Sipo-SD Academy

After the Nazis had completed their initial invasion of Poland, they quickly took control of a large hotel in Zakopane known as "The Palace", which was converted into a headquarters for the Gestapo.

The cellar of the hotel was used as a makeshift interrogation facility and prison for Jews accused of breaking Nazi laws.

The leadership at this time initially included Robert Philipp Weissmann, and his deputy, Richard Arno Sehmisch, but on April, 20 1940 SS-Untersturmführer Wilhelm Rosenbaum was appointed as the Police Secretary and SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Krüger was made the commandant.

These courses lasted between 3 - 6 months and were taught by Nazi elites such as Hans Frank who participated in the growth of politics leading to genocide in Poland.

The local Judenrat provided the Jewish laborers for the school, among them was Paul Beck who was appointed as the liaison between the Jews and the Germans.

[4] It is said by Jewish witnesses that Rosenbaum would remove anybody with red hair or glasses from the school grounds and send them to Belzec extermination camp by train.

The first transport consisted of about 60 to 80 Healthy and fit men between the ages of 15-40, upon arrival they were sorted into work groups by Paul Beck.

These workers were responsible for the construction of the shooting range, which required enormous effort to flatten the land to create a clear line of sight.

That following night the Jews provided by the Judenrat were executed with gunshots to the head and kicked into the grave, the bodies were then covered with lime and cleared over with dirt by the workers.

[6] July 1942, Rosenbaum personally oversaw and gave instruction on how to execute 59 Jews who were then buried in a mass grave in the forest behind the school which was dug by the Jewish workers earlier that day.

Rosenbaum's Boot Boy Edek Liebenheimer, who was reportedly quite young, was unsuccessfully hanged twice when the rope broke both times before remaining intact on the third attempt.

SS-Oberscharführer Bohnert - Training Command Hermann Schippler - Training Command SS-Scharführer Bandura - Driver SS-Scharführer Dziuba - Clerical Officer SS-Scharführer Otto Schroff - Administrator of school premises SS-Oberscharführer Hermann Oder - Oversight of orderly rooms SS-Hauptscharführer Walter Proch - Deputy to Rosenbaum (July 1942) SS-Hauptscharführer Pohland Deputy to Rosenbaum (July 1942) Meta Kück, Schindler, and Engelmann were secretary to Rosenbaum and later acted as witnesses.