The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

The Trial of Adolf Eichmann
Session 61
(Part 4 of 9)


Q. When were you given a particular task in regard to that foot march to which you referred?

A. Krausz informed me on 22 November, that on the same day we would be meeting with Mr. Wallenberg, in Mr. Wallenberg's office. There would be present - and he mentioned the name to me - a Hungarian officer who had a very important post at that time, and he would supply details. We did not know exactly where these people were going to be taken to, on foot. On the same day, 22 November, we had a meeting with Wallenberg. There were representatives of the embassies - he himself was there in his personal capacity - there were representatives of the Portuguese and Spanish embassies; they were also involved in rescue activity, they dealt with converted Jews, with Jewish Christians. Krausz and I were there on behalf of the Swiss embassy. We listened there to a report from the officer, his name was Major Batizfalvy; he was a Hungarian officer, and he gave particulars of the dreadful situation of the thousands of marchers from Budapest, and especially those from the brick factory, on the road to Hegyeshalom. At first, they went along the main thoroughfares, the main road, and thereafter on side roads. Conditions were very bad - hundreds, thousands, were falling by the wayside. They were not being given food - they were in an awful state - they were being treated very badly. He, Batizfalvy, had received from Ferenczy, who was the liaison officer between the Germans and the Hungarians, four protective letters to enable members of the embassies to proceed along the road, in order to give help to, and to bring back mainly those who possessed our letters of protection. He told us that they were being taken along the road to Hegyeshalom, and there they were going to be handed over to the Germans. There was a large group at Hegyeshalom. The situation as he described it was very bad. He said that he would give us these letters of protection.

Presiding Judge: Who said that?

Witness Breszlauer: Batizfalvy. He said that, so that we might be safe on the road and that no harm would befall us. We would be given the opportunity of attending to our people and of bringing them back - those who had letters of protection. That was on 22 November. On the 23rd, we made certain preparations. We, the members of the Swiss embassy, knew that there were only a few there with these letters of protection, since all their papers had been taken away from them. We knew that there were only a few such people. We knew that they had been subjected to a thorough body search before they were sent off from the brick factory, and that everything had been taken from them. We deliberated what we should do, in what way we could help. I took with me a rubber stamp of the Swiss consulate. I took blank letters of protection, a typewriter, and I left on the 23rd, accompanied by Kluger and a Jewish driver, Pollack. We left by night. We departed from Budapest at 3.30 in the morning. Early in the morning we reached Hegyeshalom.

State Attorney Bach: Did you see Jews on the road?

Witness Breszlauer: We did not see them on the road. It was night. By then they were not walking along the main roads, they were on the side roads. Apart from that, most of the groups walking were given a chance to rest at night. On the journey there, I did not come across any persons walking.

Q. So you saw the marchers only at Hegyeshalom?

A. Yes.

Q. What did you see at Hegyeshalom?

A. I arrived at Hegyeshalom. I found the people in a state - I was accustomed to unpleasant sights, but it was a picture...there was a large farmyard there, with a big barn into which the people had been confined - thousands of them. There were also smaller sheds for drying tobacco. There were also some people there.

But the majority of the people, several thousands, were in this huge barn. They were under strict guard. I could see them - through holes in the wood, through chinks in the boards. There were also small holes. I saw faces of people who had made their way for 200-220 kilometres without food. There was the fear of death in their countenances. They were in a horrible state, without any hygienic conditions. They performed their bodily functions inside the barn. There were women and men there. I could only hear shouts of "Help!" They thought that people had come from the embassy, they believed that they were able to save them all, and they began shouting. I saw they were in an awful state. They were hungry and thirsty. I am not capable of describing the situation in which I saw these people. That was the position. There were people there whose names were familiar. There was a well-known veteran actor - I don't remember his name - lawyers, scientists, scholars, persons from all walks of life. They searched, first of all, for well-known people in Budapest, removed them from their homes and took them along this road.

Presiding Judge: How many people were there?

Witness Breszlauer: I could not check that.

Q. Hundreds? Thousands?

A. There were thousands. There was terrible congestion in the barn. They had arrived there in the morning and were delivered the following morning at the border, to the Germans. I was there for four days. I tried everything. I went for a drink - I went to the taverns - I gave money to all kinds of people, I wanted to obtain details, I wanted to get written records. They were handed over at the border to Wisliceny; he received them by numbers, not by names. There were records. I did not manage to get a record, nor did I know the exact number. It was said that roughly ten thousand persons had already been handed over to the Germans by the time I came there.

Q. Were you able to get near them, or could you only look at them from outside?

A. Only from the outside. They were shut in, but, here and there, there were some near the door. I searched on the first day, on the second day; I had some form of contact with people at a lower level, they were given bribes. The position there was that there were many Hungarians who themselves were pained by what they saw, but there were more of those who were afraid; they even wanted to get some form of alibi for themselves: "I helped, tell them that I helped." There were people who were allowed in. I had some contact, I wrote down names, by night; I worked all night and wrote out the certificates.

Q. These letters of protection?

A. Yes, which I could hand to these people.

State Attorney Bach: What were the ages of the people you saw?

Witness Breszlauer: It varied. There were elderly people, there were young people, there were middle-aged people, there were people who had been seized in the streets, those who were removed from their homes, and also those who had already been mobilized.* {*The reference is apparently to the Hungarian Labour Service.} There were those who had already been mobilized, those also came. These were of a certain age. But a large number were children and quite old people.

Q. In your investigation - I understand that you submitted a report - did you ascertain how many people, in all, took part in this march?

A. According to my estimate, there were more than fifty thousand persons in all. There were not yet so many there, but I made enquiries later, for it still continued afterwards. I also learned from the people there that the Germans only wanted to receive persons who were fit for work. But the Hungarians wanted to hand over all of them. I tried to ascertain where these were. I learned that there was an abandoned building in a forest near Hegyeshalom - apparently it had once been a hunting lodge. It had several rooms, and there I found these people. They were waiting for their death. They received no treatment, no medicaments, no attention, hardly any food. Here and there, they were given a little cold soup.

Anyone who had money received some water for his money, sometimes some bad coffee. I saw a dead man there, in the hall; I say dying people. There were people who were still able to speak, who shouted: Help! I was not there for a long time. The persons in charge got to know that I was there. They were armed with bayonets, with rifles: "How did you dare come here?" I showed them their authorizing documents. They told me that if I did not get out of there within one minute, they would shoot me. I left the place.

Q. Those who spoke to you later - were they Hungarians?

A. They were Hungarian gendarmerie.

Q. Was the guarding of the Jews on the road in the hands of the Hungarians?

A. The guarding of the Jews on the road was in the hands of the Hungarians. In Hegyeshalom, I saw several Germans. I was there during lunch, and I heard their conversation and their stories. I did not speak.

Presiding Judge: What Germans? In uniform?

Witness Breszlauer: Yes.

Q. In what uniforms?

A. Of the Gestapo, the SS, the SD.

State Attorney Bach: How long were you in Hegyeshalom?

Witness Breszlauer: I left Budapest on the 23rd and returned on the 27th.

Q. Did you also see anything on the way back?

A. On the way back, I saw a fairly large group, consisting of several hundred people; I noticed that most of them were elderly people, women, pregnant women, people who were not capable of working. I thought that these were some of those who had been returned. I wanted to join them. I asked where they were bound for? Budapest. I said: "I want to join them - I will walk with them." They would not allow me to do so. On the fourth day, when I was in Budapest, I was told: "The validity of your documents has expired." I sent several hundred persons back. On the first day, I remember, it was close to one hundred, and the same on the second day, and on the third - then they came to me and said: "The documents that you received, which gave you the right to move around freely, are no longer valid; you will have to return immediately and report to the Ministry of the Interior."

On my way back, I came across that group of several hundred persons. I wanted to join them. They would not allow me to speak to them. I followed up my enquiries in Budapest, I went from place to place, I wanted to know where these people had disappeared to. Afterwards I learned from some source that these people were brought to the Danube where they were shot; they were killed and thrown into the river Danube.

Q. Did you put in a report afterwards?

A. Yes. The following day, I sent a report - I gave it to Krausz, and he forwarded it to the Swiss consulate, and they sent it to Switzerland.

Q. I have here a copy of the minutes of that meeting of 22 November and of your report. Please examine this document and tell us whether this is your report and the minutes of that meeting.

A. I did not see the minutes of the meeting, but it accords...

Q. According to the contents, are you able to say that it accords with the discussion that took place on that day, that report of Major Batizfalvy, and thereafter your report?

Presiding Judge: Is it the actual report?

State Attorney Bach: This is the actual report, and the minutes of the meeting which preceded the witness' journey.

Presiding Judge: Who wrote these minutes?

State Attorney Bach: It only says "Minutes recorded in the office of the Swedish embassy." It does not say here who wrote them.

Witness Breszlauer: [after perusing the documents] That I do not know...

Presiding Judge: What don't you know?

Witness Breszlauer: This is my text, I wrote it. At the end I see three sections: the minutes of the meeting that were sent, this is exactly as it was. My report, which was sent, was written by me, and there is, here, a report of the Red Cross - of this I do not know.

State Attorney Bach: The document consists of fourteen pages; the report by the witness ends on page eleven. After that it says: "The account is supplemented by representatives of the Red Cross," that is to say, additional reports came in from representatives of the Red Cross.

Presiding Judge: Do you wish to submit it?

State Attorney Bach: I ask to submit this document. Perhaps the witness would identify his signature. This is also the text of the report which you identified at the time and signed. Your signature appears on the reverse side.

Witness Breszlauer: Yes, this is my signature.

Presiding Judge: Does this include the three documents you mentioned?

State Attorney Bach: Yes, it also includes this document.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/1237.

State Attorney Bach: After you handed in your report, were you able to do anything to help these people?

Witness Breszlauer: I brought back several hundred people at the time. Wallenberg also had several people returned. It was easier for him - he had an exact list of the people, and he was able to look for them. I was unable to look for them in this way. But I returned several hundred people. After some days had passed, I found them at the railway station. They were sent back to Budapest.

Q. Do you have any idea how many of these people died on the way?

A. The number was very large. Those who were weak were shot on the road. I spoke of a number of people who came back. There was a young woman there who had come with her parents. Her parents were unable to walk; they were shot on the road, and she remained on the road, alone. The number of people who died was great, both on the way, as well as there. On the one night I was there, I think about thirty-six people - or some such number - died in the huge barn.

The mortality rate was high. The people were weak, they had become enfeebled from the way and from lack of attention. Many of them, also, were shot. The journey was a long one. There was a group of people there who had been sent from Bor. They were young people. About four thousand were working there. A large part of them could not bear the conditions any longer. They came from Yugoslavia on foot. I looked for them, since I had many acquaintances amongst them - I looked for them later, but I did not see them. A great number of these were killed.

Presiding Judge: You say that the distance was 220 kilometres?

Witness Breszlauer: 200 to 220 kilometres.

Q. And in how many days did they cover this distance?

A. Seven to eight days.

Presiding Judge: Dr. Servatius, do you have any questions?

Dr. Servatius: Witness, you said that on this march a few thousand were shot to death. Did I understand you correctly?

Witness Breszlauer: Yes.

Q. Who fired these shots?

A. I was not present. As far as I know, they were escorted by Hungarians.

Q. May I be permitted to read out to you an extract from your report: "Twenty-five thousand people were dispatched on 22 November." This is on page four.

A. Yes.


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