Mr. Wooleyhan: May the witness be excused, Your Honor?
Presiding Judge Marshall: The witness may be excused.
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT ROTHAUG CONCERNING THE CASE OF FATHER LUITPOLD SCHOSSER[545]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
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Dr. Koessl (counsel for defendant Rothaug): I want to talk to you about the Schosser case, S-c-h-o-s-s-e-r. The Schosser case is mentioned in the English transcript on page 1743 by the witness Ferber;[546] and in the English transcript on page 3021 through 3066 by the witness Schosser. Witness, in this case the main charge against you is that you displayed special initiative. In addition to that the charge is made repeatedly that Schosser was prosecuted because he buried a Pole. Between what proceedings does one have to distinguish when the name Schosser is mentioned?
Defendant Rothaug: This is a case of two proceedings, in fact. The first case had to do with the funeral of a Pole, but I want to state right now that naturally the funeral itself was not considered a punishable offense. That is the more recent case. Then, another proceeding is of importance here which has to do with the sermon on a Sunday in church. That case, the first case, in connection with the funeral of a Pole did not lead to a main trial or a sentence, but this sermon on the Sunday did. Those are the first things between which one has to distinguish, because in this connection the charge is made that I had started or initiated the second case after I had failed with the first one; and my aim is now to prove to the Court by submitting evidence, submitting documents, that I was not the initiator in this case, and in general, I object against that charge.
Q. Did you also deal with the first case that you find in the file before you? Look at page 6 of the file attached to the main file. It is the case SG-948, from 1942.
A. There are two cases, and it would probably be helpful to mention the file designations to avoid confusion. The first case—the case of the funeral of the Pole, if you want to call it that—has the file designation 1-C SG 948, from the year 1942.
Q. What was the cause for that case?