The prosecution in the trial of 12 former Nazis on trial for the mass murder of some 35,000 Jews in Minsk during the war entered as testimony today a statement from a former SS general that “nothing worse” happened to Nazis refusing to take part in the killing of Jews “than their transfer to the front.”
The deposition was made by Erich von den Bach Salewski, one who was one of the top superiors of the 12 defendants and who is now serving several prison terms arising from his SS activities. The former general added in his statement that he regretted he was unable to assist his comrades in the trial.
Kiel officials announced today the arrest of former SS officer Heinz Richter, now a high official of the Schleswig Holstein public assistance office in Neumester. He was arrested on charges of complicity in the mass murders of Jews in the Minsk-Smolensk areas in Nazi-occupied Russia in 1942.
During the war, officials said, Richter succeeded Dr. A. Bradfisch in the Nazi administration in the area. Bradfisch is now serving a term of 10 years at hard labor in Munich on conviction of complicity in the slaughter of thousands of Jews and Gypsies in Mogilev. The officials also announced that Hans Hasse, a 57-year-old Hamburg engineer who served as Richter’s wartime deputy, also had been arrested.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
