Testimony by 31 Israelis against Hermann Hoeffle, a former Gestapo officer in the Warsaw Ghetto now facing trial in Salzburg, Austria, was sent today to the Austrian court by Justice N, Barzakai, president of the Tel Aviv District Court.
In the testimony, which was heard at the request of the Austrian court, 45-year-old Joshua Toporek said that he himself saw Hoeffle kill an elderly, sick Jew who was brought to Gestapo headquarters in Warsaw, where, he said, more than 100 dead Jews were already lying on the floor.
Among other witnesses who gave second-hand accounts of Hoeffle’s bestiality, was Sharon Flint of Tel Aviv, who said that, in his opinion, Hoeffle was one of the “white collar” criminals who was aided in his “dirty work” by others, but who organized the cruelest killings himself.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
