us-005578-irn1004894
type: RecordSet
date: 1987 May 22
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 2
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn1004894
note: Abbreviated transcript with real time code idents available in departmental files.
scope and content: 17:03 President Cerdini resumes the hearing 17:05 Cerdini deposits into the record a magazine article written by Vergès in 1987, presented to the court by the prosecution 17:05 Cerdini calls another witness, Srul Kaplon, to testify, and he presents himself to the court; Mr. Kaplon is a civil party in the suit against Barbie 17:06 On March 23, 1943, the witness was taken by two Gestapo agents to the Hotel Terminus, along with his parents, brother, and sister; there, he was beaten and interrogated by Barbie; he told Barbie that he did not speak German, and Barbie replied that 'all Jews speak German'; Barbie showed him a large group of identity cards and told him that if he could denounce one of the people pictured as a Jew or as a Resistant, he would be freed; he did not, and was beaten; Barbie unleashed a dog to bite him; he was sent to the Montluc prison 17:12 The witness was sent from Montluc to the Fresnes prison, where he spent months and was interrogated by the French authorities; Mr. Kaplon was then sent to Drancy, where he found his brother; they were sent by train to Birkenau; he describes the arrival at Birkenau; he was forced to work in the Jawiszowice coal mine, a few kilometers from Birkenau, as well as working to build a new camp in the Auschwitz complex; he suffered an accident and was taken to the 'revier' (infirmary), and describes his life there 17:18 Mr. Kaplon was meant to be taken to the crematoria, but was saved by another inmate who recognized him from Drancy, and he spent the next several months in a disciplinary kommando; he was sent on a death march to Dachau as the American and Russian armies approached the camps, and then to the Gross Rosen and Muldorf camps before being liberated in May 1945 17:22 The witness attempts to describe life in Auschwitz, and explains that twenty members of his family were killed in concentration camps 17:24 President Cerdini asks the witness whether he was involved in the Resistance prior to his arrest, and he r…
title: Barbie Trial -- Day 10 -- Two victims testify