and as such – as any head – was responsible for his department.

Defendant: Then you said that I ordered the installation of a mailbox.

Witness: I did not say that defendant Grabner ordered its installation but that a mailbox was installed in front of block 15. This is how I put it.

Defendant: Finally, the last question. You incriminate me as regards my alleged issuing of an order to arrest a prisoner, who supposedly died after 27 days. I would like to ask the witness how he can be sure that the political department, or I personally, issued the order to arrest this prisoner?

Witness: At the same time, Hubert Sokolik, a comrade of mine, who presently is the senior district official in Rybnik, was doing time at the bunker. He had been locked up in the bunker for 70 days and he then spoke to this prisoner. He later told me that Grabner addressed this Pajączek, who died of starvation in block 11, saying, “Nothing will save you, you have to die anyway”.

Presiding Judge: Are there any further questions? The witness is excused.