Having spent a number of years in thirteen Nazi Concentration Camps, including Mauthausen from which I was liberated by the American forces on May 5^th and where I still am staying at the present, and desirous to be of help to the U.S. authorities in their effort to bring the Nazi criminals to account, I take the liberty of submitting the following:

1. As all of the camps where I was confined are located in the zones taken by the Soviet armies, it is my conviction that those responsible for the atrocities committed therein by the SS men are not to be found in the eastern parts of Europe but should be sought in Southern or Western Germany.

2. I am enclosing a brief list of those whom I have seen in these various camps and whom I can recognise on sight. Many of these have caused incalculable sufferings to myself as well as to my fellow inmates. Many of these I have personally seen commit murder fantastic both in number and method. As shown, some of them had either their homes or relatives living in localities now under Allied occupation.

3. With all of the members of my family and of my nearest relatives killed by the Nazis, I am asking of your kindness to place me at the disposal of the U.S. authorities investigating war crimes. Although I am a Polish citizen and would like to return to my homeland, I feel that the crimes of these men are of such magnitude, that no effort can be spared to apprehend them. I also feel that it is my duty to offer my services either for the purpose of furnishing the description of their misdeeds or as an eyewitness in case identification is needed.

4. To furnish you with the personal data regarding my person, a brief curriculum vitae is attached.

Respectfully,

/s/ Ing. Wiesenthal Szymon

Szymon Wiesenthal

(Camp Mauthausen, 127371)

The following is a brief list of SS men and Gestapo agents as well as Nazi Party members whom I had the opportunity of seeing to partake in murder and other crimes against human life.

They are classified in this list into two groups, those who were in the general district of Galicia, and those of Camp Cracow- Plaszow. Where known their home addresses are given.

District Galicia (Lemberg)

1 Heinrich Himmler on an official tour of the Janowska concentration camp. Fritz Katzmann (second from the left with his hand on his belt).	Katzmann	Gen.Maj SS. Responsible for death of at least 1,000,000 people.
2	Krieger	Maj.Gen SS. Killed personally. On Aug 18 1941 finished personally 13,000 people by shooting
3 &4	Lehnert Werke	Both UnterStfr and aides to Gen Katzmann. Both killers
5	Engels	Gestapokommissar. Timekeeper and schedule maker for mass killings throughout Galicia
6	Leitmeier	OBStfr Chief of Lacki prison, worst because of the tortures practiced there
		His lieutenants
7	Waltke	All UntshFrs. Murderers making tours through various camps under his command
8	Neumann	Ditto
9	Sellmann	Ditto
10	Grocholski	Ditto
11	Martens	Terror of Gestapo prison in Cracow
12	Manser	Gestapo agent (home Linz)
13	Voraberger	Gestapo agent (home Linz)
14	Corradini	Gestapo agent home Linz, his wife’s father a baker there
15	Laduner, Karl	Gestapo agent from Innsbruck, a merchant
16	Hauser, Karl	Gestapo agent. Both from Karlsruhe where they were grocers
17	Hauser, Leo
18	Hahn, Herbert	Gestapo agent from Danzig. merchant
19	Friese	Gestapo agent woman, home Konigsberg
		All above persons “worked” mainly in Litzmannstadt and Lemberg territory. By killing made fortunes appropriating property of victims.
20	Gross, Georg	Chief of Lemberg railroad shops – home Eberswalde, Herrengasse 22. His wife Hilda G was from Schoneiche near Berlin. Killed 1,200 Jews in his shop. Lemberg
21	Post, Wilhelm	From Munster. Lemberg shop official. Maltreated the prisoners and caused hundreds of deaths.
22	Lindner	From Dresden. Ditto
23	Poshetzki	From Stargard. Ditto Strmfr
24	Steinbach	From Stargard. Ditto
25	Wilhaus	UntStfr Camp Commander in Lemberg. Tortured and killed many thousands
26	Rokita	UntStfr Wilhaus assistant. a musician from Kattowitz. Killed 8,000 Jews in Tarnopol alone.
27	Hasse	Responsible for several thousands of deaths
28	Kipko	UntStfr Ditto
29	Warzok	HptStfr Beast who liquidated at least 60,000 Jews and used to burn prisoners alive in their barracks (camps Lacki, Jaryczow, Grodek)
30	Schulze	ObStFr Camp Commander in Mosty Wielkie.1,500 deaths
31	Hildebrand	ObStFr from Breslau. Commander of camp Drohobycz who finished that camp with 3,500 deaths
32	Schonbach
33	Kolanko, Adolf	From Kattowitz
34	Dyga
35	Kalis	From Litzmannstadt
36	Kauser
37	Heine	SS Leibstandarte Hitler Div. Worst sadist and killer using axe only.
		His lieutenants
38	Wurz	From Batschka Hungary
39	Blum	A mass murderer. From Batschka Hungary
40	Marz	From Batschka Hungary
41	Voeske	UntStFr
42	Biermann	UntStFr from Kattowitz, a butcher
43	Brumbauer	UntStFr from Kattowitz, a butcher The Last two specialised in hanging and chopping men alive.
44	Gebauer	HptStFr
		His lieutenants
45	Milka	Killed 7,000 on Nov 18 1943 in Lwow
46	Krumbach	Ditto
47	Crambow	Ditto
48	Gurten, Eduard	UntStFr from Wiesbaden, Robert Kochstrasse, a butcher. Finished people in their sickness. About 700 – 800 victims in Lemberg and Auschwitz

Camp Cracow – Plaszow

49	Goeth, Amon	HptStFr Vienna, parents own big publishing house. Greatest killer of all. His victims run into thousands. Master of cruelties
50	Grimm	Goeth’s deputy. Introduced keenest sadism
51	Zdrajewski	ObScFr From Karlsruhe, mother Lotti Z. Killer of first magnitude.
52	John, Leo	UntStFr from Kattowitz, owner of a restaurant opposite Railway station there. Specialty: killing women and children. Victims run into thousands
53	Behr, Otto	From Breslau. Cruel Arbeitskommandofuhrer
54	Neschell, Otto	UntStFr from Vienna ditto
55	Landsderfer	HptStFr Liquidated Camp Szebnia. 3000 deaths
56	Scheid	UntStFr From Breslau. Conducted killing of about 4,500 Jews in transit to ghetto
57	Scherner	Killed sick in the hospital
58	Ludolf	HptStFr From Hamburg
59	Hujar	UntStFr Winner of numerous wagers by sending one bullet through two heads at a time.
60	Korner	HptStFr
61	Koch	UntStFr from Vienna
62	Kunde	HptStFr from Haburg. A Gestapo agent for liquidation of Jewish camps
63	Heinrich	HptStFr Medical student from Kattowitz. Well known sportsman. Kunde’s assistant
64	Pilarczyk	HptStFr From Kattowitz. Liquidated the Cracow Ghetto
65	Von Malutky	HptStFr From Vienna. Pilarczyk’s deputy
66	Eckert	HptStFr Camp’s recorder. Many cruelties
67	Schupke	HptStFr Liquidated Reichshof Camp killing thousands of victims. Finished in Cracow several contingents, where American lives were lost. I saw 13 men with American passports killed by him on August 1944
68	Muller Franz	HptStFr From Bad-Essen an upholsterer caused 50,000 deaths in Bosnia
69	Unterbrucher	HptSchFr From Dachau city not camp. Sadist in Camp Szebnia
70	Lied	UntSchFr Degenerate collector of his victims skulls
71	Bauerokse	UntSchFr Killer
72	Becher	ObStFr Killer of sick in hospitals
		His lieutenants
73	Majer, Heinrich	Gestapo agents. Sadist cruelties against Jews
74	Dreier, Willi	Gestapo agents. Sadist cruelties against Jews
75	Thomke, Otto	Gestapo agents. Sadist cruelties against Jews
76	Fromer	Gestapo agent. Worked in Bosnia. Specialising in killing of children
77	Tank, Karl	ObWchtm from Schleswig, Busdorfstrasse Torturing people to death
78	Rittig, Alfred	ObWchtm also from Schleswig, Dolfusstrase ditto
79	Luy	Wchtm former teacher worked in Bohemia
80	Rosenbaum	HptStFr. Nephew of wholesale killer General Krieger. Liquidated all of the 900 Jews in Camp Rabka
81	Schmidt	HptSchFr. Finished 1200 in Zakopane
82	Haman	HptSchFr. Well known hangman in Neu-Sandez. 4000
83	Schonburg	UntSchFr Had hand in destroying 4000 Jews in Bosnia
84	Michalski	UntSchFr From Kattowitz Sadist from Camp Cracow
85	Kalfus	Sadist from Camp Cracow
86	Kunke	Sadist from Camp Cracow
87	Grun	RottFr Responsible for many cruelties
88	Oder	RottFr Responsible for many cruelties
89	Herzog	Woman SS. Caused sufferings to women and children in Women’s Camp Wennusberg
90	Heise, Gertrude	From Holland ditto
91	Meinel, Anna	Also from Holland ditto

Additional Information

1. General

a. The following totals of local Jews killed in Galicia are given here, according to my information:

Camp Cracow	Ab 70,000
Camp Lemberg	148,000
District Galicia	850,000
District Cracow	350,000

Simon Wiesenthal was awarded the Golden Decoration of Merit by the government of Austria

Also in Camp Jaroslau about 360,000 Russian war prisoners were put to death in 1941.

b. Particularly infamous in their deeds are to be considered the SS Brigade “1005” and the SS Brigade “Breslau” which were assigned as special “Vernichtungsbrigaden.”

2. Personalia

Of the persons among the Nazi administration, the following two men are to be considered as potentially useful source of further information:

Schmidt, Werner: An engineer from Halle a.d. Saale

Kohlraus, Adolf: A Reichsbahn inspector from Osnabruck

These two men our friends and were of great assistance in preventing many cruelties, while stationed at the railroad workshops at Lemberg.

Mauthausen, 25 May 1945

/s/ Ing. Wiesenthal, Szymon

Szymon Wiesenthal, Ing. Arch

Sources:

UK National Archives KEW WO 309/374

NARA Archives - Wiesenthal File

Holocaust Historical Society
Associated Press

Sources:

Copyright. Chris Webb H.E.A.R.T 2010