LAMPE: They were commonplace at Mauthausen, as they were in other camps.
But we had evidence which I think has been found: the two skulls which
were used as paper weights by the chief SS medical officer. These were
the skulls of two young Dutch Jews who had been selected from a convoy
of 800 because they had fine teeth.
To make this selection the SS doctor had led these two young Dutch Jews
to believe that they would not suffer the fate of their comrades of the
convoy. He had said to them “Jews do not live here. I need two strong,
healthy, young men for surgical experiments. You have your choice;
either you offer yourselves for these experiments, or else you will
suffer the fate of the others.”
These two Jews were taken down to the Revier; one of them had his kidney
removed, the other his stomach. Then they had benzine injected into the
heart and were decapitated. As I said, these two skulls, with the fine
sets of teeth, were on the desk of the chief SS doctor on the day of
liberation.
M. DUBOST: At the time of Himmler’s visit—I would like to come back to
that question—are you certain that you recognized Himmler and saw him
presiding over the executions?
LAMPE: Yes.
M. DUBOST: Do you think that all members of the German Government were
unaware of what was taking place in Mauthausen? The visits you received,
were they visits by the SS simply, or were they visits of other
personalities?
LAMPE: As regards your first question, we all knew Himmler; and even if
we had not known him, everyone in the camp knew of his visit. Also the
SS told us a few days before that his visit was expected. Himmler was
present at the beginning of the executions of the Soviet officers; but
as I said a little while ago, these executions lasted throughout the
afternoon; and he did not remain until the end. With regard to . . .
M. DUBOST: Is it possible that only the SS knew what happened in the
camp? Was the camp visited by other personalities than the SS? Did you
know the SS uniforms? The people you saw, the authorities you saw—did
they all wear uniforms?
LAMPE: The personalities that we saw at the camp were, generally
speaking, soldiers and officers. Some time afterward, a few weeks before
the liberation, we had a visit from the Gauleiter of the Gau Oberdonau.
We also had frequent visits from members of the Gestapo in plain
clothes. The German population, that is, the Austrian population, were
perfectly aware of what was going on at Mauthausen. The working squads
were nearly all for work outside. I said just now that I was working at
Messerschmidt’s. The foremen were mobilized German civilians who, in the
evening, went home to their families. They knew quite well of our
sufferings and privations. They frequently saw men fetched from the shop
to be executed, and they could bear witness to most of the massacres I
mentioned a little while ago.
I should add that once we received—I am sorry I put it like that—once
there arrived in Mauthausen 30 firemen from Vienna. They were
imprisoned, I think, for having taken part in some sort of workers’
activity. The firemen from Vienna told us that, when one wanted to
frighten children in Vienna, one said to them, “If you are not good, I
will send you to Mauthausen.”
Another detail, a more concrete one: Mauthausen Camp is built on a
plateau and every night the chimneys of the crematorium would light up
the whole district, and everyone knew what the crematorium was for.
Another detail: The town of Mauthausen was situated 5 kilometers from
the camp. The convoys of deportees were brought to the station of the
town. The whole population could see these convoys pass. The whole
population knew in what state these convoys were brought into the camp.