Dachau trials

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The seven judges of the military court at the Dachauer-Dora trial on September 25, 1947

The Dachau Trials were 489 military trials by the US Army in the American occupation zone against predominantly German defendants accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity .

3887 procedures were identified, only 489 processes were carried out. They took place from 1945 to 1948 in the Dachau internment camp , where the Dachau concentration camp was located until the end of April 1945 . 1672 people were indicted in the Dachau trials; 1021 defendants alone were accused in up to 250 trials on the basis of the subject matter of the proceedings “ concentration camp crimes ”. 268 of a total of 426 death sentences were carried out by hanging in the Landsberg War Crimes Prison . Those sentenced to prison terms also served their imprisonment in Landsberg. All prisoners had been released from prison by the end of the 1950s. The list of Dachau processes gives an overview .

prehistory

At the time of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp by a battalion of the 7th US Army on April 29, 1945 there were still around 32,000 prisoners in the camp. These included many prisoners who had been "evacuated" to Dachau by the SS from disbanded camps when Allied troops approached the camps. Most of the prisoners encountered by the Americans were in very poor health. The liberators also found large numbers of dead or murdered prisoners.

Against this background and other uncovered war crimes, American investigators quickly began investigations to determine those responsible for these crimes as part of the War Crimes Program , a US program to create legal norms and a judicial apparatus to prosecute German war crimes.

The trials began in 1945. There were negotiations against the arrested members of the concentration camp staff, against the military and civilians who were accused of targeting the targeted murder of allied airmen who had been shot down or landed in an emergency, and against the accused of the Malmedy massacre .

Dachau concentration camp

Dock in the first Dachau trial

Main article: Dachau main process

The first Dachau trial, the Dachau main trial , ( United States of America v. Martin Gottfried Weiss et al. ), Was directed against parts of the team at the Dachau concentration camp and was carried out from November 15 to December 13, 1945. The list of those accused there ranged from the temporary camp commandant Martin Weiß , to the camp leader of the Allach subcamp , Josef Jarolin , commanders of various Kaufering subcamps such as Johann Eichelsdörfer , Arno Lippmann , Otto Förschner or Alfred Kramer , the protective custody camp leaders Michael Redwitz and Friedrich Ruppert up to three Prison functionaries . The medical personnel accused included camp doctors Hans Eisele , Wilhelm Witteler and Fritz Hintermayer . Add to this the tropical medicine specialist Claus Schilling , who headed the malaria research station in Dachau. Likewise was Otto Schulz , representing the German Equipment Works (DAW) on trial. Even Otto Moll was for its activities in various Kaufering camps in 1945 among the accused. Detective Inspector Johann Kick was charged as the only representative of the “ Political Department ” (camp Gestapo) .

The court sent a few fundamental considerations before the verdict was announced. Killings and mistreatment took place as part of a common approach ( common design ). They required charges to be brought against anyone involved in administration or work in the camp. Although the court was appointed by the winning side, it only applied norms of international law and legal principles that are recognized by all civilized people. The 40 defendants were all found guilty and 36 of them were sentenced to death. Of those sentenced to death, 28 were hanged on May 28 and 29, 1946 in the Landsberg war crimes prison. The Dachau main proceedings were followed by 121 follow-up trials with around 500 suspects.

Mauthausen concentration camp

Main article: Main Mauthausen trial

From March 29 to May 13, 1946, the second Dachau trial, the Mauthausen main trial ( United States of America v. Hans Altfuldisch et al. ), Was the most extensive concentration camp trial directed against the camp personnel of the Mauthausen concentration camp . All 61 defendants were found guilty, 58 of whom were sentenced to death. Nine death sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment. The executions were carried out by hanging in May and June 1947 . In addition to the main defendant, Gauleiter Oberdonau August Eigruber , there were also the adjutants of the camp commandant Viktor Zoller and Adolf Zutter , Julius Ludolf , commandant of the Loibl-Pass, Groß-Raming and Melk subcamps, Eduard Krebsbach , the site doctor from 1941 to 1943, as well as the camp doctor Friedrich Entress , the last on-site doctor Waldemar Wolter and the camp doctor of the Ebensee concentration camp , Wilhelm Jobst . In addition, three prison functionaries were charged. The main Mauthausen proceedings were followed by 60 follow-up trials with 238 suspects.

Flossenbürg concentration camp

Main article: Main Flossenbürg Trial

From June 12, 1946 to January 22, 1947, the longest Dachau trial, the Flossenbürg main trial ( United States of America v. Friedrich Becker et al. ), Took place in Dachau against former camp staff of the Flossenbürg concentration camp . Of 45 accused, including twelve prison functionaries, 15 received the death penalty. Three death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment following review processes. The death sentences were carried out by hanging on October 3 and 15, 1947 in the Landsberg War Crimes Prison. In addition, 25 prison sentences were imposed, eleven of them for life. Five defendants were acquitted. The Flossenbürg main proceedings were followed by 18 follow-up trials with a further 42 accused. After secondary trials , four further executions were carried out in Landsberg in 1948 or 1949, including that of the camp doctor Heinrich Schmitz , and a total of 18 death sentences were carried out in connection with the Flossenbürg trials.

External command Mühldorf

Main article: Mühldorf process

In the period from April 1, 1947 to May 13, 1947, a General Military Government Court of the American occupation forces carried out a trial against 14 Nazi perpetrators of the Mühldorf external command in Dachau , the so-called Mühldorf Trial ( United States of America v. Franz Auer et al. ). In addition to five death sentences, two life sentences and five early prison sentences were pronounced. Two of the defendants were acquitted. Only the death sentence of the labor leader Franz Auer was carried out on November 26, 1948 in Landsberg. The other death sentences, including the one against the doctor Erika Flocken , were commuted to life imprisonment. The Mühldorf trial itself was not followed by any secondary proceedings; these were negotiated as a follow-up to the Dachau main trial.

Buchenwald concentration camp

Main article: Buchenwald main process

From April 11 to August 14, 1947, the main Buchenwald trial against members of the Buchenwald camp took place ( United States of America v. Josias Prince zu Waldeck et al. ). All 31 defendants were found guilty and 22 sentenced to death. Eleven death sentences were carried out and the others were commuted to life imprisonment. Among the convicted were Josias zu Waldeck and Pyrmont as Higher SS and Police Leader Fulda-Werra, the Buchenwald camp commandant Hermann Pister , the concentration camp doctor Hans Eisele and Ilse Koch . The main Buchenwald trial was followed by 24 secondary proceedings with a further 31 defendants.

Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp

Main article: Dachau Dora Trial

The Dachau Dora Trial ( United States of America v. Kurt Andrae et al. ) Against 19 members of the camp staff of the Mittelbau concentration camp formed a further complex of proceedings . This process was carried out from August 7 to December 31, 1947, with the second protective custody camp leader Hans Möser standing as the main defendant in court. Of the defendants Moser was the only one on December 30, 1947 death by train convicted and hanged in Landsberg on 26 November 1948th A total of 14 prison sentences were pronounced, seven of them for life. Four of the defendants were acquitted. The Nordhausen main trial was followed by five subsidiary proceedings with another five defendants.

Aviation trials

Main article: Aviation trials

The subject of the proceedings was the murder of shot down or emergency landed Allied airmen in more than 200 Dachau trials. The best-known defendant in these trials was the senior SS and police leader Jürgen Stroop . The so-called flight trials took place not only in Dachau, but also in other places.

Malmedy trial

Main article: Malmedy trial

The Malmedy Trial ( United States of America v. Valentin Bersin et al. ) Was one of the Dachau Trials, which took place from May 16 to July 16, 1946. In the trial, 74 members of the Panzer Regiment of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler were accused, 77 US soldiers captured near Malmedy were shot in the so-called Malmedy massacre in December 1944 , and until the end of the Ardennes offensive alone in the Stavelot area to have committed 130 murders of civilians. There were 43 death sentences and 30 sentences, including 22 life sentences. All death sentences were later commuted to prison terms. Well-known defendants were Sepp Dietrich and Joachim Peiper .

Trial against Otto Skorzeny

From August 18 to September 9, 1947 the trial ( United States of America v. Otto Skorzeny et al. ) Against Otto Skorzeny and nine other defendants was conducted. The four charges, which were all headed "Violation of the laws and customs of war", included "abuse and killing of prisoners of war", "robbery of prisoners of war", "misuse of Allied uniforms" and "withholding packages of prisoners of war". Skorzeny was the head of a special unit that was supposed to carry out special assignments as part of the Battle of the Bulge, disguised as Allied soldiers. Due to the course of the war, however, the company could not be carried out, only a few members of this unit were used during the Ardennes offensive . All of the accused were acquitted for lack of evidence.

literature

  • Ludwig Eiber , Robert Sigl (ed.): Dachau Trials - Nazi crimes before American military courts in Dachau 1945–1948. Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8353-0167-2 .
  • Joshua M. Greene: Justice at Dachau. The Trials of an American Prosecutor. Broadway, New York NY 2003, ISBN 0-7679-0879-1 .
  • Martin Gruner: Sentenced in Dachau. The trial of the concentration camp commandant Alex Piorkowski in a US military court. Wißner, Augsburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-89639-650-1 .
  • Holger Lessing: The first Dachau trial (1945/46). Nomos, Baden-Baden 1993, ISBN 3-7890-2933-5 .
  • Ute Stiepani: The Dachau Trials and their significance in the context of the Allied prosecution of Nazi crimes. In: Gerd R. Ueberschär : The allied trials against war criminals and soldiers 1943–1952. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-13589-3 .
  • Robert Sigel: In the interests of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-593-34641-9 .
  • Christian Rabl: On the line. The Austrian defendants in the Dachau Mauthausen trials , Bahoe Books , Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-903022-82-9 .

Web links

Commons : Dachauer processes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Ute Stiepani: The Dachau Trials and their Significance in the Allied Prosecution of Nazi Crimes. in: Gerd R. Ueberschär: The allied trials against war criminals and soldiers 1943–1952. Frankfurt am Main 1999, p. 229f.
    Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interests of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 38f.
  2. ↑ See Stanislav Zámečník: That was Dachau. , Frankfurt am Main 2007, pp. 390f.f.
  3. ↑ Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interest of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 16 ff.
  4. ↑ Cf. Dachau main process: Case No. 000-50-2 (US vs. Martin Gottfried Weiss et al) Tried 13 Dec. 45, p. 2ff.
  5. ^ Holger Lessing: The first Dachau trial. Baden-Baden 1993, p. 249.
  6. ↑ Cf. Florian Freund : The Dachau Mauthausen Trial, in: Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance. Yearbook 2001, Vienna 2001, p. 35ff.
  7. ↑ Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interest of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 107f.
  8. ↑ Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interest of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 109f.
  9. ↑ Katrin Greiser: The Dachau Buchenwald processes - claim and reality - claim and effect. In: Ludwig Eiber, Robert Sigl (eds.): Dachau Trials - Nazi crimes before American military courts in Dachau 1945–1948. Göttingen 2007, p. 163ff.
  10. ↑ Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interest of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 94ff.
  11. ↑ Cf. Ute Stiepani: The Dachau Trials and their Significance in the Allied Prosecution of Nazi Crimes. In: Gerd R. Ueberschär: The allied trials against war criminals and soldiers 1943–1952. Frankfurt am Main 1999, p. 229.
  12. ↑ Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interest of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 128 ff.
  13. ↑ Cf. Robert Sigel: In the interest of justice. The Dachau war crimes trials 1945–1948. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 124 ff.