Press Hails Auschwitz Court for 'Fairness'
(Continued from Page 1)
at the Frankfurt trial, said he
would appeal the relatively light
sentences given by the court to
two of the defendants, both of
whom had been deputy comman-
dants of the Auschwitz camp.
They are Robert Mulka, who was
sentenced to 14 years' imprison-
ment, and Karl Hoecker, whose
sentence called for seven years at
hard labor.
The Germ an press, on the
whole, praised the court for its
'fairness," the lack of a "show
atmosphere, and the fact
that, in pronouncing sentence,
Judge Hofmeyer rejected the de-
fense claims that the mass mur-
derers of 3,000,000 to 4,000,000
Jews at Auschwitz had "acted
under orders of their superiors."
The sentencing on Aug. 21
brought to an end the largest
and longest trial of Nazi war
criminals in West German legal
history. The defendants were
charged with murder and com-
plicity to murder in the killing
of between 3,000,000 and 4,000,-
000 inmates, most of them Jews,
between June, 1940, when the
camp was opened in occupied
Poland and January 1945, when
the camp was overrun by Soviet
troops. The trial lasted 21
months.
During the 180 sessions of the
in at least 12 cases, one of which
involved at least 1,000 victims;
Stefan Baretzki, 46, former block
leader, convicted of murder in at
least five cases and of complicity
in at least 11, of which one in-
volved some 3,000 victims, five in-
volved at least 1,000 each and the
other five involved at least 50 vic-
tims each;
Josef Klehr, 61, former SS ser-
geant, found guilty in at least 475
cases of murder and complicity in
at least six cases which involved
some 1,000 victims; and
Emil Bednarek, 58, a prisoner
turned trusty, convicted of murder
in at least 14 cases.
Robert Mulka, 70, former as-
sistant commandant, was sen-
tenced to 14 years, the longest of
the lesser terms.
Time served before and during
the trial will be deducted from the
sentences. Many of the convicted
defendants are expected to appeal.
They have a week to do so.
The defendants sat stiffly up-
right as Chief Judge Hans Hof-
meyer rejected their pleas that
they had only obeyed orders,
declaring that they were as
guilty as Hitler himself.
He said that "it would be a mis-
take to say these men are not as
Face Life in Prison
trial, the court of three judges
and six jurors heard the testimony
of 360 witnesses, 100 written state-
ments and the arguments of seven
prosecutors and 18 defense attor-
neys. The witnesses described de-
tails of atrocities so monstrous
that spectators became ill. A long
and grisly record was entered of
how the defendants beat, kicked,
trampled, whipped, starved, tor-
tured and froze their victims to
death.
The 20 defendants maintained
they were innocent because they
had only carried out orders from
"higherups." Some had already
been convicted of similar crimes
and were serving sentences or
had been released.
The six men given life sen-
tences — the severest sentence
under West German law and one
only occasionally meted out in the
scores of Nazi war crimes trials
to date—were:
Wilhelm Boger, 60, former SS
sergeant, convicted of 114 mur-
ders, joint murder in at least 1,000
cases and complicity in murder in
at least 10 cases;
Franz Hoffmann, 59, former SS
captain, convicted of murder in
at least one case and complicity
in at least 30 cases, three of which
involved at least 700 victims;
Oswald Kaduk, 59, former SS
sergeant, found guilty of murder
in at least 10 cases and complicity
Councilman
BLANCHE
PARENT
WISE
Experienced and Preferred
•
Vote Sept. 14
•
150 on the Ballot
•
I strongly urge all Detroiters to
vote for Blanche Parent Wise
whose services are so urgently
needed in the Council.
ALFRED A. MAY
Two of the six former Hitler
henchmen sentenced at Frank-
furt to life in prison are Ges-
tapo torturer Wilhelm Boger
(upper) and Oswald Kaduk
(lower), said to have giggled as
he broke prisoners' necks.
9 Treblinka Nazis Plead
Guilty of Murder; 'Ghoul'
Insists He's Innocent
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
DUSSELDORF—Nine of the 10
former SS officers and guards in
the Treblinka death camp pleaded
guilty Tuesday to charges of mur-
der and complicity in murder in
the deaths of 700,000 Jewish vic-
tims.
Former SS Lt. Kurt Hubert
Franz, the deputy camp command-
ant who was called "Ghoul"- by
prisoners for his sadistic treatment
of them, pleaded not guilty. He
told the court which had twice
traveled to the United States to take
testimony from survivors there,
"Believe me I am innocent." The
Dusseldorf court will issue a verd-
ict on Sept. 3.
During the 10-month trial, wit-
nesses told how Franz used his
pistol and whip against them at
every opportunity and forced pris-
oners to climb trees so that he
could use them for target practice.
Franz admitted that Treblinka was
a death camp which was razed by
SS troops at the end of 1943, when
all remaining inmates were mur-
dered, and a large farmhouse was
built on the site to hide all traces
of the camp's murder program.
Yeshiva University
to Hold Central East
Torah Seminar
' guilty because they were only
small cogs in the machinery.
About 100 teen-agers from five
Their guilt is as great as those states including Michigan, will at-
who sat behind the desks."
tend the Central East Torah Lead-
Erich Kassner, 52, a former ership Seminar sponsored by Ye-
officer of Hitler's SS, told the shiva University Monday to Sept.
Oldenburg Criminal Court at the
5, at Camp Shor in Aurora, Ind.
opening Monday of his trial on
Rabbi Sidney Green of Beth
charges of participating in the
murder of 11,000 Jews in 1942 Joseph Center, Rochester, N.Y.,
coordinator, made the an-
in Kowell, a Ukrainian city, that seminar
nouncement.
he considered himself still bound
by his "oath to Hitler" and,
therefore, could not testify on
any of the details of his wartime
activities in Kowel.
Kassner and Fritz Mathei, 67,
also an ex-Nazi, were accused of
killing the victims in a few
months during the German occu-
pation. Sixty witnesses, including
many from Israel and the United
States, are scheduled to testify
that the two Nazis killed many of
the victims with their own hands.
Kassner also said, in his prelim-
inary statement to the court: "I
have only tried to be a faithful son
of the German nation and, as
such, I have always blindly obeyed
orders without discussion."
Israel's Flag Raised
in Cologne Ceremony
3 American Nazis Fined
for California Agitation
GLENDALE, Calif. (JTA) —
Three admitted members of the
American Nazi Party were fined
$200 each, with the alternative
of 40 days in jail, on charges of
disturbing the peace in connection
with racist agitation.
The three were Walter E. Gould,
20; Frederick E. Harry, 23; and
Robert Giles, 20. Gould and Harry
said they live in the Nazi head-
quarters here, while Giles gave
an address in Artesia, Calif.
They informed Municipal Judge
Kenneth A. White they would ap-
peal the sentences. Bond was set
at $550 for each of the men. The
case arose from a disturbance
caused at a supermarket here by
the Nazis last May.
IF YOU TURN THE
T•Cl• (1
•IL
M I
UPSIDE DOWN YOU WON'T
FIND A FINER WINE THAN
Milan Wineries, Detroit, Mich.
Deal With the Leader "Big Chief Woody"
BECAUSE . . NOBODY UNDERSELLS
WOODY PONTIAC
"AND DON'T EVER FORGET IT!"
TWINBROOK 1-1600
12140 JOS. CAMPAU at CARPENTER
Half Mile South of Davison
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
BONN—The blue and white flag
of Israel was raised on German
soil Tuesday for the first time as
Asher' Ben-Nathan presented his
credentials as Israel's first am-
bassador to West Germany.
The presentation was made to
acting West German President
Georg Zinn in a brief and simple
ceremony set by West German
protocol. Israel's flag was raised
over the temporary Israel Embas-
sy in Cologne. Representatives of
German Jewry attended the flag-
raising ceremony and later, Ben-
Nathan laid a wreath at the monu-
ment in the Cologne synagogue
for the 6,000,000 Jewish victims of
the Nazi holocaust.
The ambassador was driven to
Villa Hammer-Schmidt for the
presentation ceremony in Presi-
dent Heinrich Luebke's limousine.
In the cavalcade of accompanying
cars were West German officials
and members of the Israel embas-
sy staff. Ehrenfreund von Helle-
hen, the Bonn chief of protocol,
went to Cologne to accompany the
Israeli envoy to Bonn for the cere-
mony.
Ben-Nathan made a short ad-
dress in which he expressed the
hope that Israel and West Ger-
many would now enter on normal
relations and a happy future for
both. The acting president recipro-
cated the sentiments in his reply
in which he added that he hoped
the future would "shine" for the
two countries.
Dr. Zinn and the envoy then had
a short conversation about Israel's
development and the affairs of the
world in the presence of the West
German and Israeli representa-
tives.
West German officials sought to
avoid overemphasis on the signifi-
cance of the occasion but wide-
spread public interest was evi-
denced by the presence of some
40 correspondents of West German
television and other news media
as well as the press. Wide cover-
age was given both to the pres-
entation ceremony and the raising
of Israel's flag in Cologne.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, August 27, 1965-7
Know This Metropolitan Millionaire -1
DAVID J.
STEINHARDT
Metropolitan
Insurance
Consultant
Chances are good you know this man — bought your life
insurance from him — because he sold over a million dollars
of life insurance during 7964.
David J. Steinhardt, a graduate of Wayne State University,
has earned high distinction as a capable and conscientious
advisor in the insurance affairs of his clientele. His pro-
fessoinal services in 1964 place him in the foremost ranks
of company representatives as a member of the Metro-
politan Millionaires' Club.
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
7303 W. 7 Mile Rd.
Detroit Michigan, 862-2129
Announcing the opening of Detroit's newest
care and treatment center for the aging
4low
and convalescent
Reservations now being taken for .
NORTHLAND GERIATRIC CENTER
21630 HESSEL Near 8 MILE and LAMER ROADS
Featuring these facilities for patient comfort and well being:
■ KOSHER KITCHEN
■ SYNAGOGUE
Supervised by the Council of
Orthodox Rabbis of Detroit
on the premises
on 24-hour duty
watching color TV
■ PROGRAMMED ACTIVITIES ■ PHYSIO-THERAPY DEPT.
■ X-RAY LABORATORY
■ AIR CONDITIONING
throughout building
■ DAY ROOMS
for socializing, reading or
• REGISTERED NURSES
Care of each patient is under the supervision of patients own
family physician. .Staff physician available on call.
Phone: KE 4 - 8400 or write to Helen W. Beeman, R.N., Dir.
•
•
•
21630 Hessel • Detroit, Michigan 48219