Dr. Maximilian Merten, adviser to the German military commandant at Salonika during World War II, is under a 25-year prison sentence today after conviction here during the week-end by a Greek military court which found him guilty of 13 war crimes. Among the crimes was the ruthless deportation of 55,000 Jews who were sent from Salonika to Poland, where they were exterminated in Nazi concentration camps.
Merten was found not guilty of other charges, including one accusing him of murdering 46,000 Jews killed in Nazi camps outside Greece. He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges. In addition to sentencing him to 25 years’ imprisonment, the court also ordered confiscation of his property. Merten’s defense counsel announced that he will appeal the conviction to King Paul, who could either pardon the man or reduce the sentence.
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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.
