West German authorities are completing work on an indictment of three former S.S. officials at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp all of whom were returned from the Soviet Union two years ago together with information as to their war crimes against humanity. Two of the defendants, “Iron Gustav” Sorge and Wilhelm “Pistol” Schubert, were arrested shortly after they stepped on German soil, the third, Martin Knittler, was picked up several months later.
Both Sorge and Schubert were tried and convicted by the Soviet authorities for the murder of Jews, Russians and others. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment and had not been pardoned when handed over to Bonn officials.
During their trials, both Sorge and Schubert admitted they murdered over 600 Jews and others and participated less directly in the murder of 17,000 to 18,000 other men, women and children. During 1943, Sorge was overseer-in-chief of a work force of Jews who were literally driven to their deaths building an air base for the Luftwaffe in Riga.
After their return to Germany, the two pleaded that they had acted under orders when they murdered. They also raised the cry that the Russians had mistreated them.
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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.
