. |
| Opening Speech for the
Prosecution |
| |
| Colonel Backhouse
(cont.) |
introduced as
Kapos of one kind or another - No. 20, Burgraf; No. 29, Zoddel; No. 30,
Schlomoivicz; No. 32, Aurdzieg; No. 43, Roth; and No. 46, Kopper.
If
you are satisfied on the evidence that these conditions did exist in Belsen and
in Auschwitz, then the Prosecution have amply made out a case against each one
of those prisoners who took an active part at either of those camps, however
small it may be. It is the duty of the Prosecution to prove the guilt of the
accused beyond any reasonable doubt, and unless the Prosecution have fulfilled
that burden of proof then it will be your duty, to acquit any one of these
persons you may be in doubt about; but if you are satisfied that they in fact
acquiesced in and took part in the atrocities of which you will be told, that
they created conditions which you will see in so far as they can be seen on a
film, that they were responsible for the mass murders both at Belsen and at
Auschwitz, then the Prosecution say they have made out their case, and that the
charges which have been put before you have been fully
proved. |
| |
| Second Day -Tuesday, 18th
September, 1945 |
| EVIDENCE FOR
THE PROSECUTION |
| |
Brigadier
HUGH LLEWELYN GLYN HUGHES, C.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., sworn, examined by
Colonel Backhouse — I am Vice-Director of Medical Services, British Army
of the Rhine, and in April of this year was Deputy Director of Medical
Services, 2nd Army. Shortly before 15th April of this year, certain German
Officers came to the Headquarters of 8 Corps and asked for a truce in respect
of Belsen Camp, which was arranged. On 15th April Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor
took over the administration of the camp and I followed him there. When I
arrived I found him interrogating Kommandant Kramer, and later on the same
evening I saw the medical officer, Dr. Klein. I identify these accused. We made
a preliminary survey of the camp straight away and on the next day a complete
investigation. For the next two or three days I was engaged in organizing
relief measures.
I would like to get a general description of the camp?
— It is situated between the villages of Bergen and Vincen, some 15 miles
north of Celle, and is quite separate. It consisted of an administrative area
nearest the road, and beyond that a wired-in perimeter including a large number
of huts, chiefly wooden, of various sizes. The camp was divided into five
compounds and there was a main road running through the middle.
Did you
ask for and receive the numbers of persons interned in the camp? — Yes.
Not including Camp No. 2, there were approximately |
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| Page 30 |
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