The trial of Max Merten, a West Berlin lawyer who was a key German occupation official during the war in Greece, opened here yesterday with the defendant absent. He is charged with making false accusations against Dr. Hans Globke, who served as State Secretary under former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and as a key official in the Nazi Justice Ministry.
Merten claimed five years ago that he wanted to save 10,000 Jewish men, women and children in Greece from deportation and that he made a trip to Berlin to discuss the matter with Adolf Eichmann who was head of the Gestapo’s Jewish Affairs department. Merten also said that Eichmann told him to take “20,000 to Palestine” and that Eichmann then discussed the matter with Dr. Globke who, according to Merten, opposed the idea.
At Dr. Globke’s insistence, an investigation was started of the Merten report and, according to the prosecution, it was found allegedly to be a fabrication. Merten was then indicted for trial. The state prosecutor today asked that the court call Dr. Robert Servatius, the attorney who defended Eichmann in his trial in Jerusalem, and who also defended Globke. Eichmann was hanged in Israel in 1961.
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.
