“The RAM added that Japan would gain decisive influence over the

Netherlands East Indies simultaneously with the capture of

Singapore.”

On the 5th of April, about a week after the conference from whose

minutes I have just quoted, Ribbentrop again met with Matsuoka and again

pushed the Japanese another step along the road to aggressive war. The

notes of this conference, which were also found in the German Foreign

Office archives, are contained in our Document 1882-PS, which I now

offer as Exhibit USA-153. I shall read a few brief extracts from these

notes, starting with the third paragraph on Page 1 of the English

translation:

“In answer to a remark by Matsuoka that Japan was now awakened

and, according to the Japanese temperament, would take action

quickly after the previous lengthy deliberation, the Reich

Foreign Minister replied that it was necessary, of course, to

accept a risk in this connection just as the Führer had done

successfully with the occupation of the Rhineland, with the

proclamation of sovereignty of armament and with the resignation

from the League of Nations.”

I now skip several pages of the German text and continue on with the

English translation.

“The Reich Foreign Minister replied that the new German Reich

would actually be built up on the basis of the ancient

traditions of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, which

in its time was the only dominant power on the European

continent.

“In conclusion, the Reich Foreign Minister once again summarized

the points he wanted Matsuoka to take back to Japan with him

from his trips:

“1) Germany had already won the war. With the end of this year,

the world would realize this. Even England would have to concede

it, if she had not collapsed before then, and America would also

have to resign herself to this fact.

“2) There were no conflicting interests between Japan and

Germany. The future of both countries could be regulated for the

long run on the basis that Japan should predominate in the Far

East, Italy and Germany in Europe and Africa.

“3) Whatever might happen, Germany would win the war. But it

would hasten victory if Japan would enter the war. Such an entry

into the war was undoubtedly more in the interest of Japan than

in that of Germany, for it offered a unique opportunity, which

would hardly ever return, for the fulfillment of the national

objectives of Japan—a chance which would make it possible for

her to play a really leading role in East Asia.”

Here again, in the portion just quoted, we see Ribbentrop pursuing the

same track I have previously noted. Germany has already won the war for

all practical purposes. Japan’s entry will hasten the inevitable end.

But Japan had better get the positions she wants during the war.

I also invite the Tribunal’s attention to Ribbentrop’s assurances,

expressed in the quotation I read from 1877-PS previously, that Japan

likewise had nothing to fear from the Soviet Union if Japan entered the

conflict. The references to the weaknesses of the United States,

scattered throughout the quotations I have read, were also an ingredient

in this brew which was being so carefully prepared and brought to a

boil.

I should like to introduce one more document on the part of the case

dealing particularly with exhortation of the Japanese to aggression

against the British Commonwealth. This is our Document 1538-PS, which I

now offer as Exhibit USA-154. This document is a top-secret report,

dated 24 May 1941, from the German Military Attaché in Tokyo to the

Intelligence Division of the OKW. I wish merely to call attention, at

this point, to the last sentence in the paragraph numbered 1, wherein it

is stated—I quote: “The preparations for attack on Singapore and Manila

stand.”

I shall return to this document later. I point out here, however, the

fact which appears from the sentence I have just read, that the German

military were keeping in close touch with the Japanese operational plans

against Singapore, which the Nazi conspirators had fostered.

Next, exhortations by the Nazis to Japanese aggression against the

U.S.S.R.

I invite the Tribunal’s attention, at this point, to the language of the

Indictment on Page 10 of the English edition. I quote, beginning with

the eighth line from the top of the page:

“The Nazi conspirators conceived that Japanese aggression would

weaken and handicap those nations with whom they were at war and

those with whom they contemplated war. Accordingly, the Nazi

conspirators exhorted Japan to seek a ‘new order of things’.”

The evidence I have just adduced showed the Nazi exhortations with

particular reference to the British Commonwealth of Nations. We now turn

to their efforts to induce the Japanese to commit a “stab in the back”

on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Here again the Defendant

Ribbentrop appears as the central figure.

For some months prior to the issuance of Basic Order Number 24 regarding

collaboration with Japan, the conspirators had been preparing Fall

Barbarossa, the plan for the attack on the U.S.S.R. Basic Order Number

24 decreed, however, that the Japanese “must not be given any intimation

of the Barbarossa operation.”

In his conference with the Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka, on 29

March 1941, almost 3 weeks after the issuance of Basic Order Number 24,

Ribbentrop nevertheless hinted at things to come. The report of this

conference, contained in 1877-PS, has already been introduced as Exhibit

USA-152 and read into the record. I wish to invite the Tribunal’s

attention again to the first two paragraphs of the English translation

of 1877-PS, where Ribbentrop assured Matsuoka that the largest part of

the German Army was on the eastern frontiers of the Reich fully prepared

to open the attack at any time. Ribbentrop then added that although he

believed that the U.S.S.R. would try to avoid developments leading to

war, nevertheless a conflict with the Soviet Union, even if not

probable, would have to be considered possible.

Whatever conclusion the Japanese Ambassador drew from these remarks in

April of 1941 can only be conjectured. Once the Nazis had unleashed

their aggression against the U.S.S.R. in June of 1941, the tenor of

Ribbentrop’s remarks left no room for doubt. On 10 July 1941 Ribbentrop

dispatched a coded telegram to Ott, the German Ambassador in Tokyo. The

telegram is our Document 2896-PS, which I now introduce as Exhibit

USA-155. I quote from numbered Paragraph 4 of that telegram, which is

the first paragraph of the English translation:

“Please take this opportunity to thank the Japanese Foreign

Minister for conveying the cable report of the Japanese

Ambassador in Moscow. It would be convenient if we could keep on

receiving news from Russia this way. In summing up, I should

like to say I have now, as in the past, full confidence in the

Japanese policy and in the Japanese Foreign Minister; first of

all because the present Japanese Government would really act

inexcusably toward the future of their nation if they would not

take this unique opportunity to solve the Russian problem, as

well as to secure for all time its expansion to the south and

settle the Chinese matter. Since Russia, as reported by the

Japanese Ambassador in Moscow, is in effect close to collapse—a

report which coincides with our own observations as far as we

are able to judge the present war situation—it is simply

impossible that Japan should not settle the matter of

Vladivostok and the Siberian area as soon as her military

preparations are completed.”

Skipping now to the middle of the second paragraph on Page 1 of the

English translation—the sentence beginning “However . . .”:

“However, I ask you to employ all available means in further

insisting upon Japan’s entry into the war against Russia at the

earliest possible date, as I have mentioned already in my note

to Matsuoka. The sooner this entry is effected, the better. The

natural objective still remains that we and Japan join hands on

the trans-Siberian railroad before winter starts. After the

collapse of Russia, however, the position of the

Three-Power-Pact States in the world will be so gigantic that

the question of England’s collapse or the total destruction of

the British Isles will be only a matter of time. An America

totally isolated from the rest of the world would then be faced

with our taking possession of the remaining positions of the

British Empire which are important for the Three-Power-Pact

countries. I have the unshakeable conviction that a carrying

through of the New Order as desired by us will be a matter of

course, and there would be no insurmountable difficulties if the

countries of the Three Power Pact stand close together and

encounter every action of the Americans with the same weapons. I

ask you to report in the near future, as often as possible and

in detail, on the political situation there.”

We have Ott’s reply to this telegram, dated 13 July 1941. This is our

Document Number 2897-PS, which I offer in evidence as Exhibit USA-156.

After reading the heading, I shall skip to the last paragraph on Page 3

of the German text, which is the paragraph appearing in the English

translation:

“Telegram; secret cipher system”—Sent 14 July from Tokyo;

arrived 14 July 1941—“As fast as possible.

“I am trying with all means to work toward Japan’s entry into

the war against Russia as soon as possible, especially using

arguments of personal message of Foreign Minister and telegram

cited above to convince Matsuoka personally, as well as the

Foreign Office, military elements, nationalists, and friendly

businessmen. I believe that according to military preparations,

Japanese participation will soon take place. The greatest

obstacle to this against which one has to fight is the disunity

within the activist group which, without unified command,

follows various aims and only slowly adjusts itself to the

changed situation.”

On subsequent occasions Ribbentrop repeated his exhortations to induce

the Japanese to aggression against the U.S.S.R. I shall present three

documents covering July of 1942 and March and April of 1943. The first

is our Document 2911-PS which contains notes of a discussion between

Ribbentrop and Oshima, Japanese Ambassador to Berlin, on 9 July 1942. As

a matter of background I note that at this time German armies were

sweeping forward in the U.S.S.R. and the fall of Sevastopol had just

been announced.

I now offer our Document 2911-PS as Exhibit USA-157, and I quote the

relevant extracts appearing in the English translation thereof:

“He, the German Minister, had asked to see the Ambassador at

this time, when the situation was as described, because now a

question of fateful importance had arisen concerning the joint

conduct of the war. If Japan felt herself sufficiently strong

militarily, the moment for Japan to attack Russia was probably

now. He thought it possible that if Japan attacked Russia at

this time, it would lead to her (Russia) final moral collapse;

at least it would hasten the collapse of her present system. In

any case, never again would Japan have such an opportunity as

existed at present to eliminate once and for all the Russian

colossus in eastern Asia.

“He had discussed this question with the Führer, and the Führer

was of the same opinion; but he wanted to emphasize one point

right away: Japan should attack Russia only if she felt

sufficiently strong for such an undertaking. Under no

circumstances should Japanese operations against Russia be

allowed to bog down at the half-way mark, and we do not want to

urge Japan into an action that is not mutually profitable.”

THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now, for 10 minutes.

[_A recess was taken._]

MR. ALDERMAN: May it please the Tribunal, I now offer in evidence our

Document Number 2954-PS as Exhibit USA-158. This is a record of a

conference between Ribbentrop and Ambassador Oshima on 6 March 1943.

I note again for background that the strategic military situation in the

broad expanses of the U.S.S.R. had changed somewhat.

In the previous month, February 1943, the Soviet armies had completely

defeated the German forces at Stalingrad and inflicted very severe

losses. Further north and west their winter offensive had removed large

areas from the hands of the invader. Combined United States and British

forces had already landed in North Africa.

You will remark as I read that the tone of Ribbentrop’s argument at this

time reflects the changed military situation. The familiar Japanese

refrain of “So sorry, please,” likewise appears to have crept in.

I note in this record that the month of February 1943 had also seen the

end of the organized Japanese resistance on the Island of Guadalcanal.

I now quote the relevant extracts from the minutes of the discussion

between Ribbentrop and Oshima on 6 March 1943, which appear in the

English translation in the document book:

“Ambassador Oshima declared that he received a telegram from

Tokyo, and he is to report by order of his Government to the

Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs the following: The suggestion

of the German Government to attack Russia was the subject of a

common conference between the Japanese Government and the

Imperial headquarters during which the question was discussed in

detail and investigated exactly. The result is the following:

The Japanese Government absolutely recognize the danger which

threatens from Russia and completely understand the desire of

their German ally that Japan on her part will also enter the war

against Russia. However, it is not possible for the Japanese

Government, considering the present war situation, to enter into

the war. They are rather of the conviction that it would be in

the common interest not to start the war against Russia now. On

the other hand, the Japanese Government would never disregard

the Russian question.

“The Japanese Government have the intention to become aggressive

again in the future on other fronts.

“The RAM brought up the question, after the explanation by the

Ambassador, how the continued waging of the war is envisaged in

Tokyo. At present Germany wages the war against the common

enemies, England and America, mostly alone, while Japan mostly

behaves more defensively. However, it would be more correct that

all powers allied in the Three Power Pact would combine their

forces not only to defeat England and America, but also Russia.

It is not good when one part must fight alone. One cannot

overstrain the German national strength. He was inwardly

concerned about certain forces at work in Tokyo, who were of the

opinion, and propagated the same, that doubtless, Germany could

emerge from the battle victoriously and that Japan should

proceed to consolidate her forces before she should further

exert herself to the fullest extent.”

I now skip several pages in the German text and resume the quotation:

“Then the RAM again brought up the question of the attack on

Russia by Japan and he declared that, after all, the fight on

the Burma front as well as in the south is actually more of a

maritime problem; and on all fronts except those in China at

best very few ground forces are stationed. Therefore the attack

on Russia is primarily an Army affair, and he asked himself if

the necessary forces for that would be available.”

Ribbentrop kept on trying. He held another conference with Oshima about

3 weeks later on 18 April 1943. The top-secret notes of this conference

are contained in our Document 2929-PS, which I now offer as Exhibit

USA-159. I shall quote only one sentence:

“The Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs then stressed again

that, without any doubt, this year presented the most favorable

opportunity for Japan, if she felt strong enough and had

sufficient anti-tank weapons at her disposal, to attack Russia,

which certainly would never again be as weak as she was at the

moment.”

I now wish to come to that aspect of this conspiracy which is in a large

measure responsible for the appearance of millions of Americans in

uniform all over the world.

The Nazi preparations and collaboration with the Japanese against the

United States, as noted by the United States Chief of Counsel in his

opening statement, present a two-fold aspect; one of preparations by the

Nazis themselves for an attack from across the Atlantic, and the other

of fomenting war in the Pacific.

In the course of my presentation of the Nazi exhortations to the

Japanese to war against the British Commonwealth and the U.S.S.R., I

have referred to some documents and quoted some sentences relating to

the United States. I shall take those documents up again in their

relevant passages to show their particular application. I have also, in

the treatment of Ribbentrop’s urging the Japanese to war against the

U.S.S.R., gone beyond the dates of 7 December and 11 December 1941, when

the Japanese and German Governments respectively initiated and declared

aggressive war against the United States.

Apart from the advantage and convenience of presentation, these

documents have indicated the Nazi awareness and acceptance of the

direction in which their actions were leading, as well as the universal

aspects of their conspiracy and of their alliance with the Japanese.

Their intentions against the United States must be viewed in the focus

of both their over-all plan and their immediate commitments elsewhere.

That their over-all plan involved ultimate aggressive war against the

United States was intimated by the Defendant Göring in a speech on 8

July 1938, when these conspirators had already forcibly annexed Austria

and were perfecting their plans against Czechoslovakia.

This speech was delivered to representatives of the aircraft industry,

and the copy that we have was transmitted as the enclosure to a secret

memorandum from Göring’s adjutant to General Udet, who was then in

charge of experimental research for the Luftwaffe. It is contained in

our Document R-140, which I now offer as Exhibit USA-160.

I invite the Tribunal’s attention to the statement in the covering

memorandum that the enclosure is a copy of the shorthand minutes of the

conference. I shall not go through the long speech in which Göring

called for increased aircraft production and pointed to the necessity

for full mobilization of German industrial capacity. I wish to quote

just two sentences, which appear on Page 33 of the German text and Page

11 of the English translation. Quoting from the second full paragraph on

Page 11 of the English translation, starting with the third sentence

from the end of the paragraph:

“I still lack these rocket-motors which could make such flights

possible. I completely lack the bombers capable of round-trip

flights to New York with a 5-ton bomb load. I would be extremely

happy to possess such a bomber which would at last stuff the

mouth of arrogance across the sea.”

Göring’s fervent hope, of course, was not capable of realization at that

time, either technically or in the fact of the Nazi conspirators’

schedule of aggression that has been outlined here in the past several

days.

During the period of their preparation for and the waging of aggressive

war in Europe, up to the launching of the campaign against the U.S.S.R.,

it is only reasonable to believe that these conspirators were not

disposed to involve the United States in war at that time. Nevertheless,

even in the fall of 1940 the prosecution of war against the United

States of America at a later date was on the military agenda. This is

clearly shown in a document which we have found in the files of the OKL,

the German Air Force files. It is Document 376-PS, which I now offer as

Exhibit Number USA-161. This document is a memorandum marked

“Chefsache,” the German designation for top secret, from a Major Von

Falkenstein to an unspecified general, presumably a Luftwaffe general.

Falkenstein, who was a major of the General Staff, was at that time the

Luftwaffe liaison officer with the Operations Staff of the OKW, which

was the staff headed by the Defendant Jodl. His memorandum, which he

characterizes as a “brief résumé on the military questions current

here,” is dated the 29th of October 1940. It covers several questions. I

shall quote to you numbered Paragraph 5, which appears at the bottom of

the first page of the English translation and carries over to the

reverse side of the one-sheet document:

“5) The Führer is at present occupied with the question of the

occupation of the Atlantic islands with a view to the

prosecution of a war against America at a later date.

Deliberations on this subject are being embarked upon here.

Essential conditions are at the present:

“(a) No other operational commitment; (b) Portuguese neutrality;

(c) support of France and Spain.

“A brief assessment of the possibility of seizing and holding

air bases and of the question of supply is needed from the

GAF.”—or the German Air Force.

The Nazis’ military interest in the United States is further indicated

by Paragraph 7 which I read:

“General Bötticher has made repeated reference, especially in

his telegram 2314, dated 26th of October, to the fact that in

his opinion too many details of our knowledge of American

aircraft industry are being published in the German press. The

matter has been discussed at Armed Forces Supreme Command. I

pointed out that the matter was specifically a GAF one but have

taken the liberty of referring the matter to you on its own

merits.”

Again, in July 1941, in his first flush of confidence resulting from

early gains in the aggression against the U.S.S.R., the Führer signed an

order for further preliminary preparations for the attack on the United

States. This top-secret order, found in the files of the German Navy, is

our Document C-74, which I now offer as Exhibit USA-162. I read from the

first paragraph of that text just preceding the paragraph numbered (1):

“By virtue of the intentions announced in Directive Number 32,

for the further conduct of the war, I lay down the following

principles to govern the strength of personnel and of material

supplies:

“(1) In general:

“The military domination of Europe after the defeat of Russia

will enable the strength of the Army to be considerably reduced

in the near future. As far as the reduced strength of the Army

will allow, the armored units will be greatly increased.

“Naval armament must be restricted to those measures which have

a direct connection with the conduct of the war against England

and, should the case arise, against America.

“The main effort in armament will be shifted to the Air Force,

which must be greatly increased in strength.”

From these documents it appears that the Nazi conspirators were making

at least preliminary plans of their own against the United States. The

Nazis’ over-all plan with regard to the United States was, however, a

complex one involving, in addition, collaboration with the Japanese. In

the course of their repeated representations to the Japanese to

undertake an assault against British possessions in the Pacific Far

East, they again considered war against the United States.

I now refer again to Basic Order Number 24, regarding collaboration with

Japan. This is our Document C-75, which I have put in as Exhibit

USA-151. I have read it in its entirety into the record. The Tribunal

will recall that in that basic order, which was issued on 5 March 1941,

the Nazi policy was stated in Subparagraph (3) (a) as “forcing England

to the ground quickly and thereby keeping the United States out of the

war.”

Nevertheless, the Nazi conspirators clearly contemplated, within the

framework of that policy, the possibility of the United States’ entry

into the Far Eastern conflict which the Nazis were then instigating.

This could result from an attack by Japan on possessions of the United

States practically simultaneously with the assault on the British

Empire, as actually happened. Other possibilities of involvement of the

United States were also discussed. This Basic Order Number 24

stated—and I am referring to Subparagraph (3) (c), on the top of Page 2

of the Document C-75:

“(c) The raw material situation of the pact powers demands that

Japan should acquire possession of those territories which it

needs for the continuation of the war, especially if the United

States intervenes. Rubber shipments must be carried out even

after the entry of Japan into the war, since they are of vital

importance to Germany.”

The order continues in an unnumbered paragraph, immediately below

Subparagraph (3) (d):

“In addition, attacks on other systems of bases of British naval

power—extending to those of American naval power only if the

entry of the United States into the war cannot be

prevented—will result in weakening the enemy’s system of power

in that region and also, just like the attack on sea

communications, in tying down substantial forces of all kinds

(Australia).”

In these passages there is a clear envisagement of United States

involvement, as well as a clear intent to attack. The vital threat to

United States interests, if Japan were to capture Singapore, was also

envisaged by the Defendant Raeder in his meeting of 18 March 1941 with

Hitler and the Defendants Keitel and Jodl. These minutes are contained

in our Document C-152, which has already been put in as Exhibit GB-122.

I wish now to repeat the four sentences of Item 11 of the minutes of

that conference, contained on Page 1 of the English translation. I am

quoting the Defendant Raeder:

“Japan must take steps to seize Singapore as soon as possible,

since the opportunity will never again be so favorable (tie-up

of the whole English Fleet; unpreparedness of the U.S.A. for war

against Japan, inferiority of the United States Fleet in

comparison with the Japanese). Japan is indeed making

preparations for this action, but according to all declarations

made by Japanese officers, she will carry it out only if Germany

proceeds to land in England. Germany must, therefore,

concentrate all her efforts on spurring Japan to act

immediately. If Japan has Singapore, all other East Asiatic

questions regarding the U.S.A. and England are thereby solved

(Guam, the Philippines, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies).

“Japan wishes, if possible, to avoid war against the U.S.A. She

can do so if she determinedly takes Singapore as soon as

possible.”

The Defendant Ribbentrop also recognized the possibility of United

States involvement as a result of the course of aggression that he was

urging on the Japanese. I refer again to his meeting of 23 February 1941

with the Japanese Ambassador Oshima, the notes of which are contained in

our Document 1834-PS, which is in evidence as Exhibit USA-129.

The Tribunal will recall that in a passage I have already read,

Subparagraph (2) near the bottom of Page 3 of the English translation,

Ribbentrop assured Matsuoka that a surprise by Japan was bound to keep

the United States out of the war since she was unarmed and could not

risk either her fleet or the possibility of losing the Philippines as

the result of a declaration of war. Two paragraphs later Ribbentrop

practically dropped the pretense that the United States would not be

involved. I quote here from the last paragraph at the bottom of Page 3

of the English translation:

“The Reich Foreign Minister mentioned further that if America

should declare war because of Japan’s entry into the war, this

would mean that America had the intention to enter the war

sooner or later anyway. Even though it would be preferable to

avoid this, the entry into the war would, as explained above, be

by no means decisive and would not endanger the final victory of

the countries of the Three Power Pact. The Foreign Minister

further expressed his belief that a temporary lift of the

British morale caused by America’s entry into the war would be

canceled by Japan’s entry into the war. If, however, contrary to

all expectations, the Americans should be careless enough to

send their navy, in spite of all, beyond Hawaii and to the Far

East, this would represent the biggest chance for the countries

of the Three Power Pact to bring the war to an end with the

greatest rapidity. He—the Foreign Minister—is convinced that

the Japanese Fleet would then do a complete job. Ambassador

Oshima replied to this that unfortunately he does not think the

Americans would do it, but he is convinced of a victory of his

fleet in Japanese waters.”

In the paragraphs that follow, some of which have already been read into

the record, Ribbentrop again stressed the mutual inter-dependence of the

Tripartite Pact powers and suggested co-ordinated action.

I want to quote now only the last paragraph on Page 5, a difficult bit

of Nazi cynicism which by now is quite familiar.

“The Reich Foreign Minister then touched upon the question,

explicitly designated as theoretical, that the contracting

powers might be required, on the basis of new affronts by the

U.S.A., to break off diplomatic relations. Germany and Italy

were fundamentally determined on this. After signing of the

Three Power Pact, we should proceed, if the occasion arises,

also jointly in this matter. Such a lesson should open the eyes

of the people in the United States, and under certain conditions

swing public opinion towards isolation. Naturally a situation

had to be chosen in which America found herself entirely in the

wrong. The common step of the signatory powers should be

exploited correspondingly in propaganda. The question, however,

was in no way acute at the time.”

Again, on 29 March 1941, Ribbentrop, this time in a conference with the

Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka, discussed the possible involvement

of the United States. Notes of this conference are contained in our

Document 1877-PS, which I have already introduced as Exhibit USA-152;

and I have read it into the record. The relevant statements appear in

the bottom two paragraphs of Page 1 and the first full paragraph on Page

2 of the English translation. I shall not take the Tribunal’s time to

read them again.

I should like to refer to one more document to show that the Nazi

conspirators knew that the aggressive war they were urging the Japanese

to undertake both threatened the vital interests of the United States

and could lead to the United States’ involvement in the contemplated Far

Eastern conflict. This document is our 1881-PS, report of the conference

between Hitler and the Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka in Berlin on 4

April 1941. I have already offered, in my opening statement to the

Tribunal 2 weeks ago, Document 1881-PS as Exhibit USA-33; and I read at

that time a considerable portion of it into the record. Unless the Court

prefers that I do not do so, it seems to me desirable at this point to

re-read a few brief passages.

THE PRESIDENT: I think we might treat it as being in evidence.

MR. ALDERMAN: I wish to emphasize, however, that the passages which I

read 2 weeks ago and which I had expected to re-read at this point show

not only a realization of the probable involvement of the United States

in the Far Eastern conflict that the Nazis were urging, but also a

knowledge on their part that the Japanese Army and Navy were actually

preparing war plans against the United States. Furthermore, we have a

document that shows the Nazis knew at least a part of what those war

plans were.

I now refer again to Document Number 1538-PS, which has been offered in

evidence as Exhibit USA-154, the secret telegram from the German

Military Attaché in Tokyo, dated 24 May 1941. He talks about the

conferences he has had regarding Japan’s entry in the war in the event

Germany should become involved in war with the United States.

In the paragraph numbered 1 this sentence also appears—I quote the last

sentence in numbered Paragraph Number 1, “Preparations for attack on

Singapore and Manila stand.”

May I at this point review the Nazi position with regard to the United

States at this time, the spring of 1941. In view of their pressing

commitments elsewhere and their aggressive plans against the U.S.S.R.

set for execution in June of 1941, their temporary strategy was

naturally a preference that the United States not be involved in the war

at that time. Nevertheless, they had been considering their own

preliminary plan against the United States, as seen in the Atlantic

island document which I offered.

They were repeatedly urging the Japanese to aggression against the

British Commonwealth just as they would urge them to attack the U.S.S.R.

soon after the launching of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. They

were aware that the course along which they were pushing the Japanese in

the Far East would probably lead to involvement of the United States.

Indeed, the Japanese Foreign Minister had told Hitler this in so many

words, and their own military men had fully realized the implications of

the move against Singapore. They also knew that the Japanese Army and

Navy were preparing operation plans against the U.S. They knew at least

part of those plans.

The Nazi conspirators not only knew all these things; they accepted the

risk of the aggressive course they were urging on the Japanese and

pushed their eastern allies still further along that course.

In April 1941 Hitler told the Japanese Foreign Minister that in the

event Japan would have become involved in the war with the United

States, Germany would immediately take the consequences and strike

without delay.

I refer to our Document 1881-PS, the notes of the Hitler-Matsuoka

conference in Berlin on 4 April 1941, which has already been introduced

as Exhibit Number USA-33. I refer particularly to the first four

paragraphs on Page 2 of the English translation. I think that has been

read to you at least twice, and I perhaps need not repeat it.

Then, skipping two paragraphs, we see Hitler then encouraging Matsuoka

in his decision to strike against the United States; and I invite your

attention to the fourth paragraph on Page 2, which you have heard

several times and which I shall not re-read.

Here in those passages were assurance, encouragement, and abetment by

the head of the German State, the leading Nazi co-conspirator, in April

1941. But the Nazi encouragement and promise of support did not end

there.

I now offer our Document 2898-PS as Exhibit Number USA-163. This is

another telegram from the German Ambassador in Tokyo regarding his

conversation with the Japanese Foreign Minister. It is dated the 30th of

November 1941, exactly 1 week before Pearl Harbor. I will read from the

first four paragraphs on Page 2 of the German text, which is the first

paragraph of the English translation; and this passage, I am sure, has

not been read to the Tribunal. No part of this document has been read.

“The progress of the negotiations so far confirms his viewpoint

that the difference of opinion between Japan and the U.S. is

very great. The Japanese Government, since they sent Ambassador

Kurusu, have taken a firm stand as he told me. He is convinced

that this position is in our favor, and makes the United States

think that her entry into the European war would be risky

business. The new American proposal of 25 November showed great

divergencies in the viewpoints of the two nations. These

differences of opinion concern, for example, the further

treatment of the Chinese question. The biggest”—and then the

German text has the legend “one group missing,” indicating that

one group of the secret code was garbled on transmission. It

would appear from the text that the missing words are

“difference of opinion”—“The biggest (one group missing),

however, resulted from the United States attempt to make the

three-power agreement ineffective. The United States suggested

to Japan that she conclude treaties of non-aggression with the

United States, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and other

countries in order to prevent Japan’s entry into the war on the

side of the Axis Powers. Japan, however, insisted upon

maintaining her treaty obligations, and for this reason American

demands are the greatest obstacles for adjusting

Japanese-American relations. He avoided discussing concessions

promised by the United States and merely mentioned that grave

decisions were at stake.

“The United States is seriously preparing for war and is about

to operate a considerable part of its navy from southern Pacific

bases. The Japanese Government are busy working out an answer in

order to clarify their viewpoint. But he has no particulars at

that moment. He thinks the American proposals as a whole

unacceptable.

“Japan is not afraid of a breakdown of negotiations, and she

hopes that if occasion arises Germany and Italy, according to

the Three Power Pact, would stand at her side. I answered that

there could be no doubt about Germany’s future position. The

Japanese Foreign Minister thereupon stated that he understood

from my words that Germany, in such a case, would consider her

relationship to Japan as that of a union by fate. I answered,

according to my opinion, Germany was certainly ready to have

mutual agreement between the two countries over this situation.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs answered that it was possible

that he would come back to this point soon. The conversation

with the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed the impression

that the United States note, in fact, is very unsatisfactory

even for the compromise-seeking politicians here. For these

circles America’s position, especially in the China question, is

very disappointing. The emphasis upon the Three Power Pact as

being the main obstacle between successful Japanese-United

States negotiations seems to point to the fact that the Japanese

Government are becoming aware of the necessity of close

co-operation with the Axis Powers.”

The time is now fast approaching for that day of infamy. I offer our

Document 2987-PS as Exhibit USA-166. This document consists of extracts

from the handwritten diary of Count Galeazzo Ciano during the period 3

December to 8 December 1941. It consists of notes he jotted down in the

course of his daily business as Foreign Minister of Italy. The Italian

has been translated into both English and German, and copies of both the

English and the German are in the document books.

I now quote from the beginning of the entry of 3 December, Wednesday:

“Sensational move by Japan. The Ambassador asks for an audience

with the Duce and reads him a long statement on the progress of

the negotiations with America, concluding with the assertion

that they have reached a dead end. Then invoking the appropriate

clause in the Tripartite Pact, he asks that Italy declare war on

America immediately after the outbreak of hostilities and

proposes the signing of an agreement not to conclude a separate

peace. The interpreter translating this request was trembling

like a leaf. The Duce gave fullest assurances, reserving the

right to confer with Berlin before giving a reply. The Duce was

pleased with the communication and said, ‘We are now on the

brink of the inter-continental war which I predicted as early as

September 1939.’ What does this new event mean? In any case it

means that Roosevelt has succeeded in his maneuver. Since he

could not enter the war immediately and directly, he entered it

indirectly by letting himself be attacked by Japan. Furthermore,

this event also means that every prospect of peace is becoming

further and further removed and that it is now easy—much too

easy—to predict a long war. Who will be able to hold out

longest? It is on this basis that the problem must be

considered. Berlin’s answer will be somewhat delayed because

Hitler has gone to the southern Front to see General Kleist,

whose armies continue to give way under the pressure of an

unexpected Soviet offensive.”

And then December 4, Thursday—that is 3 days before Pearl Harbor:

“Berlin’s reaction to the Japanese move is extremely cautious.

Perhaps they will accept because they cannot get out of it, but

the idea of provoking America’s intervention pleases the Germans

less and less. Mussolini, on the other hand, is pleased about

it.”

And December 5, Friday:

“A night interrupted by Ribbentrop’s restlessness. After

delaying 2 days, now he cannot wait a minute to answer the

Japanese; and at three in the morning he sent Mackensen to my

house to submit a plan for a triple agreement relative to

Japanese intervention and the pledge not to make a separate

peace. He wanted me to awaken the Duce, but I did not do so, and

the latter was very glad I had not.”

It appears from the last entry I have read, that of December 5, that

some sort of an agreement was reached.

On Sunday, 7 December 1941, Japan, without previous warning or

declaration of war, commenced an attack against the United States at

Pearl Harbor and against the British Commonwealth of Nations in the

Southwest Pacific. On the morning of 11 December, 4 days after the

Japanese assault in the Pacific, the German Government declared war on

the United States, committing the last act of aggression which was to

seal their doom. This declaration of war is contained in Volume IX of

the _Dokumente der Deutschen Politik_, of which I now ask the Tribunal

to take judicial notice as Exhibit USA-164. An English translation is

contained in our document book, and for the convenience of the Tribunal

is Number 2507-PS.

The same day, 11 December, the fourth anniversary of which is tomorrow,

the Congress of the United States resolved:

“That the state of war between the United States and the

Government of Germany which has thus been thrust upon the United

States, is hereby formally declared.”

This declaration is contained as Document 272 in the official

publication _Peace and War_, of which the Tribunal has already taken

judicial notice as Exhibit USA-122. The declaration itself has been

reproduced for the document books as our Document 2945-PS.

It thus appears that, apart from their own aggressive intentions and

declaration of war against the United States, the Nazi conspirators in

their collaboration with Japan incited and kept in motion a force

reasonably calculated to result in an attack on the United States. While

maintaining their preference that the United States not be involved in

war at the time, they nevertheless foresaw the distinct possibility,

even probability, of such involvement as a result of the action they

were encouraging. They were aware that the Japanese had prepared plans

for attack against the United States, and they accepted the consequences

by assuring the Japanese that they would declare war on the United

States should a United States-Japanese conflict result.

In dealing with captured documents of the enemy the completeness of the

plan is necessarily obscured, but those documents which have been

discovered and offered in evidence before this Tribunal show that the

Japanese attack was the proximate and foreseeable consequence of their

collaboration policy and that their exhortations and encouragement of

the Japanese as surely led to Pearl Harbor as though Pearl Harbor itself

had been mentioned.

I should like to read the Ciano diary entry for 8 December, the day

after Pearl Harbor:

“A night telephone call from Ribbentrop. He is overjoyed about

the Japanese attack on America. He is so happy about it that I

am happy with him, though I am not too sure about the final

advantages of what has happened. One thing is now certain, that

America will enter the conflict and that the conflict will be so

long that she will be able to realize all her potential forces.

This morning I told this to the King who had been pleased about

the event. He ended by admitting that, in the long run, I may be

right. Mussolini was happy, too. For a long time he has favored

a definite clarification of relations between America and the

Axis.”

The final document consists of the top-secret notes of a conference

between Hitler and Japanese Ambassador Oshima on 14 December 1941, from

1300 to 1400 hours, in the presence of the Reich Foreign Minister

Ribbentrop. It is our Document 2932-PS, which I now offer as Exhibit

USA-165. The immediate subject matter is the Pearl Harbor attack, but

the expressions therein typify Nazi technique. I quote from the second

paragraph of the English translation which has not been previously read:

“First the Führer presents Ambassador Oshima with the Grand

Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Eagle in gold. With

cordial words he acknowledges his services in the achievement of

German-Japanese co-operation, which has now obtained its

culmination in a close brotherhood of arms.

“General Oshima expresses his thanks for the great honor and

emphasizes how glad he is that this brotherhood of arms has now

come about between Germany and Japan.

“The Führer continues: ‘You gave the right declaration of war.’

This method is the only proper one. Japan pursued it formerly

and it corresponds with his own system, that is, to negotiate as

long as possible. But if one sees the other is interested only

in putting one off, in shamming and humiliating one, and is not

willing to come to an agreement, then one should strike as hard

as possible, indeed, and not waste time declaring war. It was

heart-warming to him to hear of the first operations of the

Japanese. He himself negotiated with infinite patience at times,

for example, with Poland and also with Russia. When he then

realized that the other did not want to come to an agreement, he

struck suddenly and without formality. He would continue to go

on this way in the future.”

If the Tribunal please, that ends my presentation of the various phases

of aggressive warfare charged as Crimes against Peace in Count One of

the Indictment. As I conclude this phase I hope the Tribunal will allow

me to express my deep sense of obligation to Commander Sidney J. Kaplan,

section chief, and to the members of his staff, who did the yeoman work

necessary to assemble and prepare these materials that I have presented.

These members of that staff, in the order in which the materials were

presented, are: Major Joseph Dainow, Lieutenant Commander Harold

Leventhal, Lieutenant John M. Woolsey, Lieutenant James A. Gorrell,

Lieutenant Roy H. Steyer.

Commander Kaplan and his staff have fully measured up to the famous

motto of his branch of the armed services, the United States Coast

Guard, “Semper Paratus” (Always Prepared).

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now adjourn.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 11 December 1945 at 1000 hours._]

SEVENTEENTH DAY

Tuesday, 11 December 1945

_Morning Session_

COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, the United States next offers in

evidence some captured moving pictures through Commander Donovan, who

had charge of taking them.

COMMANDER JAMES BRITT DONOVAN (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United

States): May it please the Tribunal, the United States now offers in

evidence Document Number 3054-PS, United States Exhibit Number 167, the

motion picture entitled _The Nazi Plan_. This document contains several

affidavits with exhibits, copies of which have been furnished to Defense

Counsel. I ask the Tribunal whether it believes it to be necessary that

I formally read the affidavits at this time. Since the motion pictures

themselves will be presented to the Tribunal and thereafter be in its

permanent record, I respectfully submit that the reading be waived.

In the past 3 weeks the Prosecution has presented to this Tribunal a

vast amount of evidence concerning the nature of the Nazi conspiracy and

what we contend to be its deliberate planning, launching, and waging of

wars of aggression. That evidence has consisted of documentary and some

oral proof, but the Nazi conspirators did more than leave behind such

normal types of evidence. German proficiency in photography has been

traditional. Its use as a propaganda instrument was especially well

known to these defendants, and as a result the United States in 1945

captured an almost complete chronicle of the rise and fall of National

Socialism as documented in films made by the Nazis themselves. It is

from excerpts of this chronicle that we have compiled the motion picture

now presented, entitled _The Nazi Plan_, which in broad outline sums up

the case thus far presented under Counts One and Two of the Indictment.

The motion picture has been divided into four parts. This morning we

first offer to the Tribunal Parts 1 and 2, respectively entitled “The

Rise of the NSDAP, 1921 to 1933,” and “Acquiring Totalitarian Control of

Germany, 1933 to 1935.” These will be concluded by 11:20, at which time

we assume the Tribunal will order its customary morning adjournment. At

11:30 we shall present Part 3, entitled “Preparation for Wars of

Aggression, 1935 to 1939.” This will be concluded shortly before 1

o’clock. At 2 p.m. we will offer Part 4, “Wars of Aggression, 1939 to

1944,” and this will be concluded by 3 p.m.

Parts 1 and 2 now to be presented, enable us to re-live those years in

which the Nazis fought for and obtained the power to rule all life in

Germany. We see the early days of terrorism and propaganda bearing final

fruit in Hitler’s accession to the Chancellery in 1933, then the

consolidation of power within Germany, climaxed by the Parteitag of

1934, in which the Nazis proclaimed to the nation their plans for

totalitarian control. It is in simple and dramatic form the story of how

a nation forsook its liberty.

I wish again to emphasize that all film now presented to the Tribunal,

including, for example, pictures of early Nazi newspapers, is the

original German film, to which we have added only the title in English.

And now, if it please the Tribunal, we shall present Parts 1 and 2 of

_The Nazi Plan_.

THE PRESIDENT: It may be convenient for the United States Prosecutor to

know that the Tribunal propose to rise this afternoon at 4 o’clock

instead of 5.

[_The film, The Nazi Plan, was then shown in the court room until 1125

hours, at which time a recess was taken._]

COMMANDER DONOVAN: May it please the Tribunal, in the films which have

just been shown to the Tribunal we have watched the Nazi rise to power.

In Part 3 of our documentary motion picture now to be presented, we see

the use they made of that power and how the German nation was led by

militaristic regimentation to preparation for aggressive war as an

instrument of national policy. Part 3, “Preparation for Wars of

Aggression, 1935-1939; 1935—Von Schirach urges Hitler Youth to follow

principles of _Mein Kampf_.”

[_The showing of the film then continued and at the end a recess was

taken until 1400 hours._]

_Afternoon Session_

COMMANDER DONOVAN: This morning we presented photographic evidence of

the history of National Socialism from 1921 to September 1939. We saw

the dignity of the individual in Germany destroyed by men dedicated to

perverted nationalism, men who set forth certain objectives and then

preached to a regimented people the accomplishment of those objectives

by any necessary means, including aggressive war.

In September 1939 the Nazis launched the first of a series of

catastrophic wars, terminated only by the military collapse of Germany.

It is this final chapter in the history of National Socialism that the

Prosecution now presents.

May I again remind the Tribunal that all film presented and all German

narration heard is in the original form as filmed by the Nazis.

[_The showing of the film, part 4, then continued._]

COMMANDER DONOVAN: The Prosecution has concluded its presentation of the

photographic summation entitled _The Nazi Plan_. We shall deliver for

the permanent records of the Tribunal, as soon as possible, the original

films projected today.

COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, just a brief announcement about the

presentation that shall follow. The rest of the week will be consumed in

the presentation of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, starting

with exploitation of forced labor, concentration camps, persecution of

the Jews, and Germanization and spoliation in occupied countries. We

should like to call the Tribunal’s attention to the fact that many of

these crimes will be crimes attributed to the criminal organizations

which will follow. The program following will be the criminal

organizations, beginning with the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party,

the Reich Cabinet, the SA, the SS, and finally, the SD and Gestapo.

Mr. Dodd will now present “Exploitation of Forced Labor.”

MR. THOMAS J. DODD (Executive Trial Counsel for the United States): May

it please the Tribunal, we propose to submit during the next several

days, as Colonel Storey has said a moment ago, evidence concerning the

conspirators’ criminal deportation and enslavement of foreign labor,

their illegal use of prisoners of war, their infamous concentration

camps, and their relentless persecution of the Jews. We shall present

evidence regarding the general aspects of these programs, and our French

and Soviet colleagues will present evidence of the specific application

of these programs in the West and the East respectively.

These crimes were committed both before and after Nazi Germany had

launched her series of aggressions. They were committed within Germany

and in foreign countries as well. Although separated in time and space,

these crimes had, of course, an inter-relationship which resulted from

their having a common source in Nazi ideology; for we shall show that

within Germany the conspirators had made hatred and destruction of the

Jews an official philosophy and a public duty, that they had preached

the concept of the master race with its corollary of slavery for others,

that they had denied and destroyed the dignity and the rights of the

individual human being. They had organized force, brutality, and terror

into instruments of political power and had made them commonplaces of

daily existence. We propose to prove that they had placed the

concentration camp and a vast apparatus of force behind their racial and

political myths, their laws, and their policies. As every German Cabinet

minister or high official knew, behind the laws and decrees in the

_Reichsgesetzblatt_ was not the agreement of the people or their

representatives but the terror of the concentration camps and the police

state. The conspirators had preached that war was a noble activity and

that force was the appropriate means of resolving international

differences; and having mobilized all aspects of German life for war,

they plunged Germany and the world into war.

We say this system of hatred, savagery, and denial of individual rights,

which the conspirators erected into a philosophy of government within

Germany or into what we may call the Nazi constitution, followed the

Nazi armies as they swept over Europe. For the Jews of the occupied

countries suffered the same fate as the Jews of Germany, and foreign

laborers became the serfs of the “master race,” and they were deported

and enslaved by the million. Many of the deported and enslaved laborers

joined the victims of the concentration camps, where they were literally

worked to death in the course of the Nazi program of extermination

through work. We propose to show that this Nazi combination of the

assembly line, the torture chamber, and the executioner’s rack in a

single institution has a horrible repugnance to the twentieth century

mind.

We say that it is plain that the program of the concentration camp, the

anti-Jewish program, and the forced labor program are all parts of a

larger pattern, and this will become even more plain as we examine the

evidence regarding these programs, and then test their legality by

applying the relevant principles of international law.

The evidence relating to the Nazi slave labor program has been assembled

in a document book bearing the letter “R”; and in addition, there is an

appendix to the document book consisting of certain photographs

contained in a manila folder. Your Honors will observe that on some of

the books we have placed some tabs, so that it would be easier for the

Tribunal to locate the documents. Unfortunately, we did not have a

sufficient number of tabs to do the work completely, and that would

account for tabs which are missing on some of the document books.

It may illuminate the specific items of evidence which will be offered

later if we first describe in rather general terms the elements of the

Nazi foreign labor policy. It was a policy of mass deportation and mass

enslavement, as I said a minute ago, and it was also carried out by

force, by fraud, by terror, by arson, by means unrestrained by the laws

of war and laws of humanity, or the considerations of mercy. This labor

policy was a policy as well of underfeeding and overworking foreign

laborers, of subjecting them to every form of degradation, brutality,

and inhumanity. It was a policy which compelled foreign workers and

prisoners of war to manufacture armaments and to engage in other

operations of war directed against their own countries. It was a policy,

as we propose to establish, which constituted a flagrant violation of

the laws of war and of the laws of humanity.

We shall show that the Defendants Sauckel and Speer are principally

responsible for the formulation of the policy and for its execution:

that the Defendant Sauckel, the Nazis’ Plenipotentiary General for

Manpower, directed the recruitment, deportation, and the allocation of

foreign civilian labor, that he sanctioned and directed the use of force

as the instrument of recruitment, and that he was responsible for the

care and the treatment of the enslaved millions; that the Defendant

Speer, as Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions, Director of the

Organization Todt, and member of the Central Planning Board, bears

responsibility for the determination of the numbers of foreign slaves

required by the German war machine, was responsible for the decision to

recruit by force and for the use under brutal, inhumane, and degrading

conditions of foreign civilians and prisoners of war in the manufacture

of armaments and munitions, the construction of fortifications, and in

active military operations.

We shall also show in this presentation that the Defendant Göring, as

Plenipotentiary General for the Four Year Plan, is responsible for all

of the crimes involved in the Nazi slave labor program. Finally, we

propose to show that the Defendant Rosenberg, as Reich Minister for the

Occupied Eastern Territories, and the Defendant Frank, as Governor of

the Government General of Poland, and the Defendant Seyss-Inquart, as

Reich Commissar for the occupied Netherlands, and the Defendant Keitel,

as Chief of the OKW, share responsibility for the recruitment by force

and terror and for the deportation to Germany of the citizens of the

areas overrun or subjugated by the Wehrmacht.

The use of vast numbers of foreign workers was planned before Germany

went to war and was an integral part of the conspiracy for waging

aggressive war. On May 23, 1939 a meeting was held in Hitler’s study at

the Reich Chancellery. Present were the Defendants Göring, Raeder, and

Keitel.

I now refer to Document L-79, which has already been entered in evidence

as Exhibit USA-27. The document presents the minutes of this meeting at

which Hitler stated, as Your Honors will recall, that he intended to

attack Poland at the first suitable opportunity; but I wish to quote

from Page 2 of the English text starting with the 13th paragraph as

follows. In the German text, by the way, the passage appears at Page 4,

Paragraphs 6 and 7. Quoting directly from the English text:

“If fate brings us into conflict with the West, the possession

of extensive areas in the East will be advantageous. We shall be

able to rely upon record harvests even less in time of war than

in peace.

“The population of non-German areas will perform no military

service and will be available as a source of labor.”

We say the slave labor program of the Nazi conspirators was designed to

achieve two purposes, both of which were criminal. The primary purpose,

of course, was to satisfy the labor requirements of the Nazi war machine

by compelling these foreign workers, in effect, to make war against

their own countries and their allies. The secondary purpose was to

destroy or weaken peoples deemed inferior by the Nazi racialists or

deemed potentially hostile by the Nazi planners of world supremacy.

These purposes were expressed by the conspirators themselves.

I wish to refer at this point and to offer in evidence Document 016-PS,

which is Exhibit USA-168. This document was sent by the Defendant

Sauckel to the Defendant Rosenberg on the 20th of April 1942, and it

describes Sauckel’s labor mobilization program. I wish to quote now from

Page 2 of the English text, starting with the sixth paragraph; and in

the German text, again, it appears at Page 2 of the second paragraph.

Quoting from the text directly:

“The aim of this new, gigantic labor mobilization is to use all

the rich and tremendous sources, conquered and secured for us by

our fighting Armed Forces under the leadership of Adolf Hitler,

for the armament of the Armed Forces and also for the nutrition

of the homeland. The raw materials as well as the fertility of

the conquered territories and their human labor power are to be

used completely and conscientiously to the profit of Germany and

her allies.”

The theory of the master race underlay the conspirators’ labor policy in

the East as well.

I now refer to Document Number 1130-PS, which is marked Exhibit USA-169.

This document consists of a statement made by one Erich Koch, Reich

Commissar for the Ukraine, on the 5th day of March 1943 at a meeting of

the National Socialist Party in Kiev. I quote from the first page of the

English text, starting with the first paragraph—and in the German text

it appears at Page 2, Paragraph 1. Quoting directly again from the

English text Koch said:

“1. We are the master race and must govern hard but just . . . .

“2. I will draw the very last out of this country. I did not

come to spread bliss. I have come to help the Führer. The

population must work, work, and work again . . . for some people

are getting excited that the population may not get enough to

eat. The population cannot demand that. One has only to remember

what our heroes were deprived of in Stalingrad . . . . We

definitely did not come here to give out manna. We have come

here to create the basis for victory.

“3. We are a master race, which must remember that the lowliest

German worker is racially and biologically a thousand times more

valuable than the population here.”

At this point I should like to offer in evidence Document Number

1919-PS, which is Exhibit USA-170. This is a document which contains a

speech delivered by Himmler, the Reichsführer SS, to a group of SS

Generals on the 4th day of October 1943 at Posen; and I am referring to

the first page of the English text, starting with the third paragraph.

For the benefit of the interpreters, in the German text it appears at

Page 23 in the first paragraph. Quoting directly again from this

document on the first page, starting with the third paragraph:

“What happens to the Russians, to the Czechs, does not interest

me in the slightest. What the nations can offer in the way of

good blood of our type we will take, if necessary, by kidnapping

their children and raising them here with us. Whether the other

nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only

insofar as we need them as slaves for our culture; otherwise, it

is of no interest to me. Whether 10,000 Russian females fall

down from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch or not

interests me only insofar as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is

finished.”

THE PRESIDENT: Who is the author of that document?

MR. DODD: The author of that quotation is the Reichsführer SS, Heinrich

Himmler.

The next document to which I make reference is Number 031-PS, which is

Exhibit USA-71. This document is a top-secret memorandum prepared for

the Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Territories on the 12th of June

1944 and approved by the Defendant Rosenberg; and from it I wish to

quote, from the English text starting with the first paragraph, and in

the German text it appears at the first paragraph of Page 2. Quoting

directly:

“The Army group center has the intention to apprehend

40,000-50,000 youths at the ages of 10 to 14 who are in the Army

territory and to transport them to the Reich.”

I wish to pass now to line 21 of Paragraph 1. Quoting directly I read as

follows:

“It is intended to allot these juveniles primarily to the German

trades as apprentices to be used as skilled workers after 2

years’ training. This is to be arranged through the Organization

Todt which is especially equipped for such a task by means of

its technical and other set-ups. This action is being greatly

welcomed by the German trade since it represents a decisive

measure for the alleviation of the shortage of apprentices.”

Passing a little further on in that document, I wish to call to the

attention of the Tribunal Paragraph 1 on Page 2, and to quote it

directly:

“This action is aimed not only at preventing a direct

reinforcement of the enemy’s military strength but also at a

reduction of his biological potentialities as viewed from the

perspective of the future. These ideas have been voiced not only

by the Reichsführer SS but also by the Führer. Corresponding

orders were given during last year’s withdrawals in the southern

sector . . . .”

I call to Your Honor’s attention particularly that the approval of the

Defendant Rosenberg is noted on Page 3 of the document. It is a note in

ink on the original. I quote it:

“Obergruppenführer Berger has received another memorandum on

June 14, according to which the Reich Minister now has approved

the action.”

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, did you mean to leave out the sentence at the

bottom of Page 1?

MR. DODD: No, Your Honor, I did not, but I did not want to refer to it

at this time. I will refer to it a little later on.

THE PRESIDENT: Isn’t it really a part of what follows at the top of Page

2, which you did read, “Following are the arguments . . .”

MR. DODD: Yes, I did omit that. I thought you were referring to the

sentence above. I’m sorry.

“Following are the arguments against this decision of the

minister.”—and then quoting—“This action is not only aimed at

preventing direct reinforcement of any military . . .”

THE PRESIDENT: Yes and you were telling us how you showed that the

Defendant Rosenberg was implicated.

MR. DODD: Yes. On the last page of that document, the original bears a

note in ink, and in the mimeographed copy it is typewritten:

“Obergruppenführer Berger has received another memorandum on

June 14, according to which the Reich Minister now has approved

the action.”

One page back on that same document, from the first paragraph, four

sentences down, the sentence begins:

“The Minister has approved the execution of the ‘Hay Action’ in

the Army territories under the conditions and provisions arrived

at in talks with Army group center.”

The purposes of the slave labor program which we have just been

describing, namely the strengthening of the Nazi war machine and the

destruction or the weakening of peoples deemed inferior by the Nazi

conspirators, were achieved, we repeat, by the impressment and the

deportation of millions of persons into Germany for forced labor. It

involved the separation of husbands from their wives, and children from

their parents, and the imposition of conditions unfit for human

existence, with the result that countless numbers were killed.

Poland was the first victim. The Defendant Frank, as Governor of the

Government General of Poland, announced that under his program 1 million

workers were to be sent to Germany; and he recommended that police

surround Polish villages and seize the inhabitants for deportation.

I wish to refer to Document Number 1375-PS, which is Exhibit USA-172.

This document is a letter from the Defendant Frank to the Defendant

Göring and it is dated the 25th day of January 1940; and I wish to quote

from the first page of the English text, starting with the first

paragraph, and in the German text, again, it appears at Page 1 of the

first paragraph. Quoting directly:

“1. In view of the present requirements of the Reich for the

defense industry, it is at present fundamentally impossible to

carry on a long-term economic policy in the Government General.

Rather, it is necessary so to steer the economy of the

Government General that it will, in the shortest possible time,

accomplish results representing the maximum that can be secured

out of the economic strength of the Government General for the

immediate strengthening of our capacity for defense.

“2. In particular the following performances are expected of the

total economy of the Government General . . . .”

I wish to pass on a little bit in this text to the second page and

particularly to Paragraph g in the English text. In the German text, the

same passage appears on Page 3 in Paragraph g. I am quoting directly

again:

“Supply and transportation of at least 1 million male and female

agricultural and industrial workers to the Reich—among them at

least 750,000 agricultural workers of which at least 50 percent

must be women—in order to guarantee agricultural production in

the Reich and as a replacement for industrial workers lacking in

the Reich.”

The methods by which these workers were to be supplied were considered

by the Defendant Frank, as revealed in another document to which we now

refer.

It is an entry in the Defendant Frank’s own diary, to which we have

assigned our Document Number 2233(a)-PS and which we offer as Exhibit

USA-173. The portion which I shall read is the entry for Friday, the

10th of May 1940. It appears in the document book as 2233(a)-PS, on the

third page in the center of the page. Just above it are the words “Page

23, Paragraph 1” to the left:

“Then the Governor General deals with the problem of the

compulsory labor service of the Poles. Upon the pressure from

the Reich it has now been decreed that compulsion may be

exercised in view of the fact that sufficient manpower was not

voluntarily available for service inside the German Reich. This

compulsion means the possibility of arrest of male and female

Poles. Because of these measures a certain disquietude had

developed which, according to individual reports, was spreading

very much and might produce difficulties everywhere. General

Field Marshal Göring some time ago pointed out, in his long

speech, the necessity to deport into the Reich a million

workers. The supply so far was 160,000. However, great

difficulties had to be overcome here. Therefore it would be

advisable to co-operate with the district and town chiefs in the

execution of the compulsion, so that one could be sure from the

start that this action would be reasonably expedient. The arrest

of young Poles when leaving church service or the cinema would

bring about an ever increasing nervousness of the Poles.

Generally speaking, he had no objections at all to the rubbish,

capable of work yet often loitering about, being snatched from

the streets. The best method for this, however, would be the

organization of a raid; and it would be absolutely justifiable

to stop a Pole in the street and to question him as to what he

was doing, where he was working, _et cetera_.”

I should like to refer to another entry in the diary of the Defendant

Frank, and I offer in evidence an extract from the entry made on the

16th day of March 1940, which appears in the document book as

2233(b)-PS, and it is Exhibit USA-174. I wish particularly to quote from

the third page of the English text:

“The Governor General remarks that he had long negotiations in

Berlin with the representatives of the Reich Ministry for

Finance and the Reich Ministry for Food. Urgent demands have

been made there that Polish farm workers should be sent to the

Reich in greater numbers. He has made the statement in Berlin

that he, if it is demanded from him, could of course exercise

force in some such manner: he could have the police surround a

village and get the men and women in question out by force, and

then send them to Germany. But one can also work differently,

besides these police measures, by retaining the unemployment

compensation of these workers in question.”

The instruments of force and terror used to carry out this program

reached into many phases of Polish life. German labor authorities raided

churches and theaters, seized those present, and shipped them back to

Germany. And this appears in a memorandum to Himmler, which we offer in

evidence as Document Number 2220-PS, and it bears Exhibit Number

USA-175. This memorandum is dated the 17th day of April 1943; and it was

written by Dr. Lammers, the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, and deals

with the situation in the Government General of Poland.

DR. SERVATIUS: I should like to call the attention of the Tribunal to

the fact that the last three documents, which have just been read, were

not made available to me beforehand. They do not appear on the original

list of documents, nor have I been able to find them on the later list.

I therefore request that the reading of these documents be held in

abeyance until I have had an opportunity to read them and to discuss

them with my client.

Perhaps I may, at the same time, lodge an additional complaint. I

received some interrogation records in English the day before yesterday.

I consulted my client about them and he told me that they are not the

actual transcripts of his words in the interrogation, because he was

interrogated in German; an interpreter translated his statements into

English, and then they were taken down.

These documents cannot have any evidential value since they were not

presented to the defendant for certification; he did not sign them, nor

were they read to him. They are transcripts in English, a language of

which the defendant understands little or nothing.

I also discovered that another interrogation record on the Defendant

Speer contains statements which incriminate my client but which are

apparently also incorrect, as I established in consultation with the

Defendant Speer.

I should like to have an opportunity of discussing the matter with the

representative of the Prosecution and of clearing up these

differences—to decide to what extent I can agree to the use of these

documents. They were to be presented by the Prosecution today or

tomorrow at the latest, but for the time being I must object to their

use.

THE PRESIDENT: As I understand it, you said to us that the last three

documents were not available to you and that they were not in the

original list. Is that right?

DR. SERVATIUS: Not up to now. I want to have an opportunity of reading

these documents in advance. They are being read here without my having

seen them.

THE PRESIDENT: And then you went on to deal with the interrogations

which have not been put into evidence.

DR. SERVATIUS: Yes, I wanted to take the opportunity of saying that I

wished to discuss these documents with the Prosecution before they are

submitted to the Tribunal tomorrow, or probably even today. Meanwhile I

must object to their being used as evidence.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, do you know what the circumstances are about

these three documents which have not been supplied?

MR. DODD: I do not, Your Honor. They have been placed in the defendants’

Information Center and they partly have been in the information list. It

may be that through some oversight these entries of this diary were

neglected.

DR. SERVATIUS: I have these documents before me now; they are not

numbered; the document concerning Sauckel begins on Page 10—question

and answer on Pages 11 and 12. The record is not continuous; it consists

of fragments of a transcript, which I want to trace to its origin.

THE PRESIDENT: Counsel for the Prosecution will supply you with these

documents at the adjournment this afternoon. With reference to the

interrogation, if they propose to use any interrogation in the Trial

tomorrow, they can also supply you with any documents which are material

to that interrogation.

DR. SERVATIUS: Thank you.

MR. DODD: I believe I was referring to Document Number 2220-PS.

THE PRESIDENT: That is right. You have not begun to read it yet.

MR. DODD: I propose to read from the fourth page of the English text,

Paragraph 2 at the top of the page, particularly the last two sentences

of the paragraph; and in the German text the passage is found in Page

10, Paragraph 1. Quoting directly, it is as follows:

“As things were, the recruiting of manpower had to be

accomplished by means of more or less forceful methods, such as

the instances when certain groups appointed by the labor offices

caught church and movie-goers indiscriminately and transported

them into the Reich. That such methods only undermine the

people’s willingness to work and the people’s confidence to such

a degree that it cannot be checked even with terror, is just as

clear as the consequences brought about by a strengthening of

the political resistance movement.”

That is the end of the quotation. We say that Polish farmland was

confiscated with the aid of the SS and was distributed to German

inhabitants or held in trust for the German community, and the farm

owners were employed as laborers or transported to Germany against their

will. We refer to Document Number 1352-PS, which bears Exhibit Number

USA-176. This document is a report of the SS, and it bears the title

“Achievement of Confiscations of Polish Agricultural Enterprises with

the Purpose of Transferring the Poles to the Old Reich and Employing

them as Agricultural Workers.”

I wish to read from the first page of the English text beginning with

the fifth paragraph; and in the German text it appears on Page 9,

Paragraph 1 on that page. Quoting:

“It is possible without difficulty to accomplish the

confiscation of small agricultural enterprises in the villages

in which larger agricultural enterprises have been already

confiscated and are under the management of the East German

Corporation for Agricultural Development.”

And then passing down three sentences, there is this statement which I

quote:

“The former owners of Polish farms together with their families

will be transferred to the Old Reich by the employment offices

for employment as farm workers. In this way many hundreds of

Polish agricultural workers can be placed at the disposal of

agriculture in the Old Reich in the shortest and simplest

manner. In this way, to begin with, the most pressing shortage

now felt in a very disagreeable manner, especially in the

root-crop districts, will be quickly removed.”

Pursuant to the directions of the Defendant Sauckel, his agents and the

SS men deported Polish men to Germany without their families, thereby

accomplishing one of the basic purposes of the program, the supplying of

labor for the German war effort, and at the same time, weakening the

reproductive potential of the Polish people.

I wish to refer directly to Document L-61, which bears Exhibit Number

USA-177. This document is a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to the

presidents of the land labor offices. It is dated the 26th day of

November 1942, and I want to read from the first paragraph of that

letter which states as follows:

“In agreement with the Chief of the Security Police and the SD,

these Jews who are still in employment are also, from now on, to

be evacuated from the territory of the Reich and are to be

replaced by Poles, who are being evacuated from the Government

General.”

And passing to the third paragraph of that same letter, we find this

statement. Quoting:

“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. The remaining Poles, so

far as they are suitable for labor, will be transported—without

family—into the Reich, particularly to Berlin, where they will

be put at the disposal of the labor allocation offices to work

in armament factories instead of the Jews who are to be

replaced.”

THE PRESIDENT: Who is the Chief of the Security Police, mentioned in the

second paragraph?

MR. DODD: The Chief of the Security Police was Heinrich Himmler. He was

also the Reichsführer of the SS.

DR. SERVATIUS: May I say something with regard to this document. The

Defendant Sauckel denies knowledge of it and says that the place of

dispatch, not mentioned during the reading of this document, is of

importance. The document, according to its letterhead, was written at 96

Saarland Strasse, which was not the office of the Defendant Sauckel. The

second point is that this document, contrary to the statement in the

document list classifying it as an original letter of Sauckel, was not

signed by him. Moreover the certification of the signature, customary on

all documents, is missing. May I ask the prosecutor to read this into

the record, so that I can come back to it later.

THE PRESIDENT: If the procedure which the Tribunal has laid down has

been carried out, either the original document or a photostat copy will

be in your Information Center; and you can then compare or show to your

client either the photostat or the original.

DR. SERVATIUS: I have done that and only object now to the fact that

from the reading of this document parts which I consider important are

being omitted. If this letter is being read here it must be read in its

entirety, including the parts which I consider important, namely, the

letterhead and the type of signature.

THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat that.

DR. SERVATIUS: I am asking that if it is to be used as evidence, the

letter should be read in its entirety, including its complete heading

and the signature as it appears, namely, “signed Sauckel.” The

certification of the signature is missing, a fact from which my client

draws certain conclusions in his favor.

THE PRESIDENT: You will have an opportunity after adjournment of seeing

this document; and you have been told already that you can refer, when

your turn comes to present your defense, to the whole of any document.

It is inconvenient to the Tribunal to have many interruptions of this

sort; and if you wish to refer to the whole document, you will be able

to do so at a later stage.

DR. SERVATIUS: I must assume then, Mr. President, that it is admissible

to read parts of a document instead of the whole. Did I understand

correctly?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, certainly. You can put in a part or the whole of the

document when your turn comes. We will adjourn now; but, Mr. Dodd, you

will satisfy this counsel for the Defense as to the reason why he had

not got these documents.

DR. SERVATIUS: Yes, I understand, Mr. President.

MR. DODD: Yes, I will.

THE PRESIDENT: And you will make them available to him and insure that

he has an opportunity of seeing the original of this document so that he

can check the signature.

MR. DODD: We will, and I will see that the original is available to him.

THE PRESIDENT: All right, we will adjourn now.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 12 December 1945 at 1000 hours._]

EIGHTEENTH DAY

Wednesday, 12 December 1945

_Morning Session_

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn this morning at 12:30 for a

closed session and sit again at 2:00 o’clock.

MR. DODD: May it please the Tribunal, I should like to report to the

Tribunal this morning with reference to the questions which arose

yesterday afternoon concerning three documents.

After adjournment we found that Document 2220-PS was in the defendants’

Information Center in photostatic form, and that the two other

documents, being respectively two entries from the Frank diary, were

also there but in a different form. The Frank diary consists of some

40-odd volumes which we, of course, were not able to photostat, so we

had placed instead in the defendants’ room the excerpts. As a matter of

fact, we had placed the entire document book there.

DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for the Defendant Frank): Yesterday the

Prosecution submitted documents concerning the Defendant Frank; the

numbers are 2233(a)-PS and 2233(b)-PS, which were presented as Exhibits

USA-173 and USA-174. These are not ordinary documents, but excerpts from

the diary of Frank. Six weeks ago I applied in writing to have this

diary, which consists of 42 heavy, thick volumes, submitted to me. I

made this request for the first time on the 2d of September, the second

time on the 16th of November, the third time on the 18th of November,

and the fourth time on the 3rd of December.

Unfortunately, I have not so far received this diary, and I should like

to ask the Tribunal that it be submitted to me as soon as possible, not

least because this material was surrendered by the Defendant Frank

himself to the officers who arrested him and was to be used as evidence

for his defense.

I am of course not in a position to work through all this material in a

few days, and I should like to ask the Tribunal that this diary be put

at my disposal without delay.

In this connection I should like to call the attention of the Tribunal

to another matter. The Tribunal has already approved that the four long

speeches which the Defendant Frank delivered in Germany in 1942 and

which led to his dismissal by Hitler from all his offices should be put

at my disposal as evidence. The General Secretary of the Tribunal

informed me of this on the 4th of December, but unfortunately I have not

so far received copies of these speeches. I should be very grateful,

therefore, if the Tribunal will ensure that its decisions are carried

out and that the documents are submitted to me without delay.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will look into these matters with the

General Secretary of the Tribunal, and doubtless it will be able to

arrange that you should have these documents submitted to you in the

defendants’ counsel Information Center.

DR. SEIDL: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Mr. Dodd.

MR. DODD: May I refer briefly to the discussion that we were engaged in

yesterday in order to take up the train of thought.

I wish to remind the Tribunal that we were discussing or had just

completed a discussion of Document L-61, which had to do with a letter

written by the Defendant Sauckel to the presidents of the “Länder” labor

offices. I had read two excerpts from that letter.

Referring to the letter, we say that the Nazi campaign of force and

terror and abduction was described in another letter to the Defendant

Frank, which we wish to refer to as Document Number 1526-PS.

THE PRESIDENT: Before you pass from that, Mr. Dodd, has either the

original or the photostatic copy been shown to Sauckel’s counsel?

MR. DODD: Oh, yes, Sir. A photostatic copy was in the defendants’

Information Center, and after adjournment yesterday we got the original

and handed it to him here in this room.

THE PRESIDENT: And he saw it?

MR. DODD: Yes, Sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

MR. DODD: This document, Number 1526-PS, USA-178, is a letter written by

the chairman of the Ukrainian Main Committee at Kraków in February 1943.

I wish to read from the third page of the English text, beginning with

the second paragraph; the same passage in the German text at Page 2,

Paragraph 5. I quote:

“The general nervousness is still further increased by the wrong

methods of labor mobilization which have been used more and more

frequently in recent months.

“The wild and ruthless manhunt as practiced everywhere in towns

and country, in streets, squares, stations, even in churches, as

well as at night in homes, has shaken the feeling of security of

the inhabitants. Every man is exposed to the danger of being

seized suddenly and unexpectedly, anywhere and at any time, by

the police, and brought into an assembly camp. None of his

relatives knows what has happened to him, and only weeks or

months later one or another gives news of his fate by a

postcard.”

I wish to turn to Enclosure 5 on Page 8 of this document, which I quote:

“In November of last year an inspection of all males of the

age-classes born 1910 to 1920 was ordered in the area of

Zaleszczyti (district of Czortkow). After the men had appeared

for inspection, all those who were selected were arrested at

once, loaded into trains, and sent to the Reich. Similar

recruitment of laborers for the Reich also took place in other

areas of this district. Following some interventions, the action

was then stopped.”

The resistance of the Polish people to this enslavement program and the

necessity for increased force were described by the Defendant Sauckel’s

deputy, one Timm, at a meeting of the Central Planning Board, which was,

by the way, Hitler’s wartime planning agency. It was made up of the

Defendant Speer, Field Marshal Milch, and State Secretary Körner. The

Central Planning Board was the highest level economic planning agency,

exercising production controls by allocating raw materials and labor to

industrial users.

Now, Document R-124, Exhibit USA-179. This document consists of excerpts

from minutes of the meetings of this Central Planning Board and minutes

of conferences between the Defendant Speer and Hitler. Only the

excerpts, of course, from these minutes upon which we rely are being

offered in evidence. I would say to the Tribunal, however, that the

balance of the minutes are available—can be made available—if the

Tribunal so desires.

This deputy of Sauckel, his name being Timm, made a statement at the

36th conference of the Central Planning Board; and it appears on Page

14, Paragraph 2 of the English text of Document R-124, and on Page 10,

Paragraph 2 of the German text:

“Especially in Poland the situation at the moment is

extraordinarily serious. It is known that violent battles have

occurred just because of these actions. The resistance against

the administration established by us is very strong. Quite a

number of our men have been exposed to increased dangers; and

just in the last 2 or 3 weeks some of them have been shot dead,

for example, the head of the Labor Office of Warsaw, who was

shot in his office 14 days ago, and yesterday another man again.

This is how matters stand at present; and the recruiting itself

even if done with the best will, remains extremely difficult

unless police reinforcements are at hand.”

Deportation and enslavement of civilians reached unprecedented levels in

the so-called Eastern Occupied Territories. These wholesale deportations

resulted directly from labor demands made by the Defendant Sauckel on

the Defendant Rosenberg, who was the Reich Minister for the Eastern

Occupied Territories, and his subordinates, and also on the Armed

Forces—a demand made directly on the Armed Forces by the Defendant

Sauckel.

On the 5th of October 1942, for example, the Defendant Sauckel wrote to

the Defendant Rosenberg, stating that 2 million foreign laborers were

required and that the majority of these would have to be drafted from

the recently occupied Eastern territories and especially from the

Ukraine.

I wish to refer at this point to Document 017-PS, which bears Exhibit

Number USA-180. This letter from the Defendant Sauckel to the Defendant

Rosenberg I wish to quote in full. It begins by saying:

“The Führer has worked out new and most urgent plans for

armament which require the quick mobilization of two million

more foreign workers. The Führer therefore has granted me, for

the execution of his decree of 21 March 1942, new powers for my

new duties, and has especially authorized me to take whatever

measures I think are necessary in the Reich, the Protectorate,

the Government General, as well as in the occupied territories,

in order to assure, at all costs, an orderly mobilization of

labor for the German armament industry.

“The additional required labor forces will have to be drafted,

for the most part, from the recently occupied Eastern

Territories, especially from the Reichskommissariat Ukraine.

Therefore, the Reichskommissariat Ukraine must furnish 225,000

workers by 31 December 1942 and 225,000 more by 1 May 1942.

“I ask you to inform Reich Commissioner, Gauleiter, Party Member

Koch at once about the new situation and requirements and

especially to see that he supports personally in every possible

way the execution of this new order.

“I intend to visit Party Member Koch shortly and I would be

grateful if he could inform me as to where and when I could meet

him for a personal discussion. Just now though, I ask that the

recruiting be taken up at once with all energy and the use of

every factor, especially the experts of the labor offices. All

directives which temporarily limited the procurement of Eastern

Workers are annulled. The Reich procurement for the next months

must be given priority over all other measures . . . .

“I do not ignore the difficulties which exist for the execution

of this new order, but I am convinced that with the ruthless use

of all resources and with the full co-operation of all concerned

the execution of the new demands can be accomplished by the date

fixed. I have already communicated the new demands directly to

the Reich Commissioner for the Ukraine by teletype. In reference

to our phone-call of today, I will send you the text of the

Führer’s decree at the beginning of next week.”

I should like to remind the Tribunal that we have referred previously,

yesterday afternoon, to this Reichskommissar, Gauleiter, Party Member

Koch; and we quoted him as stating, the Tribunal will recall, “We are

the master race. We must be hard,” and so forth.

On the 17th day of March 1943, the Defendant Sauckel wrote again to the

Defendant Rosenberg; and on this occasion he demanded the importation of

another 1 million men and women from the Eastern Territories within the

following 4 months. I wish to refer at this point to Document Number

019-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-181. Quoting that letter in full:

“After a protracted illness, my deputy for labor allocation in

the Occupied Eastern Territories, State Councillor Peuckert, is

going there to regulate the allocation of labor both for Germany

and the territories themselves.

“I ask you sincerely, dear Party Member Rosenberg, to assist him

to your utmost on account of the pressing urgency of Peuckert’s

mission. I may thank you already at this moment for the good

reception accorded to Peuckert up to this time. He himself has

been charged by me to co-operate fully and unreservedly with all

bureaus of the Eastern Territories.

“Especially the labor allocation for German agriculture and

likewise the most urgent armament production programs ordered by

the Führer, make the fastest importation of approximately 1

million men and women from the Eastern Territories within the

next 4 months, a necessity. Starting 15 March the daily shipment

must reach 5,000 female or male workers, while from the

beginning of April this number has to be stepped up to 10,000,

if the most urgent programs and the spring tillage and other

agricultural tasks are not to suffer to the detriment of food

and of the Armed Forces.

“I have provided for the allotment of the draft quotas for the

individual territories, in agreement with your experts for labor

supply, as follows:

“Daily quota starting 15 March 1943: From General kommissariat,

White Ruthenia—500 people; Economic Inspection, Center—500

people; Reichskommissariat, Ukraine—3,000 people; Economic

Inspection, South—1,000 people; total—5,000 people.

“Starting 1 April 1943, the daily quota is to be doubled

corresponding to the doubling of the entire quota. I hope to

visit personally the Eastern Territories towards the end of the

month, and ask you once more for your kind support.”

The Defendant Sauckel did travel to the East. He travelled to Kovno in

Lithuania to press his demands. We offer in evidence Document Number

204-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-182. This document is a synopsis

of a report of the City Commissioner of Kovno and minutes of a meeting

in which the Defendant Sauckel participated. I wish to read from the

second page of the English text, beginning with the first paragraph. The

same passage appears in the German text at Page 5, Paragraph 2. Quoting

directly as follows:

“In a lecture which the Plenipotentiary General for the

Allocation of Labor, Gauleiter Sauckel, gave on 18 July 1943 in

Kovno, and in an official conference following it between

Gauleiter Sauckel and the General Commissioner, the precarious

labor situation in the Reich was again urgently presented for

discussion. Gauleiter Sauckel again demanded that Lithuanian

labor be furnished in greater volume for the purposes of the

Reich.”

THE PRESIDENT: Who was the General Commissar? Rosenberg?

MR. DODD: The Plenipotentiary for the Arbeitseinsatz?

THE PRESIDENT: No, the General Commissar.

MR. DODD: His name is not known to us. He was apparently a local

functionary in the Party.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

MR. DODD: The Defendant Sauckel also visited Riga, in Latvia, to assert

his demands; and the purpose of this visit is described in Document

Number 2280-PS, bearing Exhibit Number USA-183. This document is a

letter from the Reich Commissar for the Ostland to the Commissioner

General in Riga, and it is dated the 3rd of May 1943. I wish to read

from Page 1 of the English text, beginning with the first paragraph:

“Following the basic statements of the Plenipotentiary General

for Allocation of Labor, Gauleiter Sauckel, on the occasion of

his visit to Riga on the 21st of April 1943, it was decided, in

view of the critical situation and in disregard of all adverse

considerations, that a total of 183,000 workers would have to be

supplied from the Ostland to the Reich territory. This task

absolutely must be accomplished within the next 4 months and at

the latest must be completed by the end of August.”

Here again we are not informed as to the name and identity of the Reich

Commissar for the Ostland.

Sauckel asked the German Army for assistance in the recruitment and

deportation of civilian labor from the Eastern Territories. We refer now

to Document Number 3010-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-184.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, were you saying that it was not known from whom

that document emanated?

MR. DODD: No, Sir. We say it is a letter from the Reichskommissar for

the Ostland to the Commissioner General in Riga, but we don’t know their

names specifically at the time of the writing of the letter.

THE PRESIDENT: You don’t know who the Reichskommissar of the Eastern

Territories was?

MR. DODD: We don’t know him by that title, “The Reichskommissar for the

Ostland.”

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

MR. DODD: Lohse, I am now informed, was his name. I understood that we

did not know it.

THE PRESIDENT: All right.

MR. DODD: Referring to this Document 3010-PS, this document is a secret

operational order of the Army Group South dated the 17th day of August

1943. I wish to read from the first page of the English text, the first

two paragraphs, as follows:

“The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor, in Decree

Az. VI A 5780.28, a copy of which is enclosed (Enclosure 1), has

ordered the mustering and calling-up of two complete age classes

for the whole newly occupied Eastern Territory. The Reich

Minister for Armament and Munitions has approved this order.

“According to this order by the Plenipotentiary General for

Allocation of Labor”—GBA—“you have to recruit and to transport

to the Reich immediately all labor forces in your territory born

during 1926 and 1927. The decree of 6 February 1943 relative to

labor duty and labor employment in the theater of operations of

the newly occupied Eastern Territory and the executive orders

issued on this subject are the authority for the execution of

this measure. Enlistment must be completed by 30 September 43 at

the latest.”

We say it is clear that the demands made by the Defendant Sauckel

resulted in the deportation of civilians from the Occupied Eastern

Territories. The Defendant Speer has recorded conferences with Hitler on

10, 11, and 12 August 1942; and this record is contained in Document

R-124, which is already in as Exhibit USA-179. I now wish to quote from

Page 34 of that same document in Paragraph 1 of the English text. In the

German text it appears at Page 23, Paragraph 2. Quoting directly:

“Gauleiter Sauckel promises to make Russian labor available for

the fulfillment of the iron and coal program and reports that,

if required, he will supply a further million Russian laborers

for the German armament industry up to and including October

1942. So far he has already supplied 1,000,000 for industry and

700,000 for agriculture. In this connection the Führer states

that the problem of providing labor can be solved in all cases

and to any extent. He authorizes Gauleiter Sauckel to take all

necessary measures. He would agree to any compulsory measures in

the East as well as in the Occupied Western Territories if this

question could not be solved on a voluntary basis.”

In order to meet these demands of 1,700,000—100,000 here and there—the

Nazi conspirators made terror and violence and arson, as we said

yesterday, fundamental instruments of their labor enslavement policy.

Twenty days after the Defendant Sauckel’s demands of the 5th of October

1942, a top official in the Defendant Rosenberg’s Ministry described the

measures taken to meet these demands. I wish to refer now to Document

Number 294-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-185. This document is a

top-secret memorandum, dated the 25th of October 1942, signed by one

Bräutigam. I wish to quote from Page 4 of the English text starting with

the last paragraph, as follows—in the German text it appears at Page 8,

Paragraph 2—quoting directly:

“We now experienced the grotesque picture of having to recruit,

precipitately, millions of laborers from the Occupied Eastern

Territories, after prisoners of war had died of hunger like

flies, in order to fill the gaps that have formed within

Germany. Now suddenly the food question no longer existed. In

the customary limitless disregard for the Slavic people,

‘recruiting’ methods were used which probably have their

precedent only in the blackest periods of the slave trade. A

regular manhunt was inaugurated. Without consideration of health

or age, the people were shipped to Germany where it turned out

immediately that more than 100,000 had to be sent back because

of serious illness and other incapability for work.”

The Defendant Rosenberg wrote, himself, concerning these brutalities, to

the instigator of them, the Defendant Sauckel; and we refer now to

Document Number 018-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-186.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, from where did that top-secret document come?

MR. DODD: It came from the files of the Defendant Rosenberg.

This document, 018-PS, is a letter from the Defendant Rosenberg to the

Defendant Sauckel; and it is dated the 21st day of December 1942, with

attachments. I wish to quote from Page 1 of the English text, starting

at the middle of the second paragraph which reads as follows:

“The reports I have received show that the increase of the

guerilla bands in the Occupied Eastern Territories is largely

due to the fact that the methods used for procuring laborers in

these regions are felt to be forced measures of mass

deportations, so that the endangered persons prefer to escape

their fate by withdrawing into the woods or going to the

guerilla bands.”

Passing now to Page 4 of the same English text, there is an attachment

to Rosenberg’s letter consisting of parts excerpted from letters of

residents of the Occupied Eastern Territories—excerpted by Nazi censors

apparently. In the German text it appears at Page 6, Paragraphs 1 and 2.

Starting the quotation:

“At our place, new things have happened. People are being taken

to Germany. On October 5 some people from the Kowkuski district

were scheduled to go, but they did not want to and the village

was set on fire. They threatened to do the same thing in

Borowytschi, as not all who were scheduled to depart wanted to

go. Thereupon three truckloads of Germans arrived and set fire

to their houses. In Wrasnytschi 12 houses and in Borowytschi 3

houses were burned.

“On October 1 a new conscription of labor forces took place. Of

what happened, I will describe the most important to you. You

cannot imagine the bestiality. You probably remember what we

were told about the Soviets during the rule of the Poles. At

that time we did not believe it and now it seems just as

incredible. The order came to supply 25 workers, but no one

reported. All had fled. Then the German police came and began to

ignite the houses of those who had fled. The fire burned

furiously, since it had not rained for 2 months. In addition the

grain stacks were in the farm yards. You can imagine what took

place. The people who had hurried to the scene were forbidden to

extinguish the flames, were beaten and arrested, so that six

homesteads were burned down. The policemen meanwhile ignited

other houses. The people fall on their knees and kiss their

hands, but the policemen beat them with rubber truncheons and

threaten to burn down the whole village. I do not know how this

would have ended if Sapurkany had not intervened. He promised

that there would be laborers by the next morning. During the

fire the police went through the adjoining villages, seized the

laborers, and brought them under arrest. Wherever they did not

find any laborers, they detained the parents until the children

appeared. That is how they raged throughout the night in

Bielosersk . . . .

“The workers who had not yet appeared by then were to be shot.

All schools were closed and the married teachers were sent to

work here, while the unmarried ones go to work in Germany. They

are now catching humans as the dogcatchers used to catch dogs.

They are already hunting for 1 week and have not yet enough. The

imprisoned workers are locked in the schoolhouse. They cannot

even go to perform their natural functions, but have to do it

like pigs in the same room. People from many villages went on a

certain day to a pilgrimage to the Poczajów Monastery. They were

all arrested, locked in, and will be sent to work. Among them

there are lame, blind, and aged people.”

Despite the fact that the Defendant Rosenberg wrote this letter with

this attachment, we say he nevertheless countenanced the use of force in

order to furnish slave labor to Germany and admitted his responsibility

for the “unusual and hard measures” that were employed. I refer to

excerpts from the transcript of an interrogation under oath of the

Defendant Rosenberg on the 6th of October 1945, which is Exhibit

USA-187, and I wish to quote from Page 1 of the English text starting

with the ninth paragraph.

THE PRESIDENT: You haven’t given us the PS number.

MR. DODD: It has no PS number.

THE PRESIDENT: I beg your pardon. Has a copy of it been given to

Rosenberg’s counsel?

MR. DODD: Yes, it has been. It is at the end of the document book, if

Your Honors please, the document book the Tribunal has.

DR. ALFRED THOMA (Counsel for the Defendant Rosenberg): In the name of

my client, I object to the reading of this document for the following

reasons:

In the preliminary hearings my client was questioned several times on

the subject of employment of labor from the eastern European nations. He

stated: that the Defendant Sauckel, by virtue of the authority he

received from the Führer and by order of the Delegate for the Four Year

Plan, had the right to give him instructions; that he (the Defendant

Rosenberg) nevertheless demanded that recruiting of labor be conducted

on a voluntary basis; that this was in fact carried out; and that

Sauckel agreed, provided that the quota could be met. Rosenberg further

stated that on several occasions in the course of joint discussions his

Ministry demanded that the quota be reduced and that in part it was, in

fact, reduced.

This document which is now going to be presented does not mention all

these statements, it only contains fragments of them. In order to make

it possible both for the Tribunal and the Defense to obtain a complete

picture, I ask the Tribunal that the Prosecution be requested to present

the entire records of the statements and, before submitting the document

officially, to discuss the retranslation with the Defense so as to avoid

misunderstandings.

THE PRESIDENT: I am not sure that I understand your objection. You say,

as I understood it, that Sauckel had authority from Hitler. Is that

right?

DR. THOMA: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And that Rosenberg was carrying out that authority.

DR. THOMA: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: But all that counsel for the Prosecution is attempting to

do at the moment is to put in evidence an interrogation of Rosenberg.

With reference to that, you ask that he should put in the whole

interrogation?

DR. THOMA: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we don’t know yet whether he intends to put in the

whole interrogation or a part of it.

DR. THOMA: I know only one thing: I already have in my hand the document

which the Prosecution wishes to submit and I can see from it that it

contains only fragments of the whole interrogation. What in particular

it does not contain is the fact that Rosenberg always insisted on

voluntary recruiting only and that he continually demanded a reduction

of the quota. That is not contained in the document to be submitted.

THE PRESIDENT: If counsel for the Prosecution reads a part of the

interrogation, and you wish to refer to another part of the

interrogation in order that the part he has read should not be

misleading, you will be at liberty to do so when he has read his part of

the interrogation. Is that clear?

DR. THOMA: Yes. But then I request the Tribunal to ask counsel for the

Prosecution if the document which he intends to submit contains the

whole of Rosenberg’s statement.