Supreme National Tribunal Of Poland
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The Supreme National Tribunal ( pl, Najwyższy Trybunał Narodowy TN}) was a war-crime
tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...
active in communist-era Poland from 1946 to 1948. Its aims and purpose were defined by the
State National Council Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish (translated as State National Council or Homeland National Council, abbreviated to KRN) was a parliament-like political body created during the later stages of World War II in German-occupied Warsaw, Poland. It was ...
in decrees of 22 January and 17 October 1946 and 11 April 1947. The new law was based on an earlier decree of 31 August 1944 issued by the new Soviet-imposed Polish regime, with jurisdiction over "
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
- Hitlerite criminals and traitors to the Polish nation".United Nations War Crimes Commission, ''Law reports of trials of war criminals: United Nations War Crimes Commission'', Wm. S. Hein Publishing, 1997,
Google Print, p.18
/ref> The Tribunal presided over seven high-profile cases involving a total of 49 individuals.
WIEM Encyklopedia WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in pl, Wielka Interaktywna Encyklopedia Multimedialna - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The first printed edition was released i ...
, Accessed on 22 September 2008


Background

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
in 1939 and carried out many atrocities. The 1943 Moscow Declaration stated that Germans judged guilty of war crimes would be sent back to the countries where they had committed their crimes and "judged on the spot by the peoples whom they have outraged." Poland, which suffered heavily due to Nazi atrocities, identified over 12,000 criminals it requested to be
extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
; eventually about 2,000 German criminals were extradited to Poland (from 1945 onwards, most before 1949).Janusz Gumkowski, Tadeusz Kołakowski, ''Zbrodniarze hitlerowscy przed Najwyższym Trybunałem Narodowym'', Wydawnictwo Prawnicze, Warszawa, 1965, Introduction to (''przedmowa'') The
Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...
had its own
Special Courts An extraordinary court, or special court, is a type of court that is established outside of ordinary judiciary, composed of irregularly selected judges or applies irregular procedure for judgment. Since extraordinary court can be abused to infrin ...
in
occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
, which tried and passed sentences on some German war criminals. Communist Polish authorities (of the
Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the lat ...
, PKWN) who did not recognize the Underground State (and in some cases actively persecuted people connected with it) established its own alternative structure, which with the victory of the communist authorities over the Underground State became dominant in post-war Poland. PKWN authorities authorized the establishment of the
Special Criminal Courts Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...
on 12 September 1944 to try German war criminals. On 22 January 1946, the single-instance Supreme National Tribunal was formed, with a mission to try the main perpetrators of crimes committed by the Third Reich in the occupied Polish territories.
Andrzej Rzepliński Andrzej Rzepliński (born 26 November 1949) is a Polish lawyer, Professor of Jurisprudence, human right expert, member of International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, a judge of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal from 2007 and its preside ...
,
Prosecution of Nazi Crimes in Poland in 1939-2004
'

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...


Jurisdiction and powers

The jurisdiction and powers of the Tribunal were defined in decrees of 22 January and 17 October 1946 and a decree of 11 April 1947. The law applied was a decree of 31 August 1944 "concerning the punishment of fascist-Hitlerite criminals guilty of murder and ill-treatment of civilian population and of prisoners of war, and the punishment of traitors to the Polish Nation." There was no
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
from the Tribunal's verdicts.


Composition of the tribunal

The tribunal had three
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s, four members of the
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
, procurators and defenders. The best known judge was
Emil Stanisław Rappaport Emil Stanisław Rappaport (8 July 1877 – 10 August 1965) was a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent. He was a specialist in criminal law and a founder of the doctrine of international criminal law. In 1930, he was awarded the Order of Polonia Restitu ...
.


Trials

Seven trials were brought before the Supreme National Tribunal in 1946–1948: # The trial of
Arthur Greiser Arthur Karl Greiser (22 January 1897 – 21 July 1946) was a Nazi German politician, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich Governor) of the German-occupied territory of ''Wartheland''. He was one of the perso ...
, head of the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
and later, governor of
Reichsgau Wartheland The ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (initially ''Reichsgau Posen'', also: ''Warthegau'') was a Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent a ...
#: Trial took place in
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
, from 22 June to 7 July 1946. #: Sentence: Death, executed # The trial of
Amon Göth Amon Leopold Göth (; alternative spelling ''Goeth''; 11 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an Austrian SS functionary and war criminal. He served as the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów in German ...
, commander of the
Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp , known for = , location = , coordinates = , built by = , operated by = Nazi Germany , commandant = Amon Göth (until September 1944)Arnold Büscher (September 1944 – January 1945) ...
#: Trial took place in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, from 27 August to 5 September 1946. #: Sentence: Death, executed # The trial of
Ludwig Fischer Ludwig Fischer (16 April 1905 – 8 March 1947) was a German Nazi Party lawyer, politician and a convicted war crimes, war criminal who was executed for war crimes. Background Born into a Catholic family in Kaiserslautern, Fischer joined the ...
, Ludwig Leist,
Josef Meisinger Josef Albert Meisinger (14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was an SS functionary in Nazi Germany. He held a position in the Gestapo and was a member of the Nazi Party. During the early phases of World War ...
,
Max Daume Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...
, all four high-ranking Nazi officials of occupied Warsaw #: Trial took place in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
from 17 December 1946 to 24 February 1947 #: Sentences: Fischer, Meisinger, Daume — Death, executed, Leist — 8 years, sentences carried out. # The trial of
Rudolf Höss Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving comm ...
, one of the commanders of the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
#: Trial took place in Warsaw from 11 March to 29 March 1947 #: Sentence: Death, executed # The trial of 40 staff of the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
(including one of the commanders,
Arthur Liebehenschel Arthur Liebehenschel (; 25 November 1901 – 24 January 1948) was a commandant at the Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camps during the Holocaust. After the war, he was convicted of war crimes by the Polish government and executed in 1948. ...
). #: Trial (also known as the First Auschwitz Trial, with the
Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials The Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, known in German as ''der Auschwitz-Prozess'', or ''der zweite Auschwitz-Prozess,'' (the "second Auschwitz trial") was a series of trials running from 20 December 1963 to 19 August 1965, charging 22 defendants unde ...
known as the Second Auschwitz Trial) took place in Kraków from 24 November to 16 December 1947 #: Sentences: 23 death sentences (21 executed), 16 imprisonments from
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
s to 3 years of imprisonment, one person (
Hans Münch Hans Wilhelm Münch (14 May 1911 – 6 December 2001), also known as The Good Man of Auschwitz, was a German Nazi Party member who worked as an SS doctor during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1943 to 1945 in German occup ...
)
acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
for humane behavior and enabling the survival of numerous patients. # The trial of
Albert Forster Albert Maria Forster (26 July 1902 – 28 February 1952) was a Nazi German politician, member of the SS and war criminal. Under his administration as the ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' of Danzig-West Prussia (the other German-ann ...
, governor of
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia (german: Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany created on 8 October 1939 from annexed territory of the Free City of Danzig, the Greater Pomeranian Voivodship (Polish Corridor), ...
#: Trial took place in
Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
from 5 April – 29 April 1948 #: Sentence: Death, executed # The trial of
Josef Bühler Josef Bühler (16 February 1904 – 22 August 1948) was a state secretary and deputy governor to the Nazi Germany-controlled General Government in Kraków during World War II. Background Bühler was born in Bad Waldsee into a Catholic family ...
, state secretary and deputy governor to the
General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...
#: Trial took place in Kraków from 17 June – 5 July 1948 #: Sentence: Death, executed The first two of the above trials (of Greiser and Göth) were completed before the sentence was passed by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg on 30 September 1946. The Tribunal also declared that the
General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...
was a criminal institution.


See also

*
Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...


References


Further reading

*Tadeusz Cyprian, Jerzy Sawicki, ''Siedem procesów przed Najwyższym Trybunałem Narodowym'', Poznań 1962 *Various authors. ''W czterdziestolecie powołania Najwyższego Trybunału Narodowego. Materiały posiedzenia naukowego 20 I 1986'' (''Forty years after the foundation of the Highest National Tribunal. Papers of a scientific session on Jan 20th 1986''), Główna Komisja Badania Zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Polsce, Warszawa 1986 *David M. Crowe, ''The Holocaust: Roots, History, and Aftermath'', Westview Press, 2008,
Google Print, pp. 423–425
*
Mark A. Drumbl Mark A. Drumbl is a scholar of international law and Class of 1975 Alumni Professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the professional graduate law school of Washington an ...
: ''Germans are the Lords and Poles are the Servants. The Trial of Arthur Greiser in Poland, 1946.'' In:
Kevin Jon Heller Kevin Jon Heller is a scholar of international law, who is a professor of law at the Australian National University and has also taught at the University of Amsterdam, SOAS, University of London, and Melbourne Law School. Heller was described by o ...
, Gerry J. Simpson (Hrsg.): ''The Hidden Histories of War Crimes Trials.'' Oxford University Press 2013, . * Andrzej Rzepliński
''Prosecution of Nazi Crimes in Poland in 1939-2004.''
(PDF) March 2004


External links


"Chronicles of Terror" testimony database - materials used by Supreme National Tribunal in trials from 1946-1948
{{Authority control 1946 establishments in Poland 1948 disestablishments in Poland Trials in Poland World War II war crimes trials