I am looking for a particular court transcript from the trials held in
British occupied Austria after WWII.  How can I obtain court
transcripts?

Hello berniemarlene,

So far as I can tell, there were two kinds of post-war trials held in
British-occupied Austria: in British military courts and in Austrian
Volksgerichte (People's Courts).  I will provide an answer as to both
kinds of proceedings.

The records for the British military trials are found among the War
Crimes Papers of the Judge Advocate General's Office, located at the
UK Public Records Office at Kew.

"War Crimes of the Second World War: Military Records Information 27"
[under heading "5. War Crimes Trials in Europe"]
Public Record Office
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/Leaflets/ri2027.htm

"Series details for WO 235 [Summary]"
Public Record Office
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk//DisplayCatalogueDetails.asp?CATID=13294&CATLN=3&Highlight=&DTN=2&ACCESSMETHOD=4&EncodedRef=WO%25%24%40%2A%28%21%4020%25%24%40%2A%28%21%40235%25%24%40%2A%28%21%40%25%24%40%2A%28%21%40%25%24%40%2A%28%21%40%25%24%40%2A%28%21%40%25%24%40%2A%28%21%40

"How to see the Records"
Public Record Office
http://www.pro.gov.uk/research/see-records.htm

As for People's Court trials in the British zone of Austria (in Graz
and Leoben), it would help immensely if you are fluent in German.  If
not, I would recommend that you obtain the assistance of someone who
knows both German and English.

With that said, the records of these proceedings are located at the
Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, the state archive for the Steiermark,
where Graz and Leoben are located.  The archive also has an extensive
publication about these proceedings online.

"Martin F. Polaschek, Im Namen der Republik Österreich! Die
Volksgerichte in der Steiermark 1945 bis 1955. (Veröffentlichungen des
Steiermärkischen Landesarchives, Band 23). Graz 1998."
Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv
http://www.stmk.gv.at/verwaltung/stla/publikat/vstla/vstla23/vstla23kurz.htm
[The section entitled "Literatur- und Quellenverzeichnis"
(Bibliography and Primary Sources) notes that this archive contains
the "Akten" (files) for these cases.]

"Das Informationsangebot im Überblick" (Avalaible Information in
Overview)
Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv
http://www.stmk.gv.at/verwaltung/stla/benutz/uebersicht.stm

Here is some additional material in English on the Austrian People's
Courts:

"War Crime Trials in Austria", section on "'People's Court' Tribunals
(1945-1955)" (Contribution of Winfried R. Garscha and Claudia
Kuretsidis-Haider, presented at the 21st Annual Conference of the
German Studies Association (GSA) in Washington, September 25th - 28th,
1997)
Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes (DÖW)
(Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance)
http://www.doew.at/thema/thema_alt/justiz/nachkriegforsch/warcrime.html

I hope that the information I've provided will be helpful to you.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

british occupied zone austria trials
british occupied austria trials "war crimes"
"people's courts" "war crimes" graz
volksgerichte graz ns