Statements by Hermann Hoefle before investigation authorities, 1947, 1960

Statements by Hermann Hoefle before investigation authorities, 1947, 1960 Documentation from a trial conducted against Austrian war criminals, most of whom participated in "Aktion Reinhardt": - Investigation against Hermann Hoefle started in Landesgericht Linz (the Linz District Court) in 1947 (Vg8 6771/47); - Main part of the investigation conducted by Landesgericht Salzburg (the Salzburg District Court) from 1956 (11a Vr 1382/56) and Landesgericht Wien (the Vienna District Court) from 1962 (27c Vr 852/62); - Final investigation conducted by Landesgericht Klagenfurt (the Klagenfurt District Court), 1962-1971 (25 Vr 3123/71); - Transfer of the files to the various courts and emendation of the signatures, as well as commencement of various other trials against other Austrian war criminals during the investigation; - Copying of the documents at Landesgericht Klagenfurt and transfer of the copies to Yad Vashem. The overall arrangement of the files includes three kinds of volumes: - General volumes containing general administrational information regarding the trial, indexes and collections; - Appendix volumes containing statements and information from trials dealing with similar cases from Germany, mostly from Hamburg; - Main volumes containing documentation, statements and correspondence from the trial. This file is part of a General Volume; it contains testimonies by Hermann Hoefle, born 19 June 1911, a resident of Salzburg, who organized the evacuation of the Warsaw Ghetto and the deportation of Jews in the area of Lublin; he was a member of the SS from 1933, a Hauptsturmfuehrer from 1938, and later a Sturmbannfuehrer. Statement from 29 August 1947: - Information regarding his army service and work history; assertion that he was never a member of the SD; claim that he was a simple soldier, and no mention whether he was in Warsaw or in Lublin (pp. 3-6). Statement from 9 September 1947: - The defendant claims that he is not guilty (pp. 7-8). Statement from 18 October 1947: - Request for release from prison in order to earn a living for his family (pp. 9-10). Statement from 12 December 1947 (from the Nuremberg Trial): - Information regarding his work and army service history until 1947; admission that he worked for Odilo Globocnik in a program for building new SS bases in the East; denial that he was in Warsaw and that he had contact with the deportation of Jews (pp. 11-15). Statement from 20 October 1960: - Admission that Odilo Globocnik gave him the order to organize the evacuation of the Warsaw Ghetto; provision of detailed information regarding the arrangements, but denial that he knew what would happen to the Jews from the ghetto; responsibility for the arrangements, 21 July-12 September 1942; Georg Michalsen substituted for him when he was not there; report that he received his orders from Dr. Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankeneck, and that Dr. Ludwig Hahn gave orders to another unit (pp. 16-29). Statement from 4 June 1962: - There is a document missing (p. 30).