Auschwitz I - Block 4
Description
The Register Book of Block 4 at Auschwitz I contained an alphabetical register of the male prisoners staying in block 4 within the Auschwitz I parent camp. Having created a female camp in March 1942 the prisoners from block 4 were moved to block 23. The prisoners from block 4 were once again moved during the period of extending block 23. They were then placed in a wooden barrack (23 or 23a), situated between blocks 18 and 19. This probably happened in May 1942. Despite the fact that the prisoners were moved to block 23 (then to barrack 23), they continued to be recorded in the Register of Block 4 during the whole period, namely from March until August 22, 1942. The recorder probably kept it until the prisoners were returned to block 4.
The handwriting suggests that the Register was kept by three consecutive block recorders. The first one was a Pole: Ryszard Margosz (no. 8403), shot at the camp on March 13, 1942. The second was Ernst Burger (no. 23850) – an Austrian prisoner, one of the leaders of the resistance movement in the camp, hanged on December 30, 1944 after a failed escape attempt. The name of the third recorder was not determined unfortunately. The Register of Block 4 is in the form of a wide-lined notebook in a hard cover. The external cover bears a sticker with the words: “Block 4”. The external edges of the pages have protruding tabs with letters. The block recorder used 134 pages.
The tables in which the data of prisoners was entered, were drawn manually. Each page of the record was divided into seven columns described on the internal cover. Individual columns were filled with the following data: prisoner number (“Häftl. Nr.” – Häftlingsnummer), full name (“Vor.- U. Zuname” – Vor- und Zuname), date and place of birth (“Geb. Datum u. Ort” – Geburtsdatum und -ort), profession (“Beruf”), kommando in which the prisoner worked (“Kommando”), assigned from (“Eingelief.” – Eingeliefert), and the number of the room in which a prisoner was placed (“Stube”).
Besides those basic data the document contained data concerning nationality, category and functions in the prisoners’ self-governing council. Additionally, the barrack from which a prisoner was assigned to block 4 was noted on the left. On the right, on the other side, there is the date and barrack number to which a prisoner was moved from block 4. The recorder recorded in the register also the death of any prisoner together with its date. In those latter cases, namely if a prisoner was moved from the block or died, his name was crossed out of the register with a red pencil (more seldom with a blue one or a grey pencil). Usually the basic data such as first and last name, prisoner’s number, date and place of birth, and profession were filled in by the recorder with ink. Data concerning moving to or from a hospital, to or from a penalty company or death are provided in pencil or colour (blue or red) pencil.
Creation period
The Register of Block 4 was kept from January 20, 1942 to August 22, 1942. It contains 2100 entries referring to 2047 male prisoners of various nationalities brought to KL Auschwitz between May 1940 and August 1942. 53 prisoners were registered twice due to their movement from the block (e.g. to the camp hospital, penalty company) and back.
Preservation
The Register of Block 4 was given to the Archive of the National Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oświęcim on June 10, 1961 by the Chief Commission for Investigating German Crimes in Poland.
Database „Blok 4”
The Digital Repository scanned the Register of Block 4. Then the “Blok 4” database containing 2100 records was created out of it. Having entered the data from the Register, individual records were combined with visual material. Then the data of each prisoner were complemented with personal data contained in other databases and source documents, as well as statements, memories and surveys of ex-prisoners kept in the Archive. This allowed for the retracing of the life of each prisoner listed in the document. The database “Blok 4” created as described above has been incorporated into the Central Register of Prisoners kept by the Digital Repository of the National Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
