War Crimes Trial: Franz Strasser
Creator(s)
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
- Raymond E. Zickel (Subject)
- US Army Air Force, BPR (Producer)
Biographical History
Colonel Raymond Ernst Zickel became a reserve officer in 1922 during World War I, entered service as a major in June 1941, and graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS. He went to England in September 1943, and then to France in August 1944 as commanding officer of the 307th Quartermaster Battalion. After participating in action in northern France, the Rhineland, the Battle of the Bulge, and Germany, Colonel Zickel was assigned to the first military commission to sit at the Dachau camp. He returned to the United States in November 1945 where he practiced as a lawyer. Zickel was on active military duty in California ready to deploy to Korea when he passed away at 51.
Scope and Content
Summary: Austrian Franz Strasser is tried for the murder of Lt E Warren Woodruff and an unknown airman. His testimony is in German. Cpl. Henry Halperin is the interpreter for all witnesses; Sgt. Sessler interprets for Franz Strasser. The six-officer Army Military Commission included Capt. Victor Miles, Lt. Harvey Szanger, and Col. Raymond E. Zickel. Reel 4: Prosecutor reading (incomplete). Commission, defense listening; courtroom views; Strasser testifying (mismatched track; picture goes black). Prosecutor questioning Strasser; pan between defense, prosecution. Pusch testifying (sound is mismatched). Strasser, interpreters hearing verdict, sentenced to hanging. Commissioners leaving; Strasser sitting at table, unemotional.
Note(s)
AAFCS caption sheet available at NARA. For transcript, see NARA RG-153: Records of the JAG (Army), International Affairs Division, War Crimes Branch, Case 8-27. See also Stories 3547-3550, Film ID 2514 and Stories 3551-3554, Film ID 2515 for more footage of this trial.
Subjects
- TRIALS
- WAR CRIMINALS/WAR CRIMES TRIALS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- GERMANY
- SPECTATORS
- COURTS/COURTROOMS
Places
- Dachau, Germany
Genre
- Unedited.
- Film