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Original Facsimile Transcripts Of The Dachau Trials; Volumes IV, V, VIII, IX, X, Includes Several Pieces Of Ephemera -

Original Facsimile Transcripts Of The Dachau Trials; Volumes IV, V, VIII, IX, X, Includes Several Pieces Of Ephemera -

Original Facsimile Transcripts of the Dachau Trials; Volumes IV, V, VIII, IX, X, Includes several pieces of ephemera

  • Used
Dachau, Germany: Judge Advocate General Department, U. S. 3rd Army, 1945. 8" x 13", with heavy weight brown paper front cover, two hole punch, metal slide binding. All are in fine condition minus some chips to the front paper covers, no cover on Vol. VIII. Included is a 5 pp. mimeographed agenda from the War Crime Trials in Nurnberg with the biographies of 21 defendants and a ticket authorizing attendance to the trial dated June 4, 1946. Held concurrent with The Nuremberg Trials, they were conducted in the Dachau Prison Camp, about 15 miles north of Munich. In situ location was chosen because there were sufficient facilities and many of those placed on trial were already being held there, and the broad awareness of the location accentuated the backdrop of corrupt villainy which occurred there. These trials were conducted solely by the United States, empowered by the Judge Advocate General's office of the Third Army. The trials also prosecuted crimes which were exclusively perpetrated against Americans, such as the Malmedey Massacre and others committed in the then occupied American Zone. The Nuremberg Trials are more renown for the senior level of Nazi officials, who designed the horrific system of genocide, political and war crimes. The Dachau trials focused on those who actually executed the travesties; Camp commanders, SS Agents, doctors, and guards. The chief prosecutor, who's name appears often in these manuscripts, was a 32-year old West Point and Harvard Law Graduate, LTC William D. Denson. The chief defense counsel was LTC Douglas T. Bates. Forty individuals who had participated in the operation of the Dachau concentration camp were charged with the murder and mistreatment of foreign nationals imprisoned there. Among those charged were Martin Gottfried Weiss, the camp commandant from 1942-1943; Dr. Klaus Karl Schilling, an SS physician who was brought to Dachau to find a method of immunizing people against malaria; and three former prisoners. The trial lasted from November 15 to December 13, 1945, with seventy witnesses called for the prosecution and fifty witnesses called for the defense. All forty defendants were found guilty, with thirty-six being sentenced to death by hanging (including Weiss and Schilling), one sentenced to hard labor for life, and three sentenced to hard labor for ten years. A few of the sentences were reduced after a review board determined the defendants were involved to a lesser degree than originally believed, but most were upheld. Those sentenced to death were hanged on May 28-29, 1946 at Dachau. Vol IV: pp 1-419, Nov. 20 - 24, 41 affidavits including the first by Prince Friedrich Leopold von Hohenzoller, the third son of Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia. At his father's death in 1931, the family's property passed Friedrich Karl, the the surviving son of the deceased eldest brother, for reasons of primogeniture. However, his father "had made a will in which he left all the works of art which he had inherited from his grandfather and from his mother to Friedrich Leopold who, as the youngest son, would not be left so very well off." The Prince was arrested on May 25, 1944 by the Nazis on the charge of listening to the underground broadcasting and spreading the news. The real reason was his homosexuality. He was arrested with his private secretary and life-companion, the Baron Friedrich "Fritz" Cerrini de Montevardi. Vol V: pp. 1-389, Nov. 26 - 28, 22 affidavits including that of Roman Catholic Priest, Fr. Johan Maria Lenz. Lenz spent 5 years in Dachau, having been arrested on Aug 9th, 1940 until the camp's liberation by the Americans. He had first hand observation of the atrocities imposed upon the captive community, as well as himself and fellow priests. He went on to write a book about his experiences there: "Christus in Dachau, oder Christus der Sieger", "Christ in Dachau, or Christ the Victor" Vol. VIII: pp. 1--354, Dec 8-13, 22 affidavits, closing arguments by both the prosecution and the defense, minor editing by hand of the prosecutors comments. Included in this volume is the sentencing of the defendants, 36 of them to death by hanging, 4 with terms of imprisonment. Some of the notables sentenced in this phase of the trials include: [A] Martin Gottfried Weiss: Served twice as commandant of the Dachau main camp (1942-1943 and April 1945). Also commanded the satellite-camp of Mühldorf (1944-1945). Sentenced to death for atrocities committed during his first command at Dachau, which included the initial construction and use of the camp's gas chamber and human experimentation conducted using camp inmates. [B] Claus Schilling: Former civilian medical specialist at Dachau concentration camp (1942-1945). Sentenced to death for his involvement in medical experimentation on camp inmates. [C] Otto Förschner: Former commandant of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp (1943-1945) and commander of the Dachau satellite-camp of Kaufering. Sentenced to death for crimes against humanity committed during his tenure at Kaufering. Vol. IX, pp.1-84, Oct 30-31, with 31 affidavits of the defendants charged by the tribunal, including that of camp commandant, Martin Weiss. In his affidavit, Weiss absolves himself, only following orders of higher ups in the Nazi system, include Heinrich Himmler. " On 10 November 1942 Reichsfuhrer Himmler came to the Experimental Station at Dachau...An experiment was in progress and Himmler saw the experiment performed. Two prisoners were in a large basin of ice water in which pieces of ice were floating...The other prisoner was put into hot water to see how long it would take him to regain consciousness...Himmler told me the following: 'Dr. Rascher is subject to me only. You can give him no orders. "..All shootings which were ordered by higher authorities were under the supervision of the Prison Compound Commander" Vol. X. pp. 1-10, Oct 30 with 5 affidavits from charged defendants, including Forschner and Schilling. Forschner; "On my opinion, the guilt is the fact that all people were accommodated in such bad billets...I tried to improve whatever was possible." Provenance. These manuscripts were the file copy of PFC Robert R. Rush. He was the court clerk for the Trials. It was his responsibility at the end of each day to make and deliver copies to the judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys. After his enlistment, Bob proceeded to a career pitching in Major League Baseball. He played from 1947-1960 as a starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves and Chicago White Sox. Bob was a two-time National League All-Star and was the starting pitcher in the third game of the 1958 World Series with the Braves. The other volumes were loaned out and became unknown.
  • Bookseller Montgomery Rare Books US (US)
  • Book Condition Used
  • Quantity Available 1
  • Publisher Judge Advocate General Department, U. S. 3rd Army
  • Place of Publication Dachau, Germany
  • Date Published 1945