photo #7682614

22 November 1940 | The first execution by shooting took place in the Auschwitz camp. The convicts were brought by the Criminal Police of Kattowitz (Katowice). 40 Poles, who were not prisoners of Auschwitz, were shot in retaliation for the alleged violence and assault on police official in Kattowitz. Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the execution to be carried out in secrecy. The execution was started at 12 a.m. in a pit located near the camp and took about 20 minutes. The execution squad consisted of 20 SS men from the camp guard company. SS-Untersturmführer Täger was the commander of the squad and the execution was directed by SS-Obersturmführer Karl Fritzsch. Every condemned was shot by two SS men. On the same day 40 separate protocols were made of the execution of 40 Poles. Under the category "examination of corpses" (Leichenbefund), a shot in the heart is registered. It was confirmed with the signature of the camp doctor SS-Hauptsturmführer Max Popiersch. Commandant SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolf Höss also signed the protocols. The commandant also made a written report to the concentration camp inspector concerning the execution. During the evening roll call, Camp Commander Karl Fritsch warned all prisoners against attempts of escape. He threatened that, in case of a successful escape, several residents from the escapee's hometown would be shot. He informed the prisoners that 40 inhabitants of the prisoner Leon Majcher, who had escaped from the camp on the night on November 18-19, had to be shot that very day. List of executed men: Paweł Barabas Alojzy Biegun Józef Bienik Michał Dzida Piotr Gradzik Adam Grzębinoga Ryszard Gunther Bruno Gruszka Karol Handerek Tomasz Jakubiec Natoni Jochymek Franciszek Kastelik Teodor Klimm Władysław Kokot Jan Kozusznik Michał Kruk Antoni Krzemyk Maciej Krzemyk Edmund Mariańczyk Ignacy Markiewicz Jan Masny Piotr Myszczyszyn Ludwik Ociepa Józef Osak Władysław Pietrusa Józef Penpek Franciszek Poida Antoni Przybył Piotr Przybył Stanisław Redych Feliks Ryczka Jan Semik Władysław Slomian Aleksander Stempień Rudolf Szotek Franciszek Szydłowski Jan Śliwa Antoni Wawrzyszek Bolesław Wojdyga Leopold Zieliński In the picture: A list of 20 SS men who formed the execution squad that day.