1939 settembre - aprile 1945 – II Guerra Mondiale

1° settembre, A. Hitler attacca la Polonia;

1940

10 maggio - 25 giugno, campagna di Francia

1941
viene creato l'ufficio centrale di comando della Gestapo;

1º marzo, H. Himmler effettua il primo sopralluogo al KZ (Konzentrationslager) Auschwitz (in seguito Auschwitz I) complimentandosi con Rudolf Höß per il lavoro finora svolto ma esponendo nel contempo nuovi e grandiosi progetti per Auschwitz;
[Il campo dovrà essere ampliato fino a poter accogliere 30.000 prigionieri e nel contempo si dovrà creare un nuovo campo nell'area del villaggio di Birkenau (che diverrà Auschwitz II) della capienza di 100.000 internati.
Inoltre sarà necessario fornire 10.000 detenuti per la costruzione di un grande impianto per la produzione di gomma sintetica (Buna) di proprietà della IG Farben in località Dwory.]

marzo, sottocampo di Budy: i nazisti requisiscono ed evacuano l’intero villaggio di Bór;
[Ai residenti non è permesso di portare via alcun oggetto o proprietà e tutti i loro beni vengono sequestrati dalle SS. La popolazione locale viene trasferita nel Governatorato Generale o internata nei vari sottocampi già esistenti ed il nome viene cambiato in Budy. Gli unici a cui è consentito di trasferirsi nei villaggi vicini sono i ferrovieri ed i minatori per poter poi sfruttare tale manodopera a favore del Reich.
La maggior parte delle case, quasi tutte estremamente povere, vengono demolite ed il materiale recuperato viene utilizzato per la costruzione dei capannoni e delle torri istallate ad Harmeze mentre con i detriti sono preparate le fondamenta delle nuove baracche ed il fondo delle strade; questi lavori vengono eseguiti da detenuti che ogni giorno arrivano a piedi dal Campo base di Auschwitz.]

6 aprile, inizia l'invasione della Grecia e della Jugoslavia;
13 aprile, Belgrado viene occupata dalle truppe tedesche;
27 aprile, Atene viene occupata dalle truppe tedesche;
28 aprile, l'operazione balcanica si conclude con l'evacuazione delle forze britanniche;

invasione dell'Unione Sovietica

22 giugno, inizia la campagna di Russia "Operazione Barbarossa";

29 luglio, Rudolf Höß viene convocato a Berlino da H. Himmler per partecipare ad un incontro (strettamente confidenziale) nel quale vengono definiti i particolari per l'ampliamento di Auschwitz e la creazione del nuovo campo di Auschwitz II - Birkenau nel contesto della prevista soluzione finale ordinata da A. Hitler;

agosto, dopo l'incontro con H. Himmler, Rudolf Höß ha un incontro con A. Eichmann, architetto delle deportazioni del genocidio, per discutere la "Soluzione finale della questione ebraica";
[L'incontro puntualizza alcune questioni tecniche: si decide l'impiego di un gas, non ancora ben precisato per le previste uccisioni visto che la morte mediante fucilazione sarebbe un compito troppo pesante (e poco efficiente) per le SS destinate all'incarico. Nel contempo vengono esaminati il sito, nei pressi di Birkenau, sul quale sarebbero sorte le camere a gas ed i forni crematori.
L'incontro si conclude con l'impegno da parte di A. Eichmann di riferire a lui circa l'esistenza di qualche gas di facile produzione e che non richieda installazioni particolari, e di cui gliene parlerà in proposito.]

Viene intanto costruito per i prigionieri un Arbeitslager (campo di lavoro) della IG-Farben a Monowitz – a circa 10 chilometri da Auschwitz – che contiene anche un Arbeitsausbildungslager (campo di educazione del lavoro) per i prigionieri non ebrei considerati non all'altezza degli standard di lavoro tedeschi.
[IG-Farben ha fatto costruire il campo di concentramento di Auschwitz III Monowitz a proprie spese.]

Per tutta la seconda metà dell'anno proseguono intanto alacremente, sotto la sua supervisione, lavori di costruzione di Auschwitz II - Birkenau;
[Questo, tuttavia, diverrà operativo, come centro di sterminio, solo nella primavera 1942.]

1942
20 gennaio, Conferenza di Wannsee (sobborgo berlinese);
[Vengono formalizzati i dettagli della " Soluzione finale della questione ebraica ", politiche che culmineranno nella Shoah.];

15 febbraio, giunge al KZ Auschwitz (in seguito Auschwitz I) il primo convoglio di deportati ebrei provenienti dall'Alta Slesia che vengono immediatamente uccisi con il "Zyklon B" e i cui corpi vengono poi cremati;
[«Le informazioni ricevute sui metodi con i quali i tedeschi in Polonia realizzano il massacro degli ebrei includono resoconti di convogli carichi di adulti e bambini destinati a Oswiencim vicino a Cracovia».
(«New York Times», 25 novembre 1942, p.10]

17 febbraio, molte donne vengono trasferite al campo di concentramento di Ravensbrück;
[Ravensbrück si trova nei pressi della località di Fürstenberg, nella parte settentrionale della provincia del Brandeburgo, a circa 90 chilometri a nord di Berlino.]

da questo campo invece lei viene trasferita nel campo di concentramento di Auschwitz, dove all'inizio è tenuta come prigioniera per quattro settimane nel campo principale e poi viene usata nel campo di concentramento di Budy;

Arthur Liebehenschel entra a far parte del WVHA (SS-Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt - Ufficio centrale economico ed amministrativo delle SS);
[Questo nuovo ufficio, comandato da Oswald Pohl, che ingloba il precedente Ispettorato dei campi di concentramento divenuto Amtsgruppe D (dipartimento D) del WVHA, è sorto per ottimizzare la gestione delle finanze delle SS e lo sfruttamento della manodopera internata nei campi.]

1942-10 novembre 1943, Arthur Liebehenschel viene assegnato, in qualità di comandante, all'ufficio D1/Zentralamt (Ufficio di amministrazione centrale) e vice di Richard Glücks (comandante dell'interno Amtsgruppe D);

aprile, nel sottocampo di Budy i prigionieri sono sostituiti da un gruppo di lavoratori civili provenienti dalla Iugoslavia;
[Lo stesso anno, per ritorsione dovuta alla fuga della prigioniera Janina Nowak, viene creata una nuova compagnia penale. I nazisti hanno la consuetudine di eseguire le punizioni collettive relative ad reato di un solo prigioniero; alle 200 donne appartenenti alla squadra di Janina Nowak vengono tagliati i capelli a zero e sono costrette a vivere nell’edificio che prima era una scuola, circondato da doppio filo spinato non collegato a corrente elettrica. Le detenute vivono nella cantina e nella soffitta di tale edificio ed hanno a disposizione per dormire solo paglia e trucioli.
A tale compagnia appartengono ebree polacche, russe, ucraine, francesi, iugoslave e donne tedesche e ceche. Queste donne sono sottoposte ad estenuanti lavori di pulizia dei fondali degli stagni, taglio di erbacce nelle zone paludose, scavi di drenaggio per far defluire l’acqua delle paludi ecc.
Viene designata come sorvegliante l’ispettrice SS Elfreide Runge insieme a 25 SS con relativi cani da guardia.
Le terribili condizioni di lavoro e la crudeltà delle kapò portano alla morte di tante donne. Le condizioni di lavoro a Budy sono terribili sia d’inverno che durante la stagione delle pioggie le detenute sono costrette a lavorare dalla mattina alla sera, all’aperto; uno dei lavori che più inorridisce le detenute è il compostaggio che viene eseguito con le ceneri dei crematori di Auschwitz e Birkenau.
L’igiene è scarsissimo e solo una volta al mese vengono attuate le disinfestazioni durante le quali le prigioniere, indipendentemente dalla stagione, vengono costrette a stare fuori, nude, sino alla completa operazione dopodichè vengono restituiti i pochi abiti ancora bagnati.]

ottobre, nel sottocampo di Budy le kapò incaricate della sorveglianza ingaggiano una lotta con le prigioniere, lotta che si trasforma in un massacro in quanto le sorveglianti, con bastoni ed asce, uccidono circa 90 detenute;
[Le detenute nella compagnia penale saranno trasferite al Campo di Birkenau durante il mese di Marzo del 1943.]

[Delle 55.000 guardie che prestano servizio nei campi di concentramento nazisti, circa 3.700 sono donne. Nel 1942, le prime guardie donna giungono ad Auschwitz e Majdanek da Ravensbrück. L'anno successivo il regime nazista comincerà ad escludere le guardie donne a causa della scarsa attenzione nella sorveglianza.]

1943
giugno-febbraio 1944, è prigioniera ad Auschwitz-Birkenau;

8 settembre, l'Italia firma l'armistizio;

autunno, Oswald Pohl, decide che Auschwitz abbia raggiunto dimensioni tali da richiedere una suddivisione e la nomina di più comandanti.
Vengono così creati i campi di:
- Auschwitz I (KZ Auschwitz - Stammlager - ossia il campo originario) al comando di Arthur Liebehenschel,
- Auschwitz II (KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau), al comando di Friedrich Hartjenstein,
- Auschwitz III (ossia il campo di Monowitz, sede dell'impianto Buna-Werke di proprietà della IG-Farben, più i sub-campi esterni) al comando di Heinrich Schwarz.
[Nonostante la creazione di tre unità di comando indipendenti, l'amministrazione di Auschwitz rimane unica e concentrata presso il lager principale comandato da Arthur Liebehenschel che, di fatto, rappresenta l'autorità di comando più elevata dell'intero complesso ricoprendo la carica di Standortältester (comandante anziano del presidio).]

11 novembre, Arthur Liebehenschel viene nominato comandante di Auschwitz in sostituzione di Rudolf Höß andato a ricoprire il posto del primo al WVHA;

1944
febbraio, ad Auschwitz-Birkenau diviene kapo di vari squadroni di lavoro;

1° maggio, ufficialmente Rudolf Höß viene nominato solo ora nell'incarico di comandante del D1/Zentralamt, infatti in questo periodo viene attuata la deportazione degli Ebrei ungheresi.
[Unica comunità ebraica ancora parzialmente risparmiata tra quelle sottoposte direttamente ed indirettamente al dominio nazionalsocialista. Ciò è possibile anche grazie alla complicità del governo ungherese che dopo l'occupazione tedesca, ha iniziato ad emanare leggi antisemite e sono molti i filonazisti che sono andati al potere.]

8 maggio, Rudolf Höß ritorna ad Auschwitz, per sovrintendere alla "Ungarn-Aktion" – denominata poi in suo onore "Aktion Höß";

In questo periodo il complesso di sterminio di Auschwitz II - Birkenau raggiunge il suo massimo potenziale distruttivo con la morte di circa 400.000 vittime in circa tre mesi di «operazioni».
In qualità di Standortältester (comandante anziano del presidio), egli supervisiona con la solita efficienza l' "Ungarn-Aktion" estromettendo il comandante nominale di Birkenau Josef Kramer;
[Nel corso del processo intentatogli nel dopoguerra, Josef Kramer si giustificherà dicendo che lui gli ha ordinato di non occuparsi delle operazioni di sterminio degli ebrei ungheresi.]

I convogli vengono dirottati direttamente nel campo di concentramento di Auschwitz, l'unico centro di sterminio ancora a disposizione nei territori occupati, comodo per l'arrivo dei vagoni ferroviari e nascosto agli occhi del mondo. Dopo una sommaria selezione i prigionieri ungheresi ritenuti sani e forti – chiamati Depot-Häftlinge - detenuti in deposito – vengono alloggiati temporaneamente nel settore BII di Birkenau senza essere segnati nei registri del lager.

6 giugno, D-Day, inizio dell'invasione finale ad ovest;
20 luglio, Rastenburg, fallisce il colpo di stato tentato contro A. Hitler;

dicembre-gennaio 1945., viene inserita nella squadra penale sotto il comando di Peter Weingartner;
[Il motivo del trasferimento nella squadra penale è il possesso non autorizzato di alcune sigarette che ella aveva requisito durante un'operazione sul campo.]

1945
gennaio, il campo di concentramento di Auschwitz viene evacuato;
4 marzo, arriva a Ravensbrück dove viene imprigionata per quattro settimane con prigioniere incinte nel campo di concentramento di Bergen-Belsen;

15 aprile, le truppe Britanniche fanno irruzione nel campo di concentramento di Bergen-Belsen, trovando oltre 10.000 cadaveri e 60.000 superstiti.
I liberatori costringono tutto il personale delle SS a trasportare i corpi.

dopo l'avvenuta liberazione del campo, lavora prima nel campo e poi a Bergen come infermiera;

30 aprile, A. Hitler si toglie la vita insieme alla sua amante Eva Braun (ufficialmente sposata il giorno precedente);

8 maggio, finisce la guerra;

Viene detenuta per sospetto di maltrattamenti sulla base delle accuse di compagni detenuti.

17 settembre-17 novembre, 1° PROCESSO DI BELSEN [30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg, Bassa Sassonia]:

17 novembre,, viene ASSOLTA.

Non si sa nulla della sua ulteriore vita.

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EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENDANT ILSE LOTHE
ILSE LOTHE, sworn, examined by Major CRANFIELD - I am unmarried and was born on 6th November, 1914, in Erfurt. I worked in a shoe factory and in 1939 was directed to a munitions factory, and because I refused to go there I was sent to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, where I stayed until March, 1942, when I was transferred to Auschwitz No. 1. After four weeks I was put in an outside Kommando at Budin [Budy], seven kilometres from Auschwitz, where we did all sorts of digging, constructing a dam. In June, 1943, I went to Birkenau, where I worked in the camp until February, 1944, when I became a Kapo in Kommando No. 6, which consisted of 100 Hungarian Jewesses. After four months the Kommando was dissolved and I got another consisting of 50 Hungarian Jewesses, building bunkers in prepared positions for guns. in November, 1944, I got another Kommando No. 107, Water Works. In December the Kommandant took away my armlet and put me in a punishment Kommando called Vistula. I was no longer a Kapo. I was in that punishment Kommando until January, 1945, when we went to Ravensbruck for four weeks. In the beginning of March a transport of pregnant women was sent to Belsen and I went with them, arriving there on the 4th. For three weeks I was ill and then I became a Kapo in the vegetable Kommando, consisting mostly of Russians, with a few Hungarian and Polish Jewesses. There were about 140 in the Kommando.

How did you come to be appointed a Kapo first of all in February, 1944? - We were on parade in the morning and the Arbeitsdienstfuhrer went along looking at us and suddenly said, "You will take over from, tomorrow on this Kommando." That is how I became a Kapo, and I could not do anything about it. There was no question about asking or refusing because if we had done so it would have amounted to refusing work and that meant 25 strokes.

Did you at Auschwitz carry any kind of a weapon or a stick? - No, nor have I ever beaten anybody with a stick, but sometimes I slapped their faces during distribution of food to keep order.

Have you ever knocked a woman down and kicked her on the ground, either at Auschwitz or at Belsen? - No.

While prisoners were working out of the camp were they allowed to speak to civilians? - No, it was prohibited, but they did speak with civilians.

Did you ever have anything to do with the selection parades for the gas chamber? - No. Whenever a selection Appell took place all the Kapos were concentrated in one block and it was strictly prohibited for them to leave that block during the time.

Did any of the Kommandos you were in work inside Birkenau Camp? - No. The Kommando used to leave the camp at 0700 hours in the morning and return back at 1800 hours.

Have you been punished by the Political Department at Auschwitz? - Yes, three times. The first time because I smuggled a letter out of the camp. The second because I burnt the boards of the beds - I made a fire of them. And the third because we organised some food and cigarettes. The first time I got 25 strokes done in this way: a block was placed between my knees and my two hands were tied, and I was swung to and fro and beaten from both sides as I swung from one side to the other. I was beaten with a rubber truncheon by two S.S. men. I have heard of other Kapos being punished in this way.

Was this the official punishment for misbehaviour? - In the beginning Berlin was asked and gave the decision. Later on we did not bother to ask Berlin for it, and the Political Department itself made the decision and did what they liked.

Were the witnesses Rozenwayg and Trieger ever in your Kornmando? - No. if they had been I would certainly have recognised them.

Have you ever been out of camp with your Kommando with the accused Grese? - I have never worked in the same Kommando with Grese. When I took my Kommando out to work there were two male S.S. guards.

Rozenwayg said that on a Kommando you told the accused Grese to set a dog on to her, and the dog then bit her. Is that true? - Completely untrue. First she gave the date as July, 1943, before I had ever thought of becoming a Kapo at all. Secondly, I have never worked with Grese in the same Kommando; and thirdly, if Rozenwayg had ever worked in my Kommando I would certainly have recognised her. Nor did I hit a girl called Wiedletz as she says.

Sonia Watinik in her deposition says that she has seen you beat prisoners so badly that they were unable to work and were taken to Block 25, which everybody knew meant going to the gas chamber. What do you say to that? - I never had a stick and never beat anyone like that. Nobody had to go because of me into Block No. 2-5.

Will you tell the Court what happened when you were arrested at Belsen? - On 22nd June I walked through the camp with a Polish Jewess. We passed six or seven other Polish Jewesses who shouted, "That is a Kapo from Auschwitz." After I had gone a bit further on I turned round and saw two British soldiers talking to these women and asking them what had been going on. They shouted that I was a Kapo from Auschwitz and the British soldiers called me back, asked me for my papers, and said that I had to go with them to the British officer. These women accompanied me to the police and they had to say something about me. The story told by Rozenwayg, Gryka and Watinik is untrue.

Cross-examined by Captain PHILLIPs - What duties did the vegetable Kommando do at Belsen? - We took the vegetables and the potatoes from the places where they were stored to the kitchen.

Were there S.S. men or women supervising it? - Yes. Two Aufseherinnen and one S.S. man. Their names were Lehmann, Friedrich and Lisiewitz.

Did the accused No. 37 (Herta Bothe) have anything to do with your vegetable Kommando at Belsen? - No, she was working at the wood stores.

Cross-examined by Captain BOYD - When do you say that the accused Lisiewitz worked on this vegetable Kommando? - The beginning of April, 1945. During the time I was with this Kommando I only saw her on one day, and shortly before noon she went away because she felt ill. She was not carrying a stick.

Cross-examined by Captain MUNRO - Did you know anybody in Block 199 called Ida Friedman? - Yes. I believe she was a Polish Jewess. Ten days after the arrival of the British troops I went to the hospital as a nurse and Ida Friedman was taken there. I believe she had typhus.

Cross-examined by Colonel BACKHOUSE - You say the Ida Friedman you know was a Polish Jewess. That will not be the same one as Ehlert knows who was a Frenchwoman? - I think it was the same because she used to come to the Blockalteste. We used to talk with her in German and she very often went to Ehlert to tell fortunes by cards. The Blockalteste once told me she was a Polish Jewess.

About how many women were in Block 199? - 600 or 700. I know the names of a few girls in the block who were in my Kommando in Auschwitz. Friedman was never in my Kommando.

When you first went to Ravensbruck how were you treated? - We were treated very badly. There was not very much beating, but the Aufseherinnen who had working parties outside the camp used to set the dogs on us. Each Aufseherin had a dog and a pistol.

When you came to Auschwitz how were you treated there? - Very badly. The food was very bad; we had one litre of thin soup and one bread ration during the time I was at Budy.

Who was in charge of the Arbeitslager at Budy? - Kommandofuhrer Schlager. He treated us very badly. There were some Kapos there.

How did they treat you? - They also beat us, but not so often.

When you came into Birkenau in June, 1943, how were you employed? - In the masonry Kommando building a new parcels store and repairing the floors of some of the blocks which were made of bricks.

When you were working on drainage in Budy, did you go to and fro, night and morning, or did you live there? - We went to and fro every day.

Did the guard who went with you have dogs? - No.

You told us of the first punishment you got. What did you get for burning the bed boards? - I was put under arrest first in a cell, and received food every third day. I was there eight days and then I was taken to the Political Department where I received my 25 strokes. I had no kind of trial.

What about the third time when you were punished for organizing some food and cigarettes? - I was brought to the Political Department who made enquiries as to how and where I got the food and cigarettes, and then I was punished with 25 strokes because I bartered with civilians.

In Birkenau were people beaten by both Aufseherinnen and Kapos? -Yes.

Was Grese there then? - I saw Grese only when she was talking to somebody at the gate.

Were your Kommandos not composed of Hungarian Jewesses all the time you were a Kapo, and was not Grese in charge of the camp in which these Hungarians were? - Grese was in Camp "C." We were in Camp "B."

As a matter of fact, were you not a Kapo in the Strafkommando which was commanded by her for a time? Did you not work under her and did you not beat people severely yourself? - I have never worked with Grese there.

The Kapos had quite a few privileges, had they not? - No, on the contrary, we were punished much more severely than the others. We had exactly the same rations as all the other prisoners.

You had the distribution of it, had you not? - Never the Kapo, always the Blockalteste.

You say the Kapos were sent into one particular block if there was a selection for the gas chamber. Were you sent there before the selection started? - Yes.

Do you say that when Rozenwayg and Gryka came into the court the other day you did not even know them? - I do not know them.

Do you not remember them getting you arrested at Belsen, even if you never saw them before that? - I did not look at them closely at that time.

Did you not even look at the people who were accusing you? - They were shouting, but I continued to go on, and later on with the police they were not in the same room as I was.

If they were never in your Kommando at all why do you think they should pick on you? - That day they never said they had been working in my Kommando.

They said you had beaten them and ill-treated them at Auschwitz, did they not? - One said I had beaten her sister. She did not say her friend.

I suggest to you that you are not telling the truth about this at all, that in fact you worked with Grese, and those girls were under you, and that you did in fact complain to Grese on one occasion when she set her dog on one of them? - I have never been working with Grese, and was never in that Kommando.

I suggest to you that you beat Grunwald about the head with a stick to such an extent that she was taken away unconscious and eventually died? - I do not know anybody by that name, and I never had a stick.

I suggest that to save your own skin you were prepared to fall in with this system of ill-treatment of prisoners and to put yourself at the behest of the S.S.? - On the contrary, I did not fall in with that policy and as a matter of fact I was beaten much more frequently because I did not do so.

Why did you lose your armlet? - Because I had a few cigarettes in my pocket which we had organised on outside work.

What was the Vistula Kommando like? - Very bad. It was about three-quarters of an hour's march from the camp and over a bad road.

Were there S.S. guards with you? - Police, and apart from that three S.S. guards with dogs which were probably used when prisoners tried to escape on the way.

They were used to round up stragglers, were they not? - No. The guards went in front of the working party, and not behind them. In the Kommando Vistula those three guards with dogs were always in front.

That seems a very odd place to be if you wanted to stop people escaping behind you, was it not? - The police were at the back.

You had a very steep hill to go up on the way, and a lot of these women were very weak. Did they not find it very difficult to get up that hill sometimes? - Yes.

Were they not beaten up it? - No. It was a very big working party of 1000 women and when the first were at the top of the hill they stayed and waited until the last arrived. The Kommandofuhrer was sometimes furious if people were slow and he reprimanded them or he may have slapped their faces, but there was no particular beating.

It must have been nicer then in that punishment Kommando than in the rest of the camp? - It was not very nice because it was winter and very cold, and we had to work very hard.

What happened to the women who did not work very hard? - They were beaten.

And who was in charge of that Kommando? - Weingartner. (Accused No. 3.)

What usually happened to pregnant women at Auschwitz? - They were sent to the gas chamber.

How long were you Kapo of the vegetable Kommando at Belsen? - From 25th March until 14th April.

Dora Almaleh says in her deposition that she was one of the working party detailed to carry vegetables from the store to the kitchen. How did they carry them? - With a sort of cart. I was in charge of seven carts which were pulled by 15 prisoners.

Of course you do not know whether the accused Lisiewitz had been on this work before you came to it or not, do you? - I do not know. I only saw her on this job on Easter Sunday.

Was Roth the night guard in Block 199? - No. She was the Stubendienst, the room orderly.

Herta Bothe was in charge of preparing wood for the kitchen, was she not? - When I went with my Kommando to the other camp I saw her standing there, and I do not know any more.

When you got to Belsen were you promptly made a Kapo again? - I was sick for three weeks and then Oberaufseherin Volkenrath promoted me.

When you became a Kapo in Belsen were the women working under you very, very weak indeed? - No. I had nearly all Russians and they were all very strong.

Did they remain strong on the food they got? - The Russians were good at organizing.

But you remained fairly strong, did you not? - I was also quite good at organizing.

It was very easy for a Kapo, was it not? - No, not only for Kapos. Anybody who was good at organizing could do it.

What you really mean is that you could take somebody else's share, is it not? - No. If we had some sort of connections with the prisoners at the food stores we could barter with them.

But you were the Kapo of this party and one of the jobs that you accepted was looking after the work of your party, was it not? -Yes.

Let me suggest to you that what you did was that you got your own little party fed all right at the expense of the rest? - My Kommando was very good at organizing and apart from that they took potatoes which were in the cellar.

Re-examined by Major CRANFIELD - When you took the letters out of the camp at Auschwitz you knew you would be punished if you were found out, did you not? - I hoped that I would not be caught at it as I knew that I would be punished.

By the JUDGE ADVOCATE - When you were punished for smuggling letters were you a Kapo? - Yes.

And when you were punished on the other two occasions were you also a Kapo? - Yes.

You had had quite a number of beatings by that time. From the point of view of the German authorities you must have been a most unsatisfactory Kapo, must you not? - Yes. I have always done what was prohibited.

It was not until December, 1944, that Kramer took away your armlet. Is that right? - Yes, but it was Kraus who took it away then.

Do you think Volkenrath knew what an unsatisfactory record you had as a Kapo at Auschwitz? - I do not know.

By a Member of the Court - Where exactly were you between 12th April when the camp was taken over by the British and 22nd June when you were arrested? - First I worked as a nurse in the camp at Belsen where the hospital is, and later on as a nurse in Bergen.

Major CRANFIELD - I now put in a third affidavit by Regina Bialek which has not been put in before by the Prosecution.[16] (Exhibit No. 127.)

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