page_title: Dora Trial
section_title: Trial
hierarchical_section_title: Dora Trial / Trial
caption_attribution_description: English: NORDHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP CASE. / 7 August - 30 December 1947 / / A Defense witness, - Teply, testifying in connection with the Gardelegen Massacre, Chif Prosecutor Lt. Col. William Berman, and interpreter Velte. This man marched the prisoners to the barn. Deutsch: Ein Zeuge der Verteidigung tritt im Dachauer Dora-Prozess als Zeuge auf und macht Aussagen zum Massaker von Gardelegen.
context_page_description: The Dora Trial, also the "Dora"-Nordhausen or Dachau Dora Proceeding was a war crimes trial conducted by the United States Army in the aftermath of the collapse of the Third Reich. It took place between August 7 and December 30, 1947 on the site of the former Dachau concentration camp, Germany. In the proceedings, officially known as the United States of America vs. Kurt Andrae et al., 19 men were accused of war crimes committed in the operation of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, its many subcamps, and the Mittelwerk armaments plant located near Nordhausen, Germany. The main trial ended with 4 acquittals and 15 convictions, including 1 death sentence. Dora was the last of a sequence of proceedings which took place in the context of the Dachau Trials relating to wide-ranging war crimes uncovered by the United States in its zone of occupation at the end of World War II. Those convicted in the Dora Trial served their sentences at Landsberg Prison.
  Additional Dora-related proceedings were held both during and after the Dora Trial. Between late-October and mid-December 1947, short trials were held against 14 lower-level defendants, mostly SS-TV Guards.
context_section_description: The trial began on 7 August 1947 before the "General Military Government Court" at the US Army Dachau Internment Camp, within the walls of the former Nazi Dachau concentration camp, and was open to the public. An interpreter translated between the Court and the accused in English and German, as the language of the Court was English. After the reading of the indictment, the defendants all pled "not guilty". All were accused of neglecting, abusing and killing prisoners. Some defendants were also accused of specific offenses in the context of death marches or in the course of the "evacuation of the camp". Former camp physician Heinrich Schmidt was accused of medical neglect of inmates, causing them to die of hunger, exposure, and disease. The main responsibility for the inhumane living conditions was attributed to former Protective Custody Camp Leader Hans Möser. The four prisoners who functioned as camp Kapos were also accused of abusing and sometimes killing fellow prisoners. German Civilian Georg Rickhey, as a former General Manager of Mittelwerk Gmbh, was held responsible for the disastrous working conditions.
caption: A defense witness makes statements about the Gardelegen Massacre
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