Evacuation and Liberation of Auschwitz in accounts of witnesses

Transcript of the podcast

The Auschwitz camp was liberated on January 27th 1945. Thanks to the actions of Red Army soldiers from the 100th and 322nd Divisions, about 7,000 prisoners in three parts of Auschwitz were liberated, and about 500 prisoners were liberated in several sub-camps. At the time of the liberation, there were more than 500 children in Auschwitz, including more than 60 born in the camp. The last days of the camp and the moment of liberation are told by witnesses to those events.

”In the frosty January night from the 17th to the 18th of January 1945, we were awakened from a brief sleep by the sound of detonations. It was the bombing of the town of Oświęcim (Auschwitz). After midnight, on the utility yard separated by barbed wire, where silence usually prevailed, there was movement, shouting, and short guttural commands in German, indicating that something was happening. In the darkness of the night, one could see prisoners—men with carts—who were packing feed for the cattle in feverish haste and frenzy. The female block leader, a German woman, whistled to summon the male block leader, who briefly shouted that the entire camp was being evacuated. At 3 a.m., they conducted a normal roll call for us. After the roll call, a Pole from the men's block (also a Schreiber) informed me about the evacuation details. He told me that the Russian front was approaching rapidly, hence the haste. He told me to put on civilian clothes because at the first opportunity, we would have to escape. I rejected this idea because I was unfamiliar with the surrounding area and didn't know anyone who could shelter us. [...] Our SS authorities on site ordered the sick women prisoners to be transported to the main camp. The sick decided to drag themselves out of bed and march with us. [...] Around noon, we were formed into a column and awaited the order to march. The escorts were SS men employed in our subcamp Pławy, and there was also a small group of strangers whom I hadn't seen before. Naturally, they were all seriously drunk. The SS-Scharführer —the commander of our camp—could not stand on his own feet. He kept bumping into the walls of the barrack, mumbling curses repeatedly. [...]”

”On January 17, 1945, in the late-night hours, doctors, paramedics, and functionaries were ordered to gather via gong, with a 15-minute deadline to prepare for departure. Most of the medical personnel marched out that same night. [...] Dressed prisoners were taken out of the camp in groups. I was supposed to leave around 3 p.m. with the rest of the functionaries, but at the last moment, I decided to stay and left the formed column. I hid in Block 13, in the carpentry workshop, among the junk accumulated there. Whether any of the functionaries besides me stayed—I didn't know then. It seemed to me that I was alone. Through a gap between the objects, I observed the camp. About half an hour after the departure of the last column (around 4 a.m.), a platoon of fully armed SS men arrived at the camp. Initially, I thought they had come to shoot the remaining sick prisoners. However, it turned out that they were conducting a roll call of the remaining sick to determine how many were left in the camp. [...] Around 6 p.m., taking advantage of the darkness, I went out to find out what was happening in the camp. I met several healthy prisoners who, like me, had not gone with the transport.

Among them were Dr. Stanisław Zasadzki, Dr. Alfred Fiderkiewicz, Władysław Rodowicz, Julian Ganszer, and several Soviet prisoners of war from the 'Kesselkommando,' including Andrey, whom I knew better. (Because there was no kitchen in the hospital sector, food was brought from sector BIId by the so-called Kesselkommando, which included several Soviet prisoners of war).”

”They led us out. We walked wrapped in some blankets. Those who couldn't walk were shot by the SS men. The snow was completely red. Suddenly, everything became utterly, utterly indifferent to me. I told my mother: 'You go on, and I'll stay here. I don't want any more... I can't anymore...' I don't know how long we walked. Somewhere along the way, there were wagons.”

”[...] On January 18, 1945, the final, on-foot evacuation of women prisoners from Birkenau took place. The prisoners were ordered to prepare for it immediately. The SS men were literally talking the prisoners into joining the transport. They said [...] that the entire camp was mined and would be blown up upon their departure. Many prisoners asked me what they should do: go with the transport or stay. I told them that I was staying myself because, if I were to die, I would prefer to die on Polish soil, but as for themselves, they must decide on their own. I remember that in the last moments, the SS men from the infirmary urged me and advised me to go with them. In the last minutes before the departure of the evacuation column, they searched for me in the blocks. I avoided evacuation by lying down in the block, next to one of the sick prisoners, on the top tier of the bunk. After the departure of the last evacuation transport from the camp in Birkenau, over 2,000 sick prisoners and a small handful of relatively healthy prisoners, who took care of the sick, remained in the women's camp hospital. No SS guards were visible anymore; only individual SS men occasionally entered the camp. I heard that the camp area was also occasionally patrolled by groups of SS men and that they shot many Jewish women prisoners.”

”[...] On January 18, 1945, they began to lead the prisoners out in an evacuation march. Before departure, they issued dry provisions—bread and some margarine [...]. Prisoners were led out of the camp in groups of five hundred. I left with the last group [...]. The prisoners, marching in rows of five, were guarded by SS men who walked on the sides of the column. The SS men were armed with rifles and machine guns [...]. After Bieruń, we began to encounter the bodies of prisoners lying by the side of the road. These were those who had been killed by SS bullets as they were unable to continue the march. From time to time, shots were heard [...]. Tired and exhausted by the prolonged march, we reached Gliwice [...]. In Gliwice [...] all the prisoners were placed in open railroad coal cars, loading about 60 people into each wagon [...]. The wagons were terribly crowded. None of the prisoners could really move or change their position once they taken it. The train left Gliwice in the evening. Stopping frequently along the route, we traveled very slowly. It is difficult for me now to describe exactly what began to happen during the journey. Deprived of shelter from the frost, the prisoners weakened. Dantean scenes unfolded. Everyone fought for the place they occupied [...].”

”[...] Escorted by SS men, loaded with backpacks, we walked at a fast pace in the direction of Pszczyna. Every now and then, a shot was heard—that was how the SS men dealt with those who weakened and could no longer walk. The wind and frost took their toll on us. The weaker ones gradually began to empty their backpacks. They threw away blankets, underwear, spare dresses, or shoes to lighten their load a bit. At 2 a.m., a halt was ordered. For the night, they gave us a barn and a stable—they packed us in there simply one on top of another. There was no straw. The doors were open. We got even colder there, and instead of resting, our fatigue increased. Our shoes were completely soaked; our feet were swimming inside the footwear. In the morning, at 8 o'clock, further march without breakfast. [...] The frost was severe; we wanted to sing a little to boost the spirits of the weak and the older ones, but unfortunately, the SS men drowned out our singing with shots. We encountered more and more corpses in various positions, mostly with shattered skulls, lying at the edges of the road.”

”On the first night (from January 18 to 19), when everyone had already left the camp except for those who remained in the infirmary, airplanes flew over us and dropped bombs, one of which hit the barrack next to ours. Many half-naked prisoners went outside, into the snow and frost, because there was a fire, which meant warmth and perhaps something to eat. The next morning, when I left the barrack, the ashes were still smoldering. I walked around the camp, half-dressed, in clogs, looking for something to eat.”

”On the night of January 17 to 18, a large transport of prisoners, about 11,000 people, left the camp, in temperatures of minus 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. About 1,200 prisoners remained in Auschwitz I. The sick left behind in these conditions, without medical care, without a glass of water, were doomed to death in at least 90 percent of cases. I could not reconcile myself to this situation and decided to stay with the sick. [...] I told one of my colleagues, Dr. [Jakub] Gordon from Vilnius, about my decision to stay in the camp. Without hesitation, he said, 'I also want to stay with you.' There was another doctor, Dr. Samuel Steinberg from Paris. He reacted the same way and stayed with us. A few young boys also stayed with us to help in our work with the sick. [...] The situation was very difficult. We had to treat and feed the sick. We needed at least three to four thousand liters of water to cook tea and soup for everyone. On the first night, we broke into the warehouses, which were full of everything: canned food, fats, butter, groats—everything one could desire. We took a large part of these supplies and brought them to the blocks to have something to cook with. In Block 28, there was a kitchen, and that's where cooking was done. It turned out that there was still a certain group of healthy prisoners in the camp, and they came to help us. We had to carry water to the kitchen, three to four thousand liters daily, from a hole in the fire reservoir located in the camp. The prepared meals and coffee or tea had to be transported to the blocks and distributed among the sick. We had to clean the blocks, toilets, wash the sick; we had to perform surgeries, change bandages, dressings—the work lasted from morning till night.”

”On the second day after the evacuation, a group of SS men appeared, who wielded power over the next few days. On their orders, the female prisoners were gathered into three or four blocks, counted, and registered. At the roll call ordered by them, the SS men warned us against escape attempts and announced that they would shoot anyone who tried to leave the camp. Immediately after the roll call, they ordered all Jewish prisoners to step forward. Next to me stood Jewish twins from Łódź (one of them was named Jafa) and Kazia also a Jewish girl from Łódź), very young, no more than 15 years old. I whispered to them not to step out of line. The twins listened to me, but the fearful Kazia stepped forward. About a 200-person group of prisoners was driven by the SS men towards the ruins of Crematorium V. With pounding hearts, we waited for the sound of shots, but despite the passage of time, it was quiet. We left the blocks to get something to eat because we hadn't had anything in our mouths for two days. We found rotten and frozen potato peels in the German canteen's garbage bins. While several women began cooking soup from them, I, along with three colleagues, went out to search further for food. Instead, in one of the blocks, we found a group of naked, frozen, crying children. They were festering, hounded little dwarfs, starving like wolves. We called them 'Turks' because we couldn't communicate with them. I stayed with them along with a colleague, while the other two women went to get help. On the way, they met two Russian prisoners. Together with them, we moved the children to our block. There were 18 of them in total. We had to get food for them at all costs.”

”On January 19, after the departure of the last evacuation transports, only bedridden sick female prisoners remained within the BIIe sector, unable to walk longer distances, sick prisoners staying in the Schonungsblock (mostly Jewish women), several dozen children, and 17 ambulatory staff members of the infirmary.

”Immediately after the evacuation, the SS posts permanently descended from the watchtowers, although for about two or three more days, the camp was systematically patrolled by SS patrols. Every day, SS man Perschel came to the camp. After most of the SS garrison left the camp, front-line SS and Wehrmacht units also passed through it. On January 20, 1945, prisoners, in search of food, went to the food warehouse next to the camp kitchen on the BIId sector. Whoever felt strong enough ran to the warehouse and carried out bags of groats, pasta, sugar, and raisins. At some point, SS men arrived with Perschel and began shooting at the prisoners and beating them with planks. I was personally hit several times very hard with a plank by the aforementioned SS man Perschel. As a result of the blows, I fell unconscious to the ground. After the SS man left, I dragged myself with two bags weighing about 25 kilograms each to the infirmary block. As a result of the SS action near the warehouse and on the road leading to it, many prisoners were killed.”

”The SS men announced that the camp was mined and that anyone who remained in the camp would perish. Many people did not believe the SS men and stayed in the camp. Personally, I decided not to leave the sick. Together with me, Dr. Alicja Piotrowska, a Russian surgeon Dr. Lubov, and some nurses, including Anna Chomicz, Zofia Klimkiewicz, and the Hungarian London, stayed in the camp.”

“The period until the arrival of the first line of the Soviet army I would call a time of anarchy. Total chaos reigned in the camp. No one listened to anyone; the former prisoner functionaries were not respected. Corpses were not removed from the blocks, and filth was not cleaned up. The women prisoners demanded care and food, but at the same time, there were not enough people willing to serve it. Some prisoners managed to bring some food products from the SS warehouses, from which they tried to prepare hot meals. Together with several fellow prisoners, including the doctor Sara Marinette, I 'went out of my way' to help as many bedridden patients as possible, both in terms of medical care and food. We tried to encourage all our fellow prisoners so they wouldn't break down but hold on until they could return to their families. [...]”

“Until the moment of liberation, we had to manage on our own. We organized food and clothing from the warehouses, above all. We poured oil into various small containers, put wicks made from threads pulled from blankets into them, and used these improvised lamps to light the rooms.”

”Between the evacuation and liberation, German military formations, possibly also SS men, passed through our camp twice. The first time, German soldiers ordered all Jewish women to leave the blocks. They led them towards the town of Oświęcim and shot them on the way. The second time, they shot several Soviet prisoners of war.”

”For several days after January 20, we could hear ongoing frontline battles nearby. Once, I saw SS men who took off their uniforms and left through the camp gate in civilian clothes.”

”Just before liberation, a heavily armed SS unit arrived at the women's infirmary area. The SS men called out most of the prisoners from the Schonungsblock and led them towards the nearby camp gate. Already on the camp street leading towards the gate, they shot about 100 prisoners.”

”On January 23, it was a Tuesday, the last transports were leaving the main camp before noon. While at the window, I saw Lagerführer Hössler, who was with the last transport, approach near the hospital buildings and tell a doctor, a professor from Poznań, that he was leaving further care in their hands. Lying in the block, from which I didn't go out, I was sure that few prisoners remained in the camp. From the windows of Block 28, I saw shattered units of the German army, individual, loose groups retreating along the road outside the wall from Bauhof towards the Soła River, entering the so-called Theatergebäude along the way, from where they took cigarettes, bottles of mineral water, etc., with them.

On Wednesday, January 24, I didn't see guards on the watchtowers. Groups of soldiers continued to retreat along the road outside the wall. Prisoners who could walk went to the Bekleidungskammer and Effektenkammer warehouses, from where they carried out underwear, civilian clothes, and to the food warehouses, carrying out sugar, grits, condensed milk, canned meat. A fire broke out in the Effektenkammer building. At some point, an SS man appeared in the camp, but no one paid attention to him. In the corner of the fence, behind Block 28, the wires, which no longer had electricity, were cut, and prisoners escaped from the camp.

A uniformed unit appeared in the camp; it was said to be the Bahnschutz, and seeing prisoners carrying things from the warehouses, they fired at them with rifles, killing several. After loading provisions into two cars, they left.

Several doctors remained in the hospital, but I think they didn't take care of the sick. In the diet kitchen (Diätküche) in Block 28, a certain German who stayed in the hospital began cooking meals for the block's prisoners from the accumulated supplies. I heard that he had a sharp altercation with some SS man about the 'stolen' provisions, which, however, passed without consequences. The night passed peacefully, except that planes circled over the camp and the area of Oświęcim.

”On Thursday, January 25, life in the camp abandoned by the SS proceeded similarly to the previous day. Prisoners were not hungry, having accumulated food supplies. Some prisoners continued to escape. I had a similar intention and arranged with two colleagues who were going to Lędziny. However, I didn't have the strength and had to stay. My colleagues left. Around 2 p.m., suddenly a shout was heard, passed from block to block: 'Alles aus den Blocken raus, wer im Block verbleibt, wird erschossen' (Everyone out of the blocks, whoever remains inside will be shot). Then they added: 'Those who cannot walk, carry them out of the blocks.' We began to leave. Only now did I realize how many prisoners remained in the camp. The street was full of prisoners. They were standing in camp formation, down the street from Block 28 to Block 24. On the sidewalks stood SS men with automatic weapons ready to fire. It was the Gestapo from Oświęcim, recognizable by their elegant attire. There could have been 40 to 50 of them.

An order was given to line up according to nationality. Jews predominated. The Polish group was small. We were told to line up at the front near Block 24. The commanders of the action stood there. Unexpectedly, a motorcyclist drove into the camp. I saw one of the commanders approach him and whisper something to him. After a short conversation, the order was given: 'Everyone back to the blocks, and on the order to depart, everyone is to assemble immediately again.' The Gestapo men left. We returned to the blocks, awaiting the order to assemble for departure. We were dressed in coats. It was dark; here and there, remnants of candles were burning. The mood was full of uncertainty and excitement. Moments passed. Suddenly, one of the prisoners, a German from Düsseldorf, said, 'Ich hau mich hin, hier kommt ja sowieso kein Schwein mehr' (I'm going to lie down; no pig is coming here anyway), undressed, and went to sleep. We began to undress and go to bed. In the distance, shots could be heard. The Gestapo men did not return.”

”On 25 January 1945, SS men arrived at the camp [Auschwitz I] in greater numbers and ordered all the prisoners who could only get up from their beds to get ready for transport. It was obvious from their behaviour that their intention was to shoot us all. They lined us up at the gate and we were about to set off when a staff car with two SS men arrived. These SS men said something to those who were to escort us and after a short while everyone left the camp.

”On January 26, the SS men conducted a roll call with us for the last time. One of them declared that it was the last day of the camp's existence because it would be blown up after midnight. On the camp grounds, in three or four barracks of the former Roma camp, there were about a thousand prisoners at that time. Most of them were sick. Among the slightly healthier prisoners, moving on their own, were mostly foreigners.”

”I found that half the people were no longer in the camp, and interestingly, the Germans had als o disappeared, including those who lived near the camp. I continued to see fleeing groups of German soldiers beyond the wall.”

”A scene of fleeing SS men gave me much joy. One of them had a bicycle, and when he got on it to escape, another struck him on the head with a rifle butt, got on the bicycle, and rode off in panic.”

”At the appeal of Father Szlachta, I gathered a group of willing people, and two or three days before the Red Army reached Oświęcim, I headed with them to the camp in Birkenau. This group included Wilhelm Wazdrąg, Marian Śliwka, Kazimierz Baraniak, Edward Krzywda, Zdzisław Bosek, Czesław Pęcikiewicz, Józef Bucki, Józef Bałdys, Bogusław Duda, and Józef Budka —the youngest among us, a 16-year-old boy, extremely selfless and brave.

Upon arriving at Birkenau, we managed to disarm several SS men; we also found quite a bit of weapons abandoned by the Germans. There was even an exchange of fire between us and encountered SS men, resulting in some of them being killed. In Birkenau, we found about 4,000–5,000 sick prisoners and piles of massacred, rat-gnawed, partially burned corpses. Moving from barrack to barrack, to avoid stepping on the corpses, we pushed them aside, making a path among them. Corpses also lay on the bunks in the barracks and often mingled with the still-living prisoners. While wandering among the barracks, I noticed insulated cables stretched between them, and when I pulled on them, I saw small metal, elongated boxes in the shape of rectangular prisms. They were located under the walls of the barracks, just below the ground surface, two at each barrack on opposite sides. Each box was 15–20 cm long and could be easily grasped by hand. Although, out of fear for my life, I didn't try to open any of them, I believe they were filled with explosive powder. The cables connecting these boxes into one branched network lay on the ground surface, covered by snow. It was evident that they had been lying under the snow for some time. Together with my colleague Wazdrąg, we went around the entire camp, cut the cables, and extracted the mentioned boxes from under the barrack walls, which we threw into the ditches next to the camp fence.”

”On the night of January 26, the cannonade approached and became continuous, then after a while, it ceased. We heard German cars retreating on the road to Bielsko. The Wehrmacht was retreating. The sounds of artillery were replaced by machine-gun fire. The artillery began firing very close again; we heard shots, explosions, and machine guns firing ever closer. Suddenly, it stopped.”

”Midnight was approaching. I was so exhausted that I decided to lie down, even though, according to the SS men's announcements, these were to be our last moments of life. I said goodbye to my closest friends and asked them not to wake me because I did want death to reach me in my sleep. I wrapped my head in a quilt and fell asleep. I was awakened by screams and shouts. When I angrily asked the Austrian prisoner lying above me why they woke me, she shouted: 'Zofia, Zofia, the Russians, the Russians.' The block buzzed like a beehive; even the dying momentarily regained strength.”

”We were not sure who they were. We feared they might be Germans who would want to liquidate us. The approaching men formed the forward point of a reconnaissance patrol. Soon, cries of 'Zdravstvuyte, tovarishchi' (Hello, comrades) were heard. The Soviet soldiers reassured us, saying we shouldn't be afraid because 'there are no Germans.'„

”It was afternoon. Three Russians entered. Let me put it differently. Three Soviet scouts entered, dressed in white protective cloaks, because it was winter. They looked like ghosts. It's hard to describe their faces. At their sight, the sick began to come out of the blocks, wrapped in blankets. I asked one of these soldiers, a small one, what his name was and where he was from. He replied that his name was Voroblevsky and he was from Moscow. I will never forget that moment. Soon after the scouts, the whole army arrived. [...] When the leading units of the Soviet army passed through the camp, we were once again left alone for a while, relying on our own strength. [...] When I saw the first three Soviet scouts near our Block 21, I didn't hear any shots. As soon as the scouts freed themselves from the embraces of the prisoners greeting them, I explained where they were, that the figures wrapped in blankets were sick prisoners. As I noted, the first Soviet units quickly moved further on.”

”The day was sunny and beautiful. Around 2 p.m., as I was walking down the main road of the women's camp, someone shouted, 'Look, a soldier!' People began to call out that they saw Soviet soldiers near the barracks in the distance. I wondered how to greet them. At that moment, I saw a soldier emerging from a barrack with his rifle at the ready. He walked like a hunter on a hunt, slowly, steadily, slightly bent over. We stood facing each other. 'Zdravstvuyte!' I said. He replied and asked if there were any Germans here, then moved on. From behind each barrack, soldiers emerged and moved forward step by step in the same way. Everyone asked, 'Are there any Germans among you?' They passed through the hospital area towards the crematoria. Only an hour later did a larger number of troops come to our camp.”

”Several Soviet soldiers—scouts—with rifles at the ready, entered the women's camp hospital grounds. The female prisoners threw themselves joyfully at them. Shortly afterward, a military horse-drawn convoy drove up in front of the blocks. When the Soviet soldiers realized our situation, they supplied us with top-quality food (excellent military bread from molds, hardtack, and natural fat). A day or two later, several beautifully built Soviet officers dressed in clean, white, long sheepskin coats appeared, and they conducted a thorough reconnaissance of our needs [...].”

”On January 27, I saw the first Soviet soldiers in the main camp Auschwitz I. Skirmishes could be heard nearby. They passed through the camp and, on elevations placed against the wall, began shooting in the direction of Rajsko. Outside the wall, from the side of the Monopol building, Soviet artillery set up and opened fire in the same direction, causing the windows of the adjacent blocks to shatter. Several German grenades fell on the camp near Block 11. A pile of coal and briquettes next to the TWL warehouses began to burn. At night, there was a huge glow.”

”Towards evening, Russians arrived at the camp on horseback. There was deep snow, but from all corners, sick and weak prisoners crawled out to see the 'Russians.' The cavalry moved on, and the night was full of joy but also anxiety because the first Russian patrols could withdraw, and the Germans could return to finish their work. In the morning, Soviet tanks appeared.”

”An enormous number of barracks. In many of them, people lay on bunks. They were skeletons covered with skin. Conversations with them were brief because they were completely devoid of strength and found it difficult to say anything more about their stay in the camp. We recorded what they told us.”

”On January 28, the First Ukrainian Front halted along the camp line. 'Katyushas' were brought onto the camp grounds. One of them stood next to our block. Among the Soviet soldiers, there were also many Poles. Along with the soldiers were female medics. Everyone looked at us from a distance, somewhat strangely. The soldiers began to give us their food rations, primarily hardtack and canned food. By order of the commander, the soldiers killed a horse and began to fry it in the kettles. Prisoners grabbed the tough, still red, half-raw meat and hastily swallowed it. We behaved like savages, not like people. There was no doctor to warn us against consuming too large and indigestible meals. I was saved by the fact that before receiving the meat, I had eaten quite a lot of hardtack. That same evening or the next morning, a Soviet military doctor arrived and confiscated all the food supplies left by the soldiers.”

”We found a Soviet military unit there, which included, among others, doctors and nurses. They assigned us rooms for lodging in one of the barracks and directed us to work. Our volunteer group's work was led by Tadeusz Mleko. The Soviet field kitchen cooked meals for the sick prisoners. We carried these meals to the barracks and fed them. The mortality rate among the sick was very high. We constantly carried corpses from the barracks to a pit sprinkled with chlorine.”

”[...] On the second or third day after liberation, a Soviet field hospital arrived at the camp. Soviet doctors immediately arranged for allocations of easily digestible food (potatoes, dietary groats) for the survivors and introduced rationing of meals. The sick survivors were given medicines, including valuable drugs of English and American production.

A survivor, a Russian venereologist, Dr. Arkadiusz Mostowoj, became the intermediary between the Soviet doctors and the doctors and nurses who were former prisoners. Dr. A. Mostowoj held this function for a long time.

After liberation, for a certain period, I continued to work as a nurse in Block 13 on the BIIe sector. Since Dr. Irena Białówna was evacuated into Germany in January 1945, the role of block doctor in Block 13 was taken by Dr. Alicja Piotrowska. After January 27, besides me and Dr. Alicja Piotrowska, the sick former female prisoners in Block 13 were cared for by survivor, doctor Krajnik from Hungary and former prisoner nurses: [Izabela] London, Kazimiera Królikowska, and Zofia Klimkiewicz.

I don't recall exactly when we were moved from Birkenau to the former main camp and when or where exactly—that is, whether in Birkenau or only in the former main camp—I first met members of the Polish Red Cross team who came to help us. We greeted the Red Cross team with great joy. With their arrival, the number of medical and nursing staff in individual blocks increased, and, in connection with this, the general conditions of work in caring for the sick improved. We could already think about dividing individual functions, that is, rationalizing the organization of work. [...]”

“The condition of the prisoners left in the camp in Birkenau was appalling. The prisoners were terribly emaciated; the vast majority of them were bedridden, suffering from typhoid fever, typhus, dysentery, and pemphigus. The prisoners came from almost all European countries; among them were people of different ages, including mothers with infants. Among the Poles were elderly women brought to the camp after the Warsaw Uprising. The camp was without light and water. People were freezing in the snow; infants were crying. Rats roamed over the living and the dead. First of all, we tried to remove the corpses of prisoners from the area. We carried them to a huge pit that had been dug before our arrival in Birkenau. At its bottom, we already found prisoners' corpses. After liberation, this pit was emptied, and a ceremonial funeral was held near the main camp. The numerical state of survivors was constantly changing. Many of them died even after liberation. The stronger ones left the camp; many were claimed by their families.”

”The doctors proceeded to weigh and examine the patients. At 18 years old, I weighed 19 kilograms”.

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Listen about the last days of the camp's operation and the moment of liberation. The podcast includes testimonies of:

Anna Tytoniak

Kazimierz Smoleń

Lea Shinar

Irena Konieczna

Józef Tabaczyński

Wanda Błachowska-Tarasiewicz

Louis Posner

Jakub Wolman

Zofia Jankowska-Palińska

Anna Chomicz

Zofia Lutomska-Kucharska

Wanda Dramińska

Edward Czempiel

Jakub Gordon

Andrzej Kozłowski

Tadeusz Mleko

Garnier (first name unknown)

Alfred Fiderkiewicz

Aleksander Vorontsov

Wilhelm Wazdrąg

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(English voiceovers: Mary Castillo, Toon Dreessen, Greg Littlefield, Ian Manger, Therese McLaughlin, Calum Melville, Mike Skagerlind, Grey Stafford, Michael Takiff, Tom Vamos, Kate Weinrieb, Sarah Weinstein Edwards).