Documentation from a trial conducted in Landesgericht Klagenfurt (the Klagenfurt District Court) against members of the HSSPF (Hoehere SS- und Polizeifuehrer-Higher SS and Police Leader) Lublin; Statement by the Austrian war criminal Ernst Lerch during the trial of Hermann Aloys Krumey held in Klagenfurt, 1970

Documentation from a trial conducted in Landesgericht Klagenfurt (the Klagenfurt District Court) against members of the HSSPF (Hoehere SS- und Polizeifuehrer-Higher SS and Police Leader) Lublin; Statement by the Austrian war criminal Ernst Lerch during the trial of Hermann Aloys Krumey held in Klagenfurt, 1970 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 the testimony of Ernst Lerch regarding the criminal proceedings against Hermann Aloys Krumey held in Klagenfurt, 30 June 1970: - Arrival of Lerch in Lublin as an SS Hauptsturmfuehrer in 1942; adjutant of the SS and the police guard and later responsible for the organization of the post; in 1941 he was Quatiermeister (Quartermaster) for Odilo Globocnik, and in 1943 he was a member of the Siedlerwirtschaftsgenossenschaft (Settler Economy Cooperative); - Denial that he was ever Stabsfuehrer (Staff Leader) for Globocnik; - Assertion that he never got to know Krumey personal; - Denial that he was Regierungskommisar der deutschen Bevoelkerung (Government Commissioner for the German Population); - Often in Zamosc due to the Errichtung von SS und Polizeiunterkuenften (Construction of SS and police accommodation), 1940-1942; denial that he heard anything about the deportation of Poles to extermination camps; transfer to Trieste with Globocnik after his time in Lublin and Zamosc (pp. 2-5).