This decree of Rosenberg’s was only one link in the chain of crimes
committed by the leaders of the German fascism directed toward
exterminating the Slav peoples.
I pass on to the first part of my statement, which is entitled,
“Extermination of Slav Peoples.” In this part I shall show how this
criminal purpose of the Hitlerites to exterminate the Slav peoples was
carried out. I shall quote data from the report of the Yugoslav
Government, which is to be found on Page 56 of the Russian text or on
Page 76, Paragraph 3, document book:
“Apart from the thousands of Yugoslavs who died in battle, the
occupants exterminated at least one and a half to two million
people, mostly women, children, and aged persons. Of the 15
million prewar Yugoslav population, in the relatively short
period of 4 years, almost 14 percent of the entire population
was exterminated.”
In the report of the Czechoslovak Government, on Pages 36 and 37 of the
Russian text, there is proof of a plan conceived by the Hitlerite
criminals for the forceful expulsion of all Czechs and the settling of
German colonists in Czechoslovakia. The report quotes an excerpt from a
statement of Karl Hermann Frank, who admitted the existence of this plan
and declared that he, Frank, had compiled a memorandum in which he
objected to a similar plan. I quote the excerpt from the statement of
Karl Hermann Frank, which the Tribunal can find on Page 37 in the
document book, fourth paragraph.
“I considered this plan senseless as, in my opinion, the vacuum
created by these measures would have seriously upset the vital
functioning of Bohemia and Moravia for various reasons of
geopolitical, traffic, industrial, and other character; and the
immediate filling of this vacuum with new German settlers was
impossible.”
In Poland a regime of extermination of the Slav population was put into
effect by diverse criminal methods, among which driving people to an
extreme state of exhaustion by excessive labor and subsequent death from
hunger, was most prevalent. The criminals quite consciously embarked
upon the extermination of millions of people by hunger, which is
attested by a number of documents already quoted by me and my colleagues
in part, namely, the diary of Hans Frank.
I shall quote a few short extracts from this document. Here is an
excerpt concerning the minutes of a conference held by the Governor
General on 7 December 1942 in Kraków. The Tribunal will find the passage
I wish to quote on Page 89 of the document book, in the first column of
the text, last paragraph:
“Should the new food supply plan be put into effect, it means
that for the city of Warsaw and its surroundings alone 500,000
people will no longer receive food relief.”
And here is another short excerpt from the minutes of a governmental
conference held on 24 August 1942. The Tribunal will find it on Page 90
of the document book, first paragraph of the text. Dr. Frank states:
“With all the difficulties which arise from the illness of
workers, or the breaking down of your co-operatives, you must
always bear in mind that it is much better if a Pole collapses
than if the Germans are defeated. The fact that we shall be
condemning 1,200,000 Jews to death by starvation should be
mentioned incidentally. Of course, if the Jews do not die from
starvation, it is to be hoped that anti-Jewish measures will be
expedited in the future.”
The third short quotation is an excerpt from the minutes of a labor
conference held by the political leaders of the Labor Front of the NSDAP
in the Government General, on 14 December 1942. The Tribunal will find
it on the reverse of Page 89 of the document book, second column, second
paragraph:
“. . . we are faced with the following problem: Shall we be
able, as from February, to exclude from general food supply 2
million persons of non-German nationality or not?”
In his preliminary speech, the Chief Prosecutor of the U.S.S.R., while
speaking of Crimes against Humanity, referred to the notes of Martin
Bormann. The notes of Martin Bormann were presented to the Court under
Exhibit Number USSR-172 (Document Number USSR-172) in particular. The
Chief Prosecutor of the U.S.S.R. quoted the following lines, which the
Tribunal can find on Page 97 of the document book, last paragraph:
“In summing up, the Führer once more stated: The least German
workman and the least German peasant must always stand
economically 10 percent higher than any Pole.”
How were things in reality? I should like to show that, with full
approval, the Defendant Frank put these Hitler orders into effect in
Polish territory. I beg the Tribunal to take for evidence an original
German document.
Among the other fascist institutions carrying out various
pseudo-scientific experiments, the German criminals created a special
institute for economic research. This institute issued a document
entitled, “What the Polish Problem Means for War Economy of Upper
Silesia.”
The fascist “scientific” institute decided to make such investigations
in order to clarify the reason why the output of Polish workers became
considerably reduced.
Two short excerpts will testify to the aims of this investigation better
than anything else. On Page 39 of this original document we read—the
Tribunal will find the passage I wish to quote on Page 101, of the
document book, second paragraph. I submit this document as Exhibit
Number USSR-282 (Document Number USSR-282). I begin the quotation which
is on Page 101 of the document book, second paragraph.
“This investigation is in no way to be construed as propaganda
to arouse pity.”
On Page 149 of the quoted document—the Tribunal will find this on Page
101, third paragraph, of the document book—it is said:
“We raise our voices not to defend the Poles, but to protect the
war production for the Armed Forces.”
Quoting these two short excerpts characterizing the aims and nature of
this investigation, I further quote a few excerpts which show the status
of the Polish worker and the practical realization by the Defendant
Frank of the above-mentioned directives of Hitler. I quote on Page 38 of
the original of the document, which corresponds to Page 101, Paragraph 7
of the document book:
“Information concerning the situation of the Polish population
and considerations as to which measures would be the most
suitable in this connection disagree on many points; but there
is general agreement on one point, which can be summed up here
in three words: The Poles are starving! Already some passing
observations corroborate these conclusions. One of our
investigators visited a war production plant during the lunch
recess. The workers are standing or sitting apathetically,
warming themselves in the sun, and here and there smoking. The
investigator reports that of 80 persons, only one has a piece of
bread for lunch. The others, although all working 10 to 12 hours
a day, have nothing.”
I pass to Page 72 of the original, which corresponds to Page 102 of the
document book; there is this quotation.
“Observations made in the factories prove that the present
rations of the Polish workers do not allow them enough food to
take with them to work. In many cases, the workers do not even
have a piece of bread. When some do bring breakfast, it is only
coffee and one or two pieces of dry bread or raw potatoes; at
the worst time, they did not even have this, but raw carrots,
which were then roasted on a stove during work.”