dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
DR. GAWLIK: According to this distribution the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police had received the 16th and 17th copy, one being for the Main Office Security Police. Aemter III and VI do not figure in the distribution. If the SD in the Reich, Amt III, or abroad, Amt VI, had been competent for this measure, this order would have had to have been transmitted to these two Aemter, since otherwise they would not have been able to comply with it. That, in fact, the execution of this order was not the task of the SD, Amt III or Amt VI, but of the Security Police, is clear from the letter by Mueller, dated 17 June 1944 (Document 1276-PS, USA-520) and addressed to the OKW. This letter deals with Hitler's order of 18 October 1942 and the execution thereof. Among other things it says: "Transfer to the Security Police will only be considered when such members of Commandos ..." The last paragraph mentions security measures. The reference Number IV and the fact that the letter was written by Mueller, and not by one of the Amtschefs III or VI, clearly indicates that these measures were carried out by the Security Police, and not by Amt III and VI. This particular document evidences the repeated error as to SD and Security Police; it is quite clear from this letter that the term SD was employed as an abbreviation for the Security Police. Although the text of the letter contains only the term Security Police, and it is specified that the Commandos are to be turned over to the Security Police, and that Security Police agencies shall assist in interrogations conducted by the Wehrmacht units, the letter contains a handwritten annotation by the official in charge at the OKW saying: "Thus arrested by SD." Another mistake in terminology common in Wehrmacht agencies occurred when Admiral Wagner during his interrogation before the Tribunal on 14 May 1946 persisted in speaking of the SD in connection with the Trondheim incident.
DR. GAWLIK: The same mistake in the application of the word SD is contained in Prosecution Document 532-PS (Exhibit Number RF-361), a letter from Commander-in-Chief West dated 26 June 1944, and in Documents Numbers 531-PS, 551-PS, D-649, 727-PS, 735-PS, D-774, D-775, D-780 and Exhibit GB-26. This erroneous application of the term SD had apparently become the custom with the Wehrmacht and other offices to such an extent that even Raeder, Keitel and Doenitz speak of transfers to the SD, although the SD was not competent for such measures. The Prosecution have further referred to the Decree of 4 August 1942 (Document 553-PS, USA-500) which, however, shows clearly that the Security Police were competent for the execution of this order. The order does not say that parachutists were to be turned over to the SD, but it was specified that they were to be transferred to the offices of the Chief of the Security Police and the SD. The same applies to Document Number D-864, Exhibit Number GB-457, in which reference is exclusively made to the competent office of the commander of the Security Police and the SD. This is something entirely different. The Chief of the Security Police and the SD was identical with the Chief of the RSHA and superior to the Aemter I to VII. This term thus fails to furnish proof that Aemter III and VI were competent. Beyond this, the Decree of 4 August 1942 makes it clear that by these offices only Aemter IV and V, that is, Gestapo and Criminal Police, can be meant, because under I, Figure 1, it says: "In all territories where the offices of the Security Police and the SD are established as executive, combating of individual parachutists is..." I draw attention to the words "as executive". Offices as executive agencies were only those of the State Police and the Criminal Police. The SD had no executive powers.
DR. GAWLIK: The hearing of evidence before the Commissions has clearly shown that such orders have been executed solely by the Security Police, although in numerous documents, owing to an error in terminology, the SD is mentioned in place of the Security Police. I refer primarily to the Prosecution Document 526-PS, Exhibit Number USA-502, a top-secret matter, dated 10 May 1943, where it says that the Fuehrer Order had been executed by the SD. The witness Dr. Hoffmann testified on 27 June 1946 before the Commission that here, since it was an executive measure, Security Police should be read instead of SD, because the Wehrmacht often mixed up the two terms. The correctness of the statements of the witness Dr. Hoffmann is corroborated by the testimony of the Defendant Jodl as a witness before the Tribunal. The Prosecution have next referred to Document C-176, Exhibit Number GB-228. This concerns the Commando action at Bordeaux, where it says on Page 713 that the two captured Englishmen had been shot by order of the Fuehrer in the presence of an officer of the SD. According to the testimony of the witness Knochen, the term SD was meant to indicate an official of the Gestapo. The fact that the Security Police actually was competent for the execution of the Commando Order and that "Security Police" should be read instead of "SD" in the orders of 4 August 1942 and 18 October 1942, is also apparent from the affidavit by Dr. Mildner of 16 November 1945 (Document 2374-PS). In this affidavit Mildner has stated that instructions had been issued to the Wehrmacht to turn over all members of British and American Commando units to the Security Police. The Security Police was to have interrogated- and subsequently shot these men. Mildner has also stated that the decree had been transmitted, through the Chief of Amt IV, Mueller, to the commanders and inspectors of the Police. Had the SD, Amt III or Amt VI, been competent, the order would not have been transmitted by the Chief of Amt IV, Gestapo, but by the Chiefs of Aemter III and VI to the offices of these organizations.
DR. GAWLIK: I further refer to the affidavit by Walther Huppenkothen (Affidavit Gestapo-39), formerly a Government Director in Amt IV E, RSHA, who, in connection with the agreement between Amt IV and the OKW on the subject of treatment of enemy radio agents, stated that such persons were in all cases to be turned over to the Gestapo, and that the Gestapo had frequently though erroneously been designated SD by Wehrmacht agencies. The Prosecution furthermore allege that the aims and tasks of the SD included affording protection to civilians who had lynched Allied airmen. In substantiation of this claim the Prosecution have submitted Document Numbers R-110 (Exhibit Number USA-333), 2990-PS, and 745-PS. Document R-110 is addressed only to the Police, not to the SD. According to the affidavit by Schellenberg of 18 November 1945 (Document 2990-PS) the Defendant Kaltenbrunner is stated to have said that all offices of the SD and the Security Police were to be informed that they were not to intervene in lynch actions against British and American airmen. In the supplementary affidavit submitted by me, Number SD-51, Schellenberg has stated that by this remark Kaltenbrunner did not refer to the SD but only to the Security Police. The letter from the SD Section Coblenz; to the Inspector of the Security Police and SD equally fails to show that the tasks of the SD included promotion of lynch justice, or that the SD had in any way taken part in such measures. The letter merely contains a communication from the SD Section Coblenz to the effect that the OKW had issued a similar order to Himmler's and Bormann's and that this order had been distributed down to company commanders for reading out to their units. It cannot, thus, be deduced from this letter that the SD had in any way taken part in such lynch justice, or had promoted it. I also refer to Document 057-PS, the order by Bormann, which is equally only addressed to the Police and the organizations of the Party. Kaltenbrunner's order, dated 5 April 1944 (Document 3855-PS, USA-806) is issued by Amt IV, Gestapo.
DR. GAWLIK: The witness Hoeppner declared on 1 August 1946 that the SD had received no instructions from Himmler not to interfere in clashes between the German population and Anglo-American airmen. Since the SD exercised no police functions, the problem of intervention did not arise in any case. The affidavits Schellenberg (Affidavit SD-60) and Dittel (Affidavit SD-63) show that Aemter VI and VII were also not competent for the execution of the Commando Order and lynch measures and have never been used to this end. I have also submitted Z84 affidavits for the entire territory of the Reich and covering the period between 1939 and 1945, which prove that the SD was in no way involved in the execution or maltreatment of Allied parachutists. Nacht und Nebel Decree. A further point in the indictment of the SD deals with participation in the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree. Competence for the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree was divided between the Wehrmacht offices and the Gestapo, as is shown by Document L-90. The Wehrmacht offices had received instructions to impose the death penalty for criminal acts against the Reich and the occupation army, undertaken by non-German civilians. However, if no such punishment was to be expected, these civilians were, according to Paragraph IV of the first supplementary regulations to the instructions contained in Document Number 91, to be taken to Germany by the Secret Field Police, there to be turned Over to a Stapo office. I also refer to the ordinance by the OKW dated 2 February 1942 (Document L-90), which shows that the RSHA (Kriminaldirektor Dr. Fischer) was competent for the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree. From the Prosecution Document L-185, the plan showing the distribution of work in the RSHA, dated I March 1941, it can be seen that Kriminaldirektor Dr. Fischer was in charge of Subsection IV E 3, Counter-Intelligence West, in Amt IV. This state of affairs is borne out by the second Prosecution Document 833-PS of 2 February 1942, signed by Canaris, Chief of the Amt Ausland Abwehr in the OKW.
DR. GAWLIK: These instructions provide that subjects of foreign countries coming under the Nacht und Nebel Decree were to be sentenced by the competent military courts in the territories occupied by Germany, provided that (a) the sentence involves capital punishment, (b) sentence is passed within 8 days after arrest. In all other cases the counter-intelligence agencies were to determine the time of arrest. The counter-intelligence agencies were to communicate any arrests to the RSHA, attention of Kriminaldirektor Dr. Fischer. The RSHA would then name a Stapo office which was to take over the prisoners. The distribution too shows that Aemter III, VI, and VII were in no way involved. The next Prosecution Document 668-PS, a letter by the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, dated 24 June 1942, with equal clarity shows the sole Competence of the Gestapo. The letter was issued by Amt IV, specifically by Subsection IV D 4. Had the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree come within the competence of the SD, this letter would have had to have been issued by one of the Aemter III, VI, or VII. I further refer to the testimony of the witness Dr. Ehlich before the Commission and to the testimony of the witness Knochen. Both have stated in conformity that the SD was not competent for the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree and did not take part therein. As to the decree by the OKW, signed by Keitel on 18 August 1944, it is true that it says that civilians were to be turned over to the SD; however, in this respect I refer to the affidavit by Keitel (SD-52). The same applies to the decree issued by Westerkamp on 13 September 1944, where the reference can also only be taken to mean the Gestapo. In Document D-762, Exhibit Number GB-892, under Figure 1, the SD is not mentioned, but only the Wehrmacht, the SS, and the Police. The method of expression used in Figure 2 is unclear.
DR. GAWLIK: Instead of "the nearest local office of the Security Police and the SD" it should have stated "the Chief of the Security Police and the SD." Document D-764, Exhibit Number GB-299, under Figure 4 correctly mentions the office of the Security Police and the SD. According to the whole context, Figure 5a can thus be taken as referring by "SD" to the competent police body. The SD was not even kept informed, as can be seen from the distribution. Of Document D-764, 11 copies were prepared; copies 1 to 10. were sent out to the Wehrmacht commanders, while copy 11 was communicated to the Gestapo. Had the SD been competent, the decree would have to have been sent to them as well. In connection with the decrees signed by Keitel (Session of 11 April 1946), in which it says that certain persons were to be turned over to the SD, I refer to the testimony of Keitel, according to which the designation "SD" has erroneously been used instead of  "Security Police." I also submitted 270 affidavits which show that in the occupied territories of Poland, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Lorraine, Belgium, Eupen-Malmedy, and in the following regions of Germany: Munich-Upper Bavaria, Rhine Province, Wuerttemberg, Hamburg, Saar-Palatinate, Silesia, Berlin, Styria, Thuringia, Sudetenland, Upper Silesia, the Tyrol, Saxony, Baden, Central Germany, Westphalia, East Prussia, Hesse, Moselle District, Eastern Bavaria, Holstein, Swabia, West Prussia, the SD had nothing to do with the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree. These statements cover the period from 1941 to 1945. From the affidavits by Schellenberg (Affidavit SD-61) and Dittel (Affidavit SD-63) it is clear that Aemter VI and VII also had no hand in the execution of the Nacht und Nebel Decree. Summary proceedings. Neither was the SD competent for the application of summary proceedings.
DR. GAWLIK: In this connection I wish to draw attention to the following contradiction: In the heading of Section VI H the Prosecution allege that the SD, through summary proceedings, had arrested, brought to trial, and convicted subjects of occupied countries. In the text under this heading it is, however, shown that such special criminal proceedings were applied by the Police. All the documents submitted are concerned with the Gestapo. I refer to the German transcript (Session of 2 January 1946), where only police courts and Gestapo summary courts are mentioned. The fact that the Police alone were competent is obvious from the documents submitted by the Prosecution. Document 654-PS repeats the contents of a preliminary discussion between Thierack and Himmler on their intention of turning over proceedings against Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Russians, and Ukrainians from the regular courts to the courts of the Reichsfuehrer SS. Another Prosecution Document, L-316, issued by the RSHA II on 5 November 1942, simply contains notice that such proceedings were to be transferred to the Police from the judicial authorities. Criminal proceedings against Jews were, in fact, transferred to the Police from the judicial authorities, and I refer in this connection to my Document Number SD-56. With regard to proceedings against Poles, Gypsies, Russians, and Ukrainians, no instructions to that effect were given. This is confirmed by the statement of the witness Lammers before the Tribunal (Session of 9 April 1946). The fact that in practice the SD had nothing to do with sentences pronounced against such persons appears from the letter from the President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Public Prosecutor at Katowice of 3 December 1941, addressed to the Reich Minister of Justice. This report mentions that 350 members of an organization involved in high treason had been hanged by the Police following instructions given by the Chief of the Stapo office in Katowice.
DR. GAWLIK: I further refer to the answer to Question Number 5 in the affidavit by Mildner of 29 March 1946 (Session of 11 April 1946). Here Mildner stated that these punishments and executions were ordered by Himmler, the orders being transmitted, through Kaltenbrunner and Mueller, to the commandants of the concentration camps. On 1 August 1946 the witness Hoeppner testified before the Tribunal that it was not among the functions of the SD to set up summary courts. The affidavits by Schellenberg and Dittel (Affidavits SD-61 and 63) show that Aemter VI and VII were also not competent for the application of summary proceedings. Furthermore, covering the period from 1939 to 1945, I have submitted 209 affidavits for the RSHA, Amt III, and a number of regions within the Reich and in the occupied territory of Russia, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Poland, which indicate that the SD was never in any way involved in summary proceedings for the purpose of convicting and executing subjects of occupied countries. Retaliation against next of kin (Sippenhaftung). In substantiation of the allegation that the SD had executed or imprisoned in concentration camps persons related to individuals accused of crimes, the Prosecution have referred to Document L-37, Exhibit Number USA-506. From the reference number of this document: IV B c -- 5/44 GRS, it is quite clear that this matter was attended to by the Gestapo. The next Prosecution Document, L-215, the original file on the deportation of Luxembourg nationals in 1944, clearly shows that the Gestapo dealt with the matter. I would point to the reference Number IV indicated on the various letters. This volume also contains numerous letters from the Stapo offices IV. The whole volume contains no letter indicating any participation of the SD. The witness Hoeppner stated on 1 August 1946 that the SD had nothing to do with retaliatory measures against next of kin. I also refer to the affidavit by Fromm (SD-56) who testified that the SD, Amt III and VI, had nothing to do with the measures indicated in Prosecution Document L-37.
DR. GAWLIK: Schellenberg and Dittel have also stated in their affidavits (SD-61 and 63) that Aemter VI and VII did not participate in retaliatory measures against next of kin. I also refer to 210 affidavits submitted by me, which show that the SD was not involved in any such measures in the territories formerly occupied by Germany of Russia, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland between 1939 and 1945. Shooting of prisoners in the Security Police and SD prison at Radom. In connection with this point, the Prosecution have submitted Document Number L-53, a letter by the commander of the security Police and the SD at Radom, dated 21 July 1944. The reference number of this letter also shows that this was purely a Gestapo affair. I also refer to the affidavit by Fromm (SD-56), who stated that the SD had no prisons in the Government General, that by Security Police and SD prisons the detention institutions of the Gestapo were meant, and that the matter treated in Document L-53 had not been dealt with by the SD. The fact that no SD prisons existed is also made clear by the testimony of Ehlich before the Commission. I also refer to the affidavit by Dr. Laube, who testified that the SD never had or ran prisons or detention Institutions of its own. In particular, Dr. Laube has confirmed this in the case of France, and the statements of Dr. Laube, as far as they deal with France, are supported by the affidavit by Wollbrandt (SD-14). In the case of Minsk, this has been confirmed by Gerty Breiter (SD-69). The affidavits by Schellenberg (SD-61) and Dittel (SD-63) show that Aemter VI and VII were not competent either. I have also submitted 189 affidavits for the entire territory of the Reich, Russia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia for the period covering 1939 to 1945, in which it is stated that by and to the SD no instructions were issued to murder prisoners in prisons in order to forestall their liberation by Allied troops, and that the SD never had a hand in such acts.
DR. GAWLIK: I have also submitted 22 collective affidavits covering the period between 1935 and 1945 which show, for the occupied territories of Russia, Eupen-Malmedy, Italy, Belgium, and Latvia, as well as for the territories of Brunswick, South Hanover, Aachen, West Prussia, East Prussia, Bavaria, the Saar Territory, the Palatinate, the Rhine Province, Wuerttemberg, Vienna, Upper Danube, Styria, the Tyrol, and the Sudetenland, that the SD at no time and in no place carried out arrests, and that there existed no SD prisons or prisoners. Requisitioning by force. Document Number 1015-PS shows quite clearly that the Einsatzstab Rosenberg was competent for the requisitioning of public and private property in all occupied territories. The Prosecution have referred to the Documents R-101, 071-PS, and 2620-PS. Document R-101 shows that requisitioning was carried out and ordered by the Main Trustee Office "Ost." Document Number 2620-PS, concerning Einsatzgruppen A, B, C, D, and Einsatzkommandos, provides no indication of the fact that Aemter III or VI were in any way active in requisitioning public or private property. Document 071-PS shows that requisitioning of works of art was to be conducted by the Police. "Requisitioning conducted by the Police" and "attention of the Police" are terms specifically mentioned. The document goes on to say that historical works and documents were demanded by the Police. Material is also mentioned which the Police justifiably requisitioned for purposes of their work. This document is simply another instance of the fact that the Police is meant by the term SD, for it says that requisitioning will be undertaken by the SD or the Police, although the text later shows that requisitioning was carried out exclusively by the Police. Thus, whenever this document mentions the SD, it presumably refers only to the Police. The evidence submitted by the Prosecution in itself already shows that the SD did not participate in the criminal acts alleged by the Prosecution. I also refer to the testimony of the witness Dr. Roessner.
DR. GAWLIK: The witness Franz Straub and the witness Knochen have testified, for Belgium and France respectively, that requisitioning of art treasures was not carried out by the SD. I further refer to the affidavit by Klauke (Number SD-15) who testified that Amt III never requisitioned property of Jews, Communists, Free Masons, or other political opponents. Beyond this, Kutter, Number SD-20, stated under oath that the SD within the Reich had strict orders not to carry out any executive measures, which would have included requisitioning. Schellenberg, in Number SD-61, and Dittel, in Number SD-63, have stated, as far as Aemter VI and VII are concerned, that neither of these two Aemter carried out any requisitioning of public or private property. I have 'also submitted 495 affidavits showing that during the period from 1934 to 1945 in the entire German territory as well as in the occupied territories of Alsace, France, Russia, Eupen-Malmedy, Poland, Italy, Lorraine, Luxembourg, and Czechoslovakia, the SD was never employed in requisitioning and distributing public or private property. Third-degree interrogations. The SD was not competent to conduct third-degree interrogations. In trying to prove their allegation to that effect, the Prosecution have referred to Document 1531-PS. From the testimonies and the documents submitted by me it is clear that the SD had no executive powers and was, therefore, unable to conduct any interrogations, including those involving third-degree methods. The Prosecution Documents 1531-PS and L-89 show that the Stapo alone were competent to conduct third-degree interrogations. The decrees contained in Document 1531-PS and dated 26 October 1939 and 12 June 1942 bear the reference Number IV and are signed by Mueller. Aemter III, VI, and VII were not even informed of this letter. The letter from the commander of the Security Police and the SD for the district of Radom, dated 24 February 1944, was also sent by Section IV A.