THE PRESIDENT: I am not asking the date. What I want to know is what is
the authority for this document? It comes, does it not, from one of the
committees set up by the French Republic?
M. DUBOST: No, Mr. President. The Document is an American document which
was in the American archives, under the Document Number 1553-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, this note at the bottom of Document 1553-PS
was not on the original put in by the United States, was it?
M. DUBOST: No, Mr. President, but you have before you all the originals
under the number which the clerk of the Court has just handed you.
THE PRESIDENT: Unless you have an affidavit identifying these originals,
the originals do not prove themselves. You have got to prove these
documents which you have just handed up to us either by a witness or by
an affidavit. The documents are documents, but they do not prove
themselves.
M. DUBOST: These documents were found by the American Army and filed in
the archives of the Nuremberg Trial. I took them from the archives of
the American Delegation, and I consider them to be as authentic as all
the other documents which were filed by my American colleagues in their
archives. They were no doubt captured by the American Army.
THE PRESIDENT: There are two points, M. Dubost. The first is, that in
the case of the original exhibit, 1553-PS, it was certified, we imagine,
by an officer of the United States. These documents which you have now
drawn our attention to are not so certified by anyone as far as we have
been able to see. Certainly we cannot take judicial notice of these
documents, which are private documents; and therefore, unless they are
read in Court, they cannot be put in evidence. That can all be rectified
very simply by such a certificate or by an affidavit annexing these
documents and showing that they are analogous to the document which is
the United States exhibit.
M. DUBOST: They are all United States documents, and they are all filed
in the archives of the United States in the American Delegation under
the Number 1553-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: The American Document Number 1553-PS has not yet been
submitted to the Tribunal and the Tribunal is of the opinion that they
cannot take judicial notice of this exhibit without any further
certification, and they think that some short affidavit identifying the
document must be made.
M. DUBOST: I will request my colleagues of the American Prosecution to
furnish this affidavit. I did not think it possible that this document,
which was classified in their archives, could be ruled out.
This purpose of extermination, moreover, does not need to be proved by
this document. It is sufficiently established by the testimony which we
have submitted to the Tribunal. The witness, Boix, spoke these words:
“No one is allowed to leave this camp alive . . . . There is only one
exit, and that is the chimney of the crematorium.”
In Document F-321, Exhibit Number RF-331, Page 49, at the top of the
page, we read:
“The only explanation which the SS men made to the prisoners was
that no captive should leave the place alive.”
On Page 179, the paragraph before the last of the French text:
“The SS told us there was only one exit—the chimney.”
On Page 174, the last paragraph before the heading “Gassing and
Cremation”:
“The essential purpose of this camp was the extermination of the
greatest possible number of men. It was known as the
extermination camp.”
This destruction, this extermination of the internees, assumed two
different forms. One was progressive; the other was brutal.
In the second document book which is before the Tribunal, we find the
report of a delegation of British Members of Parliament, dated April
1945, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-351, from which we quote these
words (the third paragraph on Page 29):
“Although the work of cleaning out the camp had gone on busily
for over a week before our visit . . . our immediate and
continuing impression was of intense general squalor. . . .”
Page 30, the last paragraph but one:
“We should conclude, however, by stating that it is our
considered and unanimous opinion, on the evidence available to
us, that a policy of steady starvation and inhuman brutality was
carried out at Buchenwald for a long period of time; and that
such camps as this mark the lowest point of degradation to which
humanity has yet descended.”
Likewise, in the report of a committee set up by General Eisenhower,
Document L-159, which we submit under Exhibit Number RF-352, Pages 31,
32, and 33 of the same document book, we read:
“The purpose of this camp was extermination. . . .”
Page 31:
“Atrocities and other conditions in the concentration camps in
Germany. Report of a committee founded by General Eisenhower
under the auspices of the Chief of Staff, General George
Marshall, to the Congress of the United States, concerning
atrocities and other conditions in concentration camps in
Germany.”
Page 32:
“The mission of this camp was extermination, by starvation,
beatings, torture, incredibly crowded sleeping conditions, and
sickness. The result of these measures was heightened by the
fact that prisoners were obliged to work in an armament factory
adjoining the camp which manufactured small firearms,
rifles. . . .”
The means which were used to carry out this progressive extermination
are numerous, as shown in documents which have just been handed to us.
These documents, which we are going to submit, have been communicated to
the Defense. They consist of printed formulas coming from Auschwitz,
concerning the number of blows which could be administered to the
internees or prisoners.
These documents will be handed over to the Defense for their criticism.
They have just been given to us. I am not able to authenticate their
origin today. They appear to me to be of a genuinely authentic
character. Photostats of these documents have been given to the Defense.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, the Tribunal thinks that they cannot admit
these documents at present. It may be that after you have more time to
examine the matter you may be able to offer some evidence which
authenticates the documents, but we cannot admit the documents simply
upon your statement that you believe them to be genuine.
M. DUBOST: Moreover, everything in the camps contributed to pave the way
for the progressive extermination of the people who were interned there.
Their situation was as follows: They were exposed to a hard climate;
some worked underground. Their living conditions have been brought to
light by the testimony which you have heard. When the internees arrived,
they were compelled to remain naked for hours while they were being
registered or waiting to be tattooed.
Everything combined to cause the rapid death of those who were interned
in the camps. A good number of them were subjected to an even harder
regime, the description of which was given to the Tribunal by the
American Prosecution when they submitted Document Number USA-243 and the
following, dealing with the Nacht und Nebel regime, the NN.
I do not think it is necessary to return to the description of this
regime. I shall merely submit a new document which shows the rigor with
which the NN regime was applied to our compatriots. It appears under the
Document Number F-278(b), submitted under Exhibit Number RF-326. It
comes from the German Armistice Commission of Wiesbaden and shows that
no steps were ever taken in reply to repeated protests by the French
population, and even by the _de facto_ government of Vichy, against the
silence which shrouded the internees of the NN camps.
I shall now read Paragraph 2 which explains why no reply could be given
to families, who had good reason for anxiety:
“This result was foreseen and desired by the Führer. His opinion
was that effective and lasting intimidation of the population,
which would put a stop to its criminal activities against the
occupation forces, would be achieved by the death sentence, or
by measures which would leave the offenders’ next of kin and the
population generally in the dark as to their fate.”
We will not devote any more time to describing the blocks and the
hygienic conditions under which the internees in the blocks lived. Four
witnesses, who all came from different camps, have pointed out to you
that the hygienic conditions in these different camps were identical and
that the blocks were equally overcrowded in all these camps. We know
that in all cases the water supply was insufficient and that deportees
slept two or three in beds 75 to 80 centimeters wide. We know that the
bedding was never renewed or was in very bad condition. We know likewise
the conditions in which the medical services of the camp functioned.
Several witnesses belonging to the medical profession have testified to
this fact before you. The Tribunal will find confirmation of their
testimony in Document F-121, Exhibit Number RF-354. We shall read just
one line of Page 100 of your document book:
“Because of lack of water the prisoners were obliged to fetch
stagnant water from the water closets to satisfy their thirst.”
And then in Exhibit Number RF-331, (Document Number F-321), Page 119 of
the French text, third paragraph:
“The surgical work was done by a German who claimed to be a
surgeon from Berlin, but who was an ordinary criminal. He killed
the patient in each operation. . . .”
Two paragraphs lower:
“The management of the block was in the hands of two Germans,
who acted as sick bay attendants—unscrupulous men, who carried
out surgical operations on the spot with the help of a certain H
. . ., who was a mason by trade.”
After the statements of our witnesses, who in their capacity as doctors
of medicine were able to care for patients in the camp infirmaries, it
seems superfluous to give further quotations from our documents.
When the workers had been worked to the point of exhaustion, when it
became impossible for them to recover, selections were made setting
apart those who were of no further use with a view to exterminating them
either in the gas chambers, as related by our first witness, Mme.
Vaillant-Couturier, or by intracardiac injections, as related by two
other French witnesses, Dr. Dupont and Dr. Balachowsky. This system of
selection was carried out in all the camps and was, moreover, in
response to general orders, proof of which we showed when reading
Document Number R-91, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-347.
In the first document book the Tribunal will find the testimony of
Blaha, testimony which it will certainly recall and which was received
here the 9 January—it is the testimony of Blaha, 3249-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: You have already given this as evidence, have you not?
M. DUBOST: I am not going to read it. I merely wish to recall it to the
Tribunal because it forms part of my collection of proofs.
THE PRESIDENT: We do not want affidavits by witnesses who have already
given evidence. This affidavit, 3249-PS, has not been put in, has it?
M. DUBOST: No, I am merely recalling the testimony which was given at
the session. We shall not submit this document, Mr. President. We are
merely utilizing this document to remind the Tribunal that during the
session Blaha pointed out conditions existing in the infirmary.
To all these wretched living conditions must be added work, exhausting
work, for all the deportees were intended to carry out extremely hard
work. We know that they worked in labor squads and in factories. We
know, according to the witnesses, that the work lasted 12 hours a day at
a minimum, and that it was often prolonged to suit the whim of the camp
commandant.
Document R-129 (Exhibit Number RF-348), from which I have already read,
emanating from Pohl and addressed to Himmler, Pages 22 and 23 of the
second document book, suggests that the working hours should be
practically unlimited.
This work was carried out, as the witnesses have told us, in water, in
the mud, in underground factories—in Dora for instance—and in the
quarries in Mauthausen. In addition to the work, which was exhausting in
itself, the deportees were subject to ill-treatment by the SS and the
Kapos, such as blows or being bitten by dogs.
Our Document Number F-274, Exhibit Number RF-301, Pages 74 and 75,
brings official testimony to this effect. Is it necessary to read to the
Tribunal from this document, which is an official document to which we
constantly refer and which has been translated into German and into
English?
THE PRESIDENT: I do not think you need read it.
M. DUBOST: Thank you, Mr. President. This same document, Page 77 and
Page 78, informs us that all the prisoners were forced to do the work
assigned to them, even under the worst conditions of health and hygiene.
There was no quarantine for them even in case of contagious diseases or
during epidemics.
The French Document Number F-392, Exhibit Number RF-330, which we have
already submitted, which is the testimony of Dr. Steinberg, confirms
that of Mme. Vaillant-Couturier. It is the twelfth document of your
first document book. We shall read at Page 4:
“We received half a liter of herb tea; this was when we were
awakened. A supervisor, who was at the door, hastened our
washing by giving us blows with a cudgel. The lack of hygiene
led to an epidemic of typhus. . . .”
At the end of the third paragraph you will find the conditions under
which the prisoners were taken to the factories; in the fifth paragraph
a description of shoes:
“We had been provided with wooden shoes which in a few days
caused wounds. These wounds produced boils which brought death
to many.”
I shall now read Document R-129, Pages 22, 23, and 24 in the second
document book, and which we submit under the Number . . .
THE PRESIDENT: One moment; the Tribunal will adjourn now for fifteen
minutes.
[_A recess was taken._]
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, the Tribunal has been considering the question
of the evidence which you have presented on the concentration camps; and
they are of opinion that you have proved the case for the present,
subject, of course, to any evidence which may be produced on behalf of
the defendants and, of course, subject also to your right under Article
24-c of the Charter to bring in rebutting evidence, should the Tribunal
think it right to admit such evidence. They think, therefore, that it is
not in the interests of the Trial, which the Charter directs should be
an expeditious one, that further evidence should be presented at this
stage on the question of concentration camps, unless there are any
particular new points about the concentration camps to which you have
not yet drawn our attention; and, if there are such points, we should
like you to particularize them before you present any further evidence
upon them.
M. DUBOST: I thank the Tribunal for this statement. I do not conceal
from the Tribunal that I shall need a few moments to select the points
which it seems necessary to stress. I did not expect this decision.
With the authorization of the Tribunal, I shall pass to the examination
of the situation of prisoners of war.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, possibly you could, during the adjournment,
consider whether there are any particular points, new points, on
concentration camps which you wish to draw our attention to and present
them after the adjournment, in the meantime proceeding with some other
matter.