Presiding Judge: Next witness, Michalina Jędrusiak.
(Michalina Jędrusiak appears.)
Presiding Judge: Please state your personal details.
Witness: Michalina Jędrusiak, 40 years of age, manual laborer, Roman Catholic, no relationship to the parties.
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?
Prosecutors: No.
Defense: No.
Presiding Judge: The witness will not be sworn in, then. I would like to ask if you came across the defendants and can state something concerning these persons.
Witness: I know Mandl, Brandl, and Szczurek.
Presiding Judge: What were the circumstances under which you came across them?
Witness: I arrived at the camp in October 1942. Toward the beginning of 1943, when I returned from the hospital, I was still sick, so I asked the block elder to let me stay at the camp. Then Mandl organized a roll call and selected me for the death block. My fellow prisoners who worked there took me from block 25. Later, I was designated for the kommando working at Budy. Since where we lived there was no water, and we would pass a moat on our way, myself and some fellow prisoners dashed toward the moat to collect some water. Then, we heard the purr of a motorcycle and gunshots. It was defendant Szczurek who had fired. He started to shout at the guards for letting us collect water and fan out near the forest, which could have enabled an escape. The guards unleashed dogs on us and several women were torn to pieces, the death toll being eight.
From May 1943 until approximately June 1944, I worked under Brandl at the Bekleidungskammer [clothing storeroom]. Brandl tortured us. We were not allowed to be in possession of a single bite of bread exceeding the quota we were issued at the camp. We were not allowed to drink water. If she caught anyone in the act, she could beat female prisoners to the point that they bled profusely. I saw when Brandl, passing by the “Sauna”, spotted a woman jumping from the washroom’s window. Brandl shot at her and the woman died. She shot at her because the woman had sought to avoid a selection by jumping through the window. I saw Brandl slapping a female prisoner who was crossing a street so hard that blood was gushing from her mouth.
Once, I “rustled up” a sweater. Brandl noticed that, ordered me to take it off, beat me, and ordered me to kneel behind the block for three hours with bricks in hands.
I saw Mandl carrying out selections after transports came in and she sent the people selected to the crematorium. Not a single selection took place at the camp in which Mandl did not participate. I saw for myself as she selected girls for the brothel, between blocks 18 and 20, under duress. She picked only young ones, 20 years of age tops. One of these girls went onto the wire and took her own life. She was 18. She said she would rather take her own life than go to a brothel. There are other witnesses to that.
Presiding Judge: Are there any questions for the witness?
Prosecutor Szewczyk: I would like to ask the witness if defendant Mandl took an active part in these selections.
Witness: Yes, she took an active part.
Prosecutor Szewczyk: Did defendant Brandl also participate in these selections?
Witness: I saw her in 1944, when I was to leave on a transport. I saw her taking prisoners, mostly Jewesses, to the “Sauna”, pushing them into a van that was parked in front of the “Sauna”.
Prosecutor Szewczyk: Aside from Brandl, was there someone else present?
Witness: Some German women aided in the process, and there was also Taube, because he also carried out selections.
Prosecutor Brandys: Did you find yourself in any situations involving defendant Szczurek, aside from the one you have already discussed?
Witness: After that, Szczurek would come on his motorbike, and we dreaded him. Women built a bonfire of sorts behind the block. Once, Szczurek came, spotted this, fired a shot and wounded one woman. I heard she died a few days later.
Prosecutor Brandys: Did the witness see her?
Witness: That is correct.
Prosecutor Brandys: Did Szczurek fire shots during the first occurrence you mentioned? I mean when you and other prisoners wanted to drink some water.
Witness: That is correct, he was the first one to fire.
Prosecutor Brandys: You discussed an incident where eight women went down on the spot.
Witness: Correct. Those who did not go down on the spot were finished off by the guards on the way back to the camp.
Prosecutor Brandys: Did you see Szczurek involved in other operations?
Witness: Sometimes, when he followed kommandos to the crematorium.
Prosecutor Brandys: What do you mean by the expression “he followed kommandos ”? Did he escort them?
Witness: He went to the crematorium together with a transport.
Defense attorney Walas: Did you see Brandl fire any shots?
Witness: Correct, I saw it myself.
Defense attorney Rymar: Was the woman wounded by Szczurek among these eight women?
Witness: That is correct.
Defense attorney Rymar: Did she die instantly?
Witness: That is correct.
Defense attorney Rymar: Did she die from the gunshot wound?
Witness: Yes, because we could not stem the bleeding.
Defense attorney Rymar: What weapon did the defendant fire?
Witness: A revolver.
Defense attorney Rymar: Where did he hit her?
Witness: On a leg.
Defense attorney Walas: What weapon did Brandl fire?
Witness: She always carried a small revolver.
Defense attorney Walas: What part of the body did she hit?
Witness: I do not know that. I saw her lying, wounded and covered in blood.
Defense attorney Walas: Did you know this woman?
Witness: No, it was a woman picked in a selection.
Presiding Judge: Are there any other questions?
Defendant Szczurek: I would like to ask the witness to describe the service I was with.
Witness: I do not know that.
Defendant Szczurek: I want to state that I never had a motorbike at Auschwitz.
Defendant Mandl: I want to make a statement concerning block 25 at the women’s camp. This block already existed in October 1942. Sick women, who were unfit for work, were sent to block 25, which was subordinated to the doctor. It was the doctor who decided what would happen to these women.
Defendant Brandl: I would like to ask the witness which kommando she was with at the camp.
Witness: I worked at the Bekleidungskammer.
Defendant Brandl: Did you see me at the Bekleidungskammer with a revolver?
Witness: That is correct.
Defendant Brandl: I want to state that I never had a revolver when at the camp. Also, I never forbade female prisoners from eating or drinking.
Presiding Judge: Are there any more questions?
Prosecution: No.
Defense: No.
Presiding Judge: Then the witness is dismissed. I am ordering a recess until 9.00 a.m. tomorrow.
(The session was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.)