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Testimony of Wiesław Kielar: The events of 24th June 1944

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oświęcim, Poland

Testimony of Wiesław Kielar, former Auschwitz prisoner, Camp number 290

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  • Title: Testimony of Wiesław Kielar: The events of 24th June 1944
  • Date: 1944-06-24
  • Location: Auschwitz, Poland
  • Transcript:
    The events of 24th June 1944 (...) Just a few dozen meters before the main Blockführerstube, I turned right, jumped the ditch, and afterwards, made my way in the direction of the sewer pipes that were being stored in an open space at the very edge of the Camp. I took out my measuring tool and pretended that I am doing measurements of these pipes. This was an excellent observation point. From the left, I had the infirmary and on the other side of the Lagerstrasse wires, was the main “wache” that Edek was approaching and disappeared into the gigantic gate of the building. After a moment, I saw him once again, but this time in the company of another prisoner, most probably Jurek. The two of them, in overalls and with toolboxes, were now walking down the road in the direction of the main Blockführerstube. Here, I lost them from sight for a second. Jurek must have stopped at the Blockführerstube, because only the silhouette of Edek came out of the building, walking at a fast pace towards the Karoffelbunker. Peering around, he noticed me, made some ambiguous hand gesture, and then reached into his pocket – probably to get the keys out. With one quick motion, he opened the lock and was inside the bunker. This happened so quickly that probably nobody noticed, after all, it was mid-day, so there was nobody in the area nearby, who would have taken notice of a prisoner fiddling around near the doors of the bunker. Mala was walking at a fast pace down the main road of the FKL. As she passed the infirmary, a female prisoner called her from the other side of the wire fence of the hospital, but Mala gestured to her, making it clear that she was in a hurry and quickly walked further. Exiting the Blockführerstube, was in fact Perschel, limping and he said something to Mala, who instantly gave him one of the two bicycles from the stand near the gate – he placed his leg over the
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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

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