Butcher

21

Tel Aviv—1960

The prosecutor emanated righteousness and ratiocination; the truth and nothing but, so help you God. His posture and kinetics were those of an avenging angel of the court.

Witness number 113 for the State in the special investigation of Nazi war crimes before the War Crimes Tribunal of the State of Israel, was a woman of indeterminate age, a witness for the prosecution against one Emil Shtolz, being tried in absentia.

“Anna Kaplan is your name?” She was his witness.

“Yes."

“You also go by the name Anna Purdy, do you not?” he asked, carelessly.

“Alma Purdy, yes."

“Alma Purdy,” he corrected himself. “And would you tell us why you go by this name?"

“So that I keep my identity to myself."

“Yes. I understand. But you don't you want your identity known?"

“I don't like people to know my business. I keep to myself, that's all."

“Isn't it true that you don't use the name Anna Kaplan because it sounds Jewish, and you think the name Alma Purdy sounds less Jewish?"

“Yes."

“Are you an American citizen, Miss Kaplan?"

“Yes."

“By birth or naturalization?"

“I have naturalization papers."

“And what country were you born in?"

“Germany."

“Where were you in 1944?"

“I was in Germany."

“Where specifically in Germany?"

“München."

“And what were you doing there in 1944?"

“I was a patient at the Clinic for the Fatherland."

“What was this clinic?"

“A medical clinic for the care of women and infants."

“Did this clinic provide room and board for pregnant women?"

“Yes. I believe so. Yes."

“And did it provide room and board and medical care for other women who were not pregnant?"

“Yes. In some cases it did."

“Isn't it true that the Clinic for the Fatherland provided free medical care, room and board, and other accommodations for you, Miss Kaplan, when you entered the program?"

“Yes."

“And what service did you perform to obtain this free care the clinic provided for you?"

The witness mumbled an inaudible answer.

“Please speak louder. The question was, what service did you perform to obtain this free care the clinic provided for you?"

“I became pregnant and had a baby."

“Was the father of the child your husband?"

“No."

“Who was the father of your child?"

“I was not told his identity."

“You were required, were you not, to have intercourse with a man you did not know?"

“I ... uh ... was told he was an officer and that he'd met all the requirements set by the clinic."

“What organization maintained and operated this clinic?"

“The SS."

“So in 1944, you became pregnant with the child of a German officer in the Waffen-SS, or so you were led to believe. And then you had a baby?"

“Yes."

“Was this baby healthy and normal?"

“Yes, he—” Suddenly she broke down and began crying. The avenging angel of the court had seen this phenomenon many times and he said nothing. The tribunal and the prosecution waited. After a few moments her tears subsided.

“When your baby was delivered, tell us what happened next."

“They brought my baby son to me and I was allowed to keep him with me for a short while. I kept him with me for four—almost four weeks."

“And after your baby son was four weeks old, approximately, what happened?"

“They took him from me."

“For what purpose, do you know?"

“I don't know.” She blew her nose. “They said I was unfit.” She looked down for a beat, and the prosecutor thought she was going to lose it again, but she straightened and continued. “They said they'd discovered discrepancies in my medical history, and that I was no longer considered a fit mother for participation in the childbirth program."

“Isn't it true that you were forced to enroll in the program, that you'd had no choice in the first place?"

“Yes. They came to me and said it was required."

“Required by law?"

“Required by the SS."

“The SS needed women to be mothers?"

“Yes. They said they needed healthy German women with untainted bloodlines."

“Were you going under the name Anna Kaplan at that time?"

“No."

“What name were you using when you were recruited by the SS?"

“Anna Schumann."

“And you were using this name so that you could pose as an Aryan-born German?"

“Yes. They were rounding up Jews."

“Whose idea was it for you to use the identity of Anna Schumann?"

“It was my parents’ idea. They made me leave home and take the new identity."

“What happened to your parents?"

“The SS took them. After the war I found out they were taken to Treblinka. They both died in the camp."

“And so when the clinic said you were unfit and took your baby, did they elaborate about why you were no longer a fit mother?"

“No."

“Did they tell you they had found out you were Jewish?"

“No. They just said there were discrepancies in my records."

“Were you then released from the clinic?"

“No. They took me to this other house where they said I had to stay."

“And what happened to you while you were at this other house?"

“There was a doctor who had been at the clinic and he came to the house. I was forced to do things with him."

“He had sexual relations with you?"

“Yes."

“Do you know the name of this doctor?"

“Yes. Dr. Shtolz."

“Is this the individual whose photograph I now show you, which is prosecution exhibit 294-L? Let the record show this is a photograph of Emil Shtolz, taken in 1943, and documented by the Ludwigsburg Center for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes. Is this the Dr. Shtolz you knew?"

“Yes."

“Dr. Emil Shtolz had a nickname while he was assistant director for the Clinic for the Fatherland. Do you know what the nickname was?"

“Butcher. The Boy Butcher."

“Do you know why he was called the Boy Butcher?"

“He cut people apart. He was a monster. Because he was very young they called him Boy Butcher."

“And you were forced to do things with this young doctor?"

“Yes."

“What were you forced to do?"

“To have sex."

“Normal sexual relations?"

“No."

“Please explain what you were forced to do."

“Depraved sex acts. Awful things."

“And isn't it true that you were told that if you did not perform these awful sex acts that Dr. Shtolz would hurt your baby?"

“Yes. He said he would kill my baby if I didn't do what he wanted."

“And you believed him?"

“Yes."

Anna Kaplan, witness number 113 for the State in the special investigation of Nazi war crimes before the War Crimes Tribunal of the State of Israel, felt as if she'd been questioned for a week, but she'd been giving testimony for less than an hour.

The prosecution was very experienced, and read exhaustion in her eyes, as well as melancholy, hatred, shame, and pain. He decided to spare her specific enumeration. “How long did Emil Shtolz continue to force you to perform these depraved sexual activities?"

“A few weeks. I...” She shook her head slowly, eyes downcast, as she reached back for the hideous memories,

“...have no way of knowing. A month, perhaps."

“And then what happened?"

“When he grew tired of me he took me back to the clinic. I begged him to show me my baby, to let me hold him before they killed me. I was bound and taken into the room where they performed the experiments and he showed me what had been my baby boy.” The woman started to break down again, her shoulders moving up and down as if she were having trouble breathing. She was able to stop herself somehow and managed to continue.

“He was in a case among some of the others. Some of the other babies. I wouldn't have recognized him but there was a tag on him. The babies had been operated on ... the skulls, you know—their little heads were open."

“Miss Kaplan, you were able to escape from this clinic. How did you manage it?"

“I cut my hand very badly. I tried to break the glass case with my hand and lost a lot of blood. There was a moment while they were sewing me up that nobody was watching and I jumped through the window on the second floor of the clinic. I ran...” She shrugged. “I was found by good people who helped me to hide."

“Are you absolutely certain the photograph you have identified for this tribunal is that of Dr. Emil Shtolz, whom you allege to be responsible for the atrocities you've just described?"

“Yes. That's him."