Auschwitz I - Block 4 - memories
Men were kept in block 4 in the parent camp from autumn 1941. I also stayed there at the end of 1941. Therefore I can remember the time of removing the bodies of Russian captives from block 3. In March 1942 a female camp was created in blocks 1 to 10. In this case all prisoners from a given block were moved to the remaining part of the camp. Unfortunately I can’t state where the prisoners from block 4 were moved. Probably after that the Blockschreiber who kept the block’s register didn’t record the changes happening. The register continued in the same document (as the Register of Block 4). Therefore the names of prisoners listed in the Register include the dates of the period during which the block was actually used by female prisoners.
Kazimierz Smoleń (no. 1327)
While I was staying in block 23 [from May 1942] it was the only building to be extended, so we were moved to block 23a. Actually block 23a was a wooden barrack like a stable (Pferdestallbaracke) situated between blocks 18 and 19.
Kazimierz Sowa (no. 22412)
In the evening I reached a wooden barrack marked “Block 23a”. It was built temporarily between the finished blocks 17 and 18. (…) It was a wooden barrack in which triple wooden cots with straw mattresses for approximately 500 prisoners. (...) I met some teachers I knew from the Częstochowa cell there: Szpringier[1] and Wieczorkowski[2]. I felt better because they were both kind to me. I was placed near their cots.
Tadeusz Sobolewicz (no. 23053)
We were divided into groups and brought to a wooden barrack marked with the number 23. It was located between concrete buildings. It might have been located between blocks 19 and 18.
Franciszek Józefiak (no. 59583)
After seven years of staying in block 11 I was moved to a barrack located between concrete blocks and opposite the camp kitchen. The barrack had the number 23 and could house approximately 700 prisoners. The beds there were in two tiers. Usually three prisoners slept in one cot. (...) In autumn 1942 the wooden barrack was demolished and probably moved to Brzezinka. This perhaps resulted from the fact that it was the only wooden building between the blocks.
Marian Klehr (no. 39490)
[1] Mieczysław Springer (no. 22214) is listed in the Register of Block 4. APMAB. D-AuI-3/2. The Register of Block 4, p. 108.
[2] Mieczysław Wieczorkowski (no. 23057) is listed in the Register of Block 4. APMAB. D-AuI-3/2. The Register of Block 4, p. 127.