Kurt Marcus/Mareus - Auschwitz witness (NARA collection)
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 6:41 pm
I was doing a search in the NARA catalog and happened upon some Auschwitz files that I was not familiar with. At the beginning of this file, there is a long report by someone named Kurt Mareus. I'd never heard of this guy and can't find anything on him on CODOH or on Google.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/643308558
There is however an Auschwitz witness Kurt Marcus whom Mattogno discusses in HH41 (3.7.13). A report by Marcus was introduced into evidence at the Hoess trial in Poland in 1947. For a quick summary see the Holocaust Encyclopedia.
https://nukebook.org/witness/victim/marcus-kurt/681/
Mattogno states that "nothing is known about the author" and that the report is "unknown even to specialists" like Pressac and Van Pelt. It is apparent that Kurt Marcus and Kurt Mareus are one and the same person based on the similarity of the statements. For example, the Mareus statement says "I was assured by members of the SS that they had plans for 34 crematories to be built," (pg. 3) and this same strange claim is in the "Marcus" excerpts quoted by Mattogno. The two reports seem to be related but are not quite the same since the NARA copy is seven pages in English whereas Mattogno describes the Marcus statement as 13 pages in German.
A few comments on the Mareus statement in the NARA files:
1) It is dated 7 Sep 1945 and appears to be the earliest version of the statement.
2) On the last page, it says the statement was taken by Charles W. Levy, an American. And, oddly, it says nothing about the statement being a translation. Usually there's an attestation about the accuracy of the translation. Could the English text be the original? At any rate, it's clear the statement was originally collected by the American, not by the Soviets or Poles as you might guess from it being used at the Hoess trial.
3) The last page has a handwritten signature by Mareus. I can't tell which of the two spellings he's using in the signature. If the correct name is Mareus, that is a quite rare surname.
4) The first paragraph has biographical information on Marcus/Mareus. This introductory bit was presumably missing from the German report Mattogno saw. "My name is Kurt Mareus. I was born in Vienna, Austria on 8 February 1916. My present address is ALTMUNSTER 16 and I expect to reside there for one year. I am presently employed as a civilian employee in the Counter Intelligence Corps, United States Forces in Austria, sub-office in Gmunden, Upper Austria."
5) The most interesting biographical detail is that he says he's working for the Americans in counterintelligence (CIC).
The report appears to be based on Vrba-Wetzler, among other sources. Mattogno notes that it "does not present itself as a testimony but takes the form of a historical chronology," and I would agree that is how it reads. However, in the introductory comments of the NARA copy (unclear if this sentence is in the later German version), the author does claim (perhaps fraudulently) to have direct experience: "I was in Auschwitz from early fall 1942 until 21 January 1945." Yet what follows reads more like a pastiche rather than a real firsthand account.
NARA Collection
There's likely other material in this collection that would be of interest. It's a partially digitized collection of sundry documents filed under "War Crimes Case Files: Cases Not Tried." Many Auschwitz files appear to be included here because the Americans never held an Auschwitz trial as that camp was under Soviet jurisdiction after the war.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/581103
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/643308558
There is however an Auschwitz witness Kurt Marcus whom Mattogno discusses in HH41 (3.7.13). A report by Marcus was introduced into evidence at the Hoess trial in Poland in 1947. For a quick summary see the Holocaust Encyclopedia.
https://nukebook.org/witness/victim/marcus-kurt/681/
Mattogno states that "nothing is known about the author" and that the report is "unknown even to specialists" like Pressac and Van Pelt. It is apparent that Kurt Marcus and Kurt Mareus are one and the same person based on the similarity of the statements. For example, the Mareus statement says "I was assured by members of the SS that they had plans for 34 crematories to be built," (pg. 3) and this same strange claim is in the "Marcus" excerpts quoted by Mattogno. The two reports seem to be related but are not quite the same since the NARA copy is seven pages in English whereas Mattogno describes the Marcus statement as 13 pages in German.
A few comments on the Mareus statement in the NARA files:
1) It is dated 7 Sep 1945 and appears to be the earliest version of the statement.
2) On the last page, it says the statement was taken by Charles W. Levy, an American. And, oddly, it says nothing about the statement being a translation. Usually there's an attestation about the accuracy of the translation. Could the English text be the original? At any rate, it's clear the statement was originally collected by the American, not by the Soviets or Poles as you might guess from it being used at the Hoess trial.
3) The last page has a handwritten signature by Mareus. I can't tell which of the two spellings he's using in the signature. If the correct name is Mareus, that is a quite rare surname.
4) The first paragraph has biographical information on Marcus/Mareus. This introductory bit was presumably missing from the German report Mattogno saw. "My name is Kurt Mareus. I was born in Vienna, Austria on 8 February 1916. My present address is ALTMUNSTER 16 and I expect to reside there for one year. I am presently employed as a civilian employee in the Counter Intelligence Corps, United States Forces in Austria, sub-office in Gmunden, Upper Austria."
5) The most interesting biographical detail is that he says he's working for the Americans in counterintelligence (CIC).
The report appears to be based on Vrba-Wetzler, among other sources. Mattogno notes that it "does not present itself as a testimony but takes the form of a historical chronology," and I would agree that is how it reads. However, in the introductory comments of the NARA copy (unclear if this sentence is in the later German version), the author does claim (perhaps fraudulently) to have direct experience: "I was in Auschwitz from early fall 1942 until 21 January 1945." Yet what follows reads more like a pastiche rather than a real firsthand account.
NARA Collection
There's likely other material in this collection that would be of interest. It's a partially digitized collection of sundry documents filed under "War Crimes Case Files: Cases Not Tried." Many Auschwitz files appear to be included here because the Americans never held an Auschwitz trial as that camp was under Soviet jurisdiction after the war.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/581103