The prosecution in the 79-day trial of 10 former Nazis accused of mass murder of Jews in Tarnopol in occupied Calicia demanded today life sentences for five of the defendants. Lesser sentences were asked for two others and acquittals for the remaining three.
The defendants were charged with the murder of at least 20, 000 Jews between 1941 and 1943. The prosecution asserted that the defendants had no excuse, having committed the murders voluntarily and that they could have avoided the murders if they had wished to do so.
Life terms were demanded for Herman Mueller, 57, now a businessman, who was leader of the Nazi security service in Tarnopol and who was charged with 33 counts of murder and complicity in five other cases of murder; Paul Radel, 60, Thomas Hasenberg, 57, Walter Lamborg, 55, and Willi Hermann, 56.
The prosecution asked for a term of eight years for Horst Winkler. 59, and five and a half years for Paul Mellar. Acquittal for lack of evidence was asked for Erwin Czerwonym, Julius Aust and Hubert Schwach. A total of 120 witnesses were heard during the trial, one of the longest in postwar Germany. Sentences are not expected to be imposed before July.
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