REGINA NELKEN

On 11 July 1947 in Kraków, Deputy Prosecutor from the District Court in Kraków, Helena Turowicz, delegated to the Kraków District Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, acting in accordance with procedure provided for under the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293), and pursuant to Article 20 of the provisions introducing the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with Article 107 and 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, heard the person named below as witness, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Regina Nelken
Date and place of birth 7 September 1896 in Kraków
Parents’ names Fabian and Rozalia, née Herstein
Religious affiliation Jewish
Occupation office worker in the Jewish Historical Commission
Criminal record none
Place of residence Kraków, Starowiślana Street 78, flat 13
Relationship to the parties none

My daughter Halina is presently out of Kraków. However, as regards Orlowski, she has the same information as I do, as at the time when Orlowski served in the camps in Płaszów and Auschwitz, I was imprisoned in those camps together with my daughter. I would like to emphasize, however, that we didn’t meet Orlowski in Auschwitz.

I stayed in the camp in Płaszów from March 1943 to October 1944. I met Orlowski at the time when the camp in Płaszów was transformed from an Arbeitslager [labor camp] into

a Konzentrationslager [concentration camp]. I cannot recall the exact date, but I remember that after that transformation, the overseers (Aufseherins) arrived at the camp.

If my memory serves me right, Orlowski stayed in Płaszów for the entire time, with a short break of one or two months when she went with a transport to Wieliczka. In Płaszów, she held the post of the head of laundry, and she was also present during the Zahlappells [roll calls]. Then I would often see her torture the prisoners; she would beat women with a kind of reed whisk or kick them. She particularly tormented handsome girls, whom she could not stand.

I well remember an incident with a young Gypsy woman who, as far as I recall, was caught during an attempted escape, and whom Orlowski tortured horribly during the roll call. She beat and kicked her, and knocked her to the ground, and when the woman lost consciousness, Orlowski dragged her by the hair.

Moreover, Orlowski conducted frequent searches and robbed the prisoners not only of valuables, but also of clothes and foodstuffs. She took it all for herself.

The Jewish Historical Commission in Kraków has a lot of material pertaining to Orlowski, particularly testimonies made by various people.

At this point the report was concluded and, after being read out, signed.