Justice

Trials of former fascist officials are much alike. Most are depressing, for the trials are chiefly a formality for the record.

Most of the killers are foredoomed by their past and have the apathy of the doomed. But once in a while the bravado of a political prisoner creates drama. From Rome, TIME Correspondent William Rospigliosi reported one such drama: Into the courtroom of Rome's old uni versity, where students once faced examiners, strode Peter Koch (an assistant to Rome's chief of police Pietro Caruso), handcuffed but smiling. He took his place behind the wooden rail of the prisoner's dock. His tall figure with its small, cruel head was momentarily silhouetted against the light as the carabinieri removed his handcuffs. Koch let his gaze wander with an air of unconcerned, conscious superiority over the crowd. The characteristic twist on the left side of his mouth seemed to mock the spectators.

Koch had once said: "Whenever I meet anyone, I prepare the look I am going to give him. Seems silly, does it? You'd be surprised how big strong men shuffle in their shoes, look down and feel at a dis advantage by a timely steeling of my eyes. Then if my eyes softened, they softened too and out came their story.

Psychology and personality are at the root of all scientific criminal investigation.

There are whole volumes on this subject." But this morning, when Koch saw across the room the black-clad figures of three widows of men he had tortured and sent to death, he suddenly became absorbed in studying a fresco of Sapienza (Wisdom) on the ceiling.

Stern Judges. The judges entered. Four were regular magistrates with stern expressions ; five were representatives of left-wing parties. Koch was called to the bar by the president. He might have been walking into a cafe. The glance he cast at the judges might be meant for a bar tender. He merely nodded curtly in answer to the judge's questions. President Maroni: "Will you answer with something more than gestures?" Koch's voice suddenly rang out loud and firm, almost triumphant: "I was born at Benevento in south Italy 27 years ago. I was in Leghorn waiting to sail to Sardinia with the Second Grenadier Regiment when Badoglio surrendered."

Maroni: "Why did you side with the Germans? Why didn't you hide to avoid German service as so many of your brother officers afterwards persecuted by you did?"

Koch: "My father was a German."

Maroni: "But you were Italian, why didn't you side with Italy?"

Koch: "You know and I know that for a time there were two Italys. The son of a German, I sided with the Italy which sided with Germany. Many Italians sided with Germany until the moment came to take the rap. That moment is now and here I stand."

Maroni: "I suggest you went beyond what you might have mistakenly considered your duty when you tortured patriots, had their nails pulled off, their teeth torn out, their bodies kicked and blows rained on their heads so that some lost their reason and most are ruined men, finished men with no future."

Koch: "I signed a written statement in jail. What need is there of further questioning?"

Maroni: "We must adhere to judicial procedure."

Koch, raising his voice: "I ask to be confronted with men who say they were my victims."

Maroni: "We cannot confront you with dead men . . . not today. . . . They are in the next world."

Horrible Tortures. The examination of the living witnesses was a rapid affair. First Police Inspector Enrico Morazzini confirmed what he wrote to the court some days ago. Judge Maroni interrupted: "There is no need to read it out. The description of the tortures is too horrible for decent people to hear." Then it was the turn of Cinema Producer Count Luchino, Visconti di Modrone, a witness for the defense.

Maroni: "You were arrested by Koch, held in a cell and finally released?"

The Count: "Correct, except for the ending. Koch never released me. He held me without food or drink for five days in a cell where two other inmates were tied by the wrists to the ceiling."

"With a Clear Conscience." Able Lawyer Federigo Comandini, who had been ordered to defend Koch, jumped up: "We renounce all witnesses for the defense." Public Prosecutor Granata shouted: "With a clear conscience I ask for the death sentence [for Koch] by shooting in the back as a traitor."

Said Defense Lawyer Comandini: "Were it not for Fascism, which encouraged political crime, Koch might have been an honest man. I have a photograph of him when a boy where he has his head on his mother's lap. That is the Koch I am defending. A lad gone astray under a tyranny which encouraged cruelty."

The court withdrew for half an hour. When they returned, the president read out the sentence: "In the name of His Royal Highness Umberto di Savoia, Lieutenant General of the Realm, this court has found Peter Koch a traitor, guilty of collaboration with the enemy. ... It orders the sentence to be published in the official gazetteer and in the Roman press."' When the judge finished, Koch smiled. Newsmen crowded around him. He recognized acquaintances and some of his brother officers. Said Koch to TIME Correspondent William Rospigliosi, whom he had interrogated while Rospigliosi was a political internee: "I am very pleased to see you again. Times have changed, we now smoke American cigarettes."

Rospigliosi: "The important thing is that you repent and face events with the courage which you are already showing."

Koch: "I received absolution yesterday and my morale is always high." Suddenly effusive, Koch said: "I am really pleased to see you."

Be Calm, Be Calm. To an officer who was much moved, Koch said: "You smoke too much, your hands are shaking." The officer: "I am shaking because of all this."

Koch: "Why worry? That's my business and I am calm." Turning to Rospigliosi, Koch added: "Come and see me this afternoon in jail. Have a good lunch. Sorry I can't lunch with you. I must stay with these gentlemen." (He pointed at the carabinieri.) Late that evening Koch saw his fiancee, Tamara, who broke down and wept.

Said Koch: "Be calm, be calm, and above all, be sure that I love you."

Said Tamara: "But I brought this on you by letting myself be caught when I went to buy a pair of shoes from a shoemaker who knew that I knew you. You shouldn't have given yourself up trying to save me."

Next morning, just before stepping into the Black Maria which took him to be executed, Koch said: "I am repentant and very serene. Goodbye, good luck, I won't waver."

Without wavering, he was strapped into a chair, back to the firing squad (see cut).

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