Collection GB 1556 WL 1603 - Mueller, Franz Josef: War crimes trial case papers

Identity area

Reference code

GB 1556 WL 1603

Title

Mueller, Franz Josef: War crimes trial case papers

Date(s)

  • 1960s (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 file

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Josef Mueller was born in 1910, the 18th of 19 children of David and Rosa Mueller in Mosbach, Baden Wuerttemberg. After school he trained as a bookbinder and picture frame-maker, in which trade he worked, interspersed with periods of unemployment, until he joined the SS in 1936, where he commenced working full-time for the organisation in Heidelberg. He married Rosa Krauss on 22 March 1937 and they had 2 children. He joined the Waffen SS in September 1939. After sustaining an injury fighting in Russia, he was sent to work for the Chief of Police in Cracow, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Krueger. He was involved with 'resettling' Jews and became commandant of the work camps at Plaszow. It was during this period that he committed war crimes.

On 5 March 1944 he was captured by the Russians near Lublinca. He stayed in various POW camps in Nowosibirsk, Moscow and Stalinowgorsk. According to the embassy of the USSR in West Germany, he was sentenced to 25 years hard labour in 1949 for 'Crimes against the Soviet people during the war by Fascist Germany'. On 14 October 1955 he was released and he returned to Germany, where he lived with his family in Limbach, until re-arrest by the German authorities in 1960. He was tried and convicted of murder, incitement and accessory to murder on numerous counts, in August 1961. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but released on parole in November 1970.

Repository

Archival history

GB 1556 WL 1603 1960s collection 1 file Mosbach Scwurgericht, Baden-Württemberg

Josef Mueller was born in 1910, the 18th of 19 children of David and Rosa Mueller in Mosbach, Baden Wuerttemberg. After school he trained as a bookbinder and picture frame-maker, in which trade he worked, interspersed with periods of unemployment, until he joined the SS in 1936, where he commenced working full-time for the organisation in Heidelberg. He married Rosa Krauss on 22 March 1937 and they had 2 children. He joined the Waffen SS in September 1939. After sustaining an injury fighting in Russia, he was sent to work for the Chief of Police in Cracow, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Krueger. He was involved with 'resettling' Jews and became commandant of the work camps at Plaszow. It was during this period that he committed war crimes.

On 5 March 1944 he was captured by the Russians near Lublinca. He stayed in various POW camps in Nowosibirsk, Moscow and Stalinowgorsk. According to the embassy of the USSR in West Germany, he was sentenced to 25 years hard labour in 1949 for 'Crimes against the Soviet people during the war by Fascist Germany'. On 14 October 1955 he was released and he returned to Germany, where he lived with his family in Limbach, until re-arrest by the German authorities in 1960. He was tried and convicted of murder, incitement and accessory to murder on numerous counts, in August 1961. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but released on parole in November 1970.

Deposited by Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen.

Papers of Josef Mueller, 1960s, came about as a result of research into the events that took place in Plaszow concentration camp, in particular the crimes and testimony of Josef Mueller, one of the former commandants. The papers consist of the trial judgement, a transcript of his interrogation and various statements in the case against Mueller. There are also numerous statements from Mueller, acting as a witness in the trials of other defendants. All of the records are copies from the main repository for war crimes trials records at Ludwigsburg. Many of the names refererred to in the records have been deleted for reasons of data protection.

Arranged in chronological order.

Open

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

German and English

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.

Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

April 2008 Administration of justice Concentration camps Humanitarian law Legal procedure Mueller , Franz Josef , b 1910 , member of Schutzstaffel Plaszow concentration camp SS x Schutzstaffel Trials War crimes War crime trials World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Wars (events)

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Deposited by Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers of Josef Mueller, 1960s, came about as a result of research into the events that took place in Plaszow concentration camp, in particular the crimes and testimony of Josef Mueller, one of the former commandants. The papers consist of the trial judgement, a transcript of his interrogation and various statements in the case against Mueller. There are also numerous statements from Mueller, acting as a witness in the trials of other defendants. All of the records are copies from the main repository for war crimes trials records at Ludwigsburg. Many of the names refererred to in the records have been deleted for reasons of data protection.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Arranged in chronological order.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

German and English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wiener Library

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area