Dering v Uris The 1964 Libel Case of an Auschwitz Doctor

The case of Dering v Uris was a 1964 English libel suit that brought the horrors of the Holocaust and the medical atrocities of Auschwitz into a London courtroom. Brought by Polish-born doctor Władysław Dering against American author Leon Uris, the trial was described at the time as the first war crimes trial held in Britain, though it was technically a civil suit for defamation.

The Origins of the Dispute

The conflict began when Władysław Alexander Dering, a Polish doctor who had been imprisoned at Auschwitz during World War II, discovered a passage in Leon Uris's bestselling novel Exodus. The novel contained a footnote describing Dering's participation in medical experiments in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Specifically, the text claimed that Dr. Dehring performed 17,000 'experiments' in surgery without anaesthetics.

Dering, who had since established a medical practice in North London and had been appointed an OBE in 1960 for his services in British Somaliland, sued Uris, his British publishers (William Kimber & Co Ltd), and the printers for libel. While the printers settled for £500 and an apology, Uris and the publishers maintained that the claims were substantially true.

The Trial in the High Court

The trial took place between April and May 1964 in the High Court of Justice before Mr Justice Lawton. The legal battle centered on whether Dering had indeed performed experimental operations on prisoners without adequate anaesthesia and whether he had done so under duress.

Dering's Defense

Dering denied carrying out experimental operations. He argued that he removed prisoners' sexual organs at the request of Dr. Schumann, claiming he did so for the benefit of the prisoners' health and because he feared for his life if he refused. He further claimed that of the 17,000 operations he performed, only about 130 were not ordinary operations.

The Prosecution's Evidence

The defense presented witnesses, including prisoner-doctors who had worked with Dering. A pivotal moment in the trial was the testimony of Dr. Adélaïde Hautval, a French psychiatrist who had worked in the camp's hospital. She testified that she had refused to assist the Nazi doctors in their experiments and had not been punished for doing so, directly challenging Dering's claim that refusal would have led to his death.

A Contemptuous Verdict

On May 7, 1964, the jury returned a verdict for Dering, but awarded him contemptuous damages of one halfpenny—the smallest coin in the currency at the time. This verdict was a symbolic gesture by the jury, indicating that while the legal definition of libel may have been met, Dering's character was so diminished that he deserved no real compensation.

Because the defendants had paid a marginally larger token sum of £2 into court, Dering became liable for the defendants' legal costs, which amounted to approximately £25,000 (roughly £442,734 in 2025). Dering died in July 1965, shortly after the trial.

Cultural and Legal Impact

The trial attracted immense media coverage, particularly from The Times, which published extensive testimony. This coverage was so popular that it reportedly increased the newspaper's circulation for the first time since the end of the war. The case also served as the inspiration for Leon Uris's later novel QB VII and its 1974 miniseries adaptation.