Therefore, I know how this whole machinery for obtaining material looked.
Q. Do you know to whom the requisitions were sent in the WVHA and where the material came from?
A The material, the whole of the material which was collected in the construction building came through the assistance of the department C-6 of the WVHA, and that was mentioned very often on the memoranda. They were always printed WVHA, Department C-6, and all the trucks which were in the courtyard of the construction place came from that department too.
Q Was any man's name mentioned on the requisition slips?
A Yes.
Q Who was that?
A The names of Bischof and Eirenschmalz.
Q What kind of material, will you tell the Court, did you obtain from Eirenschmalz and from C-6?
A The whole of our material, our electric equipment and other material, timber, all that sort of thing, all that we needed to carry out our task, we received from C-6 through the assistance of the construction building.
Q Did you see Bischof in the camp?
A Yes, indeed I have.
Q Did you see Eirenschmalz in the camp?
A. Eirenschmalz I saw in the construction yard.
Q That was in Auschwitz, was it?
A Yes, it was in Auschwitz roughly six hundred or seven hundred yards from our place of work, from our quarters.
Q How many times did you see Eirenschmalz there?
A I remember one particular occasion when I saw Eirenschmalz. That was the end of summer of 1944. At that time we had been liquidated, and commissions arrived consisting of about six or seven people, seven higher officers and SS officers who came from the department construction, and they inspected the construction yard, and they consulted among each other how the construction yards could best be liquidated, and at that time I saw Eirenschmalz together with Bischof.
Q Did you ever see Sommer at the Auschwitz concentration camp?
A You mean Hauptsturmfuehrer Sommer? Yes, indeed I have.
Q How many times did you see him in the concentration camp at Auschwitz?
A I saw him on several occasions when he was sitting on a motor bike. He had a motor bike with the side car, and he was always with that motor bike. Then I saw him, I saw him with an N. C. O. or somebody, a man called Emmerich. He was very well known for his bestiality. Also I saw Sommer accompanied by another officer called Held. I saw Sommer two or three times accompanied by a sturmbannfuehrer who was his superior officer. I do not remember his name any more. All I remember is that he was a sturmbannfuehrer. He was the head of the whole department. All of the labor assignments in Auschwitz were under that officer.
Q Will you describe one of the occasions on which you saw Sommer?
A Yes, that was in the winter of 1943 or the beginning of 1944. At that time we worked, we electricians worked together with a detachment of builders in what was called the security work block, security work shop. That was roughly one kilometer outside the camp near the construction yard. There we had an electrical installation, and in the next block the electrical installation wasn't ready yet. Various things were still missing, and that was where the builders worked, and at that time Sommer and two N. C. O.'s appeared. Sommer appeared on a motor bike, and he made a lot of noise and ran into the block crying and shouting because he didn't see the inmates do any work, and then too, which I saw after he was dead, he took a brick, he took a brick and broke his skull, because that was a very notorious method. The spirit behind that method was Kramer. He invented that method and tried it out on inmates.
THE PRESIDENT: Just a minute, he took a brick and broke something. Who took a brick?
THE WITNESS: The brick was picked up by Sommer.
Q And what did he do with it?
A He took the brick and hit him from behind on the skull, and that was what broke the inmate's skull, and the inmate collapsed and was dead. I saw that myself.
THE PRESIDENT: I still don't know what he hit him on.
THE WITNESS: He hit him on the head with a brick.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, his head.
JUDGE MUSSMANO: Skull.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, skull.
Q And by his hands?
A Yes, he took the brick into both hands and with his whole force hit him on the head from behind.
Q Did you see any other methods of treatment by Sommer toward any of the inmates?
A Yes, he usually had a whip in his hand and he hit inmates with that whip, but at that time he was also very notorious with that method of hitting people on the heads with bricks. That was how he killed a great friend of mine, a Polish trooper called Weiss. He killed him while he was working. Sommer came along as a surprise, and he took a great big brick and again hit him on the head.
Q If you were to see Sommer and Eirenschmalz today could you identify them?
A Yes.
Q Will you stand up and see if you can identify them from the persons in the dock, please?
A Yes, certainly. (The witness left the stand to identify the prisoners.) This is Eirenschmalz and the other is Sommer.
MR. ROBBINS: May the record show that the witness properly identified the defendants, Eirenschmalz and Sommer?
THE PRESIDENT: The record will so indicate.
MR. ROBBINS: May I inquire of the Tribunal if the record shows the Defendant Sommer's remarks to the witness when he was identified?
THE PRESIDENT: I think it was the Defendant Eirenschmalz who spoke. The translators inform the Court that Eirenschmalz said, "I am the other one."
MR. ROBBINS: And does the record show what the Defendant Sommer said?
THE PRESIDENT: I didn't observe that the Defendant Sommer said anything.
MR. ROBBINS: Very well, your Honor.
Court No. 2 Case IV
Q. Herr Biolski, do you recall a time in the middle of 1944 when Hungarian transports were bought into Auschwitz Concentration Camp?
A. Yes, I do. There were many transports which reached Auschwitz at that time. For four or five months Hungarian transports kept arriving. And just as in the case of the earlier transports for gassing, they brought many pieces of valuable property. That was why in Auschwitz, opposite the SS kitchen and behind the so-called theatre building, there were six or seven wooden barracks in which there was a detachment consisting mostly of Jews, who worked there. Their task was to collect all of the shoes which had belonged to the gassed people. They had to search these shoes, tear off the soles and then take out things like gold, jewels and money and hand them over to the inspector for the SS. At that time, every day there were more than ten thousand shoes, for instance, which were handed in, and after the searching most of those shoes were burned in a nearby pit.
Q. Did you see the barracks where the shoes were inspected?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see some of the shoes after -
A. Yes, indeed, I did.
Q. Do you know upon whose order this searching of the shoes was instigated?
A. Yes.
Q. And will you tell us how you know that?
A. I know that that happened upon orders from Pohl and that the work was carried out on Pohl's orders. Two German capos and an SS man of the construction detachment told me that after Pohl's last visit to Auschwitz the SS men actually said that our leaders reached the decision at that time that shoes should not be destroyed altogether and all the money which might be in the shoes should be taken from the shoes and then handed over.
Q. On Friday you testified that you saw certain inmates who were taken into the gas chamber in Auschwitz at the same time that Pohl Court No. 2 Case IV was there.
A. Yes.
Q. Will you tell us what physical condition those inmates were in?
A. At that time, in that particular case, I saw very well that the inmates were ill, very weak physically and they all came from the hospital in Auschwitz. They had been taken from the hospital or otherwise they were emaciated prisoners of the camp who had no strength left at all. They were weak persons who were incapable of doing any more work.
Q. Were all of them weak, as far as you could see?
A. In this particular case, certainly. And they were almost naked. They had only small pieces of shirts on that. That indicated that they all came from the hospital or so-called ambulances, and were sent there in an ambulance, and they had left their clothes behind in the hospital.
Q. Just one further question: You mentioned Bischof in connection with Eirenschmalz a moment ago. Will you tell the Tribunal what position Bischof occupied, please?
A. Yes. Bischof was a Sturmbannfuehrer and he was the head of the building inspectorate at Auschwitz. He was in charge of our detachment in 1944, but not at Auschwitz, but at a place nearby, Kochlowitz, and he constructed that actually and the inspectorate was transferred from Auschwitz to Kochlowitz and Bischof was in charge there. He was known as the head of the building inspectorate. He visited us very often. He had the building office and we always knew he was the head of the building inspectorate.
MR. ROBBINS: The Prosecution has no further questions.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY DR. SEIDL:
Q. Witness, on Friday you said that you yourself had observed gassings at Auschwitz. Where was the building where you say you observed people being gassed?
A. These gassings to which I testified took place in the gas Court No. 2 Case IV chamber near Crematorium 3.
Q. Is that inside the camp or outside the concentration camp?
A. That was inside the big guard compound of the camp, Birkenau, and it was near the barracks of Birkenau.
Q. Do you know whether there was a comp in Auschwitz called Monnowitz?
A. Yes, it is known to me.
Q. What did the building look like where you saw people being gassed? Can you give a precise description of it?
A. That was not in Monnowitz; that was in Auschwitz.
Q. What did the building look like?
A. It wasn't a building; it was a subterranean cellar and it was about thirty meters long and fifteen meters wide. All you could see from above was a little hill or something which was about a half a meter above ground, and in the middle of this there was a window and the entrance was on the left-hand side. The entrance was inclined to the left and there were three of four little steps which led downstairs. Later on the gas chamber was changed, perhaps three or four months later on. Later on there was no more entrance from the outside, only indirectly from the crematorium; but at first the entrance was from the outside -- and at that time from the window which was made in the workshop next to our own workshop. I know that later on the building was changed and the gas chamber was changed, instead of the window there was a little opining which was used.
Q. And at what time do you allege to have observed these things?
A. I observed this from ten o'clock in the morning until we finished work; that is to say, half-past four.
Q. If I remember correctly, you said on Friday that this was in June, 1943.
A. Yes, in June, 1943.
Q. At what distance were you from the gas oven?
A. It wasn't a gas oven, only a sort of gas cellar. We were not always standing at the same point. We changed our place. Sometimes we were forty meters away from it and sometimes eighty meters.
Q. You alleged that you saw the Defendant Pohl both in the morning and afternoon?
A. Yes.
Q. In the afternoon there was a large number of persons present, as you said on Friday. Who else was there with Pohl? Did you recognize anybody in Pohl's staff?
A. I counted them very well. There were twenty-two or twentythree people. Almost all of them were guests. There were only six permanent members of the Auschwitz staff. The others were all guests of Pohl's; they came from the outside. There was Bodermin, and two civilians were there. We were puzzled why there should be civilians, but we didn't find an answer.
Q. Is it known to you that SS Gruppenfuehrer Gluecks was at Auschwitz?
A. You mean Gloeck: What was the name?
Q. Gloecks.
A. Yes, he came to Auschwitz, but I didn't see him on that occasion, and I didn't see him from very closely. All inmates knew that sometimes the General of the Waffen SS and Obergruppenfuehrer Glueck, or Gluecks, would come to the camp; but whether he was there on that particular occasion I am not able to say now.
Q. How often had you seen Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl before, before June 1943?
A. Before then I saw him perhaps five times, before June, 1943.
Q. And you think it is out of the question that in June, 1943, you might have confused persons and that you saw somebody else who you thought was Pohl?
A. I know very well that it was Pohl at that time, near the gas chamber. I saw him in the afternoon when he was very close by and he asked the leader of our detachment what we were doing and our detachment leader reported to him and Pohl looked at us and looked at every single one of us, at what we were doing, and he stood there for about five minutes and talked to other officers.
He talked about the electricity installations, the extension of the electrical network in that particular part of the camp.
DR. SEIDL: I have no further questions.
BY DR. von STEIN:
Q. I believe I understood you correctly to say that you saw Eirenschmalz in late summer, 1944, in Auschwitz, is that right?
A Yes, that is right; I saw him.
Q Did you know Eirenschmalz before then?
A Only from heresay. I heard about him. I heard about him, yes. I knew his reputation. I knew that he was in the Department VI-C. I always saw the forms which he signed, and I knew that he was the head.
Q But when, in the summer of 1944, a person turned up whom you think and assume was Eirenschmalz---how did you know it was Eirenschmalz? Did you talk to him?
A No, I never talked to him, but at that time the Hauptscharfuehrer Stiller, who was in charge of the construction yard, told me that I should take the whole of my electrical equipment; I should fetch it as quickly as possible because that day an inspection would be taken by Eirenschmalz, by Obersturmbannfuehrer Eirenschmalz who was in charge of all the construction matter. And I told him, well, I would do everything in order to take all these things away.
Q But you haven't answered my question correctly. I want to know precisely, when this commission of which you talk now turned up in the camp, who pointed out Eirenschmalz to you and said, "This is Eirenschmalz"?
A That was the head of Magazine 14, an inmate, a man called Dobraniewski. He told me because he had spoken a few times personally with Eirenschmalz when Eirenschmalz came there in order to inspect the electrical magazines, and he knew--the inmate knew--very well who Eirenschmalz was, what his office was, and so forth.
Q But you had no personal interest to see Eirenschmalz on that day?
A No, I had no interest; I had no reason to talk to him. I merely observed at that time that the commission was there--what they did--and I heard on that occasion that the man who was always with Bischof was Eirenschmalz, the head of Department VI-C.
Q What did Eirenschmalz want in the camp on that day?
A The camp was to be liquidated on that day because the Russian troops were very near.
I think they had reached Lublin on that day, and the camp had to be evacuated very quickly, and the construction yard, the material, was to be evacuated before the people. And at that time we knew that that would happen in the next few days. Also, we knew that before then a commission was to come which had to decide how the evacuation was to be carried out; and, actually, two days after Eirenschmalz's visit, the material and the construction was divided up. Some of it was sent to Lyssa, Breslau, and Groslow, and the other part of the material was sent somewhere else.
Q Now, this construction yard of which you talk so often--did that come under another department than C-VI?
A The whole of the construction yard was under the Department VI-C. All magazines belonged to one department--which was Department VI-C. I went to all magazines and I obtained material for our workshop from all magazines, and I always saw on all the forms which were necessary---I saw Department VI-C.
Q Is the organization known to you at all? That is, take, say, what department belonged to the building inspectorate. Do you know anything about that sort of thing?
A The Department VI-C was in charge of--was divided up into various offices. I don't know... But all I know is that the whole of the construction yard belonged to Department VI-C. All material was administered by Department VI-C.
Q You always speak of a sub-department. I wish to point out here...Department VI-C-- But I am asking you whether you know the other building departments. Do you know anything about them--other departments?
A Yes, the other departments... No, I had nothing to do with other departments.
Q How can you then say that the building yard was under Department VI-C?
A I can point out the contrary is not true.
Q But how do you know? How do you have the knowledge?
A On all the forms it said Department VI-C; and in the office of the building inspectorate there were several orders, directives, instructions, and so forth, which were on the wall, and they were always signed "Eirenschmalz." And it always said, "Department VI-C, of the WVHA."
Q You say, witness, who was the representative who signed for Eirenschmalz?
A Who was his deputy, you mean?
Q I would like to know his name.
A I think there are two or three times; that was not the case very often. Only very rarely did somebody else sign for Eirenschmalz.
Q How often did you see Eirenschmalz there? How often?
A Well, I saw him clearly once, and before then I heard once or twice that he was the head of Department VI-C. There were other visitors but I hadn't seen him myself.
Q How is it possible then that after so long a time after you said you have seen him only once--how is it possible that you identified him?
A My memory is excellent.
Q You also say that a large part of the material was already in the camp.
A Yes; in the construction yard.
Q Then why should it be necessary to apply for more material? Surely you could get it from the men in charge of material in the camp itself.
A I do not understand.
Q Let us assume that a repair was necessary, or something. The building material or any other material was in the camp already; no? The material--I repeat my question--in the camp there was in the building yard?
A. Yes.
Q That building yard had all this material there?
A Yes.
Q If, therefore, it was necessary to have a repair done--or anything else--all that had to be done was to ask the building yard for more material?
A Yes, only from the building yard.
Q But do you wish to say that Eirenschmalz was also in charge of that building yard?
A In charge of that building yard was a Hauptscharfuehrer and a non-commissioned officer, a man called Stiller.
Q Now, I would like you to tell me what did Eirenschmalz have to do with supplying building material to the camp? After all, material was there.
A Eirenschmalz was the highest administrative officer as far as material was concerned, and he was in charge of all this building yard-not only of the one in Auschwitz but all those other camps.
Q Therefore, I can not see why Eirenschmalz should pay a visit at all. The material was there, after all, and-
A Somebody had to decide what had to be done with this enormous material. The material which was collected in Auschwitz amounted to millions. It was very valuable. I think it was the biggest collection of material I have ever seen in all my life.
Q If I understand you correctly, what happened was this: building material was there on the spot in sufficient quantities--even in very large quantities?
A Yes.
Q The purpose, as you see it, of Eirenschmalz's visit was merely for Eirenschmalz to give some orders on the transfer of material already there?
A Yes.
Q That was the purpose of the visits that was why Eirenschmalz came to Auschwitz.
A -
BY DR. BELZER (Counsel for the defendant Sommer):
Q Witness, will you tell me once again when you were in Auschwitz?
A I was there since August 1942 until the end of October 1944.
Q August '42 to the end of October 1944... How often in that period was the defendant Sommer in Auschwitz?
A Oh, I think he was there all the time.
Q Please?
A He was there all the time, I think. I saw him in various places in all the months.
Q How often, roughly?
A Many times.
Q Just give us any figure.
A I could say twenty or thirty times--perhaps even more; I don't remember it in detail. Anyway, I know it was many times.
Q Was the defendant Sommer inside the actual camp?
A Yes.
Q And once you said the defendant Sommer was accompanied by several other officers, officers in charge of labor assignments.
A Yes, they were non-commissioned officers in charge of labor assignments. I saw him quite often in the company of one or two such officers, or sometimes I saw him alone, when he was sitting on his motorcycle.
Q. What rank did Sommer hold?
A. He had three squares on black cloth, which is the Hauptsturmfuehrer.
Q. When you saw him for the first time, was he a Hauptsturmfuehrer? Through the time you saw him, was he a Hauptsturmfuehrer?
A. I could not say that, when I saw him for the last time.
Q. When did you see him for the last time?
A. In 1944.
Q. 1944?
A. Yes, perhaps a bit before. I know definitely that in the winter of 1944 I saw him.
THE PRESIDENT: Let the witness finish his answer.
Q. Was it in the winter of 1944 to 1945?
A. No, at that time I was no longer in the camp. I was evacuated to Oranienburg.
Q. It must have been in the first month of 1944 then. You say on one occasion Sommer was together with his superior officer?
A. Yes.
Q. Who told you that this man was Sommer's superior officer?
A. We knew that.
Q. You knew that? Did you see that superior officer before?
A. No, only once.
Q. Only once, accompanied by the defendant Sommer, and then you knew that he was the superior officer, did you?
A. Yes. I asked an inmate. I asked an inmate who worked with me. I asked who this other man was and he said, "He is a Sturmbannfuehrer."
Q. Now, when you saw Sommer so often, then you can say what sort of uniform the defendant Sommer wore?
A. What uniform do you mean? An SS uniform, of course.
Q. What do you mean, SS uniform?
A. He was wearing the typical uniform of a Waffen SS officer.
Q. Now, I could imagine, for instance, that an officer is in long trousers, and I could also think that an SS officer is wearing boots.
Did he wear boots?
A. Yes. I only saw non-commissioned officers in long trousers.
Q. You mean non-commissioned officers in longer trousers sometimes and the defendant Sommer was wearing boots?
A. Yes, he always wore boots or nearly always. Sundays perhaps he didn't.
Q. When did you see a photograph of Sommer for the last time?
A. I never saw a photograph of Sommer.
Q. You never saw a photograph of the defendant Sommer?
A. Not when I was in the camp I didn't.
Q. I did not ask you that. I asked you when you last saw a photograph of the defendant Sommer.
A. I never saw a photograph of him.
Q. When the prosecution examined you, did they show you a photograph of the defendant Sommer?
A. No, I was not shown a photograph. On Friday when I recognized Pohl I noticed that he was sitting behind Pohl, and at that time I recognized him.
Q. That is to say, when you were examined by the prosecution, you were never shown a photograph of the defendant Sommer?
A. No.
Q. What was the purpose of the visit of the defendant Sommer to the Auschwitz camp?
A. He was working there permanently and his task was to distribute work among the detachment. He supervised it himself; he supervised the work himself. He only paid a surprise visit Sunday to our detachment and he saw to it that the inmates would work assiduously. If they didn't, he would devise certain punitive measures, such as breaking people's heads.
Q. In order to come back to another question, what kind of hats did Sommer wear when he was in Auschwitz?
A. Usually he wore a round hat.
Q. Did you ever see the defendant Sommer in skiing trousers?
A. You mean skiing trousers?
Q. These long trousers which are worn by skiiers.
A. It is quite possible. I cannot recall.
Q. Can you recall that the defendant Sommer ever wore skiing trousers?
A. I do not remember.
Q. You cannot remember?
A. No, I cannot remember.
Q. Did you ever see the defendant Sommer wear mufti?
A. No, I did not.
Q. You say that you saw Sommer about twenty or thirty times. How often was the defendant Sommer sitting on his motorbike? How often did you see him on his motorbike?
A. Very often.
Q. What sort of motorbike was it? What brand?
A. I'm not sure. It was a heavy DKW, I think. It looked like a DKW.
Q. Did you ever see the defendant Sommer walking?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Did you notice anything peculiar in the way he walked?
A. The way he walked, you mean? I didn't notice anything.
Q. You noticed nothing? Thank you very much.
DR. GAWLIK: Dr. Gawlik for the defendant Bobermin.
EXAMINATION BY DR. GAWLIK:
Q. Witness, do you read newspapers?
A. Yes.
Q. What newspapers? Do you read newspapers generally?
A. Yes, I do indeed.
Q. Did you read in the newspapers reports on this trial?
A. No, I only read Polish newspapers.
Q. Please answer my question. In your newspapers did you see reports on the trial against Pohl and others?
A. Yes, I saw something in a Polish newspaper once. It said that the trial had opened.
Q. Thank you very much. In that newspaper you read the names of the defendants, did you not?
A. No. No, it said Pohl and others, Pohl and accomplices is what it said.
Q. What did you say? I didn't hear you.
A. All the newspaper said was, "The defendant Pohl and his accomplices."
Q. Did it say accomplices?
A. Yes, in Polish, indeed it did.
Q. And what else did it say?
A. That the trial was held in Nuernberg.
Q. No names of other defendants?
A. No, no names of other defendants.
Q. You were in Auschwitz for three years, were you not?
A. Yes.
Q. What were the names of the camp commandants?
A. The first one was Hoess.
Q. What is his Christian name?
A. Rudolf.
Q. Go on.
A. Then after Hoess was called to Berlin, Liebehenschel came in.
Q. What was his Christian name?
A. I think Gustav or Hans.
Q. But you're not sure?
A. No, I'm not quite sure.
Q. But you heard the name of Liebehenschel?
A. Yes, yes, Liebehenschel, I heard that.
Q. Who was in charge of the protective custody camp?
A. That was Baer.
Q. What was his Christian name?
A. Erich. Then there was a man whose name was Aumeier.
Q. What was his Christian name?
A. I think Otto but I'm not quite sure.
Q. You're not quite sure?
A. In any case it was Aumeier. I don't know his Christian name.
Q. But you do admit that you had heard his name?
A. The name, yes, but not Aumeier's Christian name because we always called him by a code name. We referred to him under a code name.
Q. What were the names of other camp leaders? What were their Christian names, I mean?
A. Hermann, Hermann Schwarz.
Q. Go on.
A. Then there was Hoffmann.
Q. What was his Christian name?
A. I do not know.
Q. But you also admit that you heard the name Hoffmann often?
A. Yes.
Q. What were the names of the people in charge of labor detachments?
A. In Auschwitz there was Hehl.
Q. What was his Christian name?
A. I think Friedrich.
Q. But you're not sure? What was the name of your block leader?
A. My block leader's name was Winter.
Q. And his Christian name?
A. His Christian name was Rudolf.
Q. Other block leaders, please.
A. Other block leaders?
Q. Surely there were several while you were there. There must have been several block leaders