Trial by the district courts in Klagenfurt, Vienna, Salzburg and Linz against members of the HSSPF Lublin, volume 42; Correspondence between Landesgericht Wien and other regional courts in reference to the criminal proceeding against members of the HSSPF Lublin and participants in Operation Reinhard or Operation Erntefest

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: Documentation of the trial, volume 42; Correspondence between Landesgericht Wien and other regional courts in reference to the criminal proceeding against members of the HSSPF Lublin and participants in Operation Reinhard or Operation Erntefest - Testimonies and interrogation reports, mainly of former SS members, but also of survivors of the Sobibor, Belzec, Treblinka, Majdanek, Lublin and Trawniki camps; - Testimony of Tusnelda Preuninger, a 50 year old housewife who worked as a secretary in the administration of the SSPF Lublin, 1942-1943, regarding various SSPF members she knew, 05 April 1963 (pp. 3-5); - Letter to Landesgericht Tuttlingen from Judge Dr. Ernst Schelter regarding the criminal proceedings against former SS members who participated in various operations against Jews and the murder of Jews, with an emphasis on deportations from the Lublin Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto, Operation Reinhard, Operation Erntefest (the extermination of Jews especially in Majdanek) and the establishment of the Sobibor, Belzec and Treblinka extermination camps; the letter stresses the importance of proving that the defendants participated in various murders and specific criminal activities. To that end, Judge Dr. Ernst Schelter has decided to hear Tusnelda Preininger as a witness who can testify regarding the persecution of Jews in the district of Lublin, and regarding the defendants Helmut Ortwin Pohl and Ernst Lerch (pp. 6-7); - Letter to Judge Dr. Boschan from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertle confirming that he will participate in the interrogation on 30 August 1963 (p. 8); - Letter to the President of the Vienna Higher Regional Court from the Vienna Regional Court, confirming approval of travel allowances and assignments abroad to West Germany related to the defendant, Helmut Pohl, 17 April 1963 (p. 9); - Official request regarding the current address of Franz Krakhofer, born in Hamburg-Harburg, 11 May 1911 (p.10); - Letter to District Judge Dr. Ernst Schelter regarding criminal proceedings against Georg Michalsen and others; the letter contains findings concerning Meierhofer from his file: Meierhofer worked in the Lublin headquarters department that directed the deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto; he also worked at the transfer site in Warsaw, and participated in a conference at the Judenrat in Warsaw, 22 July 1942 (pp. 16-17); - Testimony of Wilhelm Rosenbaum in Ludwigsburg, 11 January 1962: Service as a former SS guard and Director of the Security Police School in Bad Rabka; discussions with various people regarding the transportation of Jews; statement that he wanted to be transferred out of Bad Rabka, because he did not like the operations against Jews; refusal to be transferred to the Lublin Ghetto; participation in a meeting called by Dr. Schoengarth where a SS guard brought a piece of soap manufactured from Jewish corpses by order of SS commander Odilo Globocnik; experiments to produce soap from Jewish corpses were performed in Lublin (p.18); - Letter from Nehemiah Robinson of the World Jewish Congress to Senior Prosecutor Dr. Kloekner containing a list of survivors from the Budzyn, Mielce, Krusznik and Belzyce camps and the Lublin Ghetto; Robinson is searching for more witnesses who survived the camps in Poniatow, Trawniki and Pulawy (pp. 19-20); - Testimony/ interrogation report of Friedrich Peter Rau, in Duesseldorf, 21 March 1962: Born in Duesseldorf, 11 July 1908; served under Commander Weitzel, from 1934; SS Hauptsturmfuehrer, 1937; accountant at the Reichsbund der Deutschen Beamten (RDB-Reich Federation of German Civil Servants) from March-April 1938; deployed to Koenigsberg, 19 September 1939; transfer to Allensein until 1940-1941; work with the SS in Zichenau; transfer to Riga, November 1941; work for Pruetzmann as his personal adjutant in Riga; transfer to Kiev as an automobile officer, April-September 1942; transfer to Lublin to work for Sporrenberg as his personal adjutant, January 1944; captured by the Allied Forces, January 1946; release, 26 May 1948 (pp. 21-24); - Testimony of the car mechanic Kurt Schumacher, in Landesgericht Altenkirchen, 15 April 1963; Identification of names from the list of names of the accused (pp. 25-26); - Postal delivery document from Landesgericht Altenkirchen (pp. 27-28); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to the Landesgericht Altenkirchen, 02 April 1963, requesting to hear the witness Kurt Schumacher, born 26 February 1922; Schumacher can testify regarding Eigner and his activities in Lublin (pp. 29-30); - Testimony of 57 year old master plumber Hermann Reesem, in Landesgericht Laasphe, 19 April 1963: Identification of names from the list of names of the accused (pp. 31-32); - Landesgericht, 19 April 1963: Calculation of compensation for travel expenses (p. 33); - Illegible pages (pp. 34- 35); - Payment order for the expenses of Hermann Reese from Landesgericht Laasphe (p. 36); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Laasphe; Schertler would like to have Hermann Reese testify regarding the persecution of Jews in the Lublin district, the Warsaw Ghetto, conditions in Trawniki and the activities of Hans (Johann) Bohunsky in Trawniki (pp. 37-38); - Application for a police investigation regarding the residence of the witness Anton Kreuzer, born in Graz, 05 July 1907, submitted by Landesgericht Wien, 10 April 1963 (pp. 39); - Response from the Federal Police Central to Landesgericht Wien, 23 April 1963: Anton Kreuzer moved to Graz, Schoeklingweg 8 (p. 40); - Return of a letter sent to Franz Krakhofer by Landesgericht Wien (p.42); - Testimony of the 54 year old secretary Erwin Mittrach in Landesgericht Kamen, 23 April 1963: Confirmation that there was persecution of Jews in the Lublin district; eye witness to the beating and trampling of Jews during different "Aktions"; he commanded the Ukrainian guards while the deportations from the ghettos took place; he also guarded 500 Jews in the Lubling camp with Unterscharfuehrer Buchwald; transferred from the Trawniki Ghetto [?] to Stettin, summer 1943; assertion that he never saw violence against Jews (pp. 43-45); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to the Landesgericht Unna, 04 April 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Erwin Mittrach, born 14 September 1908, regarding persecution of Jews in the Lublin district and Trawniki and concerning Hans Bohunsky and his activities in Trawniki (pp. 46-47); - Testimony of Johanna Offermann in Landesgericht Aachen, 26 April 1963: Identification of names from the list of names of the accused (pp. 48-49); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Aachen, 01 April 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Johanna Offermann in reference to the list of names of the accused and the organization of SSPF Lublin (pp. 50-51); - Testimony of 55 year old locksmith Josef Napieralla in Landesgericht Hankensbuette, 26 April 1963: Service as a guard in Trawniki with Bartetzko; he lived with his wife at Sturmbannfuehrer Streibel's house for some time; report regarding the shootings of Jews in Trawniki; identification of names of Jews from the list of names of accused [?] (pp. 52-54); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Grifthorn, 15 March 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Joseph Napierella, born 26 November 1907, in reference to the persecution of Jews, and concerning Hans Bohunsky and his activities in Trawniki (pp. 55-56); -Letter to Landesgericht Wien from Judge Dr. Schmidt in reference to the rogatory letter of 15 March 1963; the letter contains the file of Robert Sottmann (p.57); - Testimony of the 50 years old general manager, Robert Sottmann, in Landesgericht Hannover, 17 April 1963: Confirmation of his testimony from 31 March1963, and assertion that it is true; declaration that he never participated in crimes against Jews and Poles during the war; statement that he knows nothing about the prosecution of Jews in the Lublin district or the participation of the accused; his job was to do the bookkeeping for the Lublin site management (pp. 58-59); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Hannover: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Robert Sottmann, born 04 August 1912, regarding the persecution of Jews in the Lublin district and the participation of the accused (pp. 60-61); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien from Prosecutor Enichwitz, 18 April 1963, in reference to the criminal proceeding against Kurt Franz; the letter contains a copy of the interrogation report of the defendants Kurt Franz, Willi Mentz and Arthur Mathes (p.62); - Testimony/Interrogation report of the commandant, Kurt Franz, 03-08 December 1959: Born 17 January 1914; drafted to the Wehrmacht, 1935; a soldier until September 1937; became a member of the Thuringian SS, 1937; transferred to Weimar, 1937-1938, and assumed command of Buchenwald; transfer to Berlin where he became a SS Rottenfuehrer, 1939; shown a film in Berlin regarding mentally ill people, which was meant to demonstrate that they are a burden on German society, and that it would be better to kill them; after the film they had to sign a red card promising that they would never talk about this Geheime Reichssache (Top Secret) operation; work for the Gemeinnuetzige Stiftung fuer Anstaltspflege (part of the Euthanasia Program) and was a director at the Grafeneck, Linz and Pirna-Sonnenstein Euthanasia Centers; served as a director in the T4 office in Berlin, 1941-1942; transfer to Lublin as an officer, 1942; meeting Hauptsturmfuehrer Michalsen; he heard about Operation Reinhard while he was in Lublin; transfer from Lublin to Belzec, March 1942; serves as a officer responsible for weapons training for 6 months; provides lists of the names of the camp staff whom he knew in Belzec; transfer from Belzec to Treblinka, 1942-1943; commander of the Ukrainian guards in Belzec and Treblinka; assertion that he never beat or murdered Jewish people; identification of people from photos in a photo album, which he claims he found, 02 August 1943; claim that he was only a guard in the Wachmannschaft (guard unit) and that he never worked in the extermination zone; comments regarding various testimonies by the witnesses Rum, Suchomel, Miete, Mentz, Augustyniak, Warszawski and Janokowski and denies every fact which speaks against him; declaration that his promotion in reference to Operation Reinhard was only for military work; identification of various SS members from photos and from the list of names of accused; description of conditions in the various camps and different events from his point of view (pp. 63-125); - Testimony/ interrogation report of Willi Mentz in Landesgericht Duesseldorf, 19 July 1960: Born 30 April 1904 in Schoenhagen/Bamberg; work as the gardener at the Grafeneck Euthanasia Center until autumn 1940; transfer to the Hadamar Euthanasia Center; work in the garden until spring 1942; assertion that he had nothing to do with the killing of mentally ill people; transfer from Berlin to Treblinka, until autumn 1943; transfer to Italy; work for the police unit in Italy; wounded in an air raid; hospitalization until the end of war; capture; POW until release, June 1945; He was responsible for the Lazarett (contagious diseases clinic) and the Leichenkommando (gravediggers unit) in Treblinka; description of the killing process at the Lazarett; admission that he shot 200-500 ill people; comment on violent actions (shootings, mistreatments of Jews) of Kurt Franz in Treblinka; identification of people from the list of names; description of incidents and conditions in Treblinka; comments on the testimonies of the witnesses Warszawski, Jankowsky, Leolewi, Augustyniak, Muenzberger, Finkielsztajn and of the accused Grossmann and Franz (pp. 126-163); - Identity parade of the accused Franz and a witness: Denial by Franz of any accusation and assertion that he is the opposite of a murderer; declaration that he never shot anyone; confirmation of his testimony; assertion by Franz that all the witnesses are in collusion to make him a murderer. (pp.164-170) - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Salzburg, 13 April 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Berta Gottschall regarding the activities of the defendants Lerch and Mohrenschildt, and the organization of the SSPF Lublin (pp.171-172); -Testimony of the 41 year old secretary Berta Gottschall in Landesgericht Salzburg, 29 April 1963: Born in Salzburg; testimony regarding the defendant Lerch (pp. 173-174); - Letter from Senior Prosecutor Schwellenbach to District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler containing a protocol of the testimony of Dr. Sickel (p.175); - Testimony of the 55 year old physician Dr. Kurt Sickel in Landesgericht Cologne, 23 April 1963: Testimony regarding various participants in Operation Erntefest and to the killing process in Majdanek; Sickel names SS members he knows from Majdanek; physician who cared for Lerch and Mohrenschildt (pp. 176-179); - Testimony of the general manager Werner Wehrheim in Landesgericht Mosbach, 26 April 1963: Born 07 February 1916; testimony regarding Lerch and the briefing held 02 November 1943 concerning Operation Erntefest; description of the uprising at Majdanek and the SS plan (pp. 180-182); - Letter from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Mosbach, 01 April 1963, requesting to hear the testimony of the witness Werner Wehrheim regarding the persecution of Jews in Lublin and the activities of the defendant Lerch (pp. 183-184) - Testimony of the 50 year old locksmith Werner Dubois in Landesgericht Schwelm, 24 April 1963, regarding the various defendants; service in Sobibor and Belzec; description of the killing process in Sobibor; assertion that Reichsleitner was a camp guard in Sobibor; declaration that Erich Bauer was responsible for the gas chambers in Sobibor (pp. 185-188); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Schwelm: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of Werner Dubois, born 26 February 1913, regarding the activities of the defendants especially regarding Belzec and Sobibor (pp. 189-190); - Letter to the Federal Ministry of Justice in Vienna, containing the interrogation report of Franz Schattmann in Landesgericht Heidenheim/Brenz, April 1963; the Main Prosecutor believes that it is not necessary to hear Schattmann at the main trail (pp. 191-192); - Letter to Prosecutor Zeug from Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler, 03 May 1963 in Vienna regarding the criminal proceeding against Helmut Pohl (SSPF, Lublin/Warsaw); the letter contains various copies of documents, protocols and the death certificate of Dr. Steubel (p.193); - Letter/interrogation request from Judge Geyer to the Landesgericht Wien containing information from the witness Karl Wolfgang Mohwinkel (pp. 195-196); - Testimony of the 59 year old Gustav Muenzberger in Landesgericht Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 23 April 1963: Work at a police unit in Udine, and was often in Trieste; testimony regarding Heinrich Barbl, Franz Reichleitner and Franz Stangl and their activities; arrival of the witness at Treblinka, autumn 1942, when Franz Stangel was the commandant and the head of the Wachmannschaft; previous assignment of the witness was at the euthanasia camp in Pirna-Sonnenstein; description of Treblinka, including the gas chambers, killing process and management (pp. 197-202); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 30 March 1963: Dr. Ernst Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Gustav Muenzberger in reference to the extermination camp Treblinka (building, operation), and the participation of the accused (pp. 203-204); - Testimony of the 32 year old farmer Hans-Joachim Uhlig in Landesgericht Siegburg, 02 May 1963: Testimony regarding various defendants, including Mohrenschild, Lothar von Seltmann and Benedikt Farkas; - Appointment for the interrogation of Hans-Joachim Uhlig, 02 May 1963 (p. 207); - Note, handwritten (p. 208-209); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Muehlheim/Ruhr, 01 April 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Hans-Joachim Uhlig, born 26 September 1901, regarding Benedikt Farkas and his activities in the Lublin Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto (pp. 210-211); - Document from the public prosecutor's office in Vienna containing protocols and copies of the interrogation of Karl Schiffner and Franz Hoedl (p. 212); - Testimony of the 59 year old joiner, Karl Schiffner in Landesgericht Salzburg, 19 April 1963: Born in Weisskirchlitz, 04 July 1901; arrived at the T4 in office in Berlin to work as a joiner, summer 1942; remained at the T4 office for14 days; transfer to the Pirna-Sonnenstein Euthanasia Center to work as a joiner; transfer to Lublin and Treblinka; transfer from Treblinka to Sobibor, August 1943; transfer to Belzec 14 days later; building of a log house with other workers; transfer to Italy, September 1943; service in Trieste, 1943; identification of people from photos in a green photo album; assertion that he never participated in the killing process or ever saw how a person was killed (pp. 213-215); - Testimony of Anton Kreuzer in Landesgericht Wien, 07 May 1963: Born in Ludenburg, 27 August 1907; became a member of the SS Totenkopfstandarte in Vienna where he was an armory assistant for eight weeks; transfer to Warsaw where he was an armory assistant for six weeks; transfer to fight at the East Prussia front; transfer to Vienna, Christmas (December 25) 1941; work as an Instructor of Electrical Engineering and Mathematics in a Waffen SS school until the end of war; assertion that he never participated in operations against Jews (pp. 217-218); - Letter from the Austrian Sicherheitsdirektion (Security Directorate) to Landesgericht Wien containing a copy of the testimonies of Shlomo Sterdyner and other witnesses, and documents regarding Christian Wirth (pp. 219-220); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien from Dr. Wagner, 08 May 1963 with reference to a request from 15 March 1963, and a copy of the testimony of Heinrich Otto (p. 221); - Testimony of Heinrich Otto, born 22 December 1890, in Landesgericht Kassel, 06 May 1963 asserting that he cannot testify anything regarding Lerch and his activities (p. 222); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Kassel, 30 March 1963: Schertler wants to hear the witness Heinrich Otto regarding Lublin and the activities of Lerch at the SSPF Lublin (pp. 223-224); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien from the Gelsenkirchen Magistrates' Court, 11 May 1963, containing a copy of the testimony of Anton Schmidt and the list of defendants (p. 225); - Testimony of the 46 years old administration secretary, Anton Schmidt, in the Gelsenkirchen Magistrates' Court, 07 May 1963: Second testimony regarding his career in the SS Standartverwaltung in Lublin; identification of various people from the list of names of the accused; reports regarding the activities of the people identified; service in Lublin, October 1941-February 1942; denial of knowledge of Operation Erntefest; participation in activities against partisan operations; knowledge of Operation Reinhard; comments regarding various defendants; descriptions of their activities in Lublin (pp. 226-229); - Different documents regarding the criminal proceeding against Helmut Pohl and others (pp. 230-235); - Letter to the Senior Prosecutor in Vienna from the prosecutor Dr. Kloekner, 06 May 1963, containing information regarding various witnesses and defendants (pp. 236-237); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien in reference to the criminal proceedings against Helmut Pohl and Franz Krakhofer (p. 238); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien, 12 May 1963, containing information regarding Franz Krakhofer, a German settler formerly from the Lodz area (pp. 239-240); - Pages of an incomplete testimony in which the witness discusses the management of the Waffen SS in Lublin. He/she identifies some of the defendants (p. 242); - Illegible handwritten document (p. 243); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Dortmund, 08 April 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Hermann Ley in reference to the persecution of Jews in the Lublin district and the activities of the accused (pp. 244-245); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Essen, 01 April 1963: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Helmut Struck regarding the persecution of Jews in the Lublin district and the activities of the accused (pp. 246-247); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien, 06 May 1963, with reference to interrogation records from 02 May 1963 (p. 248); - Testimony of Helmut Struck , 02 May 1963: A member of the SS; attended the Verwaltungsfuehrerschule Dachau/Bayern (Administrative Managers' School); responsible for financial management of the general premises administration; work for one year for the administration of the Trawniki training camp; report regarding the liquidation of the Lublin Ghetto; comments regarding various defendants and identification of some of them (pp. 249-251); - Testimony of the 56 years old pensioner, Bazyli Babinski, 03 May 1963: The witness cannot remember anyone of the defendants (pp. 252-253); - Postal delivery certificate from 24 April 1963 (pp. 254-255); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Rottweil: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Bazyli Babinski regarding the conditions in Majdanek and the activities of the defendants (pp. 256-257); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien from Wynhoff (an assessor) with reference to the interrogation of the witness Karl Schluch (p. 258); - Testimony of 57 year old male nurse Karl Alfred Schluch in Kleve, 10 May 1963, regarding his activities in the Belzec and Poniatowa camps; transfer from Hadamar to Belzec; comments concerning Sturmfuehrer Schwarz in Belzec; confirmation of the shootings of ill people in the camp (pp. 259-263); - Letter to Landesgericht Wien from Prosecutor Dr. Schumacher containing a transcription of the interrogation of Gerhard Schubert and Hermann Worthoff (p. 264); - Testimony of the 49 year old merchant Gotthard Schubert, 02 May 1963 in Wiesbaden: Work at the Generalgouvernement Lublin until July 1944; comments regarding various defendants from the list of names; identification of people (pp. 265-266); - Testimony of the 53 year old merchant Hermann Worthoff, 02 May 1963 in Wiesbaden: Service as detective superintendent of the security police in Lublin for the Generalgouvernement, 1941-1944; comments regarding various people whom he knew from Lublin from the list of names (pp. 267-269); - Testimony of the 50 year old detective Kurt Alfred Fischer, 17 May 1963 in Michelstadt: Transfer to Warsaw, 1944; claim that he does not know anyone of the accused; frequent confusion of Fischer with SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Adolf Fischer who was sentenced to death (pp. 270-271); - Postal delivery certificates (pp. 272-273); - Interrogation request from District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Michelstadt: Schertler wants to hear the testimony of the witness Kurt Fischer regarding the persecution of Jews and murder of Jews in the Lublin/Warsaw district and the participation of the defendants (pp. 274-275); - Letter from Landesgericht Heidenheim, 30 April 1963 to Landesgericht Wien with reference to the interrogation of the witness Franz Schattmann (p. 276); - Testimony/interrogation report of the pensioner Franz Schattmann, 23 April 1963 in Heidenheim: Born 10 January 1913 in Znaim; a member of Police Regiment No. 22; transfer to Warsaw, 26 January 1943; guarding the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto; transfer to Treblinka, 13 April-13 October 1943; work in the labor camp; description of the organization of Treblinka and the killing process/shootings of Jews; transferred out of Treblinka, 13 October 1943; naming of various witnesses who saw important events in the Warsaw Ghetto and identification of people from the list of the accused (pp. 277-283); - Rogatory letter from Dr. Ernst Schertler to Landesgericht Heidenheim containing a request that the witness Franz Schattmann testify before Landesgericht Salzburg regarding operations and the names of some accused (pp. 284-287).