Maria Landwirt Testimony (doc. 301/1538)

Original, manuscript, 2 pages, 210 x 295 mm, Polish language

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Oświęcim [Auschwitz], Bergen-Belsen, Aschersleben

Maria Landwirt born 7.3.1927 in Antwerp. Raised in Poland. The war found her in Cracow. On March 20, she found herself [in] the ghetto; she was deported; on March 12, 1943, she got into the Płaszów camp. She was told about the hanging of two 20-year old girls for leaving the camp and going to the city without permits, which made a strong impression on her. Besides, nothing bad happened to her personally there. On August 6, 1944 she was sent to Oświęcim. 135 people rode in a cattle car with her; at the station the children and the elderly were segregated. Then they were all taken in front of the baths and there, in the presence of KP-men, 1Note 1: KP-men, kapomen – a kapo (an inmate functionary) all women had to strip naked; then they were all taken to a shed, where they waited for a bath all night, naked, without food. For the slightest movement they were beaten with crops at random by the kapomen. At daybreak they went to the baths in groups; they were deprived of all their belongings; they were shaved, their heads, armpits and nether regions. They were shaved by men and women. Wet after the bath, they were chucked out into a room (most women had been deprived of their shoes), where were thrown some rags which they put on wet bodies. They were convinced they were going to a crematory, but they were taken to the camp. During her stay in the camp it once happened that a certain Hungarian woman overslept and didn’t report for roll call. A search began and when they found her the Lagerführer laid her on the ground and kept kicking and beating her, in full view of everybody, until she expired. The most horrible thing were selections. That’s when the German doctor Mengele 1Note 1: In the text: Mengerle appeared. He arranged all the women, stripped naked, into rows and removed those he didn’t like from the rows. Those women were then closed for 24 hours in small rooms, duty rooms, without food, and after that a truck came and took them to the crematory in Brzezinka 1Note 1: In the text: in Brzezinki b. There were usually about 100 of such victims. We lived in the constant fear of death.

On October 31, 1944, 3000 women were sent from Oświęcim

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to Bergen-Belsen. We stood outdoors throughout the night in our camp rags, waiting for a bath. After the bath there was another selection. The elderly, slim or pregnant women, as well as children were destined for death and immediately separated. The rest was given better clothes for the transport. There rode 65 women in each cattle car. They were given sufficient food for the journey for it consisted of one loaf of bread, 10 dkg of margarine and 15 dkg of sausage per head for the three days. They relieved nature in the closed car. After three days they arrived in Bergen-Belsen. They reported for roll call, where they were kept for 5 hours, after which they were taken to tents, where there was a bit of damp straw and 2 thin blankets per each. They washed outdoors in December, at water taps, usually at dawn.

One day the tents were torn away by a storm, so the prisoners were moved to the camp kitchen, where those 1500 women stayed squeezed for 4 days. Then they were moved to the barracks left by American citizens, where it was more bearable while in terms of food, it was disastrous as they were sometimes given nothing for 24 hours. That depended on the Sturmmann’s 4Note 4: SS-Sturmmann – a military rank in the SS (the equivalent of Corporal) 2 disposition. After 3 pm it was dark, so they usually went to sleep. There was no work and they were afflicted by idleness and hunger. After three months they took us to Aschersleben (near Magdeburg). Our work consisted in testing pipes for airplanes. We sabotaged that work with the knowledge of the German foreman Otto Riesener. There it was bearable, but on April 12 we were sent towardsDachau. It turned out, however, that the road we were supposed to take was occupied. In Zörbig, 4Note 4: In the text: Zerbig it turned out that the Americans were 30 km away from Leipzig, so part of SS men fled and the rest rode with the prisoners on carts. Part of the women fled to the forest and that’s where they waited until the American army came on April 15, 1945.

Cracow, August 27, 1945

Margoth Landwirth

Written down by Dr Laura Eichhornowa