Statement 11

Regional investigative committee in the town of Teplá:

Investigating the participants in the mass killings perpetrated during the death marches

Teplá, July 27th, 1945

Town of Teplá, August 2nd, 1945

Regional investigative committee

Appendix: 2

Town of Teplá

I am informing you that during my investigation of the participants of the mass killings that took place during the death marches and my search for the buried bodies, the local police from the town and environs of Teplá located and discovered a total of 4 graves, in which 23 corpses (18 women and 5 men) are supposedly buried. Depending on the time of burials, the bodies are likely from the last three death marches (of concentration camp prisoners), who marched this April through Karlovy Vary and Teplá in the direction of Mariánské Lázně and usually spent the night in Klášter Teplá in a barn that was allocated to them. According to the statements of those arrested as well as what some of the locals have told us, whenever they saw the participants of the death marches, the people were totally starving and exhausted and died mostly of exhaustion, except for several who were apparently shot, according to the uncovered and visible evidence. Concerning those who were shot or perhaps beaten to death, we could find no witnesses to corroborate this since the participants of the death marches were led and guarded by SS-men. When they marched through the town of Teplá, the police of Teplá helped them make sure that nobody ran away from the death march. The dead bodies were buried in the state that they were found in, in ditches without caskets. Except for one case, all were buried outside of any cemetery and without religious rites observed, namely: 1 grave, in which over 10 women are supposedly buried, one of which one was shot in the cemetery in Klášter Teplá, next to the mortuary. They were buried by SS-men. The second, behind the wall of the cemetery in Klášter Teplá, in which there are allegedly 8 women who were buried by German refugees who were told to do so together with gravedigger Wirtzler. The third grave, which is supposed to contain the bodies of 4 shot men, likely Russians, who were found by the road between Klášter Teplá and the village of Křepkovice and were buried next to the grave of the 8 women behind the wall of the cemetery in Klášter Teplá. They were buried by gravedigger Wirtzler. Finally, a fourth grave, in which is buried a man, likely a Russian, who was shot, and which is located in a field by the road from Teplá to Landek, about 1 ½ km from the town of Teplá. The location of the first 3 graves and their burial was determined and ordered by Frant. Kroy from Klášter in Teplá, and the location of the grave by the road near Landek was ordered and determined by the police in Teplá, perhaps by the commander of the former station, Heřman Paulmann.

The arrested were interrogated and made the following statement:

Regional Investigative Committee in Teplá

Reference no..: 1

Teplá, on July 27th, 1945

National Security Corps local command

Town of Teplá

In re: Investigating the participants in the mass killings

Appendices: 3

The local NSC command of the town Teplá was notified of the arrests of Vilém Schubert, born 18. 6. 1887, František Kroy, born 13. 1. 1884, František Josef Wirsler, born 5. 3. 1881, Jan Schwenda born 5. 3. 1881, and Ferdinand Deutsch, born 18. 9. 1882.

Interrogate the above-named to question them about the following matters.

1. The exact date on which the death marches passed through Teplá.

2. The approximate number of people who were part of these death marches (were allegedly).

3. Where were the participants of the death marches housed during their stay in the town of Teplá and its surroundings.

4. Since the buried bodies were allegedly also shot, question them about whether they heard gunfire, at what time, and who participated in the shooting.

5. Have them state the exact location of all of the graves in the area.

6. Who loaded the corpses onto the cart that the builder Kroy mentioned in his statement.

7. Why was the cart that carried the dead left where it was until 11:00, when builder Kroy was already notified of the corpses lying by the barn the evening before. Get the interrogated to state who told him about the dead bodies.

8. Who gave the interrogated the order to bury them behind the cemetery wall.

9. Why didn’t the afore-mentioned notify anyone about the improper burial of victims in a mass pit with no coffins, insufficiently covered, laid to rest, without ascertaining their identities with the help of Czechoslovak authorities since the victims had come here.

I am sending this statement written with builder Kroy and gravedigger Wirzler for your perusal and eventual further use in the proceedings. I am also attaching unsigned statements dated the 23rd and 26th of April. Builder Kroy should explain why he stated

that didn’t remember the exact date that the death marches passed through, but put down a date on the maps. It is my understanding that the maps were created very recently.

Police station

Nebáznivý manu propria

Received: Town of Teplá, on July 29th, 1945

Reference no.: 368/45

3 appendices

J.

Regional administrative authority in the town of Teplá

Teplá, on July 23rd, 1945

Statement,

Written on July 23rd, 1945 at the Regional Administrative Authority in the town of Teplá on the details concerning the buried victims of the Nazi occupation at the end of April 1945.

The interrogated:

1. František Josef Wirtzler, farmer in Klášter Teplá, residing in Klášter Teplá no. 10, born 5. 3. 1881, district of Teplá, widower, has never been convicted.

2. František Kroy, builder in Klášter Teplá, residing in ibid no. 11, born 13. 1. 1884 in Darmyšl, region of Tachov, married, has never been convicted,

The above-mentioned have been notified that they must state the truth.

Interrogation interpreted by Mr. Ant. Šejnoha from Teplá no. 279.

The interrogated František Kroy provided answered to our questions;

He knows only about the burial of victims in Klášter Teplá. The burial took place at the end of April, but he doesn’t remember the exact date. An SS-Scharführer whose name I don’t recall came to me before the burials with a request to tell him where to bury the bodies. I showed him a place to bury 10 people in the cemetery by the mortuary and where to bury 8 people behind the wall of the cemetery. There wasn’t any room left in the cemetery. The dead were participants in the death marches who had come from Karlovy Vary through Teplá. One group had probably marched to Mariánské Lázně and the second towards Bezdružice. About 1,500 people marched through here. For about two or three days, about 700 stayed in the barn by the cemetery, 300 people stayed in the Fichtenbühlhof courtyard, and some also stayed in the sheep stable near Klášter Teplá. 9 people from this death march died, most likely of hunger and exhaustion. One woman was shot by SS guards during the night when she wanted to go and get some food from the nearby houses. These first ten victims were buried by the SS members themselves. The SS-men dug the graves themselves and then covered them. The gravedigger was at the cemetery, but didn’t participate in the burials because he had other work to do. SS members came to builder Kroy before the burials to ask him to give them people to help with the burials, but he couldn’t assign them any and so they buried the bodies all by themselves. The next 8 victims were from the death march that passed through Teplá several days later. He was told, I can’t remember by whom, that there are 8 bodies from the death march of prisoners lying out by the barn. I took some refugees with me, and when I came to the place, the dead had already been loaded onto a cart. I don’t know who loaded them.

Gravedigger’s note: the coach driver who transported them is named Jan Schwenda and he works in Klášter Teplá.

They were taken by cart to the cemetery, where they were buried behind the wall. I selected the burial place myself because in Klášter Teplá there is no cemetery overseer. I was told sometime in April that there were dead bodies by the barn. I went there the next day at about 11:00 and the dead were already loaded onto a cart. I selected some refugees to pull the cart to the cemetery and bury the corpses in a common ditch. I can’t remember how deep it was. Councilman Ferdinand Deutsch from Klášter Teplá was also present. The gravedigger wasn’t present at this second burial either. In my opinion, there were only bones, but I don’t know which.

It wasn’t my responsibility to bury the dead because I’m just a builder here in Klášter Teplá and not the mayor. I allowed the dead to be buried behind the cemetery wall because there wasn’t any room left in the cemetery proper. I assumed that they would expand the cemetery. I didn’t notify the Czechoslovak authorities that came here after the fall of the Reich because I didn’t know that I had to. Of course, everyone in Klášter Teplá knew about it, it was never a secret. The gravedigger has nothing to add about the matter.

The statement has been read and signed.

Interrogator: Teplík m. p.

Interrogated: Franz Kroy m. p.

Franz Josef Wirtzler m. p.

Interpreter: Antonín Šejnoha m. p.

Copy verified by: Teplík

The location of the first 3 graves and burials was determined by František Kroy from Klášter in Teplá, and the location of the burial by the road near the village of Landek was determined by the police of the town of Teplá, likely by the commander of the former station Heřman Paulmann.

The arrested were interrogated and have testified, namely:

Vilém Schubert former regional commander and regional sheriff of the town of Teplá no. 259 testified;

In re: l/. that he doesn’t remember the exact date on which the death marches marched through Teplá, but it had to have been sometime at the end of April of this year.

In re: 2./ that it was supposedly the 3 last death marches with about 700, then 1,400, and then 808 people, but I don’t know exactly.

In re: 3./ the participants of the death marches always stayed in Klášter Teplá.

In re: 4./ he doesn’t know anything about the shooting of any members of the death marches, nor have any of his subordinates notified him of anything.

In re: 5./ he also doesn’t know anything about the burial of any corpses, he only heard that some of the participants of the death marches died.

In re: 6., 7., 8./ he also doesn’t know how, where, or who buried the bodies, nor did he pay much attention to it, his responsibility apparently was that if he heard anything about a death march to let the police in Teplá know about it and also notify the regional command about the direction of the march, which was generally towards Mariánské Lázně, which he did. Otherwise he paid no attention to the matter.

In re: 9./ he didn’t notify the Czechoslovak authorities about the burial of the bodies because he was captured by the US Army and held until June 16th, 1945, after which he forgot about the entire matter.

Head of the Department:

Nebázlivý m. p.

Police station:

Received: Town of Teplá on 29. 7. 1945

Reference no.: 368/45

3 appendices

Jan Schwenda, coach driver from Klášter Teplá no. 40, stated,

that he didn’t know much about the death marches in question, since he works in the fields all day and comes home only in the evening or at night. He only knows that at the end of April of this year some prisoner death marches were put up in the barn by the village of Schafferhäuser. One day, he was ordered by a head farmer to ride to the courtyard of the town of Teplá to pick up coal with a cart that was parked by the barn out by the village of Schafferhäuser. He saddled up his horses and rode to the barn, where he found the cart and hitched the horses up to it. Then he jumped up onto the cart and wanted to ride on, but to his horror he discovered that some corpses (about 6-8 women) had been loaded onto the cart. He was startled, jumped down from the cart, and wanted to run to the convent, but then changed his mind and drove the cart to the cemetery that was about 200 steps away, where he left it and its load. He returned to the convent, where he notified head farmer Köhler, who ordered him to take another cart and told him that he would report the discovery and take care of everything. That’s all he knows about the matter.

Heřman Paulman, policeman, local and former commander of the station in Teplá, a Reich German, residing in Toužim no. 50 states:

in re: 1.) that he doesn’t know the exact date of the death marches that passed through Teplá, but that it was around April 23th, 1945.

2.) He knows about one death march that marched through Teplá that they were notified about by Bečova n. T. and that supposedly numbered 1,800 people. He was supposed to alert the municipal authority of the town of Teplá so that it could arrange proper accommodations and food, which he did. But the death march was diverted to Klášter Teplá, since the town of Teplá didn’t have enough room to put up so many people.

3.) This death march and several others were always housed in Klášter Teplá, from where they marched on in the direction of Mar. Lázně.

4.) He doesn’t know anything about the shooting of any members of the death marches.

5.) As far as he knows, some of the dead from these death marches were buried in the cemetery in Klášter Teplá, and one man who was found by the road to Landek was buried in the field where he was found.

He doesn’t have anything to add to points 6, 7, or 8, since it apparently wasn’t his responsibility, which is not in fact true, for, according to the statement of Eduard Orman, an employee of the municipal authority of the town of Teplá no. 359, Paulman himself ordered the burial of the discovered man, who was also from a death march and lay by the road to Landek, at the exact location where he was discovered.

9.) Paulman didn’t notify the Czechoslovak authorities of the improper burial of the dead bodies at a later date, because after the arrival of the US Army he was captured and only released on May 30th, 1945, when he returned to his apartment in Toužim. He never went to Teplá again and didn’t take care of any official matters

Regional administrative

Municipal authority in the town of Teplá

NSC station commander: illegible signature

Copy verified by: Teplík

Received 4. 8. 1945

Reference no. OVK/19

Ref._____ zn zp.____

František Josef Würzler, gravedigger from Klášter Teplá no. 10 stated,

that he doesn’t know much about the matter, and also can’t recall exactly when it all happened. It was allegedly sometime at the end of April, when entire prisoner death marches were housed in Klášter Teplá in the barns. He never saw them himself. Once, he was supposed to help the SS men who were leading these death marches to bury about 10 dead bodies, but he had urgent work to do and so the SS-men alone buried them in a grave next to the mortuary. The next time, he buried the bodies of 8 women behind the wall of the cemetery of Klášter Teplá, which he was ordered to do by the builder Kroy, who also determined the place of burial and gave him 3 German refugees to assist him. They allegedly helped him bury the bodies. Acting again under Kroy’s orders, he then buried a woman next to the grave behind the cemetery wall, and the bodies of 4 additional men in uniform who he had heard were found by the road between Klášter and the village of Křepkovice, and who were taken to the place of burial by Alois Schott, the mayor of Nezdice, district of Teplá. He doesn’t know how all of the buried victims died and didn’t see any signs of trauma on them since he didn’t examine them closely.

František Kroy, builder from Klášter Teplá no. 11 made this statement as to the individual points:

in re 1.) He isn’t sure of the exact dates of the death marches through Teplá and Klášter Teplá, but it was between April 20th-25th of this year.

2.) He doesn’t know the precise number of death marches, one with about 1,500 people and the second with about 600 people.

3.) He found housing for the participants of the death marches, the first was split into 3 sections and put up in the Schafferhäuser, Fichtenhof, and Schafhof barns. When this death march departed, a second came to see him in 2 or 3 days and he housed it again in the barn in Schafferhäuser.

4.) As far as he knows, and according to what he heard, only one woman from the first death march was shot by SS members when she wanted to slip out of the barn and beg for something to eat. He didn’t hear the shot himself, nor did he hear any other shots, and so he is not aware of any other such incident.

5.) He knows about the three graves, i.e. one in the cemetery in Klášter Teplá next to the mortuarywhere the SS men buried about 10 women, a second grave in which 8 women (all from the death marches that were housed in Klášter Teplá) were buried outside by the wall of the cemetery away from the mortuary, and finally a third grave also located outside the wall of the cemetery next to the grave of the 8 women, in which the bodies of the 4 men who were found by the road from Klášter to Křepkovice were buried. He knows of no other graves.

6.) He supposedly doesn’t know who loaded the bodies of the 8 women onto the cart by the Schafferhäuser barn, but that it was probably the SS who loaded them onto the cart that brought them potatoes from Klášter.

7.) He couldn’t say who told him about the discovery of the corpses. He supposedly doesn’t remember and couldn’t give the reason why he left them there so long. His excuse was that he had so much work to do that he didn’t know what to do first.

8.) He allowed the dead bodies to be buried behind the cemetery wall since there wasn’t any space left in the cemetery. He stated that there was no time to bury them properly in caskets and with funeral rites.

According to the statement of the mayor of the village of Nezdice, Alois Schott, Kroy also ordered the burial of the 4 shot men found by the road to Křepkovice also behind the cemetery as the bodies were brought in.

9.) He forgot to immediately or after the fact alert the Czechoslovak authorities of the improper burial. As to the attached certificates that he drew up, Kroy states that he always created them after such bodies were buried, but it depended on how much time he had and sometimes it was several days later. This is why he can’t say that the dates on the certificates are the burial dates.

Ferdinand Deutsch revis. councilman from Kláštera Teplá no. 11 stated,

that, as far as he remembers, on about April 1st of this year, he heard that some prisoner death marches were housed in the barns around Klášter. Since this did not fall under his responsibility, he paid no more attention to it. Around the same time, a certain SS-man, who was staying overnight in the area with another death march, came to him to ask him for the keys to the cemetery, because they apparently had to bury some bodies. He sent him to builder Kroy. After this incident, Kroy once told him that yet another death march had spent the night in the Schäfferhäuser barn and had left some dead bodies behind after it departed. He wanted him to come and check it out with him. Later, around 11 o’clock in the morning, they went there together and found the cart by the barn that was loaded with corpses. He therefore entreated Kroy to do something about it, which Kroy promised he would. When he later asked him about it, Kroy told him that it had been taken care of. This is all he knows and he had nothing to do with the matter.