Language:
English
Year of publication:
2013
Titel der Quelle:
Yad Vashem Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
41,1 (2013) 99-127
Keywords:
War crime trials
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
After the war, most of the former Schupo men who took part in the deportation of Jews (arresting them and then guarding the transports) denied knowledge of the true destination of the trains and claimed that they had taken part in the deportation only once or that they had escorted only the trains bound to "harmless" Bergen-Belsen. These claims caused the West German judiciary to adopt the attitude that the Schupo were not accomplices in the mass murder. Based on testimonies and other accounts made by former Schupo members who were deployed in Italy from the fall of 1943 through 1944 (SS Police Regiments 9, 10, 12, 15, and 20), under the command of Jürgen von Kamptz, argues that these servicemen knew about the fate of the Jews who they were escorting. They knew very well what they were doing, and many of them witnessed gassings in Auschwitz and elsewhere. Guard duty on such transports was a desirable assignment for Schupo men because of the good conditions. The testimonies of former Schupo men can provide the researcher with many details concerning the conditions in the transports: the deaths of some prisoners on board, murders of those who attempted to escape, etc.
Note:
In English and Hebrew.
URL:
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