POLISH SOURCE INSTITUTE IN LUND Stockholm, 28 March 1946

Testimony received by Institute Assistant Krystyna Karier transcribed

written directly by the Record of Witness Testimony 285 witness herself

Here stands Ms Gustawa Winkowska, née Skowrońska born on 23 September 1905 in Ostrów Wielkopolski , occupation secretary (X-ray lab technician) religion Roman Catholic , parents’ forenames Hortensia Skowrońska and Władysław Skowroński Kasza [or Kasz] family residence, last place of residence in Poland ulica Nowotarska [lit. ‘Nowotarska Street’], Zakopane current place of residence c/o Ms MacDonald, Karlavägen 60 I., Stockholm

who – having been cautioned as to the importance of truthful testimony as well as to the responsibility for, and consequences of, false testimony – hereby declares as follows: I was interned at the concentration camp in Ravensbrück from 13 September 1941 to 25 March 1945 as a political prisoner bearing the number 7454 and wearing a red -coloured triangle with the letter ‘P’. I was later interned in Aneby and Doverstorp (at camps in Sweden) from 1 May 1945 to 13 September 1945.

Asked whether, with regard to my internment and my labour at the concentration camp, I possess any particular knowledge about how the camp was organized, how prisoners were treated, their living and working conditions, medical and pastoral care, the hygienic conditions in the camp, or any particular events concerning any aspect of camp life, I state as follows: For three years of my time at the camp in Ravensbrück, I worked in the office of the camp infirmary and was therefore able to observe crimes being perpetrated against the sick. Dr Rosenthal and his assistant Gerda Quernheim, a German political prisoner, administered lethal injections to prisoners expected to require lengthy treatment, for instance ones affected by phlegmon. This was also done to free up space in the Revier [infirmary, Ger.] when patient numbers swelled and overstretched capacity. In early 1942, I saw transports of ‘sick’ people who were so designated because of their limited ability to work and who were therefore mainly women over the age of 50. The number of these women killed was 1,000; their clothing came back to the camp two days later, some of it bloodied. The women had been executed in gas chambers. The men responsible for the crime were Dr Sonntag and Dr Rosenthal. I witnessed experimental operations conducted on Polish women by Professor Gebhardt and Dr Fischer accompanied by Dr Oberheuser, the last of whom searched for victims from among prisoners on the 1941 Lublin transport with numbers over 7600. While working in a room BLOM’S PRINTING, LUND 1945

adjacent to the operating theatre, I saw the victims being put under anaesthesia; I heard bones being sawn (during the bone operations); and afterwards I saw the victims being taken from the operating theatre. I heard them groaning in pain, and later I saw their suppurating wounds. I was present when several of these victims died. I watched Dr Rosenthal tussle with a healthy young Ukrainian woman whom he was trying to force to lie down on a trolley so that she could be taken to the operating theatre. The girl, knowing what awaited her, was trying to defend herself and was crying out for help. Dr Rosenthal proved to be the stronger of the two and, assisted by Gerda Quernheim, he put the prisoner under anaesthesia and then amputated her leg – which was perfectly healthy. After this crime was committed, Dr Fisher, Professor Gebhardt’s assistant, drove to Hohenlychen with a large bundle that most likely contained bones from the amputated leg. The operation victim, meanwhile, was locked up by SS nurses; a few hours after the procedure, she received a lethal injection. The German SS nurses barred access to the room where the victim lay, and nurse Maria Kaczmarczyk, who usually attended to patients, was not authorized to see that prisoner. The SS nurses themselves placed her remains in the coffin and made sure that we did not peek inside as we carried it out to the lorry. Using a stolen key, Maria Kaczmarczyk had entered the room and determined that the deceased was missing an entire leg. A similar operation was conducted on another young Ukrainian woman, who had an entire collarbone removed before likewise being given a lethal injection a few hours later. In 1945, over a period running from February to 25 March, Dr Adolf Winkelmann sent 4,500 women to the gas chamber. A report citing this exact figure went to Berlin, and I had the opportunity to read it as I was then secretary to Dr Percy Treite, the number one camp physician. In the final period, roughly one hundred people per day died of starvation, physical exhaustion, or typhus. All of the deceased were diagnosed with general weakness, pneumonia, or gastroenteritis. I was ordered to note down these diagnoses on an index card without the deceased having been examined. The SS nurses would write the dead woman’s prisoner number on her breast, after which dentist Hellbig [sic] would extract any gold dental work from the deceased (crowns or bridges) and the naked body would be tossed onto a pile in the hospital garden. Often, it would then be taken to the autopsy table before being loaded onto an open-bed lorry and driven to the crematorium, which belched smoke night and day. A great pillar of flame would frequently light up the camp, and the stench of burning human flesh and bones would keep us awake at night. Rats often gnawed the dead bodies lying in the camp hospital garden before they were driven to the crematorium. [illegible crossing-out] Sometimes, the bodies would lie day and night exposed in the snow or water. Dr Winkelmann would designate any woman with grey hair or swollen legs for gassing, and he selected tuberculosis patients from Block 10 in particular. Assisting him in making selections was Carmen Mori, a Swiss political prisoner who would nominate people towards whom she was ill-disposed. In fact, she collaborated with the Gestapo; she served them and simultaneously spied on the SS doctors and nurses supervising us. Those of Dr Winkelmann’s victims who were affected by nervous conditions, she would send away wearing nothing but their shirts; they would be loaded onto an open-bed lorry under SS guard and driven directly to the crematorium, next to which was the gas chamber. In the years 1941–43, and thus the period in which Gerda Quernheim was Dr Rosenthal’s assistant, no child born in the camp survived. Gerda Quernheim would asphyxiate them with her own hands before carrying the child’s remains in a small box to the central heating furnace, where she would burn them. Pregnant German women who had been arrested for having ‘intercourse with Poles’ were subjected to abortions, often in as late as the eighth month of pregnancy, and the foetus would likewise be taken away to the so-called ‘Heizung’ [‘heating’ (Ger.)] furnace. Young mothers often ended up paying for their first love with their life; cases of tuberculosis also frequently followed these abortions. In January 1945, a mysterious doctor from Auschwitz performed a mass sterilization on Gypsy children aged 8 and up – without anaesthesia and under an X-ray machine. Judging by the children’s complaints and descriptions of the sterilization method (I questioned them myself), I assume he administered injections directly into the ovaries. The children came out shouting and trailing blood, reproaching their mothers – ‘Mummy, what have you let them do to me?!’– for mothers would give consent to the sterilizations in return for promises of freedom. I have not provided a detailed description of the experimental operations on the so-called ‘rabbits’ [króliki (Pol.), to be understood as ‘guinea pigs’] because fate spared their lives, and they can speak for themselves and make their own accusations. Gustawa Winkowska

Comments from the Insitute Assistant receiving the recollections [note written above crossing-out] testimony [/note]: Witness Gustawa WINKOWSKA, known personally to me throughout my internment at Ravensbrück, submitted the above testimony for use by the Polish Source Institute at my request. She wrote the testimony independently and in her own hand, and then sent it to me by post. The testimony is absolutely trustworthy considering the witness’s unmediated familiarity with the events she describes within the scope of the three years she worked at the Ravensbrück camp infirmary (Revier) – which I hereby affirm – and considering her full awareness of the responsibility she bears because of that work. Via correspondence, I continue to question Ms Gustawa Winkowska with the aim of reconstructing the entire period in all its details known only to her in her capacity as secretary. (–) Krystyna Karier Institute Assistant

Polish Source Institute

in Lund Lund, 7 June 1946

Dear [Ms Winkowska],

While we are very grateful for the report you have sent us regarding your work within the camp Revier, I must ask you to answer or elaborate on the questions below.

The Source Institute is concerned not only with prosecuting crimes, but also with reconstructing the history of the prisons and camps and how prisoners lived within them, both in terms of official life, i.e. that which was circumscribed by camp regulations, and unofficial life which prisoners organized in secret and which encompassed education of the youth, cultural life (reports), mutual aid, cultural exchanges between different nationalities, etc.

Another matter of interest is the attitude held by Germans towards Poles in occupied areas:

1) What conditions did Poles experience in the Zakopane area? What percentage of Poles remained in Zakopane by the time of your arrest? Did deportations take place? If so, in what manner?

2) Did you work as a lab technician at a German institution? What can you tell us about this?

3) Were you arrested as a result of your work, or were you suspected of involvement in a clandestine organization?

Imprisonment

1) What prison were you in and how long were you there before arriving at the camp?

2) Were you subjected to interrogations? What was [illegible crossing-out] the percentage of political prisoners in the prison and how were they treated? Were they executed? Names if possible.

3) Did you work while in prison? If so, doing what? Living conditions in the prison and mutual aid among the prisoners.

4) Conditions on the transport to Ravensbrück – size of the transport in figures.

Internment at the Ravensbrück camp

1) First period of internment at the camp – discipline – work.

2) What was the exact period that you worked at the Revier?

With reference to this stint of work at the Revier, we request details of the following:

1) The layout of the Revier (what sections or departments did it consist of?)

2) A list of personnel (names of SS authorities and prisoners with reference to particular time periods).

3) The attitude towards patients over different periods. Was this attitude the result of orders from above, or did it stem from the personalities of specially selected individuals? What [illegible crossing-out] influence on this attitude did the political situation have?

4) How were files kept on prisoners, Bettkartes [lit. ‘bed cards’, Ger.], Innendiensts [inside duty assignments, Ger.]?

5) Medical review of incoming transports – were all prisoners subject to these examinations? What purpose did they serve?

– 2 –

6) What did the following look like: medical inspections of women departing on transports to factories; transport exclusion criteria; medical inspection for the Puff [brothel, Ger.]?

7) Dates of sick transports – in what manner did you [and other Revier personnel] record their departure from the camp in the files? Do you know anything about where these transports were executed by gas chamber? (1942)

8) Medical care for Jugendlager [Youth Camp, Ger.] proper, i.e. when it still housed German juveniles.

9) Did the men’s camp not have a Revier, meaning that men would sometimes come to the women’s Revier?

10) Was the Revier also responsible for the medical care of SS personnel? Who exercised oversight of this treatment? How did matters stand in terms of Bettkartes and Innendiensts for them?

11) When was the morgue established? On whose orders?

12) On whose orders were the experimental operations conducted? Was it Oberheuser’s initiative?

13) Do you know when the order forbidding the suffocation of newborn babies was issued? Mother and baby block. 14) Revier pharmacy. What did a day of admissions to the Revier look like? Food provided to patients, death rate (in percentages by nationality), funeral. Sick blocks. Mentally ill prisoners. Do you remember any names of people who died in the camp? For what reason were Bettkartes cancelled in the residential blocks? 15) Sick transport in 1944 – compiling a list [of names] (exchanges) as a reflection of the hard realities being faced.

16) Unofficial help from Revier workers. Their living conditions.

17) Ramdohr’s searches of Revier workers.

18) Who conducted the recruitment of nurses? What qualifications were required? Was there an exam? Which nationalities and social elements were favoured during the selection process?

19) Did you find help from doctors or any other SS personnel in the event that you wished to rescue someone from being transported?

20) Activities of Dr Klimek and the Oberschwester [head nurse, Ger.] (whose name I don’t remember) in late 1942, early 1943, who were removed from their posts, reportedly for their humane attitude towards the sick.

21) Dr Treite’s attitude towards the sick, Polish women, and the matter of the ‘rabbits’ (his words: ‘don’t leave them alone’).

22) Behind the scenes in the lives of SS personnel – what was behind the fighting between Dr Treite and the Oberschwester (in the final period)?

In the hope that you will assist us with our work by making available all of the information you have accumulated in your memory over your many years of work in the Revier, we look forward to your generous reply. Kind regards,

Krystyna Karier (Krystyna Karier, Institute Assistant) Are you familiar with the name of Dr Władysław Wikler [sic, Winkler?] (a prisoner)? Did he work in the Ravensbrück Revier?

15 January [illegible]

Dear Kici,

As proof that I wish to follow through on the promise made, I am sending some brief notes – answers to the questions put to me. Something unfortunate has happened. In the process of moving house (three times!) and my trip to Poland, the remaining questions have vanished along with all of the material I had written up. Today, I searched until night-time and they are simply gone! I beg you to provide a new form or new questions, and I will reply to them. This will make my job considerably easier – especially as my mind has been under a lot of strain owing to my visit to Poland and to my difficult work that requires I be ‘clever’ and cautious. If it is at all possible, please send me the form without delay. Giga has been taking care of me and, if it wasn’t for the papers going missing, I would be sending you everything within a few days. Oh, dearest Kici! It’s awful, but you must believe me: I’ve been living like a Gypsy and have so many matters and guests to attend to – not to mention the trip – and, well, the papers went missing despite how careful I had been with them. Five people did my packing and unpacking, hence my inability to find anything.

I promise to send everything a week after receiving the material.

Lots of kisses, Tusia

G.W. Krukmakargatan 50 II c/o Lindeborg

G. Winkowska No. 7454 Ravensbrück

The Germans declared Zakopane a closed city, or Sperrstadt [Ger.], shortly after taking Poland. Poles were only free to come to Zakopane for a month. In March 1941, deportations began. [The Germans] checked how many years people had been living there and, in principle, only those who had been permanent residents since 1928 were allowed to remain in Zakopane. Yet this presented no obstacle to the deportation of distinguished residents such as Dr Czaplicki, engineer Pirgo, and others. Tuberculosis sufferers were also deported (from the Odrodzenie, Akademickie, Red Cross, and Postal Service sanatoriums); these included people with bone tuberculosis. Those who could not walk under their own strength were carried away on stretchers and, if the person was from the regions captured by Russia (Lviv, Przemyśl, etc.), they were reportedly delivered to the Soviet border. The deportations (up until the time of my arrest!) took place as follows: one would be ordered to leave one’s home within three days and permitted to take only as much as one could carry. Engineer Pirgo, for example, who went to the Gestapo to ask why they were deporting him and what he was permitted to take, was arrested, beaten, and transported to the prison in Wiśnicz; meanwhile, his wife (former headmistress of the ‘Szarotka’ gimnazjum [secondary school, Pol.] in Zakopane) and two children had to leave their home immediately with little baggage. Their home was taken over by Gestapo chief

2.

Weissmann for his fiancée, a woman by the name of Koeller [Koellerówna] (a Pole who had become a Volksdeutsche [registered ethnic German] and who took money and jewellery in exchange for promises that prisoners would be released). Until recently, Koeller’s mother was living in Sweden, where she arrived via Ravensbrück. Re qu. 2 The local highland people fell into two camps, with regard to their attitude towards the occupiers. One group of highlanders headed by Wacek Krzeptowski was in the service of the Germans. They were steered by a Mr Szatkowski, who was deputy to the German mayor, Malsfey. Together, they established a gimnazjum for highlander children (or Goralenschule [Ger.], as it was called) where the ‘Szarotka’ private gimnazjum had been in ulica Nowotarska. The headmistress of this gimnazjum was Polish, a former teacher at ‘Szarotka’ who had become a Volksdeutsche. The other group of highlanders behaved impeccably. They gave help to any Pole that needed it; they sold their foodstuffs exclusively to Poles and charged them much lower prices, even though this meant putting themselves at risk of arrest and punishment. This group of highlanders helped guide young people to Slovakia and helped hide those who were wanted by the German authorities. I worked as a lab assistant in an X-ray laboratory run by Dr Hugo Karwowski, who had been a radiologist in Zakopane for fifteen years

3.

and who worked at the national health insurance clinic and all of the sanatoriums. During the occupation, he continued to work at the clinic while seeing patients at his private laboratory, where he X-rayed any Poles in need of help free of charge. He was a major in the Polish Armed Forces and, in his time, had been head doctor of forces in the Murmansk area. During the occupation, he led a clandestine organization that had been established in Zakopane but which was under military authority. During opening hours, members of the organization would meet in the X-ray room, where they would be given instructions, leaflets, or radio news; weapons would be distributed or collected for caching, and so on. At the health insurance clinic, Polish patients were given treatment as normal, except that staffing levels were reduced and only those with a good command of German were kept on. Re qu. 3 I was arrested a week after the murder of Dr Karwowski, who had been betrayed by members of the organization – Grzegorzewicz and Wiśniewski. The Germans sealed Dr Karwowski’s home. Despite this, I entered it the following day in order to send away patients who had made appointments. Meanwhile, a woman who worked with our organization, Pelagia Wojtczak, risked her life to remove a radio which, if found in Dr Karwowski’s home, could mean death. To protect his life, she was ready to lay down her own. She didn’t even give us away when she was arrested and later sent to Germany to do forced labour.

4.

Shortly before this, a woman had been executed for secretly possessing a radio – Dr Popławska, director of the ZUS sanatorium in Zakopane. I, too, fell victim to Grzegorzewicz and Wiśniewski’s statements. When brought before me, they repeated their accusation against Dr Karwowski, me, and a great number of Zakopane citizens, claiming that I had copied the radio broadcasts I listened to in secret and distributed the copies to various points designated by the head of the organization; that I had distributed weapons; that for a long time my home had harboured a radio and typewriter on which I was compiling a list of Volkdeutschers. All for a piece of bread, they even repeated conversations they had overheard and gave the names and addresses of everyone we had ever met. Imprisonment Re qu. 1 Following my arrest, from 26 April 1941 to 1 August 1941, I was held at the Gestapo station located in the Palace Hotel, Zakopane. At 2 a.m. on 2 August 1941, I was summoned from my cell and ordered to get dressed immediately. We were taken to an automobile that already held two prisoners, and along with a second prison van we were driven to Montelupich Prison in Cracow, where I was held until 12 September 1941.

5.

On 13 September 1941, I was transported to Ravensbrück along with sixty-four other Montelupich prisoners. It was the first transport from Cracow to the concentration camp. Re qu. 2 I was subjected to extremely harsh interrogations: forced exercise from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.; squats for which I was stripped naked; drunk, jeering Gestapo men shining spotlights on my naked body and in my eyes; all of this continuing until loss of consciousness and temporary blindness. The entire Gestapo staff was called in to watch my torment while making vulgar allusions and brutish propositions. At 5 a.m. the Gestapo chief, Weissmann, ordered me to get dressed and had me stand in the corner of a room where all new arrestees were made to stand facing the wall. One would have to stand there for several days at a stretch, during which time one would be kicked and beaten so badly that at head height the wall was stained with human blood and sweat. This was because when beating us, they would bash our heads against the wall. But it was also because everyone would prop their heads against the wall in search of some respite from the effort required, day after day, to keep themselves from collapsing. I was made to stand for eleven days and eleven nights. I fainted frequently and then, while stretched out on the floor,

6.

I would rest. But one could not indulge in such ‘floor rest’ for long. One’s legs and thighs would be so swollen, and one’s muscles so sore, that standing up under one’s own strength was an impossible task. We could go to the toilet once a day at most, and a Gestapo man would watch us throughout. Embarrassment prevented us from performing our bodily functions, so only in extreme cases would a prisoner ask to be escorted to the toilet. Requests for ‘sanitary dressings’ of a different kind fell on deaf ears. Prisoners were treated inhumanely. As long as questioning was ongoing – in my case, for eleven days – no food was provided; only some water after making strong requests. In the night-time, we could hear the screams of torture victims who were suspended in the air, beaten, and kicked during interrogations. Accompanying this screaming, deliberately unnerving piano music was played for the ‘entertainment’ of prisoners awaiting their turn to be interrogated. Sometimes, [the Gestapo] would drink and eat fancy meals all night long in the presence of the prisoners standing with their faces to the wall; the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. They would play cards and enjoy themselves, like at a wedding party, in turn mocking each of us who were standing in the corner after many days’ torment.

7.

They were literally trying, in a rather sophisticated manner, to drive us insane. Because one of the men had made ready to escape – and was discovered before he could do so – he and all of his cellmates were beaten so badly that women who heard their screams fainted from fear and trepidation. Afterwards, we saw men washing in the bathhouse, such as Dr Tondos from Zakopane, whose back was black with subcutaneous haematomas. At the Gestapo station in Zakopane, I was kept from leaving my cell and going to work on explicit instructions from Weissmann, who in my presence had stated that I was ‘too dangerous and too sophisticated, and that [I] might establish contact with [my] people’. We were let out to use the toilet twice a day and for such a short time that only a few of us would manage to make use of it. The rest would suffer until the next opportunity, which they would often miss once again, for, if they were of a gentle nature they would yield their turn to others whose need was greater. What’s more, Gestapo men would usually gather by the toilet window at precisely these times and would jeer at women performing their bodily functions after being made to wait so long. In Cracow, I first spent a few days working in the gardening column [labour detail, from Ger. Kolonne]; then another two weeks at a cafeteria, which my interrogator from Zakopane objected to while visiting the prison.

8.

Two days after his visit, I left on a concentration camp transport with the designation ‘to the Strafblock [punishment block, Ger.]’, which, thanks to a downright miraculous coincidence, was initially overlooked. Later, I managed to get the order revoked. Both at the Gestapo station in Zakopane and at Cracow’s Montelupich Prison, the mutual aid among prisoners was heart-warming. Stronger prisoners would share their portion of bread with weaker ones or with those who had already been behind bars for some time. This was an impulse we all felt for our comrades in adversity. It was not prescribed by any ‘organization’, but flowed from the kindness of one suffering heart for another; it came from understanding the plight of fellow prisoners who endured the same torments as we did, but sometimes proved weaker. Re qu. 3 Our transport to Ravensbrück took place in relatively good conditions, thanks to the prison warden during that period who was sometimes given to humane impulses. Bread and margarine were taken for the journey, and Komitet Pomocy Więźniom [lit. ‘Prisoner Aid Committee’, Pol.] gave us a loaf of bread with a pickle or tomato spread, butter, and cured meat or eggs. The NSV [Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, a Nazi social welfare organization] gave our transport some broth in Frankfurt, but this was only thanks to the efforts of the transport leader, who warned us that we were going away for a very long time – at least ‘until the end of the war with Russia’.

Polish Source Institute in Lund Lund, 21 January 1947

Dear Tusia,

Thank you very much for both letters. I understand perfectly what you’ve been through and was deeply moved by your words, ‘in contact with my people and my country, I rediscovered myself and have come back all the happier for it’. I have the impression that that is where we would become ourselves fastest – on our home soil – not as homeless vagabonds in a cold and foreign, though most friendly, environment. Thank you also for your report, which I have been patiently looking forward to, knowing you would keep your promise and that sooner or later I would receive your testimony. Enclosed is a copy of the questions; please complete the information missing in your testimony, such as the percentage of political detainees in the prison and whether or not they were executed. With regard to the name you mentioned in section 1 – Miss Koeller [Koellerówna] – please tell us everything you know about her: a) Did Miss Koeller take advantage of her close relationship with the Gestapo chief in order to help Poles? Or is she accused of collaborating with the Germans? b) Did her entire family collaborate with the Germans? This matter is of great interest to us in light of testimony from Miss Koeller’s mother, who upon her departure from Sweden submitted a statement to the Institute which was received by Assistant Broel- Plater. Mrs Koeller was reportedly travelling to Poland to ‘clear’ Wacek Krzeptowski of charges of collaborating with the Germans; she has some evidence in his defence. Apart from this, I would be immeasurably grateful if you wouldn’t mind elaborating on several additional questions of a psychological nature – of course only those that interest you and that you feel like answering. They are as follows:

1. How a person reacted to the humiliation of his or her nation and person. 2. The attitude towards regulations and prohibitions. Acts of rebellion. Submission. 3. Resignation or struggle: a) Feeling of having been erased from life, apathy. b) Struggle against this (teaching in secret, living in one’s memories, plans for the future). 4. How a person reacted to the sight of beatings and beating victims: a) Did cruelty arouse a desire for revenge, retaliation? b) Did the principle of ‘cruelty breeds cruelty’ apply? 5. Attitude towards death: acceptance, or life at any cost. 6. The struggle to maintain the basic elements of goodness – what did this manifest itself in? 7. What changes did a person’s attitude to God and religious practices undergo? 8. The significance of faith: in divine justice and mercy, in Poland’s victory. 9. Was it physical strength or faith that was the critical factor giving one the strength to survive? 10. Longing for home and loved ones – how was this expressed (through poetry, mementos)? 11. Attitude towards the person: Friendship – its significance Love or hatred for one’s neighbour Attitude towards other nationalities Love – ‘LL [lesbische Liebe (Ger.), lesbianism]’

12. Suffering – changes taking place inside a person (hardening of the heart, tears, struggle against weakness). 13. The issue of revenge. 14. Longing for freedom – desire to escape. 15. Rumours in the camp, fortune-telling, dreams. 16. Panic.

I do hope, Tusia, that you will forgive my ‘aggressiveness’ and greed for information, and that once you’ve found something that catches your interest in these questions you will write back. For it is terribly important to us to uncover all the psychological experiences that accompany us throughout life and that left their mark on now free prisoners / former prisoners of concentration camps.

Warm regards,

Krystyna Karier Krystyna Karier – Institute Assistant

One enclosure: a letter dated 7 June 1946

Rotmistrz [cavalry captain, Pol.] KROPIELNICKI No. 16 British General Hospital JERUSALEM, M.E. 12 September 1946 To: Dr Zygmunt ŁAKOCIŃSKI

In connection with the notice published in Gazeta Polska, I am sending you a few minor pieces of information. I HEREBY DECLARE that 2nd Lt Gągała and 2nd Lt Gojcz were shot dead in Oflag XII-A in Hadamar. Next to the camp (300 metres) was a crematorium located in a former insane asylum where [the Germans] killed Polish labourers and soldiers who could not work for reasons of chronic illness. Desperate screams could often be heard. During my internment in Gross Born (JUNE 1942 – MARCH 1944), 2nd Lt Piotrowski from

Volhynia was shot dead. During my internment in Oflag VII-A in Murnau (March 1944 and onwards), Lt Col Max [note written above text] of the 1st Light Cavalry Regiment [/note] was shot dead, as was a reserve lieutenant (whose name I do not know). I still have my ID, dog tag (HUNDEMARKE [Ger.]), and the confiscation receipt for my ‘SWORD OF HONOUR for Bravery’ . . . ? . . . ! [sic] As for me, as an officer of the 12th Podolian Uhlan Regiment, I was subjected to multiple interrogationsx) in which it was hoped I would state that reserve 2nd Lt Zamoyski (from Klemensów, near Zamość) had brutally murdered five German air force officers. I suspect the Germans required this in order to confiscate the Zamoyski estate for Himmler’s wife, its ‘rightful heiress’. Yours sincerely, Kropielnicki x) I was interrogated for six hours at a time without interruption.

THE ‘BERG’ BUILDING OF OFLAG XII-A IN HADAMAR, NEAR WISBADEN Prisoner population as of January 1940: 400 officers and enlisted men. Prisoner population as of December 1941: approximately 1,000 officers and enlisted men. On 27 May 1942, the camp was liquidated and prisoners were redistributed do GROSS BORN, NEUBRANDENBURG, somewhere near THE DUTCH BORDER, and MURNAU.

IN OFLAG XII-A THE FOLLOWING MEN WERE SHOT DEAD: Infantry 2nd Lt Gojcz Graduated from Regular Infantry Officer Cadet School in the same year Infantry 2nd Lt Gągała

THEY ARE BURIED AT A CEMETERY IN HADAMAR.