Senators and Congressmen this week-end condemned the commutation to four years imprisonment of a life sentence imposed on Ilse Koch, widow of a former commandant of the Buchenwald death camp and a convicted war criminal in her own right, by Gen. Lucius D. Clay, American commander to Germany. Senators Raymond E. Baldwin, of Conn., Leverett Saltonstall, of Mass., and Charles W. Tobey, of New Hampshire, and Rep. Emanuel Celler, of New York, all demanded an investigation into the incident by Secretary of the Amy Kenneth C. Royall.
The Army report on the Koch case stated: “The evidence of her participation (in the Buchenwald murders) did not warrant imprisonment for life and the sentence was considered excessive.” At her trial last year, Frau Koch was accused of having been responsible for the death of numerous prisoners, including Jews, and of having used their skins as lampshades, Gloves and book covers. She was convicted and sentenced by an American military court.
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