Biographical Information
A
28 year old Spanish mechanic living
in Linz, Austria,
Gomez was in Gusen I from 17 February
1941 to 5 May 1945 where
he worked as a stonemason, at the smith
shop, and as water-pipe installer (90).
When asked why he was in the camp,
he replied, “We were working
in France after having fought in Spain
and when the German entered France
we were promised work in Germany as
free workers and we were brought to
concentration camps” (99). When
asked which side he was on, Gomez replied, “On
the side of the Republic, my government
(99). “Against Franco” (113).
Grill and
Bathing-to-Death
Gomez
remembers Grill from his first day
in camp as a detail leader and the
man in charge of the post office. He
recalls seeing Grill lead invalids
to the showers (90) in 1943 or 1944
(92). First the healthy men would be
taken to the showers “in order
to go to work,” and afterwards,
the invalids (107). Gomez recalls seeing
from Barracks 12 or 13 Grill and other
SS lead men of all nationalities to
the showers, hearing screams, and then
seeing the SS return alone. A Spaniard
named Marino who worked in the crematorium
told him many died as a result of being
bathed to death (92). Gomez saw Grill
pass by on his way to the showers with
invalids quite frequently in 1943 and
1944 “during the extermination
of invalids,” and although he
never saw Grill in the showers directly
he had no reason to doubt that he was
involved (102). Gomez personally saw
the bodies leaving the shower (104)
and in the crematorium (103).
As
he was lined up outside Barracks 2,
the post office, waiting for a package
(99), Gomez saw that half the contents
of the Polish packages were taken (23)
(99) When asked by Defense Attorney
Kluge if he knew that there was an
order that extra food should be distributed to those doing hard
work, Gomez replied that he had never
heard this and that the hungry did
not get the food (99). SS mechanics
and electricians would come for extra
rations. Waiting for more food, prisoners
would push and shove and the SS would
grab whatever was near and beat randomly
at the men (93). Grill beat men only
with one hand, as the other was injured
(99). In April 1945 a large number
of Red Cross packages from France arrived
and these were also pilfered by the
SS men and Grill. Gomez also remembers
a Spaniard named Cinca who worked in the post office.
As punishment for writing down the
names of all the towns mentioned in
the newspapers as overrun by the Russians
(94). Grill beat Cinca and
took him to the camp commandant (unnamed)
who ordered him to be killed the next
day. Second-in-Command Beck intervened
and got the sentence reduced to 25
lashes and three days in “confinement” (95).
On
page 108, Gomez explains that Oskar,
from Hamburg, whose job
it was to turn the showers on and off,
explained to him the process by which
invalids were murdered. “...the
showers had three drains. Then the
pavement would slant slightly. At the
side of the showers there was a step
about twenty-five or thirty centimeters
high. Then as the invalids arrived,
and this was only for the invalids,
they were given a bar of soap. They
would cover the three drains and then
they would let the water run more or
less, until it was forty or fifty meters
high. Then the invalids were forced
to lie in the water, and they were
induced to do this by leather whips
that the guards had. If some did not
do so, they would take their foot and
put it over their face, and with their
foot over the neck or the face, they
were kept there until they drowned. After this, if some
were still alive, they were again submerged
and then they were taken out” (108).
Jungjohann
Jungjohann
was in charge of masons at Gusen I
(95). As an installer of water-pipes,
Gomez could go about the camp with
his toolbox and observed that Jung
often beat prisoners by hand and boot
(95)
Tandler
and the Young Russians
Tandler
was in charge of the 13, 14 and 15
year old Russians and was block führer to
them. Gomez observed Tandler beating
them when they marched out of formation
or would not sing. He also testifies
that these young men did very hard
work crushing rock in the quarry. Tandler
was supposed to ensure they got extra
food, but even when this happened,
he stole it from the boys (96). He
recalls hearing the young Russians
singing as they left for work and as
they returned. While they were suppose
to leave half an hour later than the
other workers and return half an hour
earlier, Gomez recalls they often returned
from work with the others (99). Under
no circumstances would the Russian
youth have called Tandler “Father,” Gomez
testified (100). Although Gomez did
not know any German, he believes they
were forced to sing in German, and
if they did not, they were beaten (107).
Heisig
As
foreman of the firemen and then the
Messerschmitt factory (96) Heisig was
feared for beating men for trivial
reasons. One Sunday in February 1945,
Gomez saw him beat a young Polish prisoner
for taking three potatoes off a cart
(97).
Schuettauf
and the Chain of Guards
Cleaning
Schuettauf’s room one day, Gomez
learned he was leader of the guards,
but Gomez himself did not witness any
illegal behavior from Schuettauf. Since
Gomez had access to the entire camp
in his capacity as water-pipe installer,
he observed that either Schuettauf
or an SS “with three stars” would
instruct the guard before they dispersed
to their assigned posts by “way
of the highway” or through the
quarry, whichever appropriate. He also
recalls them cutting across the quarry
to return to their barracks after prisoners
had left work (104). The guards
left for work half an hour before inmates
left the inside of the “electrically
charged wall” (106).
Gassing
of Russians
When
Gomez asked Spaniards in the crematorium
why there was so much smoke one day
(109) in February 1942 (98), they told
Gomez that they had a large number
of corpses, either 147 or 164 (Gomez
could not recall exactly), because
of a gassing of Russians (98) in Barracks
16 (109). Stupinski, (or Lupinski,
used in the same context on 112) an
Austrian civilian who released the
gas in the barracks, told him that
the windows and doors were first sealed
with paper, the gas was released, and
then the Russians were forced to enter.
In 1945 when Gomez was staying in Barracks
21, a similar action took place with
prisoners from Barracks 24 in Barracks
31 during “a disinfection” (109).
Gassing
of Jews
At
this time “Polish children and
men from Gusen No. 2—children
of 3 and 4 years old” (110) were
brought to two “disinfections” on
consecutive nights. The children were
already dead, brought on wagons with
all the other bodies. Gomez testifies
that these children arrived toward
the end of the war. The women, it was
said, had been sent on to
Mauthausen.
Inmates could see the train station
from the camp, and they could see
what they were told were Polish Jews
with their children by the hand or
in their arms (110).
Gusen II
In
answer to Court President Colonel Gardner’s
question “What was Gusen II?” Gomez
explains, “Gusen II was a new
camp that was formed about the end
of 1943 or the beginning of 1944 and
then they started to send in prisoners.” (109)
Gardner: “Where any
particular kinds of prisoners sent
to Gusen II?”
“No.
Some of them marched from our camp
over to the other one. The only thing
that can be said, it was a larger command
and they were sent to work on the details
in St. Georgen---” [dashes in
transcript] (110).
Hartheim Castle
At
the end of 1941 Gomez also saw invalid
transports leave Gusen I who were said
to be headed to Hartheim (110).
Source:
KZ Gusen
Memorial Committee Digital Archive Project 
