Chairman: OLGR. Dr Pfaundler

Assessor: Dr Sternbach.

Public prosecutor: Dr Riccabona

Secretary: Dr Gög1.

Representative of the French Directorate of Justice; Capt Hinsberger

Defence counsel: Dr Kellner, candidate lawyer.

Defendant: Franz Wolf, Federal Railway Secretary, 46 years old, resident in Innsbruck-Wilten.

Facts: The 46-year-old former federal railway secretary Franz Wolf from Innsbruck-Wilten has been a member of the NSDAP since 23 May 1938 with the number 7.295.000 and became block leader in the Wilten-Ost local group in August 1938, cell leader of the NSDAP in 1941 and was also a member of the SA since 1942. His wife, sister and brother-in-law were also party members. Wolf lived in the "Riesen Haymon" inn in Wilten and repeatedly reported the innkeeper Heinrich Pfeifer to the local group leader about political matters. He told him: "This black brood must be removed and reported to the local group leader that Pfeifer had not put up flags on Hitler's birthday and had displayed "cynical behaviour completely unworthy of a businessman" at party meetings; moreover, the "Riese Haymon" was a black stronghold and stomping ground for the black brothers and he urged him to take remedial action. Following repeated complaints from the block leader, the restaurant was closed on 1 April 1943 and Pfeifer's licence was revoked in March 1945 for political unreliability. The local group leader Machek, who frequented the "Riesen Haymon" a lot and was not rebellious towards the landlord, once said: "Pfeifer, what's with you and the wolf, he's always making reports. Why don't you get along?"

Responsibility: Admits at the outset that he used to work at the Free trade union and then at the Vaterländischen Front to have been. He had been an SA man from 1942 to 1944. Asked by the presiding judge why he had made the charges against Pfeifer, Wolf explained that this had been done on the orders of the then local group leader Feuerstein, to whom he then talked his way out during the further interrogation. Incidentally, he then had to admit that he had filed the various charges against Pfeifer. What was new was that Wolf also reported Pfeifer because there had been singing in Pfeifer's pub on the day of mourning for Stalingrad. He had not intended that his complaint should cause serious damage to Pfeifer.

Witness testimony: Innkeeper Pfeifer confirmed as a witness that he had suffered economic damage as a result of the closure and the subsequent revocation of his licence due to Wolf's reports. A flag was not flown on Hitler's birthday because the window frames were under reconstruction. The flagging of the building was the responsibility of the caretaker.

Another witness described the defendant as the "chequer of the whole Haymongasse", because Wolf ran to the local group with everything he thought was worth reporting.

Adjournment: By decision of the People's Court, the trial was adjourned indefinitely for the purpose of hearing further witnesses, obtaining new files and conducting further enquiries with the criminal investigation department.