Q. Witness, how many times were you operated on?
A. Once.
Q. When Dr. Oberheuser attended you, was she gentle in her treatment
toward you?
A. She was not bad.
Q. Witness, have you ever heard of a person named Binz in the
Ravensbrueck concentration camp?
A. I know her very well.
Q. Do you remember what time your friends were called to be operated on
in August of 1943?
A. Yes.
Q. Will you kindly tell the Tribunal some of the details there and the
names of the persons who were to be operated on?
A. In the spring of 1943 the operations were stopped. We thought that we
could live like that till the end of the war. On the 15th of August a
policewoman came and called ten girls. When she was asked what for, she
answered that we were going to be sent to work. We knew very well that
all prisoners belonging to our transport were not allowed to work
outside the camp. The chief of the block where we were living was
forbidden under capital punishment to let us outside the camp. That’s
why we know that it was not true. We didn’t want to let our comrades out
of the block. The policewoman came, and the assistants, the overseers,
and with them Binz. We were driven out of the block into the street. We
stood there in line 10 at a time and Binz herself read off the names of
10 girls. When they refused to go because they were afraid of a new
operation and were not willing to undergo a new operation, she herself
gave her word of honor that it was not going to be an operation and she
told them to follow her.
We remained standing before the block. Then several minutes later our
comrades ran to us and told us that SS men have been called for in order
to surround them. The camp police arrived and drove our comrades out of
the line. We were locked in the block. The shutters were closed. We were
3 days without any food and without any fresh air. We were not given
parcels that arrived in the camp at that time. The first day the camp
commandant and Binz came and made a speech. The camp commandant said
that there had never been a revolt in the camp and that this revolt must
be punished. She believed that we would reform and that we would never
repeat it. If it were to happen again, she had SS people with weapons.
My comrade, who knew German, answered that we were not revolting, that
we didn’t want to be operated on because five of us died after the
operation and because six had been shot down after having suffered so
much. Then Binz replied: “Death is victory. You must suffer for it and
you will never get out of the camp.” Three days later, we learned that
our comrades had been operated on in the bunker.
Q. Now, Witness, how many women, approximately, were operated on at
Ravensbrueck?
A. At Ravensbrueck 74 women were operated on. Many of them underwent
many operations.
Q. Now, you have told us that five died as a result of the operations,
is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And another six were shot down after the operation, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know why those other six were shot, Witness?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Witness, were any of these victims asked to volunteer for these
operations?
A. No.
Q. Were any of them promised freedom if they would submit to operations?
A. No.
Q. When you were operated on, did you object?
A. I could not.
Q. Why?
A. I was not allowed to talk and our questions were not answered.
Q. Do you still suffer any effects as a result of the operation,
Witness?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you ever asked to sign any papers with respect to the operation?
A. Never.
Q. When did you finally leave Ravensbrueck?
A. On 27 April 1945.
Q. Have you ever received any treatment since you have left Ravensbrueck
in the last year?
A. Yes.
Q. Tell us what treatment you have received.
A. Dr. Gruzan in Warsaw transplanted tendons on my leg.
Q. When did he do that?
A. On 25 September 1945.
Q. Do you have to wear any special shoes, now, Witness?
A. Yes, I should wear them, but I can’t afford to buy them.
Q. What are you doing now, Witness? Are you working now, or what is your
occupation?
A. I am now continuing my studies which I started before the war.
Q. I see. I will ask the witness to identify these pictures.
MR. HARDY: This is Document NO-1082_a_, _b_, and _c_. I will pass these
up to the Tribunal for your perusal. Were these photographs taken of you
in Nuernberg in the last day or two, Witness?
WITNESS DZIDO: Yes.
Q. Witness, would you kindly take your stocking and shoe off your right
leg, please, and will you step out to the side and show the Tribunal the
results of the operations at Ravensbrueck? (Witness complies.) That’s
all, Witness, you may sit down.
MR. HARDY: I have no further question on direct examination, your Honor.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Is there any defense counsel who desires to
cross-examine this witness?
DR. SEIDL (counsel for defendants Gebhardt, Oberheuser, and Fischer): I
do not want to cross-examine the witness; however, I do not wish the
conclusion to be drawn that my clients admit all the statements made by
the witness.
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF THE PROSECUTION EXPERT WITNESS DR. LEO
ALEXANDER[41]
_DIRECT EXAMINATION_
MR. HARDY: Dr. Alexander, have you examined Miss Dzido before today?
WITNESS DR. ALEXANDER: Yes, sir, I did, on several occasions during the
last 3 days.
Q. During your examination, did you have X-rays made of the patient’s
legs?
A. I did, sir.
MR. HARDY: At this time I will introduce Document NO-1091 which is the
X-ray of the witness, Miss Dzido. We will pass two copies to the
Tribunal and one copy to the Secretary General. Dr. Alexander, in the
course of your diagnosis of these X-rays, will you kindly diagnose this
X-ray in English and then repeat in German for the benefit of the
defendants?
WITNESS DR. ALEXANDER: Yes, sir.
Q. Doctor, will you identify that X-ray which carried Document NO-1091?
A. Yes. This is the X-ray which included the lower two-thirds of the
thigh bone, the femur, and the knee joint, and—
MR. HARDY: I offer this X-ray as Prosecution Exhibit 215.
* * * * *
Q. Doctor, this X-ray you are referring to now is Document NO-1092?
A. This is Document NO-1091. The arrow points to the osteoporotic
atrophy of the tibia. Document NO-1092 is the X-ray of the leg. It shows
the fibula which is the smaller of the two larger bones of the leg,
about in the middle between the area just mentioned under the bracket
called “B”. On the side, looking toward the tibia is the
osteoperiostitis of the periosteum. This group of marks is particularly
severe in the smaller area which I have marked with the bracket “A”,
which indicates a smaller area of the shaft of the tibia within the
larger area of the disturbance marked as “B”. This alteration is
indicative and consists of an ordinary inactive Coxa, which in view of
the osteoperiostitis of the periosteum was probably an osteomyelitis
process. However, there is no active osteomyelitis at the present
examination of the right foot. In pictures 1093 and 1094, it shows
arthritic changes of the cuniform navicula joints with narrowing of the
joint spaces and increased marginal sclerosis. This has been marked in
the X-ray with an arrow pointing to the joint. The other prints are the
same. The prints have come out too dark, but it shows the condition
clearly in the film.
This arthritis is due to the immobilization of the right foot. Secondary
to the muscles and especially the paralysis of the perineal nerve. It is
evidently arthritis of an immobilization nature which one sees also by
inspection of the patient’s foot.