177 (Helena Zabawska), 318
178 (Leon Wandasiewicz), 319–321
179 (Mr. and Mrs. Serafiński), 321–323. See also Serafiński, Lieutenant Tomasz
180 (Andrzej Możdżeń), 321–322
181 (Józef Roman), 323
182 (three ladies, names unknown), 325–327
183 (name unknown), 328
184 (name unknown), 328
A
AK. See Polish Home Army
Aleja Szucha (Gestapo headquarters in Warsaw), 117, 123, 152, 165
Aloiz (“Bloody Aloiz,” Kapo), 23–25, 33, 35, 38, 39, 70, 164
Alsatian (dog belonging to SS man “Pearly”/“Perełka”), 65, 75
Alwernia (location II), map 300, 310
Anders, General Władysław, liv
animals, cared for by inmate kommandos or work details, 110, 113–114, 140, 146
Antek (Antoni Rosa; 22), 105
Antek (Sergeant Antoni Woźniak; 14), 104–105, 153, 240
“Arbeit macht frei” gate, Auschwitz, 14, 15, 59, 115
Arbeitsdienst (work assignment office), ZOW members in, 166
Arbeitsdiensts (work assignment leaders), 42, 139, 166, 245, 265–266, 275, 281
arbeitsfähig (fit for work), 272
Arbeitskommando (camp work detail), 33, 35, 39, 99, 138, 234
Arbeitslager (labor camp), 279
arbeitsunfähig (unfit for work), 272
Arct, Stanisław (36), 116, 241
armbands (Binden), 94
Armia Krajowa. See Polish Home Army
arms store, reserve under baubüro or construction site office, 235
arrest of Pilecki, xlviii, 11–12
Aufräumungskommando (salvage Kommando), 197, 200–202
Aumeier, Hans, 205, 281
Auschwitz. See also escapes from Auschwitz; Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau; military attacks on Auschwitz; Polish inmates in Auschwitz; releases of inmates from Auschwitz; SS garrison at Auschwitz; specific buildings and sites
“Arbeit macht frei” gate, 14, 15, 59, 115
arrival and admission to, 13–25
assignment card (Zettel), 287–288
bell at, 136–137
Bolshevik POWs at, xvi, xxxix, li, 16, 132–136, 134, 157
construction of buildings and roads at, 44, 56–58, 111–112, 122–123
daily routine at, 25–36
as death camp, 135, 279
as work camp, 278–279
different nationalities at, 209
fencing, perimeter and interior (the “wire”), 14, 15, 28, 29, 31, 41, 47, 51, 55–56, 66–67, 111, 125, 132, 135–137, 140, 157, 192, 215, 223, 242, 245, 262, 267, 278, 304, 320
first thirty German inmates at, role of, 93–97, 352–353
identity and reputation of, 18, 164, 278–279
importance of telling world about, 254
inmate identity photographs, xxxviii, 21, 30, 43, 89, 95–96, 162, 299, 333
inspection of, 107, 164, 170
maps of environs, camp layout and location, 9–10, 300
mission of Pilecki in, xlii–xliv, 36
number of inmates at, 121–122, 187, 209
Pilecki in, xlviii–liii
Polish political prisoners, used for, xxxix, xlii–xliii, 23
political versus criminal prisoners in, xlii–xliii
self-sufficiency of, 110
subcamps of, 122–123
survival expectations/death rates, 19, 49, 150–151, 186, 328–329
awo (camp slang for a broth), 27
B
Babice (possible identification of Z), map 300, 308
Bademeister (washroom supervisor), 20
Baderaum (communal washing facility), 20
bakery, escape through, 276–277, 279–281, 287–298
Balke, Artur (inmate no. 3), 94, 95, 104–105, 115, 121, 123, 140
Baltosiński (Baltaziński), 64–65
Barański, Stanisław (169), 271
barbers, 146–149, 176
barracks/blocks. See blocks/barracks
Bartosiewicz, Henryk (59)
beating of Pilecki by Kapo Walter, present at, 145
Christmas tree with Polish eagle erected by, 150
Karcz’s interrogation by political department and, 160
Kuczbara’s certificate for, 244, 275–276
leadership of ZOW turned over to, 275, 276
Pilecki’s farewell to, 292
recruitment activities, 139, 165
recruitment by Pilecki, 138
sense of humor and good-heartedness of, 169–173
tannery, Pilecki’s movement to, 228
ZOW plan of eventual action, development of, 184, 226
basket-weaving Kommando, 255
bathing facilities, 20, 26, 84, 141–142, 149, 214
Baubüro (construction site office), 37, 59, 118, 166, 174, 235, 260, 266
Baworowski, Władysław, 19
beatings and punishments of inmates. See also torture and interrogation
beatings, 13, 17, 19, 23, 26, 34–35, 39–41, 52–53, 56–57, 66, 69–71, 106–107, 117, 132, 136, 165, 238, 243
bench beatings, 73, 82, 97, 219
“black hole,” 74, 158
bunker punishment, 28, 67, 69, 73–74, 106, 126n34, 142, 158, 160, 167–168, 184, 196, 206, 241–243, 246, 250, 251, 281–283, 295, 298, 328
cessation of beatings, 159, 179, 279
collective responsibility. See collective responsibility for escapes
“death selection,” 126-127, 137
hanging, 67, 80, 137, 206, 260, 279,
order forbidding, 159
pole, inmates hung by arms from, 75
punishment parade, 66–69, 137, 154, 205, 250, 277, 278
shooting, xl, 14, 28, 29, 66n18, 75–79, 77, 92,126–127, 149, 157, 159, 166, 187, 204, 207, 234–236, 238, 241, 251, 258, 269, 274
Stehbunker (standing bunker), 74, 158
testicles, crushing of, 65
beatings experienced by Pilecki
bunk, for improper making up of, 132
convalescence, end of, 104
front teeth, loss of, 20
preemptive beating of Stubendiensts (room supervisors), 24
smile or smirk, beaten for, 144–145
Bednarek, Emil, 70
Bekleidungskammer (clothing storeroom), 196, 248–250, 251
Bekleidungswerkstätte (clothing workshop), 255
Belgian inmates at Auschwitz, 209
bell at Auschwitz, 136–137, 138, 234, 289. See also gong; siren at Auschwitz
bench beatings. See beatings and punishments of inmates
Benedictine Abbey, Tyniec (location III), 313
Berlin, Edward (105), 167, 239
Bielecki, Stefan (Czesław III; 25), 106, 116–117, 166–167, 239–240, 322–323, 328
Biessgen, Fritz (inmate no. 4; “Mateczka” or “Mom”), 94, 95, 228
Binden (armbands), 94
Birkenau (Brzezinka, also called Rajsko). See also gas chambers; Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bolshevik POWs, 136, 157
Bruno moved to, 246
construction of, 122–123
crematoria constructed at, 174–175, 178, 187
female inmates moved to, 213, 215
Gypsies in, 262, 263, 264
Karcz moved to, 163
sexual experiments on inmates from, 253
Silesians moved to, 163
SS men picking up women at, 282
ZOW members saved and admitted as zugangs to, 182
Black August, 53
“black hole,” 74, 158
black man, proposal to creep up on Auschwitz with board painted with, 326–327
Blockältesters (block chiefs), 28, 32, 69, 94
Blockführers (SS block supervisors), 69
Blockführerstube (SS guardroom), 100, 205, 290, 293
blocks/barracks
“a” added to block number designated first floor (above ground floor), 23
at Auschwitz main camp, construction of new, 20n3, 122
at Birkenau, construction of, carpenters dying in, 122–123
bunks in, 132, 143, 147, 164, 216–217, 271, 278, 289, 292
deployment of by ZOW, in the event of military action, 226–227
designation of blocks by ground and first floors, 23
flea infestation in, 214–215
“freedom” block, 124, 153
map of main Auschwitz camp, 10
new numbering system, 20n3
numbers of, mentioned in Report:
Blocks 1–10 (new nos.; female inmates’ blocks), 176
Block 1, 176, 227, 267
Block 2, 176, 227
Block 3/3a, 71, 84, 103, 104, 132, 176, 227, 234, 236, 250, 256, 266–267
Block 4 (new no.), 176, 227, 267
Block 5 (new no.), 164, 176, 227, 267
Block 5 (old no.; the “youngsters’ block”), 64–65, 72, 80–81
Block 6 (new no.), 176, 227, 259, 271, 286, 289, 291
Block 6 (old no.), 170
Block 7 (new no.), 176, 227
Block 8 (new no.), 176, 227
Block 8 (old no.), 61
Block 9 (new no.), 176, 227
Block 9 (old no.; small carpentry shop, main Schreibstube or office), 42, 60, 81, 99, 104, 107
Block 10 (new no.; location of German medical experiments), 176, 227, 252–254, 267
Block 10 (old no.), 23
Block 11 (old no.; Zugang block), 116
Block 11 (new no., old no. Block 13; location of the SK [Strafkompanie or Penal Company], the bunkers and interrogation cells; adjacent to “Wall of Tears”), 32, 73–75, 77, 92, 103, 131, 134, 158, 227, 238, 241, 247, 282
Block 12 (new no.), 132, 143, 227, 266–267, 270–271
Block 12 (old no.; Zugang block), 75–77, 116
Block 13 (new no.), 227, 267
Block 13 (old no.). See Block 11 (new no.)
Block 14 (new no.), 227, 236
Block 14 (old no.). See Block 19 (new no.)
Block 15 (new no.), 227, 236, 267, 286–288, 292–293
Block 15 (old no.). See Block 20 (new no.) Block 16 (new no.), 227, 234, 236, 267
Block 17 (new no.), 227, 236, 274
Block 17/17a (old no.). See Block 25 (new no.)
Block 18/18a (new no.), 227, 236, 291
Block 18 (old no.). See Block 26 (new no.)
Block 19 (new no., old Block 14; the Schonungsblock or convalescence block), 120, 227, 270
Block 20 (new no., old no. Block 15; hospital, location of information box), 82, 84, 88, 91, 97, 101–103, 159, 179, 180, 218–220, 223–224, 227, 232, 285, 288
Block 21 (new no.), 149, 227, 238, 267
Block 22 (new no.), 227, 234, 244–245, 248, 267, 283, 292
Block 23 (new no.), 227, 267
Block 24 (new no.), 227
Block 25 (new no., old no. Block 17/17a), 23, 49, 70–71, 84, 100, 132, 138, 143, 150, 163, 186, 216, 222, 227, 291
Block 26 (new no., old no. Block 18; communal washing facilities, Erkennungsdienst or records office), 20, 70, 84, 97, 149, 227, 234
Block 27 (new no.; Bekleidungskammer or clothing storeroom), 220, 227, 238, 248–249, 291
Block 28 (new no.; hospital), 179, 218, 220, 222–223, 226–227, 241, 267, 284, 291
Blocksperre (confinement to blocks), 121, 158, 269
Bloody Aloiz (Kapo), 23–25, 33, 35, 38, 39, 70, 164
Bochnia (location Z/IX), 153, 240, 283, map 300, 308n67, 317, 319, 320, 352n1
Bock, Hans (inmate no. 5; “Tata” or “Daddy”), 94
Bohdan (Major Zygmunt Bohdanowski; 85), 146, 165, 183, 184, 227, 241, 250, 274, 275
Bohdanowski, Major Zygmunt (Bohdan; 85), 146, 165, 183, 184, 227, 241, 250, 274, 275
Bolek (Bolesław Kupiec; 18), 105
Bolsheviks. See Soviet Union
bombing of Auschwitz, 223
Bonitz, Bernard, 53
boxing matches between inmates and Kapos, 204–205, 246
bread-unloading Kommando (Brotabladungskommando), 276
Brodniewitsch, Bruno (Lagerältester Bronisław Brodniewicz; inmate no. 1), 30, 31, 63, 73, 94, 236, 246, 249, 353n2
Brotabladungskommando (bread-unloading Kommando), 276
Bruno (Lagerältester Bruno Brodniewitsch/Bronisław Brodniewicz ; inmate no. 1). See Brodniewitsch, Bruno.
Brzezinka. See Birkenau
Buchenwald, 16, 271, 272
Bugajski, Second Lieutenant Aleksander (Olek; 167), 259–262, 265–266, 280, 289, 326
Bulgarian inmates at Auschwitz, 209
Buna, 122, 169, 205, 304
bunker punishment. See beatings and punishments of inmates; torture and interrogation
bunks. See blocks/barracks
burial of inmates alive by SS men, 71–72
Burski, Second Lieutenant Tadeusz (Tadek; 6), 37, 87, 91
C
camp heads (Lagerführers), 41, 42, 154, 205, 338, 343
“Canada,” 196–204, 197–202, 218, 220, 225, 245, 257, 270, 278
Captain Michał (Captain Michał Romanowicz; Michał; 7), 47, 53–54, 56, 58
carpenter, Pilecki’s work as, 60–65, 72, 80–82, 104–105, 114–116, 120–121, 123, 127–129, 132, 140–141, 167, 215–216
cell organization of ZOW. See “fives,” ZOW organized in
censorship office, mail (Postzensurstelle), 100–104, 124
Cenzartowicz, Leszek (32), 114
character, camp as proving ground of, 50
Chełmno, 264
children at Auschwitz
family, Palitzsch’s execution of, 76–79
of German camp authorities, 142
Jewish children, 188, 190–191, 192, 195
Lublin boys killed by phenol, 232
patriotic songs, schoolboys imprisoned for, 120
sexual abuse of boy inmates by Leo (Leon Wietschorek), 80–81
in small group killed in crematorium, 247–248
shoes of, 228
typhus patients, gassing of, 220
Chmielewski, Major (first name unknown; Sęp II; 38), 117, 241
Chramiec, Józef (53), 129, 217
Christmas at Auschwitz
1940, 72–73, 79–80
1941, 150
1942, 245–252, 266, 268
Chrobry II, 1 Battalion of Group–, 328
Chrościcki, Captain Tadeusz (124; father), 212, 241
Chrościcki, Tadeusz Lucjan (125; son), 212–213, 241
church. See also priests; religion; Christmas at Auschwitz; Easter at Auschwitz
bells, 47, 136–137, 310
parish records, changed to protect Pilecki’s assumed identity, 152–153, 240, 321
services, including mass, communion, confession, 157
Ciesielski, Edward (Edek; 57), xlix, 129, 224–225, 254, 299, 319, 323, 325, 328. See also escape of Pilecki from Auschwitz
cigarettes, 27, 145, 302
cipher keys, German (Verkehrsabkürzungen), 169
civilian forced laborers, camp for (Gemeinschaftslager), 169
clothing
Bekleidungskammer (clothing storeroom), 196, 248–250, 251
Bekleidungswerkstätte (clothing workshop), 255
for escape from Auschwitz, 291–292, 301–302, 305, 307
of gassed Jews and other inmates, 195–203, 197–202, 221, 278
knitting wool, use of, 228
of Pflegers (nurses), 219–220
of inmates, 14–17, 16, 20, 23, 62, 79, 278, 292
collective responsibility for escapes
on arrival and admission to Auschwitz, 14
families of escapees, threats to, 261, 322
food, access to, 67
order forbidding, 159, 251
punishment parade, 66–69, 154, 205
ten men shot for every escapee, 125–127
Colonel R (Colonel Tadeusz Reklewski; 11), 51, 81, 270–271,
291n66
communism
anti-communist Polish resistance movement, Pilecki’s involvement with, xvi, xxiii, lii, liii–liv
Auschwitz, communist political prisoners in, xliin4
Soviet Union in WWII and after, xi–xiii
confinement to blocks (Blocksperre), 121, 158, 269
conscientious objectors, 23n6
convalescence block (Schonungsblock), 120, 138, 220
corpses
of boys murdered with phenol, 232
brought back to roll call by inmates, 57, 107
dug up and burned, 174–175
naked, taken to crematoria as, 224
numbers on, 182
piling up of, 224
of Polish female inmates, 174
crematoria, 27, 34, 113, 132–136, 174–175, 178, 187, 223, 224, 247–248, 279
croton oil, 184–185
Cyra, Adam, xx, xxi, 308n67, 352n1
Czech inmates at Auschwitz, 163, 187, 209, 257, 281
Czechowski, Tadeusz (126), 217
Czesiek (Corporal Czesław Wąsowski; 9), 62–64, 104, 153
Czesław III (Stefan Bielecki; 25), 106, 116–117, 166–167, 239–240, 322–323, 328
Czetwertyński family, 116
D
Dachau, xii, 125, 156–157, 272
“Daddy” or “Tata” (Hans Bock; inmate no. 5), 94
daily routine at Auschwitz, 25–36
Dangel, Jan (Janek; 49), 125, 241, 347
Darkowski, Second Lieutenant Czesław (67), 139, 186
Davies, Norman, xi–xiii
“de-lifing,” 221
death camp, Auschwitz as, 135, 279
death notices for inmates, 155
death rates/survival expectations at Auschwitz, 19, 49, 150–151, 186, 328–329
“death selection,” 126–127, 137
“delousing,” gassing referred to as, 219, 221
delousings, 84, 91, 132, 215, 221, 226, 265
Dering, Captain Dr. Władysław (Władek or Dziunko; 2)
anti-typhus shots obtained by, 169, 217
diagnosis of Pilecki’s pneumonia by, 87–88
in first “five” of ZOW, 36–37
freezing of naked inmates, as witness to, 149
hospital, position in, 98–99, 116, 143, 166
inmate photo, 89
inquiries after Pilecki’s health by, 59
Kuczbara and, 244, 275
Pflegers, typhus patients saved by dressing as, 220
Pilecki’s plans to escape from Auschwitz and, 275, 276
Pilecki’s second fever, treatment of, 222, 223, 226
in TAP, 240
transport of Polish inmates and, 270, 273, 274
Triebling’s blood infection cured by, 218
Uris sued by, 36n9
warning to Pilecki about office summons, 98
diamonds and gold, 203–204, 229–230, 243–244, 246, 257, 275, 282–283