Stutthof trials

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

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]

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, only 72 SS officers and 6 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. Eleven 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 '42 - January '45) was apprehended in 1953 in West Germany and later sentenced to 9 years imprisonment.

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

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. Josef 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 25th August 1945 in prison

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; 19 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

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]

See also

• Nuremberg Trials of the 23 most important leaders of the Third Reich, 1945–1946
• Dachau Trials held within the walls of the former Dachau concentration camp, 1945–1948
• Sobibor Trial held in Hagen, Germany in 1965, concerning the Sobibor extermination camp
• Belzec Trial before the 1st Munich District Court in the mid-1960s, eight SS-men of the Belzec extermination camp
• Majdanek Trials, the longest Nazi war crimes trial in history, spanning over 30 years
• Chełmno Trials of the Chełmno extermination camp personnel, held in Poland and in Germany. The cases were decided almost twenty years apart

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 Attrocities Committed at Stutthof. The trials.]. KL Stutthof, Monografia. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
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. (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.

• 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. (Polish)

External links

• Media related to Execution of concentration camp guards at Biskupia Gorka at Wikimedia Commons