The Bavarian Ministry of Justice announced today that it would investigate charges made against former concentration camp doctors Hans Eiserle and Heinrich Plaza in the current trial of Marth Sommer, former Buchenwald camp commander.
The announcement followed disclosure that Eiserle had been accepted as a member of the medical staff of a public health insurance plan and granted an interest-free loan of $6,000 to re-establish his practice. Originally sentenced to death for crimes against humanity as a Buchenwald doctor, Dr. Eiserle had the sentence commuted to life imprisonment and was freed after serving seven years.
A witness at the Sommer trial charged that Dr. Eiserle had killed “during one week more persons than Sommer during his entire life.” Medical authorities in Munich said they would turn over the state Ministry of Justice “incriminating evidence” against Dr. Eiserle.
Investigations against Dr. Plaza were started in 1951 by the Traumstein State Attorney and suspended when medical officials testified that Dr. Plaza was suffering from multiple sclerosis and too ill for questioning. The State Attorneys office said an investigation was underway to determine the truth of reports that Dr. Plaza had recovered sufficiently to resume medical practice.
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.
