Such, Your Honors, is the heartcry of the German brigands of the company
for the economic adoption of the Ukraine, who themselves complain of the
brigands in the German Army.
In order to show that it was not only in Zhitomir and Korostyshev that
such things took place, I shall quote yet another report, this time by
the Commissioner of the Kazatinsky district, which contains the
following statement, “. . . The German soldiers stole food, cattle, and
vehicles.” This laconic but significant introduction is followed by no
less significant details:
“Threatening him with a pistol, the corporal demanded the keys
of the granary from the District Commissioner. . . . When I said
that the key was in my pocket, he yelled, ‘Give me the key.’
With these words he pulled out his pistol, stuck it against my
chest, and shouted, ‘I’m going to shoot you—you are a shirker.’
He followed up this remark by a few more specimens of invective,
thrust his hand into my pocket and grabbed the key, saying, ‘I
am the only person who gives orders here.’ This occurred in the
presence of numerous Germans and Ukrainians.”
The chief of the main department, Dr. Moisich, relates the same story in
a report to the Commissioner General of Zhitomir, dated 4 December 1943.
All these documents are being presented in their original form to the
Tribunal.
I shall now, Your Honors, proceed to read excerpts from the official
reports and communiques of the Extraordinary State Commission of the
Soviet Union for the investigation and establishment of crimes committed
by the German intruders and their accomplices. In order to save time, I
ask the Tribunal to permit me to read only a few excerpts from these
documents, and to give you the contents of the rest in my own words.
The report of the Extraordinary State Commission on the looting and
crimes perpetrated by the Hitlerites in the city and district of Rovno
has already been submitted to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-45.
The corresponding section of this report reads as follows:
“During their stay in Rovno and the district, Hitlerite officers
and soldiers unrestrainedly plundered the peaceful Soviet
citizens and thoroughly looted the property of cultural and
educational institutions.”
I shall not quote all the data mentioned in this report of the
Extraordinary State Commission. The report made by the Extraordinary
State Commission on the atrocities committed by the Hitlerites in Kiev,
and submitted to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-9, emphasizes the
fact that the Hitlerites plundered the peaceful population of Kiev. I
quote a brief extract, “The German occupation forces in the city of Kiev
looted factory equipment and carried it off to Germany.”
Following the directives of the criminal German Government and the
Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces, the satellite states also
joined in plundering and other crimes. Romanian troops who temporarily
occupied Odessa along with German Armed Forces plundered this
flourishing city in accordance with instructions from their German
masters. The report of the Extraordinary State Commission concerning the
crimes committed by German and Romanian invaders in Odessa reads in part
as follows:
“. . . The Romanians damaged Odessa considerably from the
economic and industrial point of view during the occupation.
“German-Romanian aggressors have confiscated and removed to
Romania 1,042,013 centners of grain, 45,227 horses, 87,646 head
of cattle, 31,821 pigs, _et cetera_, belonging to co-operative
farms and co-operative farmers.”
The report of the Extraordinary State Commission on the damages
inflicted by the German fascist invaders on industry, urban economy, and
cultural and educational institutions in the Stalino region, already
presented to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-2, also gives a good
deal of data on the looting and removal to Germany of the factory
equipment of this important industrial region.
I have quoted only a few of the reports compiled by the Extraordinary
State Commission on certain districts of the Ukraine. This flourishing
Soviet republic was subjected to unrestrained looting by the Hitlerites.
The Hitlerite conspirators considered the Ukraine a tidbit and plundered
her with exceptional voracity. I should like to read several documents
in proof of the above.
Rosenberg’s letter to Reichsleiter Bormann dated 17 October 1944. This
document which has already been submitted on 17 December by the United
States Prosecution under Exhibit Number USA-338 (Document Number 327-PS)
states that the Central Trading Company for the East for marketing of
agricultural produce sent the following goods to Germany in the period
between 1943 and 31 March 1944 only:
“Cereals, 9,200,000 tons; meat and meat products, 622,000 tons;
oil seed, 950,000 tons; butter, 208,000 tons; sugar, 400,000
tons; fodder, 2,500,000 tons; potatoes, 3,200,000 tons, and so
forth.”
The Defendant Rosenberg reported his “agricultural achievements” to
Hitler’s closest assistant in these terms.
It should be noted that during the first year of the war the voracity
shown by the Hitlerites in plundering the Ukraine was so great, that it
awakened certain misgivings even in themselves.
I shall read an excerpt from a letter addressed by the Inspector of
Armaments in the Ukraine to the Infantry General Thomas, Chief of the
Economic Armament Office of the OKW. The letter is dated 2 December
1941. This document was submitted to the Tribunal by the United States
Prosecution on 14 December as Document Number 3257-PS. I read a short
excerpt:
“The export of agricultural surpluses from the Ukraine for the
purpose of feeding the Reich is only possible if the internal
trade in the Ukraine is reduced to a minimum. This can be
attained by the following measures:
“1. Elimination of unwanted consumers (Jews; the populations of
the large Ukrainian towns, which, like Kiev, receive no food
allocation whatsoever).
“2. Reduction as far as possible of food rations allocated to
the Ukrainians in other towns.
“3. Reduction of food consumption by the peasant population.”
Having outlined this program, the author explains further:
“If the Ukrainian is to be made to work, we must look after his
physical existence, not for sentimental motives, but for purely
business reasons.”