dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
DR. GAWLIK: I have also submitted 127 affidavits from all parts of the Reich for the period between 1941 and the end of the war, which prove in the main that (1) an members of the Einsatzgruppen were usually referred to as "SD" owing to their uniform equipment with the SD badge; (2) the employment of members of the SD in mass killings was not known to SD members in the offices within the Reich; (3) the honorary assistants of the SD had- no knowledge of the activities of the Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos in the East. II. Einsatzkommandos in prisoner-of-war camps. The SD is also charged with having formed special formations in prisoner-of-war camps for the purpose of establishing and executing racially and politically undesirable persons. My Documents Number SD 18-22 prove that this was not the task of the SD, but solely of the Stapo. These documents also show in particular that these Kommandos were not designated "Einsatzkommandos of the SD," as stated by the witness Lahousen. The Defendant Jodl has confirmed the fact that prisoners of war were never turned over to the SD for special treatment, since the SD had entirely different tasks. The Defendant Jodl testified that prisoners of war were at the utmost turned over to the Security Police. It may thus be assumed to have been proved that the SD did not take part in these acts and was not employed for that purpose. Although the witness Warlimont in his affidavit mentions that political functionaries were to be transferred to the SD (Document 2884-PS), this, in the light of the statement of the Defendant Jodl, may be taken to be a mistake in terminology, and presumably refers to the Gestapo. The documents submitted by the Prosecution fail to prove the contrary. The witness Lahousen, in his affidavit of 14 November 1945 (Document 2846-PS), mentions the SD, although obviously he means the Security Police. This is clearly apparent from a statement he made before the Tribunal on 30 November 1945.
DR. GAWLIK: According to the minutes of a conference which took place on the subject of the employment of these Kommandos between General Reinecke and Mueller during the summer of 1941, he mentions Obergruppenfuehrer Mueller of the SD (Session of 30 November 1945). The Tribunal is familiar with the fact that Mueller never belonged to the SD, Amt III or VI, and that he was the Chief of Amt IV, Gestapo, until the end. The witness Lahousen thus evidently was not referring to the SD, Amt III or VI, but to the Gestapo. The testimony of the witness Lahousen clearly indicates the competency of the Gestapo. He testified that Mueller had taken part in the conference because he was competent for the executions in prisoner-of-war camps. Document 502-PS supplies no proof of any participation of the SD. On the contrary, it proves that the Gestapo alone was competent for such measures, for the fourth paragraph before the end specifies that the Chief of the Einsatzkommandos was to contact the chief of the nearest local Gestapo office in connection with any executions or other measures. The Prosecution Document 1165-PS also proves that only the Gestapo was competent for such action, because these instructions, which referred to the executions undertaken, are forwarded by Mueller, the Amtschef of the Gestapo, to all Gestapo offices. Had the SD, Amt III or VI, in any way participated in such action, these instructions would equally have been forwarded to all SD offices. Document R-178 consistently, though erroneously, speaks of Einsatzkommandos of the Chief of the Security Police and the SD employed for the purpose of selection. The fact is that--as the document shows--only the Gestapo offices Munich, Regensburg, and Nuernberg-Fuerth undertook selection with their own special Kommandos. Captain Dr. Woelzl, mentioned on Page 21 of Document R-178, gave an affidavit saying that the SD had not participated in these selection Kommandos. In this connection I would also refer to Document 2884-PS.
DR. GAWLIK: This is a decree by Warlimont, formerly Deputy Chief of Staff of the Wehrmachtfuehrungsstab, dated 12 May 1941, on the uniform handling of executions of British prisoners of war. In this decree Warlimont correctly designates the Einsatzkommandos as "Einsatzkommandos of the Security Police." The fact that the Gestapo alone was competent for executions of prisoners of war is apparent from an affidavit by Lindow. Lindow states that Section IV A I had a subsection directed by the Regierungsoberinspektor, later Regierungsamtmann, and SS HauptsturmFuehrer Franz Koenigshaus. This dealt with prisoner-of-war matters. This subsection also attended to the decrees and orders of Himmler during the years 1941 and 1942, according to which captured Soviet-Russian Political Commissars and Jewish soldiers were to be executed. Koenigshaus is stated to have prepared the orders for the executions and submitted them to Mueller, the Chief of Amt IV. Early in 1943 the subsection was dissolved and distributed among the sections of IV B, according to countries concerned. In particular Lindow stated that the Einsatzkommandos in the prisoner-of-war camps had been directed by members of the Gestapo (Figure 4 of the Lindow affidavit, Document 2542-PS). In proving my contention that the SD, Amt III, had no hand in these measures, I also refer to the affidavit by Fromm (SD-56). In this affidavit Fromm declared that the SD had special formations in the Government General. As to the territory of France, the witness Knochen stated before the Commission that no such special formations of the SD were employed in prisoner-of-war camps in France. I also draw attention to the testimony of the witness Ehlich before the Commission, who stated that such measures were not the task and activity of the SD, Amt III. As for Amt VI, I refer to Affidavit Number SD-61, where the Witness Schellenberg has testified that Amt VI was not competent either and was never employed in this connection. For Amt VII the witness Dittel made the same declaration (SD-63).
DR. GAWLIK: I also submitted 266 affidavits showing that in Russia, Poland, Alsace, Italy, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Lorraine, and the following regions of Germany: South Hanover-Brunswick, the Saar territory, the Palatinate, Munich-Upper Bavaria, Cologne, Wuerttemberg, East Prussia, Upper Danube, Vienna, Military District VII, Bavaria, West Prussia, Styria, the Sudetenland, Hamburg, Upper Silesia, the Tyrol, Central Germany, Eastern Bavaria, Westphalia, Magdeburg-Anhalt, Berlin-Brandenburg, Swabia, Silesia, Central Franconia, Wartheland, Thuringia, Bremen, Holstein, Hesse, Saxony, and in a large number of cities, the SD did not have Kommandos in prisoner-of-war camps for the purpose of establishing and executing racially and politically undesirable prisoners of war. The declarations comprise the period between 1939 and 1945. Bullet Decree. For the execution of the Bullet Decree the SD Within the Reich, Amt III, was equally not competent, and it has never been employed for this purpose. The responsibility and competency for this decree has been correctly described by defense counsel for the Defendant Goering. It is stated that Hitler, in the absence of Keitel, gave the order for the shootings to Himmler, who directly transmitted it to Mueller and Nebe. Mueller was Amtschef of the Gestapo, Nebe Amtschef of the Criminal Police. This proves that the Stapo and the Criminal Police were competent for the execution of the order. This also becomes clear from Document D-569 with annex, the decree by the Chief of the Security Police and the SD dated 11 December 1941, embodying an ordinance from the OKW of 22 November 1941. The decree of 11 December 1941 specifies that Soviet prisoners of war were to be transferred to the Stapo or the Einsatzkommandos. The ordinance by the OKW, dated 22 November 1941, provides that escaped Soviet prisoners of war were in every case to be turned over to the nearest office of the Gestapo, such transfer to be subsequently reported to the Wehrmacht Information Center.
DR. GAWLIK: I also refer to the teletype by Mueller dated 4 March 1944 (Document 1650-PS, USA-246), which is addressed only to the Stapo offices and the inspectors of the Security Police and the SD. This teletype contains orders for the Stapo offices to report on the execution of the order. Paragraph 2 then goes on to state that the prisoners of war were to be turned over to the local police office. Paragraph 3 mentions that escaped and recaptured British and American officers and nonworking NCO's were to be held in police detention in the locality of the Stapo office. Paragraph 5 indicates that the local administrative and police authorities were advised of this decree. Aemter III and VI were not informed, which would have been indispensable had they had any part in these measures. Clearly the Prosecution have assumed participation of the SD from the fact that the Amtschef of the Gestapo, Mueller, signed the decree as Deputy Chief of the Security Police and the SD, and also forwarded it to the inspectors of the Security Police and the SD. These titles, however, give no indication of any participation on the part of the SD. The Prosecution have also referred to a letter from the Military District Command VI, dated 27 July 1944 (Document 1514-PS), but this document equally shows no participation on the part of the SD. In the heading preceding Figure 1 transfer to the Gestapo is specifically mentioned, and Figure 1a states that the camp commander was to transfer the prisoners of war to the Gestapo, while Figure 1b says that the prisoners of war were to be turned over to the nearest police office. Figure 1c mentions that recaptured officers were to be turned over to the Gestapo and Figure 1d specifies that Soviet officers refusing to work were to be transferred to the nearest Stapo office. Figures e, g, 3 and 4 equally only mention that the prisoners of war should be turned over to the Gestapo. The Document contains no orders indicating any participation of the SD.
DR. GAWLIK: Under Figure 1f mention is made of the selection Kommandos, which are here designated as Einsatzkommandos of the Security Police and the SD. I have already enlarged upon the fact that the SD took no part in these Einsatzkommandos either, so that this is obviously an error in terminology. The statement under oath by Willi Litzenberg (Document 2478-PS) also provides proof that only the Security Police had a hand in these measures. The SD, Amt III, VI, and VII, is not mentioned at all in this document. The hearing of evidence for the Tribunal has shown that the Bullet Decree was executed by the Gestapo and the Criminal Police and that the SD did not participate. I refer in particular to the statements of General Westhoff (Session of 10 April 1946). I also refer to the testimony of a Senior Government Counsellor of the Criminal Police, Max Wielen, who was interrogated on the subject of the shooting of 50 RAF officers from the camp at Sagan. Wielen testified that the shooting was carried out by officials of the Gestapo (Session of 10 April 1946). In this connection I also refer to the testimony of Keitel, who stated that Hitler had given orders that the prisoners of war were not to be returned to the Wehrmacht, but were to remain in the custody of the Police. The witnesses Roessner and Ehlich have also testified that the SD did not participate in the execution of the Bullet Decree and had no knowledge of this. As for Amt VI, the former Amtschef Schellenberg has made the same declaration in Affidavit Number SD-61, while Dittel, at the end Deputy Amtschef VII, has done the same for that Amt by Affidavit Number SD-63. I also refer to Affidavit 56, where Fromm made that declaration for the Government General, and the testimony of Knochen to the same effect for France. I have submitted 288 affidavits showing that in the entire territory in the Reich, in the occupied Russian territory, and in the occupied territories of France, Lorraine, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland the SD had nothing to do with the execution of the Bullet Decree.
DR. GAWLIK: The statements cover the period between 1939 and 1945. Concentration Camps. Under Figure VI D of the trial brief against the Gestapo and the SD the SD is further accused of having been responsible for the institution and distribution of concentration Camps and for the assignment of racially and politically undesirable persons to concentration and extermination camps for the purpose of forced labor and mass murder. The trial brief against the SS charges the SD with having been employed by the conspirators for the purpose of safeguarding their power by means of the concentration camps, and thereby terrorizing any opponents. The Prosecutor for the United States on 19 December 1945 suggested that the SD and the Security Police had participated in the system of concentration camps when they detected and arrested victims. Nothing however has been stated in substantiation of these allegations. The entire Section VI D of the trial brief does not even mention the SD, except in the heading. The Prosecution themselves, referring to Prosecution Documents 2108-PS--which is contained in my document book under Number SD-36a -- and 1723-PS, state in Section VID on Page 43 of the trial brief that the Gestapo alone had authority to place persons in protective custody and that the Gestapo possessed instructions to institute concentration camps, transform prisoner-of-war camps into concentration camps, set up corrective labor camps and to form special sections for female prisoners. I therefore believe that I can be very brief on this subject. The statements by the Prosecution also prove that the Gestapo was competent for the institution and distribution of concentration camps and that the local Gestapo offices carried out arrests (Session of 2 January 1946). The proceedings have demonstrated that the entire administration of the concentration camps (food, accommodation, camp regulations) was the task of the WVHA. which was directed by Pohl. Here I refer in particular to the testimony of Kaltenbrunner (Session of 11 April 1946).
DR. GAWLIK: The Inspector of Concentration Camps was immediately subordinated to Himmler. I also refer to the testimony of the witness Hoess, and the same is shown by the documents submitted by the Prosecution. The Prosecution Documents D-50 and D-46 also show the sole competency of the Gestapo. The documents were issued by Amt IV of the Reich Security Main Office and signed by Mueller, the Chief of that Amt. The Aemter III, VI and VII were not even informed of these decrees. The reference Number IV on Document 1063 A-PS also indicates that the Gestapo was exclusively competent, and it is irrelevant that the document was issued by Heydrich as Chief of the Security Police and the SD. This fact in Itself does not indicate the competency of the SD, and from the distribution it can be seen that the SD In no way participated. From none of the other documents mentioned on Pages 44 to 46 of the trial brief (2477-PS, 1531-PS, L-358, L-215, 1472-PS, 1063-D-PS, L-41, 1063-E-PS, 701-PS and 2615-PS) does any participation of the SD in the infliction of protective custody or assignment to a concentration or corrective labor camp result. The very statements of the Prosecution and the documents submitted by them thus go to show that the SD bad nothing to do with the institution and distribution of concentration camps and the transfer of racially and politically undesirable persons to extermination camps for the purpose of forced labor or mass murder. In Document 3012-PS mention is made of an escape of SD prisoners, but from the context of the document it is clear that this refers to prisoners of the Sonderkommando IV A which had no contact, as far as organization goes, with the SD, Amt III, VI or VII. I also refer to the testimony of Kaltenbrunner (Session of 11 April 1946), the affidavit by Dr. Mildner (Document Book Kaltenbrunner, Page 1), the testimony of Knochen, and the testimony of Von Eberstein, which equally show that the SD had nothing to do with concentration camps.
DR. GAWLIK: Schellenberg and Dittel have shown in their Affidavits Numbers SD-61 and 63 that the Aemter VI and VII had nothing to do with the institution, distribution, and assignment of concentration camps either. I also refer to the affidavit by Fromm (Affidavit SD-56) and the affidavit by Laube (Affidavit SD-54), who have affirmed, for the former Government General and for France respectively, that the SD had no part in the assignment of persons to concentration camps or in the administration of such camps. In the case of France this was confirmed by the witness Knochen. As to the documents submitted by the Prosecution I refer to the testimony of the witness Dr. Ehlich (R-112, USA-309). I also submit 289 affidavits for the entire range of the SD Hauptamt, as wen as for the whole territory of the Reich and numerous occupied territories. The authors of these affidavits, which cover the period between 1934 and 1945, have stated as regards these territories that the SD had nothing to do with the institution and guarding of concentration camps, or with the assignment of persons to such camps. Deportation. As a further charge against the SD the Prosecution have stated that the SD had participated in mass deportation of citizens of occupied countries for the purpose of forced labor. Furthermore, the Gestapo and the SD are alleged to have been in charge of punishment inflicted on forced laborers. The Prosecution have claimed that the important position which, besides the Gestapo, the SD had held on the subject of arrests for the purpose of forced labor, resulted from the following documents: L-61, 3012-PS, 1573-PS, 1063-B-PS. However, these very documents already provide proof of the fact that the SD was not competent for the entire subject-matter and did not become active in the execution.
DR. GAWLIK: Document L-61 is a letter by the Defendant Sauckel, dated 26 November 1942, to the presidents of the Provincial Labor Offices, in which it is mentioned that the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, In other words, Heydrich, had informed him that in the course of the month of November the Poles would be evacuated from the district of Lublin. This communication on the part of Heydrich, however, in no way shows that Heydrich made use of the Aemter III, VI, and VII for the purpose of this evacuation -- if it was carried out at all, which is by no means certain. Such a procedure is, on the contrary, unlikely, for evacuation did not feature among the tasks incumbent on these Aemter. Document 3012-PS is a letter from the Chief of the Sonderkommando IVa to the Kommando chiefs of his subsidiary Kommandos. I have already indicated that the Einsatzgruppen were entirely independent organizations from the Aemter III, VI, and VII, so that this document cannot be looked upon as incriminating any one of the Aemter named. Incidentally the document shows that the deportation was not carried out by the SD, but by the Security Police. It states literally: "In view of the present political situation, particularly with regard to the armament industry within the Reich, Security Police measures must be largely subordinated to the problem of the mobilization of labor in Germany." In all other places this document also only mentions measures to be carried out by the Security Police. The next Prosecution Document, 1573-PS, clearly demonstrates the competency for the execution of measures directed against foreign workers, and also indicates that such measures were applied by the State Police. This document bears the reference Number IV. It is signed by Mueller and addressed only to State Police offices, the SD not even being mentioned in the letter, if only for information. It would undoubtedly have had to have been addressed to the SD too, if, as the Prosecution alleges, that agency had been employed in applying these measures.
DR. GAWLIK: As far as corrective labor camps are concerned, the Prosecution Document 1063 B-PS clearly shows that the Security Police was exclusively competent for them. It says in this document: "The Relchsfuehrer SS has authorized, apart from the concentration camps administered by the WVHA, the institution of labor corrective camps, which will be exclusively in the competence of the Security Police." During the session of 12 December 1945 the Prosecution have submitted a secret order by Hitler of 20 February 1942 (Document 3040-PS), concerning Eastern Workers and measures of compulsion to be employed in connection with them, and have alleged that this order had been addressed to the SD police officers, who never existed. The SD had no officers; only the Police did. From the contents of this document it can be seen clearly and without any doubt that the Gestapo alone was competent. It says in this document: "Lack of discipline, which includes refusal to work in disobedience to orders and slackness in work, will be combated only by the German State Police. Simple cases will be settled by the chief of the guard on the instructions of the State Police. In serious cases ... the Gestapo will intervene with the means at its disposal." In connection with the Prosecution affidavit made by Dr. Wilhelm Hoettl (Document 2614-PS) I have submitted the supplementary Affidavit Number SD-37 and the affidavit Gahrmann Number SD-38. Beyond this, in proving that the SD took no part in deportations, I refer to the testimony of the witness Ehlich before the Commission, the affidavit by Fromm, Number SD-56, and by Laube, Number SD-54. The affidavit by Fromm, in particular, refutes the Prosecution Document L-61. As for France, the witness Knochen has testified that the SD did not participate in deportations. The Prosecution Document 1063-PS also shows that the corrective labor camps were not subordinate to the SD, Amt III, VI, or VII. In, this document it says specifically that the corrective labor camps were solely the competence of the Security Police.
DR. GAWLIK: In particular I wish to refer to the testimony of the witness Albath before the Commission, who confirms this fact. I have also submitted 276 affidavits by which members of the SD for the period between 1939 and 1945 have stated, as regards the territories formerly occupied by Germany of Alsace, Russia, Poland, France, Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the entire territory of the Reich, that the SD was not employed in connection with the deportation for forced labor or in guarding forced labor camps. As far as Aemter VI and VII are concerned, I refer to the affidavits by Schellenberg (Affidavit SD-61) and Dittel (Affidavit SD-63), which show that these Aemter were not active in the deportation and did not guard forced labor either. Furthermore, it is stated in the trial brief against the SS, III G, that immigration centers were organized for the purpose of conducting evacuations under the control of the Chief of the Security Police and the SD and the Chief of the Reich Security Main Office. In this connection the Prosecution cite Document L-49, an affidavit by Otto Hoffmann. For this I refer to the testimony by Dr. Ehlich and the affidavit by Sandberger (Affidavit SD-64). Commando Order. A further accusation brought against the SD of having participated in the execution of the Commando Order is due to the fact that the Wehrmacht agencies by mistake used the abbreviation "SD" for the Security Police. In this connection I would refer to my earlier statements in the second chapter. The fact that in documents and interrogations of witnesses the term SD has been used, although no reference to the Aemter III and VI was intended, can be traced to this repeated error in terminology. In the first place this applies to Document 498-PS, Exhibit USA-501. The distribution on this document clearly shows that "SD" was not intended to mean the intelligence service, Amt III or VI, but the Security Police.