. |
of which an impartial account was
available, became the archetype of the rest; and a proof that it was not an
imaginary evil which the Allies had been fighting for almost six years.
With public horror at the stories that came from Belsen went a public
demand that those responsible should be punished for their deeds. Many arrests
were made at once; but in the chaotic conditions which existed the collection
of evidence was no easy task, and so it was not until September, 1945, that the
accused were brought to trial. And even then there were some indications of
haste in the choice of evidence and in the selection of the accused. It is
possible that the delay of a further month or so would have produced a more
balanced and better case.
It has been said that there was a public
demand that those responsible should be punished, but to many it seemed
superfluous that there should be a trial at all, and the popular cry was for a
summary identification and execution of the offenders. This view was not
accepted by those in authority, and it was agreed that the accused should
receive a trial by a Military Court. There can be little doubt that this was
the correct decision, and this will become plainer as the years go by and the
proceedings can be examined with the dispassionate eye of the historian.
But the public was not dispassionate, and there were many at the time
who declared that the trial was a farce and an insult to those who had died at
Belsen, and to those who had died to liberate it. Such an outcry was not
surprising seeing that the trial lasted for many weeks, that there was no space
to report it adequately in the newspapers, and that consequently it was
difficult for the man-in-the-street to know what it was all about. It is hoped
that this volume, which contains the bulk of the evidence adduced at the trial,
will enable a better and more balanced judgment to be formed.
It is the
purpose of this Introduction to give such information about the Court, the
accused, the charge, the procedure, the evidence and similar matters, as will
enable the reader more easily to thread the maze of the trial and to
appreciate, before he starts to read it, the issues involved and the background
against which they were determined. |
| |
| II |
| |
| His Majesty, by Royal Warrant dated the
14th June, 1945, made certain “Regulations for the Trial of War
Criminals.”¹ Acting under the Warrant the General Officer Commanding
30 Corps summoned a Military Court to sit at Lüneburg on Monday, 17th
September, 1945, to try Josef Kramer and 44 others on two charges, alleging the
breach by them of the Law and Usages of War. The trial started on the 17th
|
__________
¹ See Appendix I, p.
647 |
|
