Survivors of Nazi Camp Praise Verdict

When Abraham Secemski heard the name of Nazi commandant Josef Schwammberger on a Chicago radio station in 1987, the Holocaust survivor had already spent 43 years trying to forget his tormentor.

In 1943 and 1944, Secemski was imprisoned at Przemysl, one of two Nazi forced-labor camps that Schwammberger operated in Poland. There, Secemski--then 19--watched the commandant kill scores of Jews. His brother, father and three uncles were executed by Schwammberger’s guards. On one occasion, Schwammberger struck Secemski in the face with a whip.

That is what Secemski thought about when a radio announcer said the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles was seeking survivors who had witnessed Schwammberger’s atrocious acts. Secemski was reluctant to discuss his memories, but he says he felt obligated to come forward.

On Monday, five years and months of testimony later, the 68-year-old retired fashion designer heard Schwammberger’s name on the radio again. This time, the announcer said a panel of German judges had believed the testimony of Secemski and about 40 other witnesses, finding Schwammberger guilty of involvement in more than 700 murders and sentencing him to life in prison.

“You don’t know how elated I was. I’m not committed to drink. But I think I’ll have a couple of shots,” Secemski, who lives in San Diego, said at a news conference at the Wiesenthal Center. “The devil has a lot to learn from that particular man.”

The verdict was cause for celebration at the center, which publicly targeted Schwammberger in 1987 as one of the 10 most wanted Nazi war criminals. After Schwammberger was arrested in Argentina later that year, the center arranged for Secemski and three other survivors to travel to Buenos Aires. Their testimony, including firsthand accounts of numerous murders, helped facilitate the former S.S. officer’s extradition to Germany.

Some of those survivors also testified at Schwammberger’s trial, which began in Stuttgart last June.

Martin Mendelsohn, the center’s legal counsel, said that Secemski and Leon Gottdank, a witness who lives in Los Angeles, were singled out by Chief Judge Herbert Luippold, who delivered the verdict Monday. According to Mendelsohn, Luippold said the panel was especially moved by Secemski’s “eloquent and forceful” testimony about the murder of a rabbi on Yom Kippur, the most sacred of Jewish holidays.

Secemski recalled that on that evening, as he and several other men marched into camp after a hard day’s work, Schwammberger ordered the group to form a circle around him. He then issued a blunt order: “Rabbi Frankel, step out!” When the man complied, Schwammberger shot him.

“He fell like a piece of log,” Secemski said Monday. Later, Secemski learned that Schwammberger had accused the rabbi of sabotage because he had told some people not to eat that day. Jews are required to fast on Yom Kippur.