One of the 12 defendants testifies during the Krupp tribunal.
Overview
- Caption
- One of the 12 defendants testifies during the Krupp tribunal.
Seated behind him to his right is Max Austein. - Date
-
November 1947
- Locale
- Nuremberg, [Bavaria] Germany
- Variant Locale
- Nurnberg
- Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Cheryl Casnof
- Event History
- On 12 November 1947, the U.S. Military Government for Germany created the Military Tribunal III-A in order to try the Krupp Case. The 12 defendants in this case, all officials of the Krupp industrial concern, had been indicted on 16 August. The lead defendant, Alfried Krupp, and eight other defendants, had been members or deputy members of Krupp's Managing Board, while the three others had held similar high-ranking positions. The indictment listed three counts, charging the defendants with committing the following crimes: a) crimes against peace by participating in the planning and waging of wars of aggression and wars in violation of international treaties; b) war crimes and crimes against humanity by participating in the plunder and spoliation of public and private property, devastation, and exploitation against countries under German occupation, causing the suffering of millions; c) war crimes and crimes against humanity by participating in the murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, and use for slave labor of civilians who came under German control, German nationals, and prisoners of war; and d) participating in a common plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace. All of the defendants were charged under counts one, three, and four, and all but two were charged under count two, but counts one and four were dismissed by the Tribunal soon after the completion of the prosecution's case because of lack of evidence. After the defendants were arraigned on 17 November, the trial began on 8 December, finishing on 30 June 1948. The Tribunal returned its judgment on 31 July, finding six of the ten defendants charged under count two guilty, and all but one of the defendants guilty under count three. That one defendant, Karl Heinrich Pfirsch, was acquitted of all charges. The sentences were handed down the same day, with the eleven guilty defendants receiving prison terms ranging from two to twelve years. In almost all instances, these sentences were commuted to time served.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007081.
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Cheryl Casnof
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Biography
- Max Austein (the father of the donor) was born in Austria in 1909. After immigrating to the United States in 1937, he facilitated the immigration of the rest of his immediate family. The same day that Max arrived in New York, Pearl Sens came on a separate boat from Poland. They later met and married. Pearl was the youngest of seven children. Her older brother who had immigrated earlier, obtained a visa for her to work as his nanny. Instead, she worked as a hair-dresser. After the American entry into World War II, Max Austein was drafted into the US Army and was sent to Camp Ritchie in Maryland, a special camp that trained native German speakers to do intelligence and translation work. Though he already spoke French and German, the army taught him Italian as well. Max Austein served stateside during the war in the intelligence corps guarding German POWS in the United States. However, Max Austein did return to Europe after the war as a civilian. On November 12, 1947, the US Military Government for Germany created Military Tribunal III-A in order to try the Krupp Case. was a courtroom trial translator for the Case #10 at Nuremberg -- the Krupp Case. Max was hired to work as a translator. Since he had had some technical training in Austria, his primarily responsibilities consisted of translating documents, some quite technical. After the trial, Max remained in Europe to help care for displaced persons. Pearl joined him and found a job supervising the health and safety of hair salons and barbershops. Their two children were born in Germany: David (b. 1950) and Cheryl (b. 1953). The entire family returned to the United Sates in 1955, and Max worked in the egg business until his retirement in 1976.
- Record last modified:
- 2012-05-17 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1176235
