Sondergericht Litzmannstadt Special Court Litzmannstadt Sąd Specjalny w Łodzi (Sygn.196)

The Special Court (Sondergericht) was established on Sept. 22 1939, when the first group of judges arrived in Łódź, headed by the Director of the national court, Dr. Artur Welz. The Sondergericht judged economic cases, political cases (e.g. possession of a weapon, criticism of the Nazi regime, radio monitoring, contacts with P.O.W.s, assistance to the persecuted), as well as crimes against good morals. The Sondergericht covered the area of Łódź and neighboring counties. Its main objective was to adjudicate in cases concerning crimes against the state and regime. There was no appeal against the verdicts. This collection consists of files of the Special Court in Łódź, as well as the files of the Landgericht (District Court) and Amtsgericht. Along with the court files there are also reference files of the prosecutor. The collection consists of selected files: all cases related to the resistance movement have been copied, as well as those related to political activity, religious activity and, widely considered Jewish matters. Other cases were illustrated as examples in some dozen cases. Thus, for example,. illegal trade, illegal slaughter, illegal manufacture of vodka and other crimes of economic character represented by Polish or German defendants, as well as individual Jews (if they participated in those cases). The selection of cases in various categories is of a typical character. Copyright Holder: Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych