‘auschwitz Trial’ Enters Sixth Week Today; Defendant Admits Using Gas

“Auschwitz trial” in which 22 defendants are charged with participation in torturing and gassing millions of Jews and others in the notorious Nazi death camps in Auschwitz and Treblinka, is entering its sixth week tomorrow with some of the defendants still to be questioned prior to hearing testimonies from several hundred witnesses, including Jews from the United States and Israel, who were rescued from these camps by the Allied armies after the collapse of the Nazi regime.

Defendants who testified during the weekend insisted that when they worked on the staff of the annihilation camps they knew nothing about the poison gas killings of inmates there. However, one of them, Arthur Breitweiser, a 53-year-old clerk, admitted he was one of the first SS men to be instructed in the use of the Zykton-B gas used in the killing of the victims. He denied charges that he took part in the initial experiments in the killing of Jews.

He testified that one day in 1941 “two civilians came from Hamburg and they showed us how to disinfect barracks and how to wear gas masks which had a special fitting against Zyklon-B gas.” He admitted that the gas was used to kill inmates “and worked frightfully quickly.”

Dr. Willi Frank, 60, former chief dentist at the camp, admitted having known that gold teeth of victims were melted down in one of his dental stations, adding that “I also melted down gold plates.” He also admitted he knew about the sterilization of women at the camp but rejected the charge that he selected inmates for gassing.

Another defendant, Dr. Willi Schatz, also a dentist, corroborated Dr. Frank’s testimony that he and his professional associates did not participate in selecting prisoners for liquidation. Asserting that he had been at the camp about ten times, Dr. Schatz said he was looking for dentists and for new prisoners who might have dental tools.”