Trial by the district courts in Klagenfurt, Vienna, Salzburg and Linz against members of the HSSPF Lublin, Volume 55: Correspondence between Landesgericht Wien and other regional courts regarding interrogation requests and rogatory letters; testimonies mainly from members of the HSSPF Lublin

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 55: Correspondence between Landesgericht Wien and other regional courts regarding interrogation requests and rogatory letters; testimonies mainly from members of the HSSPF Lublin - Yad Vashem file card (p. 1); - Landesgericht Klagenfurt file card (p. 2); - Letter from the Federal Interior Ministry of Austria to Landesgericht Wien, 22 June 1964 containing six photographs of Eigner and Farkas (pp. 3-4); - Letter from Prosecutor Beier to District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertle, 08 July 1964 containing a protocol of the interrogation of Bernhard Rojsen, the father of Rachela (Rojsen) Friedman (p. 5); - Testimony of the chemist Bernhard Rojsen in Tel-Aviv, 25 February 1964: Born in 1890; moved to Warsaw, 1919; deportation to the Warsaw Ghetto; an inmate in the Warsaw Ghetto during the big resettlement "Aktion", July-September 1942; testimony regarding the eviction of the tenants of house No.103 next to the headquarters in Lublin to the command post in the Warsaw Ghetto; work as a chemist in a soap factory; description of his experiences during the resettlement "Aktion", November 1942; resettlement of his daughter Rachela (Rojsen) Friedman, January 1943; move to the Aryan side of the ghetto, April 1943; on the Aryan side until the Warsaw Polish Uprising in 1942 [sic]; deportation to a labor camp in Pruszkow; transfer to Ludwinow three weeks later; liberation in Ludwinow (pp. 6-9); - Notice from the President of Landesgericht Wien, 31 July 1964 regarding various files (p. 10); - Letter from the Wien Police Commander to Landesgericht Wien, 21 July 1964 regarding documents from the criminal proceedings against Gustav Wagner (p. 11); - Letter from Prosecutor Beier to District Judge Dr. Ernst Schertler containing a report regarding Walter Toebbens from September 1945 (p. 12); - Report regarding Warsaw and Poniatowa submitted by Walter Toebbens, September 1945: Asked to set up a textile production center in the Warsaw Ghetto by Dr. Heinrich Lauts , May 1941; agreement of Toebbens; becomes the first Aryan to go into the Warsaw Ghetto; opening of the factory with approximately 2,000-2,500 employees, early July 1941; description of conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto and the typhus epidemic; assertion that the sick, the elderly and children received extra food in the company and that he helped the Jews where he could; residence in the ghetto because he wanted to help the Jews when necessary; first resettlement "Aktion" in the Toebbens Company, 22 June 1942; testimony regarding the participants in the "Aktion" and description of the resettlement process; description of the conditions at the height of the resettlement "Aktions"; explanation that he tried to rescue many employees from the resettlement "Aktions"; end of the "Aktions", 15 September 1942; order to report to Globocnik regarding a transfer of his company to Poniatowa; non-agreement by the witness; afterwards ordered to the police station in Warsaw; informed of the impending appropriation of his company by the SS; convincing of the SS to leave the company under the management of the witness in Warsaw; setting forth of conditions should the company be transferred; confirmation of these conditions; retention of the witness as manager of the company; ordered to report for another meeting with Globocnik who disagreed with his desire to help Jews and gave him a contract to sign; refusal to sign this contract; drafting of another contract containing the new conditions which were confirmed; informing of his employees of this changes to help prepare them for the command; regarded by the Jews as a hero and rescuer; transfer of the company to Poniatowa; description of how the employees worked with great passion and ambition for the new company in Poniatowa; transfer of the Schultz Company and the Halmann Company to Trawniki and Lublin; end of the non-violent period with the arrival of Stroop who was sent to Warsaw to resettle the Jews, 30 March 1942; assumption of management of the transfer of the Toebbens Company by Stroop; after that, inhumanity and violence at the Toebbens Company; occupation by the SS; description of the incidents during the liquidation of his company, 04 November 1943; testimony regarding the time after the liquidation, including the companies he set up after the war in Doeblin and Oldenburg (pp. 13-54); - Letter from Prosecutor Beier to Landesgericht Wien, 13 August 1964 regarding the interrogation of Benjamin Eichner (pp. 55) - Testimony of the driver Benjamin Eichner, 19 March 1964: Born in 1925; identification of people from photographs; comments regarding the people in the photographs; testimony concerning Schwamberger and his activities in Warsaw, as well as participants in the liquidations and resettlement "Aktions" in Warsaw, 1942-1943; arrival of the witness in Warsaw, early 1942; testimony regarding the defendants Esterlein and Dirks (pp. 56-61); - Letter from Prosecutor Beier to Dr. Ernst Schertler, 11 August 1964 regarding excerpts from the war log of the Ruestungskommando Warschau (Warsaw Armaments Command) (p. 62); - Letter from the Ruestungskommando Warschau to the Ruestungsinspektuer (Armor Inspector) in Krakow, 12 January 1943 in reference to a meeting held 09 January 1943 in Warsaw concerning the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto by 15 February 1943 (p. 63-64); - Excerpts from the war log of the Ruestungskommando Warschau, 22 July 1942-15 December 1943 regarding the preparation for and the processing of the resettlement "Aktions" in the Warsaw Ghetto, Poniatowa and Trawniki (pp. 65-73); - Letter from Prosecutor Beier to Dr. Ernst Schertler, 24 August 1964 in Hamburg regarding three copies of testimonies (p. 74); - Testimony of the chemist Hans Paul Richter in Fuerstenfeldbruck, 22 April 1964: Born in Munich, 30 June 1893; service as a lieutenant in Infantry Division 268; arrival at Zyrardow near Warsaw; work in a garage repairing cars; work for Zentral-Ersatzteillager No. 312 (Central Spare Parts Depot ); responsibility for the motor section in Wola, and later in Prague; setting up of a foundry in the Warsaw Ghetto by the witness; opening of the foundry, spring 1942; asking Alter to select 300 workers for the company; assertion that he tried to rescue his workers from the resettlement "Aktions"; setting up of a new foundry in Prague with Polish workers; explosion in the Prague foundry, 1944; survival of a Jewish family hidden in the foundry (pp. 75-84); - Testimony of Charlotte Ulbrich in Goeggingen, 01 July 1964: Born 16 June 1908; testimony regarding her husband Herbert Ulbrich, who died; arrival of her husband in Breslau, 1939; his work for the SS police guard Katzmann as Katzmann's personal referent until 1940; transfer to SS Lublin, summer 1941; transfer to the East, September 1943; fighting in the East until Christmas (25 December)1944; falls in battle in Luxembourg, January 1945; arrival in Lublin by the witness, late 1941; work for Maubach as a secretary, 1942- 1943; departure from Lublin, 1943; testimony regarding her husband and his work in Lublin; assertion that her husband never told her anything about the extermination of Jews; description of her work for Maubach; explanation that Hoefle lost his twins and saw this as a punishment for his violence against Jews (pp. 85-90); - Testimony of 46 year old Max Runhof: Arrival in Lublin as an Oberstammfuehrer of the Hitler Youth to care for the Volksjugend Jugend; serves as an adjutant of Globocnik and assigned responsibility for the organization; knowledge regarding the plan of Globocnik to resettle the Jews but not to exterminate them; testimony regarding the Kommandeurbesprechung (commanders meeting) held before the liquidation of the Lublin Ghetto and the participants at the meeting; assertion that he did not know anything about the shooting of the sick and the elderly (pp. 91-95); - Excerpt from the testimony of Lothar Hoffmann in Wiesbaden, 15 January 1963 regarding participation in the shooting of 1,000 Jews, November 1943 during the liquidation of the Deutsche Ausruestungswerke (German Armaments Works) in Lublin: Admission that he participated in the liquidation of the Lublin camp; explanation that he spoke with Mohrenschild regarding the Splittergraeben (split trenches [killing pits]), but the shooting had already begun when he arrived; admission that the shooting took place; explanation that less than 1,000 Jews were shot (pp. 96-97); - Testimony of Kaethe (Raband) Scheper Rösler: Born in Frankfurt/Oder , 08 October 1919; testimony regarding her husband Wilhelm Scheper, who died; meets her future husband in Berlin, 1939; the witness was a teacher in Grueneberg; transfer of her future husband to Lublin; marriage, December 1941; move together to Lublin; work at the Deutsche Volksschule (German Elementary School) until October 1943; responsibility of her husband for finances at SSPF Lublin; transfer to the front, 1943; departure of the witness from Lublin, February 1944; return to Frankfurt/ Oder; receipt of the last letter from her husband, May 1945; declaration of her husband as dead, late 1961; testimony regarding various people she knew in Lublin; explanation that her husband never talked about "Aktions" against the Jews and she never got to know anything about them (pp. 98-102); - Testimony of Georg Lothar Hoffmann in Limburg, 28 June 1964: Born in Posen, 29 June 1905; arrival in Lublin, autumn 1939; assignment to the Kommandeure der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Kds-SIPO and SD Headquarters) Lublin until summer 1944; service for the Gestapo as Kriminalkommisar and Kriminalrat; responsibility for the personal records of the criminal police and for the Judenrat; memory of three names from the HSSPF Lublin: Mohrenschild, Hoefle and Michalsen; denial of participation in resettlement "Aktions"; denial of knowledge of the shootings or the liquidation of the Lublin Ghetto; testimony regarding the mass liquidation of the Ausruestungswerke (German Equipment Works), but this testimony seems unreliable (pp. 103-108); - Letter from the Federal Ministry of Justice to the Federal Minister from 03 September 1964 regarding a report issued 05 March 1964 (p. 109); - Interrogation request in the Polish language regarding the witness Szmul Szulana Tencer (pp. 110-114); - Interrogation request from Dr. Ernst Schertler to the regional court in Lodz, 25 February 1964 regarding hearing the testimony of the witness Szmul Szulana Tencer concerning the persecution and extermination of Jews in Warsaw and Poland and the participation of various people (pp. 115-117); - Protocol of the testimony of Jerzy Lewinski (in Polish) (p. 118-124); - Interrogation request in German and Polish concerning the witnesses Henryk Nowgrodski and Jerzego Lewinski sent to the regional court in Warsaw (pp. 125-131); - Protocol of the testimony of Henryk Nowgrodski (in Polish) (pp. 132-133); - Interrogation request sent to the regional court in Szczecin by Dr. Ernst Schertler in German and Polish regarding the witnesses Jan Josef Lewicki and Stanislaw Werda concerning the persecution and extermination of Jews in Warsaw and Poland and their comments regarding the participation of various people (pp. 140-146); Testimony of 49 year old Szmuel Szlama Tencer in Stanislaw, 04 June 1964: An inmate of the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940- the final liquidation, 08 May 1943; statement that he saw different brutal actions against Jews but he cannot remember the names of the perpetrators; arrival at Majdanek, 08 May 1943; transfer to Auschwitz three months later; transfer to Mauthausen; transfer to the Ebelsee [sic] camp; liberation in Ebelsee; testimony regarding resettlement "Aktions", 1942; deportation to Majdanek in a three day journey by train car, June 1943; information regarding Majdanek; deaths of his parents and his brother at Majdanek (pp. 147-151); - Testimony of the lawyer Jerzy Lewinski, 15 June 1964: Born 26 February 1911; service as a Polish reserve officer; travel by train to Lodz where he saw the persecution and abuse of Jews; arrival in Warsaw, 15 November 1939; description of the persecution and dehumanization of Jews there; membership in the Polish Socialists organization; description of the construction of the Warsaw Ghetto, November 1940; participation in the broadcasting of radio reports, including broadcasting a report regarding the Warsaw Ghetto; work in a administration capacity which gave him access to the courthouse; dissemination of information regarding the Warsaw Ghetto, and the "Aktions" and conditions there; explanation that he worked for a organization for the relief of homeless children in the ghetto; comments regarding Frankenstein [the nickname of Josef Blösche, one of the SS staff in the ghetto) who enjoyed killing Jewish children; description of the physical terror in the Warsaw Ghetto; verification of various shootings and "Aktions" against Jews; knowledge of the term "Aktion" Reinhard; explanation that the end of the "Aktion" was in September 1942, and that 60,000 Jews remained in the Warsaw Ghetto; testimony regarding various participants in the resettlement "Aktions" (pp. 152-165); - Testimony of the lawyer Henryk Nowogrodzki in Warsaw, 11 June 1964: Born 03 June 1906; arrival at the Warsaw Ghetto; work for the legal department of the Judenrat; testimony regarding various "Aktions" in the Warsaw Ghetto; description of his deportation from Warsaw to Trawniki; testimony regarding various situations in which Hantke reacted very brutally; Nowogrodzki published a documentary work entitled "Dokumente und Material fuer die Ereignisse der deutschen Okkupation in Polen" (Documents and Materials Relating to the Events of the German Occupation of Poland) and a second edition "Aktionen und Aussiedlung" ("Aktions" and Resettlement) (pp. 166-169); - Testimony of the 57 years old electrician Jan Josef Lewicki in Vienna, 25 May 1964: Resident of the Generalgouvernement Lublin; inmate of Poniatowa from 1943; labor as an electrician in the Toebbens Company; testimony regarding the Poniatowa camp and work and conditions in the Toebbens Company; description of the liquidation process of the company in Poniatowa, November 1943; naming of various SS personnel and workers for the company; statement regarding a fire in the barracks where some Jews died (pp. 170-177); - Testimony of the 61 year old chauffeur Stanislaw Werda in Vienna, 25 May 1964: Chauffeur of the Toebbens Company, 1942-1943; driver for the company and its director Ernst Jan; description of the conditions in the company; daily trip to the Warsaw Ghetto; discussion regarding the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, spring 1943 (pp. 170-177); - Letter from the Federal Ministry Austria to Wien Landesgericht, 23 September 1964 regarding identification of the accused Kutschera (p. 180); - Letter from the Federal Ministry Austria to Wien Landesgericht, 23 September 1964 regarding identification of the accused Breuer (p. 181-182); - Letter from the Federal Ministry Austria to Wien Landesgericht, 24 September 1964 regarding identification of the accused Seltmann (p. 183); - Document to Landesgericht Wien, 24 September 1964 (p. 184); - Letter from the tracing office in Vienna to Landesgericht Wien, 23 September 1964 regarding Gustav Wagner (pp. 185-186); - Letter from the Salzburg police headquarters to Dr. Ernst Schertler, 02 October 1964 regarding the witness Robert Felsinger (p. 187); - Letter from Landesgericht Wien to the Salzburg police headquarters, 12 October 1964 regarding Robert Felsinger (p 188-189); - Testimony of Ferdinand Hahnzog in Doernigheim, 09 July 1964: Born in Hanau, 19 March 1897, service as a major in district Lublin, January 1940- April 1942; testimony regarding a discussion with Globocnik and Alvensleben concerning the liquidation; comments regarding the Selbstschutz (Self-protection- a paramilitary organization created by ethnic Germans in Central and Eastern Europe) "Aktion", June 1940 and the extermination of a village called Serakomla; testimony regarding SS officer Mohrenschildt (pp. 190-194); - Testimony of the economist Ewald Heinrich Biegelmeyer in Wiesbaden, 28 January 1961: Born in Parsberg, 21 July 1911; membership in the NS-Studentenbund and a member of the NSDAP, 1931; also a member of the SD Koenigsberg; work as an economic consultant, 1936- 1940; also an economic consultant in Saarburg and Antwerp; responsible for the Auslandsnachrichtendienst (Foreign Intelligence Service); arrival in Lublin, August 1942; responsibility for the SD in Lublin; naming of various members of the HSSPF Lublin; prisoner of war in the Langenzenn internment camp and Nuremberg, 1945; escape; work as an insurance agent in Oldenburg; re-arrest by the British; detention in the Ebelheide internment camp; release, summer 1948; testimony regarding the killing of Jews in Majdanek; denial that he ever had a machine gun during his time in Lublin (pp. 195-201); - Overview of the interrogation of Ewald Biegelmeyer, 13-15 February 1963 and an identity parade involving the witness Georg Werk (p. 202); - Testimony of Ewald Biegelmeyer: See pp.195-201: Description of his military career and his promotions from Untersturmfuehrer to Sturmbannfuehrer; statement that he founded two papers for Polish and Ukrainians; testimony regarding the East-industry and the Ausruestungswerke in Poniatowa and Trawniki; comments regarding his relation to Globocnik and Dr. Sturm; claim that he did not have much to do with the resettlement "Aktions" (pp. 203-217); - Testimony of the technical worker Georg Werk regarding Ewald Biegelmeyer; identity parade between Georg Werk and Biegelmeyer: Testimony regarding Dr. Sturm and Worthoff and their activities in Lublin; comment concerning the relation between the SD and Globocnik; information regarding the place where he lived during his time in Lublin; denial that he knew anything about the extermination of Jews; comments addressed to Biegelmeyer requesting clarification of discrepancies in his testimony; information regarding various shootings in Lublin (pp. 222-245); - Testimony of Harry Sturm, 10 February-07 March 1961 and 27 November-10 December 1963: Born in Pernau, 09 December 1912; work as an academic assistant at the Institut fuer Heimatforschung (Institute for Research into Local History) in Dorpat, 1939; application to become a member of the SS, 1939; joins the SD, autumn 1939; sent to Lublin, April 1940; work in Lublin in the Volkstumsreferat (Ethnicity Unit) until 1942; Fuehrerkurs (leadership course) in Fulda,194; transfer to Reval; transfer to Pskov, three months later; transfer to Belgrade; responsibility for the Volkstumreferat (Ethnicity Unit) until Christmas (25 December) 1943; stationed in Berlin and Fuessen; taken captive by the US Army, 08 June 1945; a POW in Moosburg, 08 June 1945-08 June 1948; move to Darmstadt until 1949; work as a teacher in the Black Forest, 1950; responsibility for healthcare and resettlement "Aktions"; joint responsibility for resettlement "Aktions" until September 1942; testimony regarding his activities in Lublin; selection of people for resettlement; preparation of reports concerning the "Aktions"; selection of workers for the companies; statement that he cannot remember any shooting in hospitals, children's or old age homes; denial that he commanded the shooting in the hospitals; denial that he ever participated in the execution of Jews; admission of knowledge of the extermination of Jews; assertion that he never shot or beat a Jew; information regarding the transfer of Jews from Majdan-Tatarski to Majdanek; knowledge of the prison in the Stapo building, and a prison in a castle in Lublin, as well as the aggressive interrogation methods used from 1940; assertion that the ghetto residents had a wrong opinion of him and he was never was the master of life and death in the Lublin Ghetto; comments regarding the protocols of the meetings of the Judenrat, the Jewish Historical Institute and testimonies of witnesses; discussion of the Ausweisaktionen (Identity Card "Aktions") in Majdan Tatarski and Lublin; information regarding the shooting of Dr. Alten, Goldfarb and Grajer; denial of the killing of a Jewish child, Dr. Alten or Klavier; denial of participation in the Kollege steh auf! "Aktion"; detention for three years after the war; Note: Dr. Sturm became very upset when he heard of the verdict to imprison him and asked to testify regarding his time in Lublin again; a new interrogation is confirmed for 13 February 1961: Seeming effort to salve his conscience; information regarding his childhood and his experiences during the Bolshevik Revolution where he developed a hatred for Eastern Europeans; participation in the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund in Freiburg,1934; fascination with the Nazi ideology; assignment to the SD due to his work for the Eastern European Institute in Poland; claim that his work for the Volkstumsreferat was benign; work for health care due to the typhus epidemic; claim that he always tried to be transferred away from Lublin and that he had an internal breakdown because of his actions; very emotional, tearful testimony; came to the awareness that the Nazi regime is a criminal organization, 1944; tearful denial that he ever killed a Jew, certainly no baby or Sturm [?] and Honigman [?]; confirmation of his testimony concerning Dr. Alten, Goldfarb and Grajer in front of Worth (pp. 246-348); - Testimony of Lothar Hoffmann, 10 January 1962 and 15 January 1963: Denial of participation in the Einsatzbesprechung; claim that Liska was the director of the "Aktions"; explanation that Worthoff and Dr. Sturm had the same leadership position; denial that he ever participated in resettlement "Aktions" or shootings of people who could not be put on the transports; admission of responsibility for the Judenreferat in Lublin, but denial that he had the authority to order resettlement "Aktions"; comments regarding various testimonies of witnesses and frequent denial of his participation; denial that he ever ordered the liquidation of the epidemic hospital; claim that he never heard of Abstemplungsaktionen (Stamping "Aktions") and he cannot testify regarding the development of the resettlement "Aktions"; statement that he does not believe that Worthoff or Dr. Sturm were violent against Jews; denial of knowledge regarding the belongings of Jews who were deported; denial that he was the one who gave the order to shoot the elderly and children in hospitals and children's homes; statement that he feels innocent regarding those accusations because the authority for the resettlement "Aktions" was Liska (pp. 349-366); - Testimony of Worthoff, 30 March-26 November 1963: Statement that he did not participate in Abstemplungsaktionen, although he was aware of those "Aktions"; responsibility only for the prosecution of criminals in the ghetto but never for the Judenangelegenheiten (Jewish Affairs); denial that he was the key personality of the resettlement "Aktions" in Lublin; his job was to make sure the Jews had valid work permits and responsibility lest the Jews who worked in the companies be resettled; claim that he never heard of Belzec or other extermination camps; denial of being in a position of authority in the Lublin Ghetto; denial of participation in a meeting with the Judenrat; expression of doubts regarding the authenticity of the protocols; information regarding Majdan Tatarski; request for an identity parade with Dr. Sturm; comments regarding the shooting of Dr. Alten, Grajer and Goldfarb and denial of having shot one of them; assertion that the testimonies of the witnesses are partly incorrect; statement that the Jewish witnesses had a wrong picture of him; denial of participation in the Kollege steh auf! "Aktion"; assertion that he knows nothing regarding the shooting of Klawier; confirmation that he participated in the Ausweisaktion in Majdan Tatarski; information regarding the liquidation of the Lublin Ghetto, July 1944 (pp. 376-424); - Report submitted by the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw in January-March 1957: Report regarding the resistance and extermination of the Jewish population in the Lublin district, including a description of the Nazis' efforts to exterminate the Jews there. At that time, Lublin was a place of inhuman torture. There is also a description of the process of the resettlement "Aktions". The report also analyses the numbers of Jews from different sources, relating to different resettlement "Aktions" in various places in Poland, including the names of the participants, shootings and the organization involved in the extermination of the Jews. The report contains a paragraph concerning the resistance movement in Lublin which developed with the Partisanenbewegung (partisan movement) in 1942 in which Jews and Soviet and Polish prisoners of war fought against the Nazis. The partisans organized attacks against the Judenrat and against Nazis, built up different groups in the forests of Lublin and were partially successful in fighting against their enemies (pp. 383-424); The attached tables relate to the numbers of Jewish inhabitants before 1939 and during the German occupation and the dates of extermination "Aktions"; there are abbreviation for the different institutions mentioned in the table (pp. 476-504), and a Notes to tables 1-11 (pp. 505-514); - Express letter from 24 October 1945 in Berlin regarding the resettlement of Jews from Altreich (old Reich-those territories that were part of Nazi Germany before 1938) and the Protektorat (Protectorate) (p. 515).