Polish Institute of Source Research

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1 Polish Institute of Source Research in Lund Sweden Date of the protocol: Lund, 3 rd December, 1945 Protocol no.: 18 Witness' family & given names: XXXXXXXXXX Places of internment Born on 23 rd May, 1924 Period from / to Placed in: Prisoner data (triangle, number, letter) Birthplace: Oświęcim, Poland 30 th January, 1942 / Profession: Seaman 30 th January, 1945 Nationality: Polish February 1945 about a Citizenship: Polish week Religion: Parents names (F/M): Mosaic Samuel Józef / Estera Last domicile in Poland: Sosnowiec March 1945 / Present domicile: Leaving for Leszno 15 th April, 1945 Labor camp NEUSALZ am Oder FLOSSENBURG /Bavaria/ BERGEN-BELSEN Testimony contains five handwritten pages and comprises: 1. Neusalz: admission, camp site, accommodations, alimentation; 2. Transport to Bergen-Belsen, arrival in camp, accommodations, roll calls, alimentation. Notes ; ----, ---- Political prisoner Page 1 of 5

2 Institute member interviewing/at the protocol: Luba MELCHIOR (Translation from Polish: Andrew Dobranski) 1 RECORD OF WITNESS TESTIMONY no. 018 Name, MRS: XXXXXXXXXX, Born: 23 rd May, 1924 In: Oświęcim Profession: --- Religion: Mosaic Parents 1 st names: Samuel Józef, Estera Last domicile in Poland: Sosnowiec Current domicile: leaving for Leszno Instructed about importance of truthful testimony as well as on responsibility for and consequences of false testimony, the witness testifies as to the following: I was detained in: labor camp in NEUSALZ am Oder. I was kept there between: 30 th January, 1942 and 30 th January, 1945, as a political prisoner with number: ----, wearing a ---- triangle, with a letter Then transferred to: camp FLOSSENBURG /Bavaria/ To stay there: Fabruary 1945, about a week. Then transferred to: concentration camp BERGEN-BELSEN To stay there from: March 1945 to 15 th April, Asked if in connection with my incarceration, my work in the 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: Testimony contains five handwritten pages and comprises: 1. Neusalz: admission, camp site, accommodations, alimentation; 2. Transport to Bergen-Belsen, arrival in camp, accommodations, roll calls, alimentation. On 30 January 1942 we, 158 young women from Sosnowiec in ages 18 20, were sent to slave labor in Neusalz on river Oder near town Wrocław /Breslau/. The camp was situated outside of town and as yet not inhabited. We were all Jewish women and were placed in barracks that were not insulated for this very cold winter. Snow was covering the walls, hygienic conditions were acceptable. One barrack had sewer and a wash room where we could wash, once a week in warm water. Each barrack had three large halls and a corridor and we were located twelve to the room. At the time of our arrival there were four barrack. We kept our civilian attire. Food was poor. 1 Translator s notes (if any) are in cursive, enclosed in parenthesis 2(5) Translation from Polish by Andrew Dobranski, 9th April, 2013

3 In the mornings before going to work in the factory we would get cold black (corn) coffee and 100 grams of bread. At noon we had lunch receiving a very thin soup. At 5:20 PM after work, coffee and grams of bread. We worked in the factory of thread Gruschwitz. Work day lasted 10 hours from 6 AM to 5 PM with one hour for lunch. Work conditions varied depending on location. In the fields harvesting linen we worked hard. Better work conditions were inside in Spinnerei (spinning mill) but there was dust. The camp was not far from the factory. Nearby were so called free camps for Polish and Ukrainian women, separated from us by barbed wires. Polish women helped us, brought us bread and took letters because we were not allowed to send them. The camp chief was a German woman Lagerführerin. The camp management was based on our girls: Judenälteste (Jewish elder), a practical nurse and the three (who) worked in the kitchen. All other women worked in the factory. Every day reveille was at 5 AM and at 5:50 AM we would go to work. We would return at 5 PM. There were no roll calls. We did not work at jobs other than in the factory. We were led to work by German civilians also the factory workers. Their behavior was bearable. Sundays were free. Jewish women were not allowed to speak with German, Polish and French women that worked with us. If anyone was caught talking with them she would be beaten by Camp Director and would not get her soup on Sunday. Food was not withheld during week days because the Camp Director believed that one had to eat going to work. Medical care was poor, very few supplies, health conditions were bearable. Despite major difficulties we were able to keep ourselves clean; no soap was given, but we could pilfer soap and detergent in the factory. From the camp two mentally ill persons were sent in an unknown direction. One girl escaped from the camp. SS man spoke to us and threatened to kill every tenth person if that should be repeated, but no other penalties were applied. Good work was rewarded by coupons that could be exchanged for soup, salad and hair shampoo. Every few months new transports would arrive. And still everybody was employed in the same factory. As people arrived the camp would build up. The number of barracks rose to fifteen and each room now held up to twenty five people. The camp was still administered by a civilian German woman. The 6 th of June 1944 the camp was transformed into a concentration camp. Fifty SS man took charge and now there were roll calls every day twice. Weekdays the roll calls were brief, some 20 minutes but on Sunday the morning and evening roll calls lasted two hours. Our clothes were confiscated leaving each one dress, one coat and two changes of underwear only. Shoes were replaced with wooden clogs. Now we wore numbers on left front and green-gray patches on the back. Punishment was metered out for the slightest transgression. For talking to the Polish women hair was shaven or one had to stand without a coat for hours in the freezing weather. SS women escorted us to work. 3(5) Translation from Polish by Andrew Dobranski, 9th April, 2013

4 A fact to remember was how the Factory s Director defended us. In November 1944 we were scheduled to be transferred to Auschwitz. He opposed that saying that we were an excellent, qualified work force without which the factory would not function. So we stayed. Due to political changes evacuation of the camp took place of 31 January We were led out of the camp, the Aufsehers (guards) walked with us. Every day we covered 30 km, without food. Soup came every few days. Victims were numerous, people could not endure. Dead bodies were left over on the road. After two weeks the guards left us /ordered to report to the front/. Six older SS men were assigned to us. They were better disposed and unlike the female guards did not beat us. After the five weeks march we reached FLOSSENBURG /Bavaria/, a men s camp. There our clothes were taken away and instead we received full of lice, filthy garb marked with crosses. Then they led us to the bath. A physician inspected us and depending on what one looked like we were marked with numbers written in ink on the forehead. After the bath we were registered according to the ink signs. Rumor had it that this was a selection. We were led to a block not far from the bath. The camp was located in a rocky, mountainous location, but we were not allowed to the camp as the men stayed there. We were in quarantine. Our block was not quite finished; a huge hall had no floor and no water. We had to lie on wood chips. We stayed there for eight days without water that had to be brought by men in large vats but that was still not enough. We could not even think about washing. Once a day for lunch we were given soup and 180 grams of bread by 5 PM. After five days air bombardments started. The English Army was approaching, and after eight days we were loaded into cattle train cars lacking any ventilation. We cried and begged and eventually the door was left ajar for us, eighty girls suffocating without air. We traveled for eight days, without water or food for five days. People died. On the ninth day, March 1945 we arrived in BERGEN-BELSEN. It was a huge camp, divided into fields. Female camp had three fields: a field for the workers, a field for interned French women, and a common field, where we were kept. The fields were separated by barbed wire fences, and each field was guarded by four towers occupied by SS men armed with machine guns. There were barrack on both sides of the road running through the middle of the camp. Barracks were of stone and also wooden with stone floors. We had no mattresses and had to lie on the floor. There was no water. There was no order. Every day transports arrived, nobody took charge of them or cared for them ; there was no room in the barracks. Women laid outdoor with small children, it snowed and rained and they had no shelter. Roll calls were conducted at 3 AM and lasted until 10 AM. If the count did not seem correct we had to come out again and be counted again, if a prisoner was missing. This could take hours daily. The food was horrible, there was no bread. Soup once per two or three days, was just a murky water, caused people to burn and there was no water. Intestinal illnesses were rampant; diarrhea and typhoid fever decimated people. This situation lasted until the liberation by the British Army on 15 th April 1945 at 2 PM. 4(5) Translation from Polish by Andrew Dobranski, 9th April, 2013

5 Signed after reading it /-/ Luba Melchior /-/ XXXXXXXXXX Assistant of the Institute Witness Lund, Comments by the Assistant of the institute: I believe that the above testimony is truthful, but I do have some doubts about the dates. /-/ Luba Melchior, Assistant of the institute. Certifying for the conformance with the original, Signature /Luba Melchior/. Stamp Polish Institute of Source 5(5) Translation from Polish by Andrew Dobranski, 9th April, 2013