Bergen-Belsen Trial

Nine more members of the Bergen-Belsen camp personnel were tried by two other military tribunals in 1946 and 1948.

So-called denazification courts were set up at the directive of the Allies to try people who had been members of the Gestapo, the SS or other criminal organisations.  Between 1947 and 1949, proceedings were initiated against at least 46 former members of the Bergen-Belsen guard squads and headquarters staff.  Nearly half of these proceedings were discontinued.  In 16 cases, the defendants were sentenced to between 120 days and two and a half years in prison or they were fined.  However, the judges declared that since these defendants had been interned by the Allies for years in most cases, their prison terms had already been served in full.

Only one German court case was held relating to crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen.  This trial held before the Jena district court in 1949 ended with the acquittal of a former SS-Unterscharführer (Corporal).  No other trials relating to Bergen-Belsen were ever carried out in either West or East Germany, and the few investigations initiated by the public prosecutor’s office in Lüneburg were eventually discontinued.

More than 200 SS members from Bergen-Belsen who are known by name never had to stand trial.

Bergen-Belsen was the only camp which came under the control of the British Army, so the British Occupation did not have jurisdiction over any of the war criminals who worked in the other camps.  All the defendants at The Belsen Trial were provided with defence counsel.  Eleven of the defence attorneys were British and one was Polish.

Commandant Josef Kramer had been arrested on April 15, 1945, the same day that British Army troops entered the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the adjacent German Army Training Centre.

On April 17th, 1945, 47 other staff members at Bergen-Belsen were arrested, including 12 of the Kapos who were trusted prisoners appointed by the guards as camp supervisors.  The next day, the staff members, who were now prisoners themselves, were forced to bury the dead bodies, that were lying around in the camp.

There were two counts listed in the charge sheet: Count One for crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen and Count Two for crimes committed while the guards were previously working at Auschwitz Birkenau.  Commandant Kramer, who was the commandant at Birkenau, the Auschwitz II camp, prior to being transferred to Bergen-Belsen, was charged with both counts, as were 11 others who had worked under him at Birkenau.  Out of the 12 defendants who were charged under Count Two (Auschwitz Birkenau), there was only one defendant, Stanislawa Staroska, who was not also charged with Count One, which was crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen.  He was found guilty of Count Two (Auschwitz Birkenau) and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The 12 defendants who were charged with both counts were Josef Kramer, Dr. Fritz Klein, Peter Weingartner, George Kraft, Franz Hoessler, Juana Bormann, Elisabeth Volkenrath, Herta Ehlert, Irma Grese, Ilse Lothe, Hilde Lohbauer and Heinrich Schreirer.

Two of these 12 defendants who were charged under both counts were acquitted of all charges: George Kraft and Ilse Lothe.

Thirty-two of the 44 defendants were charged only under Count One or crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen.  Out of this group of 32, who were charged only under Count One, 12 were acquitted.  The total number of defendants who were acquitted of all charges was 14.  Thirty of the 44 defendants were found guilty.

The 12 who were charged only with Count One (Bergen-Belsen) and were acquitted were Josef Klippel, Oscar Schmedidzt, Fritz Mathes, Karl Egersdorf, Walter Otto, Eric Barsch, Ignatz Schlomoivicz, Ida Forster, Klara Opitz, Charlotte Klein, Hildegard Halmel and Anton Polanski.

Of the 30 who were found guilty, 6 were found guilty on both Counts One and Two.  Five of them were hanged: Josef Kramer, Dr. Fritz Klein, Peter Weingartner, Elizabeth Volkenrath and Irma Grese.  Hilde Lohbauer, the sixth defendant who was found guilty on both counts, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Twenty-four of the 30 guilty defendants were found guilty of only one count.  Of this group, four were found guilty of only Count Two, which was crimes committed at Birkenau: Franz Hoessler, Juana Bormann, Heinrich Schreirer, and Stanislawa Staroska.  Schreirer was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Staroska was sentenced to 10 years in prison.  Hoessler and Bormann were both hanged.

The twenty others who were found guilty only of Count One, which was crimes at Bergen-Belsen, were Herta Ehlert, Karl Flrazich, Otto Calesson, Anchor Pinchen, Franz Stofel, Wilhelm Dorr, Erich Zoddel, Ilse Forster, Herta Bothe, Frieda Walter, Irene Haschke, Gertrud Fiest, Gertrud Sauer, Hilde Lisiewitz, Johanne Roth, Anna Hempel, Helena Kopper, Vladislav Ostrowoski, Medislaw Burgraf, and Antoni Aurdzeig.

Out of the 20 who were convicted only on Count One, or crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen, four were hanged: Karl Flrazich, Franz Stofel, Anchor Pinchen, and Wilhelm Dorr.

Only one prisoner, Erich Zoddel, was sentenced to Life in Prison; he was convicted only under Count One, crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen.  The shortest sentence was given to Hilde Lisiewitz for crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen; she was sentenced to one year in prison.  Three of the defendants were sentenced to 15 years for crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen: Herta Ehlert, Otto Calesson, and Helena Kopper.  For crimes committed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Heinrich Schreirer was also sentenced to 15 years.

Eight defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison: Hilde Lohbauer, Ilse Forster, Herta Bothe, Irene Haschke, Gertrud Sauer, Johanne Roth, Anna Hempel, and Antoni Aurdzeig.  Of those who received 10 years, only Hilde Lohbauer was convicted of both Counts One and Two.  The other 7 were convicted only of Count One, crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen.

Frieda Walter was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for crimes at Bergen-Belsen and Gertrud Fiest was sentenced to 5 years, also for crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen.