translator for reading. I call the attention of Your Honors to the fact
that it has the letterhead of “Der Gebietskommissar in Rovno,” and it is
dated the 13th of July 1942, and it is signed by this area commissioner.
I now read this document:
“The area commissioner”—which means Gebietskommissar—“Rovno.
Secret.”—Addressed—“Messrs. Jung, Rovno.
“The Jewish workers employed by your firm are not affected by
the pogrom”—in parenthesis “Aktion.” As I understand, that
means “action.”
“You must transfer them to their new place of work by Wednesday,
15 July 1942, at the latest.”
Signed by the Area Commissioner Beck. And then the stamp—the official
stamp of the area commissioner at Rovno.
Now, just the following paragraph on the original, Page 5 or 6, I
believe it is; one more paragraph I would like to read after the
reference “Original attached”:
“On the evening of this day I drove to Rovno and posted myself
with Fritz Einsporn in front of the house in the Bahnhofstrasse
in which the Jewish workers of my firm slept. Shortly after 2200
the ghetto was encircled by a large SS detachment and about
three times as many members of the Ukrainian militia. Then the
electric arclights which had been erected in and around the
ghetto were switched on. SS and militia squads of four to six
men entered or at least tried to enter the house. Where the
doors and windows were closed and the inhabitants did not open
at the knocking, the SS men and militia broke the windows,
forced the doors with beams and crowbars and entered the houses.
The people living there were driven on to the street just as
they were, regardless of whether they were dressed or in bed.
Since the Jews in most cases refused to leave their houses and
resisted, the SS and militia applied force. They finally
succeeded, with strokes of the whip, kicks, and blows with rifle
butts, in clearing the houses. The people were driven out of
their houses in such haste that small children in bed had been
left behind in several instances. In the streets women cried out
for their children and children for their parents. That did not
prevent the SS from driving the people along the road at running
pace, and hitting them, until they reached a waiting freight
train. Car after car was filled, and the screaming of women and
children and the cracking of whips and rifle shots resounded
unceasingly. Since several families or groups had barricaded
themselves in especially strong buildings and the doors could
not be forced with crowbars or beams, the doors were now blown
open with hand grenades. Since the ghetto was near the railroad
tracks in Rovno, the younger people tried to get across the
tracks and over a small river to get away from the ghetto area.
As this stretch of country was beyond the range of the electric
lights, it was illuminated by small rockets. All through the
night these beaten, hounded, and wounded people moved along the
lighted streets. Women carried their dead children in their
arms, children pulled and dragged their dead parents by their
arms and legs down the road toward the train. Again and again
the cries, ‘Open the door! Open the door!’ echoed through the
ghetto.”
I will not read any more of this affidavit. It is a very long one. There
is also a second affidavit, but the part I wanted to emphasize is the
fact that the original exemption was signed by the area commissioner and
that the SD and the SS participated in this action.
THE PRESIDENT: Oughtn’t you to read the rest of that page, Colonel
Storey?
COL. STOREY: All right, Sir. I really had eliminated that because I
thought there might be some repetition.
“About 6 o’clock in the morning I went away for a moment,
leaving behind Einsporn and several other German workers who had
returned in the meantime. I thought the greatest danger was past
and that I could risk it. Shortly after I left, Ukrainian
militia men forced their way into 5 Bahnhofstrasse and brought
seven Jews out and took them to a collecting point inside the
ghetto. On my return I was able to prevent further Jews from
being taken out. I went to the collecting point to save these
seven men. I saw dozens of corpses of all ages and both sexes in
the streets I had to walk along. The doors of the houses stood
open, windows were smashed. Pieces of clothing, shoes,
stockings, jackets, caps, hats, coats, _et cetera_, were lying
in the street. At the corner of a house lay a baby, less than a
year old with his skull crushed. Blood and brains were spattered
over the house wall and covered the area immediately around the
child. The child was dressed only in a little shirt. The
commander, SS Major Pütz, was walking up and down a row of about
80 to 100 male Jews who were crouching on the ground. He had a
heavy dog whip in his hand. I walked up to him, showed him the
written permit of Stabsleiter Beck and demanded the seven men
whom I recognized among those who were crouching on the ground.
Dr. Pütz was very furious about Beck’s concession and nothing
could persuade him to release the seven men. He made a motion
with his hand encircling the square and said that anyone who was
once here would not get away. Although he was very angry with
Beck, he ordered me to take the people from 5 Bahnhofstrasse out
of Rovno by 8 o’clock at the latest. When I left Dr. Pütz, I
noticed a Ukrainian farm cart with two horses. Dead people with
stiff limbs were lying on the cart. Legs and arms projected over
the side boards. The cart was making for the freight train. I
took the remaining 74 Jews who had been locked in the house to
Sdolbunov.
“Several days after the 13th of July 1942 the area commissioner
of Sdolbunov, Georg Marschall, called a meeting of all firm
managers, railroad superintendents, and leaders of the
Organization Todt and informed them that the firms, _et cetera_,
should prepare themselves for the resettlement of the Jews which
was to take place almost immediately. He referred to the pogrom
in Rovno where all the Jews had been liquidated, i.e. had been
shot near Kostopol.”
Finally, his signature is sworn to on the 10th of November 1945.
THE PRESIDENT: What nationality is Gräbe?
COL. STOREY: He is German. Gräbe was a German and is now in the employ
of the Military Government at Frankfurt—the United States Military
Government.
Your Honor, in that connection there is another separate affidavit
attached to this which is a part of the same document, which I will not
attempt to read. But it has to do with the execution of some people in
another area and is along the same line. I am not reading it because it
would be cumulative, but it is a part of this same document.
I now pass from that subject to the next subject.
The Gestapo and SD stationed special units in prisoner-of-war camps for
the purpose of screening out racial and political undesirables and
executing those who were screened out. The program of mass murder of
political and racial undesirables carried on against civilians was also
applied to prisoners of war who were captured on the Eastern Front. In
this connection I call attention of the Tribunal to the testimony of
General Lahousen, which Your Honors will recall, of the 30th of November
1945. Lahousen testified to a conference which took place in the summer
of 1941 shortly after the beginning of the campaign against the Soviet
Union, which was attended by himself—and I want to emphasize this,
because we will later have a document that emanated from this
conference—attended by himself, General Reinecke, Colonel Breuer, and
Müller, the head of the Gestapo. At this conference the command to kill
Soviet functionaries and Communists among the Soviet prisoners of war
was discussed. The executions were to be carried out by Einsatzkommandos
of the Sipo and the SD. Lahousen further recalled that Müller, who was
the head of the Gestapo, insisted on carrying out the program and that
the only concession he made was that, in deference to the sensibilities
of the German troops, the executions would not take place in the
presence of the troops. Müller also made some concessions as to the
selection of the persons to be murdered; but, according to Lahousen, the
selection was left entirely to the commanders of these screening units.
I refer to Page 633 of the official transcript (Volume II, Page 458).
Now I offer Document 502-PS as the next exhibit, Exhibit Number USA-486.
This document is a Gestapo directive of the 17 of July 1941—If you will
recall, Lahousen said this conference was in the summer of 1941—It is
addressed to commanders of the Sipo and SD stationed in camps and
provides in part as follows, and I read from the first page of the
English translation. Now, if the Tribunal please, our colleagues, the
Soviet prosecutors, will present most of that document; and I am only
going to read enough to show that the Gestapo were the ones that took
part in it. From the beginning:
“The activation of Commandos will take place in accordance with
the agreement of the Chief of the Security Police and Security
Service and the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces as of 16
July 1941. Enclosure 1.
“The Commandos will work independently within the limits of the
camp regulations according to special authorization and
according to the general directives given to them. Naturally the
Commandos will keep close contact with the camp commander and
the intelligence officer assigned to him.
“The mission of the Commandos is the political investigating of
all camp inmates, the separation and further treatment of:
“a. All political, criminal, or in some other way, intolerable
elements among them;
“b. Those persons who could be used for the reconstruction of
the occupied countries.”
Now I skip to the beginning of the fourth paragraph:
“The Commandos must use for their work, as far as possible at
present and even later, the experiences of the camp commanders
which the latter have collected meanwhile from the observation
of the prisoners and examination of the camp inmates. Further,
the Commandos must make efforts from the beginning to seek out
among the prisoners elements which would appear reliable,
regardless whether they are Communists or not, in order to use
them for intelligence purposes inside the camp and, if
advisable, later in the occupied territories also.
“By use of such informers and by use of all other existing
possibilities, the discovery of all elements to be eliminated
among the prisoners must proceed, step by step, at once. The
Commandos must find out definitely in every case, by a short
questioning of those reported and possibly by questioning other
prisoners, what measures should be taken. The information of one
informer is not sufficient to designate a camp inmate to be a
suspect without further proof. It must be confirmed in some way,
if possible.”
Now I skip to Page 2, the third paragraph of the English translation,
quoting:
“Executions are not to be held in the camp or in the immediate
vicinity of the camp. If the camps in the Government General are
in the immediate vicinity of the border, then the prisoners are
to be taken for special treatment, if possible, into the former
Soviet Russian territory.”
And then the fifth paragraph:
“In regard to executions to be carried out and to the possible
removal of reliable civilians and the removal of informers for
the Einsatzgruppe into the occupied territories, the leader of
the Einsatzkommandos must make an agreement with the nearest
State Police office, as well as with the commandant of the
Security Police unit and Security Service, and beyond these,
with the Chief of the Einsatzgruppe concerned in the occupied
territories.”
Proof that persons so screened out of the prisoner-of-war camps by the
Gestapo were executed is to be found in Document 1165-PS, from which I
did not intend to quote and which has been introduced previously as
Exhibit Number USA-244. Document 1165-PS which shows that they executed
those that had been screened out.
The first page of that document, without reading it, is a letter from
the camp commandant of the Concentration Camp Gross-Rosen to Müller, who
was the Chief of the Gestapo, dated the 23rd of October 1941, referring
to a previous oral conference with Müller and setting forth the names of
20 Soviet prisoners of war executed the previous day.
The second page—I am still referring to 1165 but not reading from it,
because it has been quoted from—is a directive issued by Müller on the
9th of November 1941 to all Gestapo offices, in which he ordered that
all diseased prisoners of war should be excluded from transports to
concentration camps for execution, because 5 to 10 percent of those
destined for execution were arriving in the camps dead or half dead.
I now offer Document 2542-PS, Exhibit Number USA-489, which is in the
second volume. This is an affidavit of Kurt Lindow, a former Gestapo
official, which was taken on the 30th of September 1945, at Oberursel,
Germany, in the course of an official military investigation by the
United States Army; and I quote from that document from the beginning:
“I was criminal director in Section IV of the RSHA”—I call Your
Honors’ attention to the chart on the board that he was criminal
director in Section IV and head of the Subsection IV A 1—“from
the middle of 1942 until the middle of 1944. I had the rank of
SS Sturmbannführer.
“From 1941 until the middle of 1943, there was attached to
Subsection IV A 1”—which is not shown on this chart, but has
previously been described in the beginning—“a special
department that was headed by the Regierungsoberinspektor, later
Regierungsamtmann, and SS Hauptsturmführer Franz Königshaus. In
this department, were handled matters concerning prisoners of
war. I learned from this department that instructions and orders
by Reichsführer Himmler dating from 1941 to 1942 existed,
according to which captured Soviet political commissars and
Jewish soldiers were to be executed. As far as I know, proposals
for execution of such prisoners of war were received from the
various prisoner-of-war camps. Königshaus had to prepare the
orders for execution and submitted them to the chief of Section
IV, Müller, for signature”—Müller being the head of the
Gestapo.—“These orders were made out so that one was to be sent
to the agency making the request, and a second one to the
concentration camp designated to carry out the execution. The
prisoners of war in question were at first formally released
from prisoner-of-war status, then transferred to a concentration
camp for execution.
“The Chief of the section Königshaus, was under me in
disciplinary questions from the middle of 1942 until about the
beginning of 1943 and worked, in matters of his department,
directly with the chief of Subsection IV A, Regierungsdirector
Panzinger. Early in 1943 the department was dissolved and
absorbed into the departments in Subsection IV B. The work
concerning Russian prisoners of war must then have been done by
IV B 2a. Head of Department IV B 2a was Regierungsrat and
Sturmbannführer Hans Helmuth Wolf.
“There existed in the prisoner-of-war camps on the Eastern Front
small screening teams (Einsatzkommandos), headed by a lower
ranking member of the Secret Police or Gestapo. These teams were
assigned to the camp commanders and had the job to segregate the
prisoners of war who were candidates for execution, according to
the orders that had been given, and to report them to the office
of the Secret Police.”
I will not read the remainder of that affidavit.
Passing from that phase of the case: The Gestapo and SD sent recaptured
prisoners of war to concentration camps where they were executed—that
is, prisoners of war who had escaped and were recaptured. The Tribunal
will recall that in a document heretofore introduced, 1650-PS, was an
order in which the Chief of the Security Police and SD instructed
regional Gestapo offices to take certain classes of recaptured officers
from camps and to transport them to Mauthausen concentration camp, under
the operation known as “Kugel.” That, if Your Honor recalls, means
“bullet.” That is the famous “Bullet Decree” that has been previously
introduced. On the journey the prisoners of war were to be placed in
irons. The Gestapo officers were to make semi-annual reports, giving
numbers only, of the sending of these prisoners of war to Mauthausen. On
the 27th of July 1944 an order was issued from the VI Corps Area Command
on the treatment of prisoners of war. That is Document 1514-PS in the
second volume, which I offer as Exhibit Number USA-491. This document
provided that prisoners of war were to be discharged from
prisoner-of-war status and transferred to the Gestapo under certain
circumstances, and I quote from the first page, beginning with the word
“subject,” quoting:
“Subject: Delivery of prisoners of war to the Secret State
Police.
“Enclosed in the annex Reference Decree 1. The following
summarized ruling is issued with respect to the delivery to the
Secret Police:
“1) a) According to Reference Decrees 2 and 3, the commander of
the camp has to deliver Soviet prisoners of war to the Secret
State Police in case of punishable offenses and to dismiss them
from imprisonment of war, if he does not believe that his
disciplinary functions suffice to prescribe punishment for
violations committed. Report of the facts of the case is not
necessary.
“b) Recaptured Soviet prisoners of war have to be delivered
first to the nearest police office in order to ascertain whether
punishable offenses have been committed during the escape. The
dismissal from imprisonment of war takes place upon suggestion
of the police office, (Section A6 of Reference Decree Number 4
regarding the compilation of all regulations on the
Arbeitseinsatz of prisoners of war who have been recaptured and
refuse to work.)
“c) Recaptured Soviet officers who are prisoners of war have to
be delivered to the Gestapo and to be dismissed from
imprisonment of war. (Section A1 of Reference Decree Number 4.)
“d) Soviet officer prisoners of war who refuse to work and those
who distinguish themselves as agitators and exert an unfavorable
influence upon the willingness to work of the other prisoners of
war have to be delivered by the responsible Stalag to the
nearest State Police office and dismissed from imprisonment of
war. (Section C1 of Reference Decree Number 4 and Reference
Decree Number 5.)
“e) Soviet enlisted prisoners of war refusing to work who are
ringleaders and those who distinguish themselves as agitators
and therefore exert an unfavorable influence upon the
willingness to work of the other prisoners of war have to be
delivered to the nearest State Police office and to be dismissed
from imprisonment of war. (Section C2 of Reference Decree Number
4.)
“f) Soviet prisoners of war (enlisted men and officers) who,
with respect to their political attitude, have been sifted out
by the Einsatzkommando of the Security Police and the Security
Service have to be delivered upon request by the camp commander
to the Einsatzkommando and to be dismissed from imprisonment of
war. (Reference Decree Number 6.)
“g) 1. Polish prisoners of war have to be delivered, if acts of
sabotage are proven, to the nearest State Police office and to
be dismissed from imprisonment of war. The decision rests with
the camp commander. Report on this is not necessary. (Reference
Decree Number 7.)
“2. A report on the delivery and dismissal from imprisonment of
war in the cases mentioned under Paragraph 1 of this decree to
the Wehrkreis Command VI, Department for Prisoners of War, is
not necessary.
“3. Prisoners of war from all nations have to be delivered to
the Secret State Police and to be dismissed from imprisonment of
war, if a special order to that effect is issued by the OKW or
by Wehrkreis Command VI, Department for Prisoners of War.
“4. Prisoners of war under suspicion of participation in illegal
organizations and resistance movements have to be left to the
Gestapo upon request for the purpose of interrogation. They
remain prisoners of war and have to be treated as such. The
delivery to the Gestapo and their dismissal from imprisonment of
war has to take place only by order of the OKW or of Wehrkreis
Command VI, Department for Prisoners of War.
“In case of French and Belgian prisoners of war and interned
Italian military personnel, approval of Wehrkreis Command VI,
Department for Prisoners of War, has to be obtained—if
necessary by phone—before delivery to the Gestapo for the
purpose of interrogation.”
This decree was known as the “Bullet Decree.” Prisoners of war sent to
Mauthausen concentration camp under the decree were executed.
I now offer in support of that statement Document 2285-PS, Exhibit
Number USA-490. It is in the second volume. Document 2285-PS is an
affidavit of Lieutenant Colonel Guivante de Saint Gast and Lieutenant
Jean Veith, both of the French Army, which was taken on the 13th of May
1945 in the course of an official military investigation by the United
States Army. The affidavit discloses that Lieutenant Colonel Gast was
confined at Mauthausen from 18 March 1944 to 22 April 1945 and that
Lieutenant Veith was confined from 22 April 1943 until 22 April 1945. I
quote from the affidavit, beginning with the third paragraph of Page 1,
quoting:
“In Mauthausen existed several treatments of prisoners, amongst
them the ‘action K or Kugel’ (Bullet action). Upon the arrival
of transports, prisoners with the mention ‘K’ were not
registered, got no numbers, and their names remained unknown
except for the officials of the Politische Abteilung. Lieutenant
Veith had the opportunity of hearing upon the arrival of a
transport the following conversation between the
Untersturmführer Streitwieser and chief of the convoy:
“‘How many prisoners?’
“‘15 but two K.’
“‘Well, that makes 13.’
“The K prisoners were taken directly to the prison where they
were unclothed and taken to the ‘bathroom.’ This bathroom in the
cellars of the prison building near the crematory was specially
designed for execution (shooting and gassing).
“The shooting took place by means of a measuring apparatus—the
prisoner being backed towards a metrical measure with an
automatic contraption releasing a bullet in his neck as soon as
the moving plank determining his height touched the top of his
head.
“If a transport consisted of too many ‘K’ prisoners, instead of
losing time for the ‘measurement’ they were exterminated by gas
sent into the shower room instead of water.”
I now pass to another subject, namely: “The Gestapo was responsible for
establishing and classifying concentration camps and for committing
racial and political undesirables to concentration and annihilation
camps for slave labor and mass murder.”
The Tribunal has already received evidence concerning the responsibility
of the Gestapo for the administration of concentration camps and the
authority of the Gestapo for taking persons into protective custody to
be carried out in the State concentration camps. The Gestapo also issued
orders establishing concentration camps, transforming prisoner-of-war
camps into concentration camps as internment camps, changing labor camps
into concentration camps, setting up special sections for female
prisoners, and so forth.
The Chief of the Security Police and SD ordered the classification of
concentration camps according to the seriousness of the accusation and
the chances for reforming the prisoners, from the Nazi viewpoint. I now
refer to Documents 1063(a)-PS and 1063(b)-PS in the second volume,
Exhibit Number USA-492. The concentration camps were classified as Class
I, II, or III. Class I was for the least serious prisoners, and Class
III was for the most serious. Now this Document 1063(a)-PS is signed by
Heydrich and it is dated the 2d of January 1941. I quote from the
beginning with the word “subject,” quoting:
“Subject: Classification of the concentration camps.
“The Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police has given
his approval to classify the concentration camps into various
categories, which take into account the personality of the
prisoner as well as the degree of his harmfulness to the State.
Accordingly, the concentration camps will be classified into the
following categories:
“Category I—for all prisoners charged with minor offenses only
and definitely qualified for correction; also for special cases
and solitary confinement—Camps Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and
Auschwitz I. The latter also applies in part to Category II.
“Category Ia—for all old prisoners conditionally qualified for
work who could still be used in the medicinal herb gardens—Camp
Dachau.
“Category II—for prisoners charged with major offenses but
still qualified for re-education and correction—Camps
Buchenwald, Flossenbürg, Neuengamme, Auschwitz II.
“Category III—for prisoners under most serious charges, also
for those who have been convicted previously for criminal
offenses; at the same time for asocial prisoners, that is to
say, those who can hardly be corrected—Camp Mauthausen.”
I call Your Honor’s attention to the fact that we have been talking
about Mauthausen, where the “K” action took place.
The Chief of the Security Police and SD had the authority to fix the
length of the period of custody. During the war it was the policy not to
permit the prisoners to know the period of custody and merely to
announce the term as “until further notice.” That was established by
Document 1531-PS, which has previously been introduced as Exhibit Number
USA-248; and the only reason for referring to it is to show that they
had the right to fix the length of period of custody.
The local Gestapo offices, which made the arrests, maintained a register
called the “Haftbuch,” and I understand Haftbuch simply means a block or
police register. In this register the names of all persons arrested were
listed, together with personal data, grounds of arrest, and disposition.
When orders were received from the Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin to
commit persons who had been arrested to concentration camps, an entry
was made in the Haftbuch to that effect.
I now offer in evidence the original of one of these books, and it is
Document Number L-358, Exhibit Number USA-495. This book was captured by
the 3rd Army when it overran an area; and it was captured by the T-Force
on April 22, 1945, near Bad Sulza, Germany. This book is the original
register used by the Gestapo at Tomaszow, Poland, to record the names of
the persons arrested, the grounds for arrest, and the disposition made
of cases during the period from 1 June 1943 to 20 December 1944.
In the register are approximately 3,500 names of persons. Approximately
2,200 were arrested for membership in the resistance movements and
partisan units. This is a very large book; and I am going to ask the
clerk to pass it to Your Honors so that you might get a look at it. It
is too big to photograph. And if Your Honors will just turn to one of
the pages, I will read what the different columns provide—just any one
of the pages. There is a double column. It starts on the left and goes
over to the other side. In the first column that heading is simply a
number of the man when he comes in. The next column is his name. The
third column is the family—a brief family history and his religion. The
fourth is the domicile. The next shows the date he was arrested and by
whom—that is the fifth column. The next column, the place of arrest.
And then the next column, the reason for arrest. And then the next is
another number which is apparently a serial number for delivery. And
next to the last column is the disposition. And the final column,
remarks.
Now, out of the 3,500 names that are shown in that book, Your Honors
will notice a number of red marks. Those apparently meant the ones that
were shot. Of these, 325 were shot. Only 35 of that 325 had first been
tried. Nine hundred and fifty out of this list were sent to
concentration camps; and 155 were sent to the Reich for forced labor.
According to this register, similar treatment was accorded persons who
were arrested on other grounds, for instance, Communists, Jews,
hostages, and persons taken in reprisal. A large number are shown to
have been arrested during raids, no further grounds being stated.
I particularly refer Your Honors to entries 286, 287, and 288, that is,
the numbers in the first column of the register, where the crime charged
to the person arrested was “als Juden”; in other words, he was a Jew.
And by that you will find a red cross mark; and the punishment given was
death.
I now pass from this document and simply call attention to Document
L-215, which was heretofore introduced as Exhibit Number USA-243. I
don’t intend to read from it unless Your Honors want to turn to L-215.
This is a file of original dossiers on 25 Luxembourgers taken into
protective custody for commitment to concentration camps. I will just
refer to a sentence of the language in the document. Quoting:
“According to the finding of the State Police, he endangers by
his attitude the existence and security of the people and the
State.”
And in each case, with reference to those dossiers, that appears as
being the reason for the execution of these 25 Luxembourgers. And in
connection . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, you said execution, did you not?
COL. STOREY: I beg your pardon—sending to concentration camps.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. There is no evidence they were executed?
COL. STOREY: No, Sir; they were committed to concentration camps. And
also in connection with that same document there is a form provided by
which the Gestapo headquarters in Berlin were notified when the persons
were received by the concentration camps.
Another document—which has heretofore been received as Exhibit Number
USA-279, Document 1472-PS, in the second volume—I am simply going to
refer to as a predicate for another. That was a telegram of 16 December
1942 in which Müller reported that the Gestapo could round up some
45,000 Jews in connection with the program of obtaining additional labor
in concentration camps. And with reference to the same subject there is
Document 1063(d)-PS, which has heretofore been offered as Exhibit Number
USA-219. Müller sent a directive to the commanders and inspectors of the
Security Police and SD and to the directors of the Gestapo regional
offices in which he stated that Himmler had ordered, on 14 December
1942, that at least 35,000 persons who were fit for work had to be put
into concentration camps not later than the end of January.
Now, in that same connection I offer Document L-41, Volume 1, as Exhibit
Number USA-496. This document contains a further directive from Müller
dated the 23rd of March 1943 and supplements the directive of 17
December 1942, to which I referred and in which he states that the
measures are to be carried out until 30 April 1943. And I would like to
quote from the second paragraph on Page 3 of the exhibit:
“Care must be taken, however, that only prisoners who are fit
for work are transferred to concentration camps, and adolescents
only in accordance with the given directives; otherwise, the
concentration camps would become overcrowded, and this would
defeat the intended aim.”
In that same connection I offer Document 701-PS, Exhibit Number USA-497.
This is a letter dated 21 April 1943 from the Minister of Justice to the
public prosecutors and also addressed to the Commissioner of the Reich
Minister of Justice for the penal camps in Emsland. Quoting:
“Subject: Poles and Jews who are released from the penal
institutions of the Department of Justice. Copies for the
independent penal institutions.
“1. With reference to the new guiding principles for the
application of Article 1, Section 2, of the decree of 11 June
1940, _Reichsgesetzblatt_ I, Page 877—Attachment I of the
decree (RV) of 27 January 1943—9133/2 Enclosure I-III a
2/2629—the Reich Security Main Office has directed by the
decree of 11 March 1943—II A 2 Number 100/43—176:
“(a) Jews, who in accordance with Number VI of the directives
are released from prison, are to be committed for life in the
concentration camps Auschwitz or Lublin by the head office of
the State Police competent for the district in which the prison
is located, in compliance with directions issued about
protective custody.
“The same applies to Jews who in the future are released from
prison after serving a sentence of confinement.
“(b) Poles, who in accordance with Number VI of the directives
are released from prison, are to be taken, by the head office of
the State Police competent for the district in which the prison
is located, for the duration of the war to a concentration camp
in compliance with directions issued concerning protective
custody.
“The same applies in the future to Poles being released from
prison after serving a term of imprisonment of more than 6
months.
“In answer to the request of the Reich Security Main Office I
ask that in the future: (a) All Jews about to be released and
(b) all Poles awaiting release who have served a sentence of
more than 6 months, are to be listed to the directorate of the
State Police competent for the district for further confinement
and, in due time before the end of sentence, are to be placed at
its disposal for transfer.”
And the last paragraph states that this ruling replaces the hitherto
ordered return of all Polish prisoners undergoing imprisonment in the
Old Reich condemned in the annexed Eastern territory.
The next subject: The Gestapo and the SD participated in deportation of
citizens of occupied countries for forced labor and handled the
disciplining of forced labor.
With reference to the presentation heretofore made concerning forced
labor, I do not intend to repeat. However, there were several references
to important positions played by the Gestapo and the SD in rounding up
persons to be brought into the Reich for forced labor and references in
two or three documents that were introduced, I simply want to cite those
documents as showing the part that the Gestapo and SD played. Document
L-61, Exhibit Number USA-177. It is set out in this document book—I am
simply citing it—it is a letter of the 26th of November 1942 from Fritz
Sauckel, in which he stated that he had been advised by the Chief of the
Security Police and SD under date of 26 October 1942 that during the
month of November the evacuation of Poles in the Lublin district would
begin in order to make room for the settlement of persons of the German
race. The Poles who were evacuated as a result of this measure were to
be put into concentration camps for labor as far as they were criminal
or antisocial.
The Tribunal will also recall the Christensen letter, which is our
Document 3012-PS, Exhibit Number USA-190. In that letter it is stated
that during the year 1943 the program of mass murders carried out by the
Einsatz groups in the East should be modified in order to round up
hundreds of thousands of persons for labor in the armament industry.
That was in Document 3012-PS, which has heretofore been introduced as
Exhibit Number USA-190. And that force was to be used when necessary.
Prisoners were to be released so that they could be used for forced
labor. When villages were burned down the whole population was to be
placed at the disposal of the labor commissioners.
Now in that connection the direct responsibility of the Gestapo for
disciplining forced workers is shown in our exhibit, Document 1573-PS,
Exhibit Number USA-498. This is a secret order signed by Müller himself
to the regional Gestapo offices on the 18th of June 1941; and I quote
from the document from the beginning. It is addressed:
“To all offices of the State Police—to the State Police,
attention SS Sturmbannführer R. R. Nosske or deputy at Aachen.
“Subject: Measures to be taken against emigrants and civilian
workers who come from the Greater Russian areas and against
foreign workers.
“Reference: None.
“To prevent the return of Russian, Ukrainian, White Ruthenian,
Cossack, and Caucasian emigrants and civilian workers from the
territory of the Reich to the East without authorization and on
their own initiative and to prevent attempts of sabotage by
foreign workers in German production, I decide as follows:
“(1) The managers of the branch offices of the Russian,
Ukrainian, White Ruthenian, and Caucasian trustees office, as
well as of the relief committees and the leading members of the
Russian, Ukrainian, White Ruthenian, Cossack, and Caucasian
emigrants’ organizations, are to be notified immediately that
they are not allowed to leave their domicile without permission
of the Security Police until further notice. They are, at the
same time, to be told to apply the same measures to the members
who are under their care. Their attention is to be called to the
fact that they will be arrested upon giving up their job or
domicile without permission. I request a check on the presence
of branch office leaders, if possible, by daily inquiries, on
pretexts.
“(2) Emigrants and foreign workers who are specifically charged
and who are suspected of intelligence work for the U.S.S.R. are
to be arrested if the situation demands it. This step must be
prepared; it is, however, not to be executed before the pass
word ‘Fremdvölker’ has been transmitted by means of ‘urgent’
telegram.”
THE PRESIDENT: Do you think you should read the rest of that?
COL. STOREY: I don’t think so, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now for 10 minutes.
[_A recess was taken._]
COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, I next offer in evidence Document
3360-PS, Exhibit Number USA-499, the second volume. Before I hand this
document to the translator, I should like to exhibit it to Your Honors.
It is an original telegram that was sent to the Gestapo office at
Nuremberg. It was discovered by the C.I.C., by Lieutenant Stevens, near
Hersbruck, Germany; and Your Honors will notice that parts of it have
been burned. It was in connection with some documents that had been
buried and they were partially burned when they were buried. This is one
of the telegrams. It is from the Secret State Police, the State Police
station at Nuremberg and Fürth, and it is dated the 12th of February
1944. I quote from the telegram:
“RSHA IV F 1-45/44; the Border Inspector General; urgent, submit
immediately.
“Treatment of recaptured escaped Eastern
laborers.”—Ostarbeiter.
“On the basis of an order of the RFSS, all recaptured escaped
Eastern laborers without exception are, from now on, to be sent
to concentration camps. For the purpose of reporting to RFSS, I
ask for one single report by teletype to Section IV D (foreign
laborers) on 10 March 1944 as to how many of such male or female
Eastern laborers were turned over to a concentration camp
between today and 10 March 1944.”
By these methods the Gestapo and SD maintained control over forced labor
brought into the Reich.
The next subject I go into is that the Gestapo and SD executed captured
commandos and paratroopers and protected civilians who lynched Allied
fliers.
On 4 August 1942 Keitel issued an order which provided that the Gestapo
and SD were responsible for taking counter measures against single
parachutists or small groups of them with special missions. In
substantiation I offer Document Number 553-PS as the exhibit next in
order, Exhibit Number USA-500. I quote from the first page of the
translation, the first part of Paragraph 3:
“Insofar as single parachutists are captured by members of the
Armed Forces, they are to be delivered, after report to the
competent Abwehr office, to the nearest agency of the Chief of
the Security Police and SD without delay.”
Now, if the Tribunal please, to divert from the text: Colonel Taylor
will present the Nazi High Command and a few of their orders. This is
one and there is another one with which he is going to deal extensively.
My purpose in introducing these orders now is to show the part that the
Gestapo and SD played in connection with those orders.
The next order that I introduce is Document 498-PS, in the first volume,
Exhibit Number USA-501. That is the celebrated Commando order signed by
the Führer himself on the 18th of October 1942. There were only 12
copies of this made and it bears the personal, original signature of
Adolf Hitler. One copy was sent to the Reichsführer SS and Chief of the
German Police. That order, without reading it and getting down to the
part from which I want to quote, simply provides that all commandos,
whether or not in uniform or unarmed, are to be slaughtered to the last
man. I want to read down toward the bottom, the beginning of Paragraph
4, to show the part of the SD:
“If individual members of such commandos, such as agents,
saboteurs, _et cetera_, fall into the hands of the military
forces in some other way, through the police in occupied
territories for instance, they are to be handed over immediately
to the SD.”
Another one of those orders is Number 526-PS, Exhibit Number USA-502, to
which I would like to refer. That document has to do with some alleged
saboteurs landing in Norway. It is dated the 10th of May 1943 and is
top-secret. I quote the first paragraph as identifying a crew:
“On 30 March 1943 on Toftefjord (70° latitude) an enemy cutter
was sighted. Cutter was blown up by the enemy. Crew: two dead
men, 10 prisoners.”
That is the crew. Near the bottom of that order, the third sentence from
the bottom, is this statement: “Führer order executed by SD”—Security
Service.
We have heretofore introduced Document R-110, Exhibit Number USA-333;
and that was the Himmler order of 10 August 1943 which was sent to
Security Police. That order provided that it was not the task of the
police to interfere in clashes between Germans and English and American
terror fliers who had bailed out. It was personally signed by Himmler
and here is the signature. It has been introduced in evidence, but I
wanted to call the attention of the Court to it again.
May I next go to the subject, where the Gestapo and the SD took
civilians of occupied countries to Germany for secret trial and
punishment? That is the so-called “Night and Fog” decree, issued on 7
December 1941 by Hitler. That decree has not been introduced in
evidence.
I now refer to Document L-90, in the first volume, Exhibit Number
USA-503. That decree under which persons who committed offenses against
the Reich or occupation forces in occupied territory, except where death
sentence was certain, were to be taken secretly to Germany and
surrendered to the Security Police and SD for trial or punishment in
Germany itself. And this is the original from which we quote, beginning
on the first page of the translation. It is on the stationery of the
Reichsführer SS and Chief of German Police, Munich, 4 February 1942.
Subject: “Prosecution of offenses against the Reich or the occupation
forces.”
“I. The following regulations published by the Chief of the High
Command of the Armed Forces, dated 12 December 1941, are being
made known herewith:
“1). The Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces. After
lengthy consideration, it is the will of the Führer that the
measures taken against those who are guilty of offenses against
the Reich or against the occupation forces in occupied areas
should be altered. The Führer is of the opinion that in such
cases penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for life
will be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting
deterrent can be achieved only by the death penalty or by taking
measures which will leave the family and the population
uncertain as to the fate of the offender. The deportation to
Germany serves this purpose.
“The attached directives for the prosecution of offenses
correspond with the Führer’s conception. They have been examined
and approved by him.”—signed—“Keitel.”
And then follow some of the directives and descriptions. This is a very
long document, with enclosures, and we next turn to Page 4 of the
English translation, near the bottom:
“Insofar as the SS and the Police courts are competent to deal
with offenses committed under I, proceedings follow on the same
lines.”
Next, in connection with the same document, on Page 20, Part 2 of the
English translation, which is the secret letter addressed to the Abwehr,
I quote from Page 2. It is the letter dated 2 February 1942—passing
down to the words “Enclosed please find”:
“1. Decree of the Führer and Supreme Commander of the Armed
Forces of 7 December 1941.
“2. Executive order of the same date.
“3. Communication of the Chief of the High Command of the Armed
Forces of 12 December 1941.
“The decree introduces a fundamental innovation. The Führer and
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces orders that offenses
committed by civilians in the occupied territories and of the
kind mentioned above, are to be dealt with by the competent
military courts in the occupied territories only if (a) the
death penalty is pronounced and (b) sentence is pronounced
within 8 days of the prisoner’s arrest.
“Unless both these conditions are fulfilled, the Führer and
Supreme Commander does not anticipate that criminal proceedings
within the occupied territories will have the necessary
deterrent effect.
“In all other cases the prisoners are, in the future, to be
transported to Germany secretly, and further dealings with the
offenses will take place here; these measures will have a
deterrent effect because (a) the prisoners will vanish without
leaving a trace, (b) no information may be given as to their
whereabouts or their fate.”
Now, skipping the next paragraph, to the second paragraph below:
“In case the competent military court and the military
commander, respectively, are of the opinion that an immediate
decision on the spot is impossible, and the prisoners are
therefore to be transported to Germany, the counter-intelligence
offices have to report this fact directly to the RSHA in Berlin
(SW 11), Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 7, in care of Dr. Fischer,
Director of Criminal Police, stating the exact number of
prisoners and of the groups which belong together as the case
may be. Isolated cases, where the superior commander has an
urgent interest in the case being dealt with by a military
court, are to be reported to the RSHA. A copy of the entire
report to the Reich Security Main Office is to be sent to Amt
Ausland Abwehr, Section Abwehr III.
“The RSHA on the basis of available accommodation will determine
which office of the state police has to accept the prisoners.
The latter office will communicate with the competent Abwehr
office and determine with it the particulars of the removal,
particularly whether this will be carried out by the Secret
Field Police, the Field Gendarmerie, or the Gestapo itself, as
well as the place and manner of the handing over of the
material.”
After the civilians arrived in Germany no word of the disposition of
their cases was permitted to reach the country from which they came or
their relatives.
I now offer Document 668-PS, Exhibit Number USA-504. This is a letter of
the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, dated the 24th of June
1942; and I quote from the first page of the English translation:
“It is the intent of the directive of the Führer and Supreme
Commander of the Wehrmacht concerning prosecution of criminal
acts against the Reich or the occupation forces in Occupied
Territories, dated 7 December 1941,”—that is the order that I
first referred to—“to create, for deterrent purposes, through
the transportation into Reich territory of persons arrested in
occupied areas on account of activity inimical to Germany,
uncertainty about the fate of prisoners among their relatives
and acquaintances. This goal would be jeopardized if the
relatives were to be notified in cases of death. Release of the
body for burial at home is inadvisable for the same reason, and
beyond that also because the place of burial could be misused
for demonstrations.
“I therefore propose that the following rules be observed in the
handling of cases of death:
“a. Notification of relatives is not to take place.
“b. The body will be buried at the place of decease in the
Reich.
“c. The place of burial will, for the time being, not be made
known.”
Now passing to the next activity of the SD and Gestapo, which was that
they arrested, tried, and punished citizens of occupied countries under
special criminal procedure and by summary methods. And I next offer in
evidence Document 674-PS, Exhibit Number USA-505.
The Gestapo arrested, placed in protective custody, and executed
civilians of occupied countries under certain circumstances. Even where
there were courts capable of handling emergency cases the Gestapo
conducted its own proceedings without regard to normal judicial
processes.
This document, 674-PS, Exhibit Number USA-505, is a letter from the
Chief Public Prosecutor at Katowice, dated the 3rd of December 1941; and
it is addressed to the Reich Minister of Justice, attention Chief
Councillor to the Government Stadermann or representative in office,
Berlin. The subject is “Executions by the Police and Expediting of Penal
Procedure; without order; enclosure: 1 copy of report.” I quote from the
beginning:
“About 3 weeks ago, six ringleaders (some of them German) were
hanged by the police in connection with the destruction of a
treasonable organization of 350 members in Tarnowskie Góry
without notification of the competent court. Such executions of
criminals have previously taken place in the Bielsko district,
too, without the Public Prosecutor having knowledge of them. On
2 December 1941 the head of the State Police at Katowice,
Oberregierungsrat Mildner, reported orally to the undersigned
that he had ordered, with authority from the Reichsführer of the
SS as necessary immediate action, these executions by public
hanging at the place of the crime and that deterrents would also
have to be continued in the future until the criminal and
actively anti-German elements in the Occupied Eastern
Territories have been destroyed or until other immediate
actions, perhaps by the courts, would guarantee equally
deterrent effect. Accordingly, six leaders of another Polish
organization guilty of high treason in the district in and
around Sosnowiec were to be hanged publicly today as an example.
“About this procedure the undersigned expressed considerable
scruples.
“Besides the fact that such measures have been withdrawn from
the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts and are contradictory to
laws still in force, a justified emergency for the exceptional
proceedings by the police alone cannot, in our opinion, be
lawfully recognized.
“The penal justice in our district within the limits of its
competence is quite capable of fulfilling its duty of immediate
penal retribution by means of a special form of special judicial
activity (establishment of a so-called Rapid Special Court).
Indictment and trial could be speeded up in such a way that
between turning the case over to the public prosecutor and the
execution no more than 3 days would elapse, if the practice of
reprieve is simplified and if the decision, where necessary, can
be obtained by telephone. This was expressed yesterday to the
head of the State Police at Katowice by the undersigned.
“We cannot believe that execution by the police of criminals,
especially German criminals, can be considered more effective in
view of the shaken sense of justice of many Germans. In the long
run they might, in spite of public deterrent, lead to even
further brutality of minds, which is contrary to the intended
purpose of pacifying. These deliberations, however, do not apply
to future legal competence of a court-martial for Poles and
Jews.”
I next refer to Document 654-PS, Exhibit Number USA-218, which has
previously been introduced in evidence but bears on this subject; and I
will simply summarize, in a word, what it provided.
It states that on the 18th of September 1942 Thierack, the Reich
Minister of Justice, and Himmler came to an understanding by which
antisocial elements were to be turned over to Himmler to be worked to
death. That is in Document 654-PS, and a special criminal procedure was
to be applied by the police to the Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Russians, and
Ukrainians, who were not to be tried in ordinary criminal courts. I
simply refer to that document as bearing on the same subject.
Another document, which I will not quote from but cite to Your Honors,
is the order of November 5, 1942 issued by the RSHA; and that is
Document L-316, Exhibit Number USA-346. I don’t think it is necessary to
quote from that except to state that that letter provides that the
administration—in fact, the last statement in it just before the
signature provides:
“The administration of penal law for persons of alien race must
be transferred from the hands of the administrators of justice
into the hands of the police.”
That is the part that connects the police with it, and I will not quote
from the document otherwise.
Now I next come to the subject where the Gestapo and the SD executed or
confined persons in concentration camps for crimes allegedly committed
by their relatives; and in that connection I offer Document L-37 in the
first volume, Exhibit Number USA-506.
That is a letter dated the 19th of July 1944—I call Your Honor’s
attention to the fact that it is dated in 1944—sent by the commander of
the Sipo and SD for the district of Radom to the foreign service office
in Tomaszow.
Parenthetically, that big Haftbuch that we introduced in evidence has a
number of cases in connection with the district of Radom, and Your
Honors will remember that it is a list of the people in the district of
Tomaszow.
The subject of this letter is “Collective Responsibility of Members of
Families of Assassins and Saboteurs.” I will read after the word
“precedents”:
“The Higher SS and Police Leader East has issued on 28 June 1944
the following order:
“The security situation in the Government General has in the
last 9 months grown worse to such an extent that from now on the
most radical means and the harshest measures must be applied to
the alien assassins and saboteurs. The Reichsführer SS, in
agreement with the Governor General, has ordered that in all
cases where assassinations of Germans, or such attempts, have
occurred or where saboteurs have destroyed vital installations,
not only the culprits be shot but that also all of the kinsmen
are to be executed and their female relatives who are above 16
years old are to be put into concentration camps. It is strictly
presupposed, of course, that if the culprit or culprits are not
apprehended, their names and addresses be correctly ascertained.
Male members of kin include, for example: the father, sons
(insofar as they are above 16 years of age), brothers,
brothers-in-law, cousins, and uncles of the culprit. The same
ruling applies to the women. The aim of this procedure is to
secure joint responsibility of all men and women of the kin of
the culprit. It furthermore hits most severely the family circle
of the political criminal. For example, this practice has
already shown, at the end of 1939, the best results in the new
Eastern territories, especially in the Warta district.
Experience shows that as soon as this new method for combatting
assassins and saboteurs becomes known to these foreign
people—this may be achieved by oral propaganda—the female
members of a kin to which members of the resistance movement or
bands belong will exert a curbing influence.”
Now the SD and Gestapo also conducted third-degree interrogations of
prisoners of war; and I refer to Document 1531-PS, Exhibit Number
USA-248. This document contains an order of 12 June 1942, signed by
Müller, which authorized the use of third-degree methods in
interrogations where preliminary investigation indicated that the
prisoners could give information on important facts such as subversive
activities but not to extort confessions of prisoners’ own crimes.
Now I quote from Page 2 of the English translation, Paragraph 2:
“Third degree may, under this supposition, only be employed
against Communists, Marxists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, saboteurs,
terrorists, members of resistance movements, parachute agents,
asocial elements, Polish or Soviet Russian loafers, or tramps.
In all other cases, my permission must first be obtained.”
Then I pass to Paragraph 4 at the end:
“Third degree can, according to the circumstances, consist
amongst other methods, of:
“Very simple diet (bread and water); hard bunk; dark cell;
deprivation of sleep; exhaustive drilling; also in flogging (for
more than 20 strokes a doctor must be consulted).”
On the 24th of February 1944 the commander of the Sipo and the SD for
the district of Radom published an order issued by the Befehlshaber of
the Sipo and the SD at Kraków, which is Document L-89, Exhibit Number
USA-507, in the first volume. This followed closely the provisions of
the previous decree that I have just quoted from; and I quote the first
paragraph after the list of offices on the first page:
“In view of the variety of methods used to date in intensified
interrogations and in order to avoid excesses, also to protect
officials against eventual criminal proceedings, the
Befehlshaber of the Security Police and of the SD in Kraków has
issued the following order for the Security Police in the
Government General, which is based on the regulations in force
for the Reich.”
And then the regulations are quoted. The significance of this document
is that it proves that as late as 1944 third-degree interrogations were
still being conducted by the Gestapo.
I next pass to the activity of the Gestapo and the SD as being primary
agencies for the persecution of the Jews; and I do not intend to go into
any of the evidence previously introduced, except to refer to the
participation of these organizations.
The responsibility of the Gestapo and SD for the mass extermination
program carried out by the Einsatz groups of the Sipo and SD, in the
annihilation camps to which Jews were sent by the Sipo and SD, has
already been considered; and I simply cite to the Tribunal the Document
2615-PS, which has previously been introduced and in which the number of
Jews executed was referred to by Eichmann. I simply call attention that
Eichmann was head of Section B IV of the Gestapo. That section of the
Gestapo dealt with Jewish affairs, including matters of evacuation,
means of suppressing enemies of the people and the State, and the
dispossession of rights of German citizenship. The Gestapo was also
charged with the enforcement of discriminatory laws, which heretofore
have been introduced.
I now invite Your Honors’ attention to Document 3058-PS, Exhibit Number
USA-508. I would like to exhibit to Your Honors that it is a
red-bordered document signed by Heydrich himself and addressed to the
Defendant Göring. It is dated the 11th of November 1938. I pass this to
the reporter—and before it is passed to the reporter—there is an
appendix attached to it to the effect that the matter had been called to
the attention of the Defendant Göring.
Now this concerns a report of activities of the Gestapo in connection
with the anti-Jewish demonstrations, you will recall, in the fall of
1938. This is a report from Heydrich personally to the Defendant Göring.
It is addressed to the Prime Minister, General Field Marshal Göring and
is dated the 11th of November 1938. The previous documents showed that
that activity occurred just before—and the order for it in connection
with the Jewish uprooting or extermination:
“The extent of the destruction of Jewish shops and houses cannot
yet be verified by figures. The figures given in the
reports—815 shops destroyed, 29 department stores set on fire
or destroyed, 171 dwelling houses set on fire or
destroyed—indicate only a fraction of the actual damage caused,
as far as arson is concerned. Due to the urgency of the
reporting, the reports received to date are entirely limited to
general statements such as ‘numerous’ or ‘most shops destroyed.’
Therefore the figures given will be considerably augmented.
“One hundred and ninety-one synagogues were set on fire and
another 76 completely destroyed. In addition, 11 parish halls,
cemetery chapels, and similar buildings were set on fire and
three more completely destroyed.
“Twenty thousand Jews were arrested, also seven Aryans and three
foreigners. The latter were arrested for their own safety.
“Thirty-six deaths were reported and those seriously injured
were also numbered at 36. Those killed and injured are Jews. One
Jew is still missing. The Jews killed include one Polish
national, and those injured include two Poles.”
I want to call Your Honors’ special attention to the paper appended to
that document:
“The General Field Marshal”—that is Göring—“has been informed.
No steps are to be taken. By order.”
It is dated the 15th of November 1938 and signed. The signature is
illegible.
Now in that same connection Heydrich was charged by the Defendant Göring
with this entire program; and we next offer in evidence the original of
that order, 710-PS, Exhibit Number USA-509. That is an order dated the
31st of July 1941. It is written on the stationery of the Reich Marshal
of the Greater German Reich, Commissioner for the Four Year Plan,
Chairman of the Ministerial Council for National Defense; and it is
dated at Berlin, the 31st of July 1941, and directed to the Chief of the
Security Police and the Security Service, SS Gruppenführer Heydrich:
“Complementing the task that was assigned to you on 24 January
1939, which dealt with arriving at—through furtherance of
emigration and evacuation—a solution of the Jewish problem as
favorable as possible, I hereby charge you with making all
necessary preparations in regard to organizational and financial
matters for bringing about a complete solution of the Jewish
question in the German sphere of influence in Europe.
“Wherever other Government agencies are involved; these are to
co-operate with you.
“I charge you furthermore, to send me before long an overall
plan concerning the organizational, factual, and material
measures necessary for the accomplishment of the desired final
solution of the Jewish question.”—signed—“Göring.”
The Tribunal has already received the evidence as to what the final
solution of the Jewish problem was as conceived by Heydrich and executed
by the Security Police and SD under him and under the Defendant
Kaltenbrunner, which was enslavement and mass murder.
Now, finally, in this presentation, the last activity of the Gestapo and
SD to which I will refer is that these organizations were the primary
agencies for the persecution of the churches. Already evidence has been
received concerning the persecution of the churches. In this struggle
the Gestapo and the SD played a secret but very highly significant part.
Section C2 of the SD dealt with education and religions life. Section B1
of the Gestapo dealt with political Catholicism, Section B2 with
political Protestantism, and Section B3 with other churches and
Freemasonry.
The Church was one of the enemies of the Nazi State, and it was a
peculiar function of the Gestapo to combat it. It issued restrictions
against church activities, dissolved church organizations, and placed
clergymen in protective custody.
I now want to offer in evidence Document 1815-PS, Exhibit Number
USA-510. This is a very large file—this original document—and I want
to quote only portions of it. This was a file of the Gestapo regional
office at Aachen. It discloses that the purpose of the Gestapo in
combatting the churches was to destroy them, and I want to read the
first page of the English translation from the beginning.
This is dated the “12th of May 1941, at Berlin, from the RSHA, Section
IV B 1, to all Staatspolizeileitstellen. For information: The SD
Leit-Abschnitte; the inspectors of the Sipo and SD.” I understand this
word “Abschnitte” means sub-divisions. The subject is “Concerning the
Study and Treatment of Political Churches”:
“The chief of the RSHA has ordered that the tasks assigned to
the SD and Sipo regarding control of the political churches,
which have hitherto been carried out jointly by the
SD-Abschnitte and Stapostellen, shall now be solely performed by
the Stapostellen”—which I understand means regional offices of
the Gestapo.
Then it refers to the plan for the division of work issued by the RSHA
on March 1, 1941:
“In addition to combatting opposition, the Stapostellen thus
take over the entire Gegnernachrichtendienst”—I understand that
word means counter-intelligence—“in this sphere.
“In order that the Stapostellen should be in a position to take
over this work, the Chief of the Sipo and SD has ordered that
the church specialists, hitherto employed in the SD-Abschnitten,
shall be temporarily detailed in equal rank to the Stapo offices
and operate the ‘Nachrichtendienstliche Arbeit’”—which means
intelligence service in regard to the Church—“On the orders of
the Chief of the RSHA and in agreement with the heads of Amt
III, II, and I, those church specialists specified in the
attached list . . .”
THE PRESIDENT: Is it necessary to give us the details of this?
COL. STOREY: No, Sir, I don’t think so. At any rate, if Your Honors
please, we quote from it; and it is simply a direction as to how they
will proceed.
Now then, later, on the 22d and 23rd of September 1941, they called a
conference of these so-called church specialists attached to the Gestapo
regional offices that I have mentioned. That was held in the lecture
hall of the RSHA in Berlin. Notes were taken, and this same document
contains notes of that conference. The program is shown; the plan is
worked out in connection with the churches. I will just read the closing
statement to these so-called church specialists; it is very short:
“Each one of you must go to work with your whole heart and a
true fanaticism. Should a mistake or two be made in the
execution of this work, this should in no way discourage you,
since mistakes are made everywhere. The main thing is that the
adversary”—meaning the church—“should be constantly opposed
with determination, will, and effective initiative.”
And then, finally, the last thing I would like to refer to in this
document is on the eighth page of the English translation, which sets
out their immediate aim and their ultimate aim:
“The immediate aim: The Church must not regain 1 inch of the
ground it has lost.
“The ultimate aim: Destruction of the confessional churches to
be brought about by the collection of all material obtained
through Nachrichtendienst activities, which will, at a given
time, be produced as evidence against the church of its
treasonable activities during the German fight for existence.”
I understand that long German word means intelligence activities.
Now, if Your Honors please, this concludes the factual, documentary
presentation which I shall make in connection with the SD and Gestapo.
Closely allied with it is the case against Kaltenbrunner, as the
representative of these organizations, which will be presented
immediately after lunch by Lieutenant Whitney Harris. Also, there will
be one or two witnesses who will be introduced in connection with these
organizations and in connection with Kaltenbrunner.
With that I should like to conclude, with just these remarks:
The evidence shows that the Gestapo was created by the Defendant Göring
in Prussia in April 1933 for the specific purpose of serving as a police
agency to strike down the actual and ideological enemies of the Nazi
regime and that henceforward the Gestapo in Prussia and in the other
states of the Reich carried out a program of terror against all who were
thought to be dangerous to the domination of the conspirators over the
people of Germany. Its methods were utterly ruthless. It operated
outside the law and sent its victims to the concentration camps. The
term “Gestapo” became the symbol of the Nazi regime of force and terror.
Behind the scenes operating secretly, the SD, through its vast network
of informants, spied upon the German people in their daily lives, on the
streets, in the shops, and even within the sanctity of the churches.
The most casual remark of the German citizen might bring him before the
Gestapo where his fate and freedom were decided without recourse to law.
In this government, in which the rule of law was replaced by a
tyrannical rule of men, the Gestapo was the primary instrumentality of
oppression.
The Gestapo and the SD played an important part in almost every criminal
act of the conspiracy. The category of these crimes, apart from the
thousands of specific instances of torture and cruelty in policing
Germany for the benefit of the conspirators, reads like a page from the
devil’s notebook:
They fabricated the border incidents which Hitler used as an excuse for
attacking Poland.
They murdered hundreds of thousands of defenseless men, women, and
children by the infamous Einsatz groups.
They removed Jews, political leaders, and scientists from
prisoner-of-war camps and murdered them.
They took recaptured prisoners of war to concentration camps and
murdered them.
They established and classified the concentration camps and sent
thousands of people into them for extermination and slave labor.
They cleared Europe of the Jews and were responsible for sending
hundreds of thousands to their deaths in annihilation camps.
They rounded up hundreds of thousands of citizens of occupied countries
and shipped them to Germany for forced labor and sent slave laborers to
labor reformatory camps.
They executed captured commandos and paratroopers and protected
civilians who lynched allied fliers.
They took civilians of occupied countries to Germany for secret trial
and punishment.
They arrested, tried, and punished citizens of occupied countries under
special criminal procedures, which did not accord fair trials, and by
summary methods.
They murdered or sent to concentration camps the relatives of persons
who had allegedly committed crimes.
They ordered the murder of prisoners in Sipo and SD prisons to prevent
their release by Allied armies.
They participated in the seizure and spoliation of public and private
property.
They were primary agencies for the persecution of the Jews and churches.
In carrying out these crimes the Gestapo operated as an organization
closely centralized and controlled from Berlin headquarters. Reports
were submitted to Berlin and all important decisions emanated from
Berlin. The regional offices had only limited power to commit persons to
concentration camps. All cases, other than short of duration, had to be
submitted to Berlin for approval.
The Gestapo was organized on a functional basis. Its principal divisions
dealt with groups and institutions against which it committed the worst
crimes—which I have enumerated.
Thus, in perpetrating these crimes, the Gestapo acted as an entity, each
section performing its parts in the general criminal enterprises ordered
by Berlin. The Secret State Police should be held responsible as an
organization for the vast crimes in which it participated.
The SD was at all times a department of the SS. Its criminality directly
concerns and contributes to the criminality of the SS.
And as to the Gestapo, it is submitted that it was an organization in
the sense in which that term is used in Article 9 of the Charter, that
the Defendants Göring and Kaltenbrunner committed the crimes defined in
Article 6 of the Charter in their capacity as members and leaders of the
Gestapo, and that the Gestapo, as an organization, participated in and
aided the conspiracy which contemplated and involved the commission of
the crimes defined in Article 6 of the Charter.
And finally, I have in my hand here a brochure published in honor of the
famous Heydrich, the former Chief of the Security Police and SD; and I
quote from a speech delivered by Heydrich on German Police Day, 1941, of
which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice:
“Secret State Police, Criminal Police, and SD are still adorned
with the furtive and whispered secrecy of a political detective
story. In a mixture of fear and shuddering—and yet at home with
a certain feeling of security because of their
presence—brutality, inhumanity bordering on the sadistic, and
ruthlessness are attributed abroad to the men of this
profession.”
Those are the words of Heydrich, who was the former head of this
organization.
Does Your Honor want to go ahead?
DR. KURT KAUFFMANN (Counsel for Defendant Kaltenbrunner): I have just
heard that during the afternoon the evidence will concern the Defendant
Kaltenbrunner. I therefore regard it as advisable to make a motion
regarding Kaltenbrunner now, before the recess, and not in the
afternoon.
My suggestion is the following:
I ask that the trial against Kaltenbrunner be postponed during his
absence. Kaltenbrunner has only been able to be present at a few days of
the proceedings so far. The reason for his absence is an illness which,
in my opinion, is of a serious nature, for it is obvious that in so
important a trial only a very serious illness can justify the absence of
a defendant. I have no doctor’s report on his present condition. It
appears to me dubious whether he will be capable of attending the
hearing at all in the future. Be that as it may, my present suggestion
that the trial of Kaltenbrunner be postponed is not in contradiction to
Paragraph 12 of the Charter. If a defendant is alive and cannot be
brought to trial in person, then the trial can proceed against him in
his absence. This is particularly justified if the defendant is
concealing himself and it is thus his own fault if he is tried in his
absence.
But Kaltenbrunner is here in prison. He did not withdraw himself from
the trial and he wishes nothing more than that he may be able to face
the accusations. But if such a defendant is obliged to be absent through
no fault of his own, then a trial that was nevertheless carried out
would hardly be consistent with justice. Article 12 of the Charter
mentions this point of justice specifically.
I should regret the procedure of the trial all the more since precisely
now Kaltenbrunner must have an opportunity to give me information in my
capacity as his Defense Counsel. The particular Indictment is not even
known to him; it was only handed over just before the Christmas recess.
I do not need to emphasize how greatly the Defense’s task is made more
difficult by a continuation of the trial—indeed it is made almost
impossible.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will consider the application which has been
made on behalf of counsel for the Defendant Kaltenbrunner and will give
its decision shortly.
The Tribunal will now adjourn until 2 o’clock.
COL. STOREY: If I may make just one statement in connection with that,
if Your Honor pleases.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, certainly.
COL. STOREY: The evidence against Kaltenbrunner will be in connection
with the part he played in these organizations; and we thought, in the
interest of time, the individual case against Kaltenbrunner could be
presented at the same time. Now, if it were not presented in this
connection, it would be within a few days, early next week, in
connection with the other individual defendants. Counsel mentions that
he probably will not be able to be here for some time, and I thought I
would make that statement.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
[_A recess was taken until 1400 hours._]
_Afternoon Session_
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal has considered the motion made by counsel on
behalf of Kaltenbrunner, and it considers that any evidence which you
were intending to produce, which is directed against Kaltenbrunner
individually and not against the organizations, ought to be postponed
until the Prosecution come to deal, as the Tribunal understands you do
propose to deal, with each defendant individually; and the Tribunal
thinks that Kaltenbrunner’s case might properly be kept to the end of
the individual defendants, and that the evidence which is especially
brought against Kaltenbrunner might then be adduced. If Kaltenbrunner is
then still unable to be in Court, that evidence will have to be given in
his absence.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, I don’t believe that the case, as we
have it prepared now, can be separated as between the organizations and
the individuals.
THE PRESIDENT: No, but if it bears against the organizations it can be
adduced now.
COL. STOREY: I understood that, but if Your Honor pleases, I say that
the preparation that we have made is in connection both with the
organizations and the individuals. In other words, it is a joint
presentation, therefore, under Your Honor’s ruling, as taken, it would
have to go over until next week with the individual defendants’ cases,
because we prepared it so that it will affect the organizations as well
as the defendant individually, because his acts are in connection with
what he has done with the organizations included; in other words, we
don’t have it separated.
THE PRESIDENT: How will that affect you for this afternoon?
COL. STOREY: We can introduce a witness next; but if Your Honor pleases,
with reference to the witness, the witness, of course, would affect the
organizations, and incidentally would affect Kaltenbrunner, too. I do
not see how you could separate that, except that for the witnesses this
afternoon the questions could be confined to the organizations.
THE PRESIDENT: Now, of course, all the evidence which has been given up
to date, much of it in Kaltenbrunner’s absence, has in one sense been
against Kaltenbrunner in being evidence against the organization of
which he was the head.
COL. STOREY: Colonel Amen was going to examine the witness orally, and
it is primarily against the organizations; and incidentally it would
affect Kaltenbrunner’s individual liability.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Tribunal would like you to go on with the
evidence.
COL. STOREY: Yes. It has been suggested, if Your Honor pleases, that we
might have a few minutes to confer about the situation, about the
witnesses.
THE PRESIDENT: You wish to adjourn for a few minutes?
COL. STOREY: Just a few minutes so that we can confer because it changes
our order of proof.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
COL. STOREY: Just 10 minutes will be sufficient.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes; we will adjourn now.
[_A recess was taken._]
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now hear the evidence which the
Prosecution desires to call, and insofar as it consists of oral
testimony, the Tribunal will afford counsel for Kaltenbrunner the
opportunity of cross-examining the witnesses so called, at a later stage
if he wishes to do so.
HERR LUDWIG BABEL (Counsel for SS and SD): I was at first appointed
counsel for the members of the SS and the SD who had made an application
to be heard in these proceedings. My duties were limited to presenting
the incoming motions to the Court in a suitable form. Not until the
Tribunal made its announcement of 17 December 1945, was I appointed as
Defense Counsel for the organizations of the SS and the SD. As such I
have no client or employer who could give me information or instruction
for conducting the defense. In order to obtain the needed information I
am, therefore, directed to communicate with members of the organizations
I am representing, most of whom are in prisoner-of-war camps or are
under arrest. So far, because of the shortness of time, I have not been
able to get this information.
After 17 December 1945 thousands of motions were submitted to me through
the Court, and in the short period of time since then I have not been
able to follow the instructions they contained.
According to Article 16 of the Charter the defendant is to be shown a
copy of the Indictment and of all pertaining documents, written in a
language he understands, within a proper time prior to the beginning of
the Trial. This provision should, according to the sense, be also
applied to the indicted organizations. To serve the Indictment on the
organizations is not provided for in the rules of procedure nor has the
Tribunal so far ordered it.
In view of the very extensive work involved I personally was not in a
position to have a sufficient number of copies prepared for distribution
to the various camps in which the members of the organizations are and
thereby enable them to express their views and to give me the needed
information.
In view of these circumstances, for which I am not responsible nor are
the organizations which I am representing, I am not in a position to
cross-examine a witness who would be heard today, thereby making use of
the right accorded to me as Defense Counsel. The hearing of a witness
against the Defendant Kaltenbrunner likewise concerns the organizations
which I represent, the SS and the SD. To hear such a witness at this
point would mean limiting the Defense.
I therefore submit a motion to postpone the further discussion of the
charges against the organizations of the SS and the SD. By visiting the
camps, in which there are members of the organizations of the SS and SD,
and after discussions with them, I shall be able to obtain the
information needed for the defense. I should like to add that thereby no
delay in the proceedings would be caused; and, I presume, this would in
no way place a burden upon the Prosecution.
THE PRESIDENT: If you will allow me to interrupt you, I understand your
application to be that you are not in a position to cross-examine these
witnesses this afternoon and that you wish for an opportunity similar to
that which I have already accorded to the counsel for Kaltenbrunner, to
be accorded to you. You wish for an opportunity to cross-examine these
witnesses at a later stage, is that right?
HERR BABEL: Yes. At the same time, however, I should like to point out
at this moment that, through the peculiarity of the task that has been
allotted to me, it is being made difficult to cover questions
subsequently . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Let us not take up time by that. Was your application
that you might have an opportunity of cross-examining these witnesses at
a later date?
HERR BABEL: My motion had that meaning but was also for the purpose of
making the defense itself possible as a whole, which at a time when I
cannot make the necessary use of the privileges granted me by the
Charter . . .
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal is ready to give you the opportunity of
cross-examining these witnesses at a later date.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER WHITNEY R. HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the
United States): May it please the Tribunal, we submit Document Book BB
as a separate document book, relating to the Defendant Kaltenbrunner.
This book contains our documents, from which quotations will be made
during this presentation. Reference will be made to three or four other
documents contained in the document book on the Gestapo and the SD.
During the past 3 court days, the Tribunal has heard evidence of the
criminality of the SS, the SD, and the Gestapo. The fusion of these
organizations into the shock formations of the Hitler Police State has
been explained from an organizational standpoint. There is before the
Tribunal a defendant who represents these organizations through the
official positions which he held in the SS and the German Police and
whose career gives added significance to this unity of the SS and the
Nazi Police. The name of this defendant is Ernst Kaltenbrunner.
I now offer Document 2938-PS as exhibit next in order, Exhibit Number
USA-511. This is an article which appeared in _Die Deutsche Polizei_,
the magazine of the Security Police and SD, on 15 May 1943, at Page 193,
entitled, “Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the New Chief of the Security Police
and SD;” and I quote the beginning of the article:
“SS Gruppenführer Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner was born the son of
the lawyer Dr. Hugo Kaltenbrunner, on 4 October 1903, at Ried,
in the Inn Kreis, near Braunau. He spent his youth in the native
district of the Führer, with which his kinsfolk, originally a
hereditary scythe-making clan, had been closely connected since
olden times. Later he moved with his parents to the little
market town of Raab, and then to Linz, on the Danube, where he
attended the State Realgymnasium, and there he passed his final
examination in 1921.”
The next paragraph describes Kaltenbrunner’s legal education, his
nationalistic activities, and his opposition to Catholic-Christian
Social student groups. It states that after 1928 Kaltenbrunner worked as
a lawyer candidate in Linz. The article continues; and I quote, reading
the third paragraph:
“As early as January 1934 Dr. Kaltenbrunner was jailed by the
Dollfuss Government on account of his Nazi views and sent with
other leading National Socialists into the concentration camp
Kaisersteinbruch. He caused and led a hunger strike and forced
the government to dismiss 490 National Socialist prisoners. In
the following year he was jailed again, because of suspicion of
high treason, and committed to the court martial of Wels (Upper
Danube). After an investigation of many months, the accusation
of high treason collapsed; but he was sentenced to 6 months’
imprisonment for subversive activities. After the spring of
1935, Dr. Kaltenbrunner was the leader of the Austrian SS, the
right to practice his profession having been suspended because
of his National Socialist views. It redounds to his credit that
in this important position he succeeded through energetic
leadership in maintaining the unity of the Austrian SS, which he
had built up in spite of all persecution, and succeeded in
committing it successfully at the right moment.
“After the Anschluss, in which the SS was a decisive factor, he
was appointed State Secretary for Security Matters on 11 March
1938 in the new National Socialist Cabinet of Dr. Seyss-Inquart.
A few hours later he was able to report to the Reichsführer SS
Heinrich Himmler, who had landed at Aspern, the Vienna airport,
on 12 March 1938, 3 a.m., as the first National Socialist
leader, that the movement had achieved complete victory and
that”—the article quotes Kaltenbrunner—“the SS is in formation
awaiting further orders.
“The Führer promoted Dr. Kaltenbrunner on the day of the
annexation to SS Brigadeführer and leader of the
SS-Oberabschnitt Donau. On 11 September 1938 this was followed
by his promotion to SS Gruppenführer.”
The Tribunal will recall evidence heretofore received; and I refer to
Page 570 (Volume II, Page 417) of the English transcript of these
proceedings, of the telephone conversation between Göring and
Seyss-Inquart, in which Göring stated that Kaltenbrunner was to have the
Department of Security. I continue quoting the last paragraph from this
article:
“During the liquidation of the Austrian National Government and
the reorganization of Austria into the Alps and Danube
Districts, he was appointed Higher SS and Police Leader with the
Reich Governors in Vienna, Lower Danube and Upper Danube in
Corps Area 17, and in April 1941 he was promoted to Lieutenant
General of Police.”
Kaltenbrunner thereby became the little Himmler of Austria.
According to _Der Grossdeutsche Reichstag_, fourth Wahlperiode, 1938,
published by F. Kienast, at Page 261, our Document 2892-PS,
Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party and the SS in Austria in 1932. He
was Party Member 300179 and SS Member 13039. Prior to 1933 he was the
“Gauredner” and legal adviser to SS Division 8. After 1933 he was the
leader of SS Regiment 37 and later the leader of SS Division 8.
Kaltenbrunner was given the highest Nazi Party decorations, the Golden
Insignia of Honor and the Blutorden. He was a member of the Reichstag
after 1938.
I now offer Document 3427-PS as exhibit next in order, Exhibit Number
USA-512. This is also an article which appeared in _Die Deutsche
Polizei_, the magazine of the Security Police and SD, 12 February 1943,
at Page 65; and I quote:
“SS Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner Appointed Chief of the Security
Police and of the SD.
“Berlin, 30 January 1943.
“Upon suggestion of the Reichsführer SS and Chief of German
Police, the Führer has appointed SS Gruppenführer and Lieutenant
General of Police Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner as Chief of the
Security Police and of the SD, as successor of SS
Obergruppenführer and Lieutenant General of Police Reinhard
Heydrich, who passed away 4 June 1942.”
The Tribunal has heard frequent references made to the speech Himmler
delivered on 4 October 1943 at Posen, Poland, to Gruppenführer of the
SS, our Document 1919-PS, heretofore received as Exhibit Number USA-170,
in which with unmatched frankness Himmler discussed the barbaric program
and criminal activities of the SS and the Security Police. Near the
beginning of the speech Himmler referred to—and I quote merely this one
sentence: “Our comrade, SS Gruppenführer Ernst Kaltenbrunner, who has
succeeded our fallen friend Heydrich.”
Kaltenbrunner carried out the responsibilities as Chief of the Security
Police and SD to the satisfaction of Himmler and Hitler, for on 9
December 1944, according to the _Befehlsblatt_ of the Security Police
and SD . . .
DR. KAUFFMANN: May I interrupt just for a second? I understood the
decision of the Tribunal to be that the proceedings against
Kaltenbrunner were to be postponed until Kaltenbrunner is fit for trial,
and now the case of Kaltenbrunner is being discussed.
THE PRESIDENT: No, the decision, which the Tribunal indicated before,
was based upon the view that the evidence could be divided between
evidence which bore directly against Kaltenbrunner and evidence which
bore against the organization of the Gestapo; but when you attended
before us in closed session, it was explained that it was impossible to
do that and that the evidence was so inextricably mingled that it was
impossible to direct the evidence solely to the organization and not to
include that against Kaltenbrunner. Accordingly, the Tribunal decided
that they would go on with the evidence which the Prosecution desired to
present in its entirety but that they would give you the opportunity of
cross-examining any witnesses which might be called, at a later date. Of
course you will, in addition to that, have the fullest opportunity of
dealing with any documentary evidence which bears against Kaltenbrunner
when the time comes for you to present the defense on behalf of
Kaltenbrunner.
Do you follow that?
DR. KAUFFMANN: Certainly.
THE PRESIDENT: You will have the opportunity of cross-examining any
witness who is called this afternoon or tomorrow, at a later date—a
date which will be convenient to yourself. And in addition, with
reference to any or all evidence such as is now being presented by
counsel for the United States, you will have full opportunity at a
future date of dealing with that evidence in any way that it seems right
to you to do.
DR. KAUFFMANN: Yes. May I just say one word more. The misunderstanding
under which I am laboring is clearly due to the fact that I was of the
opinion that witnesses were to be heard, whereas I now learn that
evidence, a greater amount of it, is to be put forward. However, as I
hear that the Tribunal is also admitting the evidence in its entirety I
shall, of course, have to submit to this decision.
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Kaltenbrunner carried out the responsibilities as
Chief of the Security Police and SD to the satisfaction of Himmler and
Hitler, for on 9 December 1944, according to the _Befehlsblatt_ of the
Security Police and SD, Number 51, Page 361, our Document 2770-PS, he
received, as Chief of the Security Police and SD, the decoration known
as the Knight’s Cross of the War Merit with Crossed Swords, one of the
highest military decorations. By that time Kaltenbrunner had been
promoted to the high rank of SS Obergruppenführer and General of the
Police.
I invite the attention of the Tribunal to the organization chart
entitled, “The Position of Kaltenbrunner and the Gestapo and SD in the
German Police System,” Exhibit Number USA-493. As Chief of the Security
Police and SD, Kaltenbrunner was the head of the Gestapo, the Kripo and
the SD, and of the RSHA which was a department of the SS, and the Reich
Ministry of the Interior. He was in charge of the regional offices of
the Gestapo, the SD, and the Kripo within Germany, and of the Einsatz
groups and Einsatzkommandos in the occupied territories.
Directly under Kaltenbrunner were the chiefs of the main offices of the
RSHA including Amt III (the SD within Germany), Amt IV (the Gestapo),
Amt V (the Kripo), and Amt VI (foreign intelligence).
I offer Document 2939-PS as exhibit next in order, Exhibit Number
USA-513. This is the affidavit of Walter Schellenberg, who was chief of
Amt VI of the RSHA from the autumn of 1941 to the end of the war. I am
going to read a very small portion of this affidavit, beginning with the
sixth sentence of the first paragraph:
“On or about 25 January 1943, I went together with Kaltenbrunner
to Himmler’s headquarters at Lötzen in East Prussia. All of the
Amt chiefs of the RSHA were present at this meeting, and Himmler
informed us that Kaltenbrunner was to be appointed Chief of the
Security Police and SD (RSHA) as successor to Heydrich. His
appointment was effective 30 January 1943. I know of no
limitation placed on Kaltenbrunner’s authority as Chief of the
Security Police and SD (RSHA). He promptly entered upon the
duties of the office and assumed direct charge of the office and
control over the Amt. All important matters of all Ämter had to
clear through Kaltenbrunner.”
During Kaltenbrunner’s term in office as Chief of the Security Police
and SD, many crimes were committed by the Security Police and SD
pursuant to policy established by the RSHA or upon orders issued out of
the RSHA, for all of which Kaltenbrunner was responsible by virtue of
his office. Each of these crimes has been discussed in detail in the
case against the Gestapo and SD, and reference is here made to that
presentation. Evidence how will be offered only to show that these
crimes continued after Kaltenbrunner became Chief of the Security Police
and SD on 30 January 1943.
The first crime for which Kaltenbrunner is responsible as Chief of the
Security Police and SD is the murder and mistreatment of civilians of
occupied countries by the Einsatz groups. There were at least five
Einsatz groups operating in the East during Kaltenbrunner’s term in
office.
The _Befehlsblatt_ of the Security Police and SD—and this is contained
in our Document 2890-PS, of which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial
notice—contains reference to Einsatz Groups A, B, D, G, and Croatia
during the period of August 1943 to January 1945.
I shall not read from that document which contains those excerpts, but
the Tribunal will note those references to the name “Einsatz groups,”
indicating that they were operating during the time that Kaltenbrunner
was Chief of the Security Police and SD. The Tribunal will recall
Document 1104-PS, which has heretofore been received as Exhibit Number
USA-483. I will only refer in passing to this document, which contained
a lengthy and critical report on the conduct of the Security Police in
exterminating the Jewish population of Sluzk, White Ruthenia. That
report was submitted to Heydrich on 21 November 1941. Yet the same
conditions of horror and cruelty continued to characterize the
operations of Einsatzkommandos in the East while Kaltenbrunner was Chief
of the Security Police and SD. I refer to Document R-135, which, has
heretofore been received as Exhibit Number USA-289; and I will not read
anything from that but simply refresh the recollection of the Tribunal
to the report of Günther, the prison warden at Minsk, under date of 31
May 1943, to the General Commissioner for White Ruthenia, in which he
pointed out that after 13 April 1943 the SD had pursued a policy of
removing all gold teeth, bridgework, and fillings of Jews, an hour or
two before they were murdered.
The Tribunal will also recall in this exhibit the report of 18 June 1943
to the Reich Minister for the Occupied Territories describing the
practice of the police battalions of locking men, women, and children
into barns which were then set on fire.
The second crime for which Kaltenbrunner is responsible as Chief of the
Security Police and SD, is the execution of racial and political
undesirables.
THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Harris, I think you are going perhaps a little
bit too fast, and it is difficult for us to follow you when you are
referring so quickly to these documents.
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Thank you, Sir.
The second crime for which Kaltenbrunner is responsible as Chief of the
Security Police and SD, is the execution of racial and political
undesirables screened out of prisoner-of-war camps by the Gestapo. The
Tribunal will recall Document Number 2542-PS, heretofore received as
Exhibit Number USA-489. I believe you will find that document in the
Gestapo document book. It was introduced this morning.
THE PRESIDENT: The Lindow affidavit?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Yes. That is the Lindow affidavit that indicates that
the program of screening prisoner-of-war camps continued during 1943.
The third crime for which Kaltenbrunner is responsible as Chief of the
Security Police and SD was the taking of recaptured prisoners of war
. . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Wait a minute. You have not yet drawn our attention to
any specific paragraph which shows that it was in operation after 1943;
you are passing on to something else whilst I am looking at the document
to see what I have got.
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Referring specifically to the third paragraph, if the
Tribunal please, which has heretofore been read into evidence.
THE PRESIDENT: That only says until about the beginning of 1943.
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: It says early in 1943 the department was dissolved
and absorbed into the departments in Subsection IV B. The work
concerning Russian PW’s must then have been done by IV B 2a.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well, that is all you want it for, is it not?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Yes.
The third crime for which Kaltenbrunner is responsible as Chief of the
Security Police and SD was the taking of recaptured prisoners of war to
concentration camps where they were executed. I invite the attention of
the Tribunal to Document 1650-PS which has heretofore been received as
Exhibit Number USA-246. This is the secret Gestapo order, the Kugel
Erlass, or Bullet Decree, under which escaped prisoners of war were sent
to concentration camps by the Security Police and SD for execution.
This order, dated 4 March 1944, was signed—and I quote: “Chief of the
Security Police and of the Security Service, for the
Chief,”—signed—“Müller.”
I now offer Document L-158 as exhibit next in order. This is Exhibit
Number USA-514. I am not going to read this document since it is similar
to the previous document offered, but I do wish to refer to the marked
passages. First: “On 2 March 1944 the Chief of the Security Police and
SD, Berlin, forwarded the following OKW order.” Then follows the
statement that upon recapture certain escaped prisoners of war should be
turned over to the Chief of the Security Police and SD. The document
goes on to say—and I quote, “In this connection the Chief of the
Security Police and SD has issued the following instructions.” Detailed
instructions follow concerning the turning over of such prisoners to the
commandant of Mauthausen under the operation Bullet. Further, this order
states, and I quote—this is at the very end of the order:
“The list of the recaptured officers and non-working
non-commissioned officer prisoners of war will be kept here by
IV A 1. To enable a report to be made punctually to the Chief of
the Sipo and SD, Berlin, statements of the numbers involved must
reach Radom by 20 June 1944.”
I recall the attention of the Tribunal to Document 2285-PS, which was
received this morning as Exhibit Number USA-490.
THE PRESIDENT: Has that Document L-158 already been put in evidence?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: No, Sir, I have just put in those portions. I have
just put the document in evidence at this time, Sir. The document has
not been read in its entirety for the reason that the contents, other
than the quoted portions, are substantially the same as Document 1650-PS
which has been read at length.
THE PRESIDENT: You say it is the same as Document 1650-PS?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: It is, Sir, substantially the same. It relates to the
same subject. It was, however, addressed to a different party, and I
particularly wish to place before the Tribunal the last paragraph which
has been quoted and read into evidence.
THE PRESIDENT: The last paragraph does not mean very much by itself,
does it?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Very well, Sir. Then, if the Tribunal will permit it,
I would like to read the document in its entirety.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you mean that document 1650-PS has got these
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 in it?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Yes, Sir. That is exactly what I do mean, Sir.
I recall the attention of the Tribunal to Document 2285-PS, which was
received in evidence this morning as Exhibit USA-490. That was the
affidavit of Lieutenant Colonel Gast and Lieutenant Veith of the French
Army who stated that during 1943 and 1944 prisoners of war were murdered
at Mauthausen under the Bullet Decree. I am sure the Tribunal will
recall that document.
The fourth crime for which Kaltenbrunner is responsible as Chief of the
Security Police and SD was the commitment of racial and political
undesirables to concentration camps and annihilation camps for slave
labor and mass murder. Before Kaltenbrunner became Chief of the Security
Police and SD on 30 January 1943, he was fully cognizant of conditions
in concentration camps and of the fact that concentration camps were
used for slave labor and mass murder. The Tribunal will recall from
previous evidence that Mauthausen Concentration Camp was established in
Austria and that Kaltenbrunner was the Higher SS and Police Leader for
Austria. This concentration camp, as shown by Document 1063(a)-PS, which
was received this morning as Exhibit Number USA-492, was classified by
Heydrich in January 1941 in Category III, a camp for the most heavily
accused prisoners and for asocial prisoners who were considered
incapable of being reformed. The Tribunal will recall that prisoners of
war to be executed under the Bullet Decree were sent to Mauthausen. As
will be shown hereafter, Kaltenbrunner was a frequent visitor to
Mauthausen Concentration Camp. On one such visit in 1942 Kaltenbrunner
personally observed the gas chamber in action. I now offer Document
2753-PS as exhibit next in order, Exhibit Number USA-515. This is the
affidavit of Alois Höllriegl, former guard at Mauthausen concentration
camp. The affidavit states, and I quote:
“I, Alois Höllriegl, being first duly sworn, declare:
“I was a member of the Totenkopf SS and stationed at the
Mauthausen Concentration Camp from January 1940 until the end of
the war. On one occasion, I believe it was in the fall of 1942,
Ernst Kaltenbrunner visited Mauthausen. I was on guard duty at
the time and saw him twice. He went down into the gas chamber
with Ziereis, commandant of the camp, at a time when prisoners
were being gassed. The sound accompanying the gassing operation
was well known to me. I heard the gassing taking place while
Kaltenbrunner was present.
“I saw Kaltenbrunner come up from the gas cellar after the
gassing operation had been completed.”—signed—“Höllriegl.”
On one occasion Kaltenbrunner made an inspection of the camp grounds at
Mauthausen with Himmler and had his photograph taken during the course
of the inspection. I offer Document 2641-PS as exhibit next in order,
Exhibit Number USA-516. This exhibit consists of two affidavits and a
series of photographs. Here are the original photographs in my hand. The
original photographs are the small ones, which have been enlarged, and
those in the document book are not very good reproductions, but the
Tribunal will see better reproductions which are being handed to it.
DR. KAUFFMANN: As the whole accusation against Kaltenbrunner personally
has nevertheless been brought forward, I feel bound to make a motion on
a matter of principle. I could have made this motion this morning just
as well. It concerns the question of whether affidavits may be read or
not. I know that this question has already been the subject of
consultation by the Tribunal and that the Tribunal has come to a
definite decision on this question. When I make this question again a
matter for decision, it is for a special reason.
Every trial is somewhat dynamical. What was right at one time may be
wrong later. The greatest and most important trial in history depends in
many important points on the mere reading of affidavits which have been
taken by the Prosecution exclusively, according to its own maxims.
The reading of affidavits is not satisfactory in the long run. It is
becoming, from hour to hour, more necessary to see, to hear for once, a
witness for the Prosecution and to test his credibility and the
reliability of his memory. Many witnesses are standing, so to speak, at
the door of this courtroom, and they need only to be called in. To hear
the witness at a later stage is not sufficient; nor is it certain that
the Tribunal will permit a hearing on the same evidential subject. I
therefore oppose the further reading of the affidavits just announced.
The spirit of Article 19 of the Charter should not be killed by the
literal interpretation.
THE PRESIDENT: Is your application that you want to cross-examine the
witness or is your application that the affidavit should not be read?
DR. KAUFFMANN: The latter.
THE PRESIDENT: That the affidavit should not be read?
DR. KAUFFMANN: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you referring to the affidavit of Höllriegl, Document
2753-PS?
DR. KAUFFMANN: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal is of the opinion that the affidavit, which
is upon a relevant point, upon a material point, is evidence which ought
to be admitted under Article 19 of the Charter; but they will consider
any motion which counsel for Kaltenbrunner may think fit to make for
cross-examination of the witness who made the affidavit if he is
available and could be called.
[_To Lieutenant Commander Harris._] You were dealing with these
photographs, were you not?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Yes, Sir. They have been offered in evidence as the
exhibit next in order, and I wish to refer to the first affidavit
accompanying them, which appears in the document book.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: It being the affidavit of Alois Höllriegl.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You had handed up the affidavit at the same time,
had you not?
LT. COMDR. HARRIS: Yes, Sir, I did, Sir. That affidavit states, and I
quote:
“I was a member of the Totenkopf SS and stationed in the
Mauthausen Concentration Camp from January 1940 until the end of
the war. I am thoroughly familiar with all of the buildings and
grounds at Mauthausen Concentration Camp. I have been shown
Document 2641-PS, which is a series of six photographs. I
recognize all of these photographs as having been taken at
Mauthausen Concentration Camp. With respect to the first
photograph I positively identify Heinrich Himmler as the man on
the left, Ziereis, the commandant of Mauthausen Concentration
Camp in the center, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner as the man on the
right.”
THE PRESIDENT: He does not say, does he, at what date the photographs
were taken?
LT. COMDR HARRIS: No, Sir, I have no evidence as to what date the
photographs were taken, Sir.