There was plundered from the Western Countries from 1940 to 1944, works
of art, artistic objects, pictures, plastics, furniture, textiles,
antique pieces, and similar articles of enormous value to the number of
21,903.
In France statistics show the following:
Removal of raw materials:
Coal, 63,000,000 tons; electric energy, 20,976 Mkwh; petrol and fuel,
1,943,750 tons; iron ore, 74,848,000 tons; siderurgical products,
3,822,000 tons; bauxite, 1,211,800 tons; cement, 5,984,000 tons; lime,
1,888,000 tons; quarry products, 25,872,000 tons; and various other
products to a total value of 79,961,423,000 francs.
Removal of industrial equipment: total—9,759,861,000 francs, of which
2,626,479,000 francs of machine tools.
Removal of agricultural produce: total—126,655,852,000 francs; i.e. for
the principal products:
Wheat, 2,947,337 tons; oats, 2,354,080 tons; milk, 790,000 hectolitres,
(concentrated and in powder, 460,000 hectolitres); butter, 76,000 tons,
cheese, 49,000 tons; potatoes, 725,975 tons; various vegetables, 575,000
tons; wine, 7,647,000 hectolitres; champagne, 87,000,000 bottles; beer
3,821,520 hectolitres; various kinds of alcohol, 1,830,000 hectolitres.
Removal of manufactured products to a total of 184,640,000,000 francs.
Plundering: Francs 257,020,024,000 from private enterprise, Francs
55,000,100,000 from the State.
Financial exploitation: From June 1940 to September 1944 the French
Treasury was compelled to pay to Germany 631,866,000,000 francs.
Looting and destruction of works of art: The museums of Nantes, Nancy,
Old-Marseilles were looted.
Private collections of great value were stolen. In this way, Raphaels,
Vermeers, Van Dycks, and works of Rubens, Holbein, Rembrandt, Watteau,
Boucher disappeared. Germany compelled France to deliver up “The Mystic
Lamb” by Van Eyck, which Belgium had entrusted to her.
In Norway and other occupied countries decrees were made by which the
property of many civilians, societies, _et cetera_, was confiscated. An
immense amount of property of every kind was plundered from France,
Belgium, Norway, Holland, and Luxembourg.
As a result of the economic plundering of Belgium between 1940 and 1944
the damage suffered amounted to 175 billions of Belgian francs.
(F) The exaction of collective penalties.
The Germans pursued a systematic policy of inflicting, in all the
occupied countries, collective penalties, pecuniary and otherwise, upon
the population for acts of individuals for which it could not be
regarded as collectively responsible; this was done at many places,
including Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, and Rogaland.
Similar instances occurred in France, among others in Dijon, Nantes, and
as regards the Jewish population in the occupied territories. The total
amount of fines imposed on French communities adds up to 1,157,179,484
francs made up as follows: A fine on the Jewish population,
1,000,000,000; various fines, 157,179,484.
These acts violated Article 50, Hague Regulations, 1907, the laws and
customs of war, the general principles of criminal law as derived from
the criminal laws of all civilized nations, the internal penal laws of
the countries in which such crimes were committed, and Article 6 (b) of
the Charter.
(G) Wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, and devastation
not justified by military necessity.
The defendants wantonly destroyed cities, towns, and villages, and
committed other acts of devastation without military justification or
necessity. These acts violated Articles 46 and 50 of the Hague
Regulations, 1907, the laws and customs of war, the general principles
of criminal law as derived from the criminal laws of all civilized
nations, the internal penal laws of the countries in which such crimes
were committed, and Article 6 (b) of the Charter.
Particulars, by way of example only and without prejudice to the
production of evidence of other cases, are as follows: