On 28 August 1947 in Oświęcim, member of the Kraków District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Municipal Judge Dr. Henryk Gawacki, acting upon written request of the first prosecutor of the Supreme National Tribunal, this dated 25 April 1947 (file no. NTN 719/47), and in accordance with the provisions of and procedure provided for under the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293), in connection with Articles 254, 107, 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed the former Auschwitz concentration camp specified below as a witness, who testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Wacław Pierzak |
| Age | 56 |
| Citizenship and nationality | Polish |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Occupation | carpenter |
| Place of residence | The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum |
Transported from the Montelupich prison in Kraków, I was incarcerated in the Auschwitz camp on 20 June 1940 and given prisoner identification number 827. I remained in the camp until 27 September 1944 and was then transferred to the camp in Ravensbrück. During my stay at Auschwitz, I was in the parent camp the entire time.
When I got to the camp and went through a day of quarantine, I was assigned to carry out earthwork, which I did for three months. I was then assigned to a carpenter’s shop, where I stayed until the end of my detention at Auschwitz. Since I was a political prisoner facing grave charges, I was assigned to hard labor, such as carrying bricks and lime while the blocks were being built – both in the parent camp and later in the so-called Schutzhaftlagererweiterung [camp extension]. Whenever there was such a need, I also worked in the carpenter’s shop mending or renovating furniture in houses occupied by Fritzsch, Meier, Höß, Aumeier and Palitzsch. In the second half of 1943, I also worked at the DAW [Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke], where I made cabinets for the SS men.
As I mentioned, I renovated furniture for Lagerführer [head of the camp] Aumeier among others. This was in the Holy Week of 1943. Four other Polish prisoners were assigned to help me. One of them was Wacław Weszke, residing in Trzebionka. I do not know the names of the other three. As I was busy examining the desk that I was supposed to renovate at Aumeier’s apartment, I did not notice that in the same room my companions were looking at maps laid out on a table with the globe on top. This is when Aumeier’s wife walked into the room, saw this, and walked out. After a while, Aumeier came in and, without saying anything, grabbed me by the collar of the jacket which was buttoned up to the neck, choking me. He kept smashing me with the other hand or fist in the face with all his might, which knocked me out and caused a nosebleed. Then his wife walked in, shouted and summoned him to the next room. Then, Aumeier came back and ordered me to go to a different room, from which I could hear the sound of the beating and screams of my companions who, as I figured, were being thrashed in turns by Aumeier. He would get angry or even furious very easily, and then he would beat prisoners with his hand, a stick, or whatever was within reach. I frequently saw Aumeier during roll call, holding a stick and pointing with it to various prisoners, whose numbers were then written down by Blockführers and the prisoners were marched to block 11. Since I never saw these prisoners in the camp again, I gather that they had been killed there on the orders of Aumeier himself.
From the list of the former members of the armed crew of the SS at Auschwitz, I also know Kurt Müller, Unterscharführer, whom I recognize today on the photograph which I was presented. When I was renovating furniture at Aumeier’s apartment, other prisoners worked there at the same time, painting the walls and installing the electric lighting. These prisoners were supervised by Kurt Müller, who constantly walked around the apartment. I heard as he threatened to report them to Aumeier. When a prisoner spilt some paint on the floor, Kurt deemed this enough to accuse him of sabotage. During the evening roll call I heard that Aumeier punished this prisoner with 25 lashes.
In the winter of 1942, I worked in the attic of block 28, where I had a carpenter’s workshop. The hospital for prisoners was located in the same block. Around noon, when I was walking out of the block, I noticed a long line of boys aged 6–12, who were waiting. These boys had no overcoats, they were naked, wearing nothing but small shoes. They were standing on the pavement around the block building, on the stairs leading to the block, in the corridor on the first floor, and on the stairs to the basement. As it turned out later, 70 of these boys were killed in that basement one by one with injections. As I walked out of this block and was on my way to block 10 carrying tools, I saw Grabner enter block 28.
The report was read out. At this the interview and the report were concluded.