Trial & Follow-up

A report by a survivor from Frankfurt made it possible to initiate investigations against Adolf Rübe. From 5 to 14 December 1949, Rübe appeared as a defendant before the Koblenz Regional Court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, from which he was released prematurely in 1962.

Adolf Rübe was charged with the following crimes, among others:

• Murder of 14 girls for allegedly stealing food and not wearing a "Star of David"
• Murder of four women because they allegedly had relations with members of the Wehrmacht and the killing of three other women
• Murder of a man who allegedly made negative comments about National Socialism
• Murder of 100 Jewish people by asphyxiation in a gas van
• Murder of two children
• Murder of a Jewish man because his apartment was allegedly not clean enough
• Killing of several Jewish people because they allegedly disobeyed Rübe's instructions¹

Interrogation protocol of Adolf Rübe

In the interrogations by the Ludwigsburg public prosecutor's office, Rübe was quite cooperative. He reported in detail about "Aktion 1005" in Maly Trascjanec as well as about the burning three people to death in Blahaǔščyna. In addition, he helped identify other perpetrators of "Action 1005". His willingness to cooperate did not help him much: except for the last crime charge described above, Adolf Rübe was found guilty of murder on all counts. Because of his involvement in at least 436 murders, 26 of which he demonstrably carried out with his own hands, Rübe, who after 1945 described his activities as those of a "judge and executioner", was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Karlsruhe Regional Court on 14 December 1949, from which he was released in 1962.² He died on 23 June 1974 in Karlsruhe, his birthplace.