Out of the Activities of the Special Court in Lublin (1939–1944)

Abstract

The article is of a scientific nature. It refers to the activities of the Special Court in Lublin (Sondergericht Lublin) in the years 1939–1944, i.e. one of the German special courts operating in the area of General Government. Investigation of this topic is justified by the lack of even fragmentary findings on that court. Therefore, the purpose of the research was to determine basic facts: what kinds of matters were examined by the Sondergericht; the defendants of what nationality were in majority; what sentences were imposed on the defendants; whether and in what circumstances death penalty was handed down; who presided over the works of the Sondergericht, what judges formed its personnel and what prosecutors took part in the trials before the Sondergericht; where the lawyers involved in the Sondergericht’s works came from; whether the court’s rulings could be set aside by extraordinary means of challenge. The source basis of these considerations are archival materials, literature and the press. On this basis, original, so far unknown findings have been made on the Special Court in Lublin.