Investigation

Canto Three: THE SWING

Judge: As a prisoner you worked

in the Political Department

What were your duties there

Female Witness 5: At first I was a shorthand-typist

in the typing room

then because of my knowledge of languages

I became an interpreter

Judge: Who did you work with

Female Witness 5: Herr Boger

Judge: Tell the court

do you recognise Defendant Boger

Female Witness 5: This is Herr Boger

Defendant 2 greets the witness

in a friendly manner

Defence Counsel: Where was the Political Department located

Female Witness 5: It was a wooden barracks behind the entrance

Defence Counsel: Behind which entrance

Female Witness 5: Straight tot he left

behind the entrance to the old barracks camp

Defence Counsel: How far was the old camp

from the outer camp

Female Witness 5: About a mile and a half

Defence Counsel: Where did you live

Female Witness 5: In the women’s camp

Defence Counsel: Can you give us a description of the road

to your place of work

Female Witness 5: We had to leave the camp

every morning

and march along by the fields

The road led over the railway embankment

The freight trains were being switched there

We often had to wait by the barrier

On the other side of the tracks

were more fields and a couple of abandoned farms

Then we went through an iron gate

There were trees

and you passed by the old crematorium

The Political Department stood facing it

Defence Counsel: Was the Political Department

inside the camp itself

Female Witness 5: It was outside the concentration camp

First came the administration buildings

then the double barbed wire

and the watch towers

Beyond them were the blocks of prisoners

Defence Counsel: What did the Political Department

Building look like

Female Witness 5: There were flower pots on the window sill

and there were curtains

On the walls there were pictures and proverbs

Judge: What kind of pictures and proverbs

Female Witness 5: I no longer remember

Defence Counsel: Who was in charge of the office

Female Witness 5: Herr Broad was

we typists always had

to look our best

we were allowed to let our hair grow

we wore scarves on our heads

and we had real clothing and shoes

In the morning we spat on our shoes

and polished them with our hands

Defence Counsel: How did Herr Boger treat you

Female Witness 5: Herr Boger always treated

me in a very gentlemanly fashion

He would often give me his messkit

with what was left of his food

Once he saved my life

when I was sentenced to go with the others

because I had been negligent

in dusting things

one of the captains assigned me to go

Herr Boger annulled the assignment

Judge: How many clerks were in the department

Female Witness 5: There were 16 girls

Judge: What did you have to do

Female Witness 5: We had to make out lists of the dead

We called it marking off

We had to enter the names

the date of death and the cause

The entries had to be made

with absolute precision

If anyone made a typing error

Herr Broad got terribly angry

Judge: How were the files arranged

Female Witness 5: There were two tables

On the one table were the boxes

with the numbers of the living

On the other the boxes

with the numbers of the dead

We could see how many

were still alive from each shipment

Out of every hundred after a week

only a couple of dozen were left

Judge: Were all the deaths

that took place in the camp

registered here

Female Witness 5: Only prisoners who had

received a number

were entered in the books

Those who were shipped

direct from the ramp to the gas chambers

never appeared in any list

Judge: What did you list

as cause of death

Female Witness 5: Most of the causes we listed

were fictitious

For example we couldn’t write

Shot while trying to escape

but heart attack

And instead of malnutrition we wrote

Dysentery

We had to be careful

that no two prisoners died in the same minute

and that the causes of death

corresponded with their ages

This meant that a twenty-year-old

wasn’t allowed to die of heart failure

In the beginning we even wrote

letters to their relatives

Prosecutor: Can you remember

how these letters ran

Female Witness 5: In spite of all medical care

It has unfortunately not been possible

to save the life of the prisoner

We express to you our sincerest condolence

over this great loss

If you wish we can send you

the urn for fifteen marks

C.O.D.

Prosecutor: And did these urns contain

the ashes of the deceased

Female Witness 5: Such an urn had the ashes

Of many deceased

From the window we could see

the pile of corpses in front

They dumped them from the motor vans

Prosecutor: Can you give us some figures

in connection with the cases of death

that you registered

Female Witness 5: We worked 12 to 15 hours a day

over the official death rolls

They went as high as 300 a day

Prosecutor: Did these include cases of death

through the direct operation

of the Political Department

Female Witness 5: Prisoners died daily in that department

from mistreatment and being shot

Defence Counsel: Would the witness please tell us

where the prisoners were shot

Female Witness 5: In Block Eleven of the camp

Defence Counsel: Were you allowed to visit the camp

Female Witness 5: No

but we found out everything

All communications

passed through our hands

Boger said to us

What you see here and what you hear

you have not seen or heard

Judge: How were the interrogations carried out

in the Political Department

Female Witness 5: Boger always began the proceedings

very quietly

He approached the prisoner

and asked questions

which I then had to translate

If the prisoner didn’t answer

he shook a bunch of keys

in his face

If the prisoner still wouldn’t speak

he hit him in the face with the keys

Finally he went even closer to him

and said

I have a machine

that will make you speak

Judge: What kind of machine was it

Female Witness 5: Boger called it the Speech Machine

Judge: Where was it located

Female Witness 5: In the room next door

Judge: Did you see the machine

Female Witness 5: Yes

Judge: What did it look like

Female Witness 5: There were poles

Defence Counsel: Is the witness certain her memory

is not deceiving her

Female Witness 5: It was a bar

They were hung on I

We heard the blows and cries

After an hour

or even after several hours

they were dragged out

You could no longer recognise them

Judge: Were they still alive

Female Witness 5: Anyone who wasn’t dead

rarely survived the next few hours

Once Boger saw that I was crying

He said

Here your personal feelings must be

Excluded

Judge: For what reason were the prisoners

subjected to these punishments

Female Witness 5: Sometimes it was for stealing

a piece of bread

or because you didn’t obey the order

to work more quickly right away

Sometimes it was enough if the person

was accused by a stool pigeon

There was a letter box for informers

You just had to drop a note in it

Defendant 2: I never had anything to do

with trifling matters like these

In the Political Department

we were exclusively concerned

with problems of resistance

Judge: How often did the witness

see prisoners die

after they had been taken down

Female Witness 5: At least 20 times

Judge: In at least 20 cases you can swear

that death took place

in your presence

Female Witness 5: Yes

Judge: Please tell the court

did you see the sentence carried out

Female Witness 5: Yes

Once I saw a man hanging

upside down

Another time a woman

was tied to the pole

Boger made us come and look

Defendant 2: It is perfectly true

that the witness was an interpreter for us

Nevertheless she never took part

in the more intense interviews

Ladies were not allowed

on such occasions

Female Witness 5: Ladies

Defendant 2: I can say that perfectly well today

The Defendants laugh

Judge: Please tell the court

If you saw any of the defendants beating prisoners

Female Witness 5: I saw Boger in his shirt sleeves

holding a bludgeon in his hand

covered with blood

Once I heard Broad say to Lachmann

a member of the Political Department

You know Gerhard

it really squirted out didn’t it

Then he gave me his jacket

to clean for him

The men were always very concerned

`about cleanliness

Broad liked to look at himself in the mirror

especially after he was promoted to Sturmmann

and I sewed on his stripe for him

I had to polish Boger’s boots

CANTO THREE: THE SWING

Witness 7: Together with some other prisoners

I brought

To the interrogation room

of the Political Department

Judge: Can you describe this room

Witness 7: On the floor there were precious carpetsthat had been part of a shipment from France

Boger’s desk

was opposite the door

He was seated at the desk when I came in

The interpreter sat behind the desk

Judge: Who else was in the room

Witness 7: The head of the Political Department

Grabner

COUNSEL FOR THE PROSECUTION

COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENCE

DEFENDANTS I B 18

WITNESSES I B 9