The letter of March 24, 1943

After unfolding the official Ravensbruck KL envelopes, on their reverse side, a group of medical experiments victims wrote secret messages in invisible ink (urine).

“We provide further details about medical experiments. By January 16, 1943, 70 people were subjected to experiments. Of these, 56 were from the September transport in Lublin, including 36 septic operations (three without cutting) and 20 bone operations. Besides fourteen, eight from Warsaw and later Lublin transport, including infectious (1 without cutting) … bone operation. (ellipsis means missing information caused by irreversible damage to the paper of the letter – comment by Jaroslaw Jozef Gajewski). From January 15, 1943, no new prisoners were enlisted for operations. Only the remainder of bone surgeries is continued. In bone operations, each cut is opened a second time in succession. Bone operations are performed on both legs or one leg in bone surgery … and so-called muscle operations. 

Name list of victims of medical experiments:” 

“In addition to Professor Gebhardt, his two assistants, Fisher and Stumpfegger, perform the operations. As a sign that you have read this letter, send me blue threads in the package.

… you can send secret messages in the double bottom of the can, write at least once, and describe the political situation. I look forward to it! See the continuation of the letter at Duska’s and Janka Iwanska’s family.”

The following texts in square brackets come from Krystyna Czyż memoir

[In the following letters, in addition to the current news on medical experiments, we also sent information about executions, transports, and conditions of life in the camp. For example, a letter with a name list of thirteen Polish political prisoners from the Lublin transport, executed on April 18, 1942, has survived (their names were published in the camp literature). Unfortunately, due to the poor legibility of the letter, I do not include it in these memoirs.]

[However, despite the significant gaps in the content, it is worth quoting a letter written probably in late March or early April 1943. It is the only covert account of the rabbits’ first collective protest against medical experiments. In the second part of this letter – unfortunately also hardly understandable due to incomplete content – a spontaneous manifestation of Polish women is described, caused by the subsequent taking of our companions to the execution.]

“The first opposition to lawlessness … the first. On March 12, five healthy Polish prisoners were called back for medical experiments. Those summoned put up a resistance. The camp guards did not use force against them. On March 14, all Polish victims of medical experiments appeared before the camp’s Oberaufseherin, asking on what basis the medical experiments were conducted on political prisoners and whether these experiments were a form of punishment. Oberaufseherin ordered to pass the case to the camp commandant … so far, no news … The case was given to … work … with whom Zofia Sokulska resisted … [further incomprehensible sentences and words] On March 17, eight Polish political prisoners were executed. It was made secret, as always, using transport  out of the camp as an excuse….It took the form of a manifestation, no force was used to repress it. Healthy prisoners supported us vigorously. The camp authorities, concerned about the incident, did not resort to any repressions. If these cases were revealed by radio, executions, which are acts of revenge for the defeats of the German army in the east, could be stopped.”