denazification courts were created by the allies to try members of the ss and other nazi organisations. between 1947 and 1949 these courts initiated proceedings against at least 46 former ss staff at belsen. around half of these were discontinued, mostly because the defendants were considered to have been forced to join the ss. those who were sentenced received prison terms of between four and 36 months or were fined. as the judges decided to count the time the defendants had spent in allied internment towards the sentence, the terms were considered to have already been fully served.