Post-War Testimony

Joint interrogation of Otto Moll and Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höß on April 16, 1946. Höss stated that it “was the responsibility of the subordinates, like Moll, to see that the people actually got into the gas chambers under the doctors and then to see that their bodies were burned” and that”those that were too weak to be moved to the gas chamber, or who could not be moved for some other reason, were shot thru the neck by him”. Moll testified that “we put between 30,000 and 40,000 people in those mass graves” of the Bunker extermination sites in 1942, whereas Höss gave a higher figure, “the people buried in the two big mass graves of the so-called dugouts: one and two, amounted to 106,000 or 107,000 people”.

Interrogation of notorious Auschwitz perpetrator Otto Moll, conducted on April 15–16, 1946. In his statements to U.S. prosecutors at Nuremberg, Moll acknowledged supervising the cremation of bodies at Birkenau in the Summer of 1944. He described the arrival of transports from Hungary, the selection process carried out by SS doctors, and the transfer of those deemed unfit for work to the crematoria. At the same time, he maintained that responsibility for the killings themselves rested with doctors and higher-ranking SS officials. He denied committing any atrocities.

Interrogation of former SS-Untersturmführer Hans Stark of the Auschwitz Political Department, dated April 28, 1959, on atrocities committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. As a former member of the admissions department, Stark testified that “newly arriving transports that were designated for shooting were not to be registered, as would have been done with others, but were to be led directly to be shot.” He further described the early use of poison gas, stating that “the first gassing was carried out in the autumn of 1941 in the small crematorium. … A group of approximately 200 to 250 Jews was brought to the crematorium. They were men, women, and children of all ages. They were sent into the crematorium. I stood at the entrance and counted them. The gassings were carried out in such a way that the Jews were sent into a room which was then closed behind them. Then Zyklon B was poured through two openings in the roof”.

In an interrogation conducted by West German authorities on November 2, 1960, former SS driver Richard Böck gave further testimony about his service at Auschwitz. He provided firsthand account of mass gassing at the Bunker extermination site in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Among other details, Böck stated that “after the entire transport—there must have been about 1,000 people—was inside the building, the gate was closed. Then an SS man, I believe he was a Rottenführer, came to our ambulance and took out a gas canister. With this canister, he went to a ladder that stood on the right side of the building, as seen from the gate. I noticed that he was wearing a gas mask as he climbed the ladder. When he reached the top, he opened a circular metal flap and poured the contents of the canister into the opening”.

Copy of a report dated 5 July 1945 by Wilhelm Boger, given while in U.S. custody, on his personal background, his rise through the ranks of the Nazi security apparatus, and his period in the Auschwitz concentration camp. In December 1942, Boger was transferred to Auschwitz, where he served in the camp’s Political Department, responsible for interrogations, internal investigations, and handling escape cases. He also provides an account of the SS trial of Maximilian Grabner, the head of the Political Department in Auschwitz, at which Boger testified as a witness. During the proceedings, he stated that “Grabner had ordered the killing of people.” In the report, Boger claims that, according to SS-Oberscharführer Erber, “the total number of inmates killed at Auschwitz – by gassing, shooting, hanging, and disease, including also SS members – […] clearly exceeds four million”.

This post presents the testimony of SS-Unterscharführer Richard Böck, recorded on February, 5 1959 by the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police. Böck, who served as a driver at Auschwitz, recounts his observations of executions, prisoner mistreatment, and extermination. He testified that “Dr. Mengele oversaw the extermination operations on the ramp at Birkenau”, and “Moll killed prisoners who did not enter the gas chambers quickly enough by shooting them in the neck with a 9mm air rifle”.

In October 1958, Wilhelm Boger, a former SS officer known for his role at Auschwitz, was arrested and interrogated by Stuttgart police. Over two days, Boger gave a lengthy statement about his background, duties at the camp, and the charges brought against him. Boger served in the camp’s Political Department, dealing with criminal investigations, escape attempts, and intelligence gathering. He admitted to overseeing and participating in “enhanced interrogations” involving beatings and suspension torture – a method prisoners later dubbed the “Boger swing.” Though Boger repeatedly denied involvement in selections or executions, he acknowledged being present during some shootings and described how prisoners unfit for labor were sent to the crematoria for gassing. He also confirmed his presence at the Birkenau ramp in to investigate SS theft of prisoner belongings.
Boger claimed he was assigned to Auschwitz for “further probation” after being deemed unfit for frontline military service. He served in the camp’s Political Department, dealing with criminal investigations, escape attempts, and intelligence gathering. He admitted to overseeing and participating in “enhanced interrogations” involving beatings and suspension torture – a method prisoners later dubbed the “Boger swing.” He acknowledged being present during some shootings and described how prisoners unfit for labor were sent to the crematoria for gassing. He also confirmed his presence at the Birkenau ramp in to investigate SS theft of prisoner belongings.