Part II, Section 2-A, III, f, Pages 15 to 24. I wish to quote from Page
3 of the English text, starting with Paragraph III—in the German text it appears in Section 2-A, III, f, at Page 19 of the publication—as follows:
“III. Combatting violations against discipline. (1) In keeping with the equal status of laborers from the original Soviet Russian territory with prisoners of war, a strict discipline must be maintained in quarters and in workshops. Violations against discipline, including refusal to work and loafing at work, will be dealt with exclusively by the secret state police. The less serious cases will be settled by the leader of the guard according to instructions from the state police headquarters with measures as provided for in the appendix. To break acute resistance, the guards shall be permitted to use also physical compulsion against the laborers. But this may be done only for a cogent reason. The laborers should always be informed that they will be treated decently when conducting themselves with discipline and accomplishing good work. In serious cases, that is, in such cases where the measures at the disposal of the leader of the guard do not suffice, the state police is to step in. In such instances, as a rule, severe measures will be taken, that is, transfer to a concentration camp or special treatment. The transfer to a concentration camp is made in the usual manner. In especially serious cases special treatment is to be recommended at the Reich Security Main Office; personal data and the exact facts must be given. Special treatment is hanging. It should not take place in the immediate vicinity of the camp. A certain number of laborers from the original Soviet Russian territory should attend the special treatment; at that time they are to be advised of the circumstances which lead to this special treatment. Should special treatment be required within the camp for exceptional reasons of camp discipline, this must be applied for.”
And I turn now to Page 4 of the text, Paragraph VI; in the German text it appears at Section 2-A, III, f, on Page 20:
“VI. Sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse is forbidden to laborers of the original Soviet Russian territory. Owing to their closely confined quarters they have no opportunity for it . . . For every case of sexual intercourse with German men or women application for special treatment is to be made for male labor from the original Soviet Russian territory, transfer to a concentration camp for female labor.”
And finally from Page 5 of the same document, Paragraph VIII; and in the German text it appears at Section 2-A, III, f, at Page 21:
“VIII. Search. Fugitive workers from the original Soviet Russian territory are to be announced on principle in the German search book. Furthermore, search measures are to be decreed locally. When caught the fugitive must in principle be proposed for special treatment.”
We have said to this Tribunal more than once that the primary purpose of the entire slave labor program was, of course, to compel the people of the occupied countries to work for the German war economy. The decree by which Defendant Sauckel was appointed Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor reveals that the purpose of the appointment was to facilitate acquisition of the manpower required for German war industries, and in particular the armaments industry, by centralizing under Sauckel responsibility for the recruitment and allocation of foreign labor and prisoners of war in these industries. I refer to the document bearing our Number 1666-PS—Exhibit USA-208. This document is a decree signed by Hitler, Lammers, and the Defendant Keitel—and it is dated 21 March 1942—appointing the Defendant Sauckel the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor. I ask that the Court take judicial notice of the original decree, which is published at Page 179, Part I, of the 1942 _Reichsgesetzblatt_; referring to the English text starting at Paragraph 1, as follows, and quoting directly:
“In order to secure the manpower requisite for war industries as a whole and particularly for armaments, it is necessary that the utilization of all available manpower, including that of workers recruited abroad and of prisoners of war, should be subject to a uniform control directed in a manner appropriate to the requirements of war industry, and further that all still incompletely utilized manpower in the Greater German Reich, including the Protectorate as well as in the Government General and in the Occupied Territories, should be mobilized. Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel will carry out this task within the framework of the Four Year Plan, as Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor. In that capacity he will be directly responsible to the Delegate for the Four Year Plan. Section III (Wages) and Section V (Utilization of Labor) of the Reich Labor Ministry together with their subordinate authorities, will be placed at the disposal of the Plenipotentiary General for the accomplishment of his task.”
Sauckel’s success can be measured from a letter which he himself wrote to Hitler on 15 April 1943 and which contained his report on 1 year of his activities. We refer to the Document as Number 407(VI)-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-209. I wish to quote from Paragraphs 6 and 9 on Page 1 of the English text; in the German text it appears at Page 2, Paragraphs 1 and 2:
“After 1 year’s activity as Plenipotentiary for the Allocation of Labor, I can report that 3,638,056 new foreign workers were given to the German war economy from 1 April of last year to 31 March of this year . . . .
“The 3,638,056 are distributed amongst the following branches of the German war economy: Armament, 1,568,801 . . . .”
Still further evidence of this steady use of enslaved foreign labor is found again in a report of the Central Planning Board, to which we have referred so many times this morning and yesterday. Another meeting of this Central Planning Board was held on the 16th day of February 1944; and I refer to our Document Number R-124, which contains the minutes of this meeting of the Central Planning Board and which has been offered in evidence already as Exhibit Number USA-179. And I want, to refer particularly to Page 26, Paragraph 1 of the English text of Document Number R-124. It is at Page 16, in Paragraph 2, of the German text:
“The armament industry employs foreign workmen to a large extent; according to the latest figures—40 percent.”
Moreover, our Document Number 2520-PS, which is in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-197, records that, according to Speer Ministry tabulations, as of 31 December 1944, approximately 2 million civilian foreign workers were employed directly in the manufacture of armaments and munitions (finished products or parts). That, the bulk of these workers had been forced to come to Germany against their will is made clear by Sauckel’s statement, which I previously quoted from Paragraph 3 of Page 11 of Document Number R-124. We quoted it this morning, the statement being that of 5 million foreign workers only 200,000, or less than 200,000, came voluntarily.
The Defendants Sauckel, Speer, and Keitel succeeded in forcing foreign labor to construct military fortifications. Thus, citizens of France, Holland, and Belgium were compelled against their will to engage in the construction of the “Atlantic Wall”; and we refer to our Document Number 556(2)-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-194. This is a Hitler order dated the 8th of September 1942, and it is initialled by the Defendant Keitel. Quoting the order directly:
“The extensive coastal fortifications which I have ordered to be erected in the area of Army Group West make it necessary that in the occupied territory all available workers be assigned and give the fullest extent of their productive capacities to this task. The previous allotment of workers originating from these countries is insufficient. In order to increase it I order the introduction of compulsory labor and the prohibition of changing the place of employment without permission of the authorities in the occupied territories. Furthermore, the distribution of food and clothing ration cards to those subject to labor draft should in the future depend on the possession of a certificate of employment. Refusal to accept an assigned job, as well as leaving the place of work without the consent of the authorities in charge, will result in the withdrawal of the food and clothing ration cards. The GBA”—Deputy General for Arbeitseinsatz—“in agreement with the military commander, as well as the Reich Commissioner, will issue the appropriate decrees.”
Indeed, the Defendant Sauckel boasted to Hitler concerning the contribution of the forced labor program to the construction of the Atlantic Wall by the Defendant Speer’s Organization Todt. And we refer to Document 407(VIII)-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-210. This document is a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler, dated the 17th day of May 1943. And I refer to the second and last paragraph:
“In addition to the labor allotted to the total German economy by the Arbeitseinsatz since I took office, the Organization Todt was supplied with new labor continually . . . . Thus the Arbeitseinsatz has done everything to help make possible the completion of the Atlantic Wall.”
Similarly, Russian civilians were forced into labor battalions and compelled to build fortifications to be used against their own countrymen. In Document 031-PS, in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-171, which is a memorandum of the Rosenberg Ministry, it is stated in Paragraph 1 at Page 1 of that document:
“The men and women in the theaters of operations have been and will be conscripted into labor battalions to be used in the construction of fortifications.”
In addition, the conspirators compelled prisoners of war to engage in operations of war against their own country and its allies. At a meeting of the Central Planning Board, again held on February 19, 1943, attended by the Defendant Speer and the Defendant Sauckel and Field Marshal Milch, the following conversation occurred and is recorded in our Document R-124, at Page 32, Paragraph 5, of the English text. It is Page 20, the last paragraph, of the German text. And I quote it, the Defendant Sauckel speaking:
“Sauckel: ‘If any prisoners are taken, they will be needed there.’
“Milch: ‘We have made a request for an order that a certain percentage of men in the antiaircraft artillery must be Russians. Fifty thousand will be taken altogether, thirty thousand are already employed as gunners. It is an amusing thing that Russians must work the guns.’”
We refer now to Documents Numbers 3027-PS and 3028-PS. They are, respectively, Exhibit USA-211 for 3027 and USA-212 for 3028. They will be found at the very back, I believe, of the document book, in a separate manila folder. They are official German Army photographs; and, if Your Honors will examine Document 3027-PS, the caption states that Russian prisoners of war are acting as ammunition bearers during the attack upon Tschedowo. Document 3028-PS consists of a series of official German Army photographs taken in July and August 1941 showing Russian prisoners of war in Latvia and the Ukraine being compelled to load and unload ammunition trains and trucks and being required to stack ammunition, all, we say, in flagrant disregard of the rules of international law, particularly Article 6 of the regulations annexed to the Hague Convention Number IV of 1907, which provides that the tasks of prisoners of war shall have no connection with the operations of war. The use of prisoners of war in the German armament industry was as widespread and as extensive almost as the use of the forced foreign civilian labor. We refer to Document Number 3005-PS, which is Exhibit USA-213. This document is a secret letter from the Reich Minister of Labor to the presidents of the regional labor exchange offices, which refers to an order of the Defendant Göring to the effect that—I quote now from Paragraph 1 of that document—I am quoting it directly:
“Upon personal order of the Reich Marshal, 100,000 men are to be taken from among the French prisoners of war not yet employed in armament industry and are to be assigned to the armament industry (airplane industry). Gaps in manpower supply resulting therefrom will be filled by Soviet prisoners of war. The transfer of the above-named French prisoners of war is to be accomplished by 1 October.”
The Reich Marshal referred to in that quotation is of course the Defendant Göring.
A similar policy was followed with respect to Russian prisoners of war. The Defendant Keitel directed the execution of Hitler’s order to use prisoners of war in the German war economy. And I now make reference to our Document EC-194, which has Exhibit Number USA-214. This document is also a secret memorandum, according to its label, issued from Hitler’s headquarters on the 31st of October 1941; and I read from Page 1, Paragraphs 1 and 2, quoting it directly as follows:
“The lack of workers is becoming an increasingly dangerous hindrance for the future German war and armament industry. The expected relief through releases from the Armed Forces is uncertain as to the extent and date; its probable extent will by no means correspond to expectations and requirements in view of the great demand.
“The Führer has now ordered that even the manpower of the Russian prisoners of war should be utilized to a large extent by large-scale assignments for the requirements of the war industry. The prerequisite for production is adequate nourishment. Also very small wages to provide a few every-day necessities must be offered with additional premiums for special effort, as the case may be.”
And quoting now from the same document, Paragraph 2, II and III—I am quoting directly:
“II. Construction and armament industry.
“(a) Work units for construction of all kinds, particularly for the fortification of coastal defenses (concrete workers, unloading units for essential war plants).
“(b) Suitable armament factories which are to be selected in such a way that their personnel will consist in the majority of prisoners of war under guidance and supervision (upon withdrawal and other employment of the German workers).
“III. Other war industries.
“(a) Mining as under II (b).
“(b) Railroad construction units for building tracks, _et cetera_.
“(c) Agriculture and forestry in closed units. The utilization of Russian prisoners of war is to be regulated on the basis of the above examples:
“To I. The Armed Forces.
“To II. The Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions and the Inspector General for the German Road System in agreement with the Reich Minister for Labor and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Economic Armament Office). Deputies of the Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions are to be admitted to the prisoner-of-war camps to assist in the selection of skilled workers.”
The Defendant Göring, at a conference at the Air Ministry on the 7th day of November 1941, also discussed the use of prisoners of war in the armament industry. And we refer now to our Document Number 1206-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-215. This document consists of top-secret notes on Göring’s instructions as to the employment and treatment of prisoners of war in many phases of the German war industry. And I wish to quote from Paragraph 1 of Page 1 and Paragraph 4 of Page 2 of the English text and from Paragraph 1, Page 1, and Paragraph 1, Page 3 of the German text, as follows:
“The Führer’s point of view as to employment of prisoners of war in war industries has changed basically. So far a total of 5 million prisoners of war—employed so far 2 million.”
And on Page 2:
“In the interior and the Protectorate it would be ideal if entire factories could be manned by Russian prisoners of war except the employees necessary for directing. For employment in the interior and the Protectorate the following are to have priority:
“(a) At the top, the coal mining industry. Order by the Führer to investigate all mines as to suitability for employment of Russians, in some instances manning the entire plant with Russian laborers.
“(b) Transportation (construction of locomotives and cars, repair shops, _et cetera_). Railroad-repair and factory workers are to be sought out from the prisoners of war. Rail is the most important means of transportation in the East.
“(c) Armament industries. Preferably factories of armor and guns. Possibly also construction of parts for aircraft engines. Suitable complete sections of factories to be manned exclusively by Russians if possible. For the remainder, employment in groups. Use in factories of tool machinery, production of farm tractors, generators, _et cetera_. In emergency, erect in some places barracks for casual workers who are used in unloading units and for similar purposes. (Reich Minister of the Interior through communal authorities.)
“OKW/AWA is competent for procuring Russian prisoners of war. Employment through Planning Board for employment of all prisoners of war. If necessary, offices of Reich commissariats.
“No employment where danger to men or supply exists, that is, factories exposed to explosives, waterworks, powerworks, _et cetera_. No contact with German population, especially no ‘solidarity.’ German worker as a rule is foreman of Russians.
“Food is a matter of the Four Year Plan. Procurement of special food (cats, horses, _et cetera_).
“Clothes, billeting, messing somewhat better than at home where part of the people live in caves.
“Supply of shoes for Russians; as a rule wooden shoes, if necessary install Russian shoe repair shops.
“Examination of physical fitness in order to avoid importation of diseases.
“Clearing of mines as a rule by Russians; if possible by selected Russian engineer troops.”
The Defendant Göring was not the only one of these defendants who sponsored and applied the policy of using prisoners of war in the armament industry. The Defendant Speer also sponsored and applied this same policy of using prisoners of war in the armament industry. And we refer to the document bearing our Number 1435-PS, which also carries Exhibit Number USA-216. This document is a speech to the Nazi Gauleiter delivered by the Defendant Speer on the 24th day of February of 1942, and I wish to read from Paragraph 2 of that document, and I quote as follows:
“I therefore proposed to the Führer at the end of December that all my labor force, including specialists, be released for mass employment in the East. Subsequently the remaining prisoners of war, about 10,000, were put at the disposal of the armament industry by me.”
He also reported at the 36th meeting of the Central Planning Board, held on the 22d day of April 1943, that only 30 percent of the Russian prisoners of war were engaged in the armament industry. This the Defendant Speer found unsatisfactory. And referring again to Document R-124, the minutes of the Central Planning Board, and particularly to Page 17 of that document, Paragraph 10 of the English text, and Page 14, Paragraph 7 of the German text, we find this statement by the Defendant Speer, quoting directly:
“There is a detailed statement showing in what sectors the Russian prisoners of war have been distributed. This statement is quite interesting. It shows that the armaments industry received only 30 percent. I constantly complained about this.”
And at Page 20 of the same document, R-124—Paragraph 1 on Page 20 of the English text and Page 14, the last paragraph of the German text—the Defendant Speer stated, and I quote from the paragraph directly:
“The 90,000 Russian prisoners of war employed in the whole of the armament industry are for the greatest part skilled men.”
The Defendant Sauckel, who was appointed Plenipotentiary General for the utilization of labor for the express purpose, among others, of integrating prisoners of war into the German war industry, made it plain that prisoners of war were to be compelled to serve the German armament industry. His labor mobilization program, which is Document 016-PS, already marked Exhibit USA-168, contains this statement on Page 6, Paragraph 10 of the English text and Page 9, Paragraph 1, of the German text:
“All prisoners of war now in Germany, from the territories of the West as well as of the East, must be completely incorporated into the German armament and food industries. Their production must be brought to the highest possible level.”
I wish to turn now from the exploitation of foreign labor in general to a rather special point of the Nazi program which appears to us to have combined the brutality and the purposes of the slave labor program with those of the concentration camp. The Nazis placed all Allied nationals in concentration camps and forced them, along with the other inmates of the concentration camps, to work under conditions which were set actually to exterminate them. This was what we call the Nazi program of extermination through work.
In the spring of 1942 these conspirators turned to the concentration camps as a further source of slave labor for the armament industry. I refer to a new Document Number R-129, bearing Exhibit Number USA-217. This document is a letter to Himmler, the Reichsführer SS—and it is dated the 30th day of April 1942—from one of his subordinates, an individual named Pohl, SS Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS; and I wish to quote from the first page of that document. Quoting directly:
“Today I report about the present situation of the concentration camps and about measures I have taken to carry out your order of the 3rd of March 1942.”
Then moving on from paragraphs numbered 1, 2, and 3 on Page 2 of the English text and at Page 1 of the German text, I quote as follows:
“1. The war has brought about a marked change in the structure of the concentration camps and has changed their duties fundamentally with regard to the employment of the prisoners. The custody of prisoners for the sole reasons of security, education, or as a preventive measure is no longer the main consideration. The importance now lies in the economic side. The mobilization of all prisoner labor for purposes of the war (increase of armament) now, and for purposes of construction in the forthcoming peace, is coming more and more to the foreground.
“2. From this knowledge necessary measures result which require a gradual transformation of the concentration camps from their former one-sided political character into an organization adapted to economic tasks.
“3. For this reason I called together all the leaders of the former inspectorate of concentration camps, all camp commanders, and all managers and supervisors of work, on the 23rd and 24th of April 1942 and explained personally to them this new development. I have compiled, in the order attached, the essential points which have to be brought into effect with the utmost urgency if the commencement of work for the purposes of the armament industry is not to be delayed.”
Now the order referred to in that third paragraph set the framework for a program of relentless exploitation, providing in part as follows—and I now refer to the enclosure appended to the quoted letter which is also a part of Document R-129, found at Page 3, Paragraphs numbered 4, 5, and 6 of the English text, and Page 3 of the German text:
“4. The camp commander alone is responsible for the utilization of the manpower available. This utilization must be, in the true meaning of the word, complete, in order to obtain the greatest measure of performance. Work is allotted only centrally and by the Chief of the Department D. The camp commanders themselves may not accept on their own initiative work offered by third parties and may not negotiate about it.
“5. There is no limit to working hours. Their duration depends on the kind of working establishments in the camps and the kind of work to be done. They are fixed by the camp commanders alone.
“6. Any circumstances which may result in a shortening of working hours (for example, meals, roll-calls, _et cetera_), have therefore to be restricted to an irreducible minimum. Time-wasting walks and noon intervals, only for the purpose of taking meals, are forbidden.”
The armament production program we have just described was not merely a scheme for mobilizing the manpower potential of the camps. It actually was integrated directly into the larger Nazi program of extermination; and I wish to refer, at this point, to our document bearing Number 654-PS and Exhibit Number USA-218.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you think it will be convenient to break off now for a few minutes?
MR. DODD: Very well.
[_A recess was taken._]
MR. DODD: At the recess time I had made reference to Document Number 654-PS, which has the Exhibit Number USA-218. This document is a memorandum of an agreement between Himmler, Reichsführer SS, and the Minister of Justice, Thierack. It is dated the 18th of September 1942. The concept of extermination to which I referred shortly before the recess was embodied in this document and I wish to quote from Page 1, Paragraph 2:
“2. Transfer of asocial elements from prison to the Reichsführer SS for extermination through work. To be transferred without exception are persons under protective arrest, Jews, Gypsies, Russians and Ukrainians, Poles with more than 3-year sentences, Czechs, and Germans with more than 8-year sentences, according to the decision of the Reich Minister for Justice. First of all the worst asocial elements amongst those just mentioned are to be handed over. I shall inform the Führer of this through Reichsleiter Bormann.”
Now this agreement further provided, in Paragraph 12 on Page 2 of the English text and Page 3, Paragraph 14, of the German text, as follows:
“14. It is agreed that, in consideration of the intended aims of the Government for the clearing up of the Eastern problems, in the future, Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Russians, and Ukrainians are no longer to be tried by the ordinary courts, so far as punishable offenses are concerned; but are to be dealt with by the Reichsführer SS. This does not apply to civil lawsuits, nor to Poles whose names are reported or entered in the German racial lists.”
Now, in September of 1942, the Defendant Speer made arrangements to bring this new source of labor within his jurisdiction. Speer convinced Hitler that significant production could be obtained only if the concentration camp prisoners were employed in factories under the technical control of the Speer Ministry instead of the control in the camps. In fact, without Defendant Speer’s cooperation, we say it would have been most difficult to utilize the prisoners on any large scale for war production, since he would not allocate to Himmler the machine tools and other necessary equipment. Accordingly, it was agreed that the prisoners were to be exploited in factories under the Defendant Speer’s control. To compensate Himmler for surrendering this jurisdiction to Speer, the Defendant Speer proposed and Hitler agreed, that Himmler would receive a share of the armaments output, fixed in relation to the man-hours contributed by his prisoners. In the minutes of the Defendant Speer’s conference with Hitler on the 20th, 21st, and the 22d September 1942—Document Number R-124, which is Exhibit Number USA-179—I wish to refer particularly to Page 34 of the English text. These are the Defendant Speer’s minutes on this conference. I am quoting from Page 34, Paragraph 36, beginning at the middle of the page; and it is at the top of Page 26 in the German text:
“I pointed out to the Führer that, apart from an insignificant amount of work, no possibility exists of organizing armament production in the concentration camps, because: (1) the machine tools required are missing; (2) there are no suitable premises. Both these assets would be available in the armament industry, if use could be made of them by a second shift.
“The Führer agrees to my proposal that the numerous factories set up outside towns for reasons of air raid protection should release their workers to supplement the second shift in town factories and should in return be supplied with labor from the concentration camps—also two shifts.
“I pointed out to the Führer the difficulties which I expect to encounter if Reichsführer SS Himmler should be able, as he requests, to exercise authoritative influence over these factories. The Führer, too, does not consider such an influence necessary.
“The Führer, however, agrees that Reichsführer SS Himmler should derive advantage from making his prisoners available; he should get equipment for his division.
“I suggest giving him a share in kind (war equipment) in ratio to the man-hours contributed by his prisoners. A 3 to 5 percent share is being discussed, the equipment also being calculated according to man-hours. The Führer would agree to such a solution.
“The Führer is prepared to order the additional allocation of this equipment and weapons to the SS, upon submission of a list.”
After a demand for concentration-camp labor had been created and after a mechanism had been set up by the Defendant Speer for exploiting this labor in armament factories, measures were evolved for increasing the supply of victims for extermination through work. A steady flow was assured by an agreement between Himmler and the Minister of Justice mentioned above, which was implemented by such programs as the following—and I refer to Document L-61, Exhibit Number USA-177; and I wish to quote from Paragraph 3. That document, the Tribunal will recall, is the Defendant Sauckel’s letter, dated the 26th of November 1942, to the presidents of the Länder employment offices; and I wish to quote from Paragraph 3 of that letter:
“The Poles who are to be evacuated as a result of this measure will be put into concentration camps and put to work insofar as they are criminal or asocial elements.”
General measures were supplemented by special drives for persons who would not otherwise have been sent to concentration camps.
THE PRESIDENT: Didn’t you read that this morning?
MR. DODD: Yes, I did, Your Honor. I was reading it again with particular reference to this feature of the proof.
For example, for “reasons of war necessity” Himmler ordered that at least 35,000 prisoners qualified for work should be transferred to concentration camps. I now offer in evidence Document Number 1063(d)-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-219. This document is a Himmler order dated the 17th of December 1942. The order provides, and I quote in part, beginning with the first paragraph of that document:
“For reasons of war necessity not to be discussed further here, the Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police, on the 14th of December 1942, has ordered that by the end of January 1943 at least 35,000 prisoners fit for work are to be sent to the concentration camps. In order to reach this number, the following measures are required:
“(1) As of now, to begin with, until 1 February 1943, all Eastern Workers or foreign workers who have been fugitives or who have broken contracts and who do not belong to allied, friendly, or neutral states . . . are to be brought by the quickest means to the nearest concentration camps . . . .
“(2) The commanders and the commandants of the Security Police and the Security Service, and the chiefs of the state police headquarters will check immediately on the basis of a close and strict rule: (a) the prisons, and (b) the labor reformatory camps.
“All prisoners fit for work, if it is practically and humanly possible, will be committed at once to the nearest concentration camp, according to the following instructions, even for example, those who are about to be brought to trial. Only such prisoners can be left there who, in the interest of further investigations, are to remain absolutely in solitary confinement.
“Every single laborer counts!”
Measures were also adopted to insure that this extermination through work was practiced with maximum efficiency. Subsidiary concentration camps were established near important war plants. The Defendant Speer has admitted that he personally toured Upper Austria and selected sites for concentration camps near various munitions factories in the area. I am about to refer to the transcript of an interrogation under oath of the Defendant Albert Speer.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, do you understand the last document you read, 1063-PS, to refer to prisoners of war, or prisoners in ordinary prisons, or what?
MR. DODD: We understood it to refer to prisoners in ordinary prisons.
In view of the Tribunal’s ruling this morning, I think I should state that, with respect to this interrogation of Defendant Speer, we had provided the defendants’ counsel with the entire text in German. It happens to be a brief interrogation, and so we were able to complete that translation, and it has been placed in their Information Center.
DR. HANS FLÄCHSNER (Counsel for Defendant Speer): In reference to the transcript of the interrogation, the reading of which the prosecutor has just announced, I should like to say the following:
It is true that we have received the German transcript of the English protocol, if one may call it a protocol. A comparison of the English text with the German transcript shows that there are, both in the English text and in the German transcript, mistakes which change the meaning and which I believe are to be attributed to misunderstandings on the part of the certifying interpreter. I believe, therefore, that the so-called protocol and the English text do not actually give the contents of what Defendant Speer tried to express during the interrogation. It would, therefore, not further the establishment of the truth should this protocol ever be used.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, when was the German translation given to counsel for the defendant?
MR. DODD: About 4 days ago, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, is there any certification by the interrogator as to the English translation?
MR. DODD: There is, Your Honor. There is a certification at the end of the interrogation by the interrogator and by the interpreter and by the reporter as well. There are three certifications.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the best course will be, in these circumstances, to receive the interrogation now. You will have an opportunity, by calling the defendant, to show in what way he alleges, or you allege, that the interrogation is inaccurately translated.
DR. FLÄCHSNER: Thank you, Sir.
MR. DODD: May I respectfully refer, Your Honor, to the last document in the document book, 4 pages from the end?
THE PRESIDENT: Which page do you refer to?
MR. DODD: I refer to the page bearing the Number 16 of the English text of the transcript of the interrogation and Page 21 of the German text. The answer quoted is:
“The fact was that we were anxious to use workers from concentration camps in factories and to establish small concentration camps near factories, in order to use the manpower that was then available there. But it did not come up only in connection with this trip . . . .”
That is, Speer’s trip to Austria. (Exhibit USA-220)
THE PRESIDENT: I think I ought to say to defendant’s counsel that if he had waited until he heard that piece of evidence read, he would have seen that it was quite unnecessary to make any objection.
MR. DODD: Defendant Göring endorsed this use of concentration camp labor and asked for more. We refer to our Document 1584-PS, Part 1, which is Exhibit Number USA-221. This document is a teletype message from Göring to Himmler, dated 14th of February 1944. I quote from the document beginning with the second sentence:
“At the same time, I ask you to put at my disposal as great a number of KZ”—concentration-camp—“convicts as possible for air armament, as this kind of manpower proved to be very useful according to previous experience. The situation of the air war makes subterranean transfer of industry necessary. For work of this kind KZ convicts can be especially well concentrated at work and in the camp.”
Defendant Speer subsequently assumed responsibility for this program; and Hitler promised Speer that if the necessary labor for the program could not be obtained, a hundred thousand Hungarian Jews would be brought in by the SS.
Speer recorded his conferences with Hitler on April 6 and April 7, 1944 in Document R-124, which is Exhibit Number USA-179, already in evidence. I quote from Page 36 of the English text, Page 29 of the German text as follows:
“Suggested to the Führer that, due to lack of builders and equipment, the second big building project should not be set up in German territory but in close vicinity to the border on a suitable site (preferably on gravel base and with transport facilities) in French, Belgian, or Dutch territory. The Führer agrees to this suggestion if the works could be set up behind a fortified zone. The strongest argument for setting up this plant in French territory is the fact that it would be much easier to procure the necessary workers. Nevertheless, the Führer asks that an attempt be made to set up the second factory in a safer area, namely the Protectorate. If it should prove impossible there, too, to get hold of the necessary workers, the Führer himself will contact the Reichsführer SS and will give an order that the required 100,000 men are to be made available by bringing in Jews from Hungary. Stressing the fact that in the case of the Industriegemeinschaft Schlesien the building organization was a failure, the Führer demands that these works must be built by the OT exclusively, and that the workers should be made available by the Reichsführer SS. He wants to hold a meeting shortly in order to discuss details with all the men concerned.”
The unspeakably brutal, inhumane, and degrading treatment inflicted on Allied nationals and other victims of concentration camps, while they were indeed being literally worked to death, is described in Document L-159, which is not in the document book. It is an official report prepared by a U.S. Congressional committee, U.S. Senate Document Number 47. This Congressional committee had inspected the liberated camps at the request of General Eisenhower. It bears Exhibit Number USA-222. I would like to quote from the document briefly, first from Page 14, the last paragraph, and from Page 15, the first two paragraphs, of the English text:
“The treatment accorded to these prisoners in the concentration camps was generally as follows: They were herded together in some wooden barracks not large enough for one-tenth of their number. They were forced to sleep on wooden frames covered with wooden boards in tiers of two, three, and even four, sometimes with no covering, sometimes with a bundle of dirty rags serving both as pallet and coverlet.
“Their food consisted generally of about one-half of a pound of black bread per day and a bowl of watery soup for noon and night, and not always that. Owing to the great numbers crowded into a small space and to the lack of adequate sustenance, lice and vermin multiplied, disease became rampant, and those who did not soon die of disease or torture began the long, slow process of starvation. Notwithstanding the deliberate starvation program inflicted upon these prisoners by lack of adequate food, we found no evidence that the people of Germany, as a whole, were suffering from any lack of sufficient food or clothing. The contrast was so striking that the only conclusion which we could reach was that the starvation of the inmates of these camps was deliberate.
“Upon entrance into these camps, newcomers were forced to work either at an adjoining war factory or were placed ‘in commando’ on various jobs in the vicinity, being returned each night to their stall in the barracks. Generally a German criminal was placed in charge of each ‘block’ or shed in which the prisoners slept. Periodically he would choose the one prisoner of his block who seemed the most alert or intelligent or showed most leadership qualities. These would report to the guards’ room and would never be heard from again. The generally accepted belief of the prisoners was that these were shot or gassed or hanged and then cremated. A refusal to work or an infraction of the rules usually meant flogging and other types of torture, such as having the fingernails pulled out, and in each case usually ended in death after extensive suffering. The policies herein described constituted a calculated and diabolical program of planned torture and extermination on the part of those who were in control of the German Government . . . .”
I quote next from Page 11 of the English text beginning with the second sentence of Paragraph 2, a description of Camp Dora at Nordhausen, Page 12, Paragraph 1 of the German text, quoting as follows:
“On the whole, we found this camp to have been operated and administered much in the same manner as Buchenwald had been operated and managed. When the efficiency of the workers decreased as a result of the conditions under which they were required to live, their rations were decreased as punishment. This brought about a vicious circle in which the weak became weaker and were ultimately exterminated.”
Such was the cycle of work, torture, starvation, and death for concentration-camp labor—labor which the Defendant Göring, while requesting that more of it be placed at his disposal, said had proved very useful; labor which the Defendant Speer was “anxious” to use in the factories under his control.
The policy underlying this program, the manner in which it was executed, and the responsibility of the conspirators in connection with it has been dwelt upon at length. Therefore, we should like, at this point, to discuss the special responsibility of the Defendant Sauckel.
The Defendant Sauckel’s appointment as Plenipotentiary General for manpower is explained probably first of all by his having been an old and trusted Nazi. He certified in Document 2974-PS, dated 17 November 1945, which is already in evidence before this Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-15, that he held the following positions:
Starting with his membership in the NSDAP, he was thereafter a member of the Reichstag; he was Gauleiter of Thuringia; he was a member of the Thuringian legislature; he was Minister of Interior and head of the Thuringian State Ministry; he was Reichsstatthalter for Thuringia; he was an SA Obergruppenführer; he was SS Obergruppenführer; he was administrator for the Berlin-Suhler Waffen and Fahrzeugwerke in 1935; he was head of the Gustloff Werke Nationalsozialistische Industrie-Stiftung, 1936, and the honorary head of the Foundation. And from the 21st of March 1942 until 1945, he was the Plenipotentiary General for Labor Allocation.
Sauckel’s official responsibilities are borne out by evidence. His appointment as Plenipotentiary General for manpower was effected by a decree of the 21st of March 1942, which we have read and which was signed by Hitler, Lammers, and the Defendant Keitel. And by that decree Sauckel was given authority, as well as responsibility, subordinate only to that of Hitler and Göring, who was the head of the Four Year Plan—subordinate only to those two for all matters relating to recruitment, allocation, and handling of foreign and domestic manpower.
The Defendant Göring, to whom Sauckel was directly responsible, abolished the recruitment and allocation agencies of his Four Year Plan and delegated their powers to the Defendant Sauckel and placed his far-reaching authority as deputy for the Four Year Plan at Sauckel’s disposal.
In Document 1666-PS, a second 1666-PS but of another date, the 27th of March 1942—I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of this original decree, which is published in the 1942 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, at Page 180:
“In pursuance of the Führer’s decree of 21st of March 1942, I decree as follows:
“1. My manpower sections are hereby abolished (circular letter of 22d of October 1936). Their duties (recruitment and allocation of manpower, regulation of labor conditions) are taken over by the Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor, who is directly under me.
“2. The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor will be responsible for regulating the conditions of labor (wage policy) employed in the Reich territory, having regard to the requirements of labor allocation.
“3. The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor is part of the Four Year Plan. In cases where new legislation is required or existing laws need to be modified; he will submit appropriate proposals to me.
“4. The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor will have at his disposal for the performance of his task the right delegated to me by the Führer for issuing instructions to the highest Reich authorities and their subordinate offices, as well as the Party offices and their sections and their affiliated organizations, also to the Reich Protector, the Governor General, the military commanders, and heads of the civil administrations. In the case of ordinances and instructions of fundamental importance, a report is to be submitted to me in advance.”
Document Number 1903-PS is a Hitler decree of the 30th of September 1942 giving the Defendant Sauckel extraordinary powers over the civil and military authority of the territories occupied by Germany. We ask that judicial notice be taken by this Tribunal of the original decree, which is published in Volume II, Page 510, of the _Verfügungen, Anordnungen, und Bekanntgaben_, published by the Party Chancellery. This decree states as follows:
“I herewith authorize the Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor, Reich Governor and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel to take all necessary measures for the enforcement of my decree of 21 March 1942, concerning a Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor (_Reichsgesetzblatt_ I, Page 179), according to his own judgment, in the Greater German Reich, in the Protectorate, and in the Government General, as well as in the Occupied Territories—measures which will safeguard under all circumstances the regulated deployment of labor for the German war economy. For this purpose he may appoint commissioners to the bureaus of the military and civilian administration. These are responsible directly to the Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor. In order to carry out their tasks, they are entitled to issue directives to the competent military and civilian authorities in charge of labor allocation and of wage policy.
“More detailed directives will be issued by the Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor.
“Führer headquarters, 30 September 1942. The Führer,”—signed—“Adolf Hitler.”
Within 1 month after his appointment, the Defendant Sauckel sent Defendant Rosenberg his “Labor Mobilization Program”. This program, Document Number 016-PS, already in evidence as Exhibit USA-168, envisaged a recruitment by force and the maximum exploitation of the entire labor resources of the conquered areas and of prisoners of war in the interests of the Nazi war machine at the lowest conceivable degree of expenditure to the German State.
The Defendant Sauckel states—and I refer now to the bottom of Page 6 of the English text of that document. It is Page 9, Paragraph 2, of the German text, and I quote as follows:
“It must be emphasized, however, that an additional tremendous number of foreign laborers has to be found for the Reich. The greatest pool for that purpose is the occupied territories of the East. Consequently, it is an imperative necessity to use the human reserves of the conquered Soviet territory to the fullest extent. Should we not succeed in obtaining the necessary amount of labor on a voluntary basis, we must immediately institute conscription of forced labor.
“Apart from the prisoners of war still in the occupied territories, we must, therefore, requisition skilled or unskilled male and female labor from the Soviet territory from the age of 15 up, for the German allocation of labor.”
Passing to Page 11 of the English text, first paragraph and Page 17, Paragraph 4, of the German text, I quote, as follows directly:
“The complete employment of all prisoners of war as well as the use of a gigantic number of new foreign civilian workers, men and women, has become an indisputable necessity for the solution of the problem of the allocation of labor in this war.”
The Defendant Sauckel proceeded to implement this plan, which he submitted, with certain basic directives. He provided that if voluntary recruitment of foreign workers was unsuccessful compulsory service should be instituted.
Document Number 3044-PS is the Defendant Sauckel’s Regulation Number 4, dated the 7th of May 1942. And we ask that the Tribunal take judicial notice of the original regulation published in Volume II, Pages 516 to 527 of the _Verfügungen, Anordnungen, und Bekanntgaben_, to which I have previously referred. Reading from Page 1, Paragraph 3, of the English text:
“The recruitment of foreign labor will be done on principle on a volunteer basis. Where, however, in the occupied territories the appeal for volunteers does not suffice, obligatory service and drafting must, under all circumstances, be resorted to. This is an indisputable requirement of our labor situation.”
Sauckel provided also for the allocation of foreign labor in the order of its importance to the Nazi war machine. We refer to Document Number 3044(a)-PS, which is the Defendant Sauckel’s Regulation Number 10, and ask that the Court take judicial notice of the original regulation, published in Volume II, _Verfügungen, Anordnungen, und Bekanntgaben_, at Pages 531 to 533. Paragraph 3 of this regulation I quote as follows:
“The resources of manpower that are available in the occupied territories are to be employed primarily to satisfy the requirements of importance for the war in Germany itself. In allocating the said labor resources in the Occupied Territories, the following order of priority will be observed:
“(a) Labor required for the troops, the occupation authorities, and the civil authorities;
“(b) Labor required for German armament;
“(c) Labor required for food and agriculture;
“(d) Labor required for industrial work in the interests of Germany, other than armaments;
“(e) Labor required for industrial work in the interests of the population of the territory in question.”
The Defendant Sauckel, and agencies subordinate to him, exercised exclusive authority over the recruitment of workers from every area in Europe occupied by, controlled by, or friendly to, the German nation. He affirmed, himself—the Defendant Sauckel did—this authority in a decree, Document Number 3044-PS, already in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-206. I refer to Paragraph 5 on Page 1 of the English text of that document, and I am quoting it directly:
“The recruitment of labor in the areas occupied by Germany will be carried out exclusively by the labor allocation offices of the German military or civil administration in these areas.”
THE PRESIDENT: Haven’t you read that already?
MR. DODD: No, I have not, if Your Honor pleases. We have referred to that decree before, but we have not referred to this portion of it.
I am passing to Paragraph II, 1-a on Page 2, and quoting again directly:
“For the carrying out of recruitment in allied, friendly, or neutral foreign countries, my commissioners are solely responsible.”
In addition, the following defendants, who were informed by Sauckel of the quotas of foreign laborers which he required, collaborated with Sauckel and his agents in filling these quotas: The Defendant Keitel, Chief of the OKW—which was the Supreme Command—who collaborated with Sauckel.
We refer to Document Number 3012(1)-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-190. This document is the record of a telephone conversation of the Chief of the Economic Staff East of the German Army, and it is dated March 11, 1943. I wish to quote from the first two paragraphs of the document as follows:
“The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor, Gauleiter Sauckel, points out to me in an urgent teletype that the allocation of labor in German agriculture, as well as all the most urgent armament programs ordered by the Führer, make the most rapid procurement of approximately 1 million women and men from the newly occupied Eastern Territories within the next 4 months an imperative necessity. For this purpose, Gauleiter Sauckel demands the shipment of 5,000 workers daily beginning 15 March; 10,000 workers, male and female, beginning 1 April, from the newly occupied Eastern Territories.”
I am passing down to the next paragraph:
“In consideration of the extraordinary losses of workers which occurred in German war industry because of the developments of the past months, it is now necessary that the recruiting of workers be taken up again everywhere with all vigor. The tendency momentarily noticeable in that territory, to limit and/or entirely stop the Reich recruiting program, is absolutely not bearable in view of this state of affairs. Gauleiter Sauckel, who is informed about these events, because of this applied directly to General Field Marshal Keitel on 10 March 1943, in a teletype, and emphasized on this occasion that, as in all other occupied territories, where all other methods fail, a certain pressure must be used, by order of the Führer.”
At this point we were prepared to offer a transcript of an interrogation under oath of the Defendant Sauckel. Only the English of the transcript of the interrogation has been seen by the Counsel for the Defendant Sauckel. He has had it, however, for some time; and the excerpts on which we intended to rely were furnished to him as well in German.
If I understood the ruling of the Tribunal correctly, it would be necessary for us to have furnished the entire record in German.
THE PRESIDENT: I think you might use this interrogation, as the excerpts have been submitted in German.
MR. DODD: Yes, they have, Your Honor, and the entire English text as, well.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MR. DODD: I refer to a transcript of an interrogation under oath of the Defendant Sauckel, held on the morning of the 5th of October 1945 (Exhibit USA-224). That is the very last document in the document book. I wish to quote from the bottom of Page 1 of the English text and Page 1, Paragraph 11, of the German text, as follows:
“Q: ‘Was it necessary, in order to accomplish the completion of the quotas given, to have liaison with the OKW?’
“A: ‘I remember that the Führer had given directives to Marshal Keitel, telling him that my task was a very important one; and I, too, have often conferred with Keitel after such discussions with the Führer, when I asked him for his support.’
“Q: ‘It was his task to supervise the proper performance of the military commanders in the occupied countries in carrying but their assigned mission, was it not?’
“A: ‘Yes, the Führer had told me that he would inform the Chief of the OKW and the Chief of the Reich Chancellery as to these matters. The same applies to the Foreign Minister.’”
We are also prepared to offer the transcript of an interrogation of the Defendant Alfred Rosenberg. There is this distinction insofar as this record is concerned. While we have supplied the counsel with the German translation of those parts of it which we propose to use, we have not had an opportunity to supply the whole text to counsel. However, they have been supplied with the German of the parts which we propose to use and to offer to this Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you are prepared to do it hereafter, I suppose?
MR. DODD: Yes, we will, Your Honor, as soon as we can get these papers down to the Information Center.
THE PRESIDENT: Good.
MR. DODD: The next document is rather lengthy, and I wonder what the Tribunal’s pleasure is. Do I understand that I may proceed with the interrogation?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. DODD: I wish to refer to the Defendant Alfred Rosenberg, the Reich Minister for Eastern Occupied Territories, as one who also collaborated with the Defendant Sauckel, and specifically, to refer to a transcript of an interrogation under oath of the Defendant Rosenberg, on the afternoon of the 6th of October 1945 (Exhibit USA-187). That record may be found about the third from the last of the interrogation records in the document book, and I wish to read from Page 1 of the transcript:
“Q: ‘Isn’t it a fact that Sauckel would allocate to the various areas under your jurisdiction the number of persons to be obtained for labor purposes?’
“A: ‘Yes.’
“Q: ‘And that thereafter your agents would obtain that labor in order to meet the quota which had been given. Is that right?’
“A: ‘Sauckel, normally, had very far-reaching desires, which one could not fulfil unless one looked very closely into the matter.’
“Q: ‘Never mind about Sauckel’s desires being far-reaching or not being far-reaching. That has nothing to do with it. You were given quotas for the areas over which you had jurisdiction, and it was up to you to meet that quota?’
“A: ‘Yes. It was the responsibility of the administrative officials to receive this quota and to distribute the allotments over the districts in such a way, according to number and according to the age groups, that they would be most reasonably met.’
“Q: ‘These administrative officials were part of your organization, isn’t that right?’
“A: ‘They were functionaries or officials of the Reich Commissioner for the Ukraine; but, as such, they were placed in their office by the Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories.’
“Q: ‘You recognized, did you not, that the quotas set by Sauckel could not be filled by voluntary labor; and you did not disapprove of the impressment of forced labor. Isn’t that right?’
“A: ‘I regretted that the demands of Sauckel were so urgent that they could not be met by a continuation of voluntary recruitments, and thus I submitted to the necessity of forced impressment.’”
Then, passing a little further down on that page:
“Q: ‘The letters that we have already seen between you and Sauckel do not indicate, do they, any disagreement on your part with the principle of recruiting workers against their will? They indicate, as I remember, that you were opposed to the treatment that was later accorded these workers, but you did not oppose their initial impressment.’”
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, I think you ought to read the next two answers in fairness to the Defendant Rosenberg, after the one where he said he submitted to the necessity of forced impressment.
MR. DODD: Very well, I shall read those, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: “‘Did you ever argue with Sauckel . . .’”
MR. DODD: Yes.
“Q: ‘Did you ever argue with Sauckel that perhaps in view of the fact that the quotas could not be met by voluntary labor, the labor recruiting program be abandoned, except for what recruits could be voluntarily enrolled?’
“A: ‘I could not do that because the numbers or allotments that Sauckel had received from the Führer to meet were absolutely binding for him, and I couldn’t do anything about that.’”
And then, referring again to the question which I had just read, the answer is as follows:
“‘That is right. In those matters I mostly discussed the possibility of finding the least harsh methods of handling the matter, whereas in no way did I place myself in opposition to the orders that he was carrying out for the Führer.’”
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Tribunal might adjourn now.
MR. DODD: Very well, Your Honor.
[_The Tribunal adjourned until 13 December 1945 at 1000 hours._]
NINETEENTH DAY Thursday, 13 December 1945
_Morning Session_
MR. DODD: May it please the Tribunal, at the close of yesterday’s session we were discussing and had just completed reading the excerpts from the interrogation of 6 October 1945, wherein the Defendant Alfred Rosenberg was questioned.
There have already been introduced Documents 017-PS and 019-PS and I have read excerpts from them. The Tribunal will recall that they are letters written by the Defendant Sauckel to the Defendant Rosenberg requesting the assistance of the Defendant Rosenberg in the recruitment of additional foreign laborers. I refer to them in passing, by way of recapitulation, with respect to the Defendant Sauckel’s participation in this slave-labor program and also the assistance of the Defendant Rosenberg. Also the Defendant Sauckel received help from the Defendant Seyss-Inquart who was the Reich Commissioner for the occupied Netherlands.
I refer again to the transcript of the interrogation under oath of the Defendant Sauckel, which was read from yesterday; and I now refer to another part of it. The transcript of this interrogation will be found in the rear of the document book. It is the very last document and I wish to quote particularly from it. It is the first question:
“Q: For a moment, I want to turn our attention to Holland. It is my understanding that the quotas for the workers from Holland were agreed upon, and then the numbers given to the Reich Commissioner Seyss-Inquart to fulfill, is that correct?
“A: Yes, that is correct.
“Q: After the quota was given to Seyss-Inquart, it was his mission to fulfill it with the aid of your representatives; was it not?
“A: Yes. This was the only possible thing for me to do and the same applied to other countries.”
And the Defendant Hans Frank, who was the Governor General of the Government General of Poland, also participated in the filling of Defendant Sauckel’s quota requirements.
I refer again to the interrogation of the Defendant Sauckel and to Page 1 of the excerpts from the transcript of this interrogation as it appears in the document book:
“Q: Was the same procedure substantially followed of allocating quotas in the Government General of Poland?
“A: Yes. I have principally to repeat that the only possibility I had in carrying through these missions was to get in touch with the highest German military authority in the respective country and to transfer to them the orders of the Führer and ask them very urgently, as I have always done, to fulfill these orders.
“Q: Such discussions in Poland, of course, were with the Governor General Frank?
“A: Yes. I spent a morning and an afternoon in Kraków twice or three times and I personally spoke to Governor General Frank. Naturally, there was also present Secretary Dr. Goebbels.”
The SS, as in most matters involving the use of force and brutality, also extended its assistance. We refer to Document Number 1292-PS, which is Exhibit USA-225. This Document, 1292-PS, is the report of the chief of the Reich Chancellery, Lammers, of a conference with Hitler, which was attended by, among others, the Defendant Sauckel, the Defendant Speer, and Himmler, the Reichsführer SS. I turn to Page 2 of the document, beginning with the third line from the top of the page of the English text; and it is Page 4, Paragraph 2 of the German text. The quotation reads as follows:
“The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor, Sauckel, declared that he will attempt with fanatical determination to obtain these workers. Until now he has always kept his promises as to the number of workers to be furnished. With the best of intentions, however, he is unable to make a definite promise for 1944. He will do everything in his power to furnish the requested manpower in 1944. Whether it will succeed depends primarily on what German executive agents will be made available. His project cannot be carried out with indigenous executive agents.”
There are additional quotations, as the Tribunal may observe, in this very part from which I have been reading, but I intend to refer to them again a little further on.
The Defendant Sauckel participated in the formulation of the over-all labor requirements for Germany and passed out quotas to be filled by and with the assistance of the individuals and agencies referred to, in the certain knowledge that force and brutality were the only means whereby his demands could be met. Turning to Document 1292-PS again, and quoting from Page 1:
“1. A conference took place with the Führer today which was attended by:
“The Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor, Gauleiter Sauckel; the Secretary for Armament and War Production, Speer; the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Army, General Field Marshal Keitel; General Field Marshal Milch; the acting Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture, State Secretary Backe; the Minister of the Interior, Reichsführer of the SS, Himmler; and myself. (The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of National Economy had repeatedly asked to be permitted to participate prior to the conference, but the Führer did not wish their attendance.)”
Continuing the quotation:
“The Führer declared in his introductory remarks:
“‘I want a clear picture:
“‘(1) How many workers are required for the maintenance of German war economy?
“‘(a) For the maintenance of present output?
“‘(b) To increase its output?
“‘(2) How many workers can be obtained from occupied countries, or how many can still be gained in the Reich by suitable means (increased output)? For one thing, it is a matter of making up for losses of labor by death, infirmity, the constant fluctuation of workers, and so forth; and further it is a matter of procuring additional workers.’
“The Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor, Sauckel, declared that, in order to maintain the present amount of workers he would have to add at least 2½ but probably 3 million new workers in 1944. Otherwise production would fall off.
“Reich Minister Speer declared that he needed an additional 1,300,000 laborers. However, this would depend on whether it will be possible to increase production of iron ore. Should this not be possible, he would need no additional workers. Procurement of additional workers from occupied territory would, however, be subject to the condition that these workers will not be withdrawn from armament and auxiliary industries already working there. For this would mean a decrease of production of these industries which he could not tolerate. Those, for instance, who are already working in France in industries mentioned above must be protected against being sent to work in Germany by the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor.
“The Führer agreed with the opinions of Reich Minister Speer and emphasized that the measures taken by the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor should create no circumstances which would lead to the withdrawal of workers from armament and auxiliary industries working in occupied territories, because such a shifting of workers would only cause disturbance of production in occupied countries.
“The Führer further called attention to the fact that at least 250,000 laborers will be required for preparations against air attacks in the field of civilian air raid protection. For Vienna alone 2,000-2,500 are required immediately. The Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor will need at least 4 million workers considering that he requires 2½ million workers for maintenance of the present level, that Reich Minister Speer needs 1,300,000 additional workers, and that the above-mentioned preparations for security measures against air attacks call for 250,000 laborers.”
Referring again to Page 2, the first full paragraph of the English text of this document, and Page 5, Paragraph 1, of the German text:
“The Reichsführer SS explained that the executive agents put at his disposal are extremely few, but that he would try helping the Sauckel project to succeed by increasing them and working them harder. The Reichsführer SS made immediately available 2,000 to 2,500 men from concentration camps for air raid preparations in Vienna.”
Passing the next paragraph of this document and continuing with the paragraph entitled “Results of the Conference” and quoting it directly after the small figure 1:
“The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor shall procure at least 4 million new workers from occupied territories.”
Moreover, as Document 3012-PS, which has already been offered as Exhibit USA-190, revealed, the Defendant Sauckel, in requesting the assistance of the Army for the recruitment of 1 million men and women from the Occupied Eastern Territories, informed the Defendant Keitel that prompt action was required and that, as in all other occupied countries, pressure had to be used if other measures were not successful. Again, as revealed by Document 018-PS, which has been offered and from which excerpts have been read, the Defendant Sauckel was informed by the Defendant Rosenberg that the enslavement of foreign labor was achieved by force and brutality. Notwithstanding his knowledge of these conditions, the Defendant Sauckel continued to request greater supplies of manpower from the areas in which the most ruthless methods had been applied. Indeed, when German field commanders on the Eastern Front attempted to resist or restrain the Defendant Sauckel’s demands, because forced recruitment was swelling the ranks of the partisans and making the Army’s task more difficult, Sauckel sent a telegram to Hitler, in which he implored him, Hitler, to intervene.
I make reference to Document Number 407(II)-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-226. This document is a telegram from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler dated 10 March 1943. It is a rather long message, but I wish to call particularly to the attention of the Tribunal the last paragraph on Page 1 of the English text. It is Page 2, Paragraph 5 of the German text. Quoting the last paragraph of the English text:
“Therefore, my Führer, I ask you to abolish all orders which oppose the obligation of foreign workers for labor and kindly to report to me whether my conception of the mission presented here is still right.”
Turning to Paragraph 5 on the first page of this English text, we find these words, quoting them directly:
“If the obligation for labor and the forced recruiting of workers in the East is not possible any more, then the German war industries and agriculture cannot fulfill their tasks to the full extent.”
The next paragraph:
“I myself have the opinion that our Army leaders should not give credence, under any circumstances, to the atrocity and defamatory propaganda campaign of the partisans. The generals themselves are greatly interested that the support for the troops is made possible in time. I should like to point out that hundreds of thousands of excellent workers going into the field as soldiers now cannot possibly be replaced by German women not used to work, even if they are trying to do their best. Therefore, I have to use the people of the Eastern Territories.”
THE PRESIDENT: I think you should read the next paragraph.
MR. DODD: “I myself report to you that the workers belonging to all foreign nations are treated humanely, and correctly, and cleanly; are fed and housed well and are even clothed. On the basis of my own services with foreign nations I go as far as to state that never before in the world were foreign workers treated as correctly as they are now, in the hardest of all wars, by the German people.”
In addition to being responsible for the recruitment of foreign civilian labor by force, Defendant Sauckel was responsible for the conditions under which foreign workers were deported to Germany and for the treatment to which they were subjected within Germany.
We have already referred to the conditions under which these imported persons were transported to Germany and we have read from Document 2241(3)-PS to show that Sauckel knew of these conditions. Yesterday we referred at length to the brutal, degrading, and inhumane conditions under which these laborers worked and lived within Germany. We again invite the attention of the Tribunal to Document 3044-PS, already offered as Exhibit USA-206. It is Regulation Number 4 of 7 May 1942, issued by Sauckel as the Plenipotentiary General for the mobilization of labor, concerning recruitment, care, lodging, feeding, and treatment of foreign workers of both sexes. By this decree Defendant Sauckel expressly directed that the assembly and operation of rail transports and the supplying of food therefor was the responsibility of his agents until the transports arrived in Germany. By the same regulation Defendant Sauckel directed that within Germany the care of foreign industrial workers was to be carried out by the German Labor Front and that the care of foreign agricultural workers was to be carried out by the Reich Food Administration. By the terms of the regulation, Sauckel reserved for himself ultimate responsibility for all aspects of care, treatment, lodging, and feeding of foreign workers while in transit to and within Germany.
I refer particularly to the English text of this Document 3044-PS, Exhibit USA-206; and the part of it that I make reference to is at the bottom of Page 1 in the English text, and it appears at Page 518 of the volume in the German text. Quoting directly from the English text:
“The care of foreign labor will be carried out:
“(a) Up to the Reich border by my commissioners or, in the occupied areas, by competent military or civil labor allocation agencies; care of the workers will be carried out in co-operation with the respective, competent foreign organization;
“(b) Within the area of the Reich (1) by the German Labor Front in the cases of non-agricultural workers, (2) by the Reich Food Administration in the case of agricultural workers.
“The German Labor Front and the German Food Administration are bound by my directives in the carrying out of their tasks of caring for the workers.
“The administrative agencies for the Allocation of Labor are to give far-reaching support to the German Labor Front and the German Food Administration in the fulfillment of their assigned tasks.
“My competence for the execution of the care for foreign labor is not prejudiced by the assignment of these tasks to the German Labor Front and the Reich Food Administration.”
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, don’t you think that that sort of passage is the sort of passage which might be summarized and not read, because all that it is really stating is that Sauckel, his department and commissioners, were responsible and that is what he is saying.
MR. DODD: Yes, indeed, Your Honor, we spelled it out, thinking that perhaps under the rule of getting it into the record it must be read fully. I quite agree.
THE PRESIDENT: A summary will be quite sufficient, I think.
MR. DODD: In the same document, I should like to make reference to the data on Page 3, Paragraph III, of the English text, which indicate, under the title of “Composition and Operation of the Transports” that this function is the obligation of the representatives of the Defendant Sauckel; and in Paragraph “c,” on Page 5 of the English text, under the title of “Supply for the Transport,” after setting out some responsibility for the Office of the German Workers Front, the Defendant Sauckel states that for the rest his offices effect the supply for the transport.
The Defendant Sauckel had an agreement with the head of the German Labor Front, Dr. Robert Ley, and in this agreement the Defendant Sauckel emphasized his ultimate responsibility by creating a central inspectorate charged with examining the working and living conditions of foreign workers. We refer to Document 1913-PS, Exhibit USA-227. This agreement between the Defendant Sauckel and the then Chief of the German Labor Front is published in the 1943 edition of the _Reichsarbeitsblatt_, Part I, at Page 588. It is a rather lengthy agreement; and I shall not read it all or any great part of it except such part as will indicate the basic agreements between the Defendant Sauckel and Ley with respect to the foreign workers and their living conditions and working conditions.
On the first page of the English text:
“The Reichsleiter of the German Labor Front, Dr. Ley, in collaboration with the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor, Gauleiter Sauckel, will establish a ‘Central Inspection’ for the continuous supervision of all measures concerning the care of the foreign workers mentioned under 1. This will have the designation: Central Inspection for Care of Foreign Workers.”
Paragraph 4 marked with the Roman numeral IV, in the same text, states:
“The offices for the administration of the Allocation of Labor will be constantly informed by the ‘Central Inspection for the Care of Foreign Workers’ of its observations, in particular, immediately in each case in which action of state organizations seems to be necessary.”
I should also like to call the attention of the Tribunal to this paragraph, which is quoted on the same page. It is the fourth paragraph down after the small number 2 and it begins with the words:
“The authority of the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor to empower the members of his staff and the presidents of the state employment offices to get direct information on the conditions regarding the employment of foreigners in the factories and camps will remain untouched.”
We have already offered to the Court proof that the Defendant Sauckel was responsible for compelling citizens of the occupied countries, against their will, to manufacture arms and munitions and to construct military fortifications for use in war operations against their own country and its allies. He was, moreover, responsible for having compelled prisoners of war to produce arms and munitions for use against their own countries and their actively resisting allies.
The decree appointing Sauckel indicates that he was appointed Plenipotentiary General for manpower for the express purpose, among others, of integrating prisoners of war into the German war industry; and in a series of reports to Hitler, Sauckel described how successful he had been in carrying out that program. One such report states that in a single year the Defendant Sauckel had incorporated 1,622,829 prisoners of war into the German economy.
I refer to Document Number 407(V)-PS, which is Exhibit USA-228. It is a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler on the 14th of April 1943. Although the figures in the document have been contained in another document, this is the first introduction of this particular document. Quoting from Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the English text, it begins:
“My Führer:
“. . . after having been active as Plenipotentiary for the Allocation of Labor for one year, I have the honor to report to you that 3,638,056 new foreign workers have been added to the German war economy between April 1st of the last year and March 31st of this year.”
Passing on a little bit, with particular reference to the prisoners of war, we find this statement:
“Besides the foreign civilian workers another 1,622,829 prisoners of war are employed in the German economy.”
A later report states that 846,511 additional foreign laborers and prisoners of war were incorporated into the German war industry; and quoting from Document 407(IX)-PS, Exhibit USA-229, which is also a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler, I read in part from Page 1, Paragraphs 1 and 2:
“My Führer:
“I beg to be permitted to report to you on the situation of the Arbeitseinsatz for the first 5 months of 1943. For the first time the following number of new foreign laborers and prisoners of war were employed in the German war industry . . . Total: 846,511.”
This use of prisoners of war in the manufacture of armaments allocated by the Defendant Sauckel was confirmed by the Defendant Speer, who stated that 40 percent of all prisoners of war were employed in the production of weapons and munitions and in subsidiary industries. I wish to refer briefly to Paragraphs 6, 7, and 8 on Page 15 of the English text of an interrogation of the Defendant Speer, on the 18th of October 1945, which was offered and referred to yesterday and has the Exhibit Number USA-220. Quoting from Paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 on Page 15—Paragraph 1 on Page 19 of the German text—there are two questions which will establish the background for this answer:
“Q: Let me understand; when you wanted labor from prisoners of war did you requisition prisoners of war separately, or did you ask for a total number of workers?
“A: Only Schmelter can answer that directly. As far as the commitment of prisoners of war for labor goes, it was effected through employment officers of the Stalags. I tried several times to increase the total number of prisoners of war that were occupied in production, at the expense of the other demands.
“Q: Will you explain that a little more?
“A: In the last phase of production, that is, in the year 1944 when everything collapsed, I had 40 percent of all prisoners of war employed in production. I wanted to have this percentage increased.
“Q: And when you say ‘employed in production’, you mean in these subsidiary industries that you have discussed and also in the production of weapons and munitions, is that right?
“A: Yes. That was the total extent of my task.”
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): What do you mean by “subsidiary industries,” Mr. Dodd? Is that war industries?
MR. DODD: Yes, Sir; war industries, as we understand it. It was referred to many times by these defendants as the component parts of the plans.
I also would like to call the attention of the Tribunal again to the “Minutes of the 36th Meeting of the Central. Planning Board,” Document R-124, from which we read a number of excerpts yesterday, and remind the Tribunal that in the report of the minutes of that meeting the Defendant Speer stated that, “Ninety thousand Russian prisoners of war employed in the whole of the armament industry are for the greater part skilled men.”
We should like, at this point, to turn to the special responsibility of the Defendant Speer and to discuss the evidence of the various crimes committed by Defendant Speer in planning and participating in the vast program of forcible deportation of the citizens of occupied countries. He was the Reich Minister of Armaments and Munitions and Chief of the Organization Todt, both of which positions he acquired on the 15th of February 1942; and by virtue of his later acquisition of control over the armament offices of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the production offices of the Ministry of Economics, the Defendant Speer was responsible for the entire war production of the Reich as well as for the construction of fortifications and installations for the Wehrmacht. Proof of the positions held by the Defendant Speer is supplied in his own statement as contained in Document 2980-PS, which has already been offered to the Tribunal and which bears Exhibit Number USA-18.
The industries under the Defendant Speer’s control were really the most important users of manpower in Germany; and thus, according to the Defendant Sauckel, Speer’s labor requirements received unconditional priority over all other demands for labor. We refer to the transcript of the interrogation of the Defendant Sauckel on the 22d of September 1945. It is Exhibit USA-230. It is next to the last document in the document book. I wish to refer to Page 1 of that document, Paragraph 4. It is a brief reference, the last answer on the page. The question was asked of the Defendant Sauckel:
“Q: Except for Speer, they would give the requirements in general for the whole field; but in Speer’s work you would get them allocated by industry, and so on—is that right?
“A: The others only got whatever was left. Because Speer told me once in the presence of the Führer that I am here to work for Speer and that, mainly, I am his man.”
The Defendant Speer has admitted under oath that he participated in the discussions during which the decision to use foreign forced labor was made. He has also said that he concurred in the decision and that it was the basis for the program of bringing foreign workers into Germany by compulsion. I make reference to the interrogation of the Defendant Speer of the 18th of October 1945. It bears the Exhibit Number USA-220. We have already read from it; and I particularly refer to the bottom of Page 12 and the top of Page 13 of the English text:
“Q: But is it clear to you, Mr. Speer, that in 1942 when the decisions were being made concerning the use of forced foreign labor, that you participated in the discussions yourself?
“A: Yes.
“Q: So that I take it that the execution of the program of bringing foreign workers into Germany by compulsion under Sauckel was based on earlier decisions that had been made with your agreement?
“A: Yes, but I must point out that only a very small part of the manpower that Sauckel brought into Germany was made available to me; a far larger part of it was allocated to other departments that demanded them.”
This admission is confirmed by the minutes of Speer’s conferences with Hitler on 10, 11, and 12 August 1942 in Document R-124, which has been offered here and from which excerpts have been read. Page 34 of that document, Paragraph 1 of the English text, has already been quoted, and those excerpts have been read before the Tribunal yesterday. The Tribunal will recall that the Defendant Speer related the outcome of his negotiations concerning the forcible recruitment of 1 million Russian laborers for the German armaments industry; and this use of force was again discussed by Hitler and Defendant Speer on the 4th of January 1943 as shown by the excerpts read from the Document 556(13)-PS, where it was decided that stronger measures were to be used to accelerate the conscription of French civilian workers.
We say the Defendant Speer demanded foreign workers for the industries under his control and used those workers with the knowledge that they had been deported by force and were being compelled to work. Speer has stated under oath in his interrogation of 18 October 1945, Page 5, Paragraph 9, of the English text, quoting it directly:
“I do not wish to give the impression that I want to deny the fact that I demanded manpower and foreign labor from Sauckel very energetically.”
He has admitted that he knew he was obtaining foreign labor, a large part of which was forced labor; and referring again to that same interrogation of the 18th of October 1945, and to Pages 8 and 9 of the English text and Page 10 of the German text:
“Q: So that during the period when you were asking for labor, it seems clear, does it not, that you knew you were obtaining foreign labor as well as domestic labor in response to your requests and that a large part of the foreign labor was forced labor?
“A: Yes.
“Q: So that, simply by way of illustration, suppose that on January 1, 1944 you require 50,000 workers for a given purpose; would you put in a requisition for 50,000 workers, knowing that in that 50,000 there would be forced foreign workers?
“A: Yes.”
The Defendant Speer has also stated under oath that he knew at least as early as September of 1942 that workers from the Ukraine were being forcibly deported for labor into Germany. Likewise he knew that the great majority of the workers of the western occupied countries were slave laborers forced against their will to come to Germany; and again referring to his interrogation of this 18th day of October 1945, and beginning with the fourth Paragraph from the bottom of Page 5 of the English text, Paragraph 10 on Page 6 of the German text, we find this series of questions and answers:
“Q: When did you first find out then that some of the manpower from the Ukraine was not coming voluntarily?
“A: It is rather difficult to answer this here, that is, to name a certain date to you. However, it is certain that I knew that at some particular point of time the manpower from the Ukraine did not come voluntarily.
“Q: And does that apply also to the manpower from other occupied countries; that is, did there come a time when you knew that they were not coming voluntarily?
“A: Yes.
“Q: When, in general, would you say that time was without placing a particular month of the year?
“A: As far as the Ukraine situation goes, I believe that they did not come voluntarily any more after a few months, because immense mistakes were made in their treatment by us. I should say offhand that this time was either in July, August, or September of 1942.”
Turning to Paragraph 11 on Page 6 of the English text of this same interrogation and Page 7 and Paragraph 8 of the German text, we find this series of questions and answers—quoting:
“Q: But many workers actually did come from the west to Germany, did they not?
“A: Yes.
“Q: That means then, that the great majority of the workers that came from the western countries—the western occupied countries—came against their will to Germany?
“A: Yes.”
These admissions are borne out, of course, by other evidence, for as Document R-124 shows and as we have shown by the readings from it, in all countries conscription for work in Germany could be carried out only with the active assistance of the police; and the prevailing methods of recruitment had provoked such violence that many German recruiting agents had been killed.
And again, at a meeting with Hitler to discuss the manpower requirements for 1944, which is reported in Document 1292-PS, Speer was informed by the Defendant Sauckel that the requirements—including Speer’s requirement for 1,300,000 additional laborers—could be met only if German enforcement agents were furnished to carry out the enslavement program in the occupied countries.
Now we say that notwithstanding this knowledge that these workers were conscripted and deported to Germany against their will, Speer nevertheless continued to formulate requirements for the foreign workers and requested their allocation to these industries which were subject to his control. This is borne out by the minutes of the Central Planning Board as contained in Document R-124, and particularly Page 13, Paragraph 4 of the English text; and that is Page 6 and Paragraph 4 of the German text. Speer speaking:
“Now the labor problem in Germany. I believe it is still possible to transfer some from the western territories. Only recently the Führer stated he wishes to dissolve these foreign volunteers as he had the impression that the army groups were carting around with them a lot of ballast. Therefore, if we cannot settle this matter ourselves, we shall have to call a meeting with the Führer to clear up the whole coal situation. Keitel and Zeitzler will be invited to attend in order to determine the number of Russians from the rear army territories who must be sent to us. However, I see another possibility: We might organize another drive to pick out workers for the mines from the Russian prisoners of war in the Reich. But this possibility is none too promising.”
At another meeting of the Central Planning Board the Defendant Speer rejected a suggestion that labor for industries under his control be furnished from German sources instead of from foreign sources. And again in this Document R-124, on Page 16, Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of the English text, and Page 12, Paragraphs 6 and 7 of the German text—I quote the Defendant Speer:
“We do it that way: Kehrl collects the demands for labor necessary to complete the coal-and-iron plan and communicates the numbers to Sauckel. Probably there will be a conference at the Reich Marshal’s in the next week, and an answer from Sauckel should have arrived by then. The question of recruitment for the armaments industry will be solved together with Weger.”
Kehrl speaking:
“I wish to urge that the allotments to the mines should not be made dependent on the possibility of recruitment of men abroad. We were completely frustrated these last 3 months because this principle had been applied. We ended December with a deficit of 25,000 and we never get replacements. The number must be made up by men from Germany.
“Speer: ‘No, nothing doing.’”
We say also that, the Defendant Speer is guilty of advocating terror and brutality as a means of maximizing, production by slave laborers. And again I refer to this Document R-124. At Page 42 there is a discussion concerning the supply and exploitation of labor. That excerpt has been read to the Tribunal before, and I simply refer to it in passing. It is the excerpt wherein Speer said it would be a good thing; the effect of it was that nothing could be said against the SS and the police taking a hand and making these men work and produce more.
We say he is also guilty of compelling allied nationals and prisoners of war to engage in the production of armaments and munitions and in direct military operations against their own country.
We say that as Chief of the Organization Todt he is accountable for its policies, which were in direct conflict with the laws of war; for the Organization Todt, in violation of the laws of war, impressed allied nationals into its service.
Document L-191, Exhibit USA-231, is an International Labor Office study of the exploitation of foreign labor by Germany. We have only one copy of this document, this International Labor Office study, printed at Montreal, Canada, in 1945. We ask that the Tribunal take judicial notice of it as an official publication of the International Labor Office.
I might say to the Tribunal, with some apology, that this arrived at a time when we were not able even to have the excerpt mimeographed and printed to place in your document book, so this is the one document which is missing from the document book which is in your hands. However, I should like to quote from Page 73, Paragraph 2, of this study by the International Labor Office. It is not long; it is very brief. I am quoting directly. It says:
“The methods used for the recruitment of foreign workers who were destined for employment in the Organization did not greatly differ from the methods used for the recruitment of foreigners for deportation to Germany.”
“The Organization,” by the way, is the Organization Todt. Going on with the quotation:
“The main difference was that, since the principal activities of the Organization lay outside the frontiers of Germany, foreigners were not transported to Germany but had either to work in their own country or in some other occupied country.
“In the recruitment drives for foreign workers for the Organization, methods of compulsion as well as methods of persuasion were used, the latter usually with very little result.”
Moreover, conscripted allied nationals were compelled by this same Organization Todt actually to engage in operations of war against their country.
Document 407(VIII)-PS discloses that the foreign workers who were impressed into the Organization Todt through the efforts of the Defendant Sauckel did participate in the building of the Atlantic Wall fortifications.
As chief of German war production, this Defendant Speer sponsored and approved the use of these prisoners of war in the production of armaments and munitions. This has been made plain by the evidence already discussed.
To sum it up briefly finally we say that it shows first that after Speer assumed the responsibility for the armament production, his concern, in his discussions with his co-conspirators, was to secure a larger allocation of prisoners of war for his armament factories. That has been shown by the quotations from the excerpts of Document R-124, the minutes of the meeting of the Central Planning Board; and in this same meeting the Tribunal will recall that Speer complained because only 30 percent of the Russian prisoners of war were engaged in the armaments industry.
We referred to a speech of Speer, Document 1435-PS—we quoted from it—in which he said that 10,000 prisoners of war were put at the disposal of the armaments industry upon his orders.
And finally, Speer advocated the returning of escaped prisoners of war to factories as convicts. That is shown again by Document R-124, Page 13, Paragraph 5, of the English text, where the Defendant Speer says that he has come to an arrangement . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, don’t you think that we have really got this sufficiently now?
MR. DODD: Yes, Sir; I just . . .
THE PRESIDENT: We have Speer’s own admission and any number of documents which prove the way in which these prisoners of war and other laborers were brought into Germany.
MR. DODD: Well I just wanted to refer briefly to that passage in that document, R-124, as showing that this defendant advocated having escaped prisoners of war returned to the munitions factories.
THE PRESIDENT: What page?
MR. DODD: Thirteen. I don’t want to labor this responsibility of the Defendant Speer. I was anxious—or perhaps I should say we are all overanxious—to have the documents in the record, and before the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: Which is the passage you want to refer to on Page 13?
MR. DODD: I just referred in passing to the statement which begins with the words, “We have to come to an arrangement with the Reichsführer SS.” And in the next to the last sentence it says: “The men should be put into the factories as convicts.”
Finally, with reference to the Defendant Speer, I should like to say to the Tribunal that he visited the concentration camp at Mauthausen and he also visited factories such as those conducted by the Krupp industries, where concentration camp labor was exploited under degrading conditions. Despite this first-hand knowledge of these conditions, both in Mauthausen and in the places where these forced laborers were at work in factories, he continued to direct the use of this type of labor in factories under his own jurisdiction.
THE PRESIDENT: How do you intend to prove it as to these concentration camps?
MR. DODD: I was going to refer the Tribunal to Page 9 of the interrogation of the 18th of October 1945; and I refer to Page 11, Paragraph 5, of the German text and Page 9, beginning with Paragraph 9, of the English text:
“Q: But, in general, the use of concentration camp labor was known to you and approved by you as a source of labor?
“A: Yes.
“Q: And you knew also, I take it, that among the inmates of the concentration camps there were both Germans and foreigners?
“A: I didn’t think about it at that time.
“Q: As a matter of fact, you visited the Austrian concentration camp personally, did you not?
“A: I did not—well, I was in Mauthausen once, but at that time I was not told just to what categories the inmates of the concentration camps belonged.
“Q: But in general everybody knew, did they not, that foreigners who were taken away by the Gestapo or arrested by the Gestapo, as well as Germans, found their way into the concentration camps?
“A: Of course, yes. I didn’t mean to imply anything like that.”
And on Page 15 of this same interrogation, beginning with the 13th Paragraph of the English text and Page 20 in the German text, we find this question:
“Q: Did you ever discuss, by the way, the requirements of Krupp for foreign labor?
“A: It is certain that it was reported to me what lack Krupp had in foreign workers.
“Q: Did you ever, discuss it with any of the members of the Krupp firm?
“A: I cannot say that exactly; but during the time of my activities I visited the Krupp factory more than once and it is certain that this was discussed, that is, the lack of manpower.”
Before closing I should like to take 2 minutes of the time of the Tribunal to refer to what we consider to be some of the applicable laws of the case for the assistance of the Tribunal in considering these documents which we have offered.
We refer, of course, first of all, to Sections 6 (b) and 6 (c) of the Charter of this Tribunal. We also say that the acts of the conspirators constituted a flagrant violation of Articles 46 and 52 of the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention Number IV of 1907.
Article 46 seeks to safeguard the family honor, the rights and the lives of persons in areas under belligerent occupation.
Article 52 provides in part that:
“Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded from municipalities or inhabitants except for the needs of the army of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the country.”
We say that these conspirators violated this article because the labor which they conscripted was not used to satisfy the needs of the army of occupation, but on the contrary, was forcibly removed from the occupied areas and exploited in the interest of the German war effort.
Finally, we say that these conspirators—and particularly the Defendants Sauckel and Speer—by virtue of their planning, of their execution, and of their approval of this program, which we have been describing yesterday and today, the enslavement and the misuse of the forced labor of prisoners of war—that for this they bear a special responsibility for their Crimes against Humanity and their War Crimes.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you finishing, Mr. Dodd?
MR. DODD: Yes, I have concluded.
THE PRESIDENT: I should like to ask you why you have not read Document 3057-PS, which is Sauckel’s statement.
MR. DODD: Yes. We had intended to offer that document. Counsel for the Defendant Sauckel informed me a day or two ago that his client maintained that he had been coerced into making the statement. Because we had not ample time to ascertain the facts of the matter, we preferred to withhold it, rather than to offer it to the Tribunal under any question of doubt.
THE PRESIDENT: He objects to it, and therefore you have not put it in?
MR. DODD: No, we did not offer it while there was any question about it.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MR. DODD: Might I suggest to the Tribunal that a recess be taken at this time? I am sorry to have to say that I am due to be before the Tribunal for a little while—that is, I am sorry for the Tribunal—with the matters on the concentration camps.
THE PRESIDENT: You mean a recess now?
MR. DODD: If Your Honor pleases.
THE PRESIDENT: Certainly, yes; 10 minutes.
[_A recess was taken._]
MR. DODD: May it please the Tribunal, we propose to offer additional evidence at this time concerning the use of Nazi concentration camps against the people of Germany and allied nationals. We propose to examine the purposes and the role of the concentration camp in the larger Nazi scheme of things. We propose to show that the concentration camp was one of the fundamental institutions of the Nazi regime, that it was a pillar of the system of terror by which the Nazis consolidated their power over Germany and imposed their ideology upon the German people, that it was really a primary weapon in the battle against the Jews, against the Christian church, against labor, against those who wanted peace, against opposition or non-conformity of any kind. We say it involved the systematic use of terror to achieve the cohesion within Germany which was necessary for the execution of the conspirators’ plans for aggression.
We propose to show that a concentration camp was one of the principal instruments used by the conspirators for the commission, on an enormous scale, of Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes; that it was the final link in a chain of terror and repression which involved the SS and the Gestapo and which resulted in the apprehension of victims and their confinement without trial, often without charges, generally with no indication of the length of their detention.
My colleagues will present full evidence concerning the criminal role of the SS and the Gestapo in this phase of Nazi terrorism, the concentration camp; but at this point I wish simply to point out that the SS, through its espionage system, tracked down the victims, that the criminal police and the Gestapo seized them and brought them to the camps, and that the concentration camps were administered by the SS.
This Tribunal, we feel, is already aware of the sickening evidence of the brutality of the concentration camp from the showing of the moving picture. More than that, individual prosecutions are going on, going forward before other courts which will record these outrages in detail. Therefore, we do not propose to present a catalogue of individual brutalities but, rather, to submit evidence showing the fundamental purposes for which, the camps were used, the techniques of terror which were employed, the large number of victims, and the death and the anguish which they caused.
The evidence relating to concentration camps has been assembled in a document book bearing the letter “S.” I might say that the documents in this book have been arranged in the order of presentation, rather than, as we have been doing, numerically. In this book we have put them in as they occur in the presentation. One document in this book, 2309-PS, is cited several times, so we have marked it with a tab with a view to facilitating reference back to it. It will be referred to more than once.
The Nazis realized early that without the most drastic repression of actual and potential opposition they could not consolidate their power over the German people. We have seen that, immediately after Hitler became Chancellor, the conspirators promptly destroyed civil liberties by issuing the Presidential Emergency Decree of February 28, 1933. It is Document 1390-PS of the document book; and it sets forth that decree which has already been introduced in evidence before the Tribunal and is included in USA Exhibit B. It was this decree, which was the basis for the so-called “Schutzhaft,” that is, protective custody—the terrible power to imprison people without judicial proceedings. This is made clear by Document Number 2499-PS, which is a typical order for protective custody. We offer it for that purpose, as a typical order for protective custody which has come into the possession of the Prosecution. It bears Exhibit Number USA-232. I should like to quote from the body of that order:
“Order of Protective Custody.
“Based on Article 1 of the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State of 28 February 1933 (_Reichsgesetzblatt_ I, Page 83), you are taken into protective custody in the interest of public security and order.
“Reason: Suspicion of activities inimical toward the State.”
The Defendant Göring in a book entitled _Aufbau einer Nation_, published in 1934, sought to give the impression, it appears, that the camps were originally directed at those whom the Nazis considered Communists and Social Democrats. We refer to Document 2324-PS, Exhibit USA-233. This document is an excerpt from Page 89 of the German book. We refer to the third and fourth paragraphs of the document, which I read as follows:
“We had to deal ruthlessly with these enemies of the State. It must not be forgotten that at the moment of our seizure of power, over 6 million people officially voted for communism and about 8 million for Marxism in the Reichstag elections in March.
“Thus the concentration camps were created to which we had to send first thousands of functionaries of the Communist and Social Democratic Parties.”
In practical operation the power to order confinement in these camps was almost without limit. The Defendant Frick, in an order which he issued on the 25th day of January 1938 as Minister of the Interior, made this quite clear. An extract from this order is set forth in Document 1723-PS, to which we make reference. It bears Exhibit Number USA-206. I wish to read Article 1, beginning at the bottom of Page 5 of the English translation of this order:
“Protective custody can be decreed as a coercive measure of the Secret State Police to counter all hostile efforts of persons who endanger the existence and security of the people and the State through their attitude.”
I wish also to read into the record the first two paragraphs of that order, which are found at the top of Page 1 of the English translation:
“In a summary of all the previously issued decrees on the co-operation between the Party and the Gestapo I refer to the following and ordain:
“1. To the Gestapo has been entrusted the mission by the Führer to watch over and to eliminate all enemies of the Party and the National State, as well as all disintegrating forces of all kinds directed against both. The successful solution of this mission forms one of the most essential prerequisites for the unhampered and frictionless work of the Party. The Gestapo, in its extremely difficult task, is to be granted support and assistance in every possible way by the NSDAP.”
The conspirators then were directing their apparatus of terror against the “enemies of the State,” against “disintegrating forces,” against those people who endangered the State “through their attitude.” Whom did they consider as belonging in these broad categories? Well, first, there were the men in Germany who wanted peace. We refer to Document L-83 (Exhibit USA-234).
THE PRESIDENT: What was the date of that document that you have been referring to, Number 1723-PS?
MR. DODD: January 25, 1938. It has already been introduced and is included in USA Exhibit B. This document consists of an affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, and I wish only to read from Page 1, Paragraph 2 of that affidavit:
“2. During the period after World War I, until I was committed to the Leipzig jail and Oranienburg Concentration Camp, in the spring of 1933 following the Nazi accession to power in January of that year, my business and political affiliations exposed me to the full impact of the Nazi theories and practice of violent regimentation and terroristic tactics. My conflict with the Nazis by virtue of my identification with the peace movement and as duly elected member of the Reichstag representing a political faith (Social Democratic Party) hostile to National Socialism, clearly demonstrated that even in the period prior to 1933 the Nazis considered crimes and terrorism a necessary and desirable weapon in overcoming democratic opposition.”
Passing to Page 5 of the same document and the paragraph marked “(e)”:
“That the Nazis had already conceived the device of the concentration camp as a means of suppressing and regimenting opposition elements was forcefully brought to my attention during the course of a conversation which I had with Dr. Wilhelm Frick in December 1932. Frick at that time was chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Reichstag of which I was a member. When I gave an emphatic answer to Frick concerning the particular matter discussed, he replied, ‘Don’t worry, when we are in power we shall put all of you guys into concentration camps.’ When the Nazis came into power, Frick was appointed Reich Minister of Interior and promptly carried out his threat in collaboration with Göring, as Chief of the Prussian State Police, and Himmler.”
This paragraph shows that even before the Nazis had seized power in Germany they had conceived the plan to repress any potential oppositions by terror, and Frick’s statement to Seger is completely consistent with an earlier statement which he made on the 18th of October 1929. We refer to Document Number 2513-PS (Exhibit USA-235), which has also been received in evidence and has been included in USA Exhibit B. We refer to the first page of the English translation, Page 48 of the German text. On Page 1 the quotation begins:
“This fateful struggle will first be taken up with the ballot; but this cannot continue indefinitely, for history has taught us that in a battle blood must be shed and iron broken. The ballot is the beginning of the fateful struggle. We are determined to promulgate by force that which we preach. Just as Mussolini exterminated the Marxists in Italy, so must we also succeed in accomplishing the same through dictatorship and terror.”
THE PRESIDENT: This is the defendant, is it?
MR. DODD: Yes, the Defendant Frick.
There are many additional cases of the use of the concentration camp against the men who wanted peace. There was, for example, a group called the Bibelforscher, that is, Bible research workers, most of whom were known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were pacifists, and so the conspirators provided not only for their prosecution in the regular courts but also for their confinement in concentration camps after they had served the judicial sentences; and we refer to Document Number D-84, Exhibit USA-236.
This document is dated the 5th day of August 1937; and it is an order by the Secret State Police at Berlin, and I refer particularly to the first and last paragraphs of this order, as follows:
“The Reich Minister of Justice had informed me that he does not share the opinion voiced by subordinate departments on various occasions according to which the arrest of the Bibelforscher after they have served a sentence is supposed to jeopardize the authority of the law courts. He is fully aware of the necessity for measures by the State Police after the sentence has been served. He asks, however, not to bring the Bibelforscher into protective custody under circumstances detrimental to the respect of the law courts.”
And then, the Paragraph numbered “(2)”:
“If information regarding the impending release of a Bibelforscher from arrest is received from the authorities carrying out the sentence, my decision regarding the ordering of measures by the State Police will be asked for without delay in accordance with my circular decree dated 22. 4. 37, so that transfer to a concentration camp can take place immediately after the sentence has been served. Should a transfer into concentration camp immediately after the serving of the sentence not be possible, Bibelforscher will be detained in police prisons.”
The labor unions, of which I think it is safe to say the majority are traditionally opposed to wars of aggression, also felt the full force of Nazi terror. A member of the American staff, Major Wallis, has already submitted evidence before this Tribunal concerning the conspirators’ campaign against the trade unions. But the concentration camp was an important weapon in this campaign; and the Tribunal will recall that in Document Number 2324-PS, to which I made reference this morning, the Defendant Göring made it plain that members of the Social Democratic Party were to be confined in concentration camps. Now labor leaders were very largely members of that party, and they soon learned the horrors of protective custody. We refer to Document Number 2330-PS (Exhibit USA-237), which has already been received as part of USA Exhibit G, which consists of an order that one Joseph Simon should be placed in protective custody. We refer to the middle of the first page of the English translation of that order, beginning with the material under the word “reasons.”
THE PRESIDENT: I think you should read the sentence before that—the two lines before it. The words are, “The arrestee has no right to appeal against the decree of protective custody.”
MR. DODD: “The arrestee has no right to appeal against the application of protective custody.” Then comes a title: “Reasons”:
“Simon was for many years a member of the Socialist Party and temporarily a member of the Union Socialiste Populaire. From 1907 to 1918 he was Landtag deputy of the Socialist Party; from 1908 to 1930 Social Democratic City Counsellor (Stadtrat) in Nuremberg. In view of the decisive role which Simon played in the international trade unions and in regard to his connection with international Marxist leaders and central agencies, which he continued after the national recovery, he was placed under protective custody on the 3rd day of May 1933 and was kept, until 25 January 1934, in the Dachau Concentration Camp. Simon is under the grave suspicion that even after this date he played an active part in the illegal continuation of the Socialist Party. He took part in meetings which aimed at the illegal continuation of the Socialist Party and propagation of illegal Marxist printed matter in Germany. Through this radical attitude, which is hostile to the State, Simon directly endangers public security and order.”
We do not wish to burden these proceedings with a multiplication of such instances, but we refer the Tribunal to documents which have already been offered in connection with the presentation of the evidence concerning the destruction of the trade unions. In particular, we wish to refer to Document Number 2334-PS and Document Number 2928-PS, (Exhibits USA-238 and 239) both of which are included within USA Exhibit G.
Thousands of Jews, as the world so well knows, were, of course, confined in these concentration camps. The evidence on this point will be developed in a later presentation by another member of the prosecuting staff of the United States. But among the wealth of evidence available on this point showing the confinement of Germans only because they were Jews, we wish to offer a document, Number 3051-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-240. This is a copy of a teletype from SS Gruppenführer Heydrich, and it is dated the 10th of November 1938. It was sent to all headquarters of the State Police and all districts and subdistricts of the SD. We refer to Paragraph 5 of this teletype. Paragraph 5 is found on Page 3 of the English translation. It begins at the bottom of Page 2 and runs over to Page 3. Quoting from Paragraph 5:
“As soon as the course of events of this night allows the use of the officials employed for this purpose, as many Jews, especially rich ones, as can be accommodated in the existing prisons are to be arrested in all districts. For the time being only healthy men, not too old, are to be arrested. Upon their arrest, the appropriate concentration camps should be contacted immediately, in order to confine them in these camps as fast as possible.
“Special care should be taken that the Jews arrested in accordance with these instructions are not ill-treated.”
Himmler in 1943 indicated that use of the concentration camp against the Jews had been motivated not simply by Nazi racialism. Himmler indicated that this policy had been motivated by a fear that the Jews might have been an obstacle to aggression. There is no necessity to consider whether this fear was justified. The important consideration is that the fear existed; and with reference to it we refer to Document 1919-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-170. The document is a speech delivered by Himmler at the meeting of the SS major generals at Posen on 4 October 1943, in the course of which he sought to justify the Nazi anti-Jewish policy. We refer to a portion of this document or this speech, which is found on Page 4, Paragraph 3, of the English translation, starting with the words, “I mean the clearing out of the Jews”:
“I mean the clearing out of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish race. It’s one of those things it is easy to talk about. ‘The Jewish race is being exterminated’, says one Party member, ‘that’s quite clear; it’s in our program; elimination of the Jews, and we’re doing it, exterminating them.’ And then there come 80 million worthy Germans and each one has his decent Jew. Of course, the others are vermin, but this one is an A-l Jew. Not one of all those who talk this way has witnessed it, not one of them has been through it. Most of you must know what it means when 100 corpses are lying side by side, or 500 or 1,000. To have stuck it out and at the same time—apart from exceptions caused by human weakness—to have remained decent fellows, that is what has made us hard. This is a page of glory in our history which has never been written and is never to be written, for we know how difficult we should have made it for ourselves, if—with bombing raids, the burden and deprivations of war—we still had Jews today in every town as secret saboteurs, agitators, and trouble-mongers.”
It is clear, we say, from the foregoing that prior to the launching of the aggression, the concentration camp had been one of the principal weapons by which the conspirators achieved the social cohesion which was needed for the execution of their plans for aggression. After they launched their aggression and their armies swept over Europe, they brought the concentration camp to occupied countries; and they also brought the citizens of the occupied countries to Germany and subjected them to the whole apparatus of Nazi brutality.
Document Number R-91 is Exhibit USA-241. This document consists of a communication dated the 16th day of December 1942 sent by Müller to Himmler, for the Chief of the Security Police and SD, and deals with the seizure of Polish Jews for deportation to concentration camps in Germany. I am beginning with the first paragraph. It says, quoting directly:
“In connection with the increase in the transfer of labor to the concentration camps ordered to be completed by 30 January 1943, the following procedure may be applied in the Jewish section:
“1. Total number: 45,000 Jews.
“2. Start of transportation: 11 January 1943. End of transportation: 31 January 1943. (The Reich railroads are unable to provide special trains for the evacuation during the period from 15 December 1942 to 10 January 1943 because of the increased traffic of Armed Forces leave trains.)
“3. Composition: The 45,000 Jews are to consist of 30,000 Jews from the district of Bialystok; 10,000 Jews from the Ghetto of Theresienstadt, 5,000 of whom are Jews fit for work who heretofore had been used for smaller jobs required for the ghetto and 5,000 Jews who are generally incapable of working, also Jews over 60-years old.”
And passing the next sentence:
“As heretofore only such Jews would be taken for the evacuation who do not have any particular connections and who are not in possession of any high decorations. Three thousand Jews from the occupied Dutch territories, 2,000 Jews from Berlin—45,000. The figure of 45,000 includes those unfit for work (old Jews and children). By use of a practical standard, the screening of the arriving Jews in Auschwitz should yield at least 10,000 to 15,000 people fit for work.”
The Jews of Hungary suffered the same tragic fate. Between 19 March 1944 and the 1st of August 1944, more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews were rounded up. Many of these were put in wagons and sent to extermination camps, and we refer to Document Number 2605-PS, Exhibit USA-242. This document is an affidavit made in London by Dr. Rudolph Kastner, a former official of the Hungarian Zionist Organization. We refer to Page 3 of the document, the third full paragraph. In March 1944, quoting:
“Together with the German military occupation, there arrived in Budapest a ‘Special Section Commando’ of the German Secret Police with the sole object of liquidating the Hungarian Jews. It was headed by Adolf Aichmann, SS Obersturmbannführer, Chief of Section IV B of the Reich Security Head Office. His immediate collaborators were: SS Obersturmbannführer Hermann Krumey, Hauptsturmführer Wisliczeny, Hunsche, Novak, Dr. Seidl, and later Danegger, Wrtok. They arrested and later deported to Mauthausen all the leaders of Jewish political and business life and journalists, together with, the Hungarian democratic and anti-fascist politicians; taking advantage of the ‘interregnum’ following upon the German occupation lasting 4 days, they have placed their Quislings in the Ministry of the Interior.”
On Page 7 of that same document, the 8th paragraph, beginning with the words “Commanders of the death camps” and quoting:
“Commanders of the death camps gassed only on direct or indirect instructions of Aichmann. The particular officer of IV B who directed the deportations from some particular country had the authority to indicate whether the train should go to a death camp or not and what should happen to the passengers. The instructions were usually carried by the SS non-commissioned officers escorting the train. The letters ‘A’ or ‘M’”—capital letters “A” or “M”—“on the escorting instruction documents indicated Auschwitz (Oswieczim) or Majdanek; it meant that the passengers were to be gassed.”
And passing over the next sentence, we come to these words:
“Regarding Hungarian Jews the following general ruling was laid down in Auschwitz: Children up to the age of 12 or 14, older people over 50, as well as the sick, or people with criminal records (who were transported in specially marked wagons) were taken immediately on their arrival to the gas chambers.
“The others passed before an SS doctor who, on sight, indicated who was fit for work and who was not. Those unfit were sent to the gas chambers, while the others were distributed in various labor camps.”
In the so-called “Eastern Territories” these victims were apprehended for extermination . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, don’t you want Page 5 for the numbers which you have stated “up to the 27th of June 1944”? You haven’t yet given us any authority for the numbers that you have stated.
MR. DODD: Oh, yes. On Page 5 of that same document, 2605-PS, quoting: “Up to the 27th of June 1944, 475,000 Jews were deported.”
In the so-called “Eastern Territories” these victims were apprehended for extermination in concentration camps without any charges having been made against them. In the western occupied territories charges seemed to have been made against some of the victims. Some of the charges which the Nazi conspirators considered sufficient basis for confinement to the concentration camps are shown by reference to Document Number L-215, which bears Exhibit Number USA-243. This document is the summary of the file, the dossier, of 25 persons arrested in Luxembourg for commitment to various concentration camps and sets forth the charges made against each person. Beginning with the paragraph after the name “Henricy,” at the bottom of the first page, and quoting:
“Name: Henricy; charge: . . . by associating with members of illegal resistance movements and making money for them, violating legal foreign exchange rates, by harming the interests of the Reich and being expected in the future to disobey official administrative regulations and act as an enemy of the Reich; place of confinement—Natzweiler.”
Next comes the name of “Krier” and the charge:
“. . . by being responsible for continuous sabotage of labor and causing fear because of his political and criminal past—freedom would only further his anti-social urge; place of confinement—Buchenwald.”
Passing to the middle of Page 2, after the name “Monti”:
“Charge:. . . by being strongly suspected of aiding desertion; place of confinement—Sachsenhausen.”
Next, after the name “Junker”:
“Charge:. . . because as a relative of a deserter he is expected to endanger the interests of the Greater German Reich if allowed to go free; place of confinement—Sachsenhausen.”
“Jaeger” is the next name and the charge against Jaeger, quoting:
“. . . because as a relative of a deserter he is expected, to take advantage of every occasion to harm the Greater German Reich if allowed to go free; place of confinement—Sachsenhausen.”
And down to the name “Ludwig” and the charge against Ludwig:
“. . . for being strongly suspected of aiding desertion; place of confinement—Dachau.”
Not only civilians of the occupied countries but also prisoners of war were subjected to the horrors and the brutality of the concentration camps; and we refer to Document Number 1165-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-244. This document is a memorandum to all officers of the State Police signed by Müller, the Chief of the Gestapo, dated the 9th of November 1941. The memorandum has the revealing title of—and I quote—“Transportation of Russian Prisoners of War, destined for Execution, into the Concentration Camps.”
I wish to quote also from the body of this memorandum, which is found on Page 2 of the English translation, and I quote directly:
“The commandants of the concentration camps are complaining that 5 to 10 percent of the Soviet Russians destined for execution are arriving in the camps dead or half dead. Therefore the impression has arisen that the Stalags are getting rid of such prisoners in this way.
“It was particularly noted that when marching, for example, from the railroad station to the camp a rather large number of PW’s collapsed on the way from exhaustion, either dead or half dead, and had to be picked up by a truck following the convoy.
“It cannot be prevented that the German people take notice of these occurrences.
“Even if the transportation to the camps is generally taken care of by the Wehrmacht, the population will attribute this situation to the SS.
“In order to prevent, if possible, similar occurrences in the future, I therefore order that, effective from today on, Soviet Russians declared definitely suspect and obviously marked by death (for example with hunger-typhus) and therefore not able to withstand the exertions of even a short march on foot shall in the future, as a matter of basic principle, be excluded from the transport into the concentration camps for execution.”
More evidence of the confinement of Russian prisoners of war in concentration camps is found in an official report of the investigation of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp by the Headquarters of the United States Third Army, the Judge Advocate Section, and particularly the War Crimes Branch, under the date of the 21st day of June 1945. It is our Document Number 2309-PS and bears Exhibit Number USA-245. At the bottom of Page 2 of the English text the last two sentences of that last paragraph say, and I quote:
“In 1941 an additional stockade was added at the Flossenbürg camp to hold 2,000 Russian prisoners. Of these 2,000 prisoners only 102 survived.”
Soviet prisoners of war found their allies in the concentration camps too; and at Page 4 of this same Document Number 2309-PS, it will show, particularly Paragraph 5 on Page 4, and I quote it:
“The victims of Flossenbürg included among them: Russian civilians and prisoners of war, German nationals, Italians, Belgians, Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, British, and American prisoners of war. No practical means was available to complete a list of victims of this camp; however, since the foundation of the camp in 1938 until the day of liberation, it is estimated that more than 29,000 inmates died.”
Escaped prisoners of war were sent to concentration camps by the conspirators, and these camps were specially set up as extermination centers; and we refer to Document Number 1650-PS, bearing Exhibit Number USA-246. This document is a communication from the Secret State Police of Cologne and it is dated the 4th day of March 1944. At the very top of the English text it says, “To be transmitted in secret—to be handled as a secret Government matter.”
In the third paragraph, quoting:
“Concerns: Measures to be taken against captured escaped prisoners of war who are officers or non-working noncommissioned officers, except British and American prisoners of war. The Supreme Command of the Army has ordered as follows:
“1. Every captured escaped prisoner of war who is an officer or a non-working noncommissioned officer, except British and American prisoners of war, is to be turned over to the Chief of the Security Police and of the Security Service under the classification Step III regardless of whether the escape occurred during a transport, whether it was a mass escape, or an individual one.
“2. Since the transfer of the prisoners of war to the Security Police and Security Service may not become officially known to the outside under any circumstances, other prisoners of war may by no means be informed of the capture. The captured prisoners are to be reported to the Army Information Bureau as ‘escaped and not captured.’ Their mail is to be handled accordingly. Inquiries of representatives of the protective power, of the International Red Cross, and of other aid societies will be given the same answer.”
The same communication carried a copy of an order of SS General Müller, acting for the Chief of the Security Police and SD, directing the Gestapo to transport escaped prisoners directly to Mauthausen; and I quote the first two paragraphs of Müller’s order, which begins on the bottom of Page 1 and runs over to Page 2 of the English text. Quoting:
“The State Police directorates will accept the captured escaped officer prisoners of war from the prisoner-of-war camp commandants and will transport them to the Concentration Camp Mauthausen following the procedure previously used, unless the circumstances render a special transport imperative. The prisoners of war are to be put in irons on the transport—not on the way to the station if it is subject to view by the public. The camp commandant at Mauthausen is to be notified that the transfer occurs within the scope of the action ‘Kugel.’ The State Police directorates will submit semi-yearly reports on these transfers giving merely the figures, the first report being due on 5 July 1944.”
Passing the next three sentences, we come to this line:
“For the sake of secrecy the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces has been requested to inform the prisoner-of-war camps to turn the captured prisoners over to the local State Police office concerned and not to send them directly to Mauthausen.”
It is no coincidence that the literal translation for the German word “Kugel” is the English word “bullet,” since Mauthausen, where the escaped prisoners were sent, was an extermination center.
Nazi conquest was marked by the establishment of concentration camps over all of Europe. In this connection we refer to Document Number R-129. It is a report on the location of concentration camps signed by Pohl, who was an SS general who was in charge of concentration camp labor policies. Document Number R-129 bears our Exhibit Number USA-217.
I wish to refer particularly to Section 1, Paragraphs numbered 1 and 2 of this document, which are found on Page 1 of the English translation. It is addressed to the Reichsführer SS and bears the stamp “secret”:
“Reichsführer:
“Today I report about the present situation of the concentration camps and about measures I have taken in order to carry out your order of 3 March 1942:
“1. At the outbreak of war there existed the following concentration camps:
“a. Dachau—1939, 4,000 prisoners; today, 8,000.
“b. Sachsenhausen—1939, 6,500 prisoners; today, 10,000.
“c. Buchenwald—1939, 5,300 prisoners; today, 9,000.
“d. Mauthausen—1939, 1,500 prisoners; today, 5,500.
“e. Flossenbürg—1939, 1,600 prisoners; today, 4,700.
“f. Ravensbrück—1939, 2,500 prisoners; today, 7,500.”
And then it goes on to say in Paragraph Number 2, quoting:
“In the years 1940 and 1942 nine additional camps were erected:
“a. Auschwitz, b. Neuengamme, c. Gusen, d. Natzweiler, e. Gross-Rosen, f. Lublin, g. Niederhagen, h. Stutthof, i. Arbeitsdorf.”
In addition to the camps in the occupied territory mentioned in this Document R-129, from which I have just read these names and figures, there were many, many others. I refer to the official report by the United States Third Army Headquarters, to which we have already made reference, Document Number 2309-PS, on Page 2 in the English text, Section IV, Paragraph 4, quoting:
“Concentration Camp Flossenbürg was founded in 1938 as a camp for political prisoners. Construction was commenced on the camp in 1938 and it was not until April 1940 that the first transport of prisoners was received. From this time on prisoners began to flow steadily into the camp. (Exhibit B-1.) Flossenbürg was the mother camp and under its direct control and jurisdiction were 47 satellite camps or outer-commandos for male prisoners and 27 camps for female workers. To these outer-commandos were supplied the necessary prisoners for the various work projects undertaken.
“Of all these outer-commandos, Hersbruck and Leitmeritz (in Czechoslovakia), Oberstaubling, Mulsen and Sall, located on the Danube, were considered to be the worst.”
I do not wish to take the time of the Tribunal to discuss each of the Nazi concentration camps which dotted the map of Europe. We feel that the widespread use of these camps is commonly known and notorious. We do, however, wish to invite the Tribunal’s attention to a chart which we have had prepared. The solid black line marks the boundary of Germany after the Anschluss, and we call the Tribunal’s attention to the fact that the majority of the camps shown on the chart are located within the territorial limits of Germany itself. They are the red spots, of course, on the map. In the center of Germany there is the Buchenwald camp located near the city of Weimar, and at the extreme bottom of the chart there is Dachau, several miles outside of Munich. At the top of the chart are Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen, located near Hamburg. To the left is the Niederhagen camp in the Ruhr Valley. In the upper right there are a number of camps near Berlin, one named Sachsenhausen (formerly Oranienburg, which was one of the first camps established after the Nazis came into power). Near to that is the camp of Ravensbrück which was used exclusively for women. Some of the most notorious camps were located indeed outside of Germany. Mauthausen was in Austria. In Poland was the infamous Auschwitz; and to the left of the chart is a camp called Hertogenbosch and this one was located in Holland, as the chart shows; and below it is Natzweiler, located in France.
The camps were established in networks; and it may be observed that surrounding each of the major camps—the larger red dots—is a group of satellite camps; and the names of the principal camps, the most notorious camps, at least, are above the map and below it on the chart; and those names, for most people, symbolize the Nazi system of concentration camps as they have become known to the world since May or a little later in 1945.
I should like to direct your attention briefly to the treatment which was meted out in these camps. The motion picture to which I have made reference a short time ago and which was shown to the members of this High Tribunal has disclosed the terrible and savage treatment which was inflicted upon these Allied nationals, prisoners of war, and other victims of Nazi terror. Because the moving picture has so well shown the situation, as of the time of its taking at least, I shall confine myself to a very brief discussion of the subject.
The conditions which existed inside these camps were, of course, we say, directly related to the objectives which these Nazi conspirators sought to achieve outside of the camps through their employment of terror.
It is truly remarkable, it seems to us, how easily the words “concentration camps” rolled off the lips of these men. How simple all problems became when they could turn to the terror institution of the concentration camps. I refer to Document Number R-124, which is already before the Tribunal as Exhibit USA-179. It is again that document covering the minutes of the Central Planning Committee on which the Defendant Speer sat and where the high strategy of the high Nazi armament production was formulated. I do not intend to read from the document again, because I read from it this morning to illustrate another point; but the Tribunal will recall that it was at this meeting that the Defendant Speer and others were discussing the so-called slackers, and the conversation had to do with having drastic steps taken against these workers who were not putting out sufficient work to please their masters. Speer suggested that, “There is nothing to be said against the SS and Police taking steps and putting those known as slackers into concentration camp industries,” and he used the words “concentration camp industries.” And he said, “Let it happen several times and the news will soon get around.”
Words spoken in this fashion, we say, sealed the fate of many victims. As for getting the news around as suggested by the Defendant Speer, this was not left to chance, as we shall presently show.
The deterrent effect of the concentration camps upon the public was a carefully planned thing. To heighten the atmosphere of terror, these camps were shrouded in secrecy. What went on in the barbed wire enclosures was a matter of fearful conjecture in Germany and countries under Nazi control; and this was the policy from the very beginning, when the Nazis first came into power and set up this system of concentration camps. We refer now to Document Number 778-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-247. This document is an order issued on the 1st of October 1933 by the camp commander of Dachau. The document prescribed a program of floggings, solitary confinement, and executions for the inmates for infractions of the rules.
Among the rules were those prescribing a rigid censorship concerning conditions within the camp; and I refer to the first page of the English text, paragraph numbered Article 11, and quoting:
“By virtue of the law on revolutionaries, the following offenders considered as agitators, will be hanged:
“Anyone who, for the purpose of agitating, does the following in the camp, at work, in the quarters, in the kitchens and workshops, toilets and places of rest: holds political or inciting speeches and meetings, forms cliques, loiters around with others; who, for the purpose of supplying the propaganda of the opposition with atrocity stories, collects true or false information about the concentration camp and its institution, receives such information, buries it, talks about it to others, smuggles it out of the camp into the hands of foreign visitors or others by means of clandestine or other methods, passes it on in writing or orally to released prisoners or prisoners who are placed above them, conceals it in clothing or other articles, throws stones and other objects over the camp wall containing such information, or produces secret documents; who, for the purpose of agitating, climbs on barracks roofs and trees, seeks contact with the outside by giving light or other signals, or induces others to escape or commit a crime, gives them advice to that effect or supports such undertakings in any way whatsoever.”
The censorship about the camps themselves was complemented by an officially inspired rumor campaign outside the camps. Concentration camps were spoken of in whispers, and the whispers were spread by agents of the Secret Police. When the Defendant Speer said that if the threat of the concentration camp were used, the news would get around soon enough, he knew whereof he spoke.
We refer to Document 1531-PS. With reference to this document, I wish to submit a word of explanation. The original German text, the original German document, the captured document, was here in the document room and was translated into English as our translation shows. Yesterday we were advised that it has either been lost or misplaced, the original German text; and unfortunately no photostatic copy was available here in Nuremberg. A certified copy is, however, being sent to the office here from Frankfurt, and it is on its way today; and I ask the Tribunal’s permission to offer the English translation of the German original, which is certified to be accurate by the translator, into evidence, subject to a motion to strike it if the certified copy of the original German document does not arrive.
I now refer to the Document Number 1531-PS. It bears our Exhibit Number USA-248. This document is marked “top secret” and it is addressed to all State Police district offices and to the Gestapo office and for the information of the Inspectors of the Security Police and the SD. It is an order relating to concentration camps, issued by the head of the Gestapo; and I read from the English text, beginning with the second paragraph, and quoting directly:
“In order to achieve a further deterrent effect, the following must, in the future, be observed in each individual case:
“3. The length of the period of custody must in no case be made known, even if the Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police or the Chief of the Security Police and the SD has already fixed it.
“The term of commitment to a concentration camp is to be openly announced as ‘until further notice.’
“In most serious cases there is no objection to increasing the deterrent effect by the spreading of cleverly carried out rumor propaganda, more or less to the effect that, according to hearsay, in view of the seriousness of his case, the arrested man will not be released for 2 or 3 years.
“4. In certain cases the Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police will order flogging in addition to detention in a concentration camp. Orders of this kind will, in the future, also be transmitted to the State Police district office concerned. In this case, too, there is no objection to spreading the rumor of this increased punishment as laid down in Section 3, Paragraph 3, insofar as this appears suitable to add to the deterrent effect.
“5. Naturally, particularly suitable and reliable people are to be chosen for the spreading of such news.”
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, the Tribunal think that they will take judicial notice of that United States Document, Number 2309-PS; and for the convenience of the Defense Counsel, the Tribunal having sat until 1 will not sit again until 2:15.
MR. DODD: Very well, Your Honor.
[_A recess was taken until 1415 hours._]
_Afternoon Session_
MR. DODD: May it please the Tribunal, the deterrent effect of the concentration camps was based on the promise of brutal treatment. Once in the custody of the SS guards, the victim was beaten, tortured, starved, and often murdered through the so-called “extermination through work” program which I described the other day or through the mass execution gas chambers and furnaces of the camps, which were shown several days ago on the moving picture screen in this courtroom.
The reports of official government investigations furnish additional evidence of the conditions within the concentration camps.
Document 2309-PS, which has already been referred to and of which the Tribunal has taken judicial notice, I now refer to again, particularly to the second page of the English text, beginning with the second sentence of the second paragraph:
“The work at these camps mainly consisted of underground labor, the purpose being the construction of large underground factories, storage rooms, _et cetera_. This labor was performed completely underground and as a result of the brutal treatment, working and living conditions, a daily average of 100 prisoners died. To the one camp Oberstaubling 700 prisoners were transported in February 1945, and on the 15th of April 1945 only 405 of these men were living. During the 12 months preceding the liberation, Flossenbürg and the branch camps under its control accounted for the death of 14,739 male inmates and 1,300 women. These figures represent the deaths as obtained from the available records in the camp. However, they are in no way complete, as many secret mass executions and deaths took place. In 1941 an additional stockade was added at the Flossenbürg camp to hold 2,000 Russian prisoners. From these 2,000 prisoners only 102 survived.
“Flossenbürg Concentration Camp can best be described as a factory dealing in death. Although this camp had in view the primary object of putting to work the mass slave labor, another of its primary objectives was the elimination of human lives by the methods employed in handling the prisoners.
“Hunger and starvation rations, sadism, housing facilities, inadequate clothing, medical neglect, disease, beatings, hangings, freezing, forced hand hanging, forced suicides, shooting, all played a major role in obtaining their objective. Prisoners were murdered at random; spite killings against Jews were common. Injections of poison and shooting in the neck were everyday occurrences. Epidemics of typhus and spotted fever were permitted to run rampant as a means of eliminating prisoners. Life in this camp meant nothing. Killing became a common thing, so common that a quick death was welcomed by the unfortunate ones.”
Passing to the next to the last sentence of this same paragraph, quoting directly . . .
THE PRESIDENT: What are those exhibits that are referred to?
MR. DODD: They are in evidence with the affidavit. They are attached to it.
THE PRESIDENT: They are not, I suppose, mimeographed in our copy?
MR. DODD: No, we have not had an opportunity to mimeograph each one of them.
THE PRESIDENT: Are they documents or photographs or what?
MR. DODD: They are principally documents. There are some few plans and photographs, and so on.
THE PRESIDENT: Are they affidavits or what? There seem to be instances of . . .
MR. DODD: Well, some of them are in the form of affidavits taken at the time of the liberation of the camp from persons who were there, and others are pictures of writings that were found there and of the plans and so on—such sort of thing.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well the Tribunal will take judicial notice of those exhibits as well.
MR. DODD: Very well, Your Honor.
Reading from the last sentence of this same paragraph on the same page and quoting:
“On Christmas, 1944, a number of prisoners were hanged at one time. The prisoners were forced to view this hanging. By the side of the gallows was a decorated Christmas tree; and as expressed by one prisoner, ‘It was a terrible sight, that combination of prisoners hanging in the air and the glistening Christmas tree.’”
“In March or April, 13 American or British parachutists were hanged. They had been delivered to this camp some time before and had been captured while trying to blow up bridges.”
We will not burden the Tribunal with a recital of all of these reports. We wish, however, to make reference to the Concentration Camp Mauthausen, one of the most notorious extermination centers; and I refer particularly to Document Number 2176-PS, which I have already placed in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-249. This is also an official report of the office of the Judge Advocate General of the United States 3rd Army, dated 17 June 1945. I wish to refer to the conclusions on Page 3 of the English text, at paragraph numbered Roman V, beginning with the second sentence as follows:
“V. Conclusions. There is no doubt that Mauthausen was the basis for long-term planning. It was constructed as a gigantic stone fortress on top of a mountain flanked by small barracks. Mauthausen, in addition to its permanency of construction, had facilities for a large garrison of officers and men and had large dining rooms and toilet facilities for the staff. It was conducted with the sole purpose in mind of exterminating any so-called prisoner who entered within its walls. The so-called branches of Mauthausen were under direct command of the SS officials located there. All records, orders, and administrative facilities were handled for these branches through Mauthausen. The other camps, including Gusen and Ebensee, its two most notorious and largest branches, were not exclusively used for extermination; but prisoners were used as tools in construction and production until they were beaten or starved into uselessness, whereupon they were customarily sent to Mauthausen for final disposal.”
Both from the showing of the moving picture and from these careful reports, which were made by the 3rd Army of the United States on their arrival at those centers, we say it is clear that the conditions in those concentration camps over Germany—and in a few instances outside of the actual borders of the Old Reich—followed the same general pattern. The wide-spread incidence of these conditions makes it clear that they were not the result of sporadic excesses on the part of individual jailers, but were the result of policies deliberately imposed from above. The crimes committed in these camps were on so vast a scale that individual atrocities pale into insignificance.
We have had turned over to us two exhibits which we are prepared to show to this Tribunal only because they illustrate the depths to which the administration of these camps had sunk shortly before, at least, the time that they were liberated by the Allied Army. The Tribunal will recall that in the showing of the moving picture, with respect to one of the camps, there was a showing of sections of human skin taken from human bodies in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp and preserved as ornaments. They were selected, these particular hapless victims, because of the tattooing which appeared on the skin. This exhibit, which we have here, is Exhibit Number USA-252. Attached to the exhibit is an extract of an official United States Army report describing the circumstances under which this exhibit was obtained; and that extract is set forth in Document 3420-PS, which I refer to in part. It is entitled:
“Mobile Field Interrogation Unit Number 2; PW Intelligence Bulletin; 13. Concentration Camp, Buchenwald.
“Preamble. The author of this account is PW Andreas Pfaffenberger, 1 Coy, 9 Landesschützen Bn., 43 years old and of limited education. He is a butcher by trade. The substantial agreement of the details of his story with those found in PWIB (H) /LF/36 establishes the validity of his testimony. PW has not been questioned on statements which, in the light of what is known, are apparently erroneous in certain details, nor has any effort been made to alter the subjective character of the PW’s account, which he wrote without being told anything of the intelligence already known. The results of interrogation on personalities at Buchenwald have already been published (PWIB Number 2/12, item 31.).
“‘In 1939 all prisoners with tattooing on them were ordered to report to the dispensary.’”
THE PRESIDENT: Is this what Pfaffenberger said?
MR. DODD: Yes, Sir.
“‘No one knew what the purpose was; but after the tattooed prisoners had been examined, the ones with the best and most artistic specimens were kept in the dispensary and then killed by injections administered by Karl Beigs, a criminal prisoner. The corpses were then turned over to the pathological department where the desired pieces of tattooed skin were detached from the bodies and treated. The finished products were turned over to SS Standartenführer Koch’s wife, who had them fashioned into lamp shades and other ornamental household articles. I myself saw such tattooed skins with various designs and legends on them, such as “Hänsel and Gretel,” which one prisoner had on his knee, and designs of ships from prisoners’ chests. This work was done by a prisoner named Wernerbach.”
I also refer to Document 3421-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-253.
“I, George C. Demas, Lieutenant, USNR, associated with the United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality, hereby certify that the attached exhibit, consisting of parchment, was delivered by the War Crimes Section, Judge Advocate General, United States Army, to me in my above capacity, in the usual course of business, as an exhibit found in Buchenwald Camp and captured by military forces under the command of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces.”
And the last paragraph of Document 3423-PS (Exhibit USA-252) is a conclusion reached in a United States Army report, and I quote it:
“Based on the findings in Paragraph 2, all three specimens are tattooed human skin.”
This document is also attached to this exhibit on the board. We do not wish to dwell on this pathological phase of the Nazi culture; but we do feel compelled to offer one additional exhibit, which we offer as Exhibit Number USA-254. This exhibit, which is on the table, is a human head with the skull bone removed, shrunken, stuffed, and preserved. The Nazis had one of their many victims decapitated, after having had him hanged, apparently for fraternizing with a German woman, and fashioned this terrible ornament from his head.
The last paragraph of the official United States Army report from which I have just read deals with the manner in which this exhibit was acquired. It reads as follows:
“There I also saw the shrunken heads of two young Poles who had been hanged for having relations with German girls. The heads were the size of a fist, and the hair and the marks of the rope were still there.”
Another certificate by Lieutenant Demas is set forth in Document 3422-PS (Exhibit USA-254) and is similar to the one which I have read a few minutes ago with relation to the human skin, excepting that it applies to this second exhibit. We have no accurate estimate of how many persons died in these concentration camps and perhaps none will ever be made; but as the evidence already introduced before this Tribunal indicates, the Nazi conspirators were generally meticulous record keepers. But the records which they kept about concentration camps appear to have been quite incomplete. Perhaps the character of the records resulted from the indifference which the Nazis felt for the lives of their victims. But occasionally we find a death book or a set of index cards. For the most part, nevertheless, the victims apparently faded into an unrecorded death. Reference to a set of death books suggests at once the scale of the concentration camp operations, and we refer now and offer Document Number 493-PS as Exhibit Number USA-251. This exhibit is a set of seven books, the death ledger of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Each book has on its cover the word “Totenbuch” (or Death Book)—Mauthausen.
In these books were recorded the names of some of the inmates who died or were murdered in this camp, and the books cover the period from January of 1939 to April of 1945. They give the name, the place of birth, the assigned cause of death, and time of death of each individual recorded. In addition each corpse is assigned a serial number, and adding up the total serial numbers for the 5-year period one arrives at the figure of 35,318.
An examination of the books is very revealing insofar as the camp’s routine of death is concerned; and I invite the attention of the Tribunal to Volume 5 from Pages 568 to 582, a photostatic copy of which has been passed to the Tribunal. These pages cover death entries made for the 19th day of March 1945 between 15 minutes past 1 in the morning until 2 o’clock in the afternoon. In this space of 12 and three-quarter hours, on these records, 203 persons are reported as having died. They were assigned serial numbers running from 8390 to 8593. The names of the dead are listed. And interestingly enough the victims are all recorded as having died of the same ailment—heart trouble. They died at brief intervals. They died in alphabetical order. The first who died was a man named Ackermann, who died at 1:15 a.m., and the last was a man named Zynger, who died at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
At 20 minutes past 2 o’clock of that same afternoon, according to these records, on the 19th of March 1945, the fatal roll call began again and continued until 4:30 p.m. In a space of 2 hours 75 more persons died, and once again they died all from heart failure and in alphabetical order. We find the entries recorded in the same volume, from Pages 582 through 586.
There was another death book found at Camp Mauthausen. It is our Document Number 495-PS and bears Exhibit Number USA-250. This is a single volume, and again has on its cover the words “Death Book—Prisoners of War.” And I invite the attention of the Tribunal in particular to Pages 234 through 246. Here the entries record the names of 208 prisoners of war, apparently Russians, who at 15 minutes past midnight on the 10th day of May 1942 were executed at the same time. The book notes that the execution was directed by the chief of the SD and the Sipo, at that time Heydrich.
It was called to my attention as late as this morning—a publication of a New York newspaper published in the United States, part of which is made up of three or more pages consisting of advertisements from the families, the relatives of people who once resided in Germany or in Europe, asking for some advice about them. Most of the advertisements refer to one of these concentration camps or another. The paper is called _Der Aufbau_. It is a German-language newspaper in New York City, published on the 23rd day—this particular issue—on the 23rd day of November 1945. I do not propose to burden the record of this Tribunal with the list of the names of all of these unfortunate individuals; but we refer to it as a publication in the City of New York, a German-language newspaper of recent date which illustrates the horrible extent of this terrible tragedy which has affected so many people as a result of this concentration-camp institution. We feel that no argument, no particular argument, is necessary to support our statement that the Nazi conspirators used these concentration camps and the related instruments of terror in them to commit Crimes against Humanity and to commit War Crimes.
More about concentration camps will of necessity be involved in the presentation concerning the persecution of the Jews, but this concludes our presentation with respect to the concentration camps as a specific entity of proof.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, speaking for myself, I should like to know what these headings mean.
MR. DODD: Yes, I have them here.
THE PRESIDENT: Document 495-PS?
MR. DODD: Yes, Document 495-PS. Column 1 is the serial number assigned to the prisoners in the order of their deaths.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. DODD: Column 2, prisoners-of-war serial number. Column 3 is the last name, Column 4 is the first name.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. DODD: Column 5 is the date of birth. Column 6, the place of birth. Column 7, cause of death. In these cases their cause of death is stated as follows: “Execution pursuant to order of the Chief of the Sipo and SD dated 30th April 1942,” and the ditto marks beneath indicate that the same cause of death was assigned to the names which come beneath it. In the eighth column is the date of death and the hour of death. The first one being 9.5.42 at 2335 hours. In the ninth column there is a space which says it is reserved for comments.
THE PRESIDENT: There are numbers there too—M1681 is the first one.
MR. DODD: Well, the German word, I am told, means that it confirms the death with that number. Apparently the number of the . . .
THE PRESIDENT: I think you said the number of the corpse.
MR. DODD: The number of the corpse, I think that is what it is as distinguished from the number of the prisoner. Each corpse was given a number as well after the individual died.
COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, the next phase of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, the Persecution of the Jews, will be presented by Major Walsh.
THE PRESIDENT: Major Walsh.
MAJOR WILLIAM F. WALSH (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): If the Tribunal please, on behalf of the United States Counsel, I now present to this august Tribunal the evidence to establish certain phases of the Indictment alleged in Count One under War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, and by agreement between the prosecutors the allegations in Count Four, Paragraph X(B), Crimes against Humanity. The topical title of this presentation is “The Persecution of the Jews.”
At this time I offer in evidence a Document Book of translations, lettered “T.” These documents contained in the books are arranged according to the D-, L-, PS-, and R-series; and under the series the translations are listed numerically. This title, “The Persecution of the Jews,” is singularly inappropriate when weighed in the light of the evidence to follow. Academically, I am told, to persecute is to afflict, harass, and annoy. The term used does not convey, and indeed I cannot conjure a term that does convey the ultimate aim, the avowed purpose to obliterate the Jewish race.
This presentation is not intended to be a complete recital of all the crimes committed against the Jews. The extent and the scope of the crimes was so great that it permeated the entire German nation, its people and its organizations.
I am informed that others to follow me will offer additional evidence under other phases of the Prosecution’s case. Evidence relating to the Party organizations and state organizations, whose criminality the Prosecution will seek to establish, will disclose and emphasize the part that these organizations played in the pattern and plan for annihilation.
The French and the Soviet Prosecutors, too, have a volume of evidence all related to this subject, which will be submitted in the course of the Trial.
Before I begin a recital of the overt acts leading to the elimination of the Jews, I am prepared to show that these acts and policies within Germany from the year 1933 to the end of the war related to the planning, preparation, initiation, and waging of aggressive wars, thus falling within the definition of Crimes against Humanity as defined in Article 6(c) of the Charter.
It had long been a German theory that the first World War ended in Germany’s defeat because of a collapse in the zone of the interior. In planning for future wars it was determined that the home front must be secure to prevent a repetition of this 1918 debacle. Unification of the German people was essential to successful planning and waging of war, and the Nazi political premise must be established—“One race, one state, one Führer.”
Free trade unions must be abolished, political parties (other than the National Socialist Party) must be outlawed, civil liberties must be suspended, and opposition of every kind must be swept away. Loyalty to God, church, and scientific truth was declared to be incompatible with the Nazi regime. The anti-Jewish policy was part of this plan for unification because it was the conviction of the Nazis that the Jews would not contribute to Germany’s military program, but on the contrary would hamper it. The Jew must therefore be eliminated.
This view is clearly borne out by a statement contained in Document 1919-PS, Exhibit USA-170. This document is a transcript of a Himmler speech at a meeting of the SS major generals on 4 October 1943, and from Page 4, Paragraph 3, of the translation before the Court, I read a very short passage:
“We know how difficult we should have made it for ourselves if with the bombing raids, the burdens and deprivations of war, we still had Jews today in every town as secret saboteurs, agitators, and trouble mongers; we would now probably have reached the 1916-17 stage when the Jews were still in the German national body.”
The treatment of the Jews within Germany was therefore as much of a plan for aggressive war as was the building of armaments and the conscription of manpower. It falls within the jurisdiction of this Tribunal as an integral part of the planning and preparation to wage a war of aggression.
It is obvious that the persecution and murder of Jews throughout the conquered territories of Europe following 1939 are War Crimes as defined by Article 6(b) of the Charter. It further violates Article 46 of the Regulations of the Hague Convention of 1907, to which Germany was a signatory. I quote Article 46 and ask the Court to take judicial notice thereof:
“Family honor and rights, the lives of persons, and private property, as well as religious convictions and practices, must be respected.”
I know of no crime in the history of mankind more horrible in its details than the treatment of the Jews. It is intended to establish that the Nazi Party precepts, later incorporated within the policies of the German State, often expressed by the defendants at bar, were to annihilate the Jewish people. I shall seek to avoid the temptation to editorialize or to draw inferences from the documents, however great the provocation; rather I shall let the documentary evidence speak for itself—its stark realism will be unvarnished. Blood lust may have played some part in these savage crimes, but the underlying purpose and objective to annihilate the Jewish race was one of the fundamental principles of the Nazi plan to prepare for and to wage aggressive war. I shall from this point limit my proof to the overt acts committed; but I dare to request the Court’s indulgence, if it is necessary in weaving the pattern of evidence, to make reference to certain documents and evidence previously submitted.
Now this ultimate objective, that is, the elimination and extermination of the Jews, could not be accomplished without preliminary steps and measures. The German State must first be seized by the Nazi Party, the force of world opinion must be faced, and even the regimented German people must be indoctrinated with hatred against the Jews.
The first clear-cut evidence of the Party policies concerning the Jews was expressed in the Party program in February 1920. I offer in evidence Document 1708-PS, “Program of the National Socialist Party,” Exhibit USA-255. With the Court’s permission, I would like to quote the relevant part of that program, Paragraph (4):
“Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood without consideration of confession. . . .”
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): May I interrupt a minute. It is a little hard to know where these exhibits are or what volume you are now quoting from.
MAJOR WALSH: This, Sir, is 1708-PS.
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Volume 2?
MAJOR WALSH: Volume 2.
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And what page of that exhibit?
MAJOR WALSH: That is Paragraph (4) and Paragraph (6), Sir, on the first page.
Paragraph (4):
“Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood, without consideration of confession. Consequently, no Jew can be a member of the race.”
And again, in Paragraph (6):
“The right to determine matters concerning administration and law belongs only to the citizen; therefore, we demand that every public office of any sort whatsoever, whether in the Reich, the county, or municipality, be filled only by citizens.”
I now offer Document 2662-PS, _Mein Kampf_, Exhibit Number USA-256. On Pages 724-725, Hitler, in this book, speaking of the Jew, said that if the National Socialist movement was to fulfill its task—and I quote:
“It must open the eyes of the people with regard to foreign nations and must remind them again and again of the true enemy of our present-day world. In the place of hate against Aryans—from whom we may be separated by almost everything but to whom, however, we are tied by common blood or the great tie of a common culture—it must dedicate to the general anger the evil enemy of mankind as the true cause of all suffering.
“It must see to it, however, that at least in our country he be recognized as the most mortal enemy and that the struggle against him may show, like a flaming beacon of a better era, to other nations, too, the road to salvation for a struggling Aryan mankind.”
A flood of abusive literature of all types and for all age groups was published and circulated throughout Germany. Illustrative of this type of publication is the book entitled _Der Giftpilz_. I offer in evidence Document 1778-PS, Exhibit Number USA-257. This book brands the Jew as a persecutor of the labor class, as a race defiler, devil in human form, a poisonous mushroom, and a murderer. This particular book instructed school children to recognize the Jew by caricature of his physical features, shown on Pages 6 and 7; taught them that the Jew abuses little boys and girls, on Page 30; and that the Jewish Bible permits all crimes, Pages 13-17. The Defendant Streicher’s periodical _Der Stürmer_, Number 14, April 1937, in particular, went to such extremes as to publish the statement that Jews at the ritual celebration of their Passover slaughtered Christians.
I offer Document 2699-PS, Exhibit Number USA-258. On Page 2, Column 1, Paragraphs 6 to 9, I quote:
“Also the numerous confessions made by the Jews show that the execution of ritual murders is a law of the Talmud Jew. The former chief Rabbi (and later monk) Teofiti declares that the ritual murders take place especially on the Jewish Purim (in memory of the Persian murders) and Passover (in memory of the murder of Christ). The rules are as follows:
“The blood of the victims is to be tapped by force. On Passover it is to be used in wine and matzos. Thus a small part of the blood is to be poured into the dough of the matzos and into the wine. The mixing is done by the head of the Jewish family.
“The procedure is as follows: The family head empties a few drops of the fresh and powdered blood into a glass, wets the fingers of the left hand with it and sprays (blesses) with it everything on the table. The head of the family then says, ‘Thus we ask God to send the 10 plagues to all enemies of the Jewish faith.’ Then they eat, and at the end the head of the family exclaims, ‘May all Gentiles perish, as the child whose blood is contained in the bread and wine.’
“The fresh (or dried and powdered) blood of the slaughtered is further used by young married Jewish couples, by pregnant Jewesses, for circumcision and so on. Ritual murder is recognized by all Talmud Jews. The Jew believes he absolves himself thus of his sins.”
It is difficult for our minds to grasp that falsehoods such as these could fall on fertile soil, that a literate nation could read, digest, or believe these doctrines. We must realize, however, that with a rigidly controlled press which precluded an exposé of such lying propaganda, some of the ignorant and gullible would be led to believe.
I now offer in evidence Document 2697-PS, a copy of _Der Stürmer_, Exhibit Number USA-259. This publication, _Der Stürmer_, was published by the Defendant Streicher’s publishing firm. In this publication, Streicher, speaking of the Jewish faith, said, “The Holy Scripture is a horrible criminal romance abounding with murder, incest, fraud, and indecency.”
And again he said, “The Talmud is the great Jewish book of criminal instructions that the Jew practices in his daily life.” This is contained in Document 2698-PS, _Der Stürmer_, which I now offer in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-260.
This propaganda campaign of hate was too widespread and notorious to require further elaboration. Within the documents offered in evidence in this and in other phases of the case will be found similar and even more scurrilous statements, many by the defendants themselves and others by their accomplices.
When the Nazi Party gained control of the German State, a new and terrible weapon against the Jews was placed within their grasp, the power to apply the force of the state against them. This was done by the issuance of decrees.
Jewish immigrants were denaturalized: 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 480, signed by Defendants Frick and Neurath.
Native Jews were precluded from citizenship: 1935 _Reichsgesetzblatt_,