One of the 22 Nazis on trial here for the mass murder of Jews and other inmates at Auschwitz today admitted that be had been awarded a high Nazi decoration, the Cross of Merit, shortly after a series of mass murders at the death camp in Poland.
The defendant-witness, taking the stand again this morning as the trial went into its seventh week, is Herbert Scherpe, 56. Along with several other former members of the SS on trial with him, he is accused of having administered lethal injections to 119 children at Auschwitz.
Henry Ormond, one of the private prosecutors representing families of Auschwitz. martyrs, asked Scherpe whether it is not true that, in April 1943, two months after a series of mass murders at Auschwitz, he had received the Cross of Merit with Swords. Mr. Ormond charged that, that’s Nazi decoration was awarded to Scherpe and to two other co-defendants, Joseph Klehr and Oswald Kaduk.
Scherpe argued that he had received the decoration “without swords,” and was supported in that contention by Klehr and Kaduk. Except for that point, however, Scherpe insisted be remembered very little about his activities during the five years he had served as medical corpsman at Auschwitz and at other death camps in countries occupied by the Germans. He told the court that the number of fenolic acid injections given inmates at the Auschwitz hospital where he worked never exceeded more than one or two a day.
He denied specifically murdering the 119 children, but conceded that he had witnessed mass killings. “They were all quiet except one,” he said, “this one screamed.” He maintained that he had “refuesed” to participate in the killing of children or in other excutions. Does this mean that you disobeyed orders?” asked Mr. Ormond. “Yes, it does,” answered Scherpe.
The next witness, Amiel Hantel, 61, also denied that he had given fatal injections to children, but said he had witnessed such deeds performed by Klehr. When Klehr denied such accusations, Hantel said he is lying. Hantel said he had seen Klehr on duty in the death chamber at Auschwitz on Christmas Day, 1942. Klehr had previously denied he had been on duty at the hospital on that day and that he had killed 250 Jews through fatal injections during that period. Hantel told the court “my only duty in the hospital block was only to write the death certificates.”
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