On 22 September 1947 in Sieradz, the Municipal Court in Sieradz, Criminal Section, with Judge T. Obertyński (MA) presiding and with the participation of court reporter M. Pawlik, heard the person named below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Józef Paczyński |
| Age | 28 |
| Parents’ names | Stanisława |
| Place of residence | Sieradz, Dominikańska Street 18 |
| Occupation | employee of the state-owned alcohol factory in Sieradz |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
From 13 May 1942 until 28 October1944, I was a prisoner in the concentration camp in Auschwitz, and then I was transported to the Oranienburg camp. While I was in the camp, I worked for about a year as an ordinary worker, and then until the end of my stay in Auschwitz as a carpenter in a carpentry workshop. I met many members of the armed crew of Auschwitz, but I don’t know them by name, because almost everyone had a nickname given to them by the prisoners, but I think I could recognize them on a photograph. From the list read to me, I only knew Hans Aumeier, who was the so-called Lagerführer [camp leader].
At the beginning of 1943 – I don’t remember the exact date – in block 18a, a medical review of the prisoners was ongoing in connection with the planned typhoid vaccination. At the time when I was standing in the queue among the others completely naked, to go to the other room where the doctor was, Aumeier came up and for no reason struck me in the face and kicked me on the back of the body.
At the end of 1942, in the presence of other prisoners, between blocks 6 and 7, the execution of one prisoner, unknown to me by name, took place. Before the prisoner was hanged, Hans Aumeier spoke German to the prisoners gathered there, and the translator translated his words into Polish. Aumeier said that if the prisoners didn’t do solid work, everyone would meet the same fate as the prisoner who was to be hanged, or starve to death.
Many times when the prisoners were returning or going off to work, I saw Aumeier standing at the gate, beating and kicking without any reason. I am not able to give the names of those prisoners, nor the precise time, but it was a daily occurrence. Beyond this, I don’t know any other specific facts about Aumeier’s conduct and activities.
Apart from Aumeier, I personally knew Maks Grabner, who was the head of the Political Department. In May or June 1943, when I was going off with several other prisoners to work next to the track, Grabner stopped us and carried out a detailed search not only of ourselves, but also the material (wood) we were carrying which we needed to do our work. Although he didn’t find anything on me, he punched me in the face and stomach. He also did the same to the other prisoners. Nevertheless, three prisoners, whom he discovered to be hiding some bread among the wood carried by them, he beat up more painfully, and also wrote down their numbers. What happened to them after that, I don’t know. I don’t know the names of all those prisoners.
In July 1943, I don’t remember the exact date, during lunch time I witnessed Grabner carry out a personal search among the prisoners. I saw him strip naked two prisoners of Jewish nationality, and when he found cigarettes in both their overalls, he beat them cruelly with a spade handle.
Among the prisoners, Grabner had the reputation of being “the terror of the camp”, and every prisoner did his utmost to prevent Grabner from noticing him. I don’t have any more information about the matter presented to me.
During my stay in Auschwitz, I also worked as a carpenter in the women’s section of the camp. I knew Aufseherin [overseer] Theresa Brandl by name. I heard her name from some prisoners whose names I don’t remember today. I saw Brandl for no reason beating some women arriving on a new transportation, and [who] were put in the Bekleidungskammer [clothing storeroom].
I don’t have any further information about the case presented to me.
The report was read out and concluded.