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were in no way
different from those which are described in this trial. And just as these men
and women were no different from their colleague so also were Belsen and
Auschwitz ordinary camps but little different from a host of others. Indeed,
difficult as it may be to realize, it would seem that even more terrible things
were done at such places as Mauthausen, Natzweiler, Buchenwald, Maideneck,
Dachau and Ravensbrück. It is enough to say that in these camps, on almost
every day of the year, thousands of innocent men, women and children suffered
and died.
There are some who are disinclined to believe that what has
been told of concentration camps is true: for them the record is here in
inescapable detail. There are others who defend and admire the Nazi regime:
that it was capable of organizing such camps as these must be the ultimate
condemnation of that, and of any similar, system of government. To read the
evidence in this trial and to admire the methods of the men under whose rule
such things happened should be impossible.
It is in the nature of human
beings to forgive and to condone, and as time goes on to forget, and
especially, to forget that which it is unpleasant to remember. Perhaps the
greatest value of the series of books of which this volume forms a part is that
it provides a permanent record and reminder of the horrors of which mankind is
capable when it is subjected to an evil form of government and ceases to be
free. |
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| VII
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| It is not the
purpose of this Introduction to comment upon the verdicts and sentences.
Unfortunately, no reasoned judgment is delivered by a Military Court; thus,
while it is possible to discover some idea of the decision arrived at on the
points of law raised from the summing-up of the Judge Advocate, there is no
direct guidance available as to the basis of the findings. Some indirect light
is thrown on the subject by comparing the sentences. Of the 44 accused in the
dock at the end of the trial, 14 were acquitted. It is safe to assume that
these were all found not guilty of personal brutality, and also not guilty of
indirect responsibility for the general conditions. Of the remaining 30, 11
were sentenced to death. The balance of 19 were sentenced to various terms of
imprisonment ranging from life to one year. As they were not sentenced to
death, presumably the Court acquitted them of any personal killing. If this is
the case, then the various sentences imposed may be assumed to be the
Court’s assessment of their measure of responsibility. By thus considering
their sentences and the evidence against them, it is possible to form at least
a rough idea of the basis upon which the Court reached their decision.
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| Page xliv |
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