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Fritz Weinschenk papers

Document | Not Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.A.0291.3

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    Overview

    Description
    The Fritz Weinschenk papers primarily consist of case files documenting his assistance obtaining witness testimony related to war crimes proceedings in Germany. The papers also include Weinschenk’s writing files related to articles he wrote about the war crimes trials, and Gestapo Bremen and Abwehr files, which contain guidelines and regulations related to the Gestapo and government security.

    The war crimes case files document Weinschenk’s work with the West German government and West German courts and prosecutors in the prosecution of war criminals from the 1960s to the 1990s. German judicial authorities elicited the help of American lawyers such as Weinschenk to obtain the testimony of the thousands of survivor witnesses who lived in the United States because foreign courts are not allowed to exert subpoena power, many witnesses refused to travel to Germany or were reluctant to testify at all, and German law required that testimony acquired abroad be obtained through hearings conducted according to local procedures.

    The case files contain correspondence, witness lists and testimony transcripts, court records, billing records, clippings, and notes. Some of the witness testimony is included in formal reports while other testimony remains in the form of handwritten notes. The Martin Fellenz files contain nine black and white photographs of unidentified Nazi officials. The Weinrich file does not provide Weinrich’s first name.

    The case files series also contains files documenting research into available aerial photographs of the Auschwitz complex and files documenting Hans Buchheim’s expert testimony on the topic of duress. Please note that the files on Auschwitz aerial photography do not contain any photographs.

    Writing files include articles and drafts by Weinschenk, clippings and articles about the Holocaust and war crimes trials, correspondence with publishers and colleagues about his articles, notes, and programs and announcements for events and publications. A March 1979 letter encloses black and white photographs of Weinschenk at a Jewish War Veterans event.

    Gestapo Bremen files including Gestapo and Abwehr training course notes, guidelines, and regulations regarding topics such as police powers, technical services, counter-intelligence, espionage, criminal classifications, German émigrés, protection of government leaders, finger printing technology, and homosexuality. These files also include two letters to Dr. Gustav W. Rogge about such regulations. These files are believed to have been acquired by Weinschenk during his service in the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps.
    Date
    inclusive:  1912-1998
    Collection Creator
    Fritz Weinschenk
    Biography
    Fritz Weinschenk (1920-2012) was born in Mainz, Germany but left in 1935 because of Nazi persecution. He volunteered for the U.S. Army immediately after Pearl Harbor and became a naturalized citizen while undergoing his military training. His unit landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and later served in the Pacific. After the war he returned to Germany to serve in the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps and worked with the U.S. prosecution team in the trial of German war criminals at Nuremberg. In New York he became one of the “attorneys of confidence” to the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, and from the 1960s to the 1990s he was frequently appointed commissioner by West German courts and prosecutors in proceedings against war criminals. He published articles about the German trials and served as counsel for Nazi victims in hundreds of restitution and indemnification claims.

    Physical Details

    Language
    German English
    Genre/Form
    Photographs.
    Extent
    9 boxes
    1 oversize box
    System of Arrangement
    The Fritz Weinschenk papers are arranged as three series: I. Case files, 1951-1998, II. Writing files, 1968-1998, III. Gestapo Bremen and Abwehr guidelines and regulations, 1912, approximately 1935-1942

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Fritz Weinschenk sent part of the Fritz Weinschenk papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 and donated the rest in 2001. The accession previously cataloged as 2001.172 has been incorporated into this collection.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Primary Number
    1999.A.0291.3
    Record last modified:
    2023-08-25 10:19:53
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn502339

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