Before me, Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Mize, JAGD, personally appeared Lieutenant Colonel Guivante de Saint Gast and Lieutenant Jean Veith, both of the French army, who were made known to me, and who, being by me first duly sworn, made the following statement in the handwriting of Lieutenant Veith under oath:
The undersigned:
Guivante de Saint Gast, Lt. Colonel, Chef de Mission de 1 ere Classe, Carte d'identite militaire BCRA MCPA Promontain No. 510, Immatricule FFC Londres RUl. Carte de Repatrie No. 72352 delivered in Annercy (France). Order of Mission of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, Ministry of Prisoners and Deportees dated May 4th, 1945, No. 16772. Detained in the Concentration Camp of Mauthausen from March 18th, 1944, till April 22nd, 1945, No. 57876, having been employed at the offices of distribution of work [Arbeitseinsatz] from August 16th, 1944, till April 22nd, 1945, as auxiliary and as titulary.
Veith, Jean, Lieutenant, Charge de Mission de 2 e Classe, Carte d'identite Rapatrie No. 403927 delivered at Annercy. Order of Mission of the provisional government of the French Republic, Ministry of Prisoners and Deportees, dated May 4th, No. 16774. Detained in Mauthausen from April 22nd, 1943, till April 22nd, 1945, No. 28645, having been employed at the Politische Abteilung from June 2nd, 1943, to June 25th, 1943; at the Arbeitseinsatz from June 26th, 1943, to August 15th, 1944; as foreman of the cartography and mecausgraphy Hollwrith services till their dissolution in February 1945; and from then on until his liberation at the Lagerschreibstube (night shift)-both residing in Paris (17a) 20, Rue de Sanssuse, relate and certify under oath the following facts:
In Mauthausen existed several treatments of prisoners, among them the "Action K or Kugel" (Bullet Action). Upon the arrival of transports, prisoners marked "K" were not registered, got no numbers, and their names remained unknown except to the officials of the Politische Abteilung. (Lt. Veith had the opportunity of hearing, upon the arrival of a transport, the following conversation between the Untersturmfuehrer Streitwieser and the chief of the convoy: "How many prisoners?" "15, but two K." "Well, that makes 13.")
The prisoners were taken directly to the prison where they were undressed and taken to the "Bathrooms." This bathroom in the cellars of the prison building near the crematory was specially designed for execution (shooting and gassing).
The shooting took place by means of a measuring apparatus. The prisoners were backed against a metric scale with an automatic contraption releasing a bullet in their neck as soon as the moving board determining their height touched the top of their heads.
If a transport consisted of too many "K" prisoners, instead of wasting time on the measurements they were exterminated by gas which was sent into the bathrooms instead of water.
During his time as foreman at the Hoheritte section, Dr. Veith frequently received transfer sheets from other camps mentioning prisoners who did not appear on the entry list of Mauthausen. In such cases the Politische Abteilung very reluctantly used to give the information that the camp services had not to take into consideration such missing prisoners because they had been transferred "In geheimer Reichssache" (Secret affair of the Reich) and insisted upon the complete disappearance of all traces of the names. In many cases due to transmission errors, the fatal "K" indication was not immediately given with the transfer and followed several days or several weeks later. Lt. Col. de Saint Gast certifies having received in this service cancellation orders from the Politische Abteilung concerning such prisoners. As upon their arrival such "K" prisoners had, by mistake, received a camp number, they had to disappear in the numbers register of the camp, and from this unification order was made in the following hypocritical form: prisoner X Nr.....birth place, birth date is actually called [heisst richtig] prisoner Y, Nr....., different birth place and date.
Such identification orders should be found in the documents of the Arbeitseinsatz as far as they have not been destroyed.
This statement has been made voluntarily in the handwriting of Lt. Veith, who understands English and who has truly translated the same to Lt. Col. de Saint Gast prior to his signing the same.
/s/ Pf. de Saint Gast|
Source: Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV Office of the United States Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality Washington, DC : United States Government Printing Office, 1946 |