The Auschwitz Trial 4 Ks 2/63

Forty years after the Auschwitz trial (“Trial against Mulka and others”, December 20, 1963, to August 20, 1965) the Fritz Bauer Institute recalls this important turning point in the post-war history of the Federal Republic of Germany by means of an exhibition entitled “The Auschwitz Trial 4 Ks 2/63 Frankfurt am Main”. After its presentation at the historical site of Frankfurt am Main (28 March to 23 May 2004), the first station of this travelling exhibition, thanks to the generous support of the cooperation partners, will be the Martin-Gropius-Bau, starting on October 26, 2004.

After years of silence about the crimes of the National-Socialist past, the attention of the West German and international public was drawn to the trial of 21 members of the SS from Auschwitz and a so-called operative prisoner, or “kapo”, which took place in Frankfurt am Main. Inconspicuous citizens, all of them heads of families, aged between 42 and 68 years, were accused of murder, the murder of hundreds of prisoners. 211 survivors of Auschwitz gave evidence. For a period of 20 months the German public was confronted with the crimes of the past. Hessian Attorney General Fritz Bauer called upon the young republic to hold “the Day of Judgement against ourselves”. The Auschwitz trial was to be the beginning.

The exhibition documents the biggest jury trial in the annals of West German justice up to that time. The tape recordings of the trial form the centre of the exhibition. The principal themes of the exhibition are the historical background of the proceedings, the reconstruction of the sensational happenings of the trial itself, as well as the history of the influence it had on literature, philosophy, journalism and theatre. In “Rooms of the Present” contemporary artists convey their perspective of the trial at that time. Their works carry on the history of the trial’s reception, as it were.

Documentation and Historical Background

Documents, photographs, film excerpts as well as selections from the extensive press coverage of the trial illustrate the historical event. The original tape recordings of the trial – more than 400 hours were recorded – take the visitor back to the trial courtroom itself. The voices of the accused, the victims, the judges and the prosecutors can be heard for the first time.

A chronicle of the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” leads into the exhibition. After passing through the History of the Legal Prosecution of the Nazi crimes after 1945, the Nuremberg trials (against the elite members of the National-Socialist regime before an International Tribunal), Warsaw (against Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz), Jerusalem (against the deportation specialist Adolf Eichmann) and the so-called Ulm Einsatzgruppen trial (against members of the mobile task force A), the visitor arrives at the Pre-History of the Auschwitz trial. At the end of the 1950s the prosecution of Nazi crimes had virtually come to a standstill. Chance happenings and the indefatigable commitment of a few persons such as Attorney General Fritz Bauer and Auschwitz survivor Hermann Langbein got the investigations of the complex of questions surrounding Auschwitz moving.

The Trial Proceedings, presented through the example of six of the accused, form the focal point of the exhibition. The hearings examined the individual participation in the mass murder in the Auschwitz extermination camp. Some of the defendants were also accused of extremely cruel individual murders. The most important evidence is provided by 211 survivors from 18 different countries who take the stand. The atmosphere of the trial is graphically revealed to the visitor: it is marked by the stereotyped denial of the defendants, in sharp contrast to the statements of the victims in the witness box. For they give their testimony on the outrageous crimes based on the gruelling personal experiences they suffered. Never before had the eyes of the world been so clearly opened to such a comprehensive picture of the Nazi persecution of the Jews.

The question of the limits of German criminal law in the face of mass murder is raised here with regard to the judgements pronounced, which differentiated between perpetration of a crime and aiding and abetting of the crime. This question remains open for the visitor. Although criminal proceedings can only be instituted with respect to the individual guilt of the defendants, the trial gained great importance above all as a lesson for West German society. For in this trial the historical truth of the Auschwitz extermination camp was established before a German court for the first time, and the German public was confronted with the voices of the survivors of the Nazi crimes. Since the Auschwitz trial the past has moved a bit nearer.

History of the Reception

The even today still largely unexplored history of the reception of the trial in literature, philosophy, journalism and theatre is a further focus of the exhibition. It investigates the intellectual preoccupation with the trial. The Auschwitz trial was intensely registered above all in the area of literature. The proceedings represent a decisive turning point in the literary exploration of the phenomenon of Auschwitz.

The Auschwitz extermination camp was to be written into the collective memory. Characteristic is the demand made by trial reporter Gerhard Mauz: “Literature to the front at the Auschwitz trial”. Among the many who dared to go to the frontlines were H.G. Adler, Heimrad Bäcker, Horst Bienek, Reinhard Döhl, Peter Edel, Günther Grass, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Horst Krüger and Robert Neumann. Unforgotten and controversial is Martin Walser’s essay “Our Auschwitz”. An entire room is devoted to the genesis and controversial discussions in East and West Germany surrounding the performances of Peter Weiss’ play “Die Ermittlung” (“The Investigation”).

The Auschwitz trial also left its mark on philosophical discourse. It is no accident that the very people who discussed the question of guilt shortly after the war were the first to speak out about the trial. One element of the discussion was the analytical examination of the perpetrators. What kind of people were they, under what conditions do people turn into mass murderers? In this section Theodor W. Adorno, Günther Anders, Hannah Arendt, Karl Jaspers and Dolf Sternberger are introduced.

The pubic discourse was first exercised neither by men of literature nor by philosophers, but rather by journalists. The print press and the radio reported on the details of the trial throughout the 183 days of the proceedings. Throngs of journalists made their way to the trial, and some of the editors sent permanent correspondents. The exhibition portrays the journalists Axel Eggebrecht, Elisabeth Freundlich, Rudolf Hirsch, Bernd Naumann and Peter Jochen Winters.

Contemporary Art

Hannah Arendt’s call to get the story of Auschwitz moving in scientific and literary form is understood in the exhibition as a duty to renew the artistic confrontation with this most singular crime.

Traditional painting and sculpture was deliberately left out of this effort; instead, photography, film, video, interactive installations and architectural interventions are represented. The artists accompany visitors through the various thematic areas. The majority of new works appearing in the exhibition were commissioned by the Fritz Bauer Institute.

The artists invited to participate are: Loris Cecchini, Claus Föttinger, Robert Kusmirowski, Bojan Sarcevic, Wilhelm Sasnal, Silvia Schreiber, Joachim Seinfeld and Gitte Villesen.