Rudolf Vrba at 40 years old, Witness at the trial.

The Auschwitz trial lasted 20 months and began on the 20th of October December 1963 in the hall of the city parliament in the Frankfurt City Hall (Roman). Rudolf Vrba was one of the witnesses. The trial was recorded by sound engineer Heinz Fickert.

“Extensive investigations against more than 1,200 accused were initiated by the two prosecutors Georg Friedrich Vogel and Joachim Kügler, commissioned by Bauer as clerk of the crime complex Auschwitz. More than 1,000 witnesses (survivors and former SS members) were interrogated during the preliminary proceedings (aware of the investigation and preliminary investigation).

“When, after four years of intensive work by the prosecutors Vogel und Kügler and the investigating judge Heinz Düx (from July 1961 to October 1962), the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office filed the indictment against 24 accused accused at the district court Frankfurt am Main in April 1963 and by order of the Frankfurt am Main court on July 7, and with a decision of the Frankfurt District Court. The main proceedings were opened in October 1963, when the main hearing against now 22 defendants began at the end of December 1963, the “punishment case against Mulka, etc.” was more than just a criminal trial for murder or for aiding and abetting murder. ”

Here,  you can hear how Vrba gives evidence in German fluently, easily, probably even better than he could speak English at the time.

TRANSLATION:
“Namely, this entire ramp was the heart of Auschwitz, so to speak. If that didn’t work there, nothing would work. People had to be brought into the gas chambers voluntarily, and in ignorance, by deceit. So that’s why the SS men there behaved differently. Usually they opened the train cars and said: “Gentlemen and ladies, please get out” or something like that. The moment they were outside, they said: “No speaking. No speaking, there must be order here.” They were afraid that some of the men would see that something was wrong. And every revolt, of course, every resistance, there has to be an understanding [among the people who have arrived]. And to [establish] an understanding, you have to speak. And there was a strict ban on speaking.”

This is taken from the website about the trial, https://auschwitz-prozess-frankfurt.de/ which is in German but some browsers will translate for you.
This recording, courtesy of © 2025 | ABG FRANKFURT HOLDING Frankfurt am Main, legal successor to SAALBAU GmbH – all rights reserved

To read more about the Auschwitz Trial read it here.

What follows are the sentences, some say a negligible, considering the offences.

Hofmann
b. 1906,
penalty: life penitentiary;
Pre-trial detention since 1959,
Criminalized detention in another thing since 1962,
Died in 1973 in criminal detention.

Boger
b. 1906,
Penalty measure: lifelong penitentiary,
Prefirmed detention since October 1958,
Died in 1977 in criminal detention.

Course
b. 1904,
Penalty measure: life penitentiary and 15 years,
Pre-trial detention since September 1960,
dismissal of prison 1988,
Died in 1988.

Kaduk
b. 1906,
Penalty measure: lifelong penitentiary
Pre-trial detention since July 1959
1989 release
Died in 1997.

Baretzki born 1919,
penalty: life penitentiary and 8 years,
Pre-trial detention since April 1960,
committed suicide in 1988.

Bednarek
b. 1907,
Penalty measure: lifelong penitentiary,
Pre-trial detention since November 1960,
after a decree of mercy 1975
Died in 2001.

Strong
b. 1921,
Penalty: 10 years of youth penalty
Pre-trial detention from April 1959 to October 1963 and from May 1964,
1968 arrest sample.
Died in 1991.

Mulka
b. 1895,
Penalty measure: 14 years of prison
Pre-trial detention from November 1960 to March 1961, May to December 1961, February to October 1964 and from December 1964,
Released from pre-trial detention in 1968 for insistent care,
Died in 1969.

Peak
b. 1911,
Penalty measure: 7 years penitentiary,
Preliminary detention from March 1965,
released from criminal detention in 1970,
Died in 2000.

Capesius
b. 1907,
Penalty measure: 9 years prison,
Pre-trial detention since December 1959,
Dismissal from pre-trial detention in early 1968,
Died in 1985.

Frank
b. 1903,
Penalty measure: 7 years penitentiary,
Prefirm detention since October 1964,
released from criminal detention in 1970,
Died in 1989.

Lucas
b. 1911,
penalty: 3 years and 3 months penitentiary,
Prefirmed detention since March 1965,
Dismissed from pre-trial detention in October 1970 by the LG Frankfurt am Main (renegotiation) acquitted,
He died in 1994.

Broad
b. 1921,
Penalty measure: 4 years penitentiary
Pre-trial detention from April 1959 to December 1960, November 1964 until February 1966,
Dismissal of prison in 1966,
He died in 1994.

Dylewski
b. 1916,
Penalty measure: 5 years penitentiary
Pre-trial detention from April to May 1959, December 1960 to March 1961 and from October 1964,
Dismissal of prison in 1968,
Dylewski was still alive in 2004.

Beat
b. 1903,
Penalty measure: 6 years penitentiary,
Pre-trial detention since April 1964,
received criminal postponement in 1969,
Deceased in 1977.

Scherpe
b. 1907,
Penalty measurement: 4 years and 6 months penitentiary,
Pre-trial detention since August 1961,
was born on the 19th. Dismissed in August 1965 after the verdict,
Died in 1997.

Hantl
b. 1902,
Penalty measure: 3 years and 6 months penitentiary,
Pre-trial detention since May 1961,
was born on the 19th. Dismissed in August 1965 after the verdict,
1984 died.

NEXT: VRBA ON THE HOLOCAUST