DR. KAUFFMANN: You must have your own opinion, as you were in contact with these men. Did you really see these people?
BALACHOWSKY: I saw these people at very close hand, since in Block 50 I was in charge of a part of this manufacture of vaccine. Consequently, I was quite able to realize what kind of experiments were being made in Block 46 and the reasons for these experiments. Further, I also realized the almost complete inefficiency of the SS doctors and how easy it was for us to sabotage the vaccine for the German Army.
DR. KAUFFMANN: Now, these people must have gone through much misery and suffering before they died.
BALACHOWSKY: These people certainly suffered terribly, especially in the case of certain experiments.
DR. KAUFFMANN: Can you certify that through your own experience, or is that just hearsay?
BALACHOWSKY: I saw in Block 50 photographs taken in Block 46 of phosphorus burns, and it was not necessary to be a specialist to realize what these patients, whose flesh was burned to the bone, must have suffered.
DR. KAUFFMANN: Then, your conscience certainly revolted at these things.
BALACHOWSKY: Absolutely.
DR. KAUFFMANN: Well then, I would like to ask you, how your conscience allowed you to obey orders to help these people in some way?
BALACHOWSKY: That is quite simple. When I arrived at Buchenwald as a deportee, I did not hide my qualifications. I simply specified that I was a “laborant”—that is a man who is trained in laboratory work, but who has no special definite qualification. I was sent to Dora, where the SS regime made me lose 30 kilos in weight in two months. I became anaemic . . .