Treblinka trials
Encyclopedia
Two judicial trials directly concerning the Treblinka extermination camp
have been held after World War II
, both of them in Düsseldorf
, Germany
. These Treblinka trials belong to similar trials held during the early 1960's, such as the Jerusalem Adolf Eichmann
trial (1961) and the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
(1963-1965), as a result of which the general public came to realize the full extent of the crimes that some twenty years earlier had been perpetrated in occupied Poland by Nazi bureaucrats and their executioners. In the same and in subsequent years, separate trials dealt with personnel of the Bełżec (1963-1965), Sobibor
(1966), and Majdanek (1975-1981) extermination camps.
. Even if he could not be shown to have been criminally involved at Hadamar, Hirtreiter did confess to having worked in a camp near the Polish village of Malkinia where Jews were killed in a gas chamber
. Further investigations showed that Hirtreiter had been stationed at the Treblinka extermination camp, where he supervised the victims' disrobement prior to their gassing. He was charged with participation in the mass-murder of Jews, particularly the killing of more than 10 persons, including infants. On 3 March 1951 Hirtreiter was sentenced to life imprisonment.
, three years before expelled from Brazil, finally stood accused. Stangl had previously assisted in killing handicapped people during Operation T4 (the Euthanasia Programme of the National Socialists), and, before moving on to Treblinka, had been the first commandant of Sobibor
. Under his supervision, most of the Treblinka killings took place. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and died in prison on 28 June, 1971, during the appeal case.
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
have been held after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, both of them in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. These Treblinka trials belong to similar trials held during the early 1960's, such as the Jerusalem Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
trial (1961) and the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
Frankfurt Auschwitz trials
The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, known in German as der Auschwitz-Prozess or der zweite Auschwitz-Prozess, was a series of trials running from December 20, 1963 to August 10, 1965, charging 22 defendants under German penal law for their roles in the Holocaust as mid- to lower-level officials in the...
(1963-1965), as a result of which the general public came to realize the full extent of the crimes that some twenty years earlier had been perpetrated in occupied Poland by Nazi bureaucrats and their executioners. In the same and in subsequent years, separate trials dealt with personnel of the Bełżec (1963-1965), Sobibor
Sobibór extermination camp
Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...
(1966), and Majdanek (1975-1981) extermination camps.
The Hirtreiter trial
Although not focused on Treblinka from the beginning and not serving as an upbeat to the later Treblinka trials, the Hirtreiter trial is by some viewed as being part of these.Bauer, vol. 8; Hofmann In 1946 Josef Hirtreiter was arrested in the course of investigations into the killing of disabled persons in the Hadamar euthanasia clinicHadamar Clinic
The Hadamar Euthanasia Centre was a psychiatric hospital in the German town of Hadamar, used by the Nazis as the site of their T-4 Euthanasia Programme, which performed mass sterilizations and mass murder of "undesirable" members of Nazi society, specifically those with physical and mental...
. Even if he could not be shown to have been criminally involved at Hadamar, Hirtreiter did confess to having worked in a camp near the Polish village of Malkinia where Jews were killed in a gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
. Further investigations showed that Hirtreiter had been stationed at the Treblinka extermination camp, where he supervised the victims' disrobement prior to their gassing. He was charged with participation in the mass-murder of Jews, particularly the killing of more than 10 persons, including infants. On 3 March 1951 Hirtreiter was sentenced to life imprisonment.
First Treblinka trial
The First Treblinka Trial began on 12 October 1964 and concerned eleven members of the SS camp personnel, or about a quarter of the total number of SS employed in the extermination of Jews brought to Treblinka. More than 100 witnesses were called. The verdicts were pronounced on 3 September, 1965:| Defendant | Rank | Function | Sentence | Reality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS-Untersturmführer | Deputy commandant | Life imprisonment | Served 28 years, released, lived another 5 years | |
| SS-Unterscharführer | Totenlager – Corpse detail | Acquitted | ||
| SS-Unterscharführer | Built Large Gas Chambers | 4 years imprisonment | Time served. Died 1976 | |
| SS-Scharführer | Chief of Totenlager | Life imprisonment | ||
| SS-Unterscharführer | Lazarett (Infirmary) | Life imprisonment | ||
| SS-Unterscharführer | Lazarett – "Angel of Death" | Life imprisonment | Died in prison | |
| SS-Unterscharführer | Totenlager – Gas Chambers | 12 years imprisonment | Served 6 years, released on good behavior, lived another 6 years | |
| SS-Unterscharführer | Totenlager – Gas Chambers | 3 years imprisonment | Died in prison? | |
| SS-Stabsscharführer | Camp Administration | 6 years imprisonment | Released early due to poor health, lived about another decade | |
| SS-Unterscharführer | Gold and Valuables | 7 years imprisonment | Served 4 years, released, lived another 10 years | |
| SS-Oberscharführer | Lower camp of Treblinka II | Died before process |
Second Treblinka trial
The Second Treblinka Trial was held five years after the first one, from May 13 to December 22, 1970. In this trial, camp commandant Franz StanglFranz Stangl
Franz Paul Stangl was an Austrian-born SS commandant of the Sobibor and Treblinka extermination camps during the Operation Reinhard phase of the Holocaust. He was arrested in Brazil in 1967, extradited and tried in West Germany for the mass murder of 900,000 people, and in 1970 was found guilty...
, three years before expelled from Brazil, finally stood accused. Stangl had previously assisted in killing handicapped people during Operation T4 (the Euthanasia Programme of the National Socialists), and, before moving on to Treblinka, had been the first commandant of Sobibor
Sobibór extermination camp
Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...
. Under his supervision, most of the Treblinka killings took place. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and died in prison on 28 June, 1971, during the appeal case.