Jiri Mautner

Jiri Mautner was born September 8, 1925, in Prague, the son of Zigmund Mautner and Hedvika Mautnerova.

After the Nazi takeover of Czechoslovakia and the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, the family was trapped in Prague.

During World War 2 Jiri Mautner perished in Theresienstadt or Auschwitz with his parents and siblings.

An SS officer with conscience, Kurt Gerstein, witnessed the mass gassing and the entire destruction process of the Jews. He was determined to expose what he knew to the world to stop the atrocities. He later recalled:

"The following morning, a little before seven there was an announcement: 'The first train will arrive in ten minutes!' A few minutes later a train arrived from Lemberg: 45 cars with more than 6,000 people, Two hundred Ukrainians assigned to this work flung open the doors and drove the Jews out of the cars with leather whips.

A loud speaker gave instructions: 'Strip, even artificial limbs and glasses. Hand all money and valuables in at the 'valuables window.' Women and young girls are to have their hair cut in the 'barber's hut.'' (An SS Unterfuehrer told me: 'From that they make something special for submarine crews.')

Then the march began. Barbed wire on both sides, in the rear two dozen Ukrainians with rifles. They drew near. Wirth and I found ourselves in front of the death chambers. Stark naked men, women, children, and cripples passed by ...

Twenty-five minutes passed. You could see through the window that many were already dead, for an electric light illuminated the interior of the room. All were dead after thirty-two minutes!"