67 Pilecki confuses the letters, using Z for their ultimate destination Bochnia, as well as for this intermediate location which Adam Cyra says is Babice; see Cyra, Ochotnik do Auschwitz. Witold Pilecki (1901–1948) (Oświęcim: Chrześcijańskie Stowarzyszenie Rodzin Oświęcimskich, 2000), p. 398. Cyra also says that IX is Bochnia, op. cit., p. 404. Translator’s note.
68 The part of occupied Poland that the Nazis ran as a separate administrative entity, using the ancient Polish city of Kraków as its capital. Warsaw, Poland’s capital, was within the Generalgouvernement. Translator’s note.
69 Lieutenant General Stefan “Grot” Rowecki was commander of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, or AK); see footnote 42, p. 146. Translator’s note.
70 Kedyw (Kierownictwo Dywersji—Guerrilla Warfare and Sabotage Command) was an elite section of the Polish Home Army, whose mission was sabotage, propaganda and armed action against the enemy. Translator’s note.
71 Ravensbrück is better known as a women’s concentration camp, but there was a small men’s camp adjacent. Translator’s note.
72 It is now widely accepted that about 1.1 million died in Auschwitz throughout the war, of whom about 90 percent were Jews. Translator’s note.
Montage of Auschwitz inmate identity photographs.
ABM
APPENDIX 1
Glossary of English, German and Polish Terms and Acronyms
AK
–
Armia Krajowa: the military arm of the Polish Underground State during World War II; also known as the Home Army
Aleja Szucha
–
shorthand reference to Gestapo headquarters in occupied Warsaw, which were located on Aleja Szucha
Arbeitsdienst
–
work assignment office or leader
arbeitsfähig
–
fit for work
Arbeitskommando
–
a camp work detail
Arbeitslager
–
a labor camp
arbeitsunfähig
–
unfit for work
Armia Krajowa
–
the military arm of the Polish Underground State during World War II; also known as the AK or the Home Army
Aufräumungskommando
–
salvage Kommando
Awo
–
camp slang for a kind of broth
Bademeister
–
a washroom supervisor
Baderaum
–
refers to communal washing facilities in the camp
Baubüro
–
a construction site office
Bekleidungskammer
–
the clothing storeroom
Bekleidungswerkstätte
–
the clothing workshop
Binden
–
armbands
Blockältester
–
a block chief or leader (this position was held by an inmate)
Blockführer
–
an SS block supervisor
Blockführerstube
–
an SS guardroom
Blocksperre
–
confinement to blocks, or block lock-down
Brotabladungskommando
–
bread-unloading Kommando
Bunker
–
confinement cell used for punishment; different types of bunkers provided for varying levels of punishment
“Canada”
–
the Auschwitz name for stores of goods looted from people (mainly Jews) who were sent straight to the gas chambers1
Durchfall
–
“the runs,” or dysentery
Effektenkammer
–
the storeroom for inmates’ personal belongings
Erkennungsdienst
–
the records office
Fahrbereitschaft
–
the motor pool
Funkstelle
–
the SS garrison’s radio room
Gemeiner
–
as used by Pilecki, refers to a low-level SS man
Gemeinschaftslager
–
a camp for civilian workers; at Auschwitz, virtually all such workers would have been forced laborers conscripted from the German-occupied territories
Generalgouvernement
–
Gestapo
–
Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police): the Nazi German secret police
Große Postenkette
–
the outer security perimeter
Häftling
–
a camp inmate or prisoner
Häftlingsküche
–
the camp inmates’ kitchen
Harmense
–
a small subcamp of Auschwitz
Hauptscharführer
–
the equivalent in the German SS of Master Sergeant
Hauptwache
–
the main gate guard or guard-house
Home Army
–
the military arm of the Polish Underground State during World War II; also known as the Armia Krajowa or AK
Kapo
–
a supervisor or “trusty” (this position was held by an inmate)
Kedyw
–
Kierownictwo Dywersji (Guerrilla Warfare and Sabotage Command): an elite branch of the Polish Home Army, whose mission was sabotage, propaganda and armed action against the Nazi Germans
Kiesgrube
–
a gravel pit
KL Auschwitz
–
Konzentrationslager Auschwitz (Auschwitz Concentration Camp)
Kleine Postenkette
–
the inner security perimeter
kommandiert
–
ordered to stay at work
Kommando
–
a camp work detail
Krankenbau
–
the camp hospital
Kriegsgefangenenlager
–
a prisoner of war camp
KZN
–
Pilecki conflates the Konfederacja Zbrojna (The Armed Confederation—KZ) with the Konfederacja Narodu (The Confederation of the Nation—KN). The KZ was the autonomous military arm of the KN, a Polish underground resistance organization that was formed early in World War II and subsequently integrated into the ZWZ (precursor of the Home Army)
Lagerältester
–
the Head Inmate at the camp
Lagerführer
–
Camp Head; as Auschwitz grew beyond the main camp, each subordinate camp was supervised by an SS Lagerführer, all under the ultimate authority of the Lagerkommandant
Lagerkapo
–
the discipline Kapo (this position was held by an inmate)
Lagerkommandant
–
the Camp Commandant
Landwirtschaftskommando
–
farming Kommando
Laufschritt
–
doing things at the double
Lederfabrik
–
literally, “leather factory”; Pilecki also refers to it as the tannery
Meldung
–
a report
Muselmann
–
camp j
argon for an inmate on his last legs; pl. Musselmänner
NCO
–
a non-commissioned officer
NIE
–
Niepodległość (Independence): a Polish deep-cover anti-communist resistance movement, to be activated when the Soviet Army arrived in Poland in the final stages of World War II
Oberkapo
–
a senior Kapo (this position was held by an inmate)
Obersturmführer
–
the equivalent in the German SS of First Lieutenant
Ofensetzer
–
a stove fitter
Pawiak
–
the Pawiak Prison in Warsaw
PE
–
physical exercise
Pfleger
–
a nurse
Postenkette
–
the security perimeter
Postzensurstelle
–
the mail censorship office
POW
–
a prisoner of war
PZP
–
Polski Związek Powstańczy (Polish Insurrectionary Organization): a name under which the Home Army often hid its identity.
Rapportführer
–
an SS officer responsible for discipline and roll calls in the camp
Reichsdeutsche
–
a German person from the German Reich; pl. Reichsdeutschen
Scharführer
–
the equivalent in the German SS of Staff Sergeant
Schonungsblock
–
the convalescence block
Schreiber
–
a clerk (this position was held by an inmate)
Schreibstube
–
camp term for an office
Schutzhäftling
–
a camp inmate or prisoner held under indefinite detention pursuant to the Nazi German law of Schutzhaft (protective custody)
Senior Uhlan
–
the rank in a Polish uhlan cavalry regiment equivalent to Private First Class
SK
–
Strafkompanie (Penal Company); assignment to the SK, where treatment of inmates was even more brutal than in the rest of the camp, was one of many forms of punishment meted out to camp inmates
SOE
–
Special Operations Executive, a clandestine British organization whose mission was to encourage and facilitate espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance behind enemy lines
SS
–
Schutzstaffel (Protective Guard): an elite paramilitary unit of the German Nazi party which operated under its own command structure separate from the regular German Armed Forces (the Wehrmacht)
Stammlager
–
the main or core camp at Auschwitz
Stehbunker
–
the “standing bunker,” one of the most severe of the punishment confinements
Strafkompanie
–
Penal Company, also known as the SK; assignment to the SK, where treatment of inmates was even more brutal than in the rest of the camp, was one of many forms of punishment meted out to camp inmates
Strassenbaukommando
–
road-construction Kommando
Stubendienst
–
a room supervisor (this position was held by an inmate)
TAP
–
Tajna Armia Polska (the Polish Secret Army): a Polish underground resistance organization formed early in World War II that was subsequently integrated into the ZWZ (precursor of the Home Army)
Tierpfleger
–
an animal or veterinary nurse
Übermenschen
–
“supermen”
Unterkapo
–
a deputy Kapo (this position was held by an inmate)
Untermensch
–
a “subhuman”; pl. Untermenschen
Verkehrsabkürzungen
–
literally, “traffic short-cuts”; apparently jargon used in the SS garrison’s radio room referring to the German cipher keys
Vernichtungslager
–
an extermination camp
Virtuti Militari
–
Poland’s highest award for gallantry
volksdeutsch
–
ethnically German
Volksdeutsche
–
an ethnic German, from outside the German Reich; pl. Volksdeutschen, Volksdeutscher
Volksliste
–
the German People’s Register
Vorarbeiter
–
a foreman; pl. Vorarbeiteren
Waschraum
–
a washroom
Winkel
–
an identification triangle worn by a camp inmate
Zettel
–
a camp assignment card
Zugang
–
a new camp inmate, or a new transport of inmates to the camp
ZWZ
–
Związek Walki Zbrojnej (The Union for Armed Combat): the Polish underground resistance organization into which smaller resistance organizations were integrated, eventually renamed the Armia Krajowa (AK, or Home Army)
1 The country Canada was seen as a symbol of wealth. At Auschwitz, “Canada” was enormous, and its overspill extension in Birkenau alone (“Canada II”) consisted of thirty large barrack huts.
APPENDIX 2
German-Language Positions and Ranks at Auschwitz Mentioned by Pilecki1
* * *
SS PERSONNEL
Positions:
Lagerkommandant
–
the Camp Commandant
Lagerführer
–
Camp Head; as Auschwitz grew beyond the main camp, each subordinate camp was supervised by an SS Lagerführer, all under the ultimate authority of the Lagerkommandant
Rapportführer
–
an SS officer responsible for discipline and roll calls in the camp
Blockführer
–
an SS block supervisor
Gemeiner
–
as used by Pilecki, refers to a low-level SS man
Ranks:
Obersturmführer
–
the equivalent in the German SS of First Lieutenant
Hauptscharführer
–
the equivalent in the German SS of Master Sergeant
Scharführer
–
the equivalent in the German SS of Staff Sergeant
INMATES
Lagerältester
–
the Head Inmate at the camp
Lagerkapo
–
the discipline Kapo
Oberkapo
–
a senior Kapo
Kapo
–
a work supervisor or “trusty”
Unterkapo
–
a deputy Kapo
Häftling
–
a camp inmate or prisoner
Schutzhäftling
–
a camp inmate or prisoner held under indefinite detention pursuant to the Nazi German law of Schutzhaft (protective custody)
Zugang
–
a new camp inmate, or a new transport of inmates to the camp
At Work:
Arbeitsdienst
–
work assignment office or leader
Vorarbeiter
–
a foreman; pl.
Vorarbeiteren
Pfleger
–
a nurse
Schreiber
–
a clerk
Tierpfleger
–
an animal or veterinary nurse
In the Blocks:
Blockältester
–
a block chief or leader
Stubendienst
–
a room supervisor
Bademeister
–
a washroom supervisor
1 In approximately descending order of authority, where appropriate.
APPENDIX 3
Index of People and Places Referred to by Pilecki with Either a Code Number or Letter
(Military ranks and titles are included, where known.)