Bergen-Belsen Trial
As mentioned on the first page about Belsen Camp’s Liberation, there are many stories, recollections, etc covering this event. What is below is a collection from many websites, the main two are – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/index.html and http://www.scrapbookpages.com/BergenBelsen/ConcentrationCamp.html
This page covers the Trial of ‘Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’.
The trial of ‘Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’
Nearly 500 people, including around 45 women, had worked at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as guards or members of the headquarters staff. Very few ever had to answer for their crimes before a court of law.
The first Belsen Trial, which was held before a British military tribunal in Lüneburg in the autumn of 1945, received the most public attention. Since many of the defendants had worked at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp prior to their deployment to Bergen-Belsen, the court decided to also try them for the crimes they committed there.
Denazification proceedings were carried out between 1947 and 1949 against former members of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp staff, but the German judiciary only instituted proceedings related to crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen on one occasion.
No Wehrmacht soldiers ever stood trial in a German court for the crimes they committed against Soviet POWs in the Bergen-Belsen, Fallingbostel, Wietzendorf and Oerbke camps. Two preliminary proceedings were instituted against members of the Hamburg Gestapo for their participation in selecting POWs to be murdered at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, but these proceedings were discontinued in 1970 and 1971.
Well over one hundred journalists from Germany and abroad reported extensively on the proceedings in Lüneburg. They informed the public not only about the mass deaths in Bergen-Belsen, but also about the gassings in Auschwitz-Birkenau. After two months of intensive witness interrogations, the judges sentenced 11 of the defendants to death, including Josef Kramer, head female guard Elisabeth Volkenrath and the last camp doctor Fritz Klein. They were executed on 13 December 1945 at the prison in Hamelin.
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.
So, who carried out the hanging sentences ? The answer is Albert Pierrepoint. Many of the ‘older’ generation will know and remember the name very well, so for the younger readers, a brief introduction to Albert Pierrepoint.
Albert Pierrepoint – Period in office – 1932 – 1956
Albert Pierrepoint (30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) is the most famous member of a family who provided three of the United Kingdom’s official hangmen in the first half of the 20th century. He was born in Clayton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. During his life, he lived in Bradford, Lincoln, Oldham and the seaside resort of Southport.
Pierrepoint was by far the most prolific hangman of the twentieth century having executed an estimated 433 men and 17 women in his twenty-four years of service in this country and abroad.
He learnt his trade assisting his uncle Tom and is credited with the quickest hanging on record when he, assisted by Sid Dernley, executed James Inglis in only 7 seconds on the 8th of May 1951 at Strangeways in Manchester. His first execution as ‘Number 1’ was that of gangster, Antonio ‘Babe’ Mancini at Pentonville Prison on the 17th October 1941. He was assisted in this by Steve Wade.
During World War II, Pierrepoint was called upon to assist with or be principal in the hangings of the 16 American soldiers executed for murder and rape at Shepton Mallet military prison in Somerset. After the war Albert made several visits to Austria and Germany and on the 13th of December 1945 hanged 13 German war criminals at Hameln jail including Irma Grese, Elizabeth Volkenrath and Juana Bormann and ten men including the ‘Beast of Belsen’ Josef Kramer. On the previous day, the condemned were weighed and measured so that the hangman could calculate how to adjust the gallows for each one. He is thought to have hanged around 200 Nazis in all.
Irma Grese Nazis War Crimes
She was among the 44 accused of war crimes at the Belsen Trial. She was tried over the first period of the trials (September 17 – November 17, 1945) and was represented by Major L. Cranfield. The trials were conducted under British military law in Lüneburg, and the charges derived from the Geneva Convention of 1929 regarding the treatment of prisoners. The accusations against her centred on her ill treatment and murder of Allied nationals imprisoned at the camps, including setting dogs on inmates, shootings and sadistic beatings with a whip.
She was convicted of crimes committed at both Auschwitz and Belsen and sentenced to death by hanging. Her subsequent appeal was rejected. Ten others were also sentenced to death including two other women, Juana Bormann and Elisabeth Volkenrath, with whom she stayed up the night before their execution, laughing and singing Nazi songs. Executed at Hameln jail by Albert Pierrepoint, she was the youngest woman to die judicially under English law in the 20th century.
She showed no remorse, and her final words to Pierrepoint were: ‘Quick, get it over’. The following is taken from Pierrepoint’s autobiography :
“The following morning, we climbed the stairs to the cells where the condemned were waiting. A German officer at the door leading to the corridor flung open the door and we filed past the row of faces and into the execution chamber. The officers stood at attention. Brigadier Paton-Walsh stood with his wrist-watch raised. He gave me the signal, and a sigh of released breath was audible in the chamber. I walked into the corridor. ‘Irma Grese,’ I called. The German guards quickly closed all grills on twelve of the inspection holes and opened one door. Irma Grese stepped out. The cell was far too small for me to go inside, and I had to pinion her in the corridor. ‘Follow me,’ I said in English, and O’Neil repeated the order in German. At 9.34 a.m. she walked into the execution chamber, gazed for a moment at the officials standing round it, then walked on to the centre of the trap, where I had made a chalk mark. She stood on this mark very firmly, and as I placed the white cap over her head she said in her languid voice ‘Schnell’. The drop crashed down, and the doctor followed me into the pit and pronounced her dead. After twenty minutes the body was taken down and placed in a coffin ready for burial.”
Another famous case was that of ‘Lord Haw-Haw’, real name, William Joyce, whom Pierrepoint hanged at Wandsworth for treason on the 3rd of January 1946.
Pierrepoint resigned over a disagreement about fees in 1956. He had gone to Strangeways on a cold day in January 1956 to hang Thomas Bancroft. He arrived at the prison only to find that Bancroft was reprieved. He claimed the full fee of £15, (more than £200 at today’s prices), but was offered just £1 in out-of-pocket expenses by the under-sheriff of Lancashire.
Pierrepoint appealed to his employers, the Prison Commission, who refused to get involved. The under-sheriff sent him a cheque for £4 in final settlement. But to Pierrepoint this was the end of the road and a huge insult to his pride in his position as Britain’s Chief Executioner. He also wrote his autobiography ‘Executioner – Pierrepoint’ which is still available. Albert was landlord of a public house ‘Help The Poor Struggler’ in Manchester Road in Hollinwood, Oldham. Pierrepoint had been landlord since he took over in 1946, having been executioner since 1931. He died, still in residence, on 11th July 1992 at the age of 87. His death was announced on the BBC midnight news. He was said to pull a good pint! The public house, which ended its days as an electrical shop, was demolished in the 1980’s.
The guilty and their profile’s
Sentenced to death by hanging
Date Of Birth : 10/11/1906 Place Of Birth : Munich
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Kommandant
Accused of – Selecting victims for the Auschwitz gas chamber, mass murder, shooting 22 prisoners, beating a Russian girl who had attempted to escape, and ordering prisoners to “make sport” with other prisoners.
01 December 1931 – Joined the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly referred to as the Nazi Party)(Membership No 733597).
June 1932 – Joined the SS (Schutzstaffel – political soldiers)(Membership No 32217).
End of 1933 – Promoted to Unterscharführer (Corporal).
February 1934 – Transferred to Dachau.
September 1934 – Promoted to Scharführer (Sergeant).
15 November 1934 – Transferred to Esterwegen.
06 April 1935 – Promoted to Hauptscharführer (Warrant officer Class 2).
June 1936 – Transferred to Dachau as a clerk for the Kommandant.
Early 1937 – Promoted to Untersturmführer (2nd Lieutenant).
16 October 1937 – Got married.
30 June 1937 – Transferred to Sachsenhausen as the Kommandant’s Adjutant.
January 1939 – Promoted to Obersturmführer (Lieutenant).
August 1939 – Transferred to Mauthausen as the Kommandant’s Adjutant.
May 1940 – Transferred to Auschwitz as assistant to Rudolf Höss.
November 1940 – Transferred to Dachau for Lagerführer (SS camp leader) course.
April 1941 – Transferred to Natzweiler as Schutzhaftlagerfuhrer (head of the “preventive detention camp”).
June 1942 – Promoted to Hauptsturmführer (Captain).
October 1942 – Appointed Kommandant at Natzweiler.
Early 1943 – Awarded Kriegsverdienstkreuz (War Merit Cross – non-combatant Iron Cross) Class II.
May 1944 – Transferred to Auschwitz as Kommandant Birkenau.
02 December 1944 – Transferred to Bergen-Belsen as Kommandant.
January 1945 – Awarded Kriegsverdienstkreuz Class I.
17 April 1945 – Arrested by British Troops.
29 April 1945 – Prisoner in Celle prison.
Prisoner in the Citadel at Diest, Belgium.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
27 November 1945 – Plea of leniency to Field Marshall Montgomery.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Josef Kramer –http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_026_Kramer.html
Affidavits & Statements – Kramer, Josef – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_94_Kramer.html
Date Of Birth : 24/11/1888 Place Of Birth : Zeiden, Romania
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Medical Officer
Accused of – Selecting victims for the Auschwitz gas chamber and prostitutes for the camp brothels.
Studied medicine and completed his military service in Romania, finishing his studies in Budapest after The Great War. Lived as a doctor in Siebenbürgen, becoming a member of the NSDAP.
26 May 1943 – Joined the Waffen-SS and was posted to Yugoslavia.
15 December 1943 – Arrived in Auschwitz, where he at first served as a camp doctor in the women’s camp in Birkenau. Subsequently he worked as a camp doctor in the Gypsy camp.
End January 1945 – With the evacuation of Auschwitz, he was transferred to Bergen-Belsen.
10 February – Mid-March – Transferred to KL Neuengamme.
Mid-March 1945 – Transferred to Bergen-Belsen.
17 April 1945 – Arrested by the British.
Contracted Typhus and treated in a German Military hospital in Gifhorn.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Dr Fritz Klein – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_027_Klein.html
Affidavits & Statements – Klein, Dr. Fritz –http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_90_Klein.html
Date Of Birth : 14/06/1913 Place Of Birth : Puticini, Yugoslavia
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Blockführer
Accused of – Beating a prisoner to death.
Worked as Carpenter.
1935 – served 9 months in the Yugoslav Army. Returned to work as a Carpenter.
12 March 1941 – Fought the Germans.
End April 1941 – Captured by the Germans and then released.
19 October 1942 – Conscripted into the SS and sent to Auschwitz.
19 January 1945 – Evacuated from Auschwitz.
February – Arrived Bergen-Belsen. There he served as a block leader in the women’s camp.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Peter Weingartner – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_028_Weingartner.html
Date Of Birth : 05/09/1919 Place Of Birth : Schönau, Silesia
Accused of – Helping to select gas chamber victims, and beating prisoners in both Auschwitz and Belsen.
Employed as a Hairdresser.
1939 – Sent to work in a munitions factory.
October 1941 – Volunteered for KZ service and trained at Ravensbrück.
March 1942 – Transferred to Auschwitz.
December 1942 – Moved to Auschwitz Birkenau.
1943 – Married SS Rottenführer Heinz Volkenrath.
30 September 1944 – Effective 01 October 1944 promoted to Oberaufseherin.
18 January 1945 – Evacuated from Auschwitz.
5 February 1945 – Arrived Bergen-Belsen.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Elisabeth Volkenrath – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_032_Volkenrath.html
Affidavits & Statements – Volkenrath, Elisabeth – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_92_Volkenrath.html
Date Of Birth : 07/10/1923 Place Of Birth : Wrechen near Neubrandenburg
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Arbeitsdienstführer and Rapportführerin
Accused of – Helping to select gas chamber victims, mass murder, and beating prisoners in both Auschwitz and Belsen.
Born the third of five children (Alfred, Lieschen born 1921, Irma 1923, Helene 1926, Otto 1929).
1936 – Mother (Berta Wilhelmmine Winter, born 1904) discovers that her husband, Alfred, had had an affair with a local pub owners daughter and commits suicide by drinking Hydrochloric Acid.
1938 – Leaves school and her father’s (Alfred Anton Albert Grese, born 1899) house and works at the Fürstenberg dairy factory from the beginning of Spring until Winter. 1938 – Works in a shop in Lychen near Fürstenberg.
1939 – Father, Alfred, re-marries. His second wife (a widow) brings with her 4 children. They later have a daughter together
1939-circa March 1941 – Works as an Assistant Nurse at Hohenlychen Sanatorium and tried, unsuccessfully to train as a nurse.
1941-June 1942 – The employment office finds her a job as a shop assistant at a Dairy business in Fürstenberg.
01 June 1942 – Volunteers for SS Helferinnen training at Ravensbrück, and is placed in charge of various Arbeitskommando’s.
March 1943 – Transferred to Auschwitz Birkenau as telephone orderly for a Blockführer, and for 2 days, supervisor of the Arbeitskommando’s Strafkommando for breaching camp regulations, Autumn 1943 – Straßenbaukommando, Gartenbaukommando. In December 1943 – Mail Censor.
1943-1944 – Promoted to Oberaufseherin
22 January 1944 – Has a blood test for Syphilis at Auschwitz Lazarett.
May 1944 – Employed in Birkenau with the selection process of Jewish Transports from Hungary.
January 1945 – Supervisor of male Arbeitskommando’s in the Stammlager at Auschwitz.
19 January 1945 – Evacuated by train on a prison transport to Ravensbrück.
March 1945 – Evacuated from Ravensbrück and arrives at Bergen-Belsen with a large transport of women prisoners.
Josef Kramer grants her request to remain at Bergen-Belsen. (Her lover Oberscharführer Franz Wolfgang Hatzinger is at Bergen-Belsen)
18 April 1945 – Arrested by British Troops.
23 April 1945 – Oberscharführer Franz Wolfgang Hatzinger dies of Typhus.
17 May 1945 – Transferred to Celle prison.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
22 November 1945 – Raised an objection against the judgement.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Irma Grese – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_036_Grese.html#IrmaGrese
Affidavits & Statements – Grese, Irma – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_88_Grese.html
Date Of Birth : 05/10/1912 Place Of Birth : Wriezen
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Commander Kitchen D(3) East
Accused of – Shooting girls and killed 22 prisoners by shooting through his cookhouse window at Belsen.
Coal miner prior to conscription into the Wehrmacht.
17 April 1940 -Transferred to the SS and worked in a kitchen at Posen.
August 1940-15 January 1942 – 8 SS Totenkopfsturmbann KZ Auschwitz
18 June-13 December 1943 – 6 SS Totenkopfsturmbann Auschwitz II Birkenau
1944 – Posen then Auschwitz.
December 1944 – POW Camp at Blechhammer.
February 1945 – Groß Rosen
Between 10-15 March 1945 – Arrived Bergen-Belsen.
Circa 22 April – Went to Hamburg and returned with a transport of sick prisoners three days later
27th or 28th March – Started work in Kitchen No. 3
Circa 02 April – Arrested for visiting his wife in Bergen without permission, and remained under arrest for ten days
Circa 12 April – Returned to Kitchen No. 3
27 April 1945 – Transferred to Celle prison
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Karl Francioh – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_041_Francioh.html
Date Of Birth : 05/10/1915 Place Of Birth : Heinberg, Bavaria
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Lagerleiter
Accused of – Took part in shooting prisoners on a march across the Harz Mountains to Belsen.
Worked as a Clerk before joining the German Army in October 1934
1935 – left the German Army
01 April 1936 – unsuccessfully attempted to join the SS as a professional soldier
1936 – joined the SS
October 1943 – Was present at Dora-Mittelbau
August 1944 – Transferred to Kleinbodugen as Kommandoführer
4 April 1945 – Ordered to leave Kleinbodugen by Obersturmführer Franz Hössler and go to Bergen-Belsen
5 April 1945 – Leaves Kleinbodugen with over 600 prisoners on a ‘Death March’
10 April 1945 – Arrives at Große Hehlen.
11 April 1945 – Arrives Bergen-Belsen (Now Bergen-Hohne) Barracks.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Franz Stofel – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_048_Stofel.html
Date Of Birth : 22/09/1913 Place Of Birth : Esbjerg, Denmark
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Commander Kitchen B(1)
Accused of – Shooting prisoners in one of Belsen’s kitchens.
25 May 1940 – Conscripted into the German Army. Joined 102 Infanterie-Division
25 November 1942 – Wounded and put in hospital. Injury results with his left hand being crippled
10 January 1943 – Leaves hospital and goes to Troppau in Moravia.
March 1943 – Sent to POW camp in Blechhammer
21 January 1945 – Leaves Blechhammer.
20 February 1945 – Arrives Groß-Rosen
25 February 1945 Leaves Groß-Rosen for Bergen-Belsen
10 March 1945 – Arrives Bergen-Belsen and was appointed by the SS as the head(kapo)of kitchen No. 1. He abused his subordinate prisoners
17 April 1945 Arrested by British troops and used during the burials of the dead during which time he catches Typhus.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Ansgar Pichen – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_046_Pichen.html
Date Of Birth : 09/02/1921 Place Of Birth : Merenberg
Accused of – Shooting prisoners during the Harz Mountains march.
Worked as a farmer on his father’s farm.
15 December 1940 – Volunteered to join the German Army but was refused.
Volunteered to join the Waffen SS and was sent to Dresden in the Engineers for training.
Autumn 1941 – Fell ill and was admitted to hospital.
Transferred to Oranienburg.
January 1944 – Transferred to Dora – Mittelbau.
September 1944 – Transferred to Klein Bodungen.
05 April 1945 – Evacuation from Klein Bodungen with 610 prisoners on a ‘Death March’.
11 April 1945 – Arrived Bergen-Belsen.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to death by hanging.
13 December 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Hameln prison.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Wilhelm Dorr – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_050_Dorr.html
Sentenced to prison for LIFE
Date Of Birth : 09/08/1913 Place Of Birth : Berlin
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Blockälteste/Lagerälteste
Accused of – Kicking prisoners to death, killed a sick man with iron piping, and shooting a girl prisoner.
Originally a Dairyman, sentenced for theft to one-year imprisonment in 1941.
Transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1942 for14 days.
He worked as a forced labourer in the Heinkel factory in Oranienburg until October. In November 1943, after a brief stay at Buchenwald concentration camp, he was taken to Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp.
27 March 1944 – Transferred to Bergen-Belsen.
Lived in Block 4 (part of the Häftlingslager). Originally the Blockälteste of the hospital in the Häftlingslager, he became the Lagerälteste of the Häftlingslager.
Accused of murdering a female prisoner on the evening of 17 April 1945, he was sentenced to death at a military tribunal in Celle 31 August 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to Lifetime imprisonment by the Lüneburg Court
30 November 1945 – Death sentence carried out at Wolfenbüttel by guillotine.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Erich Zoddel – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_052_Zoddel.html
Sentenced to prison for 15 years
Date Of Birth : 26/03/1905 Place Of Birth : Berlin
Accused of – Beating prisoners.
Born as Hertha Liess, she later married and became Hertha Ehlert.
Initially a Saleswoman, she was conscripted into the SS 15 November 1939 and trained at Ravensbrück, remaining there for three years. During this time, she divorced her husband.
Autumn 1942 – Transferred to Lublin.
Spring 1944 – Transferred to Krakau.
November 1944 – Transferred to Auschwitz.
18 January 1945 – Evacuated from Auschwitz.
Arrived at Bergen-Belsen at the beginning of February 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment, later reduced to 12 years with an earliest release date of 16 November 1953.
Released 07 May 1953. Lived under the assumed name Herta Naumann. Died : 04/04/1997.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Herta Ehlert – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_034_Ehlert.html
Affidavits & Statements – Ehlert, Herta – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_87_Ehlert.html
Date Of Birth : 04/09/1892 Place Of Birth : Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn, Poland)
Accused of – Shot prisoners being taken to Belsen by train.
23 May 1944 – Conscripted into the German Army and trained at Preussisch, Holland.
Circa 15 June 1944 – Sent to Strutthof for training until 10 September 1944.
15 September 1944 – Transferred to Mittlbau.
16 September 1944 – Transferred to the SS and sent to Nordhausen.
04 April 1945 – Went to Dora. Departed Dora by train with the planned destination of Neuengamme.
10 April 1945 – Arrived in Bergen-Belsen.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment.
Released 07 May 1955.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Otto Kulessa – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_044_Kulessa.html
Date Of Birth : 24/02/1910 Place Of Birth : Płoki, Poland
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Blockälteste- Blocks 27/205/224
Accused of – Beating women prisoners.
Arrested by the Gestapo 24 June 1940 and imprisoned in Krakow.
15 October 1940 – Sent on to Ravensbrück.
21 October 1942 – Transferred to Auschwitz.
20 December 1944 – Moved to Bergen-Belsen arriving 27 December 1944. Was allowed by the SS to act as a policewoman or Kapo in the women’s blocks, carrying out beatings every day. Also known to prisoners and guards as “the informer”.
Arrested 08 June 1945.
Attempts to commit suicide whilst under arrest. Attempts to commit suicide a second time whilst in Lüneburg jail.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment, later reduced to 10 years with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 26 February 1952.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Helena Koper – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_070_Kopper.html
Affidavits & Statements – Koper, Helena – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_86_Kopper.html
Date Of Birth : 27/06/1914 Place Of Birth : Łódź, Poland
Accused of – beating prisoners.
Painter by trade.
1939 – conscripted into the Polish Army and fought against the Russians.
18 September 1939 – wounded.
April 1940 – arrested by the Germans and imprisoned by the Gestapo in Łódź.
August 1940 – transferred to a transit camp in Radogoszcz.
March 1941 – transferred to a prison in Sieradz.
End 1942 – escaped and went to Berlin where he was arrested by the Gestapo.
20 October 1944 – sent to Moabit prison.
End October 1944 – transferred to Groß-Rosen.
06 February 1945 – transferred to Dora.
02 April 1945 transferred from Dora, and arrived at Bergen-Belsen 10 April 1945.
05 June 1945 – arrested by the British.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment, with an earliest release date of 16 November 1955.
Released 24 June 1955.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Vladislav Ostrowski – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_071_Ostrowski.html
Sentenced to prison for 10 years
Date Of Birth : 06/11/1918 Place Of Birth : Plauen
Accused of – Beating prisoners.
1940 worked in a weaving factory and refused to go to a munitions factory in Württemburg so was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.
March 1942 – Transferred to Auschwitz for four weeks. During this period, she wore the black triangle, probably denoting she was a prostitute.
April 1942 – Transferred to Birkenau and selected as a Kapo. January 1945 – returned to Ravensbrück.
February 1945 – Evacuated towards Bergen-Belsen.
March 1945 – Arrived Bergen-Belsen as a Kapo.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1 and Count 2.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years, reduced to 7 years Imprisonment.
Released 15 July 1950.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Hilde Lohbauer – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_038_Lohbauer.html
Affidavits & Statements – Lohbauer, Hildgarde – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_91_Lohbauer.html
Date Of Birth : 02/09/1922 Place Of Birth : Neusalz an der Oder (now Nowa Sól)
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Kitchen B(1)
Comments : Younger sister of Ida Forster (who was acquitted at the Trial).
Accused of – Beating prisoners.
Worked in a factory until conscripted into the SS on 17 August 1944 when she was posted to Langenbielau for six weeks training as an Aufseherin. Returned to her firm in Grünberg as a supervisor of the workers.
End January 1945 – Evacuated from Grünberg to Guben.
Arrived at Bergen-Belsen on 17 or 18 February 1945. She became a cookhouse supervisor and had beaten women prisoners.
Caught Typhus soon after liberation.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment, with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 21 December 1951.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Ilse Forster – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_054_ForsterIlse.html
Date Of Birth : 03/01/1921 Place Of Birth : Teterow
Accused of – Killing people with a club.
Nurse in a hospital when she was conscripted into the SS in September 1942. Sent to Ravensbrück for four weeks training as an Aufseherin.
21 November 1942 – Arrived Stutthof from Ravensbrück.
27 March 1944 or July 1944 – Transferred to Bromberg Ost.
21 January 1945 – She accompanied a death march of prisoners being evacuated to Bergen-Belsen.
Arrived Bergen-Belsen between 20 – 26 February 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 21 December 1951.
Marries and her name changed to Herta Lange.
Died 16 March 2000
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Herta Bothe – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_058_Bothe.html
Date Of Birth : 16/02/1921 Place Of Birth : Friedeberg (now Strzelce Krajenskie, Poland)
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Kitchen D(3) East
Accused of – Beating prisoners.
Worked in a textile factory in Rohrdorf until 16 August 1944 when she was conscripted into the SS and sent to Groß-Rosen & Langenbielau for five weeks training as an Aufseherin.
Transferred to Mährisch-Weißwasser for three weeks as an Aufseherin.
Returned to the textile factory in Rohrdorf.
16 February 1945 – Evacuated to Bergen-Belsen and arrived there on 28 February 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 21 December 1951.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Irene Haschke – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_060_Haschke.html
Date Of Birth : 08/09/1904 Place Of Birth : Görlitz
Accused of – Beating prisoners.
A saleswoman in Osnabrück until 1939 until her family home in Görlitz was bombed, so she returned there to work in a munitions factory.
22 September 1944 – Conscripted into the SS and sent to Groß-Rosen and Langenbielau Bielwa Sub Camp for three weeks training as an Aufseherin.
08 November 1944 – She supervised prisoners at a Roersdorf factory.
16 February 1945 – Evacuated to Bergen-Belsen via Kratzau and Zittau arriving 28 February 1945.
For the first three days was given no duties, then worked with the Wood Kommando for three days.
Two days working in the Peeling Department of No. 2 Kitchen.
Two days in the Gross Frauenlager.
One week in the Entlausung.
09, 10 and 11th April, worked in kitchen No. 2.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 21 December 1951.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Gertrud Sauer – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_063_Sauer.html
Date Of Birth : 27/01/1913 Place Of Birth : Steinheim, Silesia
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Stubenälteste Block 199
Accused of – Beating sick people.
Employed before the war as a farm girl, shop assistant and housemaid.
02 January 1941 – Arrested by the Gestapo for living with a Pole and sent to prison 06 January in Darmstadt.
17 Feb 1942 – Transferred to Ravensbrück.
26 March 1942 – Transferred to Auschwitz No. 1.
26 July 1942 – Transferred to Birkenau.
April 1943 – Transferred to Budy.
18 January 1945 – Left Budy and 27 January arrived Bergen-Belsen and placed in Block 213.
06 March – Transferred to Block 199, and became the ‘room leader’.
Arrested 16 June 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment.
3 years remitted by the Wade Committee.
Released 15 July 1950.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Johanne Roth – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_065_Roth.html
Date Of Birth : 22/06/1900 Place Of Birth : Grünberg
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Kitchen A(2)
Accused of – Beating prisoners.
Worked in a textile factory in Grünberg (now Zielona Góra, Poland).
08 May 1944 – conscription into the SS and sent to Ravensbrück for Aufseherin training for three weeks.
Returns to the textile factory where she worked as a supervisor of prisoners.
28 January 1945 – evacuated to Bergen-Belsen via Guben and arrived there on 17 February 1945.
08 April – catches Typhus and sent to the Wehrmacht hospital in Belsen Barracks on 09 April.
15 April – arrested by the British whilst in hospital.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 21 April 1951.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Anna Hempel – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_066_Hempel.html
Date Of Birth : 15/09/1924 Place Of Birth : Brzesc, Poland
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Blockältester Block 12
Accused of – Beating a fellow prisoner to death.
28 September 1941 – deported from Poland to Germany.
25 October 1941 – arrested by the Gestapo for absence from work.
02 November 1941 – sent to Sachsenhausen.
December 1943 – sent to a Kommando called Klinker.
May 1944 – sent to Jahnke Aircraft Factory.
July 1944 – Jahnke Aircraft Factory destroyed in air raid so transferred to a separate branch at Frankfurt an der Oder.
10 March 1945 – transferred to Sachsenhausen.
23 March 1945 – arrived Bergen-Belsen.
Arrested in Hannover on 4th July 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment with an earliest release date of 16 July 1952.
Released 20 March 1952.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Antoni Aurdzieg – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_073_Aurdzieg.html
Affidavits & Statements – Aurdzeig, Antoni – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/TrialAppendices/TrialAppendices_Affidavits_93_Aurdzeig.html
Sentenced to prison for 5 years
Date Of Birth : 31/05/1918 Place Of Birth : Neu-Gebhardsdorf
Accused of – Kicking a prisoner to death.
Worked in a factory in Roersdorf from 1935.
16 August 1944 – Conscripted into the SS and sent to Groß-Rosen and Langenbielau Bielwa Sub Camp for three weeks training as an Aufseherin.
16 February 1945 – Evacuated to Bergen-Belsen via Kratzau and Zittau, arriving on the 28th February.
12 April 1945 – Sent to Neuengamme.
13 April 1945 – Returned to Bergen-Belsen.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 5 Years Imprisonment.
Released 11 August 1949.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Gertrud Fiest – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_062_Fiest.html
Place Of Birth : Częstochowa, Poland
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Blockältester/Stubendienst Block 19
Accused of – Beating and killing fellow prisoners.
Employed with the state railway.
05 August 1940 – arrested by the Germans.
22 August 1940 – transferred to Buchenwald.
12 December 1940 – transferred to Neuengamme.
12 March 1943 – transferred to Drütte.
07 April 1945 – left Drütte to an unknown destination.
08 April 1945 – arrived at Celle.
09 April 1945 – arrived Bergen-Belsen.
17 August 1945 – arrested by the British.
Shared a cell with and appeared as a Defence witness at the trial of Erich Zoddel in Celle in August 1945.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 5 Years Imprisonment.
Released 11 August 1949.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Medislaw Burgraf – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_072_Burgraf.html
Sentenced to prison for 3 years
Date Of Birth : 01/03/1922 Place Of Birth : Beuthem, Silesia
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Kitchen D(3) West/Kiesel Kommando
Accused of – Assisted in beatings.
29 June 1936 – Worked in a textile factory.
09 October 1944 – Conscripted into the SS Helferin (Helper) service.
11 October 1944 – Sent to Groß-Rosen and Langenbielau Bielwa Sub Camp for training then onto Neusalz Sub Camp as an Aufseherin.
06 February 1945 – Evacuated from Neusalz to Guben on the Polish German border.
Evacuated to Guben, via Uelzen, to Bergen-Belsen arriving 24 February 1945.
11 April 1945 – Sent to Neuengamme.
13 April 1945 – Returned to Bergen-Belsen. Accused of mis-treatment to prisoners.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 3 Years Imprisonment.
Released 16 November 1948.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Frieda Walter – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_059_Walter.html
Sentenced to prison for 1 year
Date Of Birth : 31/01/1922 Place Of Birth : Grünwalde
Position Within Bergen-Belsen : Vegetable Kommando
Accused of – Kicking, beating, and murder of prisoners.
1939 – Worked in a fruit garden.
October 1940 – Worked for the Reichsarbeitsdienst.
March 1941 – Worked at a Railway Restaurant.
February 1943 – Sent to work in a munitions factory in Grünberg.
November 1944 – Conscripted into the SS at Groß-Rosen and sent for training at Langenliebau.
29 December 1944 – She returned to the munitions factory at Grünberg.
29 January 1945 – Evacuated to Gruben arriving 02 February.
07 February – Ordered to Bergen-Belsen.
03 March 1945 – Arrived Bergen-Belsen.
06 March – Assigned to the Wood Kommando for one day, then the Vegetable Kommando for a week.
After a day each in the Women’s compound weaving and in the Entlausung, a week in the peeling department of Kitchen No. 1.
Spent three days ill before Easter Sunday, and then became ill again until the 11th April with Typhus.
12 April 1945 – Sent to Neuengamme.
13 April 1945 – Returned to Bergen-Belsen.
17 September 1945 – Stands trial at the ‘Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four others’ at 30 Lindenstraße, Lüneburg. Charged with Count 1.
17 November 1945 – Sentenced to 1 Year Imprisonment.
Released 16 November 1946.
Married and took the name of Michnia. Has three children
2004 – Makes a recorded interview for the Bergen Belsen Memorial Foundation.
2014 – declines to meet Belsen survivor Tomi Reichental during the making of the documentary ‘Close To Evil’. “I was prepared to meet Hilde, who had been a perpetrator and who I thought had seen the light and changed her values. I was prepared to reconcile with her and shake her hand, because in my naive thinking she was also a victim of her own time. That I did not meet Hilde was not the big let-down but rather the fact that Hilde is still stuck in the 1940s, this is what disappointed me.”
January 2015 – Hamburg social worker Hans-Jürgen Brennecke confirmed that he had filed charges through the federal prosecutor after seeing the RTÉ documentary in Lüneberg
01 February 2015 – Die Welt publishes as story containing remarks made by Michnia during an interview on 29 January 2015
March 2016 – Die Welt publishes that she will not be prosecuted.
Trial transcript for the Defence – Evidence for the Defendant Hilde Lisiewitz – http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Trial/Trial/TrialDefenceCase/Trial_064_Lisiewitz.html
Translation of Ranks and Positions and some of the most used German words
Arbeitsdienst Labour service
Arbeitsdienstführer SS Labour Control Officer
Arbeitskommando Working squad
Blockältester Block elder
Blockführer SS block leader
Entlausung Bath House/Delousing facility
Gartenbaukommando Horticultural command
Hauptscharführer Warrant officer Class 2
Hauptsturmführer Captain
Kapo Privileged prisoner
Kommando Squad
Kommandoführer SS Leader of squad
Lagerälteste Senior camp prisoner
Lagerführer SS Camp leader
Lagerleiter Warehouse manager
Oberaufseherin Superintendent
Oberscharführer Staff Sergeant
Obersturmführer Lieutenant
Rapportführer Staff member who calls the roll
Reichsarbeitsdienst German Labour Service
Rottenführer Corporal
Scharführer Sergeant
Schutzhaftlagerfuhrer Head of the “preventive detention camp”
Stammlager Prisoner of war camp
Strafkommando Punishment squad
Straßenbaukommando Road building squad
Stubendienst Prisoner who cleans out rooms
Stubenältester Room leader who is a prisoner
Totenkopfsturmbann Execution squad
Unterscharführer Corporal
Untersturmführer 2nd Lieutenant
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