An archive of letters of WW2 letters home is being edited with the view to publication. The writer, a Lt. in the R.A.C., was involved in the investigation of Polish P.O.W.s that went on the rampage after the German capitulation. In a letter of August 1945 the writer, who had previously arrested a Pole in the possession of a revolver, reported that 'the case was heard in the High Court, and after giving my evidence . . . he was given 20 years in clink.' At the time the writer was station at RAISDORF, Sleisweg-Holstein, near Kiel. The question is, is there way of locating the trial record, if it still exists?
Might be this case. Newspaper report from "Trove", the invaluable Australian newspaper archive, and a search for "Paderborn" at Kew shows two files in "FO". The former file reference for FO 1060/931 of "Legal/MGC/52201/6" is similar to Judge Advocate General references, especially "52201". The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950) Wed 12 Sep 1945 Page 8 British Court Sentences Poles British Court Sentences Poles LONDON, Wed— British mili- tary court at Paderborn, Ger- many, has passed four death sen- tences and prison sentences aver- aging nine years on 39 Poles. The Poles were convicted of par- ticipating in disorders in which seven Germans were killed and several German farms burned on the night of July 29. Case was the largest mass trial of displaced people in British occupied Germany. The Poles were charged as a re- sult of the disorders in a small farming community three nights af- ter a Polish officer was killed in an encounter with a German police- man. Reference: FO 1060/931 Description: Review of Mil Gov courts proceedings and death sentences: Paderborn trials of 48 Poles involved in the disturbance at Furstenau Date: 1945 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Former reference in its original department: LEGAL/MGC/52201/6/PADERBORN Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Trial at Paderborn: Poles accused of murdering Germans Order in advance Request a copy Reference: FO 688/32/3 Description: Trial at Paderborn: Poles accused of murdering Germans Date: 1945 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Former reference in its original department: 148 Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
Thank you papiermache! This sounds a good place to start. The writer did refer to groups of Poles raiding remote farmhouses and raping and killing. Perhaps his evidence was given as that trial.
Thanks, Mike, and welcome to the forum. Good luck with your research. Here's rather a different case from Trove I came across searching on their digital newspaper archive for "Polish prisoner" in 1945. John Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954) Wed 22 Aug 1945 Page 4 COUNT AND COUNTESS ON LOOTING CHARGE COUNT AND COUNTESS ON LOOTING CHARGE LONDON, August 20. - Polish Count and Countess Platerzyberk are being held in Salzburg prison on a charge of looting property worth £1.000,000 which Goering hoarded in an Austrian castle, says the American Associated Press correspondent at Salzburg. The 23-year-old Countess, patting the skirt of a grey woollen costume, admitted having taken it from Emmy Goering's wardrobe. She said: "I am a naughty girl, but I did not mean to steal. They stole from us in Poland. Why should I not take the things back from her." That will be her defence when she and her husband appear before a court comprising Allied Military Gov- ernment officers. The Countess was caught while at- tempting to dispose of art treasures and clothing to secondhand dealers. The loot included a Gobelin tapestry, dress materials and silver, much of which was packed in Goering's luggage.
Thanks once again. The young Lieutenant writing the letters thought that German civilians should be treated humanely and had little time for Polish P.O.W.s who carried out revenge attacks, however the German military had treated them. A woollen skirt is one thing, a million poundsworth of property is another!
307 Mil Det\WO 171-7963 307 Military Government Detachment HQ Branch Westfalen 1945 My father was downgraded and served with this unit. I have their diaries reams of very boring (unless it is your thing) minutes of meetings I did see quite a lot dealing with crimes by Germans and allies. Will have a troll through.
This is all I can find on Military Gov Trials might give you a lead. Hope they download in correct order
See here for a note about British courts in Germany from the ICC website which has some of the United Nations War Crimes Commission archive. Use the link or search for "legal tools" and on the left panel tick the box for UNWCC archive to limit the search. Then search for "control commission" or " Gazette." https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/4268c0/pdf