"The witness himself saw when the woman Gittel Gottelman, wife of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kalman, and the two children on the left". - A form for collecting testimony from a person testifying about the woman Gittel Gottelman who perished in Auschwitz, who, when she arrived at Auschwitz with her two children, was ordered by the Nazis to go "to the left." 2nd month of Adar, 1948.
After the terrible Holocaust, local courts were established in various towns in Europe to deal with the thousands of wives and husbands whose fate was unknown during the war. The Rabbis printed a special questionnaire, which the witness was asked to fill out. The questionnaire included a clause in which the witness was asked: "Which side was she ordered to stand in Auschwitz" The Psak Halacha stated that anyone who was instructed by the Nazis "to the left" upon arrival at Auschwitz must have been led to death and burning (see for more detail in - אוצר הפוסקים" ח"ז עמ' קכד - קל).
The questionnaire before us was filled out by hand after the war on the 12th of the second month of Adar, 1948 in Tshaba, Hungary before a court of three headed by Rabbi Shraga Shmuel Schnitzler, by the Bachur Yitzhak Eibach Grunwald, who testifies that he saw the woman Gittel Gottelman in Auschwitz together with her two children, a son and daughter and that the Nazis ordered her to go to the left, and therefore they must have been murdered. It was June 1944, and he testifies that she was with a group of "members of our community from here".
Upon the arrival of the Jews at Auschwitz on the platform, they were violently and forcefully taken off the train. Prisoners from Kommando Kanada unit were responsible for unloading passengers from train cars and separating them from their belongings, while ensuring that their belongings would be returned to them in the camp. These prisoners were forbidden to tell those arriving about their fate. On the platform, the men were separated from the women and children. An SS doctor, often Dr. Josef Mengele, along with other SS officers would sort – selection – those who arrived according to their appearance, those fit for work and those sent directly to be murdered. The selection was usually superficial and accidental. An estimated 10% to 20% of men were selected for work, and the rest were sentenced to immediate death.
[2] Printed pages filled with the witness's handwriting and signature, signatures, and the Court seal. Folding marks. Good condition.
