Weise, Gottfried

Unfortunately, the actions of Federal German - as they are graphically demonstrated by Manfred Kohler and borne out by the experiences of many defense counsels in such trials - allow only the opposite conclusion, namely that the trial of Gottfried Weise is nothing short of a model for thousands of other cases. Only the facts that Herr Weise had many courageous friends who helped him every minute of their spare time and that his trial continued into a time where new evidence has... 

During the trial against Gottfried Weise in 1988 in Wuppertal (Germany), gas chambers were not mentioned, cf. the contribution of C. Jordan in this book (editor s note). 

The case of Gottfried Weise reveals that these were but hollow phrases and empty promises. 

The Case of Gottfried Weise an Example of Reversal Into Impracticability... 

In 1988, pensioner Gottfried Weise was convicted in Wuppertal on five counts of murder. An examination of the Wuppertal trial reveals all the characteristics identified in 1979 by Professor Dr. Bockenforde as being signs of a reversal into impracticability ... 

Overview of the Background, Course and Consequences of the Wuppertal Trial of Gottfried Weise... 

On June 7, 1985, the Public Prosecutor s Office of Cologne charged the pensioner Gottfried Weise, resident in Solingen, bom in Waldenburg on March 11, 1921, with having committed murder in the concentration camp Auschwitz. 

No. 4 The name Gottfried Weise and the nicknames the Blind Man or Sleepy are absolutely unfamiliar to me. 

The most important discrepancy is to be found in Freimark s statements regarding the time when he was ill with typhus. It is undisputed, for example, that Gottfried Weise was not detached to Auschwitz until late May 1944, and spent the first eight weeks with Bookkeeping for Prisoners Funds, which office was located outside the camp. The defense was able to prove this on the basis of two documents. Further, the witness Freimark had stated earlier that he had contracted a severe case of stomach typhus in late May 1944. 

A motion for retrial was filed in the case of Gottfried Weise in late 1992. On April 22, 1994, the District Court in Monchengladbach dismissed this motion, which decision was communicated to the prisoner in late May. Weise s attorney objected to this dismissal. The new evidence on which the motion for retrial is based was, in part, ignored completely in the dismissal and, in part, rejected for technical or insufficient reasons. 

Gottfried Weise s attorney has been pointing out for years that the lab reports do not disprove Fre-imark s illness in May 1944, but that rather they are powerful evidence for the correctness of this initial statement. Strangely enough, none of the authorities whose duty it is to ensure that justice is done has shown the slightest interest. Now, however, this evidence - which is already of great consequence by itself - is solidly supported by further new evidence. These further evidential pillars resulted from statements of Freimark s which were no less unknown to the Wuppertal Court than the complete sequence of lab reports, which therefore also constitute new evidence. 

The murders which are imputed to Gottfried Weise by that part of the verdict that has become final were allegedly committed in, i.e., near the old disinfestation facilities (Gas Disinfestation I) which the Court imprecisely and incorrectly termed Personal Effects Warehouse I (Ejfektenlager i)49 This is where witness Jakob Freimark claims to have observed them ... 

In the Wuppertal trial, witness Freimark repeatedly declared that the accused was indelibly impressed on his memory as Gottfried . This was rather surprising even then, for in his earlier testimony - those samples of it which were known at that time - Freimark had never mentioned Gottfried Weise, the man who was allegedly so indelibly impressed on his recollections. 

So was that Gottfried - Of course, who else should it have been, if not that terrible son-of-a-bitch Sure, he was the one - Incidentally, his surname was Weise. - Oh really Well, I still think of him by his first name. 

In its every stage, the Weise Trial entailed problems which most likely did not arise only in this case, but in other, similar trials as well. What happened and continues to happen in the case of Gottfried Weise, therefore, is a general model of the legal problems created by the rescission of the statute of limitations. 

No doubt Eyrich perceived the generation problem first and foremost with respect to the evaluation of events of the war - the absolute necessity to obey orders, etc. But even in the case of Gottfried Weise, who is charged with completely private murders committed on a whim, as it were, and by no means in compliance with any orders, - even in this case the younger judges were quite unable to properly conceive of many things. 

In 1979, journalist Fromme predicted that our naturally evolved German legal traditions would be silently restored in about the year 2000 . Isn t it high time that Bockenforde s expert judicial report is finally concluded with the analysis of a concrete legal case 83 No one seems to have the courage to grasp the nettle, neither in the matter of principle nor in the individual case of Gottfried Weise. In this case, a retrial had already been requested in late 1992. A few months later,... 

How long is this playing-l or-timc going to continue After two previous strokes, Gottfried Weise has just undergone a massive operation for cancer, followed by pneumonia, and has suffered a third stroke. To some, a natural solution might seem the easier way out. 

Gottfried Weise is sitting in prison with a life sentence, because the German judge Klein didn t consult the evidence. 

Dr. Claus Jordan died in June 21, 1995, four days before his 70. birthday. He didn t have the privilege to finish his efforts and to see Gottfried Weise, whom he always considered to be a innocent man, back in freedom. But at the very least, he joined the ranks of those being prosecuted for their contributions and work for justice In March 1995, the Tubingen judge Stein started judicial... 

With this contribution, his work on behalf of Gottfried Weise s freedom and honor, Dr. Claus Jordan courageously fought for the truth, as he always did. 

Gottfried Weise was released from detention on a mercy plea in April 1997 because he was severely ill (cancer). He died in the spring of 2000. 

Rudiger Gerhard (ed.), Der Fall Gottfried Weise, 2nd ed., Turmer, Berg 1991... 

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