The Auschwitz trial began on November 24, 1947, in Kraków, when Polish authorities (the Supreme National Tribunal) tried 41 former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camps. The trials ended on December 22, 1947.
The best-known defendants were Arthur Liebehenschel, former commandant; Maria Mandel, head of the Auschwitz women's camps; and SS-doctor Johann Kremer. 38 other SS officers — 34 men and four women — who had served as guards or doctors in the camps were also tried.
Contents |
| # | Defendant | Rank | Function | Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Liebehenschel | SS-Obersturmbannführer | camp commandant | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 2 | Hans Aumeier | SS-Sturmbannführer | Schutzhaftlagerführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 3 | Maximilian Grabner | SS-Untersturmführer | camp Gestapo chief | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 4 | Karl Möckel | SS-Obersturmbannführer | manager of camp administration | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 5 | Maria Mandel | SS-Oberaufseherin | Birkenau female camp commandant | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 6 | Franz Xaver Kraus | SS-Sturmbannführer | information officer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 7 | Ludwig Plagge | SS-Oberscharführer | Rapportführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 8 | Fritz Buntrock | SS-Unterscharführer | Rapportführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 9 | Wilhelm Gerhard Gehring | SS-Hauptscharführer | subcamp commandant | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 10 | Otto Lätsch | SS-Unterscharführer | subcamp vice commandant | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 11 | Heinrich Josten | SS-Obersturmführer | commander of the camp guard | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 12 | Josef Kollmer | SS-Obersturmführer | commander of the camp guard | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 13 | Eric Muhsfeldt | SS-Oberscharführer | Birkenau crematoria manager | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 14 | Hermann Kirschner | SS-Unterscharführer | camp administration | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 15 | Hans Schumacher | SS-Unterscharführer | manager of camp food supplies | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 16 | August Bogusch | SS-Scharführer | camp administration | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 17 | Therese Brandl | SS-Aufseherin | SS-Erstaufseherin | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 18 | Paul Szczurek | SS-Unterscharführer | Blockführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 19 | Paul Götze | SS-Rottenführer | Blockführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 20 | Herbert Paul Ludwig | SS-Oberscharführer | Blockführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 21 | Kurt Hugo Müller | SS-Unterscharführer | Blockführer | death by hanging (carried out) |
| 22 | Johann Kremer | SS-Obersturmführer | camp doctor | death by hanging (commuted to life imprisonment) |
| 23 | Artur Breitwieser | SS-Unterscharführer | camp administration | death by hanging (commuted to life imprisonment) |
| 24 | Detlef Nebbe | SS-Sturmscharführer | sergeant of the guard company | life imprisonment |
| 25 | Karl Seufert | SS-Hauptscharführer | manager of prisoner block | life imprisonment |
| 26 | Hans Koch | SS-Unterscharführer | camp desinfection | life imprisonment |
| 27 | Luise Danz | SS-Aufseherin | female guard | life imprisonment |
| 28 | Adolf Medefind | SS-Unterscharführer | guard | life imprisonment |
| 29 | Anton Lechner | SS-Rottenführer | guard | life imprisonment |
| 30 | Oswald Kaduk | SS-Unterscharführer | Rapportführer | 25 years imprisonment |
| 31 | Franz Romeikat | SS-Unterscharführer | camp administration | 15 years imprisonment |
| 32 | Hans Hoffmann | SS-Rottenführer | camp Gestapo unit | 15 years imprisonment |
| 33 | Hildegard Lächert | SS-Aufseherin | female guard | 15 years imprisonment |
| 34 | Alice Orlowski | SS-Aufseherin | female guard | 15 years imprisonment |
| 35 | Johannes Weber | SS-Sturmmann | camp kitchen | 15 years imprisonment |
| 36 | Alexander Bülow | SS-Sturmmann | guard | 15 years imprisonment |
| 37 | Eduard Lorenz | SS-Unterscharführer | guard | 15 years imprisonment |
| 38 | Richard Schröder | SS-Unterscharführer | camp accounting | 10 years imprisonment |
| 39 | Erich Dinges | SS-Sturmmann | driver | 5 years imprisonment |
| 40 | Karl Jeschke | SS-Oberscharführer | guard | 3 years imprisonment |
| 41 | Hans Münch | SS-Untersturmführer | doctor in SS Higene Institute | acquitted |
Rudolf Höß, sentenced in another trial, was executed on April 16, 1947 in front of the crematorium at Auschwitz I.
The Supreme National Tribunal issued 23 death sentences, and 17 imprisonments ranging from life sentences to 3 years. One person was acquitted. All executions were carried out in a Kraków prison on January 28, 1948; Maria Mandel and Therese Brandl were the first to be executed.
Liebehenschel, Mandel and Kremer were condemned to death, as were Hans Aumeier, August Bogusch, Therese Brandl, Arthur Breitwiser, Fritz Buntrock, Wilhelm Gehring, Paul Götze, Maximilian Grabner, Heinrich Josten, Hermann Kirschner, Josef Kollmer, Franz Kraus, Herbert Ludwig, Karl Möckel, Kurt Mueller, Eric Muhsfeldt, Ludwig Plagge, Hans Schumacher and Paul Szczurek (Arthur Breitwieser and Johann Kremer had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment). Luise Danz, Hans Koch, Anton Lechner, Adolf Medefind, Detlef Nebbe, and Karl Seufert received life sentences. Oswald Kaduk was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment. Alexander Bülow, Hans Hoffmann, Hildegard Lächert, Eduard Lorenz, Alice Orlowski, Franz Romeikat, and Johannes Weber were sentenced to 15 years. Richard Schroeder received 10 years, Erich Dinges five years, and Karl Jeschke three years. Hans Münch was acquitted.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||