On the 24th January 1948 inside of Montelupcih Prison in Krakow, a brutal and barbaric guard
who worked inside of Auschwitz was brought into the execution chamber.
He strolled past the bodies of a number of his former co workers who had been executed
minutes before him.
Paul Szczurek was known for his barbaric behaviour in which he was responsible for the deaths
of many inside of the deadliest concentration camp of the Second World War.
He served inside of the SS.
Inside of the Krakow Auschwitz Trial, many witnesses came forward and gave information
about his violent crimes and for this he went to the hangman’s noose for this.
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Paul Szczurek was born on the 26th June 1908 inside of Konigshutte.
Before the Second World War broke out, he worked as an ironworker in his local town,
and he was an ethnic German who lived inside of Poland.
The German invasion came to his doorstep, but as he was an Ethnic German this saved
him any persecution and he was actually praised by the NAzis.
In January 1940, Szczurek joined the SS, Heinrich Himmler’s paramilitary group who had a military
branch known as the Waffen SS.
Szczurek even joined this too, however from October 1940 to January 1945 he was sent to
Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
Auschwitz had opened officially in May 1940 months before and the commandant Rudolf Hoss
created the deadliest camp of the Third Reich.
Inside of Auschwitz over 1.1 million people died inside the barbed wire fences, and Rudolf
Hoss stated that he wanted to create the most efficient and ruthless slaughter site of the
war, and he also wanted to kill as many people as possible under the Nazi race laws and the
persecution.
His camp saw thousands arrive each day, and thousands die inside of the gas chambers within
minutes of arriving.
He also wanted his guards to demonstrate the upmost brutality and barbarism towards prisoners
to keep them down and to do this he ordered torture, execution and violence to be inflicted
and his guards such as Irma Grese and Josef Kramer became known for their evil.
Paul Szczurek was employed to begin with inside of the guard team of the main Auschwitz I
camp, but then in December 1941 he was moved to serve inside of the Commandant’s department.
Whilst here he worked on controlling prisoner’s mail and the parcels which came into the camp,
and he served as a block leader too and regularly dished out punishment to those who broke the
rules inside his block.
But for his work in June 1945 he was given command inside of the Eintrachthubbe sub camp,
and he also held a powerful position inside of Auschwitz III monowitz, the IG Farben slave
labour facility where prisoners were worked to death.
He served in other sub camps towards the end of the war, but as the conflict came to a
close in Europe after Hitler died inside of his bunker, the hunt was on for many former
members of staff and guards who worked inside of the concentration camps.
Paul Szczurek was arrested and he was then taken to the Supreme National Tribunal in
Krakow where he was one of the defendants in the Auschwitz Trials.
In this, a number of witnesses came forward and it was found that whilst he worked inside
of the camp, Szzcurek brutally battered and beat people after they escaped from his clutches,
and that he did this when transports arrived at the camp.
He was seen beating victims on the selection ramps, but he also personally drove many people
into the gas chambers along with other SS men.
It was also said that during the judgement that he mistreated the women prisoners during
the delousing process before they went into the camp and that he exhibited sadistic and
horrific behaviour towards them.
For his crimes, Paul Szczurek was sentenced to death and he was then taken to Montelupich
Prison.
He was told on the 24th January 1948 that his execution would be performed imminently,
and he was one of many guards of Auschwitz who were executed that day.
The execution chamber he was taken to had many meathooks on the ceiling and they had
nooses attached to them.
It was likely that Szczurek saw the bodies of his former comrades and work friends who
had been condemned.
He was helped up onto a box and an executioner secured the noose around his neck.
Quickly the executioenr then kicked out the box and Paul Szczurek was left hanging and
he slowly strangled before he was cut down dead.
He was one of many members of the guard staff who worked at Auschwitz who were executed
that day, and Paul Szczurek was a notorious and barbaric man who was a sadist and he assaulted
prisoners and subjected them to harrowing ordeal.
He was a cog in the slaughter of many who were driven into the gas chambers as he forced
people inside of them, and he was a man who had little remorse for his actions.
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