Later however, when the Germans set up their so-called civil
administration and organized a number of special economic bodies in
various occupied territories including the Ukraine, in particular,
disputes arose among the numerous German military and civil bodies and
organizations, all of whom were engaged in plundering the occupied
territories. Rosenberg, as Reich Minister for the Eastern Occupied
Territories, began to insist that all military and economic
organizations in the Ukraine were to be liquidated and their functions
transferred to German civil administrations.
I submit to the Tribunal a draft report for State Secretary Körner on
this subject, dated 3 December 1943, as Exhibit Number USSR-180
(Document Number USSR-180). I read from it:
“Subject, 1. Economic administration in the Occupied Eastern
Territories; 2. General economic staff for the occupied
territories.
“In a letter to the Reich Marshal, dated 20 November 1943,
copies of which were sent to the Chief of Staff of the OKW, and
the Leader of the Party Chancellery, Minister Rosenberg made the
following demands:
“1. For the Ukraine,
“a. Military economic establishment still in existence to be
dissolved.
“b. The office of Chief of the Army Group Economic Departments
to be abolished and the military functions of the latter to be
taken over again by the Chief Quartermaster.
“c. In case of the retention of the office of the Chief of the
Army Group Economic Departments the practice of the same
specialists working both in the Reich Commissariat and under the
Chief of the Army Group Economic Departments to be
discontinued.”
I omit the rest. In the same draft are detailed objections made by
General Stapf and submitted by him to Keitel. He criticizes Rosenberg’s
suggestion and advises the retention of the Economic Staff East.
And now, with the permission of the Tribunal, I present as Exhibit
Number USSR-174 (Document Number USSR-174), another original document
which is a covering letter from the Permanent Deputy of the Reich
Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories to State Secretary Körner
on the same subject.
Written suggestions by Rosenberg were appended to this letter in which
Rosenberg insists that the entire economic activities be placed under
the control of his ministry once more. As this is a rather long document
and I am presenting it in the original, I ask your permission not to
read it since it is mainly concerned with Rosenberg’s proposal, which I
have already described to the Tribunal. For the information of the
interpreters—I omit two pages of my presentation and pass to Page 62.
Evidently Rosenberg did not receive the answer he wanted, so on 24
January 1944 he again wrote to Göring on the same subject. I submit this
letter as Exhibit Number USSR-179 (Document Number USSR-179). In this
letter Rosenberg suggests—I shall read into the record a short
quotation, which the Tribunal will find on Page 151 of the document
book:
“. . . in the interest of smooth working and economy of staff, I
would request that the Economic Staff East and its subordinate
agencies be abolished and that the economic administration in
the Occupied Eastern Territories and even in those districts
where fighting is still going on, be transferred to my sphere of
authority.”
Göring replied to this in a letter dated 14 February, which I offer in
evidence as part of the same Exhibit Number USSR-179. I quote:
“Dear Party Member Rosenberg:
“I received your letter of 24 January 1944 regarding economic
administration in the Occupied Eastern Territories. Since the
Reich Commissariat Ukraine is now almost entirely army
administrative territory”—this is a reference to the Red Army
offensive—“I consider it advisable to postpone our conference
on the future organization of the economic administration until
the military situation is completely clarified.”
Thus, Your Honors, Rosenberg’s claims met with resistance on the part of
other German authorities who stubbornly refused to give up such a choice
“economic activity.”
Rosenberg in his turn refused to yield and continued to press his
demands. I now offer in evidence the following document, Exhibit Number
USSR-173 (Document Number USSR-173)—this is a letter from Rosenberg to
Göring dated 6 March 1944. In this letter, Rosenberg refers to his
experience in Bielorussia and again urges his proposals. It is a long
document and I shall not read it, as it is presented to the Tribunal _in
toto_. But Göring still had his doubts and decided against Rosenberg.
On 6 April 1944, a month after the above-mentioned letter was sent off,
Rosenberg again wrote to Göring. This document I submit to the Tribunal
as Exhibit Number USSR-176 (Document Number USSR-176). May I omit
reading it into the record, since in substance it is like the last; and
the arguments advanced in it are not such as to interest us greatly now.
I omit Page 65 and pass on to Page 66.
Thus, Your Honors, even when the Red Army was delivering its last
crippling blows against the German fascist hordes, the Hitlerite
brigands went on quarreling about the spoils. I think there is no need
to prove that while this haggling continued, the occupied territories
were looted in feverish haste by the German authorities, both military
and civil.
Now, Your Honors, I shall read some brief excerpts from the report made
by the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union on the crimes
committed by the Hitlerite invaders in the Lithuanian, Latvian, and
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republics, which were also mercilessly
plundered by the German fascist aggressors.
All these reports have been already presented to the Tribunal by the
Soviet Prosecution. The report of the Extraordinary State Commission on
the crimes of the Hitlerites in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
contains the following statement:
“As the result of the way in which the Hitlerite invaders
managed affairs, even according to incomplete data, the number
of livestock and poultry in all the 14 districts of the
Lithuanian S.S.R. decreases in comparison with the year 1940-41
by 136,140 horses, 565,995 cattle, 463,340 pigs. . . .”
I shall now quote excerpts from the report of the Extraordinary State
Commission on the crimes committed by the German invaders in the Latvian
Soviet Socialist Republic. For the information of the interpreters—this
quotation is on Page 68, second paragraph:
“The Germans plundered the depots of tractors and agricultural
machinery throughout Latvia; and according to figures which are
far from complete, they sent to Germany 700 tractors, 180 motor
vehicles, 4,057 ploughs, 2,815 cultivators, 3,532 harrows.”
Second quotation:
“In consequence of the despoliation of Latvian rural economy by
the German invaders, the livestock in Latvia was decreased by
127,300 horses, 443,700 head of cattle, 318,200 pigs, and
593,800 sheep.”
Further, I shall read a short excerpt from the report of the
Extraordinary State Commission on the Estonian S.S.R.: I quote:
“The German invaders plundered the rural population of Estonia
without restraint. This plunder took the form of forcing the
peasants to hand over various kinds of farm produce.
“The quantities of farm produce to be delivered as ordered by
the Germans were very high.”
I omit part of the quotation and I read the second paragraph on the next
page:
“The Germans confiscated and drove to Germany 107,000 horses,
31,000 cows, 214,000 pigs, 790,000 head of poultry. They
plundered about 50,000 beehives.”
I omit one more paragraph and I read the last quotation from this
report:
“The Hitlerites took away 1,000 threshing machines, 600
threshing machine motors, 700 motors for driving belts, 350
tractors, and 24,781 other agricultural machines which were the
personal property of individual peasants.”
Your Honors, a similar policy of plundering private, public, and
national property was also carried out by the German fascist invaders in
the occupied territories of Bielorussia, Moldavia, the Karelo-Finnish
S.S.R. and the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.
Various military units and organizations in different districts of the
U.S.S.R. employed the same methods of plunder at all stages of the war
in accordance with the same criminal plan and in pursuit of the same
criminal aims. This plan was worked out, these aims were determined,
these crimes were organized by the major war criminals who are now in
the dock.
The U.S.S.R. Prosecution has at its disposal tens of thousands of
documents on this subject. The presentation of all these numerous
documents to the Tribunal would require such a long time that it would
only complicate the Trial. For this reason, with the Tribunal’s
permission, I shall not quote any further documents or reports of the
Extraordinary State Commission on separate regions and republics, but I
shall read into the record the statistical report of the Extraordinary
State Commission relative to the material damage done by the German
fascists to state enterprises and establishments, collective farms,
public organizations, and individual citizens of the U.S.S.R.
This document is being presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number
USSR-35 (Document Number USSR-35). I shall read into the record only
those extracts from the report which have a direct bearing on the
subject of my presentation. They are stated as follows—Page 71 of the
statement:
“The German fascist aggressors destroyed and pillaged 98,000
collective farms, 1,876 State farms, and 2,890 machine and
tractor stations. Seven million horses, 17 million head of
cattle, 20 million pigs, 27 million sheep and goats, and 110
million poultry were slaughtered or shipped to Germany.”
The Extraordinary State Commission calculates the damage done to the
national economy of the Soviet Union and to individual villagers and
townspeople at 679,000 millions of rubles reckoned at the official
prices current in 1941 as follows:
“1. State concerns and institutions, 287,000 million rubles; 2.
collective farms, 181,000 million rubles; 3. villagers and
townspeople, 192,000 million rubles; 4. co-operatives, trade
unions, and other public organizations, 19,000 million rubles.”
I omit the following sections of this report, which describe how this
damage is divided among separate Soviet Republics, and I pass on to the
fourth paragraph, which describes the destruction of collective farms,
State farms, and machine tractor stations. In order to save time, I
shall confine myself to a few separate excerpts:
“While burning the villages and hamlets, the German fascists
plundered completely the inhabitants of these villages. Those of
the peasants who offered resistance were brutally murdered.”
Further, some concrete data are given on the plundering in the
Kamenetz-Podolsk and the Kursk region, the collective farm “For Peace
and Work” in the region of Krasnodar, the collective farms “For the
Times” in the Stalino region, as well as collective farms in Mogilev and
Zhitomir districts and others. The German fascist invaders inflicted
great damage on the State farms of the U.S.S.R. They shipped out of
collective farms all stocks of agricultural products and destroyed farm
and other buildings belonging to the state farms.
Another excerpt:
“Horse Farm Number 62 in the Poltava district lost its stock of
Russo-American trotting brood mares through the German
occupation. Up to the war, this stud farm had 670 brood mares.
The Germans acted in the same way in regard to other breeding
farms.”
I omit the remaining excerpt of this section; and I pass on to Paragraph
6, which deals with the mass looting of Soviet citizens’ property by the
Germans:
“In all the republics, districts, and territories of the Soviet
Union which were occupied, the fascist German invaders looted
the property of the rural and urban population, stealing
valuables, property, clothing, and household articles, and
imposing fines, taxes, and contributions on the peaceful
population.”
The same section contains a whole series of concrete facts of the
plunder of Soviet citizens in Smolensk, Orel and Leningrad Provinces;
the Dniepropetrovsk and Sumsky Provinces, _et cetera_. With the
Tribunal’s permission, I omit two pages of my presentation, and I read
the following paragraph at the bottom of Page 76:
“The plundering of the Soviet population was being carried out
by the German aggressors throughout the whole of the occupied
Soviet territory.
“The Extraordinary State Commission has undertaken the task of
estimating the damage done to the Soviet citizens by the
occupation authorities and has established that the German
fascist invaders burned down and destroyed approximately four
million dwelling houses which were the personal property of
collective farmers, workers, and employees; confiscated 1½
million horses, 9 million head of cattle, 12 million pigs, 13
million sheep and goats; and took away an enormous quantity of
household goods and chattel of all kinds.”
The above documents and reports of the Extraordinary State Commission
depict the crimes committed by the Hitlerites in the occupied
territories of the U.S.S.R. These crimes had been organized by the
defendants.
The fact that Göring, in his capacity as Reich Marshal and
Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan of the Hitlerite Government, was
directly in charge of all the operations of the German military and
civil authorities for the preparation and execution of despoliation of
the occupied territories, is clearly shown by the documents which I have
already presented. Nevertheless, I beg the indulgence of the Tribunal to
read the final document on this matter, that is, the decree issued by
Hitler on 29 June 1941.
A copy of this decree was kindly put at our disposal by the American
Prosecution, and it has not yet been presented. I, therefore, present it
to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-287 (Document Number USSR-287).
This decree reads as follows:
“1. Reich Marshal Hermann Göring, as Plenipotentiary for the
Four Year Plan, will employ, within the scope of the power
allotted to him for the purpose, all means necessary for
exploiting to the fullest extent supplies and economic resources
discovered in the newly occupied eastern territories and for
developing all their economic possibilities for the benefit of
the German war economy.
“2. For this purpose he is also authorized to give direct orders
to military authorities in the newly occupied eastern
territories.
“3. This decree will become effective as from today. It must
first be made public by special order.”
However, Your Honors, the granting of extraordinary powers to Göring
does not, in any way, mean that the other defendants took only a passive
interest in organizing the looting of the occupied territories. All of
them, jointly and separately, worked feverishly in this direction. Frank
robbed the Poles; Rosenberg managed affairs in the Ukraine and in the
other occupied territories of the U.S.S.R.; Sauckel and Seyss-Inquart
were busy here and there; Speer and Funk made schemes for and carried
out predatory measures within the scope of the Ministry of Economics and
the Ministry for Armament and War Production, while Keitel acted in the
field of the Armed Forces.
In this connection I should like to submit to the Tribunal two more
documents relating to Keitel’s economic activities. These documents,
Your Honors, are presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-175
(Document Number USSR-175). On 29 August 1942 Keitel, in his capacity of
Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, issued the following
order under “Number 002865/42-g.Kdos. regarding securing of supplies for
the Armed Forces.” I shall read only two short excerpts from this order.
Your Honors will find them on Page 181 of the document book. I read:
“The food situation of the German people is such that it is
necessary for the Armed Forces to contribute as far as possible
towards alleviating it. All the necessary means of doing so
exist in the combat zones and in the occupied territories both
in the East and in the West.
“It is essential, above all, that much greater quantities of
supplies and forage . . . should be secured in the occupied
territories of the East than has been the case up to now.”
The second excerpt:
“All establishments should consider it their pride as well as
their duty to attain this goal at all costs so that in this
field, too, they may play a decisive part in achieving victory.”
In a memorandum by section chiefs Klare and Dr. Bergmann, dated, “19
November 1942, most secret, subject: Procurement of Supplies for the
Armed Forces”—I submit this memorandum in the original to the Tribunal
under the same number, Document Number USSR-175—we find the following
estimate of the results achieved by the above-mentioned order from
Keitel. I now read into the record only the first paragraph of this
memorandum.
“By order of the Führer, the Chief of the OKW has decreed in the
attached order of 29 August 1942 that the Armed Forces must, as
far as possible, contribute towards the task of ensuring food
supplies for the German people and that they must themselves
make every effort, not only to obtain sufficient food supplies
locally to cover the needs of the armies, but also to ensure
that the quantities required by the Reich are secured in
addition.
“As the result of this order co-operation between the Army and
the economic authorities has fortunately grown closer.”
Now with Your Honor’s permission, I shall read into the record one more
document, namely, a telegram sent by Keitel on 8 September 1944. This
document was kindly put at our disposal by the American Prosecution and
registered as Document Number 743-PS. It was not presented to the
Tribunal before; I therefore submit it now as Exhibit Number USSR-286,
and I quote:
“1. To General Staff of the Army: Attention General
Quartermaster, Office of Chief of Staff, (Anna).
“2. To General Staff of the Army: Attention General
Quartermaster, Army Administration Office, (Anna-Bu).
“3. To Commanding General, Army Group North.
“4. To Commanding General, Army Group Center.
“5. To Economic Staff East.
“6. To Military District H.Q.I.”