Efroim Münzer Testimony (doc. 301/203)

Original, manuscript, 4 pages, 150 x 210 mm, Polish language

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Efroim Münzer, born 1. 1. 1928 in Gdów, a town in Wieliczka district

Occupation: baker

Residence: 66/17 Starowiślna [Street] in Cracow

Description of the camp and life in Stalowa Wola

He stayed in the camp from 1942 to 1944. In August 1942, during a deportation in Wieliczka, they were loaded onto cattle cars, 100 people in each. He rode on a train for 24 hours during a very hot period and nobody was allowed to approach them with something to drink. Only in Dębica a Pole gave them a bucket of water at the charge of 100 złotys. On the arrival in camp, they were received by the camp guards consisting of Belorussians with whips. There were 3 barracks for the laborers. In August 1942 there were 80 Jews from Sieniawa there. Since August, there were already 680 (600 from Wieliczka). The bunks in the barrack had no paillasses, so that the laborers slept on the boards. On the first day the workers stood in front of the barrack from five in the morning till the evening. During that time they were thoroughly searched and deprived of

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everything, from money and valuables down to a simple leather belt. In the evening the SS Scharführer Schwamberg (known as the liquidator of the Przemyśl ghetto) and the Unterscharführer Brzdok (probably Bardok) came to them. Schwamberg gave a speech: They have to give away all the valuables. Whoever should go near the fence will automatically be shot. Whichever of the Jews talks to a civilian during work, be it about the sale of bread or anything else, will be shot. Whoever pauses at work, will be shot.

Directly after this speech, the majority threw away the money or valuables they were hiding. In the meantime, as a warning, they beat several people till blood was drawn, supposedly because they hadn’t given away everything. There was a reveille at two in the night. They marched out to work at 6; till then they were kept standing. They were taken away their caps and jackets to prevent them from escaping. On the way to work in a factory distant by 4 km they were driven

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with whips. They had to run all the way. They worked from 7 am to 6 pm with one 20-minute break at 3 pm for a soup. They worked in a steelworks. Vorarbeiters 1Note 1: Vorarbeiter (German) – foreman. at work were Volksdeutsche. The greatest sadist among them was Piosik (rumored to come from Poznań). He murdered the Jews with a piece of iron. He once burned a Jew alive. Most Jews died because of the said Piosik. Almost 8-10 Jews escaped everyday from the workplace. Because of that almost every day they had to stand 2-3 hours at roll call. In the evening they were given ab[out] 20dkg of bread and a soup, in which there were dirty and unpeeled potatoes. At the head of a barrack stood an Ordnungsdienstmann. 1Note 1: Ordnungsdienstmann (German) – member of the Ordnungsdienst (Order Service) Almost everyday 10-15 of the sick, who lay in the so called Krankenstube, 1Note 1: Krankenstube (German) - sickroomwere shot. These murders were committed by an SS-Sturmmann. In December 1942, 121 or 123 Jews were shot as unfit for work. Apart from that, 10-15 people died every day (dysentery and the like). (Since September there were already 1100 Jews).
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At the head of the OD 1Note 1: OD - Ordnungsdienst there stood a German Jew, Goldstein-Lindenmann, a pervert, an SS-Sturmmann’s favorite (He is rumored to be under arrest now). At the end of 1942 only 300 Jews remained, who worked already under the Wehrmacht’s supervision. After 80 Jews from Przemyśl arrived (in December 1942), there were already 380 Jews. This situation didn’t change until the end. Once, when two Jews accused the said Goldstein-Lindenmann of beating the Jews, he denounced their supposed intention of escape. They were shot. In March 1943 he prepared a list of 56 Jews who, as he claimed, were unable to work. They were shot. In July 1944, during the Soviet offensive, most people wanted to escape, but were prevented by Goldstein. And yet 85 Jews pulled out the fences, cut the barbed wire with scissors and ran away into the forest. They stayed there for 2 weeks (until August 2). They were liberated by the Soviets.