New tales of Nazi brutality at the notorious Polish concentration camp of Sobibor were unfolded here during the week-end as the trial of former guard Hubert Gomerski ended with his being sentenced to life imprisonment and loss of civil rights.
In handing down the sentence the president of the Frankfurt Court of Assizes said that Gomerski’s deeds went beyond what the human mind can imagine. Gomerski was convicted of taking part in the mass shootings of Jews. Witness after witness, during the trial, told that Gomerski, together with another camp guard, had made a game of swinging Jewish children by their legs and hurling them to their deaths. Former inmates of the camp told how Gomerski would walk along rows of terrified people bashing in their heads with a heavy iron water can.
Gomerski’s counsel, a Dr. Lengsfeld, renounced his right to make a final plea, declaring that it would be against his principles. He told the court that his attitude was "the silence of a German ashamed of the fact that these deeds were committed by people speaking my language."
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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.
