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Record of Witness Testimony 282 POLISH SOURCE INSTITUTE IN LUND Trelleborg, 25 April 1946 Testimony received by Institute Assistant Krystyna Karier transcribed Record of Witness Testimony 282 Here stands Mr Tadeusz Zajączkowski born on 7 August 1922 in Warsaw , occupation locksmith religion Roman Catholic , parents’ forenames Stanisław, Eleonora last place of residence in Poland Warsaw current place of residence Starogard 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 [note] prison [/note] in Warsaw known as ‘Pawiak’ from 12 January 1941 to the end of [note] 28 [/note] January 1941 as a political prisoner bearing the number – and wearing a – -coloured triangle with the letter – 1) I was later interned in the Auschwitz concentration camp from 28 January 1941 to 28 April 1941 – No. 9885, red-coloured triangle with the letter 2) Neuengamme concentration camp (near Hamburg) – from 28 April 1941 to 4 May 1944 – No. 4838, red- coloured triangle; 3) Porta Westfalica labour camp (branch of Neuengamme concentration camp) – from 4 May 1944 to 24 December 1944; 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: 4) Beendorf concentration camp (branch of Neuengamme) – from 24 December 1944 to 15 January 1945; and 5) the so-called ‘Sammellager’ [lit. ‘assembly camp’, Ger.] at Ludwigslust – from 15 January 1945 to 2 May 1945. T. Zajączkowski The eyewitness testimony of Mr Tadeusz Zajączkowski consists of nine pages of handwriting and describes the following: 1. Arrival at the prison, interrogations, life in prison, callisthenics drills, help and information provided by a Polish prisoner, a ‘hard’ transport of 1,200 prisoners to Auschwitz. 2. [note written above text] Auschwitz [/note] ‘Unloading’ of prisoners from the train, first impressions in the camp, bathing, block assignments, relations with prisoner functionaries, quarantine. Working at speed – beatings, [note written above text] broken [/note] promises of additional food. Night-long standing punishment performed by all prisoners in a squatting position – penal company. Decline in strength as a result of insufficient food; moral suffering. Life in the camp. BLOM’S PRINTING, LUND 1945 Strict enforcement of cleanliness with a concurrent lack of fresh underwear. Vermin – delousings that broke up the monotony of camp life. Transport to Neuengamme. 3. Neuengamme. Population of the camp. Work building the camp. German functionaries’ treatment of the Poles and Czechs. Working outside of working the officially set hours. Escape attempt – shooting. Help from a Polish prisoner doctor. Relations with German prisoners. Execution of the witness’s brother. Living in anticipation of death. Transport to Porta Westfalica. 4. Porta Westfalica. Work unloading earth. Constructing tunnels. Lack of discipline – rule of the stronger. Evacuation of the camp to Beendorf. 5. Beendorf. Population of the men’s and women’s camps. Running of the women’s camp. Camp diet. Unplanned evacuation lasting a week [note written above text], death rate [/note]. 6. Ludwigslust. Starvation – death rate. Kapo prisoners taking over from the guards. Prisoners breaking through the wire fence at the sight of an American tank. [stamp] POLISH SOURCE INSTITUTE IN LUND [/stamp] [stamp] Sheet I POLISH SOURCE INSTITUTE IN LUND [/stamp] Eyewitness testimony of Mr Tadeusz Zajączkowski, born on 7 August 1922 in Warsaw When we pulled up in front of the prison building, they kicked and beat us out of the vehicle, steering us towards the entrance. Awaiting us there stood German soldiers in an intimidating pose meant to demonstrate their readiness to hit us in an instant. Disoriented, we gathered in the corridor, not having the slightest idea what was going on or what they wanted from us. Then we were assigned to various cells. This too was disagreeable – they beat and kick us as though they enjoyed doing so. Then they made their hatred felt in the cells. The harsh discipline and harassment brought us first to despair, and later to apathy. Then came a period of unpleasant interrogations; we went to these hopelessly wondering whether we would return. Some men came back, but there were also quite a few who didn’t. My interrogation was terrible. A German in the rank of Untersturmführer along with two Polish traitors in his service received me like the vainglorious torturers they were; they looked at me in gleeful anticipation of the torments they would be able to inflict on me. At first they beat and questioned me erratically, but in the end they realized they would learn nothing that way. They began employing underhand tactics, trying to trip me up on every word I said, presenting factual evidence, promises – until, finally, their patience ran out. They resumed the beating and threatened me with execution or internment in a concentration camp. Having got nothing out of me, three hours later they tossed me out the door. After the interrogation, I felt an even stronger hatred for them. My resolve hardened: I would tell them nothing and one day have my revenge. They left me alone after that. Prison life. In the morning, we would be woken by hard pounding on the door. This meant we had to get up and tidy the cell. We were physically weak because they gave us absolutely nothing to eat until lunch, which was merely half a litre of watery soup. The cell was designed for no more than six people, yet they packed forty of us inside. We slept on crude stuffed mattresses laid out on the floor, covered by a single blanket. A huge amount of dust would be stirred up in the morning while we tidied. Once we had finished, we would be literally thrown outside for calisthenics drills, from which we returned cut up and battered. We would perform ‘żabki’ [lit. ‘frogs (dim.)’, Pol.], which consisted in jumping up from a squatting position with our hands touching the ground; next were long, drawn-out runs that left us exhausted. As the last of our strength ebbed away, they would force us to carry on running or to maintain a prolonged half squat, during which we would pass out. When they realized we had no strength left, they herded us back to the cell – with ample use of beating, of course. When one of our comrades collapsed, they beat him until he gasped his last breath. They didn’t want to have any trouble at the hospital. There was one Pole [note written above text] (prisoner) [/note] who, despite being in the Germans’ service, did in fact help the Poles being held in the cells. He was a guard assigned to the corridor. Once he had got the measure of someone, he would smuggle letters for them, give them extra food on the sly, and pass on news that concerned all of us. He used to forewarn us of every search and inspection. After two weeks, he informed us that we were on the list due to be read out for transport to Auschwitz. Everyone received this news with a sense of relief. We had already heard about the atrocities at Auschwitz, yet to us this was heaven compared with prison. We wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible, to escape those terrible interrogations. The day finally came. It took all day to read out the transport list and segregate us, and then we spent all night waiting in the corridor before being loaded onto motor vehicles; there were 1,200 of us. They called us a ‘hard’ [ciężki (Pol.)] transport and were therefore ruthless towards us. They watched us like hawks. Between a double file of bayonets, we made our way from the prison to the vehicles that took us to the railway station. The military police then took custody of us. We were loaded aboard prison wagons, approximately eighty people in each. The military policemen knew nothing about what we had been imprisoned for until we ourselves made them aware who we were. For they had imagined us to be terrorists, murderers, the very worst of the criminal element. They were surprised at what we told them; they even sympathized with us. The journey was tiresome. It lasted two days and two nights. There was nowhere to sit down nor any way of getting any sleep. We pulled into Auschwitz at 3 a.m. We were greeted by the SS. They began shouting for us to disembark quickly. Yet it wasn’t we who disembarked, but rather they who disembarked us. At the entrance to the wagon stood an SS man who shoved us outside, down into the darkness – for we couldn’t see a thing. Standing opposite us was a second SS man with a bright electric torch that he shone into our eyes. Thus, it was a leap into the abyss. If anyone fell down, the SS would bring him back to his feet with a kicking. Amid the barking of dogs and exhortations of the SS men, they led us to the camp gate. There before the gate, they lined us up in fives using dogs. We had to enter the camp bareheaded, and the temperature was twenty degrees below zero. Then they had us stand in the Appellplatz [yard where prisoners were mustered for roll call, Ger.] and we were counted again. Eventually, we were herded into a vast room. We were glad to be a bit warmer, but a moment later they herded outside again for yet another headcount.
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