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German Physicians Help Ex-nazis to Avoid Trials, Prosecutor Charges

August 18, 1966
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Life imprisonment for one defendant and sentences of 15 years at hard labor for two others, was demanded by the prosecution here today, as the trial of personnel at the former Auschwitz concentration camp continued in District Court.

Christian Raaber, the prosecutor at the trial, told the court that Wilhelm Boeger, one of the defendants, should be given a life term, and requested the 15-year terms for Gerhard Neubert and Josef Erber. He complained to the court that, of late, West German doctors have been issuing “ill health” certificates for men convicted in war crimes trials, thus bringing about the release of such defendants on the grounds that they were unfit to stand trial or stay in jail.

As an example, Mr. Raaber cited the case of Robert Mulka, former adjutant at Auschwitz, who had been sentenced two years ago, after the conclusion of the first trial of Auschwitz personnel, to 14 years’ imprisonment. Upon certification by a doctor, Mulka was released from prison. Mr. Raaber said that two nights ago he saw Mulka on a television program, “digging in his garden and evidently enjoying his work.”

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