Trial & Follow-up

Georg Heuser was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1963 for multiple joint accessory to murder in 11,000 cases. However, in 1969 he was released from prison. Heuser died before a new trial could be instituted against him at the end of the 1980s.

The then Chief Criminal Counsillor Georg Heuser, who had been in pre-trial detention since his arrest in Koblenz, had to answer for his deeds before the jury court of the regional court in Koblenz from 15 October 1962. When asked about his involvement in live burnings at Blahaǔščyna in November 1943, Heuser stated that he could not remember any details because the execution was none of his business. His testimony in court is summarised as follows:

"He really doesn't know if the people were burned alive. He still maintains that people were shot and then burned. It could be possible that he didn't want to see what happened. After the execution, he thinks, there was a fire. He doesn't know if anyone screamed terribly. He also does not remember whether a stake was rammed into the pile of corpses. He, Harder, didn't do anything; he just stood there.”¹

After the taking of evidence and the trial, Heuser was sentenced on 21 May 1963 to a total of 15 years in prison for multiple joint accessory to murder in 11,000 cases as well as for accessory to manslaughter. He was also deprived of his civil rights for a period of 5 years.²

During his deployment in what is now Belarus, Georg Heuser took part in numerous crimes. The following list shows a selection of the crimes proven or charged with. This list was compiled on the basis of the court decisions of the Koblenz Regional Court of 25 May 1963.³

Winter 1941/42:	Possible responsibility for the shooting of five "Gypsies".⁴
8 February 1942:	Possible participation in the liquidation of the inmates of the Slutsk Ghetto.⁵
8-3 March 1942:	Participation as a gunman in the mass killing of at least 1,000 Belarusian Jews from the Minsk ghetto. Furthermore, Heuser is said to have been responsible for the loading and execution squads in this context.⁶
Early 1942:	Possible involvement in two other mass executions of Belarusian Jews from the Minsk ghetto. Georg Heuser is alleged to have been in charge of the loading and firing squads in the murder of about 2,000 people, and on another occasion in the killing of at least 1,000 Jewish people. At the trial, he was acquitted of this charge.⁷
4 February 1942:	Possible involvement in the shooting of about 100 Jewish people. Georg Heuser is alleged to have ordered this execution. The Koblenz Regional Court acquitted Heuser of this charge due to lack of evidence.⁸
11/26 May 1942 to 9 October 1942:	Heuser's involvement in the murder of Jewish people from Vienna who had been deported to Minsk in 1942. During the shooting of 900 people of the first train on 11 May 1942, Georg Heuser was assigned as a gunman in Blahaǔščyna and killed the victims assigned to him by shooting them in the neck. In his testimony on this deed, Heuser recalled having shot "like an automaton". On 26 May 1942, Georg Heuser participated as a gunman in the murder of Jewish people from a Viennese deportation transport and killed an unknown number of people. In total, the action claimed at least 900 victims. In 1942, Georg Heuser took part in three more transport actions: on 4 and 25 September and on 9 October. On one of these days he supervised the executions, but also took part in the shooting himself. Gas vans were also used during one of these execution actions. Heuser supervised the loading of the Jewish people into the gas vans. During the third execution, Heuser was again active as a gunman. In addition, Heuser is alleged to have organised and carried out five further mass executions of Jewish people deported to Minsk.⁹
28-30 July 1942:	Participation in the "Minsk Ghetto Action": On 28 – 30 July 1942, a major action was carried out against the inmates of the Minsk ghetto, in which at least 9,000 people were murdered near Blahaǔščyna. On 29 July, Heuser belonged to the firing squad and shot an unknown number of Jewish people. When he was relieved at the shooting pits, Georg Heuser is reported to have approached a witness with a pale face and said: "I'm done!"¹⁰
1942/1943:	Possible involvement in the murder of two Jewish artisans in the Maly Trascjanec camp.¹¹
Summer 1943:	Possible involvement in the murder of a Jewish woman accused of intimate relations with a German.¹²

On 12 December 1969, Heuser was released from prison by order of the Koblenz Regional Court. In the 1980s, new allegations were made against Georg Heuser. However, these investigations did not lead to any new charges, since Heuser died in early 1989.¹³

Responsible for content: Frank Wobig

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_{¹ LG Koblenz: Lfd-Nr. 552, JuNSV Bd. XIX. pp. 229 - 234.}
_{² Cf. ibid., p.165.}
_{³ Cf. ibid., pp. 205-244.}
_{⁴ Cf. ibid., pp. 225f.}
_{⁵ Cf. ibid., 217f.}
_{⁶ Cf. ibid., pp. 205-208.}
_{⁷ Cf. ibid., pp. 207f.}
_{⁸ Cf. ibid., pp. 208f.}
_{⁹ Cf. ibid., pp. 209-214.}
_{¹⁰ ibid. pp. 214-216.}
_{¹¹ Cf. ibid., pp. 226f.}
_{¹² Cf. ibid., pp. 227f.}
_{¹³ Cf. Matthäus, Georg Heuser - Routinier des sicherheitspolizeilichen Osteinsatzes, in: Mallmann/Gerhard (Hrsg.): Karrieren der Gewalt. Nationalsozialistische Täterbiographien, pp.119-120.}