REPRISALS ARE THREATENED

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23318, 29 September 1945, Page 5

REPRISALS ARE THREATENED

Witnesses at Belsen Trials (7.30 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27. Witnesses at the Belsen war criminals trial in Luneburg have been threatened with reprisals if they continue to give evidence against the Poles included among the prisoners in the dock. The British Army special investigation branch personnel have been detailed to trace the persons responsible for the threats. Some of the Polish accused were made camp “trustees” and in many cases were more brutal than their Nazi masters. Intelligence officers believe that Polish nationals who are waiting to be called as witnesses for the defence are responsible for the threats. These were made when evidence was given against Stanislaw Staroska, a Pole from Auschwitz camps. Several Polish Jewesses have identified Staroska as the person who assisted in the selection of the gas chamber victims at Auschwitz, and flogged other internees. Hanka Rozensweaj, a Polish Jewess, after identifying Kramer, Hoessler and Staroska as selecting the gas chamber victims, described how Irma Grese set a dog on her. “The dog savaged me and left marks which I have to this day.” The trial was interrupted in the afternoon when Helena Kopper, one of the accused, became hysterical and shouted in Polish, “why do they beat me." She is the third accused to break down in the dock.