Charges Against Hans Münch

TRANSLATION FROM GERMAN. "Certified,Translation from Polish language." File: N.T.N. 5/47

EXCERPTS FROM THE VERDICT in connection with the accused HANS MUNCH.

In the name of the Peoples Republic POI, AND on Dec. 22 1947 The Highest Peoples Court under the chairmanship of justice Dr.A.E.

in the presence of justices W.K.

Dr. J.Z.

and A.J

E.D.

R.P.

A.O.

In the presence of the state attorneys of the Highest People Court S.K.

Dr. M.S.

E.P.

J.B.

and the leader of the protocol, court-referees H.O,

H.J

S.S.

J.K.

brought the following accusation after realization in Kraków (Krakau) during the period from Nov. 24 until Dec 16 1947 in the case against Hans MUNCH, born on 14.05.1911 in Freiburg (Baden), the son of Ernst and Mathilde, nee Zahn, evangelic religion, German nationality and citizenship, doctor of medicine, physician, married, "untersturmfuhrer" in the weapons-SS since 1943. without decoration; presently arrested, staying in the Peoples Republic (PR) Poland since 18. 12. 1946:

I. After 1.09. 1939 (at a time and place stated in this manuscript.) in the area of the German Reich, respectively in the occupied areas of the PR Poland, the accused participated in the crime organizations , i . e. in the N.S.D.A.P. , this organization occupied itself with planning, organization and performing crimes against peace,for war crimes, crimes against people, either in the crime organization of the SS-Schutzstaffet or including in both organizations.

II. At a time and place given explicitly in part IV of this accusation: he was a member of the authorities, direction and staff of the concentration camp Auschwitz, these formed the crime organization called into Hitler’s way of life, for physical and moral degradation and gradual biological destruction unti1 comp]ete elimination, of beaten nations, connected with the terror system in the concentration camp Auschwitz, sly tortures as well as total exploitation of prisoners through using up the working power during the lifetime, mass robbery of their property and using %heir corpses for the purpose of war economy of the

III Reich, through:

a) Creating camp conditions, whichcaused a loss of health and

death of the inmates in Auschwitz,

b) Torture of the inmates, systematic death, through hunger, forcing to overworking, not human system of the camp punishments, performing medical experiments on the inmates, which caused sickness, collapse or death, use of deadly phenol-injections and killing the inmates through torture, shooting, hanging, strangulation and gassing. c) moral misuse of the inmates, degrading human dignity, calling

upon the lowest instincts of the humannature, destroying noble

mindedness and mockery of female shame.

d) mass murder ofinmates imprisoned for this purpose in the camp,

which is against the decision of the Fourth Haag Convention from

the year 1907, and on Russian war prisoners,

e) overloading of the prisoners with too much work load for war

purposes,for great capitalistic enterprises and mass destruction of

the inmates through this work and its conditions,

f) mass robbery of belongings, specially clothing, shoes, tools,

jewels, money and other valuable items, taken from people brought

to the camp, strenghtening through these items the economy of the

German Reich and its citizens,

g) systematic gold plundering, from the jaws and teeth of the

death and murdered prisoners, and transferring these values to

the Reich Bank,

h) cutting off the hair of female corpses and transferring it. as

raw material to the German industrial enterprises, use of the

ashes of the bones of the victims for artificial fertilizers;

III. active in the before-mentioned crime organizations N.S.D.A.P. or SS and in the German management and staff in the concentration camp Auschwitz and introduction of the described purposes through the authorities of the German state against, the

prisonersof the Polish civilian population,Jews andother

nations.

The following crimes were committed:

The accused 8) Hans MUNCH - since 1943 till january 1945’ in Rajsk, fulfilled duties as physician weapons-sS, in the Institute of Hygiene of the weapons-SS, in contrary to medical knowledge he carried out medical experiments harmful to %.he health of the prisoners of the concentration camp Auschwitz, he injected blood of sick people who had malaria, gave injections which caused rheumatic fever.

This is the action .....

A) all accused for actions described in Sections I and II of the accusation writing, these are crimes in accordance with Art. 4

1, 2 a), 3 a) , b) decree from aAgust 31, 1944, wording of the minister of justice from the 11.12.1946 Official Gazette of the PR Poland No. 69 pos. 377 and are punishable according to Art. 4

Section 1 of this decree;

B) the crimes mentioned in Section III of the accusation writing, according to Art. 2 of the decree from 31.08. 1944 in the wording of the minister of justice from 11.12.1946 Pos. 377 Official Gazette of PR Poland in connection with Art. 235 Section 1, 236 Section 1, 246, 249, 251, 257 Section 1, 259, 262 Section 2 l¢.k. and which are punishable from Art.2 of this decree by applying Art. 7 of the decree. On the basis of Art.6 point 2, 8 and 14 of the decree from 22.01.1946 (Official Gazette PR Poland No. 5, Pos. 45) in the wording of the decree from 17.10.1946 (Official Gazette of the PR Poland No. 59, Pos. 325) is the accused Hans MUNCH acquitted from the whole accusation.

Reason:

The accused 8) Hans MUNCH declared that he never belonged to the N.S.D.A.P. During the war he wanted %o prevent to be drafted in the weapon-SS and he applied for service in the German army. He received however the objection through the SS that he should retain for the time being from military service. The SS wanted %o use the accused who is a physician, for their bacteriological purposes. Only in the end of the year 1943, when the enlisting to the SS through force was ordered, without taking into consideration the existing legal regulations, the accused was called into service in the German army and shortly thereafter was transferred to the Institute of Hygiene of the weapons-SS in Rajsk, the staff physician there was Dr. Weber. In this institute %here was actually honorable work carried out, although there were cases of crimes of medical science, but the accused did not participate in these. The accused did not take part in the experiments connected with malaria. He produced in the institute drugs for the treatment of rheumatism and he gave injections to the SS people and to the prisoners but only for purposes of treatment and not for purposes of experiments. The declarations of the accused were not refuted in taking up of proof. The declaration of the witness Dr. Wolken which after being read confirmed the parts, that Dr. Weber and the accused performed experiments to ascertain the reaction of the human organism %o blood injections, from people being sick with malaria, is too general to be able to determine whether or not it was so and in which part of the experiments of Dr. Weber and the accused this Look place and what were the results. From the witness statements of Kiety and Dr. Reiman iL results that the accused performed the experiments only for the treatment of rheumatism. He injected the treatmenh serum to the prisoners only for the purpose of treatment,. The witness Kieta could not state whether or not. there was an improvement in the patients or whether when this patient returned after a few weeks with bend fingers, this effect was caused by the injections of the accused.

From the judgment of Prof. Dr. Olbrycht it results, that in the Institute of Hygiene in Rajsk there was produced only serum against rheumatism, not for experimental purposes only for healing purposes. In addition to this stated the witness Pleszkowa that the plaintiff injected first to himself the serum before the eyes of the interested prisoners, who were afraid that the injections will have influence on their health. The mentioned witnesses and also the witnesses Glowa, Dr. Fakiel, Dr. Reiman, and Dr. Kowalszykowa, stated that the accused treated the prisoners correctly and politely.He wanted to greet the prisoners when he arrived at Rajsk, he was helpful in the frame of his possibilities and even risking his own safety, he helped -e.g. with forwarding the correspondence, he succeeded in taking out two women prisoners from the punishment battalion, he organized meetings between women prisoners and their husbands, he made efforts to transfer an SS-man, against whom the prisoners complained, from the Institute of Hygiene. The accused supplied medicine to a sick physician of Jewish origin, in January 1945 during the evacuation of the camp he supplied secretly the prisoners with medicine and alcohol for the case of weakness on the way. The accused enjoyed being generally trusted by the prisoners, due to his benevolent approach toward the prisoners, he was often admonished by his superiors. The complete correctness and benevolent disposition of the accused toward the prisoners, without consideration of their nationality, were confirmed by former prisoners of the camp Auschwitz, of different nationalities, as read in Volume 59 card 134 and from this writing. The accused 8) Hans MUNCH was acquitted by the Highest People Court in the whole extent of the accusation, as it results from Part III of the statement, not only because he did not commit any crime of harm against the camp prisoners, but because he had a benevolent attitude toward them and helped them, while he had to carry the responsibility. He did this independently from the nationality, race- and religious origin and political

conviction of the prisoners. The accused MUNCH sabotaged in addition to this the German orders of the camp management, except of belonging to the organization to which he was called with force, he did notbelong to any other national-socialistic organizations.

With this it ha~ to be assumed the accused MUNCH was not connected ideologically neither with the organizations-SS, nor with members of the authorities, management and staff of Auschwitz, nor with the Institute of Hygiene of the weapons-SS in Rajsk, although he was employed as a physician and bacteriologist

in the latest. The accused did not participate in the both above mentioned crime groups and therefore should be acquitted from the accusation, according to the principles of the Nurenberg verdicts (Thesis No. 19). Al]. accused were acquitted by the Highest People’s Court from belonging to the N.S.D.A.P. , since it was determined at the trial that none of them had a leading role in this organization, according to Art. 4 of the mentioned decree is a membership in this party punishable only in the case of a leading role (Thesis No. 5).

The correctness of the extract from the original kept in the files of the Highest Peoples Court 5/47 is certified by the secretariat of the Highest Peoples Court.

Kraków, march 29, 1948.

Signed: Jura Janina

Round Stamp: Highest Peoples Court.

Sources:C.A.N.D.L.E.S.