AUSCHWITZ NAZIS STILL MISSING

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30469, 17 June 1964, Page 17

AUSCHWITZ NAZIS STILL MISSING

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) FRANKFURT, June 16. Mr Joachim Kugler, one of the two public prosecutors at the Auschwitz trials in Frankfurt, thinks there are between 20 and 30 “big fish” still missing from among the Nazis responsible for the horrors of the Auschwitz camp.

Most “are probably in South America,” and it was doubtful if many could be picked up; none, according to the information known, had penetrated as far as New Zealand or Australia.

Mr Kugler is a man dedicated to the task of bringing home their Auschwitz crimes to those who have committed them.

Sitting in his room at a small file-covered desk in the office of his native Frankfurt where he and his fellow prosecutor have made legal order out of documentary chaos — sifting, analysing, accepting or -discarding scores of thousands of affidavits, accusations and similar evidence—he said quietly that he would not have accepted such a brief without the conviction that it was a duty that must be completed, and that he himself was capable of doing it.

His role of public prosecutor has brought him—a young 38-year-old lawyer in the Frankfurt State legal administration—and his name, to a prominence he did not seek but could not avoid. It has brought him, too, threatening letters and anonymous telephone calls. “They were to be expected,” he. said, “we take no notice.”

Mr Kugler pointed out that Auschwitz had the distinction of not necessarily being a war crimes trial. This was one reason why extradition orders could not be carried out in many countries: the authorities regarded—or liked to regard—the crimes of Auschwitz as of a political character rather than a wartime criminal one. And there was no , extradition for political crimes. YOUNG INTEREST

The interest in the trials in Germany, according to Mr Kugler, is greater among the younger generation than the older.

“The press in general continues to give wide publicity, but whether the public is tired of reading about these horots is hard to determine. We have had plenty of letters from the younger generation, including several from schools, showing great interest and understanding. But we find the older people inclined to resist having to read about or be made aware, of the trials.” Seats in the court are “sold out” until August. The public galleries, are frequently occupied by groups of schoolchildren who go of their own accord. Evidence of horrors has provoked but little audible reaction. The stunned silence is taken by the prosecutors to indicate a far greater revulsion at the relevatioris.. “DEATH FACTORY”

Mr Kugler said Auschwitz was “unique.” He described it as a “death, factory which, at the same time, and for the first time in history, was a successful attempt to make economic use of the belong-

Ings of the victims”—their rings, the gold in their teeth, their watches were all made use of; woollen under-clothing went to be converted into other garments; women’s hair became prison ropes. Mr Kugler said that a comprehensive record had been made of 1000 of the 6000 Nazi personnel at Auschwitz—their background, their religion, political views and family life. It had proved to be a complete cross-section of the German people at the time. “And why did they do it? It is depressing to read that so few of them are known to have rebelled against this way of life. The alternative was a shift to the front. But morals were perverted. If they stole from their S.S. superiors they were liable to capital punishment. But if they resisted—a few did—they were considered as having weak nerves and were sent elsewhere. They were not punished.” Mr Kugler recalled one case where 100 Jews were gassed. Their bodies were studied by a professor of anatomy who made plaster casts of their heads and faces. The skeletons were collected and placed side by side with the plaster casts so that future generations would be able to see what the Jews of the time looked like. The trial will go on till the end 'of the year, perhaps longer. The prosecution has another 250 witnesses to call, the defence about 50. The best evidence has been supplied by the Poles. Many who survived made a practice of smuggling evidence out, or of making notes and somehow concealing them. Much of the accusation has been supported by this on-the-spot evidence.

Heavy Fighting . Indonesian guerrillas and Malaysian security forces fought their second bloodiest battle leaving nine dead and an unknown number wounded during a week-end clash in Malaysian Borneo. Kuala Lumpur, June 16.