On 29 May 1946 in Gdańsk, the Municipal Court in Gdańsk, Criminal Department, with Judge M. Staniszewski presiding and with the participation of reporter J. Krawczyk, interviewed the person specified below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:
Name and surname | Zygmunt Smużewski |
Date of birth | 17 April 1919 |
Parents’ names | Tomasz and Marcjanna |
Place of residence | Sopot, Wybickiego Street 42b (3rd floor) |
Occupation | inspector of the housing commission |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Criminal record | none |
Relationship to the parties | none |
Grabner was the head of the Political Department at the camp in Auschwitz. He conducted interrogations of prisoners. He was also the one who made decisions about having prisoners executed. I learned from my colleagues that prisoners were tortured during interrogations.
Schwarz was the camp commandant at Birkenau. The first prisoners placed in Birkenau were Russians, then there were Jews and all weak prisoners of different nationalities. Completely exhausted prisoners were killed there.
Rudolf Höß was the camp commandant at Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Rapportführer [report leader] Palitzsch was a German man from the Sudetes. He conducted executions by firing squad.
Seidler was the assistant of the camp commandant. He was the cruelest sadist in the camp. In February 1941 or 1942, I saw a group of prisoners being led to an execution. One of them collapsed, and Seidler shot him with his revolver in the gateway. I learned from the colleagues who worked in the administrative office that Seidler was from Łódź.
Rosenthal was a Pole from Toruń. He spoke with us in Polish. He was head of the agricultural department. He abused people during work. I worked at a stable and was beaten senseless by Różański [Rosenthal].
Michał Mokrus was a Pole from Silesia, who worked as a stable master and abused people.
Hössler’s task was killing people in the gas chamber. About 10,000 people were murdered there daily.
Aumeier held the position of Lagerführer [camp leader]. He also gassed people.
There was a certain amount of people assigned to work at Auschwitz. They were chosen as the strongest and healthiest during selections conducted by Aumeier and Grabner. Upon the arrival of a new transport, children and the weak were taken directly to the gas chamber, while strong prisoners were taken to work. I saw Aumeier, Grabner, and Palitzsch holding sticks and walking around the despairing crowd.
That is all. I read and signed the report.