Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The ‘Unusual’ Trial of Former Concentration Camp Guard Bruno Dey

2021; Brill; Volume: 22; Issue: 1-2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1163/15718123-bja10084

1571-8123

Moritz Vormbaum,

Communism, Protests, Social Movements

Abstract This paper discusses the trial against Bruno Dey, who was an ss guard at the concentration camp Stutthof in 1944 and 1945. The accused was 92 years old at the time the trial was opened before a juvenile division of the regional court in Hamburg in 2019. The trial ended with a conviction and a sentence of two years on probation. On the first day of the main hearing, the presiding judge remarked that it was an ‘unusual trial’. This expression is a leitmotif for this paper. The first section explains the historical and legal context of the trial. The paper then provides an account of the opening session, the testimonies of the accused and the witnesses, as well the judgment.