THE PRESIDENT: And specify, also, so far as you can, the book in which
they are to be found.
M. DUBOST: With the permission of the Tribunal, I shall continue my
description of the organization of the camps and the way in which they
functioned. We began last night by submitting to the Tribunal Document
Number R-91 which showed that their purpose was: 1) to make good the
shortage of labor; 2) to eliminate useless forces.
After Document R-91, which has been submitted under Exhibit Number
RF-347, we shall read Document Number F-285, already submitted under
Exhibit Number RF-346—second document book. This document is dated 17
December 1942 and is the conclusion of the document which we read to you
yesterday. First paragraph:
“For important military reasons, which cannot be stated, the
Reichsführer SS and the Chief of the German Police. . . .”
THE PRESIDENT: You read that yesterday.
M. DUBOST: That is correct, Mr. President, Page 18, sixth paragraph, at
the top of the page.
“Poles eligible for German citizenship and prisoners for whom
special requests have been made, will not be transferred
to. . . .”
Last paragraph, Page 19:
“Other papers will not be required for Eastern workers.”
This shows that arrests were made without discrimination in order to
obtain labor and that this labor was considered to be so unimportant
that it was sufficient to register it under serial numbers.
Now, we will show how this labor was utilized. Men were housed, as the
witness, Balachowsky, said yesterday, near factories in Dora in
underground shelters which they themselves had dug and where they lived
under conditions which violated all the rules of hygiene. At Ohrdruf
near Gotha, the prisoners constructed munition factories. Buchenwald
supplied the labor for the factories of Hollerith and Dora and for the
salt mines of Neustassfurt. The Tribunal will read in Document Number
RF-301, at the bottom of Page 45:
“Ravensbrück supplied the labor for the Siemens factories, those
of Czechoslovakia, and the workshops at Hanover.”
These special measures, according to the witness, Balachowsky, enabled
the Germans to keep secret the manufacture of certain war weapons, such
as the V-1 and V-2:
“The deportees had no contact with the outside world. The work
of deportees enabled the Germans to obtain an output which they
could not have obtained even from foreign workmen.”
The French Prosecution will now submit Document R-129 as Exhibit Number
RF-348, which the Tribunal will find in the second document book. It
deals with the management of concentration camps:
“The administration of a concentration camp, and of all economic
enterprises attached to it, rests with the camp commandant.”
Fifth paragraph, Figure IV:
“The camp commandant alone is responsible for the work carried
out by the workmen. This _work_”—I underline (italics) the word
work—“this work must be, in the true sense of the word,
exhausting in order to obtain the maximum output.”
Two paragraphs lower on the page:
“The hours of work are not limited. This duration depends on the
technical structure of the camp and the work to be done and is
determined by the camp commandant alone.”
Further on, the last paragraph, Page 23 of the book:
“He”—the camp commandant—“must combine a technical knowledge
of economic and military subjects with wise and clever
management of the men so as to reach a high potential of
output.”
This document is signed by Pohl. It is dated, Berlin, 30 April 1942.
I should just like to refer again to a document which we have already
quoted in relation to the camp of Ohrdruf, and which was submitted under
the Number RF-140.
I will now read from Document 1584-PS, Exhibit Number RF-349. This
document is signed by Göring and is addressed to Himmler. It definitely
establishes the responsibility of Göring in the criminal utilization of
this deported labor. I shall read the second paragraph of the second
page:
“Dear Himmler:
“. . . at the same time I ask you to keep at my disposal for Air
Force armament the greatest possible number of KZ
prisoners.”—The initials “KZ” mean concentration camp.
“Experience has so far shown that this labor can be put to very
good use. The situation of the war in the air necessitates the
transfer of this industry to underground workshops. In such
workshops, work and housing can be particularly well combined
for KZ prisoners.”
We know then who was responsible for the frightful conditions which the
deportees of Dora had to endure. The person responsible is in the dock.
THE PRESIDENT: You did not give us the date of that, did you? Is that 19
February 1944?
M. DUBOST: On the first page you will see that on 19 February 1944 a
letter was addressed to Dr. Brandt, referring to teletypes which were
sent by the Field Marshal.
THE PRESIDENT: Is it the second letter, the letter that you read? Is the
date of that 19.2.44?
M. DUBOST: It is 15 April 1944 on the original, of which this is a
photostat.
THE PRESIDENT: And could you tell us what KZ means, the two letters, KZ?
M. DUBOST: 15.4.44 on the original of the teletype, that means
concentration camp.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, for the accuracy of the record, it appears
that the letter on the second page is not 15 April 1944, but 14
February. Is that not so?
M. DUBOST: Yes. It is 14 February, 2030 hours. It is a teletype, which
was booked 15 April 1944. That was the cause of my error.
THE PRESIDENT: But, M. Dubost, were you submitting or suggesting that
this letter showed that the defendant, Göring, was a party to the
experiments which took place, or only to the fact that these prisoners
were used for work?
M. DUBOST: I was not referring to experiments. I was referring to
internment in underground camps, like the Dora Camp of which the witness
Balachowsky spoke yesterday in the first part of his testimony. With
regard to this will to exterminate, of which I have been speaking from
the beginning of my presentation this morning, I think it is proved
first of all by the text of Document Number R-91, submitted under
Exhibit Number RF-347, which I read yesterday afternoon at the end of
the session, a letter which has not as yet been authenticated, and by
statements made by the witnesses who brought you proof that, at all the
camps in which they were, the same methods of extermination by work were
carried out.
As far as the brutal extermination by gas is concerned, we have the
invoices for poison gas, intended for Oranienburg and Auschwitz, which
we submit to the Tribunal under Exhibit Number RF-350. The Tribunal will
find translations on Page 27 of the second document book, Document
Number 1553-PS.
I must point out, to be quite honest, that the French translation of
these invoices is not absolutely in agreement with the German text.
Therefore, in the fifth line, instead of “extermination” it should be
“purification.”
The testimony of Mme. Vaillant-Couturier showed us that these gases,
used for the destruction of lice and other parasites, were also used to
destroy human beings. Besides, the quantity of gas which was sent and
the frequency with which it was sent, as you can see from the great
number of invoices which we offer in evidence, prove that the gas was
used for a double purpose. We have invoices dated 14 February, 16
February, 8 March, 13 March, 20 March, 11 April, 27 April, 12 May, 26
May, and 31 May which are all submitted as Exhibit Number RF-350.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you putting in evidence the originals of these other
bills to which you refer on this document?
M. DUBOST: I beg the clerk of the Court to hand them to Your Honor, and
I request the Tribunal to examine these invoices carefully. They will
observe that the quantities of toxic crystals sent to Oranienburg and
Auschwitz were considerable; from the invoice of 30 April 1944 the
Tribunal will see that 832 kilograms of crystals were sent, giving a net
weight of 555 kilograms.
THE PRESIDENT: What is this document that you have just put in?