VEITH: Well, our offices faced the parade ground overlooking the
Kommandantur; we therefore saw the high-ranking officials arriving, and
the SS men themselves would tell us, “There goes so and so.”
M. DUBOST: Could the civilian population know, and did it know of the
plight of the internees?
VEITH: Yes, the population could know, since at Mauthausen there was a
road near the quarry and those who passed by that road could see all
that was happening. Moreover, the internees worked in the factories.
They were separated from the other workers, but they had certain
contacts with them and it was quite easy for the other workers to
realize their plight.
M. DUBOST: Can you tell us what you know about a journey, to an unknown
castle, of a bus carrying prisoners who were never seen again?
VEITH: At one time a method for the elimination of sick persons by
injections was adopted at Mauthausen. It was particularly used by Dr.
Krebsbach, nicknamed “Dr. Spritzbach” by the prisoners since it was he
who had inaugurated the system of injections. There came a time when the
injections were discontinued, and then persons who were too sick or too
weak were sent to a castle which, we learned later, was called Hartheim,
but was officially known as a Genesungslager (convalescent camp). Of all
of those who went there, none ever returned. We received the death
certificates directly from the political section of the camp; these
certificates were secret. Everybody who went to Hartheim died. The
number of dead amounted to about 5,000.