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RuSHA Trial | |
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Indictment | July 7, 1947, Nuremberg |
Decided | March 10, 1948 |
The RuSHA Trial against the SS racial policies (officially, United States of America vs. Ulrich Greifelt, et al) was the eighth of the twelve trials held in Nuremberg by the U.S. authorities for Nazi war crimes after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts in their occupation zone in Germany, not before the International Military Tribunal, although they took place in the same rooms, at the Palace of Justice. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT). [1]
In the RuSHA Trial, the 14 defendants were all officials of various SS organizations responsible for the implementation of the Nazi "pure race" programme: including RuSHA (Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt, the "Race and Settlement Main Office"); the office of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood (Reichskommissar für die Festigung des deutschen Volkstums, RKFDV; a post held by Heinrich Himmler); the Repatriation Office for Ethnic Germans ( Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle , VoMi); and the Lebensborn society. The charges centered on their racial cleansing and resettlement activities.
The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal I, were Lee B. Wyatt (presiding judge), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; Daniel T. O'Connell of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, and Johnson T. Crawford from Oklahoma. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was Telford Taylor. The indictment was served on July 7, 1947; the trial lasted from October 20, 1947 until March 10, 1948. [1]
All defendants were indicted on counts 1 and 2. Inge Viermetz was excluded from count 3. All defendants pleaded "not guilty". [1]
Mug shot | Name | Function | Charges | Sentence | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
Ulrich Greifelt | Chief of Staff of RKFDV | G | G | G | Life imprisonment; died in prison in 1949 | |
Rudolf Creutz | Deputy to Greifelt | G | G | G | 15 years; reduced to 10 years; released in 1951; died in 1980 | |
Konrad Meyer-Hetling | Office head in RKFDV | I | I | G | Time already served (since May 27, 1945); released after the judgment; died in 1973 | |
Otto Schwarzenberger | Office head in RKFDV | I | I | G | Time already served (since May 2, 1945); released after the judgment; died in 1978 | |
Herbert Hübner (SS officer) | Chief of Poznań office of RKFDV and representative of RuSHA in western Poland | G | G | G | 15 years; reduced to 10 years; released in 1951 | |
Werner Lorenz | Head of VoMi | G | G | G | 20 years; reduced to 15 years; released in 1954; died in 1974 | |
Heinz Brückner | Office head at VoMi | G | G | G | 15 years; reduced to 10 years; released 1951; died 1968 | |
Otto Hofmann | Head of RuSHA until April 20, 1943, later head of the SS in southwestern Germany | G | G | G | 25 years; reduced to 15 years; released in 1954; died in 1982 | |
Richard Hildebrandt | Head of RuSHA, Hofmann's successor | G | G | G | 25 years; turned over to Polish authorities and executed in 1951 | |
Fritz Schwalm | Chief of Staff of RuSHA and head of the "Immigration Office" (Einwandererzentrale, EWZ) in Łódź | G | G | G | 10 years; released in 1951; died in 1985 | |
Max Sollmann | Head of the Lebensborn society | I | I | G | Time already served (since July 6, 1945); released after the judgment; died in 1978 | |
Gregor Ebner | Head of Health Dept. of Lebensborn | I | I | G | Time already served (since July 5, 1945); released after the judgment; died in 1974 | |
Günther Tesch | Head of Legal Dept. of Lebensborn | I | I | G | Time already served (since May 13, 1945); released after the judgment; died in 1989 | |
Inge Viermetz | Deputy to Sollmann | I | I | Acquitted; died 1997 |
I— Indicted G— Indicted and found guilty
The four Lebensborn members were not found guilty on counts 1 and 2 of the indictment. The tribunal considered the Lebensborn society not responsible for the kidnapping of children, which was carried out by others. [1]
Greifelt died in Landsberg Prison on February 6, 1949. Hildebrandt was turned over to Polish authorities. He was put on trial for different atrocities in Poland and sentenced to death. He was hanged on March 10, 1951. Hübner, Brückner, and Schwalm were released in 1951. Also in that year, the sentences of Hofmann and Lorenz were reduced to 15 years, and that of Creutz to 10 years. Hofmann was released in 1954.
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