Belsen Trial
Encyclopedia
The Belsen Trial was one of several trial
s that the Allied occupation forces conducted against former officials and functionaries of Nazi Germany
after the end of World War II
. The charges included war crime
s and other atrocities, and they resulted in many notable convictions.
courtroom on September 17, 1945 against 45 former SS
men, women and kapo
s (prisoner functionaries) from the Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz concentration camp
s. The trial took place before a British
military court and lasted until November 17, 1945.
The defendants faced charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in these two concentration camps through their participation in the torture and mass murder of camp inmates. All except Starotska were accused of having committed such crimes at Bergen-Belsen; Starotska, Kramer, Klein, Weingartner, Kraft, Hössler, Borman, Volkenrath, Ehlert, Gura, Grese, Lothe, Lobauer and Schreirer were also charged with atrocities committed at Auschwitz.
For those found guilty, the sentences were as follows:
All the executions were carried out on December 13, 1945 by hanging at the prison in Hameln.
Kapos were prisoner functionaries selected by the SS to supervise their fellow prisoners. Selected for their willingness to be brutal, they were initially selected from the ranks of criminal prisoners. Later on, political prisoners chosen and later on, prisoners from other groups
.
Cegielski was accused of beating – sometimes killing – sick and weak prisoners with large wooden sticks or poles. While at Bergen-Belsen, he had an affair with another prisoner, Henny DeHaas, a Jewish woman from Amsterdam. After the war, in 1946, he was arrested in Amsterdam, ostensibly looking for DeHaas so he could marry her. He was convicted on June 18, 1946 and sentenced to death by hanging. The day before his execution, he stated that his real name was Kasimir-Alexander Rydzewski. He was executed at Hameln Prison at 9:20 a.m. on October 11, 1946.
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
s that the Allied occupation forces conducted against former officials and functionaries of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The charges included war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s and other atrocities, and they resulted in many notable convictions.
First trial
Officially called the "Trial of Josef Kramer and 44 others", the trial began in a LüneburgLüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
courtroom on September 17, 1945 against 45 former SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
men, women and kapo
Kapo (concentration camp)
A kapo was a prisoner who worked inside German Nazi concentration camps during World War II in any of certain lower administrative positions. The official Nazi word was Funktionshäftling, or "prisoner functionary", but the Nazis commonly referred to them as kapos.- Etymology :The origin of "kapo"...
s (prisoner functionaries) from the Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
s. The trial took place before a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
military court and lasted until November 17, 1945.
The defendants faced charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in these two concentration camps through their participation in the torture and mass murder of camp inmates. All except Starotska were accused of having committed such crimes at Bergen-Belsen; Starotska, Kramer, Klein, Weingartner, Kraft, Hössler, Borman, Volkenrath, Ehlert, Gura, Grese, Lothe, Lobauer and Schreirer were also charged with atrocities committed at Auschwitz.
- Georg Kraft, Josef Klippel, kapo Ilse Lothe, Oscar Schmitz, Fritz Mathes, Karl Egersdorf, Walter Otto, Eric Barsch, Ignatz Schlomovicz, Ida Forster, Klara Opitz, Charlotte Klein, Hildegard Hahnel, and Antoni Polanski were acquitted.
- One defendant, Ladislaw Gura, was removed from the trial due to illness.
For those found guilty, the sentences were as follows:
- Josef KramerJosef KramerJosef Kramer was the Commandant of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Dubbed "The Beast of Belsen" by camp inmates; he was a notorious Nazi war criminal, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people...
, Fritz KleinFritz Klein (Nazi)Fritz Klein was a German Nazi physician hanged for his role in atrocities at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during the Holocaust....
, Peter Weingartner, Franz Hössler, Juana BormannJuana BormannJuana Bormann was a prison guard at several Nazi concentration camps, and was executed as a war criminal at Hamelin after a trial in 1945...
, Irma GreseIrma GreseIrma Ida Ilse Grese was employed at the Nazi concentration camps of Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, and was a warden of the women's section of Bergen-Belsen....
, Elisabeth VolkenrathElisabeth VolkenrathElisabeth Volkenrath was German supervisor at several Nazi concentration camps during World War II....
, Karl Francioh, Anchor Pichen, Franz Stofel, and Wilhelm Dorr were sentenced to death by hangingHangingHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. - Erich Zoddel was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.
- Deputy wardress Herta EhlertHerta EhlertHerta Ehlert was a female guard at many Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.Ehlert was born as Hertha Liess in Berlin, Germany. She later married and became Hertha Ehlert....
, Otto Calesson, Heinrich Schreirer, kapo Helena Kopper, and Vladislaw Ostrovski were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. - Kapo Hildegard Lobauer, and guards Ilse Forster, Herta BotheHerta BotheHerta Bothe was a female Nazi concentration camp guard imprisoned for war crimes, but eventually released.-Early life:Herta Bothe was born in Teterow. In 1938 Bothe helped her father in his small Teterow wood shop, then worked temporarily in a factory, then as a nurse in the hospital industry...
, Irene Haschke, Gertrud Sauer, Johanne Roth, Anna Hempel, Stanislawa Starotska, and Antoni Aurdzieg were sentenced to ten years imprisonment. - Gertrude Fiest, and Medislaw Burgraf were sentenced to five years, Frieda Walter to three years, and Hilde Lisiewitz to one year.
All the executions were carried out on December 13, 1945 by hanging at the prison in Hameln.
Second trial
A second Belsen trial was conducted at Luneberg from June 13–18, 1946 by a British Military Court. On trial was Kazimierz Cegielski, a Polish national and former prisoner at Bergen-Belsen who, according to his testimony, had arrived in March 1944. Known as "der Große (Big) Kazimierz" (to differentiate him from another kapo with that name), he was charged with cruelty and murder.Kapos were prisoner functionaries selected by the SS to supervise their fellow prisoners. Selected for their willingness to be brutal, they were initially selected from the ranks of criminal prisoners. Later on, political prisoners chosen and later on, prisoners from other groups
Nazi concentration camp badges
Nazi concentration camp badges, primarily triangles, were part of the system of identification in Nazi camps. They were used in the concentration camps in the Nazi-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on...
.
Cegielski was accused of beating – sometimes killing – sick and weak prisoners with large wooden sticks or poles. While at Bergen-Belsen, he had an affair with another prisoner, Henny DeHaas, a Jewish woman from Amsterdam. After the war, in 1946, he was arrested in Amsterdam, ostensibly looking for DeHaas so he could marry her. He was convicted on June 18, 1946 and sentenced to death by hanging. The day before his execution, he stated that his real name was Kasimir-Alexander Rydzewski. He was executed at Hameln Prison at 9:20 a.m. on October 11, 1946.
See also
- Hugh Llewellyn Glyn HughesHugh Llewellyn Glyn HughesBrigadier Hugh Llewellyn Glyn Hughes CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MC, MRCS was a British military officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps and later medical administrator, educationalist and sports administrator...
- Allied Control CouncilAllied Control CouncilThe Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in the German language as the Alliierter Kontrollrat and also referred to as the Four Powers , was a military occupation governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany after the end of World War II in Europe...
- Subsequent Nuremberg TrialsSubsequent Nuremberg TrialsThe Subsequent Nuremberg Trials were a series of twelve U.S...