On 3 January 1947 in Słupsk, the Magistrates’ Court in Słupsk, Criminal Division, with Associate Judge Jan Ikonowicz presiding, heard the person mentioned below as a witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the provisions of Art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:
| Name and surname | Danuta Nowak née Figel |
| Date of birth | 21 January 1921 |
| Parents’ names | Stanisław Figel and Kazimiera née Wołoszyńska |
| Place of residence | Wielka Wieś, commune of Dębno, district of Słupsk |
| Occupation | wife of a farmer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Criminal record | none |
| Relationship to the parties | none |
| In July 1942, I | was sent from the prison in Piotrków Trybunalski to the concentration camp |
| in Auschwitz, where I | remained incarcerated until the evacuation of the camp on 17 January |
| 1945. Initially I | worked harvesting, peeling potatoes, and in the clothing warehouse – the |
Entwesungskammer [disinfection facility] – then, I do not remember exactly when, I started working in the Schreibstube [camp administrative office] of the women’s camp in Birkenau, next to Brzezinka. I kept the files, in particular I wrote out cards for the new arrivals. Such a large number of people arrived in the camp that we were forced to work at nights, despite the fact that enormous numbers of Jewish women, especially Hungarian, were transferred directly to the gas chambers without any files being made. The gas chambers and crematoria could not handle that number of people, so some of them were burnt in pits, from which we heard screams.
In addition, I was employed along with some others in drawing up lists of those who, due to their state of health, were unfit for work and were transferred to the gas chamber. We wrote such lists periodically, every month or two. They contained between 80–200 people and more, mostly Jewish women. All these people were placed in block 25 FKL [Frauenkonzetrationslager – women’s concentration camp]. I remember exactly that the “SB” [Sonderbehandlung – special treatment] abbreviation was used. Whether or not the “GU” abbreviation was used and what it designated, I do not remember. The abbreviation “SB,” meaning “special treatment,” concerned people destined for the gas chamber. It was initially written in red ink, and later in black too. It was marked in the files and the so-called main ledger, which we then rewrote, leaving out the abbreviation “SB.” In 1944, these ledgers were removed from the Schreibstube, but I do not know where they were taken. From block 25 FKL [women] were carted off by trucks, often stripped naked, to the gas chamber.
In general, there was a disproportionately small number of people from block 25 FKL who were destined for gassing, because – as mentioned above – all the transports went to the gas chambers immediately upon arrival. I find it difficult to determine their number, but it was something around hundreds of thousands during my stay there.
I know that Rudolf Höss was the commandant of the camp, but I do not know at what time. I did not meet him personally and I cannot remember his appearance. From the people shown in the photographs, I most accurately remember Włodzimierz [Wladimir] Bilan, who was called “Papushko” or “Apushko.” I know that he brought in almost every transport to the camp, but whether he was there at the selection, I do not know, just like I do not really know whether he had any influence on the selection, whom to transfer to the camp and whom to gas. Of the other people from the photographs, the remaining nine, I know all of them. I saw all of them in the camp. However, I do not know what functions they held.
One individual with a prominent chin, who initially had a Slavic surname, which he changed to a German one, worked with Bilan, and was the head of the so-called Politische Abteilung [political department], later known as the Aufnahme [admissions office], in the FKL. I cannot recall his name, although I remembered it not long ago. This individual was involved in the selections and his behavior was characterized by particular cruelty. He would kick and beat people at the drop of a hat. His photograph has not been included.
Further, a photography has not been included of the main commandant of the [women’s] camp, Maria Mandl, who was also distinguished by her terrible cruelty. I saw Maria Mandl kick a prisoner’s leg until she fell over, and then carry on kicking her as she lay. Among the camp officials who behaved with incredible cruelty I can mention Perschel – a Silesian from Siemianowice, and Effinger. They especially liked to subject the female prisoners to so-called “sport” – frog jumps, falling in the mud, crawling through a sewage pipe, and similar physical efforts that the weakened inmates could barely manage to perform.
The report was read out.