the SS doctor Franz Lucas, who initially denied having participated in selections, Baretzki stated, "I was not blind when Dr. Lucas made selections on the ramp. ... Five thousand men he sent to the gas [chambers] in half an hour, and today he wants to stand as a savior." Baretzki said that Lucas changed his behavior during the final months of the war only when it was clear that Germany would lose. As a result, other witnesses came forward stating that Lucas had selected inmates to live or die. Lucas eventually admitted having done so on four occasions, but on orders and against his personal conviction. The court found that he had participated in murder. Later life Baretzki also testified against , who was in charge of the propaganda department at Auschwitz. When he was dismissed from a government post in education following public outcry, Knittel sued the government to be reinstated. Called as a witness, Baretzki testified that Knittel had said that Jewish women and children had to be murdered because they were of an inferior race. According to Baretzki, "We learned how to murder from Herr Knittel's lectures". While in prison, he helped Langbein with his research into the camp. Baretzki told him he hoped Auschwitz would never happen again. According to Langbein, he accepted his guilt and said that serving jail time was the only thing he could do for the prisoners he had murdered. Baretzki said he only appealed his sentence due to pressure from his fellow defendants, on whom he was financially dependent for his legal fees. The appeal failed, and Baretzki committed suicide at a hospital in Bad Nauheim on 21 June 1988. References Notes Citations Bibliography 1919 births 1988 suicides Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Military personnel from Chernivtsi Bukovina-German people German people of German-Romanian descent German people convicted of murder Romanian people convicted of murder German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Romanian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Nazis who committed suicide in prison custody Prisoners who died in German detention Romanian emigrants to Germany Romanian Waffen-SS personnel Holocaust perpetrators in Poland People convicted in the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany