Documentation from the trial of Ludwig Hahn, KdS in Warsaw, 1944, accused of murder of Jews, held in the Hamburg Regional Court, testimonies by German perpetrators and Jewish survivors, 20/07/1961 - 12/12/1961

Documentation from the trial of Ludwig Hahn, KdS in Warsaw, 1944, accused of murder of Jews, held in the Hamburg Regional Court, testimonies by German perpetrators and Jewish survivors, 20/07/1961 - 12/12/1961 Comments of the leading prosecutor at the Landgericht (regional court) Hamburg on the reliability of the following witnesses: Szlama Bines, Mojsche, Marek Levin, [Ted Aron] Back and [Mordecha] Markusfeld (pp.2f); Note of the leading prosecutor concerning the fact that witness Mieczyslaw Kamionek is not resilient and that interrogations will damage him (pp.4f); Three testimonies of witness Dr. med. Edward Reicher: 1) Testimony (25/10/1961) of Edward Reicher (pp.6-25; identical text in document 7188482 pp.18-37; see the description there); 2) Statement (without date) of Edward Reicher (pp.101-119); this statement is the most extensive one of Reicher's three testimonies; all the facts mentioned are also contained in this document on pp.224-236 and in document 7188482 on pp.205-217 (see the description there); 3) Statement (without date) of Edward Reicher (pp.224-236; identical text in document 7188482 pp.205-217 see the description there); Sketches of a part of the Warsaw Ghetto by Dr. Reicher, commented (31/10/1961) by the prosecutor at the Landgericht (regional court) Hamburg (pp.28-32); Testimony (26/10/1961) of Johannes Alfred Boehm (pp.38-67): - Personal data already recorded; not mentioning in a former hearing that he was leader of department IV 8, i.e. the Judenreferat (Jews section); afraid of extradition to Poland, living under a false name after the war (p.63f); accordingly presenting himself as innocent and ignorant, withholding information on other persons; - After his leaving Warsaw, there may have been a department for sanctions since the Polish resistance was more active by the end of 1942; in addition to department IV 1, he temporarily led IV 8 instead of SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer (captain) Hoehmann who led the Ghetto command during the deportations (pp.33-38); the Judenreferat consisted of four to six co-workers; among them Brandt, Hoehmann, Klaustermeyer and Mende; report on its tasks (pp.38-42); - Mentioning of Jewish undercover informants; no knowledge of shootings through members of the Judenreferat as witnessed by Dr. Stabenow and Dr. Koh [?]; report on the shooting of two of his undercover informants in the Ghetto; no pursuit of the matter because of his own affair with a Polish woman (pp.42-45); - Remarks on tasks of the Judenreferat, the deportations led by Hoefle, Dr. Hahn's participation in meetings, on Dr. Stabenow's and Dr. Koh's reports on the shooting of the invalids of a Jewish hospital by Knoll and Brandt, on Klaustermeyer's personality, on reprisal shootings and Kriminalrat (criminal councilor) Mueller's standing up for shootings of persons sentenced to death by drumhead trials (pp.46-65); presentation of photos of various defendants (pp.66f). Testimony (26/10/1961) of Otto Kraatz; personal data already recorded; personal and official documents got lost during his flight; insistence on having left Warsaw at the beginning of 1942; consequently no truth in Dr. Stabenow's report that he got him out of bed one night and told him of Mrs. Sternfeld's fate (pp.68-70). Testimony (27/10/1961) of Waldemar Sterck (pp.71-84) - Personal data already recorded; personal documents regarding 1942/43 not available; from 10/1940 to 12/1942 and from 06/1943 until the Warsaw Polish Uprising in department I/II of the office of the KdS (commander of the security police) in Warsaw; his activities as adjutant of Dr. Hahn already recorded; - Asked about the deportations, the activities of the Ordnungspolizei (order police, regular German police force), the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Warsaw Polish Uprising, the activities of the security police, he is or presents himself as ignorant; he knew Haring, the commander of the order police, Jesuiter, von Eupen, and names like Globocnik; and he gives a detailed report on the Warsaw Polish Uprising and the cremation of corpses Testimony (27/10/1961) of Rabbi David Spiro (pp.85-99; identical text in document 7188482, pp.3-17); Protocol of a statement given by Zygmunt Warman, born 1905, in the Institut for Jewish History in Warsaw on 10/06/1948; containing a report on the SS announcement of the deportations at a meeting of the Judenrat (Jewish council) and the fact that Hoefle was the leader of the deportations (pp.120-121; compare Warman's comprehensive testimony in document 7060837, pp.174-201); Affidavit (06/01/1948) of Johannes Mueller [date of birth not readable], employed in the criminal investigation department in Warsaw, 1940 - 1941, then in Lublin; entrusted with the management of the affairs of the KdS (commander of the security police); Information on Hoefle: he belonged to the then illegal group of terrorists around Globocnik since 1936, accompanied him to Lublin where he had executive functions, among them the deportation of Jews from Zamosc and Warsaw; Hoefle returned from Warsaw to Lublin with overwrought nerves and broke down at the funeral of his twins as witnessed by commissioners Guenther Sachse, Eckart, Worthof, SS-Sturmbannfuehrer (major) Lerch, Oberst (colonel) Kintrup and Hoefle's wife; the SD (security services) in Lublin investigated into the events in Warsaw [no report on any consequence].(pp.122-125); Translation of Reich's report (in Polish) on the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto; Reich [Marcel Reich-Ranitzki] was employed by the Judenrat (Jewish council) as permanent correspondent; detailed report on the announcement of the deportations at a meeting of the Judenrat by SS-Sturmbannfuehrer (major) Hoefle on 22/07/1942; participants: Hoefle, SS-Untersturmfuehrer (second lieutenant) Brandt, Czerniakow, Lichtenbaum, Dr. Wielikowski, the leader of the Jewish police: Lejkin, the secretary general of the community: Z. Wassermann, some other Jews, and Reich as recorder; report on the first reactions of Czerniakow and the Jewish community (pp.127-133); Testimony (21/09/1961) of Hermann Worthoff, 51 years old; on Globocnik's command, clearing of the Warsaw Ghetto by Hoefle, SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer (captain) Michalsen, SS-Obersturmfuehrer (first lieutenant) Claasen and one or two others; ordered by his commander [Johannes] Mueller, Worthoff was subject to Hoefle allegedly for administrative tasks; - Report on his and Dr. Sturm's selection of Jews, their transfer to the forest of Krepiec near Majdanek by Claasen and SS-Untersturmfuehrer (second lieutenant) Lerch in trucks provided by Mueller, their shooting observed by Hoefle from his Fieseler Storch [small air-plane]; ordered by Mueller, Worthoff had to monitor the transports, allegedly without knowing their purpose; no observation of cruelties or shootings by Hoefle; doubting that Hoefle led the execution of several thousand Jews in Kalinowszyna/ Lublin (pp.135-139); Testimony (03/11/1961) of Sam Henry Hoffenberg (pp.140-213; identical text in document 7187941 pp.4-75); the testimony is completed by (1) Hoffenberg's comments on fotos of various SS men and (2) the protocoll of Hoffenberg's confrontation with 10 persons, among them Hantke, Klaustermeyer and Michalsen (pp.214-219); Note of Staatsanwalt (prosecutor) Beier from Hamburg concerning the fact that the name Frankenstein was the nickname of more than one brutal policeman (p.221); Testimony (20/07/1961) of Jehuda Leib Teiblum, born 1916, in Warsaw from 1937-1943; transferred to various camps, finally liberated by the Red Army; living in hides in Warsaw, but knowing Klaustermeyer and Bloesche (pp.237-239); Testimony (20/07/1961) of Regina Grinberg, born 1903, in the Warsaw Ghetto until 1943, hiding on the Aryan side until the liberation; detailed report on the clearing of the so-called small ghetto; living in the big ghetto where she saw Klaustermeyer and Bloesche hunting and shooting Jews (pp.240-244); Testimony (20/07/1961) of Szlomo Sterdiner, born 1907, in Legionowo until 10/1942, then in the Warsaw Ghetto until 04/1943, transferred to Treblinka and Hrubieszow, liberated by the Russians in Miechow in 1945; - Detailed report on the ghetto in Legionowo, its clearing by Brand - not identical with Brand from the Gestapo in Warsaw - and Lipscher, the deportation of the Jews to Radzymin and Treblinka; in Warsaw Sterdiner worked for Konrad, the leader of the value registration; witness of the shootings of Klaustermeyer and Bloesche; knowledge of Frankenstein, Stroop and Brandt (pp.245-250); Testimony (23/07/1961) of Miriam Preis (Feigenbaum), born 1902, in the Warsaw Ghetto until 1943, then in Majdanek and other camps until liberation by British troops; in the ghetto seeing Brandt, Klaustermeyer and Bloesche shooting Jews (pp.251-253); Testimony (23/07/1961) of Mieczyslaw (Mosze) Konski, born 1908, in the Warsaw Ghetto until 1943, deported to Majdanek and other camps and liberated by the Russians in 05/1945; depicting Hantke and Brandt, their shootings, the beginning of the deportations, Brandt's selection of Toebbens' Jews fit for work, Hantke's shooting of a sick Jew (254-257); Testimony (18/08/1961) of Motel Loptmann, born 1909, in the Warsaw Ghetto from autumn 1942 till 04/1943, fled while transported to Treblinka, was hidden near Warsaw until set free by the Russians; in Warsaw working in the value registration led by Konrad; having heard of the shootings by Klaustermeyer and Bloesche (pp.258f); Testimony (23/08/1961) of Beniek Eichner, born 1925, in Warsaw from the beginning of 1942 till 04/1943, in the ghetto of Przemysl till its liquidation in 07/1943, then in two camps and in hides until set free by the Russians in summer 1944; personal descriptions of Brandt, Klaustermeyer and Bloesche; detailed reports on their shootings in the Ghetto and on the meeting-point (pp.260-263); Written recollections of Richard Mittelberg: detailed report on shootings by Klaustermeyer, Bloesche and Rinschop [Rirenschopp, Rirenschoppen?]; mentioning of his brother-in-law Bravermann and of Edw. Brewda whose wife was physician in the Ghetto (pp.266f); Testimony (27/11/1961) of Walter Fentzahn, born 1912; after various criminal acts and prison terms transferred to Ravensbrueck in 08/1942; selected for service in the SS special command Dirlewanger (Dirlewanger Brigade) in 1943; wounded and in an office of the brigade in Warsaw from 09/1944, employed in the Brigade until the end of the war; - Detailed report on shootings and the burning of the bodies of Polish men, women and children by the SD (security services) on a sportsfield near his office; according to the officers of the brigade, the SS-Gruppenfuehrer (major general) and Generalleutnant der Polizei (lieutenant general of the police) was responsible for these executions; statement that members of the brigade never killed people outside fightings (pp.268- 274); - Personal descriptions of: Dirlewanger, SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer (lieutenant colonel) Kurt Weisse, SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer (captain) Dr. Fritz Miessmahl, SS-Sturmbannfuehrer (major) Hauser, SS-Oberscharfuehrer (technical sergeant) Gustav Strumpf (nickname "Socke"); mentioning of Marineoberkriegsgerichtsrat (senior councilor at the court martial of the marine) Adam, Dirlewanger's right to decide on life or death of members of the brigade, Kriegsgerichtsrat (councilor at the court martial) Dr. Wille, Polizeiarzt and Polizeihauptmann (physician and captain of the police) Dr. Kurt Hartlieb, SS-Obersturmfuehrer (first lieutenant) Lewandowski; remarks on the two regiments of the Brigade, one led by the later SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer (captain) Meyer, the other one by SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Walser: the public prosecutor already heard Karl Engel, Ferdinand Mendlinger and Emil Bauer; temporarily employed at the staff: SS-Obersturmfuehrer (first lieutenants) Christian Schuenemann and Albrecht (pp.275-279); Note (29/11/1961) by prosecutor Beier that, according to Dr. von Krannhals, Major Hahn from the security unit was not identical to the accused Dr. Ludwig Hahn; and that witness Nicolaus was member of the Kampfgrupe Reinefarth during the Warsaw Polish Uprising and could tell more about this group (p.281); Testimony (12/12/1961) of Carl Paul Christian Timm, born 1911; never in Warsaw during the war, but SS-Obersturmfuehrer (first lieutenant) in the RSHA Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Head Office); transferred to the BdS Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des Sicherheitsdienstes (commander of the security police and the security services) in Metz in 1940, came to Koenigsberg in 1943, from there to the Einsatzgrppe B (task force) in Smolensk led by Oberfuehrer Boehme, finally back to Koenigsberg in 10/1943; in 02/1944 he came to the office of the BdS in Minsk, led by Ehrlinger, then by Seetzen and finally by Boehme; in April 1945 no longer considered as indispensable and ordered to the marine in Flensburg; due to his arrested in 1945, two years in Neuengamme and one year in a prison in Esterwegen; denazified in 1948 (pp.282-285); Testimony (23/11/1961) of Simon Goldberg, born 1908 in Warsaw; flight to Wilna in 1939, brought to safety in Belarus thanks to Anton Schmidt, return to Warsaw, escape during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 04/1943; - Detailed report on the first deportations in 1942, on shootings by Michalsen, on Kurt Roehrig, the director of a backpack factory who saved many Jews by employing them, on warnings about "actions" by Poles and Germans, on shootings e.g. of sugar manufacturer Szpidbaum, on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, and on SS men known to him: Globocnik, Hahn, Auerswald, Michalsen and Heftel [Hoefle] (pp.286-289); Affidavit (28/11/1961) of Aron Kaufmann; he states that he was arrested in the Warsaw Ghetto in 06/1942 and brought to the Dulag (Durchgangslager or transit camp) where he survived as paramedic; [his report on his experiences in the camp is mazy, confused and surely not reliable] (pp.290-292); Excerpt (30/11/1961) of a testimony of Heinrich Paul Krist, born 1908, member of a motor car squadron of the SS police regiment 22 stationed in Warsaw (led by Hauptmann Moeschke); mentioning of an execution of comrades, due to criminal proceedings prompted by Schmidt, a lawyer from Essen, who was officer at court; execution of Helmut Schulze because he helped a Jew to escape and took a watch from him; police regiment 22 and some other SS police units were used for the liquidation of the Ghetto; Krist and constable Frenzel were drivers of major Schoeppe who got his commands from SS-Brigadefuehrer (brigadier general) Stroop and went to the Ghetto every day; report on the liquidation of the Ghetto completed by a party; Schoeppe got the German Cross in Gold; members of the regiment were: Hauptmann Rose, Oberleutnant (senior lieutenant) Huetter, constables Regents, Malisius, Waelzig, Nadler and Frenzel; arrest of Hauptmann Steinau either because of the Ghetto Action or because of an affair with a Polish woman (pp.293-295); Authenticated copy of a letter (26/10/1942) from the SS judge at the Reichsfuehrer-SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei (SS national leader, Himmler's title) to the SS court in Munich concerning the assessment of executions of Jews without command and authority; according to the Reichsfuehrer-SS the punishment depends on the motives; difference between purely political ones and selfish, sadistic or sexual ones (p.296); Testimony (01/12/1961) of Jack (formerly: Isaak) Eisner (pp.298-301; identical text in document 7188484 pp. 256-260; see the description there); Three letters (German translations of Polish texts) from Wanda Drewnowska to the leading prosecutor at the Landgericht (regional court) Hamburg and excerpts of her letters to her husband and her father in the forties: - The first letter to the court (15/11/1961) refers to the confiscation of her house [in Warsaw] (p.280), the second(11/12/1961) refers to the rank of SS man Schmit: probably Obersturmfuehrer (first lieutenant) (p.302); the third (12/12/1961) implies that she lived in the Aryan part of Warsaw; witnessed the Warsaw Polish Uprising in 1944 and reports on the situation after its suppression (pp.303f.) - The first excerpt notes that she lived in the German quarter [of Warsaw], the others mention the inconveniences of this location (pp.305f).