The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS 351
Translation
Interrogation protocol of the witness
On 11 June 1945 Wadysaw BEDNARZ, Investigating Judge at section
IV of the ód District Court, interrogated the below witness, who
was left unsworn. After the witness had been informed that giving a
false testimony is an offense, he declared the following:
Name and First name: Bronisaw FALBORSKI
Age: 35 years
Names of parents: [father] unknown, [mother] Magdalena
Residence: Koo
Profession: Driver
Religion: Roman Catholic
Previous convictions: none
Declaration by the witness
During the German occupation I worked as a mechanic for the German
company “KRAFT” in Koo, Asnyk street. I worked for said company
from April 1942 to 1943. I don’t remember the exact dates. Our
company repaired vehicles of the SS Sonderkommando from Culmhof.
Once I was ordered to repair a vehicle which served to poison with gases.
I cannot exactly remember when this happened. I think that it was in
the summer of 1942. The vehicle was roughly 2.50 m high. Its length
was 6 m, but its height [width] probably 2.50 m. The vehicle’s color
was black and had the shape of a box. The roof was flat and rectangular
to its walls. I believe that it was lined with sheet metal, but I am not certain
about it. I did not look at the engine, and I have not paid attention
to the make of the vehicle. The vehicle’s doors could be locked with
latch and keys. The vehicle was guarded by several police men who did
not allow me to investigate its design. I did not pay attention to whether
a gas mask hung next to the driver’s seat. I cannot recall whether the
vehicle had a registration number. I was entrusted with the repair. It
consisted of replacing a part between the elastic part of the exhaust pipe
and the part which led into the vehicle’s interior. I clarify that the exhaust
pipe did not consist of one piece as in normal vehicles, but of
three parts, where the middle part was elastic like a hose. Said middle
part could either be connected to a pipe located in the floor of the vehicle
– with the result that the exhaust gases flowed into the vehicle’s in-