Treblinka trials

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The Treblinka Trials include three criminal trials against members of the camp team of the National Socialist Treblinka extermination camp . The negotiations took place before the jury court in Frankfurt am Main in the years 1950–1951 (1st Treblinka trial) and before the Düsseldorf Regional Court 1964–1965 (2nd Treblinka trial) and 1969–1970 (3rd Treblinka trial) .

The Treblinka Trials, like the Belzec Trial and the Sobibor Trial , include the crimes of mass extermination as part of Aktion Reinhardt - the killing of over two million Jews and 50,000 Roma and Sinti . These processes are directly related to the mass murders of 100,000 handicapped people in the context of Action T4 , as many guards worked in killing centers related to this before their work in the extermination camps. The first euthanasia trials were carried out shortly after the end of the war.

First Treblinka trial against Josef Hirtreiter

Josef Hirtreiter was arrested in the Hadamar euthanasia center in 1946 because of the investigation into the killing of disabled people . Although Hirtreiter could not prove any criminal offenses because of his deployment in Hadamar, he nevertheless admitted to having been active in the "Malkinia" camp, where Jews were also killed in the gas chamber . As a result of the investigation, it turned out that Hirtreiter was actually used in the Treblinka extermination camp. Hirtreiter was sentenced to life in prison on March 3, 1951 .

Defendant function Offense judgment
Josef Hirtreiter Supervision of the undressing of the victims before they are gassed Participation in mass killings of Jews, murder of at least 10 people, including small children lifelong

Second Treblinka trial against Kurt Franz and others

The trial against 10 defendants initiated by the public prosecutor Alfred Spieß took place from October 12, 1964 to September 3, 1965 before the district court in Düsseldorf. The 11th defendant, Kurt Küttner, died before the trial began. More than 100 witnesses were heard, e.g. Sometimes even in the United States and Israel . A total of nine prison sentences were imposed, four of them life. One defendant was acquitted . On June 30, 1970, one of eight convicts appealed to the Federal Court of Justice to confirm the judgments that had already been passed.

The judgments and crimes in detail

Defendant function Offense judgment
Kurt Franz Camp commandant collective murder of at least 300,000 people, murder in 35 cases of at least 139 people, attempted murder lifelong
Heinrich Matthes Camp manager of the upper camp ("death camp"), supervision and management of the gassing process Joint murder of at least 100,000 people, murder in 4 cases of at least 8 people lifelong
August rent Location in the lower camp, monitoring of incoming transports and forwarding to the gas chamber, service in the hospital - the "angel of death" Joint murder of at least 300,000 people, murder in 8 cases of at least 9 people lifelong
Willi Mentz initially worked in the “corpse command” in the upper camp, then “agricultural command” in the lower camp, serving in the hospital Community murder of at least 300,000 people, accessory to the murder of at least 25 people lifelong
Gustav Münzberger Location in the lower camp, monitoring of the incoming transports and forwarding to the gas chamber, later upper camp and management of the "corpse transport command" Aiding and abetting the collective murder of at least 300,000 people 12 years in prison
Otto Stadium Administrative manager of the camp for German and Ukrainian guards Aiding and abetting murder of at least 300,000 people 7 years in prison
Franz Suchomel Handling of incoming transports, confiscation and collection of valuables Aiding and abetting the collective murder of at least 300,000 people 6 years in prison
Erwin Lambert Construction manager of the " T4 Office " later helped to build the new gas chamber Aiding and abetting the collective murder of at least 300,000 people 4 years in prison
Albert Rum Place of use initially lower warehouse, handling of incoming transports, later in the upper warehouse "corpse transport command" Aiding and abetting the collective murder of at least 100,000 people 3 years in prison
Otto Horn Location of the upper camp "mine command", d. H. Bury and later cremate the bodies Acquittal due to putative emergency

Third Treblinka trial against Franz Stangl

Stangl, who was arrested in 1967, was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 22, 1970 by the Düsseldorf Regional Court. Stangl, who appealed against the judgment to the Federal Court of Justice, died in custody on June 28, 1971, before the judgment became final .

Defendant function Offense judgment
Franz Stangl Camp commandant collective murder of at least 400,000 people lifelong

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Torsten Thissen: The forgotten trial of Treblinka . In: Rheinische Post, October 18, 2014, p. D7.