a prominent democracy activist, was called out. He was beaten savagely and
left injured and bandaged. Among us there was also a major from the PKO,²⁵⁰
Kowalczyk. He was approached by a G[estapo] officer, who asked him through
an interpreter what his function had been. On hearing that Kowalczyk was an
officer, he exclaimed: “It’s a disgrace for a major to be here. He should already
be where nothing exists.”²⁵¹ They beat him savagely, but since he was physically
very strong, he withstood the blows and did not bleed. This infuriated
the Germans. Another officer called a Volksdeutsche over and ordered him
to continue beating Kowalczyk. The V[olks]d[eutsche] took a pane from the
window and hit him over the head with it so violently that we had to remove
pieces of glass from his skull. The flow of blood was unstoppable. He lay in
bed for two weeks. Those whose names had been called were beaten further
and then, covered in blood, they were loaded onto trucks without overcoats
or outer clothes. Another order was given that 6 Jews should step forward voluntarily. Frankfurt, Auerbach, Gotlib²⁵² and others immediately volunteered.
They too were loaded onto the trucks. They were released only around 7 in the
evening and returned to the hall. We went to them straightaway and asked
what had happened. They were in a terrible state of shock and unwilling to
say a word. [3] They had been summoned to the camp office three times and
ordered not to say a single word about what they had seen. Their silence lasted
until 8 o’clock. It was only when they were in bed that they told us that they
(the 6 Jews) had been taken to the G[estapo] and put behind a glass door. Then
the men who had been arrested were led in on the other side. They had been
horribly beaten, and their heads and bodies were bandaged. They were led past
under very heavy guard, followed by a group of workers with shovels in their
hands. To this day no one knows what became of them. After witnessing the
scene, the 6 men were released and ordered under threat and with the utmost
severity not to breathe a word to anyone about what they had seen. They trembled
ceaselessly as they recalled the scene. The whole incident made a terrible
impression on us all. The best and finest had been taken from our hall. While
we were still at roll call, many among us, even the greatest anti-Semites, had
fainted as they stood in line. The affair also had an effect on mutual relations
250 Probably rather KOP, Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (Polish, Border Defence Corps).
251 Meaning, possibly: he should be dead.
252 Also spelled: Gottlieb.
