A- A+

EVICTIONS FROM ZASOLE AND PART OF BRZEZINKA NEAR THE CAMP

EXPULSION OF POLISH AND JEWISH POPULATION FROM OŚWIĘCIM AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES

EXPULSION OF POLISH AND JEWISH POPULATION FROM OŚWIĘCIM AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES

EVICTIONS FROM ZASOLE AND PART OF BRZEZINKA NEAR THE CAMP

Having removed the residents from the barrack settlement, the Auschwitz Kommandantur continued the process, this time aiming to expel Polish and Jewish inhabitants from the left-bank Oświęcim district of Zasole (to the north-east of the camp, near today’s Legionów, Polna and Garbarska streets), as well as part of Brzezinka to the north of the camp, in the direction of the railway station (in the region of today’s Jaracza, Więźniów Oświęcimia, Wyzwolenia, Obozowa, Dworcowa, Cynkowa, Krzywa, Prusa and Orzeszkowa streets).

Source: A-BSMA

Map of the northern surroundings of the Auschwitz camp (Zasole and the eastern part of Brzezinka) with marked streets, allotments and houses. The Auschwitz building complex is at the bottom, and Oświęcim railway station is at the top. On the orders of the Auschwitz commandant, the residents of this region were evicted in the second half of 1940 and the beginning of 1941.

In agreement with the town authorities, the first evictions from this region were carried out on 8th July 1940. At 10 a.m., in accordance with instructions of the town authorities, some of the residents gathered in a large hall at the house of the Wysogląd family (in what is today Prusa Street). Once they had assembled, three SS trucks arrived. Some of the SS soldiers surrounded the building, while others entered the hall. Employment exchange officials, who started reviewing the assembled inhabitants, came with them. Next some of those assembled were told to move to the left side of the hall, and the remainder were told to move to the right. Those who moved to the right were then allowed to go home, but those on the left were informed that they were being deported to do forced labour, whereas their homes were to be taken over by the SS. On hearing this, the people started to panic, and the SS had to restore order by firing their guns into the air.

Large brick building by an asphalt street. Two cars parked on the street.

Source: A-BSMA

The Wysogląd family house in Brzezinka today Prusa Street. On 8th July 1940, the local German authorities summoned the residents of Zasole and part of Brzezinka (between the railway station and the camp) to a meeting in this house, during which it was decided that a several dozen or so families would be deported to work near the town of Nový Jičín (Neutitschein) in Moravian Silesia (Sudetenland). Post-war photo.

Excerpt from the account of Jadwiga Timmel, a resident of the Zasole District:

On 8th July 1940, in accordance with the summons, my husband Rudolf and I went to the hall at the house of the Wysogląd family. Similarly summoned to go there on that day there were the residents of the houses near the camp. In that hall, there were around a hundred people. The building was surrounded by Germans in light brown uniforms. After a long wait, some employment exchange (Arbeitsamt) officials from [Nový] Jičin in the Sudety [Sudetenland] entered the hall. These officials, standing on a platform or stage, called out the names of people from the list. Our names were also on that list. We were informed that we were being evicted and that we were going to be taken to do forced labour at a place called Neu Jistic [Neutitschein] in the Sudety. Here, I would like to note that entire families were deported to do forced labour.

On hearing the news that they were being deported, the people started to panic, cry and lament. To intimidate and silence them, the Germans surrounding the building fired their guns into the air. The men were loaded into the trucks and driven to the camp, whereas the women were allowed to return to their homes escorted by the guards. Together with my sister-in-law – also Timmel – we were driven to our home in the car of an SS officer from the camp. Before the meeting, I had prepared lunch. But I was not allowed to eat it or take any food with me. All they would let me take was some underwear, ration cards and money. Next, I was also taken by car to the camp, where I joined my husband. That same day, in the evening, we were loaded into the trucks and transported to Zauchtel [Suchdol nad Odrou] in the Sudety. … In the morning, next day … local farmers – Bauers – arrived. They selected families to work on their farms.


My husband was sent to work at a brickyard in Kunewald [Kunin]. We stayed there until the end of October 1940. Thanks to the intervention of the director of the [zinc] mill, who appealed on behalf of my husband, we were discharged and allowed to return to Oświęcim. Our house was rebuilt and converted into a Führerheim – a canteen for SS officers from the camp.

Source: A-BSMA, Testimonies Fond, vol. 27, p. 95.

The men selected for deportation were transported in the trucks to the camp, whereas their wives were escorted by the SS to their homes, where they were allowed to collect essential items (incl. clothes and underwear), ration cards and money. Next, together with their children, they were taken to the camp. From there, that same day, they were all transported to the region of Nový Jičín (then Neu Titschein in the Sudetenland, the north-western part of Czechoslovakia that had been incorporated into the Third Reich), where the adults were made to work on farms, at a brickyard in Kunin (Kunewald) or a quarry in Heřmánky (Klein Hermsdorf). In total, over a several dozen families were deported, some of whom later managed to return to Oświęcim. However, they could no longer live in their homes, because these had been taken over by SS-men and their families or demolished. Instead, the evictees had to rent rooms in Oświęcim or neighbouring towns and villages. On the other hand, those who during the meeting in the Wysogląd hall were allowed to go home, were soon afterwards also evicted. They were also given very little time, and in their case, they immediately had to find alternative lodgings for themselves.

Graphic design: Jerzy Pietruczuk


Source: A-BSM

Map showing the division of Polish territories in the years 1939-1941. On 8th July 1940, some of the families living close to Auschwitz concentration camp were deported in the vicinity of the town of Nový Jičín (Neutitschein) in the Sudety (Sudetenland).

Excerpt from the account of Stanisława Rysztogi née Witalska, a resident of the Zasole district:

Mother later told me that the Germans had told the gathered residents that their property was confiscated by the Third Reich. […] My family was selected for deportation. Mother, escorted by an SS-man, returned home to pack for us clothes and bed linen. Then a lorry arrived and took us to the camp. There we remained until the evening. Then we were loaded into a truck and transported to Klein Hermsdorf [Heřmánky] in the Sudety, on the German-Czech border.


The Pawlik family was travelling with us, from Legionów Street. Together with the Pawlik family, we were assigned to the quarry owner Józef Hanel. We lived in an outbuilding. After arriving, the adults were medically examined to determine the suitability for work. My parents were sent to work in the quarry. Mother transported gravel, and sometimes she was made to work in water. Father worked as a hewer. … Father had an accident at work – he injured his arm and spent a long time in hospital. Mother also fell ill, which is why my parents received sick leave.


Towards the end of 1941, we returned to Oświęcim. By then, our house had been demolished by the Germans. … We lived in Zaborze, with my mother’s family, and my father returned to work on the railway. There we remained until the end of the war.

Source: A-BSMA, Testimonies Fond, vol. 118, pp. 165-166.

Source: A-BSMA

The worksheet of Rudolf Pawlik, who was deported together with his family on 8th July 1940. Under the heading “Heimatort” [hometown] is entered “Auschwitz” [Oświęcim]; “Staatsangehörigkeit” [national affiliation] – “Schutzangehöriger (Pole)” [Pole under the care of the state]; “Beschäftigt als” [employed as] – “Steinbrucharbeiter” [quarryman]; „Arbeitsstelle (Ort)” [place of work] – Kl. [ein] Hermsdorf [Heřmánky].

After deporting a several dozen or so families to the Nový Jičín area, Rudolf Höss continued to be interested in the speedy eviction of all remaining inhabitants of Zasole and the part of Brzezinka closest to the camp. He raised the issue in correspondence with Concentration Camps Inspector SS-Oberführer Richard Glücks and also the Higher SS and Police Commander in Breslau (Wrocław) SS-Gruppenführer Erich von dem Bach concerning the escape of prisoner Tadeusz Wiejowski (on 6th July) and the subsequent investigation. In almost every letter, Höss insisted on the removal of the local population, in order to prevent civilian contacts with the prisoners and limit the chances of escape.

Source: A-BSMA

A two-page letter from Höss to the Inspector of Concentration Camps Richard Glücks, 12th July 1940.


Source: A-BSMA

On page 2, in point 5, we can read: “The local population is fanatically Polish, ready for any transgression against the hated SS. Any prisoner that manages to escape immediately receives help when he reaches the nearest Polish homestead.” And in point 6: “The Higher Commander of SS and Police in Breslau [Wrocław] will undertake, with the use of appropriate additional security measures and an extensive evacuation, efforts to prevent the repetition of such incidents.”


Accordingly, on 22nd July 1940, von dem Bach ordered the inspector of Security Police in Wrocław [Breslau], in consultation with Commandant Höss, to start carrying out evictions. In 1940, however, no major scale operation actually occurred. A probable reason for this was the deployment of considerable police forces in mass evictions in the nearby Żywiec region (in an operation called Aktion-Saybusch), where, from September to December 1940, the German authorities expelled to the General Government approximately 18,000 Poles.

Source: A-BSMA

Letter from the Higher Commander of SS and Police Erich von dem Bach to the inspectors of Security Police and Order Police in Wrocław (Breslau) and for the information of the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, 22nd July 1940.


Source: A-BSMA

In points 1 and 2 on the second page, von dem Bach orders: “The Inspector of Security Police is immediately to conduct a deportation operation in consultation with the camp commandant and the support of the Inspector of the Order Police.

During the deportation operation, any Polish male found in the deportation zone, which is to be enclosed with barbed wire enclosed and visible no entry signs, must be shot on the spot. Any women and children found in this zone should be handed over to the state police station in Katowice and monitored.”


Presumably for this reason, Höss, not waiting for more police forces, decided to independently conduct the evictions of inhabitants form Zasole and part of Brzezinka. Every so often, successive people (starting with those living closest to the camp) received eviction orders from the Kommandantur, and next, with permission from the local authority, they were allowed to settle in another district or village. Consequently, in the summer and autumn of 1940, many families were evicted from their homes. They generally found alternative lodgings on the right-bank of Oświęcim or in a nearby village. The evictions resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of residents (by over 13,000 people, with over 11,200 remaining) in the town and adjacent Klucznikowice (by around 180, with over 370 remaining) and population increases in places where the evictees resettled (e.g., a rise of over 460 people to a total of 4,450 in Brzezinka and by almost 479 to a total of 2,260 in Babice).

Source: A-BSMA

A certificate issued on 15th July 1940 by the mayor of Auschwitz to Wiktoria Czopek former resident of No. 74 Legionów Street. It states that the family of Wiktoria Czopek had to leave their home on the orders of the Auschwitz concentration camp Kommandantur and that they wish to move to Grojec near Osiek.


Source: A-BSMA

Letter, 16th July 1940, from the commissarial mayor of Osiek, stating that there were no objections to the Czopek family resettling in Grojec provided that they did not apply for any social assistance.


The deportation of the inhabitants of Zasole and the part of Brzezinka closest to the camp ended in the early spring of 1941. Some of the people were deported in railway transports to Tarnów and Gorlice on 7th and 9th March (see Deportations to the General Government). Those who remained were presumably forced to leave their homes in the last days of March or early April. These final evictions followed a similar pattern: without any prior warning, SS-men would arrive and order an immediate evacuation. The residents had to hastily pack all their belongings and load them onto horse carts that were already waiting outside. The carts would transport the belongings to the evictees’ new place of abode. Some, anticipating the eviction, had already made arrangements for new lodgings, others had to post-haste search for new lodgings after being evicted from their homes. Most often they found accommodation in other parts of Oświęcim and surrounding towns and villages. Living conditions were generally very hard, often in overcrowded rooms or adapted farm buildings.

“Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim – to the Cracow Tribunal for the investigation of German crimes committed in Poland [written in 1946]:

[original spelling and style preserved]

[…] The eviction occurred without prior notice, without an official order, suddenly. This operation was planned by the Concentration Camp Command and executed in a bestial manner by […] the SS.

Individual SS-men burst into the aforementioned houses and in a truly Germanic fashion demanded that the people immediately leave their own building, simultaneously threatening that the homeowners would be sent to the Concentration Camp if they showed any resistance or delay in leaving their own homes. There was no question of any rights or considerations. Terror and two words: Raus! (out) and Sofort! (immediately), often with the added epithets Polnische Polnische Schweine! (Polish swine) that were at the time the all-powerful law. Within an hour, the residents of these streets scattered in panic with the remnants of their possessions, finding or not finding shelter with families living in other streets of Oświęcim or neighbouring villages, finding themselves in a terrible situation.

Source: A-BSMA, Höss Trial Fond, vol. 12, pp. 42-43.

Due to the limited number of sources, there is a lack of detailed information about the fate of the Jews who lived near the camp. Certainly, some of them were summoned to the meeting on 8th July 1940. However, they were most probably not deported to Nový Jičin, because in that time Jewish families in the eastern districts of the Katowice Division (Regierungsbezirk) were not deported to do forced labour, the only exceptions being Jewish individuals, most often young people. It can be assumed, on the other hand, that in the later period (up to the spring of 1941), Jews living near the camp, just as their Polish neighbours, were forced to abandon their homes. In that time, they settled on the right-bank of Oświęcim. Then in April 1941, they were deported together with all other Jewish residents of Oświęcim to Chrzanów, Sosnowiec and Będzin. A month earlier, in March, some were also deported together with the Poles to the General Government (see Deportations to the General Government).


Following the evictions, the whole of Zasole and parts of Brzezinka to the east and south-east of the railway station were included in the camp zone. The evacuated area was first taken over by the land office in Katowice, which next passed it on, together with the buildings, to the camp authorities. The German authorities did not grant any financial compensation to the evicted people, nor did they compensate them in any other way for incurred losses.

Report from the hearing of witness [Józef Merker] recorded at the Municipal Court in Oświęcim on 30.10.1946:

[original spelling and style preserved]

The resettlement of Legionów, Polna and Krótka streets took place on one day on the order of the camp authority. It is true that the German authorities did supply horse carts to transport belongings to neighbouring villages. People were generally allowed to take any household items they wanted, but not everything could be taken because there was not enough time. There were cases where individual citizens were not allowed to take everything they wanted. … I only remember that the Germans took photographs of items taken for the resettlement. Already the next day, the SS had made political prisoners start the dismantling of the houses. Material from these houses was transported to the camp and utilised in the expansion of the camp. … The German authorities would not negotiate with us on the matter of compensation for lost real estate, nor did they offer other properties in return for the lost ones. On the aforementioned streets, the German authorities left only six houses standing.

Source: A-BSMA, Höss Trial Found, vol. 12, pp. 48-49.

Buildings on the streets taken over by the camp, especially Legionów and Krótka, as well as Polna, Wałowa and Kolejowa streets, on the orders of the Auschwitz concentration camp commandant, were in most cases dismantled by the prisoners.

“Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim – to the Cracow Tribunal for the investigation of German crimes committed in Poland [written in 1946]:

The area emptied of the local inhabitants was … incorporated into the zone of the concentration camp three miles from the town. Already on the day of the evictions, 1st April 1941, began the demolition of the abandoned residential houses, which were in a perfectly good state, and a dozen or so were quite new. The demolition was carried out by thousands of prisoners from the nearby camp under the supervision of hundreds of SS-men, and it proceeded at a very fast pace. In July 1941, Legionów and Krótka ceased to exist and only six residential houses were left on Kolejowa and Polna streets. …

Source: A-BSMA, Höss Trial Found, vol. 12, p. 43.

Excerpt from the account of Marian Szlachcic, a resident of Babice, on the demolition of houses in the district of Oświęcim-Zasole:

As far as my memories of Auschwitz prisoners are concerned, I particularly vividly recall events associated with the demolition of the houses. The described scenes occurred in the late autumn of 1941. At the time, as a worker of the firm Fabia … I was employed in the conversion of a building in what was then Kolejowa Street (today, Konarskiego Street). … It should be explained that before the war, in the area of the current petrol station in Konarskiego Street, there used to be numerous residential houses. These were solid, storeyed, brick buildings. Such were the buildings the prisoners had to demolish… . The prisoners were brought to work in the morning. Their arrival was signalled by the rhythmic clatter of wooden clogs – klompen. When they arrived in that area for the first time, this was a group of at least several hundred. Every day this group got smaller and smaller.


The prisoners demolished the buildings in a way that was exceptionally primitive, and very dangerous. Simply, a dozen or so prisoners would grab hold of load-bearing beam and, like a battering ram, use it to repeatedly pound one of the walls. After a number of repeated hammerings, the wall would collapse, and destabilise of the whole building. After demolishing one wall, the prisoners would start on the next, so that one after another the buildings collapsed into rubble. The terrifying thing was that every day under those collapsing walls several, or even over a dozen prisoners would be killed. I saw all of this with my own eyes. None of the SS-men or Kapos seemed to care that at work prisoners were dying so often.

Source: A-BSMA, Testimonies Fond, vol. 97, p. 131.

Excerpt from the account of former the prisoner Wincenty Gawron on the demolition of buildings (Abbruch) in the Zasole District:

We arrived for Abbruch. … We grabbed hold of the battering ram, and here, by good fortune, I found myself holding almost the very end of the beam. With several strikes we punched a hole straight through the wall, but it still held firm, and a few more holes had to be made before it started to totter. Observing this, after one more strike, together with others, I jumped back, through the door to the small corridor. A moment later there came a colossal thud of the collapsing wall and the clangour of falling rails – darkness, and then a deadly silence. … some of us rushed to remove the bricks and the rails, while the rest, eyes gaping with horror, stood mute, rooted to the spot. … After removing the first of the rubble, we saw the head of a groaning man. My legs! … those were his first words. It turned out that they were broken in several places. … He died ten minutes later. … after a quarter of an hour, we managed to pull out another three still moving human vestiges. … The image was horrific, even more distressing, because we realised that those who we pulled out would have to die.

Source: A-BSMA, Memoirs Fond, vol. 48a, pp. 39-40.

Source: A-BSMA

The surroundings of Auschwitz concentration camp. The lighter areas are where the houses had been demolished. German aerial photograph taken in August 1941.

Source: A-BSMA

List of houses demolished by the Auschwitz concentration camp SS. An appendix to the “Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim, added to the court records for the trial of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss. The list includes the personal details of the building’s owner, the address, the type of construction and the number of rooms.


Source: A-BSMA

List of houses demolished by the Auschwitz concentration camp SS. An appendix to the “Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim, added to the court records for the trial of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss. The list includes the personal details of the building’s owner, the address, the type of construction and the number of rooms.


Source: A-BSMA

List of houses demolished by the Auschwitz concentration camp SS. An appendix to the “Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim, added to the court records for the trial of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss. The list includes the personal details of the building’s owner, the address, the type of construction and the number of rooms.


Source: A-BSMA

List of houses demolished by the Auschwitz concentration camp SS. An appendix to the “Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim, added to the court records for the trial of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss. The list includes the personal details of the building’s owner, the address, the type of construction and the number of rooms.


Source: A-BSMA

List of houses demolished by the Auschwitz concentration camp SS. An appendix to the “Memorial” of the citizens of the town of Oświęcim residing in 1939, 1940 and 1941 in the streets of Legionów, Krótka, Polna and Kolejowa in Oświęcim, added to the court records for the trial of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss. The list includes the personal details of the building’s owner, the address, the type of construction and the number of rooms.


Several dozen buildings, on the other hand, were given to Auschwitz camp SS officers and non-commissioned officers as accommodation where they could live with their families. Moreover, another several dozen houses were left for the workers of German companies active in Oświęcim and surrounding areas. These buildings were preserved following the interventions of the town mayor, Heinrich Gutsche, who demanded that the area around the railway station together with part of the village of Babice, as well as a strip of land between the railway station and a road bridge over the Sola river should be excluded from the camp zone. Moreover, the management of IG Farben, which was building a chemical factory to the east of Oświęcim, made similar demands. This was because they wanted to accommodate their German workers in already existing houses. Ultimately, these interventions proved successful; the above-mentioned areas were excluded from the camp zone and handed over to the town.

A two-story, plastered building by the street.

Source: A-BSMA

The house of the Timmel family, who were deported on 8th July 1940. The building was taken over by the Auschwitz Kommandantur and, after an expansion, it served as a mess for SS officers (SS-Führerheim). Photo. Zbigniew Klawender, post-war years.

Excerpt from the account of Stanisława Bicz, a resident of the Zasole District:

After evicting all the residents of Zasole (in 1941), the demolition of the abandoned buildings began. Those buildings selected for demolition included my house, No. 43, currently No. 8 in Kręta Street. Initially, the house stood empty, no one lived there. Although the demolition work was underway, my house was passed over. Then, sometime later, the prisoners doing the demolition work also started taking this house apart, but they only took off the roof. Apparently on the instructions of the camp authorities, they stopped dismantling the house and instead started repairing it. The house was expanded from a one-storey house to one with two storeys. The attic was converted into rooms. The basement was reduced, new tile stoves were built, and the small double windows were replaced with large single pane windows. My house became the residence of the Auschwitz concentration camp physician SS-Obersturmführer Dr Fischer.

Source: A-BSMA, Testimonies Fond, vol. 19, p. 61a.