Polish Research Institute at Lund University, Sweden Date of the record: Trelleborg, 27th May, 1946 Record No. 331 Witness’ family & given names: XXXXXXXXXX Places of internment Born on: 22nd May, 1897 Time period: from/to Placed in: Prisoner's data: Notes: Birth place: Żywiec 12th Jan. 1940 / 10th May 1940 ZAKOPANE Prison Profession: Office Clerk 10th May 1940 / 8th Jan. 1941 KRAKOW Montelupi prison Citizenship: Polish 9th Jan. 1941 / 11th Sept. 1941 TARNÓW Prison Religion: Roman Catholic 13th September, 1941 / RAVENSBRÜCK Red triangle, No. Concentration camp 28th February 1945 7306, Letter “P” Parents names (F/M) Józef / Aniela Rączka Last residence in Poland: Zakopane 3rd March 1945 / 15th April BERGEN BEL- Concentration camp. 1945 SEN (to Sweden 15th July 1945) Present residence: Wrocław The testimony consists of seven handwritten pages and covers: 1. Arresting in January 1940. First interrogation by Gestapo in ZAKOPANE, then prison there. Living conditions and nutrition. Help from Citi- zens' Committee. Transfer to Montelupich prison in KRAKOW. 2. Relations and nutrition in Montelupich prison; ”selection” to be shot - ”Himmelkommando.” Food parcels from outside, and robbing the same by corridor guards, Germans and Ukrainians. Help of the Red Cross in Krakow. Horrendous interrogation with teeth knocked out. Signing the sentence and transfer to TARNÓW prison. 3. Living conditions, hunger. Medical examinations prior to transportation. Transport to RAVENSBRÜCK 4. Reception, stay in the quarantine block. Labour in ”Betrieben” [workshops,] sadist Maass, manager of the camp sewing shop. 5. Short reminiscences on the Lublin transport and destiny of ”rabbits.” Issue of mortality: SS-men maltreating prisoners, executions, diseases. 6. ”Strafblock” - departure to BERGEN BELSEN 7. BERGEN BELSEN: Arrival and first impressions. Roll calls for men. Mortality. Hunger 8. Liberation. Page 1 of 9 INSTITUTE MEMBER AT THE RECORD: Irena JAWOROWICZ (Translation from Polish by Jan Tuszyński1) Record of Witness testimony No. 331 nd Name: MRS XXXXXXXXXX Born: 22 May 1897. In: Żywiec Profession: Office Clerk Religion: Roman Catholic Parents 1st names: Józef, Aniela Rączka Last domicile in Poland: Zakopane. Current domicile: Wrocław. Instructed about importance of truthful testimony as well as on responsibility and consequences of false testimony, the witness testifies as to the following:

I stayed in concentration camp: RAVENSBRÜCK time period from: 13th September, 1941 to: 28th February, 1945, as a political prisoner number: 7763, triangle: red, letter: „P” Then I stayed in the concentration camp: BERGEN BELSEN time period from: 3rd March, 1945 to: 15th April, 1945 (to Sweden 15th July, 1945) I was arrested in Zakopane 12th January 1940, there all the time until 10th May, 1940 in ZAKOPANE prison - 10th May, 1940 until 8th January, 1941 in Montelupi prison in KRAKÓW. From 9th January to 11th September, 1941 in prison in TARNÓW. Asked if in connection with my incarceration, in prison, ghetto, concentration camp, I have any specific information about camp organization, the camp regimen, prisoners’ work conditions, treatment of prisoners, medical and pastoral care, sanitary/hygienic conditions, and also any specific events in all aspects of the camp life, I testify as follows: The testimony consists of seven handwritten pages and covers: 1. Arresting in January 1940. First interrogation by Gestapo in ZAKOPANE, then prison there. Living conditions and nutrition. Help from Citi- zens' Committee. Transfer to Montelupich prison in KRAKOW. 2. Relations and nutrition in Montelupich prison; ”selection” to be shot - ”Himmelkommando.” Food parcels from outside, and robbing the same by corridor guards, Germans and Ukrainians. Help of the Red Cross in Krakow. Horrendous interrogation with teeth knocked out. Signing the sentence and transfer to TARNÓW prison.

1 Translator’s notes (if any) are in cursive, enclosed in parenthesis Polish Research Institute Date of the record: at Lund University, Sweden Trelleborg, 27th May, 1946 Testimony of the witness: XXXXXXXXXX Record No. 331 3. Living conditions, hunger. Medical examinations prior to transportation. Transport to RAVENSBRÜCK 4. Reception, stay in the quarantine block. Labour in ”Betrieben” [workshops,] sadist Maass, manager of the camp sewing shop. 5. Short reminiscences on the Lublin transport and destiny of ”rabbits.” Issue of mortality: SS-men maltreating prisoners, executions, diseases. 6. ”Strafblock” - departure to BERGEN BELSEN 7. BERGEN BELSEN: Arrival and first impressions. Roll calls for men. Mortality. Hunger 8. Liberation. I was arrested for having contacts with, and for hiding Polish officers in year 1939 – in January 1940, all by denunciation of Polish confident of Gesta- po [the witness ran a guest house in Zakopane and the named confident helped at work there.] Morning time, 12th January, 4 Gestapo functionaries arrived, they searched the house in a rather sloppy way, as e.g. they missed some very discriminat- ing documents, and charged me with helping Polish officers escaping abroad, providing localities for secret meetings of their organization, etc. Arrest- ed on the spot, I was led together with two acquainted couples to Gestapo. There 3 days and nights we stand facing corridor wall, with no food. I was often kicked there, but not directly beaten. My companions however were beaten terribly. Interrogations were carried at nights – i.e. when we were most tired. Each one was interrogated separately. Gestapo-man prepared to interrogate me, by taking off their jackets, tucking up shirt sleeves, placing weapon and rubber whips on the table – then asked via translator (as the witness maintained not understanding German,) if she realized what is await- ing her. Later on, informed that I was married to a man of German origin, they restrained themselves and started pretending to be gentlemen. They inquired for the location of the organization, who belongs there, names of the escaped officers. I denied all kinds of contacts with them, and ad- mitted only to hearing about them. We were then transferred to prison – one of the men was left behind, as beaten severely and staying over 6 weeks in Gestapo cellars. After that he was taken as well to Montelupis [prison.] We were 25 women in a small prison cell with 6 beds. We slept on the floor, cramped on the bare soil. Guards there were Ukrainians, right hands of Germans. Nutrition was very bad, for breakfast coffee and bread, rutabaga for a dinner, watery soup of rotten cucumbers for supper. First after one of us was released, member of Citizens Committee, she cared for that the Committee started supplementary feeding. Bread rations increased, and some- times we got milk as well. On 10th May, 1940, four of us were transferred to Montelupis prison in KARAKÓW, and there for further interrogations. After the arrival we were separated in different cells, small ones for 1 or 2 persons, occupied now by 4 to 6 women.

Page 3 of 9 We were waken up at 7 AM; until breakfast at 8:30 PM the cells had to be scrubbed and ordered. For breakfast we got ¼ of the bread and coffee, for dinner good soups: groats, pasta, pea soup – sweet millet groat, bread and Rosebery tea for supper. Sometimes – but always when there was execution next day - we got boiled eggs. Then we knew that ”death selection” was on the way. They came at night and took [victim] for the firing squad, so called ”Himmelkommando.” Some of us went for so called ”opened” cells, from where they came out for work: cleaning offices, laundry for SS-men, and alike. Food parcels from our families were distributed, but corridor guards, Germans, SS-men and Ukrainian prisoners as well, robbed shamelessly our parcels, picking up some of the best bites and eating it just on our eyes. At Pentecost we, men and women, were placed in different corridors – and two ladies of the Red Cross in Kraków dealt out to us food parcels. Medical care was provided by the prison physician, Ukrainian prisoner. In most cases he neglected ailments of Polish prisoners and cared for his coun- trymen only. We were helped often by the incarcerated Polish doctors. I was interrogated in KRAKÓW only once, but got there a souvenir for the rest of my life: whack in face crushed my 14 teeth from both the upper and the lower jaw. That interrogation took two hours time. After that beating I locked in refusing any answers at all. I was transferred then to the prison in TARNÓW, but before that, in KRAKÓW, I was forced to sign my sentence prepared for me on a red paper. Several of corridor Poles, ensigns, who by the way dealt only with hard work tasks – washed corridors, carried coal, etc – felt pity for me leaving the prison, but were surprised that I am still able to laugh. I answered that I will never give Germans satisfaction of seeing me crying. I was jailed in TARNÓW prison for 8 months in a locked cell. Conditions there were terrible, overwhelming hunger. We got e.g. 400 g bread in the morning, then winter time a soup of musty beans, in summer pigweed with worms, evening time again 400 g bread with coffee, once a week some cheese and marmalade. Our great torment of TARNÓW was vermin, especially bedbugs. Prison management did not bother to neutralize it. I was not submitted to any more interrogations in TARNÓW. 11th of September, 1941 we were on the list of prisoners to be transported away. We were taken to the physician-Ukrainian, i.e. routine only, as we knew already that for those being diseased, the physician will anyway say “ab!” At night 12:00 we were loaded on the lorries. We got half a loaf of bread and a piece of boiled beef meat each – our travel was planned for three days. The group of 150 women was escorted to the rail station and we were loaded on a passenger train. We travelled relatively comfortable, once on the road we got a warm coffee on some station. We arrived to RAVENSBRÜCK at 2:00 PM, 13th of September. SS-men welcome us at the station, with dogs, shouting at us and kicking us. They packed us, as hearings, into the canvas covered lorries. They drove us to the camp and set us up in fives in front of the “Bad.” They took us then by fives in, undressed from all own stuff, including earrings and jewellery. It was done by German female prisoners from so called “Efekt.” They then took us to the bath where some got their hair shaved. We changed to prison dresses (grey summer dresses while striped uniforms we got first in winter) and were led to registration. Then we all were allotted to the wire fenced block No. 15 (quarantine). We were supposed to stay there for 3 months, but already 6 weeks later we were taken to work: digging and transporting sand for expansion of the camp. Three months later so called “Betrieb” were formed, first Strohflechterei, stitching shoes for German soldiers at the battle-front. We worked for three shifts, 8 hours daily. Polish Research Institute Date of the record: at Lund University, Sweden Trelleborg, 27th May, 1946 Testimony of the witness: XXXXXXXXXX Record No. 331 Routine of the camp life. We were forced to raise by alarm at 4:00 AM. One had to order the bed (in cube), eat breakfast: sometimes soup, most often bread from a previous day, i.e. the same we got once a day at evenings, with black coffee. Then clean the cupboard (there were cupboards for 4-5 per- sons, but sometimes up to 8 persons shared a cupboard) and hurriedly leave for a roll-call. The roll-call lasted normally up to 7:00 AM. We stood there in rows of 10, in front of blocks, lodging at that time about 300 persons in two wings of the building. After that roll-coll, next so called work roll-call took place on the main street of the camp (initially the first roll-call of the morning, took place there as well); each work squad parade before the table of the “Arbeitseinsatz” clerk and reported there on a number of persons and a work place they marched to. The “Aussen”, who left for work in the field, returned to the camp first evening time. “Betrieben” in the camp area, ate dinners at the block. There we got ½ litre soup and 2-3 potatoes, or so called “Eintopf” - i.e. potatoes with cabbage, groat with potatoes and so on. Dinner breake lasted half an hour, then again work roll-call and back to work; work in “Betrieben” lasted to 6 PM, while working squads worked until 5 PM. I remember the following “Betrieben” in the camp: “Sewing shop”, where one could be assigned to only by favouritism and if being qualified tailor; “Kunstgewerbe”, where some decorative dress details were sawn – belts, small shoes etc., curving in wood, lattices and embroiders. All those items were sold out of the camp, or the guards kept it for themselves; “Industriewerke”, where soldiers´ and SS´ uniforms were sawn; Shoemakers workshop, repairing shoes for the army and for “Häftlingers”; Furrier shop, where furs for soldiers were sawn of the requisitions of raw fur plates from Russia; Knitters (“Srickerin”) shop, who produced socks for soldiers and stockings for “Häftlingers” (piecework: one had to produce 6 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of stockings per week.) After the work, on our return to blocks we got a supper: until 1943 soup, sometimes milk- or fruit-soup, sometimes ”Eintopf,” and bread (200g); later on they gave us bread only, smaller rations and black grain coffee. In the camp and at ”Betrieben” as well, the guarding power was executed by SS-guards, both female and male; in 1943 camp police was established of Häftlings mainly, mostly Germans and Czechs. There were only few Polish police, maybe two or three. Blocks were ruled by block-leaders and cham- ber-leaders (”Sztubowa” of ”Stube”,) who at least initially were mostly Germans and Czechs, but as the camp filled with prisoners more and more, ”sztubowe” were as well selected of other nationalities, mostly Polish. Jewish prisoners, who were after all few only, were never given block lead. Relation of guards to prisoners who worked eagerly was acceptable – earnest workers could earn some respect. When I arrived to RAVENSBRÜCK, I found there about three thousands Häftlings (the running number was 6 500; but many passed away, got trans- ported to factories, got executed, one could say ”exchanged to small change”.) Nationalities there were: Germans, Czechs, Polish. Jewish were in 2 separate blocks, and anyway at the beginning of 1942 all were transported to Oświęcim (AUSCHWITZ.) Comradeship between political prisoners was very cordial. We helped each other – e.g. ”Ausseners” supplied us with vegetables and fruits they managed to fix out there, while they got in exchange some clothes from Betrieben. When we were lodged in Polish blocks, not mixed with others, we celebrated silent mass at Sundays and Holydays. One teacher and scout lead the prayers. Relations with German prisoners

Page 5 of 9 were correct but rather on distance. But when new prisoners, Russians arrived, from so called ”war plen” (captivity,) many Polish ladies established with them friendly, comradely relations. Directly after dismissal of ”Strohflechterei” in March 1942, I was assigned for 6 weeks to knitters, and there for nights only. The work roll-call lasted until 9 AM, and then frozen, we returned to the block and breakfast there. Then we fell asleep, but already at noon time we were woken up by day shift arriving for a lunch. Then we could get a kind of sleep until 4 AM, got up, washed ourselves to get at 5 PM for dinner. At 6 PM our shift started work- ing until 00:30, and then until 6 AM. We got supper at nights directly at the workplace in Betrieb. Later on I worked through several weeks in the block as the knitter. During that period we were often dragged away to heavy camp labours, as e.g. carrying stones, soil, coal – doing all that bare foot- ed, as at that time they took away our stockings and clogs. We then decided that going ”nach Aussen,” would be better as one got there better and more food than those in the camp got. We were beaten at work, all depending on the Aufseherin's mood, often just for asking for break to toilet we were embittered by dogs. Morning time when leaving for work, we were controlled if our dresses and underwear were clean and in order; from the beginning we got clean underwear every 6 weeks, at the end of my stay there nobody bothered anymore. The soap ration was 1 piece per month, kind of war clay. My Aussenkommando travelled to various farmland properties by lorries, or by train and there from station by horse cart to work place. There digging and picking-up potatoes, garden works at vegetables and alike. June 1942 I got to old sewing shop, so called Massa. Work there was supervised by ”Bibelki”, we named them ”barkers,” i.e. Germans wearing violet marks as sentenced to the camp for so called Bibelforschung. Leader of that workshop, her name was Mass, was the pronounced sadist; she was able to torment us in a special, refined way, earning her nickname ”intelligent sadist.” E.g. at the sweltering heat outdoors, she could close all windows making our room unbearably stuffy, she ordered us then to drink boiling coffee, while she took chairs from older ladies, tired after several hours work, and ordered them to stand. Toilet was allowed for a given time only, once a day – at other times, even if one burst out, toilet was forbidden. Winter time she opened windows, despite severe frost outdoors; then she ordered us to scrub stools, laundry some bags outdoors and scrub the floor on knees. Occasionally she beat people, but it was strange here – she has never beaten Poles, instead Czechs got smacked and other nationalities as well, includ- ing Germans. Years 1943 and 1944 other nationalities started to arrive to RAVENSBRÜCK: French in majority, some Belgians and two English (there a nun who worked as well at Maassa) and several Norwegians. There were as well some Yugoslavian partisans. There was actually no difference in how German functionaries treated prisoners. I worked at Maassa until the end of my stay in RAVENSBRÜCK. Some day I got ill, but expecting a lot of troubles to get permit to the sick-bay, I never reported to the block-leader. It was not until my colleague, den- tist working at the sick-bay who got the permit for me, I got examined there. First by a German SS physician, and by Dr. Mączka who radiographed me and gave me ”Bettkarten,” to be over several weeks bed-bound in the block (Bettkarten obliged one to stay in the block but not to be at the sick-bay.) After two weeks of my stay in RAVENSBRÜCK, Lublin transport arrived to our block, transport there at the end of 1942, so called ”rabbits” were selected. As we knew them well, we visited them from time to time at the sick-bay block, where they lay in a separate block after operations preformed on them. We could of course talk with them only secretly, shortly through the window. We supplied them with some items from our parcels – on that matter it was mainly kitchen personnel who cared for them. They complained to us over operations forced on them, performed under duress, and on Polish Research Institute Date of the record: at Lund University, Sweden Trelleborg, 27th May, 1946 Testimony of the witness: XXXXXXXXXX Record No. 331 suffering terrible pains. Health care they got came in most cases from Polish nurses working at the sick-bay. Many of my operated friends (muscles broken in joints, cut off calf), were left invalids over the rest of their lives. About 10 died. They stayed after operations, about a year on the sick-bay block, some, at the very end, were employed as police women. In May, 1942 they selected daily several for me known ladies of the Lublin transport as well as others from other blocks; between two to five to be executed. I did not see executions, as those condemned were led off the camp area, behind the gate, but at the evening roll-call we could hear shooting. From that period came poem ”Three red weeds,” composed by our colleague from Lublin transport. Until 1943 mortality at the camp was relatively low – about 5 cases per week. They died of exhaustion, lung diseases – several women died on the ”Strafblok” of beating, in ”Industriewerke” happened that SS-men literally tortured a prisoner; e.g. such SS-man grabbed prisoner by hair, for spoiling some work, then on and on hit victim´s head against the machine until blood ran over. With my own eyes I have seen a terribly abused, swol- len and bloody Russian woman in the ”Industriewerke,” tormented there alternatively by BINDER, Betriebsleiter, and another SS-man. Along incom- ing transportations in years 1943/44, mortality intensified gradually because of hunger, deteriorating hygiene and diseases. Older ”Häftlinger” knew better how to take care of themselves to survive by holding better physics and morale. ”Zuganger” on the other hand arrived completely resigned, apa- thetic and that way susceptible for diseases. One of the camp blocks was put apart from others, wire-fenced with a special gate day and night guarded by police-women. It was the place where depending of ”crime” severity, one could be sentenced from half, up to one, two years confinement, which was very seldom that anyone survived. Crimes could be e.g. holding one´s hand in the pocket, holding one´s companion by arm, stealing potatoes, sabotage (as sewing for oneself cloth item from a fabric they worked on in Betrieb.) I heard only that Strafblock was worse than hell – so at least reported me my acquaintance, sentenced to a year stay in this penitentiary. On 28th February, 1945, I left in a big transport of 3500 persons to BERGEN BELSEN. We were on the road for two nights and three days, bombed I presume by English – anyway we had no human loses. We had to march several kilometres from railway station to the camp, and there several women died, not Polish, but of other nationalities. On arrival to the camp we were taken to a big shed. Midnight at 12:00, all were ordered to go out, and we were segregated in nationalities. Poles got a separate block. We slept on the floor; 500 persons in a rather not too big block, the floor so dirty that one could scrape it. After few days we set on cleaning it and arranging some order there, just to improve our living there. But at that time they relocated us to the other camp ”Stoffweberei,”close to the crematory, while our first block was taken over by new ”Zugangen.” In ”Stoffweberei” we were assigned to a single hall with a stone flooring, without beds or pallets. I observed roll-calls in BERGEN BELSEN neighbouring men-camp, just behind a wire fence. They were carried out in separate groups: next to wires, on the ground, five naked corpses of those who died, in the next group those barely alive, languishing but still dressed, next again those weakest, and then those healthy. Anweise-Häftling walk there around, inspecting weakest, poking with a thick stick one after another; in case one enduring no more Page 7 of 9 fell – his colleagues threw over him to ripe off his clothes leaving him dying in a morning cold (it was March.) I have seen on my own eyes, when they pulled disfigured corpses to the crematory, corpses with pieces of the flesh carved out, e.g. from thighs – apparently eaten by the starving prisoners. In April about one thousand corpses were daily transported to the crematory. As they could not manage to burn them all, the corpses were piled in front of the crematory, or just thrown in huge pits to be covered there by lime. But there was no time for that either, as likewise in the camp they never gath- ered all corpses spread there over all roads. Through the last month in BERGEN BELSEN there was no bread at all; earlier the bread (loaf) was shared for 13 parts, besides that we got watery rutabaga soup. There was no water for washing or laundry. Toilets, opened, with no water as well. Huge heaps of faeces built up there – everything was contaminated. Later on, nobody used toilets, relieving themselves anywhere, often just inside the blocks. They poured in our food a kind of salt of strange taste, it rasped in our teeth; there were some rumours that our meals were poisoned that way. From my arrival to the camp it was plagued by diarrhoea and typhoid. We tried to fight infections by any means, walking far away for clean water to a tiny brook close to crematory. 15th April, at 2 (PM) with some minutes, British lorries appeared. They drove through the whole camp announcing all that they arrived to liberate us. The impression was overwhelming. Our cramped larynxes let us only shouts ”At last! At last!” - we all cried, we were stunned to such a degree that we were not able of real joy – we recalled those who did not endure to this moment. The British organised at once food support. They gave us a lot of bread, distributed conserves, but each one of us was so dried out of the prolonged starvation, that one could not eat or kept on dying after taking in too big portion. I felt not well before the Brittish came. After their arrival I got really ill. They took me to town BERGEN, to the hospital and diagnosed me there with both diarrhoea and typhoid. I laid there unconscious through 4 weeks. All my belongings were burned and when I started raising up, I got other things, not new but clean. In the middle of July, all patients of the hospital were taken to Lübeck and from there by ship to Malmö. Read, signed and confirmed (Signed) (Signed) J. Jaworowicz, XXXXXXXXXX Institute Assistant the witness Notes of the one taking the record: The witness Mrs XXXXXXXXXX, gives her testimony with clear satisfaction, in her regard to fulfil that way her social obligations. One gets impres- sion that the witness, few hours before departure to her country, starts that way new period of her life. She wishes now, in a dignified way, to conclude that period of her life by giving witness to the truth. Her testimonies merit our absolute trust. There are anyway some minute inaccuracies I would like to correct: work norm of the knitter [Strikerin] was – 2 stockings (pair of) per week, or 3 pairs of socks (i.e. foot part only.) Family name of the guard managing sewing shop of the camp was MASSAR – not Maas. Polish Research Institute Date of the record: at Lund University, Sweden Trelleborg, 27th May, 1946 Testimony of the witness: XXXXXXXXXX Record No. 331 (Signed) Irena Jaworowicz, Institute Assistant For conformance [of the copy with the manuscript]: Stamp of Polish Research Institute in Lund

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