The “Lvov Trial,” the second longest war crimes prosecution in West German history, ended here today with the conviction of 11 former SS men for their role in the slaughter of more than 400,000 Jews in the Lvov region of Poland during World War II. But only one of the defendants, 60-year-old former SS Sergeant Ernst Epple, received the maximum sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor. Nine others received sentences ranging from two-and-a-half to ten years in prison. One was found guilty but set free. Four other defendants were acquitted, all of them former SS or Gestapo officials or camp guards in the area where Jews were rounded up for shooting or shipment to concentration camps.
Four other defendants were acquitted, all of them former SS or Gestapo officials or camp guards in the area where Jews were rounded up for shooting or shipment to concentration camps.
The trial opened in October, 1966. Two hundred and fourteen witnesses testified against the 15 defendants. The Lvov district, a region of the Ukraine, was Polish territory before World War II. Today it is in Russia.
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