Stutthof trials

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Supervisors during the 1st Stutthof Trial in Danzig from April 25 to May 31, 1946 - First row from left to right: Elisabeth Becker , Gerda Steinhoff , Wanda Klaff - Second row from left to right: Erna Beilhardt , Jenny Wanda Barkmann

The Stutthof trials ( Polish: Procesy załogi Stutthofu ) initially include the four criminal trials against members of the camp crew of the National Socialist Stutthof concentration camp before a Polish - Soviet criminal court (1st Stutthof trial) or Polish district court (2nd to 4th Stutthof trial) ) in Danzig in 1946 and 1947. Furthermore, all domestic and foreign trials against the camp personnel involved in the Stutthof crimes can be subsumed under this term.

First Stutthof trial

After the liberation of the Stutthof camp on May 9, 1945, a Soviet commission to investigate National Socialist war crimes immediately began its investigation, which was continued by a Polish commission from mid-1945. The results of the investigation formed the basis for the Stutthof trials and also served as the basis for the extradition of some of the accused from the Western Allied occupation zones . The 1st Stutthof trial began on April 25, 1946 and ended on May 31, 1946. A total of thirteen members of the camp crew were indicted, including six women and five Polish prisoner functionaries . The defendants were accused of having committed crimes against humanity in the Stutthof concentration camp . All of the accused were found guilty. Eleven of the accused were sentenced to death and two early prison terms were imposed: guard Erna Beilhardt (five years imprisonment) and Kapo Kazimierz Kowalski (three years imprisonment). The death sentences were carried out publicly by hanging on July 4, 1946 on the Danzig hill Biskupia Górka (Bischofsberg, also Stolzenberg) . Eleven former Stutthof prisoners acted as executioners , who put on their prisoner clothes again for the execution.

Execution of the eleven condemned to death: v. l. No. Barkmann , Paradies , Becker , Klaff , Steinhoff , Pauls and five Polish Kapos

SS-Oberscharführer John Pauls , supervisor Gerda Steinhoff , supervisor Ewa Paradies , supervisor Wanda Klaff , supervisor Elisabeth Becker , supervisor Jenny Wanda Barkmann and the Polish Kapos Jan Breit, Tadeusz Kopczyński, Józef Reiter, Wacław Kozłowski , were sentenced to death and publicly executed Szopiński.

"POLAND CRIMES WAR CRIMINALS
On July 4th at 5 pm the death sentence of eleven German war criminals from KL Stutthof was publicly carried out on the Stolzenberg. They murdered thousands of innocent people. The criminals were sad and resigned. Completely abandoned by the arrogance and self-confidence that they showed during the trial. One of the criminals suffered a fit of convulsive sobbing and screaming at the sight of the gallows. When the noose was put around her neck, she shouted: “ Heil Hitler! “The other convicts kept calm, just showing themselves to be depressed and anxious. The sentence was carried out by former concentration camp inmates in striped concentration camp inmate clothing , including a woman. They all volunteered, and although they were legally offered to wear masks, they refused. Because of their stay in the camp, they felt they were entitled to participate in the execution. The execution of the criminals was watched by large audiences. "

Second Stutthof trial

The 2nd Stutthof trial began on October 8, 1947 and ended on October 31, 1947. A total of 24 members of the camp crew were indicted, including one prisoner functionary . All of the accused were found guilty. Ten of the defendants were sentenced to death and sentenced to life and thirteen-term imprisonment (three to fifteen years). The death sentences were carried out by hanging on October 22, 1948 in Danzig.

SS-Hauptsturmführer Theodor Traugott Meyer , SS-Oberscharführer Ewald Foth , SS-Oberscharführer Albert Paulitz , SS-Unterscharführer Fritz Peters, SS-Oberscharführer Hans Rach, SS-Rottenführer Karl Zurell, SS-Unterscharführer Kurt Dietrich, SS were sentenced to death and executed -Rottenführer Karl Eggert, SS-Rottenführer Paul Wellnitz and Kapo Alfred Nickolaysen.

Third Stutthof Trial

The 3rd Stutthof trial began on November 5, 1947 and ended on November 10, 1947. A total of 20 members of the camp team were indicted. Of the defendants, 19 were found guilty and received early prison terms (three to twelve years). One of the accused, SS-Oberscharführer Hans Tolksdorf, was acquitted.

Fourth Stutthof trial

The 4th Stutthof trial began on November 19, 1947 and ended on November 29, 1947. A total of 27 members of the camp crew were charged, including one prisoner functionary. Of the defendants, 26 were found guilty and received early prison terms (seven months to 15 years). One defendant, Kapo Franz Spillmann, was acquitted.

Further Stutthof processes in Poland

Even after the four Stutthof trials, at least two further trials were carried out against individual defendants, in which early prison sentences were imposed.

Stutthof trials in Germany

In the Federal Republic of Germany there were also proceedings against the camp staff of the Stutthof concentration camp.

Processes in the 50s and 60s

In 1950, two defendants were tried before the Hamburg Regional Court for the mistreatment and killing of prisoners. After the appeal before the Federal Court of Justice in 1951, one defendant received a two-year prison sentence, the other was acquitted.

Against Paul Werner Hoppe , former camp commander , and Karl Otto Knott , the Stutthof gassings monitored, was before the district court Bochum 1950s negotiated middle. The subject matter of the proceedings comprised the gassing of hundreds of Jewish prisoners and killings, including shot in the neck and gasoline injections. Knott was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. Hoppe, after going on appeal before the Federal Court of Justice in 1956, was given nine years' imprisonment instead of the five years and three months imprisonment that was initially imposed.

In 1964, Otto Haupt, Karl Otto Knott and Bernhard Luedtke were tried before the Tübingen Regional Court . The subject matter of the proceedings comprised the killing of prisoners through mistreatment, injections of poison and shooting, as well as the mass killing of hundreds of Jewish prisoners through shooting and gassing - in addition, the live cremation of a Soviet majoress in the crematorium's incinerator. On December 22, 1964, the Tübingen regional court sentenced Haupt to twelve years and Luedtke to six years imprisonment. Karl Otto Knott was acquitted.

Processes in the 21st Century

Johann Rehbogen

Rehbogen was born on November 21, 1923 in St. Georgen , Bistritz district in today's Romania . On October 16, 2017, it became known that the Dortmund public prosecutor's office was investigating a former SS man from the Borken district, who was 93 years old at the time, and a Wuppertal man. The decision on whether to bring charges should be made in November. The Wuppertal is 92 years old and denies the allegations, it said.

On July 12, 2018, the Münster Regional Court announced that the proceedings were being delayed because the lawyer for the now 93-year-old considered him to be permanently incapable of standing. In addition, there is a case of bias against the doctor who has previously been the expert. The trial finally opened on November 6, 2018.

At the beginning of the main hearing, the 94-year-old Johann Rehbogen agreed that he was not a Nazi and had not noticed any killings. The terrible condition of the prisoners was not hidden from him, but he did not resist the operation because he was "afraid of the Nazis". The public prosecutor assessed these statements as implausible. The unpleasant stench that emanated from the crematorium was difficult to bear while standing guard, but he had heard or seen nothing of shootings, flogging or murder. The historian Stefan Hördler stated as an expert that Rehbogen must have volunteered for the Waffen SS.

On February 25, 2019, the Münster Regional Court announced that the now 95-year-old Johann Rehbogen was no longer able to negotiate according to a medical report

By decision of March 29, 2019, the youth chamber of the Münster Regional Court closed the proceedings due to the defendant's permanent incapacity to stand trial.

The following date of death is not adequately supported by supporting documents ( e.g. individual records ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Johann Rehbogen died on November 18, 2019 at the age of 95.

Bruno Dey

On April 18, 2019, it became known that the Hamburg public prosecutor had brought charges against the 92-year-old former SS security guard Bruno Dey for aiding and abetting 5,230 murder. According to the information, the man from Hamburg was on duty as a security guard in the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig from August 1944 to April 1945. Dey is said to have "supported the insidious and cruel killing, in particular of Jewish prisoners," as the public prosecutor announced. Because he was only 17 or 18 years old at the time in question, the 92-year-old should answer before a juvenile criminal division of the Hamburg Regional Court. October 17, 2019 was given as the date for the opening of the main proceedings. After a medical expert had declared the defendant to be able to stand trial, a total of 10 trial days were set until December 17, 2019. In consideration of the health of the accused, however, only 2 hours per day of the hearing may be heard. Efraim Zuroff , trial observer and director of the Jerusalem branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center , regards the proceedings against Dey before the Hamburg district court as a fight "for the soul of Germany".

After 44 days of trial, the Hamburg Youth Court announced on July 23, 2020 that the defendant would be sentenced to 2 years probation.

The judgment became final on August 10, 2020 after the revision requests of the co-plaintiffs and the convicted were withdrawn.

Further investigation

On February 5, 2021, it became known that after five years of investigations, the Itzehoe public prosecutor had brought charges against a 95-year-old woman and, as a former concentration camp secretary, accused her of complicity in murder between 1943 and 1945 in at least 10,000 cases. Since the defendant was growing up at the time of the offense, the indictment was brought before the youth chamber of the Itzehoe district court.

The district court of Wuppertal announced on March 10, 2021 that it had refused to open the trial against a suspected former SS guard at the Stutthof concentration camp. According to a medical report, the 96-year-old is permanently incapable of negotiating. The elderly had been accused of complicity in murder in several hundred cases. From June 1944 to May 1945, as an adolescent, he was assigned to an SS Totenkopf guard battalion that guarded the German Stutthof concentration camp east of Danzig.

However, the court ordered the 96-year-old to pay the costs he had incurred in the proceedings up to that point because there was considerable suspicion against him. In the Stutthof concentration camp there were targeted killing operations using the gas chamber and the poison gas Zyklon B, but also through shooting with the help of a gun in the neck or the injection of gasoline or phenol into the hearts of concentration camp inmates. In addition, the prisoners were deliberately exposed to particularly hostile conditions.

The accused is also said to have accompanied an extermination transport of around 600 people to Auschwitz. In the Chamber's view, it can be assumed that the accused recognized the scope and dimension of the mass murder committed in the Stutthof concentration camp and knew that he was promoting the gruesome murders. These could not have remained hidden from him during his ten-month service in the camp. A complaint can still be lodged against the decision.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Report of the Polish weekly newspaper Przekrój , No. 66, 14. – 20. July 1946; Malopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa. 1946, no 66 (14/20 VII). In: mbc.malopolska.pl. Retrieved April 13, 2020 (Polish).
  2. ↑ Zbrodniarze ze Stutthofu przed sądem w Gdańsku , "Robotnik", 9 X 1947, no 276, p. 2
  3. ↑ 10. wyroków śmierci. Wyrok w procesie 26 katów Stutthofskich , "Rzeczpospolita i Dziennik Gospodarczy", 1 XI 1947, no 301, p. 9
  4. ↑ Waldemar Kowalski: KARA ŚMIERCI W GDAŃSKU 1945–1987 . In: gedanopedia.pl (Polish)
  5. ^ LG Hamburg, September 21, 1950 . In: Justice and Nazi crimes . Collection of German criminal judgments for Nazi homicidal crimes 1945–1966, Vol. VII, edited by Adelheid L Rüter-Ehlermann, HH Fuchs and CF Rüter . Amsterdam: University Press, 1971, No. 240, pp. 433–454 Archived copy ( Memento of February 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ BArch: SS personnel: Bd. 27 Federal Archives, BArch NS 4-ST / 31
  7. ↑ Elmar Ries: Concentration camp guard must expect charges. In: wn.de. October 16, 2017, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  8. ^ Investigations against a former concentration camp guard from Wuppertal ( memento from October 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), WDR
  9. ↑ Suspicion of complicity in murder: Investigations against former concentration camp security guard from the Wuppertal area. In: rp-online.de. January 22, 2017, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  10. ↑ dpa: Decision on trial against ex-SS guards is delayed. In: wn.de. July 12, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  11. ^ AP: Ex-Nazi concentration camp guard Johann Rehbogen, 94, goes on trial in Germany. In: cbsnews.com. November 6, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Jana Stegemann: Stutthof Concentration Camp Trial - Defendant: "I was never a Nazi". In: sueddeutsche.de . November 6, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Susanne Hamann: Start of the process against concentration camp security guard: "If the evil happens, there is no neutrality". In: rp-online.de. November 6, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  14. ↑ ZEIT ONLINE, dpa, sög: Public Prosecutor Dortmund: Former SS security guard does not apologize. In: zeit.de . November 13, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Per Hinrichs: Trial against ex-SS man: "The stench from the crematorium was hard to bear when standing in the guard". In: welt.de . November 15, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Per Hinrichs: Stutthof Trial: "There could be no forced recruitment to the Waffen-SS". In: welt.de . November 22, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  17. ↑ mxw: The trial of a former SS guard is about to end. In: Spiegel Online . February 25, 2019, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  18. ^ Michael Kohlstadt: Proceedings against concentration camp security guard are about to end. In: waz.de. February 25, 2019, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Thoralf Cleven / RND: murder trial against 95-year-old former SS man stopped. In: haz.de. November 6, 2018, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  20. ↑ ntv.de, AFP: NS trial against former 95-year-old SS men stopped. In: n-tv.de. March 21, 2019, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  21. ↑ 5230-fold murder: charges brought against former SS security guard. In: mz-web.de. April 18, 2019, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  22. ↑ times: Itzehoe public prosecutor's office: Investigations against 94-year-old alleged concentration camp helper. In: shz.de. October 6, 2019, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  23. ↑ 93-year-old for aiding and abetting 5230-fold murder in court. In: wn.de. October 12, 2019, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  24. ^ Tobias Buck: Inside the trial of a Nazi concentration camp guard. FT.com, February 6, 2020
  25. ↑ https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/stutthof-prozess-einstiger-ss-wachmann-zu-bewaehrungsstrafe-veretzungt-16872939.html
  26. ↑ https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Hamburger-Urteil-gegen-frueheren-KZ-Wachmann-rechtskraeftig,stutthof200.html
  27. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Itzehoe public prosecutor accuses former concentration camp secretary. Retrieved February 5, 2021 .
  28. ↑ https://www.justiz.nrw/JM/Presse/dpa_ticker/DPA_10037/index.php
  29. ↑ https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/news/verhandlungsunfaehig-kein-prozess-gegen-mutmasslichen-kz-waechter-li.145250
  30. ↑ https://www.badische-zeitung.de/kein-prozess-gegen-mutmasslichen-waechter-im-kz-stutthof--200541190.html
  31. ↑ https://www.tag24.de/justiz/mord/96-jaehriger-soll-bei-hunderten-morden-gehelte-haben-einen-prozess-bekommen-er-nicht-1873795

Web links

Commons : Execution of concentration camp guards at Biskupia Gorka  - Collection of images, videos and audio files