ROZALIA JURASZEK

On 21 June 1947 in Poznań, a member of the District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poznań, in the person of Deputy Prosecutor A. Lechmann, interviewed the person specified below as an unsworn witness. Having been advised of the criminal liability for making false declarations and of the wording of Article 106 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the witness testified as follows:


Name and surname Rozalia Juraszek, née Jabłońska
Age 36
Parents’ names Marian and Bronisława, née Milewska
Place of residence Poznań, Chełmońskiego Street 8, flat 4
Occupation student
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Criminal record none
Relationship to the parties none

Shortly after my late husband, Marian Karol, got arrested in Rajec, near Radom, on 24 January 1941, I was arrested as well in Warsaw, and detained in prison in Radom from 29 May 1941. On 3 August 1941, I was transported with a group of about 70 women to the concentration camp in Ravensbrück. We arrived there on 4 August. For a short time we were placed in block 16, and then block 11, supervised by Hermina Pacyna, who had been sentenced in Katowice to imprisonment for life. At the top of the camp for women was the head overseer (Oberaufseherin), Langefeld. While she never personally beat prisoners, she was nonetheless present whenever the SS men abused them; she was also in charge of sending prisoner transports to the gas chambers. Transports of the so-called Arbeitsunfähig [unfit for work] took place every second day in 1942 from March 3 to 20 inclusive. There were about eight such transports, each numbering about 120 people, so up to a thousand people in total. Since there was no gas chamber in the camp at the time, the victims were transported to another camp, most likely to Buchenwald.

The position of Langefeld’s assistant was held by Zimmerman [Emma Zimmer], who harbored a particular hatred for Poles. She beat them at every opportunity and shouted insults such as [illegible], Verfluchte Polin, [illegible] and the like.

While Langefeld was in charge, prisoners were executed by firing squad. During my detention in the Ravensbrück camp, the first such execution took place on 5 October 1941. This is when Irena Kowalska from Piotrków was executed outside the camp wall. Other prisoners were transported from Ravensbrück, and each was executed in a local prison corresponding to her place of residence. For example, three prisoners by the name of Rozpędowska from Radom district were executed in Kielce. Such was the fate of 18 people altogether. Subsequent executions carried out outside the camp wall that followed involved Maria Maciejczak, shot in March 1942, Eugenia [Genowefa] Iwańczak, shot on 2 April 1942, 18 people (Polish women only) shot on 13 April 1942, and 13 people shot on 18 April 1942. More details are in my notes, which I keep at home. These notes include the names of the victims and the dates of the executions.

From 1943, prisoners were executed by hanging.

SS man Koegel (formerly a camp physician) was the camp commandant at Ravensbrück. He was succeeded by Meyer who, as I have heard, was transferred to the camp in Oranienburg in February 1942.

At the end of April or the beginning of May 1942, Langefeld was transferred to the camp in Auschwitz, and her position [at Ravensbrück] was taken up by the bunker overseer, Maria Mandl. She was an educated German woman and the only overseer with a secondary education, it seems. Since I was never detained in the bunker, I have no first-hand knowledge of her conduct in this part of the camp. When she became Oberaufseherin, Mandl rampaged through the camp. She was always seen wearing gloves, always beating, kicking and hurling abuse at prisoners. There were so many prisoners hurt by her, it is hard for me to give names. Some prisoners were ruthlessly beaten. As far as the other names are concerned, Alfreda Kock, Emma Boden and Luiza Danz are unknown to me. If I were to confront them, perhaps I could recognize them as overseers.

On 26 March 1943, I left the camp in Ravensbrück and was transferred to Neu Rohlau [Nová Role]. This camp was a detention center subordinate to the camp in Flossenbürg. It was located in the Western Sudetes. I remained in this camp for a month, then I managed to escape and spent the rest of the occupation in hiding, in Poland.

I was never detained in the Auschwitz camp.

Ms. Irena Piasecka (residing in Poznań, Chełmońskiego Street 8, flat 4) was in the Ravensbrück camp with me. She remained in this camp until the end of the war.

Many details from the Ravensbrück camp can be provided by Ms. Marta Baranowska, from Bydgoszcz.

Finally, I would like to add that when Langefeld and Mandl were in command at Ravensbrück, an SS doctor and university professor, Gebhardt, along with [illegible] Fischer, carried out surgical experiments on prisoners. Langefeld forced prisoners to undergo the procedures by threatening to have them executed.

During the time when Langefeld was again in charge of the camp for women, on 25 March 1943, we were being prepared to leave the Ravensbrück camp. In front of the so-called Schreibstube [orderly room] used by Langefeld, we encountered young Russian girls aged 8–14, who were wearing their own clothes, and each one was holding a card and a bundle. Since they were taken away by the SS men who usually executed prisoners, these girls too were most certainly killed. Langefeld undoubtedly knows what happened to these little victims.

The report was read out before signing and concluded.