Testimony of Vinzenz Nohel, 4th September 1945

Vinzenz Nohel was a stoker (brenner) at Hartheim. His testimony, given to the Kriminalpolizei Linz, is one of the earliest gassing accounts given by a 'euthanasia' perpetrator. Its provenance is significant because the statement was given to Austrian police, who were investigating crimes by their own nationals, and the interrogation took place six months earlier than the American military trial that led to Nohel's execution. Austrian police investigations, which have, to my knowledge, been totally ignored by deniers, produced a crucial body of testimony that implicates Aktion Reinhard personnel in 'euthanasia' murders.

The section of the testimony that deals with the gassing procedure has been translated into English and published on pages 7-8 of this paper. A photocopy of the full German text was prepared in 1969 for the trial of Renno, Becker and Lorent at LG Frankfurt, and is reproduced in six parts at these links:

Aussage Nohel 1

Aussage Nohel 2

Aussage Nohel 3

Aussage Nohel 4

Aussage Nohel 5

Aussage Nohel 6

The sixth part contains this crucial testimony concerning the acts of Christian Wirth:

Ein andermal kam ein Transport mit Frauen, welche mit Typhus behaftet waren. Uber Auftrag des Hptm. Wirth wurden 4 Frauen in den roten Raum gebracht und dort von Hptm. Wirth durch Genickschuss erledigt.

Nohel's testimony therefore implicates a major Aktion Reinhard perpetrator in a 'euthanasia' crime, yet the interrogation was not seeking information for Aktion Reinhard proceedings.

Nohel's account therefore needs to be placed alongside the March 1947 affidavit of Gorgass, which also connected Wirth's 'euthanasia' and Aktion Reinhard careers:

Police Captain WIRTH, whom I knew personally and who was administrative director in several Euthanasia institutions, told me late in summer 1941 that he had been transferred by the "foundation" to a Euthanasia institute in the Lublin area.

In conclusion, therefore, there were already strong connections between 'euthanasia' and Aktion Reinhardt in early postwar testimonies, before criminal investigators actually began to look for them.