The defendant Lenczewski, since he acted under the influence of Stefanowicz, who is mentally greatly superior to him, will receive a sentence of 8 years in a penal camp, and the period of custody for investigation will be included in this term.

Findings

Both defendants are ethnic Poles, were formerly Polish citizens, and on 1 September 1939 resided in the former Republic of Poland.

Both defendants reported for work and were assigned to work in Berlin; Lenczewski in April 1941 in a chocolate factory, Stefanowicz in January 1942 at the Neukoelln hospital.

Of the two defendants, Stefanowicz makes a much more intelligent and bold impression. He belongs to the Polish intelligentsia, which is the stronghold of the Polish spirit of resistance. Consequently in March 1942 shortly after he began his work, he left his place of work and attempted to flee to Denmark. He was arrested in Flensburg, however, and after 2 months in a labor reformatory camp he was returned to his place of work in Berlin. There he was noted for his anti-German attitude. According to his own statement, the nurses threatened that his attitude would bring him into the concentration camp one of these days. It was Stefanowicz who persuaded the codefendant Lenczewski, who is nearly 2 years younger and was at the time the deed was committed barely 18 years old, to leave his place of work and escape with him to Switzerland in order to live a more comfortable life there. They agreed to escape on 2 August 1942.

On that day they left Berlin and went via Augsburg and Innsbruck to Landeck/Tyrol. From there they went on foot toward the Swiss border, with the intention of crossing the border secretly. In the mountains, however, they suffered from bad weather, and on 6 August 1942 they were arrested by a customs patrol in See (Tyrol), very close to the Reich border.

The prosecution assumes that the defendants had the intention of joining the Polish Legion. Both defendants, however, have denied this from the beginning and maintain that they merely wanted to get better working conditions in Switzerland. The assumption of the prosecution is doubtless supported by the fact that members of the former Polish State who wanted to join the legion have frequently been arrested at the border under similar circumstances. On the other hand, no evidence has been presented that the defendants were in contact with such circles. As for their personality, neither of them gives an impression of a fighter but rather an effeminate one, and the fact that they merely wanted to go to Switzerland in order to live a better life there, could not be disproved.

Nevertheless, as Poles, both of them have harmed the interests of the German Reich by their conduct. For they were assigned to work in the Reich, and in total warfare any loss in this regard harms the interests of the Reich. They were aware of this fact, especially since they intended to remain in Switzerland permanently and thus to deprive the Reich of their work for the entire duration of the war (crime under art. 1, par. 3 of the Regulation on Administration of the Penal Law against Poles and Jews in the Incorporated Eastern Territories of 4 December 1941 (Reichsgesetzblatt 1, p. 759)).

The law provides the death penalty for this offense, as a rule. Only in less severe cases can a prison sentence be imposed. The case of the defendant Stefanowicz is not a less severe case. As already emphasized, he belongs to the Polish intelligentsia, which is the stronghold of the spirit of resistance. From the very beginning he failed to adapt himself to the order prevailing in the Reich and once before made an unsuccessful attempt to escape to Denmark. He is also responsible for the fate of his codefendant Lenczewski, to whom he is mentally far superior. He was therefore given the death sentence. On the other hand, in the case of the defendant Lenczewski, who did not make a very independent impression during the trial, who was very young at the time the deed was committed, and who succumbed to the influence of his mentally superior friend, a sentence of 8 years in a penal camp was considered sufficient. The period of custody for investigation was included in this term.

Under the law, the defendants have to bear the costs of the trial, since they have been convicted.