Declassified Russian Documents Reveal Role of Polish Collaborator at Auschwitz

The Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) has made public a set of declassified documents that shed light on the actions of a Polish collaborator involved in the atrocities committed at Auschwitz during World War II. This release coincides with the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945.

Auschwitz, established by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland, became synonymous with the horrors of the Holocaust, where an estimated 1.1 million people lost their lives due to forced labor, starvation, disease, and systematic extermination. Among the victims were Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma, homosexuals, individuals with disabilities, and others deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime.

The documents released by the FSB focus on a man named Josef Pietzka, who was born in Chorzow, Poland, in 1914. Initially imprisoned at Auschwitz from 1940 to 1943 for avoiding military service, Pietzka was later released under police supervision. During interrogations by Soviet authorities, he allegedly expressed satisfaction with his role as a kapo, a term used for inmate supervisors who enforced camp orders.

Pietzka claimed to have been involved in the brutal treatment of fellow inmates, specifically targeting those who did not meet labor expectations. His work entailed transporting bodies of deceased prisoners and the ashes from crematoriums, with reports indicating that his team could handle between 100 to 500 bodies daily.

Following the war, Soviet prosecutors assessed Pietzka's mental state and determined that he required psychiatric treatment. In 1955, he was transferred to East Germany, though the subsequent details of his life remain unclear.

The release of these documents comes in a context where Poland did not extend an invitation to Russian representatives for commemorative events surrounding the camp's liberation, citing geopolitical tensions stemming from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The FSB's disclosure aims to highlight the involvement of Polish nationals in the crimes perpetrated at Auschwitz, thereby contributing to the historical narrative surrounding the Holocaust and the role of collaborators.

Auschwitz, originally opened as a concentration camp in 1939, was later transformed into a site for mass extermination, where the horrors of the Holocaust were starkly evident. Upon liberation, Soviet troops found approximately 7,000 severely malnourished inmates, many of whom had been forced to march away from the advancing Red Army, leaving behind a chilling reminder of the atrocities that occurred within the camp's walls.