TEODOR DRZYMAŁA

On 13 September 1946 in Gliwice, Regional Investigative Judge Jan Sehn, a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, at the spoken request and in the presence of a member of that Commission, Deputy Prosecutor Edward Pęchalski, pursuant to and in accordance with Article 4 of the Decree of 10 November 1945 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 51, item 293), in connection with Articles 254, 107, 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, interviewed the former prisoner of the concentration camp in Auschwitz mentioned below, who testified as follows:


Name and surname Teodor Drzymała
Date and place of birth 2 November 1912, Groszowice, Opole District
Citizenship and nationality Polish
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Place of residence Gliwice, Aleja Zwycięstwa 2c

I was arrested on 15 August 1940 in Borowa Wieś, Pszczyna District, on charges of belonging to an underground organization, and then on 7 July 1940 I was transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where I received the prisoner number 1332. I stayed in that camp until 11 December 1941, when I was released thanks to the efforts of my family.

Initially, I worked in the Planierung Kommando [leveling detail], but later on I became a Stubendienst [room orderly] in block 3a, and then a Schreiber [clerk] there. Then, I served as deputy to the senior of block 10, and finally I became the senior of block 3a. I have provided the block numbers according to the original numbering.

As regards camp commander Höß, I witnessed that in the summer of 1941, after the escape of a camp prisoner, Höß personally selected 20 from among the prisoners who lived in our block, and gave an order to put them in the bunker. Those prisoners were starved there.

Prisoners were selected and sent to the bunker every time a prisoner escaped. In most cases, Lagerführer Fritzsch chose the prisoners who were to be sent to the bunker, but commandant Höß himself also did so many times. In addition, my inmates told me that Höß often set a dog on them when they were working in the so-called Industriehof. Due to the positions I occupied, I had no chance to meet Höß more often, so I have no further observations regarding his activities to share from my relatively short stay in Auschwitz.

The report was read out. At this point, the interview of the witness and the present report were concluded.