Language:
English
Year of publication:
2010
Titel der Quelle:
German History
Angaben zur Quelle:
28,3 (2010) 343-357
Keywords:
Bauer, Fritz,
;
Auschwitz (Concentration camp)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
War crime trials
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Personal narratives
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
;
Jews
Abstract:
Based on interviews and on autobiographical texts of individual German prosecutors, explores how the prosecution at the district court in Frankfurt am Main investigated Nazi crimes while preparing the first Auschwitz trial. In constructing their case, the investigators relied to a large extent on the testimony of survivor witnesses. The task of getting beyond the experiential truth of Auschwitz, as presented by witnesses, to the truth of a murder trial at which the guilt of each defendant was to be ascertained, was difficult. The enormity of the crimes, with which the young lawyers from the prosecution team were confronted, shocked them, and this shock affected the course of the investigation. The attitudes and behavior of the prosecutors influenced the testimonies of the witnesses and their presentations in court. Notes that the investigation was unpopular within the Frankfurt investigating agency and was sabotaged internally, sometimes even by the police.
DOI:
10.1093/gerhis/ghq062
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink
