Stutthof trials

Stutthof trials were a series of war crime tribunals held in postwar Poland for the prosecution of Stutthof concentration camp staff and officials, responsible for the murder of up to 85,000 prisoners during the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany in World War II.[1] None of the Stutthof commandants were ever tried in Poland. SS-Sturmbannführer Max Pauly was sentenced to death in Germany but not for the crimes committed at Stutthof; only as the commandant of the Neuengamme concentration camp in Hamburg.[2]

Stutthof trials
Female guards of the Stutthof concentration camp at a trial in Gdańsk between April 25 and May 31, 1946. First row (from left): Elisabeth Becker, Gerda Steinhoff, Wanda Klaff. Second row: Erna Beilhardt, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann

The first Polish war crimes tribunal was convened at Gdańsk, Poland, from April 25, 1946 to May 31, 1946. The next three trials took place at the same court in 8–31 October 1947, 5–10 November, and in 19–29 November of that year. The fifth trial was held before the court in Toruń in 1949. The sixth and the last Stutthof trial in Poland took place in 1953 also in Gdańsk. In total, of the approximately 2,000 SS men and women who ran the entire camp complex, 72 SS officers and six female overseers were brought to justice.[2]

First Stutthof trial

During the first war crimes tribunal held at Gdańsk from April 25, 1946, to May 31, 1946, the joint Soviet/Polish Special Criminal Court tried and convicted of crimes against humanity a group of thirteen ex-officials and overseers of the Stutthof concentration camp in Sztutowo and its Bromberg-Ost subcamp for women located in the city of Bydgoszcz.[2] The accused were arraigned before the court and all found guilty. Twelve were sentenced to death, including the commander of the guards Johann Pauls, while the remainder were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. The death sentences were carried out on July 4, 1946 at the Biskupia Górka in Gdańsk, by short-drop hanging.[3]

The commandant of the Stutthof and Neuengamme concentration camps SS-Sturmbannführer Max Pauly was sentenced to death in Germany at about the same time.[2] Pauly was tried by the British for war crimes with thirteen others in the Curio Haus in Hamburg which was located in the British occupied sector of Germany. The trial lasted from March 18, 1946 to May 13, 1946. He was found guilty and sentenced to death with 11 other defendants. He was executed by long-drop hanging by Albert Pierrepoint in Hamelin prison on October 8, 1946. The second commandant SS-Sturmbannführer Paul-Werner Hoppe (August 1942 - January 1945) was apprehended in 1953 in West Germany and later sentenced to nibe years' imprisonment.

The execution of guards of the Stutthof concentration camp on July 4, 1946. In the foreground were the female guards sentenced to hang: Barkmann, Paradies, Becker, Klaff, Steinhoff (left to right)
The execution of Steinhoff, Pauls, 3 kapos July 4, 1946

Verdicts in the first Stutthof trial
  1. Johann Pauls, SS-Oberscharführer: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  2. Jenny-Wanda Barkmann, SS Aufseherin: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  3. Elisabeth Becker, SS Aufseherin: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  4. Jan Breit, SS Aufseherin: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  5. Wanda Klaff, SS Aufseherin: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  6. Ewa Paradies: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  7. Gerda Steinhoff, SS Blockleiterin: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  8. Erna Beilhardt, SS-Aufseherin: sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment
  9. Tadeusz Kopczynski, (Kapo): sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  10. Waclaw Kozlowski, Kapo: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  11. Jozef Reiter, Kapo: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  12. Fanciszek Szopinski, Kapo: sentenced to death, executed: July 4, 1946
  13. Kazimierz Kowalski, Kapo: sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment
  14. Jan Brajt, Kapo: death by hanging
  15. Aleksy Duzdal, Kapo: not guilty
  16. Jan Preiss, Kapo: not guilty
  17. Marian Zielkowski, Kapo: died of a heart attack in prison, August 25, 1945

Second Stutthof trial

The second trial was held from October 8, 1947, to October 31, 1947, before a Polish Special Criminal Court. Arraigned 24 ex-officials and guards of the Stutthof concentration camp were judged and found guilty. Ten were sentenced to death.[2]

Verdicts in the second trial
At trial, 1947, Gdańsk. Left to right: Hans Rach, Fritz Peters, Albert Paulitz, Ewald Foth, and Theodor Meyer

Nine SS men and the Kapo Nikolaysen had been executed on October 28, 1948:[4]

  1. Kurt Dietrich, SS Unterscharführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  2. Karl Eggert, SS Rottenführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  3. Theodor Meyer, SS Hauptsturmführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  4. Ewald Foth, SS Oberscharführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  5. Albert Paulitz, SS Oberscharführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  6. Fritz Peters, SS Unterscharführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  7. Hans Rach, SS Oberscharführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  8. Paul Wellnitz, SS Rottenführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  9. Karl Zurell, SS Rottenführer: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948
  10. Erich Thun, SS Unterscharführer: life imprisonment
  11. Wilhelm Vogler, SS Hauptsturmführer: 15 years' imprisonment
  12. Eduard Zerlin, SS Unterscharführer: 12 years' imprisonment
  13. Oskar Gottchau, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  14. Adolf Grams, SS Rottenführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  15. Emil Wenzel, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  16. Werner Wöllnitz, SS Rottenführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  17. Johannes Görtz, SS Unterscharführer: 8 years' imprisonment
  18. Karl Reger, SS Scharführer: 8 years' imprisonment
  19. Martin Stage, SS Scharführer: 8 years' imprisonment
  20. Adalbert Wolter, SS Unterscharführer: 8 years' imprisonment
  21. Josef Wennhardt, SS Scharführer: 8 years' imprisonment
  22. Hugo Ziehm, SS Scharführer: 3 years' imprisonment
  23. Walter Englert, SS Scharführer: 3 years' imprisonment
  24. Alfred Nikolaysen, Kapo: sentenced to death, executed: October 28, 1948

Third Stutthof trial

The third trial was held from November 5, 1947, to November 10, 1947, before a Polish Special Criminal Court. Arraigned 20 ex-officials and guards were judged; nineteen were found guilty, and one was acquitted.[2][5]

Verdicts in the third trial
  1. Karl Meinck, SS Obersturmführer: 12 years' imprisonment
  2. Gustav Eberle, SS Hauptscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  3. Erich Jassen, SS Hauptscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  4. Adolf Klaffke, SS Oberscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  5. Otto Schneider, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  6. Otto Welke, SS Sturmscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  7. Willy Witt, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  8. Alfred Tissler, SS Rottenführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  9. Johann Lichtner, SS Hauptscharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  10. Ernst Thulke, SS Rottenführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  11. Heinz Löwen, SS Scharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  12. Erich Stampniok, SS Unterscharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  13. Hans Möhrke, SS Sturmscharführer: 4 years' imprisonment
  14. Harry Müller, SS Unterscharführer: 4 years' imprisonment
  15. Richard Timm, SS Hauptscharführer: 4 years' imprisonment
  16. Nikolaus Dirnberger, SS Scharführer: 4 years' imprisonment
  17. Friedrich Tessmer, SS Scharführer: 4 years' imprisonment
  18. Johann Sporer, SS Unterscharführer: 4 years' imprisonment
  19. Nikolai Klawan, SS Scharführer: 3 years' imprisonment
  20. Hans Tolksdorf, SS Oberscharführer: acquitted and released

Fourth Stutthof trial

The fourth trial was also held before a Polish Special Criminal Court, from November 19, 1947, to November 29, 1947. Arraigned 27 ex-officials and guards were judged; 26 were found guilty, and one was acquitted.[2][5]

Verdicts in the fourth trial
  1. Willi Buth, SS Hauptscharführer: life imprisonment
  2. Albert Weckmüller, SS Hauptsturmführer: 15 years' imprisonment
  3. Rudolf Berg, SS Scharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  4. Fritz Glawe, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  5. Horst Köpke, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  6. Emil Lascheit, SS Sturmscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  7. Kurt Reduhn, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  8. Josef Stahl, SS Unterscharführer: 10 years' imprisonment
  9. Waldemar Henke, SS Obersturmführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  10. Gustav Kautz, SS Unterscharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  11. Hermann Link, SS Scharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  12. Erich Mertens, SS Oberscharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  13. Martin Pentz, SS Scharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  14. Johann Pfister, SS Rottenführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  15. Johannes Wall, SS Sturmscharführer: 5 years' imprisonment
  16. Richard Akolt, SS Rottenführer: 3 years' imprisonment
  17. Anton Kniffke, SS Scharführer: 3 years' imprisonment
  18. Christof Schwarz, SS Hauptsturmführer: 3 years' imprisonment
  19. Gustav Brodowski, SS Rottenführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  20. Walter Ringewald, SS Oberscharfuhrer: 7 months' imprisonment
  21. Richard Wohlfeil, SS Hauptscharführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  22. Johann Wrobel, SS Oberscharführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  23. Ernst Knappert, SS Rottenführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  24. Bernard Eckermann, SS Oberscharführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  25. Leopold Baumgartner, SS Oberscharführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  26. Emil Paul, SS Unterscharführer: 7 months' imprisonment
  27. Franz Spillmann, Kapo: acquitted and released

Fifth and sixth trials

The last two trials in Poland concerning two Stutthof concentration camp officials took place four years apart. In 1949 SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Jacobi, the commandant of Stutthof subcamps forming Baukommando Weichsel or OT Thorn (Organisation Todt Thorn) for women digging anti-tank ditches,[6] was tried before the criminal court in Toruń and sentenced to three years in prison.[2]

In 1953 the court in Gdańsk tried SS-man Bielawa (SS Rottenführer Paul Bielawa, a prisoner guard from the 3rd company in Stutthof between 1941–45)[1] and sentenced him to twelve years.[2] SS-Rottenführer Emil Strehlau was sentenced by the court in Torun (Wloclawek) on 23 April 1948 to death for war crimes. He was executed 8 November in Wloclawek[7][8]

Later trials

In mid-1950s, a number of Nazi concentration camp commandants were sentenced to jail for supervising the murder of Jewish prisoners in gas chambers between 1942–1944, including Otto Knott, Otto Haupt and Bernard Lüdtke.

In 2017, the prosecution of two former Stutthof camp guards from Borken and Wuppertal commenced.[9] The Wuppertal's convict denied the allegations and declared that he was not present during the killings, and did not notice anything about it.[10]

In November 2018, Johann Rehbogen from Borken was tried in court for serving at Stutthof camp from June 1942 to September 1944.[11] In December 2018, the trial was suspended, since the convict had to be hospitalized for serious heart and kidney problems.[12] On 25 February 2019, it was announced that the trial is unlikely to be restarted due to the poor health conditions of the defendant.[13]

In October 2019, Bruno Dey from Hamburg was accused of contributing to the killings of 5,230 prisoners at Stutthof camp between 1944 and 1945. However, he is being tried in a juvenile court due to being about 17 at that time.[14]

See also

References
  1. Bogdan Chrzanowski, Andrzej Gąsiorowski (Zeszyty Muzeum, 5), Załoga obozu Stutthof (Staff of Stutthof concentration camp) (PDF file, direct download 9.14 MB) p. 189 (13/40 in PDF). Muzeum Stutthof w Sztutowie. Zaklad Narodowy Imienia Ossolinskich, Wrocław, Warszawa, Krakow 1984. PL ISSN 0137-5377.
  2. Janina Grabowska (22 January 2009). "Odpowiedzialność za zbrodnie popełnione w Stutthofie. Procesy" [Responsibility for the Atrocities Committed at Stutthof. The trials.]. KL Stutthof, Monografia. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2014.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  3. Skalman.nu Forum, Stutthof Trial, April 25-May 31, 1946 at JewishVirtualLibrary.org
  4. Waldemar Kowalski: KARA ŚMIERCI W GDAŃSKU 1945–1987. In: gedanopedia.pl (polish)
  5. Nunca Mas (2007), Campo de Concentracion Stutthof, Polonia (Concentration Camp Stutthof, Poland). History of the Camp. Subcamps. Trials. Women of the SS. Additional documents. (in Spanish)
  6. Marian Rochniński, Jan Ruciński, Tragiczny los żydowskich więźniarek z Baukomando Weichsel (The Tragic Fate of Women Prisoners of Baukomando Weichsel) Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela" 47/2007.
  7. IPN Warsawa
  8. Lista osob Straconych w wiezieniach Polskich w latach 1944 – 1956 , IPN, 1990
  9. "KZ-Wachmann muss mit Anklage rechnen". Westfälische Nachrichten (in German). 16 October 2017.
  10. "Ermittlungen gegen früheren KZ-Wachmann aus Wuppertal". WDR (in German). 22 January 2017.
  11. "Holocaust trial: Germany tries former SS guard at Stutthof camp". BBC News. 6 November 2018.
  12. "German court suspends trial of ex-SS death camp guard". The Local.de. 13 December 2018.
  13. "Prozess gegen früheren SS-Wachmann steht vor dem Aus". Spiegel (in German). 25 February 2019.
  14. "Holocaust trial: Former Stutthof guard on trial in Germany". BBC News. 17 October 2019.
  • Several authors, Monografia KL Stutthof (KL Stutthof monograph) (Internet Archive). Organization, Prisoners, Subcamps, Extermination, Responsibility. Contributing writers: Bogdan Chrzanowski, Konrad Ciechanowski, Danuta Drywa, Ewa Ferenc, Andrzej Gąsiorowski, Mirosław Gliński, Janina Grabowska, Elżbieta Grot, Marek Orski, and Krzysztof Steyer. (in Polish)
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