Belsen Trial Begins

The British Army liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945 and began preparing for a war crimes trial almost immediately. The Belsen Trial began on September 17, 1945, and was one of the first war crimes trials held (the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg would not begin for another two months). 

Forty-five defendants, including Kommandant Josef Kramer, SS Dr. Fritz Klein, and camp guard Irma Grese, were charged with committing war crimes at Bergen-Belsen. Where applicable, defendants were also charged with committing crimes at Auschwitz. Thirty defendants were convicted on at least one charge; eleven received death sentences.