Hitler's trial began on 26 February 1924 and lasted until 1 April 1924. Lossow acted as chief witness for the prosecution. Hitler moderated his tone for the trial, centering his defence on his selfless devotion to the good of the people and the need for bold action to save them, dropping his usual anti-Semitism. He claimed the putsch had been his sole responsibility, inspiring the title "Führer" or 'leader'. The lay judges were fanatically pro-Nazi and had to be dissuaded by the presiding Judge, Georg Neithardt, from acquitting Hitler. Hitler and Hess were both sentenced to five years in "" ('fortress confinement') for treason. "Festungshaft" was the mildest of the three types of jail sentence available in German law at the time; it excluded forced labour, provided reasonably comfortable cells, and allowed the prisoner to receive visitors almost daily for many hours. This was the customary sentence for those whom the judge believed to have had honourable but misguided motives, and it did not carry the stigma of a sentence of "Gefängnis" (common prison) or "Zuchthaus" (disciplinary prison). In the end, Hitler served only a little over eight months of this sentence before his early release for good behaviour. Prison officials allegedly wanted to give Hitler deaf guards, to prevent him from persuading them to free him.