1.
The proceedings of a Military Court (War Crimes) convened for the trial of
the above named war criminals and held at HAMBURG between the 19th December
1947 and 24th February 1948 have been received by me for my advice to you
before confirmation.
2. All the accused were tried jointly upon a charge alleging that they were
concerned in the ill treatment of allied nationals interned in a
Labour
Education Camp in Bremen. Of the above accused, HASSE, SAUER, WALHORN,
ZEHNTER, MEYER, VELKE, were found guilty.
3. In addition., HEIDBREDER, MEYER, PLOTHE, VELKE, and WALHORN were tried on
a second charge of being concerned in the killing of allied nationals
interned in the same camp, only one of these accused, PLOTHE, was convicted.
4. The sentences passed by the court on the accused were:
Hans HASSE………5 Years
imprisonment
Wilhelm PLOTHE……….7 Years imprisonment
Frank SAUER……….3 Years imprisonment
Karl WALHORN……….4 Years imprisonment
Ludwig ZEHNTER……….3 Years Imprisonment
Johannes MEYER……….3 Years Imprisonment
Guenther VELKE……….6 Months Imprisonment |
5. The camp in question
was a camp formed for the pupose of ‘educating’men who did not do sufficient
work for employers when they were so detailed either as forced labourers
from occupied countries, prisoners of war or Germans who had been released
from concentration camps.
6.
This camp, like other
Labour Education Camps [Arbeitsertziehungslagers], was under the
control of the local
Gestapo
(BREMEN) Office and the authorities in the Gestapo on receiving
a report that a man was workshy, could sentence him to anything up to three
months internment in the camp,
7. At the beginning of the War there were only some 40 or 50 inmates of the
camp; by the end of the War the numbers had reached somewhere in the
neighbourhood of 600.
8. Included in the numbers in the camp were some 30 or 40 British and
natives of Eire who were seamen on board ships which had been torpedoed and
who had been captured by the Germans. They were previously held in a naval
prisoner of war camp but in 1943 were transferred first to the Gestapo
Prison and later to the Bremen-Farge camp where they were held until the end
of the war. They had apparently refused to work for Germany.
9. Three of these men were called to give evidence in person at the trial,
one as a witness for the defence of the doctor of the camp, (the second
accused) and two for the prosecution.
10. The evidence called before the court did not vary in any way from the
evidence which had been called on a number of previous occasions in respect
of camps of a similar nature which existed throughout Germany, The only
difference in this case was that there were a certain number of British
Internees as well as Internees of allied countries.
11. The now well-known story of lack of food, brutal ill treatment, lack of
clothing and killings, said to be In order to prevent escape, was told in
this case. There is no doubt that there was a great deal of very brutal
treatment meted out in the camp during the period covered by the first
charge and in my opinion if the court were satisfied that any of the accused
were concerned in any way themselves in the ill treatment, they were
entitled to find the accused guilty of the charge.
12. I propose to deal only with those accused who have been convicted of
either one or other of the charges.
13. Of these accused HASSE, who had been a member of the SS since 1931 and
who was a member of the
Gestapo was a deputy of the Gestapo…stelle from April 1944 to 11
March 1945 and he admitted in his statement and at the trial that he was
responsible for sending prisoners to the camp when reports were received
that they had been idle at their work.
14. He must have known of the reason for the camp and of the ill treatment
which was meted out there and in my opinion the court were entitled to
convict him of the charge.
15. PLOTHE was convicted of the second charge only, having been acquitted of
the first. He only arrived in the camp in February 1945 as a guard having
been forced to join the Allemagne SS. Very shortly after he arrived he was
promoted to a corresponding rank in the SS of Company Serjeant Major. He
admits having shot a Pole on the orders of the camp comandant and he further
admits being present at the shooting of others and also having seen a number
of persons ill treated,
16. In my opinion the court were entitled to convict the accused on the
second charge and I find it difficult to understand why he was not convicted
of the first.
17. SAUER a member of the Kripo, was in the camp from 1942 to May 1943. He
admits having taken part In the ill treatment and there was ample evidence
to justify the conviction.
18. WALHORN a member of the Gestapo was appointed the camp commandant where
he remained for about two years until he left in 1944. He admits
occasionally hitting internees himself and firing at prisoners who were
trying to steal potatoes. In his evidence he stated that he accepted
responsibility for everything that went on in the camp while he was there.
In view of this accused's own admission there is no doubt that the court
were entitled to convict him on the first charge and I find it difficult to
understand in view of his own evidence, why they did not convict him of the
second charge.
19. ZEHNTER was a prisoner in the camp originally but he became a foreman.
He admitted that the conditions at the camp were bad and admitted that he as
foreman frequently ill treated his fellow prisoners. He says however he only
did this when the staff were looking on in order to avoid being beaten
himself.
20. In my opinion the court were entitled to convict this accused.
21. MEYER a member of the Gestapo, was at the camp from 1941 to 1944 as a
member of the guard. He admits having beaten the internees and the court
were entitled therefore in my opinion to convict him.
22. VELKE was also a member of the Gestapo and a member of the guard from
November 1944 until the end. He admits having beaten internees and in
consequence in my opinion the court were entitled to convict.
23.
In my opinion the sentences are In order and you may confirm them.
24.
All the accused have petitioned with the exception of VELKE. In my
opinion these petitions raise no fresh point and I advise that they should
be dismissed, Signed: Brigadier (R C HALSE):
15th March 1948:
Sentencing/Photographs:
Nazi War Criminals: Bremen-Farge War Crimes Trial
War Crimes /
Charges / Offences / Irish Nationals / Allied Nationals |
Please Note:
Ireland was a neutral country throughout the second world war and deemed
not to be a part of the allied war effort, consequently the allied
(British) prosecutor was limited to prosecuting for war crimes committed
against allied nationals only. The charges therefore in the Military
Court (War Crimes) Trial BREMEN FARGE Case relate to those offences
committed against allied nationals. To date no person has been held
accountable or charged for war crimes against Irish Born Merchant Seamen
in Bremen Farge. All the accused were tried jointly upon
(1.) a charge alleging that
they were concerned in the ill treatment of allied nationals interned in
a Labour Education Camp in BREMEN. In addition other defendants were
tried on
(2.)
a second charge of being concerned in the killing of allied nationals
interned in the same camp. |
|