MARIA NOWAKOWSKA

30 September 1947 in Kraków, a 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 prisoner specified below as a witness. The witness testified as follows:

Name and surname Maria Nowakowska (known in the case)

From around mid-July until the end of August 1942 I worked in the Landwirtschaft kommando [farming work detail] in Budy. This is where I first met Lagerführer [head of the camp] Aumeier, whom I recognized upon confrontation in the Central Prison in Kraków.

Aumeier came in a car on Saturday or Sunday every week to conduct roll calls – in the evenings after work on Saturdays, and around noon on Sundays. During these roll calls, female prisoners received punishments by flogging. The women had to lie down on wooden racks and lift up their dresses to have their bare skin thrashed. As the SS men struck with whips, Aumeier often gave orders to hit harder whenever he noticed some of the SS men not hitting hard enough, since some of them were not keen on carrying out this task. Having received the flogging, prisoners had to go back to their usual tasks. I looked at the beaten prisoners and saw that their bodies were not only bruised but also bleeding, as their skin had been cut. Flogging was comprised of 25 or 50 lashes. Aumeier’s behavior showed that he wanted the punishment to be carried out meticulously. In one instance, a prisoner suffering from sciatica or arthritis was carried outside and subjected to flogging.

At this the report was concluded and signed after reading.