Already before the IMT, the allied nations staged various show trials in Germany to “establish facts” which were later used during the IMT to cement the claimed “truth” about German war crimes. These trials also continued during and after the IMT. (Not included here are the U.S.-conducted NMTs; see the previous entry for this.) Contributions in the present section deal with those individual trials, such as, for instance, the infamous U.S.-conducted Dachau trials, the Belsen trial, the trial against Bruno Tesch et al., etc.
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1990
In war crimes trials, confessions are usually typewritten by the interrogator, often entirely in English. Paragraphs in the prisoner's handwriting have usually been dictated by the interrogator. The First Dachau Trial (Trial of Martin Gottfried Weiss and Thirty Nine Others), offers an insight into the manner in which these confessions were obtained. TESTIMONY OF KICK,…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1990
Objects of human skin feature prominently in war crimes trials. As a rule, no such objects were found; no forensic tests were performed. Prosecution testimony as to the existence of such objects is taken as “proven fact”, while defence testimony is ignored. At Dachau, the prosecution claimed that Jews were skinned; that the skins were…
By Edward L. Van Roden ∙ January 2, 1949
I American investigators at the U. S. Court in Dachau, Germany, used the following methods to obtain confessions: Beatings and brutal kickings. Knocking out teeth and breaking jaws. Mock trials. Solitary confinement. Posturing as priests. Very limited rations. Spiritual deprivation. Promises of acquittal. Complaints concerning these third degree methods were received by Secretary of the…
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