GERMAN PRISONERS ON TRIAL

Southland Times, Issue 25746, 9 August 1945, Page 5

GERMAN PRISONERS ON TRIAL

(Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, August 7. A military court in London has begun the trial of four German war prisoners charged with murdering a fellow prisoner, a non-commissioned officer, Gerhardt Rettig. The accused were three n.c.o.s and a private—Emil Schmittendorf, Armin Kuehne, Heinz Ditzler, and Juergen Kersting. They are accused of deliberately inflicting such injuries on Rettig in a camp near Sheffield on March 24 that he died about two hours later. The prosecution alleged that Rettig, a. non-Nazi, communicated with the British guards as a result of which the camp leader spoke to Rettig and his friend, who was also a non-Nazi. Rettig and his friend were packing their kits preparatory to leaving the hut when Rettig was kicked and beaten by about 100 prisoners, of whom four of the accused were the ringleaders. The crowd later grew to 500, which cornered Rettig near a rubbish tip. He was last seen lying on the ground with Kuehne and Schmittendorf hitting and kicking him. The crowd melted away when a warning was given that the guards were coming. Rettig’s injuries caused a haemorrhage of the brain, resulting in death. The accused pleaded not guilty. The names of 14 other prisoners giving evidence are being kept secret.