Trial by the district courts in Klagenfurt, Vienna, Salzburg and Linz against members of the HSSPF Lublin, Volume 4: Trial against Hermann Hoefle: Testimonies by German perpetrators and Jewish survivors, 1961

Documentation from trials conducted in Landesgericht Klagenfurt (the Klagenfurt District Court), Landesgericht Wien (the Vienna District Court), Landesgericht Salzburg (the Salzburg District Court) and Landesgericht Linz (the Linz District Court) against members of the HSSPF (Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer-Higher SS and Police Leader) Lublin: Trial against Hermann Hoefle; Testimonies by German perpetrators and Jewish survivors, 1961 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 the Main Volume; it contains administrational correspondence and documents, copies of Nazi documents from the Nuremberg Trials and statements from witnesses. A detailed and complete list of documents can be found in Aktenverzeichnis (docket) (TR.21/1). Statements by former members of the HSSP Lublin: - Statement by Gerhard Stabenow, 04 April 1961: Reports of murders and other atrocities committed by SS members in the Warsaw Ghetto, including the shooting of Jewish musicians after a party, the deportation of families of members of the Jewish police, the shooting of Jews by SS members from a bike and the murder of Jews in Stawki Krankenhaus (Stawki hospital); information regarding responsibilities and orders; Names mentioned: Gunther Schmidt, Hoefle, Michalsen, Hantke, Von Sammern-Frankenegg, Adam Zuravin, Brandt, Knoll, Dr, Hahn, Dr. Kah, Streckenbach, Kaltenbrunner, Globocnik, Himmler, Eichmann and Koenig (pp. 41-46). - Statement by Rudolf August Bauch, a resident of Hannover, born 22 February 1888, the manager of three textile factories (Toebbens) in the Warsaw Ghetto, 17 May 1961: Detailed information regarding the factories and the Jewish workers; the organization of the Warsaw Ghetto and the evacuation of the ghetto; Jewish spies, the shooting of people in the streets, deportation of the Jewish police and their families; reports regarding the moving of his factories, including the workers, to the Poniatowa camp, 1942-1943; detailed information concerning the shooting of 14,000 workers in Poniatowa, 04-05 November 1943, and regarding Kommando 1005, which was made up of 200 Jews who were ordered to burn the corpses and who were then killed as well; Names mentioned: Kuechenhoff, Auerswald, Brand, Freter, Hassler, Globocnik, Hoefle, Stroop, Michalsen, Hering, Gley, Hantke, Schubert, Neitzel, formerly Radolff and Heinrich Birmes (pp. 47-58). - Statement by Otto Hantke, born 21 January 1907, given 16 June 1961: Confirmation by Hantke that Hoefle was in Warsaw, and that they knew that the deported Jews were going to be killed (pp. 61-62). - Statement by Willi Natke, born 04 November 1902, given 05 July 1961: Confirmation by Natke that Hoefle was in Warsaw (pp. 70-71). - Statement by Georg Michalsen, born 13 September 1906, given 19 June 1961: Confirmation by Michalsen that Hoefle was in Warsaw and responsible for the evacuation (pp. 72-73). - Statement by Wilhelm Pfannenstiel, SS sanitation expert in Warsaw, a resident of Marburg, born 12 February 1890: 02 August 1961: Confused information regarding Hoefele; claim that Pfannenstiel reported the murder of Jews in Belzec to Dr. Grawitz; Names mentioned: Gerstein and Hoefle (pp. 203-206); 09 November 1959: Eye witness account of the gassing of 500 Jews in the Belzec camp, 18-19 August 1942, and a detailed report describing the location and the procedure; Names mentioned: Koch, Globocnik, Linden, Hoffmann, Gerstein, Wirth, Obermeyer, Hackenholt, Schwarz, Oberhauser, Grawitz and Reitlinger (pp. 242-248). Statements by witnesses: - Statement by Zygmunt Warman, born in Warsaw, Poland, 1905, Warsaw, given 10 June 1948: Information regarding a meeting of the Judenrat in Warsaw, 22 July 1942; information concerning Hoefle pp. 6-7). - Statement by Edward Reicher, born 03 June 1900, given 10 September 1948: Detailed information regarding Hoefle, the Warsaw Ghetto, the staff and composition of the Aussiedlungsstab (compulsory resettlement force) at Zelaznej 103, the work of the Aussiedlungsstab, the transport of gold from Treblinka; a description of Hoefle's character and responsibilities; Names mentioned: Wolf Reicher, Gitla Lichtenbaum, Edward Lichtenbaum, Mark Lichtenbaum, Szerynski, Lejkin, Kohn, Heller, Marek Lichtenbaum, Wielkowski, Gustaw, Stolcman and Handtke; also mentioned: “Eiserne Karte”, “Kessel von Milej”, Otwock (pp. 8-12). There is a more detailed version of the report, handwritten in Polish and translated to German, giving information regarding Reicher's hiding place in Zelaznej 99; his work as a physician for Hoefle and the other officers; the execution of Szerynski and Lejkin by the ZOB (Jewish Combat Organization); the murder of Heller and Kohn, the owners of the horse tramway by Slani; the sadistic behavior of Handke (Hantke) and the torture of Meschulem Abramzon. There is also very detailed information regarding the deportations of Gypsies he witnessed from his hiding place; Names mentioned: Leon (Hoefle's Jewish barber) Goldlust, Hohenwarter, Janusz Korczak, Adam Czerniakow (pp. 167-201). - A History of the Warsaw Ghetto as reported by Stanislaw Adler, born 08 February 1901, submitted 29 January 1946: a detailed report on the history of the Warsaw Ghetto from the beginning until January 1943, by a former member of the Jewish Ghetto Administration: Information regarding the beginning of the ghetto, food supply, deportations, atrocities, the evacuation, housing, waste disposal, epidemics, filming in the ghetto, the Toebbens and Schultz factories, hiding, confiscation of property and resistance; Names mentioned: Stanislav Tylbon, Kot, Frankenstein (nickname), Fischer, Leist, Mende, Brandt, Stabenow, Szerynski, Rosensztat, Zundlewicz, Grodzienski, Herbert Stahren, Auerswald, Goldfeder, Kotek, Perle, Alfred Nossig, Kwiek, Hoefle, Michalsen, Baumberg, Mieczyslaw Adler, Dr. Rattner, Klaustermeyer, Dirks and Alter; Places mentioned: Dynasny, Falenty, Dulag, Pawiak, Na Stawkach and Tlumacki Platz (pp. 210-233). - Report by Mieczyslaw Garfinkiel, chairman of the Judenrat in Zamosc, born in Zamosc, 11 April 1898, given December 1947: Detailed description of the history of the Jewish community of Zamosc, 01 September 1939-02 November 1942; organization of the Judenrat; attempts to safeguard the Jewish community by cooperating with the Nazis and by corrupting Nazis; the food supply; housing, and finally the deportation and extermination of the Jewish population; some pages seem to be missing; Names mentioned: Harns, Weinhenmayer, Michal Wazowski, Balk, Bernardt, Paul Wagner, Ariel Szeps, Fritz, Ber Czarny, Blas, Braszkier, Stupaj, Bencjan Lubliner, Eliasz Epsztein, Wiktor Inlender, Helernhut, Szulim Tyszberg, Samuel Kahan, Franck, Zygmunt Zipser, Karol Voss, Alwin Lipman, Hermann Goldhammer, Weichenmayer, Hans Roebke, Fridhoefer, Rozenman, Strake, Dolps, Boruch Wilder, Abe Fruedling, Rapaport, Jakob Glat, Globocnik, Jerzy Basch, Wiktor Basch, Hans Pienkowski, Vissek, Walter Reupert, Fiszel Grosbaum, Aron Szlafrok, Bursztein, Schubert, Oskar Reichwein, Hessa Goldsztein, Welsztein, Robert Kolb, Lejba Rozen, Getz, Regina Goldsztein, Jagsch, Schmidt, Langenkomp and Engels; Places mentioned: Wysokie Bortatycze, Krasnobrod, Komarow, Szczebrzeszyn, Leslow, Kolo, Konin, Warsaw, Lodz, Dortmund, Krasnystaw, Tomaszow, Belzec, Zolkiewka, Janowicze, Majdan Tartarski and Turnobin; Dates of deportations: 11 August 1942; 28 April 1942; 16 October 1942, 11 April 1942, September 1942, 16 October 1942, 02 November 1942 (pp. 249-292); Report on the work of the Juedisches Hilfskomitee in Zamosz; information regarding the public kitchen, an epidemic hospital, a bath house and a kindergarten. Names mentioned: Dr. Fridhofer, Mojzesz Lewin, Wolsztein, Zygmunt Schonhof, Dr. Weininger, Ernestyna Kahan, Ewa Chymring, Berta Mandeltort, Fass, Magaryk and Goldfarb; Places mentioned: Leslau, Zamosz, Warsaw, Lodz, Nowominsk, Krasnystaw and Tomaszow (pp. 293-299); Selection of administrational correspondence and notes: - Protocols from the Eichmann Trial, Minutes of Session 23, not copied (pp. 13-14); Requests to interview: N. Pfannenstiel, Marburg (pp. 16-20); Edward Reicher, Lodz (p. 21-26); Adolf Eichmann, Jerusalem (pp. 29-34, 79-84); Otto Hantke, Duisburg (pp. 63-68); Willi Natke and Georg Michalsen, Hamburg (pp. 74-78); Dr. Gerhard Stabenow, Bremen (pp. 110-118); Rudolf August Bauch, Hannover (pp. 119-126); Dr. N. Kah, Braunschweig, (pp. 127-134); Georg Michalsen, Hamburg (pp. 135-144); Werner Walter, Hannover (pp. 145-153); Dr. Hahn, Hamburg (pp. 157-165); Hermann Worthoff, Wiesbaden (pp. 300-309); Guenther Sachse, Hamburg (pp. 314-321); Johann Offermann, Aachen (pp. 322-330).