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| Majdanek trials | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Former SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Anton Thernes (standing, left) in front of a penal court on trial for crimes committed at Majdanek, 1944, Lublin, Poland | |
| Submitted | November 27, 1944 |
| Decided | June 30, 1981, Düsseldorf |
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The Majdanek trials were a series of consecutive war-crime trials held in Poland and in Germany during and after World War II, constituting the overall longest Nazi war crimes trial in history spanning over 30 years.[2] The first judicial trial of Majdanek extermination camp officials took place from November 27, 1944, to December 2, 1944, in Lublin, Poland.[3][4] The last one, held at the District Court of Düsseldorf began on November 26, 1975, and concluded on June 30, 1981. It was West Germany's longest and most expensive trial, lasting 474 sessions.[5][6]
A number of former high ranking SS men, camp officials, camp guards, and SS staff were arraigned before the courts on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed at Majdanek in the period between October 1, 1941, and July 22, 1944. Notably, only 170 Nazis who served at Majdanek had been prosecuted at all, of the 1,037 camp personnel known by name. Half of the defendants charged by the West German justice system were acquitted of killing. By contrast, those tried earlier by Poland were usually found guilty. During the 34 months of camp operation, more than 79,000 people were murdered at Majdanek main camp alone (59,000 of them Polish Jews) and between 95,000 and 130,000 people in the entire Majdanek, system including several subcamps.[7] Some 18,000 Jews were killed at Majdanek on November 3, 1943, during the largest single-day, single-camp massacre of the Holocaust,[6] named Harvest Festival (totalling 43,000 with 2 subcamps).[8]
Notably, two KL Majdanek concentration camp commandants were put on trial by the SS themselves in the course of the camp operation partly because of what Majdanek was initially, merely a storage depot for gold, money and furs stolen from trainloads of Holocaust victims at murder factories in Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka.[9] Both SS men were charged with wholesale stealing from the Third Reich to become rich. Karl-Otto Koch (serving at Majdanek from July 1941 till August 24, 1942) was executed by firing squad on April 5, 1945; Hermann Florstedt, the third chief of Majdanek (from October 1942 on) was executed by the SS on April 15, 1945.[10]
- ^ "Crematorium at Majdanek". Jewish Virtual Library. 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
- ^ Reuter (Jun 27, 1981). "Longest war crimes trial ends". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
- ^ Jean-michel Frodon (2010). Majdanek Trial. SUNY Press. pp. 249–. ISBN 978-1438430287. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Majdanek Concentration Camp". Majdanek, Poland. July 21, 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ^ "Once Upon a Time in War". Majdanek trial in West Germany. A Photographic Retrospect. 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ^ a b USHMM (May 11, 2012). "Soviet forces liberate Majdanek". Lublin/Majdanek: Chronology. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ^ Reszka, Paweł (2005-12-23). "Majdanek Victims Enumerated. Changes in the history textbooks?". Gazeta Wyborcza. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-11-06. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ Jennifer Rosenberg. "Aktion Erntefest". 20th Century History. About.com Education. Archived from the original on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
- ^ Staff Writer (2006). "Lublin/Majdanek Concentration Camp: Overview". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. ushmm.org. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
majdanek-2 Wykazwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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