The Karlsruhe federal court has rejected the appeals of Hermine Ryan-Braun-steiner and six other former Nazi guards and functionaries at the Maidenek death camp against sentences imposed by a Duesseldorf court in 1981 after a trial that lasted five years.
The Austrian-born Ryan-Braunsteiner, who received a life sentence, is the best known of the group because she was brought to trial in West Germany after being extradited from the United States. The former Queens, N.Y. housewife who obtained U.S. citizenship by marriage to an American after World War II, was denaturalized for lying about her Nazi past. Witnesses at her denaturalization trial identified her as one of the most brutal of the Maidenek guards.
She appealed her sentence in Germany on grounds that the Duesseldorf court had no jurisdiction over an American national. The karlsruhe judges ruled however that she was a German national during her tenure at Maidenek and therefore could be tried by a West German court.
The others convicted for atrocities at Maidenek–five men and a woman — received sentences of from 3-12 years. The karlsruhe court has yet to rule on a prosecution appeal for harsher sentences for some of them. Originally there were 15 defendants at the Maidenek trial. Several were released for lack of evidence and others have died.
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.
