War Crimes Trial: Franz Strasser

Summary: Austrian Franz Strasser is tried for the murder of Lt E Warren Woodruff and an unknown airman. His testimony is in German. Cpl. Henry Halperin is the interpreter for all witnesses; Sgt. Sessler interprets for Franz Strasser. The six-officer Army Military Commission included Capt. Victor Miles, Lt. Harvey Szanger, and Col. Raymond E. Zickel. Reel 1: Halperin being sworn as interpreter for the Military Commission hearing the case. Man explains choice, duties of Sgt Sessler, the interpreter for the accused (sound only). MCUs, defense table with attorneys and Sessler; swearing in Franz Strasser; man off camera reading order establishing the six-officer Army Military Commission. MS, Commissioners, including Col. Raymond E. Zickel at far right at 05:01:18. Halperin reading charges in German (sound only). Defense listening to charges; Strasser replying "Not Guilty." Spectators, witness Joseph Pusch testifying (part of sound missing). Colonel Raymond Ernst Zickel became a reserve officer in 1922 during World War I, entered service as a major in June 1941, and graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS. He went to England in September 1943, and then to France in August 1944 as commanding officer of the 307th Quartermaster Battalion. After participating in action in northern France, the Rhineland, the Battle of the Bulge, and Germany, Colonel Zickel was assigned to the first military commission to sit at the Dachau camp. He returned to the United States in November 1945 where he practiced as a lawyer. Zickel was on active military duty in California ready to deploy to Korea when he passed away at 51.