The Hamburg Ravensbrück Trials were a series of seven trials for war crimes against camp officials from the Ravensbrück concentration camp that the British authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Hamburg after the end of World War II. These trials were heard before a military tribunal; the judges in these trials were three to five british officers, assisted by a lawyer. The defendants included concentration camp personnel of all levels: camp leaders, camp doctors, male wardens, female wardens (Aufseherinnen), and even a few former inmates of the camp who had tortured or mistreated other inmates. In total, 38 defendants stood trial in these seven processes, of which 21 were women.

The trials

All seven trials took place in the "Curio"-house in Hamburg.

First Ravensbrück Trial

The first Ravensbrück trial was held from December 5, 1946 until February 3, 1947.

The death sentences (except for Salvequart) were executed on May 2–3, 1947, in Hameln.

Two more defendants, camp leader Fritz Suhren and "work leader" Hans Pflaum , escaped from custody prior to the trial. The were reapprehended under assumed names in 1949 and handed over to the French authorities, who already ran another Ravensbrück trial in Rastatt at the time. Both men were sentenced to death in that trial and were shot on June 12, 1950.

Second Ravensbrück Trial

In the second Ravensbrück trial, which lasted from November 5–27, 1947, the only defendant was Friedrich Opitz , another camp official who had managed to flee before the first trial began. Opitz had been a factory leader in the concentration camp. He received a death sentence, which was executed on February 26, 1948.

Third Ravensbrück Trial

In the third Ravensbrück trial, the so-called "Uckermark trial" that took place from April 14 to April 26, 1948, five female camp officials of the extermination camp Uckermark, were indicted on four charges:

1. Mistreatment of allied women in Uckermark
2. Participation in the selection of allied women for the gas chamber in Uckermark
3. Mistreatment of allied women in the concentration camp Ravensbrück
4. Selection of allied women for the gas chamber in the concentration camp Ravensbrück

The camp Uckermark was about one mile from the Ravensbrück concentration camp. It had been opened in May 1942 as a prison or concentration camp for girls aged 16 to 21 that were considered criminal or just difficult. Girls that reached the upper age limit were transferred to the Ravensbrück women's camp. Camp administration was provided by the Ravensbrück camp. In January 1945, the juvenile's camp was closed and the infrastructure was subsequently used as an extermination camp for "sick, no longer efficient, and over 52 years old women" ((Ebbinghaus 1987), p. 287).

Braach and Toberentz were acquitted because they had worked at Uckermark only while it still was a juvenile's camp, and there were no allied women there at that time: the camp was used exclusively for German girls, whose fate or treatment was of no interest to the tribunal.

Fourth Ravensbrück Trial

The fourth trial was held from May to June 8, 1948. The accused were all members of the medical staff of the camp at Ravensbrück, including one inmate that worked as a nurse. The charges again centered on mistreatment, torture, and sending to gas chambers of women of allied nationality.

Ganzer had already stood trial for her activities in Ravensbrück in 1946 before a Russian military tribunal and had been acquitted. In Hamburg, she was found guilty, but her death sentence was commuted into lifetime imprisonment on July 3, 1948, which in turn was reduced to 21 years imprisonment in 1950 and further to 12 years in 1954. She was finally released on June 6, 1961.

Fifth Ravensbrück Trial

In the fifth trial, three SS members were accused of having killed allied inmates of the Ravensbrück camp. The trial lasted from June 16 to 29, 1948. The judgments were handed down on July 15, 1948.

Sixth Ravensbrück Trial

This trial lasted from July 1–26, 1948. Both defendants were accused of having mistreated allied inmates of the Ravensbrück camp.

Seventh Ravensbrück Trial

Finally, six Aufseherinnen (female camp wardens) were tried in the seventh trial from July 2–21, 1948. The charges were mistreatment of inmates of allied nationality and participation in the selection of inmates for the gas chamber.

References

• (Ebbinghaus 1987): Ebbinghaus, A.: Opfer und Täterinnen. Frauenbiographien des Nationalsozialismus. Nördlingen 1987. Reprinted 1996: ISBN 3-596-13094-8. In German.
• Schäfer, S.: Zum Selbstverständnis von Frauen im Konzentrationslager: das Lager Ravensbrück. PhD thesis 2002, TU Berlin. (PDF, 741 kB). In German.