"Witnesses had to be chased all over the country" - issue of the British newspaper "The Daily Herald" - opening of ...

"Witnesses had to be chased all over the country" - issue of the British newspaper "The Daily Herald" - opening of the Belsen Trials

Issue of the british newspaper DAILY HERALD dated September 18, 1945 - Extensive coverage of the opening scenes of the "Belsen Trial" the day before, on September 17, 1945 in the gymnasium in Lüneburg- the first trial officially called "The Trial of Josef Kramer and 44 Others" - commanders of the Bergen-Belsen camp.

The Newspaper headline: Belsen Prisoners Hear the full Horror Indictment "DELIBERATE SLAUGHTER OF THOUSANDS". The title page article opens with the words: "Is there anyone in the world who heard the name Belsen and still doubts the stories told about the camp?", the writer describes the scenes in the courtroom at its opening: "The Beast" - standing trial at the head of the criminals camp commander Josef Kramer, and the sadistic guard of the camp Irma Grese who entered the courtroom with an indifferent face along with the 45 defendants who were led into the courtroom. Each of the defendants answered "no" when the indictment was read to him. A former inmate named Herta Eheler almost fainted and had to be held so she would not fall. On page 2 there is documentation of the atrocities committed in the Bergen-Belsen camp, and the difficult condition of the Belsen survivors. Journalist Mea Allan reports that strenuous efforts are being made to return former Belsen inmates who survived to ordinary lives and to restore their calorie intake lost during the war, and that such an attempt is being made in the Belsen displaced persons camp to employ them in workshops for wages. She further reports the painful fact - Belsen survivors are generally not interested in the Belsen trial "I spoke to a few of them, they told me all we want is to forget Belsen". Others said: "Why do you need to try these people? Why not just shoot them?". It is further written that camp officials have to "hunt" survivors and convince them to come and testify at the trial "they had to chase them all over the country. Belsen is a wound in their brains, they hate to remember the horrors they suffered". And that the Red Cross operates an inquiry office in the camp to locate friends and relatives of survivors. Next to this article appears an illustration-cartoon of the war criminal Belsen camp commander Josef Kramer in court.

The Belsen Trials held in Lüneburg - Germany, were a series of trials initiated by the Allied occupation authorities against senior officials and functionaries in the Nazi German regime after the end of World War II. The defendants were men and women from SS units and officials who worked in various concentration camps, especially Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. The first trial in which Kramer was sentenced to death aroused great interest worldwide. This was the first time the general public heard direct testimony from those responsible for the mass murder that took place in the extermination camps in Eastern Europe. The trial lasted 54 days. All the defendants claimed they were not guilty. On November 17, 1945 the court sentenced 11 of the accused to death by hanging, 18 to 15 years imprisonment, and 14 were acquitted following appeals.

4 pages. Complete issue. Fold marks. Good condition.