dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MAJOR JONES: Biddle): It lasted for a little under two years until the end of the war, I suppose. REINECKE: Yes. 477 7 Aug. 46 THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): How many camps did you investigate? REINECKE: It began in Buchenwald Camp, and thereafter investigating commissions were sent to every 'camp which had attracted suspicion. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Witness, listen very carefully and answer the questions. All I asked you was how many camps did you investigate? REINECKE: In all, investigations were made in 7 to 10 camps, but I cannot give you the exact figure at the moment. It varied from time to time. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): You mean 7 to 10 in, all, altogether 7 to 10? REINECKE: Yes, that is what I meant. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Did that include labor training camps also? REINECKE: By the 7 to 10 camps I mean the "Stammlager" (parent camps), that is the concentration camps themselves, and from there the investigation spread from the parent camp where the commission was stationed to the labor camps. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And that included Auschwitz and Dachau? REINECKE: In both these concentration camps there were investigation commissions. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And Treblinka? REINECKE: Not in Treblinka, Your Lordship. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Did you investigate any camps outside of Germany? REINECKE: Yes, for instance we had a commission in the Concentration Camp Hertogenbosch in Holland, and there proceedings were instituted against a camp commander, which ended in long terms of imprisonment. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): How many investigators were you using at any one time? REII,CKE: The total of investigating officials may have varied from 30 o 50 people, the majority of whom were not taken from the legal authorities but were experts from the Reich Security Main Office and from the Criminal Police. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): No, I do not want-now, how many cases did you recommend for court action? 478 7 Aug. 46 REINECKE: Proceedings which ended with a sentence amounted to 200 up to the end of the war; that is to say, 200 sentences were passed which were actually carried out.
MAJOR JONES: THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Again I did not ask you that, Witness; I said, how many cases did you recommend for action. You made recommendations, did you not? REINECKE: Altogether 800 cases, 800 proceedings were instituted in the course of the investigations. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Where did you send your reports? Did you send them directly to the courts? REINECKE: When the investigation was completed and when the case was ready for prosecution, the reports from the investigating commissions went, together with the judge's order to prosecute, to the court itself, which would then hold the actual trial and pronounce sentence. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And where did copies of the reports go? Did a copy go to the Minister of the Interior? REINECKE: No, that I consider out of the question. THE TRIBUNAL(Mr. Biddle): You mean the Minister of the' Interior was not concerned with any of this? REINECKE: We are here concerned with criminal proceedings against members of the SS which, therefore, came under the penal jurisdiction of the SS and, as far as that is concerned, the Ministry of the Interior was not involved. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): You mean you were only investigating cases that involved the SS? REINECKE: All cases were investigated which originated in the camps, and these cases referred to SS members and also to Police members, that is to say, members of the Security Police who were brought to trial before the courts. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Well now, you have not told us what conditions you found in the camps. You said they were very bad. What were they; what was going on in the camps? REINECKE: We discovered through our investigations that in the camps there was to some extent a regular system of killing which was in use. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And as a result of discovering that there was a regular system of killing you thought there must be an order to that effect, although you never found it, is that right? REINECKE: Yes, Your Lordship. The fact that an order from above was in existence became known to us at the end of 1944. 479 7 Aug.,46 THE TRIBUNAL (Mr.
MAJOR JONES: Biddle): Now, why did you think that there was a regular system of killing? Was it because there were so many killings? REINECKE: For the reason that there were so many cases, and also because a system of co-operation between the concentration camp commanders with the criminal detainees could be established. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): That is right. And how many of those 7 to 10 camps, how many commandants, were involved in these killings? REINECKE: In practice the situation was such that practically every commander was brought under investigation and criminal proceedings were taken against five commanders in all. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Five, five out of how many? REINECKE: Altogether there were 12 commanders of concentration camps, because there were 12 large concentration camps, the so-called "Stamm" (parent) concentration camps. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): So out of 12 investigated you started proceedings against 5, is that right? REINECKE: Yes, that is so. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Now, you said you thought that the killings must be on a large scale. Did you find any evidence of any of the gas chambers which added to your belief that it might be a large-scale operation? You found some evidence of gas chambers? REINECKE: The first case in which a gas chamber appeared was the case of Auschwitz. That is the case, Your Lordship, that I have just mentioned here, with reference to the detainee Eleanora Hodis. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): When was it that you got a report that a gas chamber was being used in Auschwitz? When? REINECKE: That was at the end of October or the beginning of November 1944. THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Did you get figures of the numbers of persons who had died in these 10 concentration camps? Did you find out how many persons had died in the different camps? Did you get statistics? REINECKE: No, Your Lordship, about that we received no information. We had to collect and look for all the material ourselves, but we had no survey. TBE PRESIDENT: Can you remember the names of the five whom you prosecuted, the five commandants? 480 7 Aug.
MAJOR JONES: In addition, there was a goldsmelting furnace and really prodigious bars of gold. I also saw that the headquarters from which Wirth directed his operations was very small and inconspicuous., He had only three or four people working there for him. I spoke to them too. I saw and watched his couriers arrive. They actually came from Berlin, Tiergartenstrasse, the Fi1hrer's Chancellery, and went back there. I investigated Wirth's mail and I found in it confirmation of all this. Of course, I could not do or see all this on this first visit. I was there frequently. I pursued Wirth up to his death. HERR PELCKMANN: Did Wirth give you names of people who were connected with this operation? MORGEN: Not many names were mentioned, for the simple reason that the number of those who participated could be counted, so to speak, on one's fingers. I remember one name: I think the name was Blankenburg, in Berlin. HERR PELCKMANN: Blankenburg? MORGEN: Blankenburg, of the Fi1hrer's Chancellery. THE PRESIDENT: Well, we had better adjourn now. We have already been 50 minutes. [The Tribunal adjourned until 8 August 1946 at 1000 hours.] REINECKE'- That may well be, but that has a different sig-nificance, insofar as that did not make them members of the original organization but, as was often the case in wartime, they merely donned the uniform and were paid accordingly. If I pick out, for instance, on Page 28 of this document, the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office, with 24,091 alleged members of the Waffen-SS, I have to say that this can only refer to guards in con-centration camps, and it shows that these men, as so-called nominal members of the Waffen-SS, were merely detailed to the Economic and Administrative Main Office, but, had in reality nothing to do with the Waffen-SS. MAJOR JONES: If Your Lordship pleases, I submit that the document speaks for itself, and I have no further questions. THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal would like to have translations of the documents, of these two documents that you have referred to. MAJOR JONES: If Your Lordship pleases, they will be put in. MR.
MAJOR JONES: COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: My Lord, I do not wish to subject the witness to a detailed examination; I would like merely to be allowed to put one single question to him -upon a matter which he dealt with yesterday and in connection with a very short docu-ment which was mentioned yesterday. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You may do so. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Witness, did I understand you yesterday to say that there were honorary members of the SS? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: You asserted that this quality was only conferred in order to allow them to wear a uniform? Did I understand you correctly? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR ST~IIRNOV: I would7like to show you a let-ter to Himmler from one of those people whom you named yester-day as honorary members of the SS. I would like to read this very short document into the record. I quote: "22 July 1940. Berlin W-8, Wilhelmstrasse 73." THE PRESIDENT: Is it 1944 or 1940? MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: 1940, My Lord. It is a new docu-ment which bears the Number USSR-512. It was found by the Red Army in the Berlin archives. It will be submitted now to the Tribunal. I quote: "My dear Himmler: I was highly pleased to learn of my promotion by the Führer to the rank of Obdrgruppenführer of the SS. You know my attitude to your SS and how greatly I admire their development, which was the fruit of your own work. I shall always consider it a special honor to belong to this proud corps of the Führer, which is of decisive importance for the future of our Great German Reich. I remain your faithful friend, Joachim Ribbentrop." MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Tell me, Witness, does not the first sentence of the document testify to the fact that the members of the SS whom you ' called honorary members were actually promoted by Himmler according to his estimation of their activity? REINECKE: This document, in my opinion, proves something which I tried to describe yesterday.
MAJOR JONES: If Your Lordship pleases, I submit that the document speaks for itself, and I have no further questions. THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal would like to have translations of the documents, of these two documents that you have referred to. MAJOR JONES: If Your Lordship pleases, they will be put in. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: My Lord, I do not wish to subject the witness to a detailed examination; I would like merely to be allowed to put one single question to him -upon a matter which he dealt with yesterday and in connection with a very short docu-ment which was mentioned yesterday. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You may do so. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Witness, did I understand you yesterday to say that there were honorary members of the SS? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: You asserted that this quality was only conferred in order to allow them to wear a uniform? Did I understand you correctly? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR ST~IIRNOV: I would7like to show you a let-ter to Himmler from one of those people whom you named yester-day as honorary members of the SS. I would like to read this very short document into the record. I quote: "22 July 1940. Berlin W-8, Wilhelmstrasse 73." THE PRESIDENT: Is it 1944 or 1940? MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: 1940, My Lord. It is a new docu-ment which bears the Number USSR-512. It was found by the Red Army in the Berlin archives. It will be submitted now to the Tribunal. I quote: "My dear Himmler: I was highly pleased to learn of my promotion by the Führer to the rank of Obdrgruppenführer of the SS. You know my attitude to your SS and how greatly I admire their development, which was the fruit of your own work. I shall always consider it a special honor to belong to this proud corps of the Führer, which is of decisive importance for the future of our Great German Reich. I remain your faithful friend, Joachim Ribbentrop." MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Tell me, Witness, does not the first sentence of the document testify to the fact that the members of the SS whom you ' called honorary members were actually promoted by Himmler according to his estimation of their activity?
MAJOR JONES: REINECKE: This document, in my opinion, proves something which I tried to describe yesterday. I said that it is typical for the honorary leaders that they did not actually come from the SS as such; that is to say, they had not performed any duty in the SS for many years like all the other men, but who at some stage and quite suddenly were awarded a high rank and given SS uniforms, without in ... MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: No, Witness, I am asking you something quite different. You are not answering my question. I asked you if it was not a fact that Himmler promoted the so-called honorary members according to his estimation of their activity? From the SS point of view, naturally. REINECKE: Yes, that is correct, insofar as it was typical of Himmler's policy that personalities who were holding certain posi-tions of power were granted the right to wear the SS uniform, and those are the honorary leaders. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I have no further questions to, put to the witness, Mr. President. DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): Mr. Pres-ident, this morning the, Prosecution submitted a Document D-926, also numbered GB-568. The subject of that document is files of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice which deal with the death of prisoners of war in the concentration camp at Dachau. I ask for permission to read into the record Figure 12 of that document now, which was not read out by the Prosecution. As reason for my application, I should like to explain that this is the same document which I applied for 6 months ago and which could not be found. The portions of this document read by the Prosecution may create the impression that the statement by the Defendant Frank in the witness box with reference to this question may not be correct. Figure 12, however shows ... THE PRESIDENT: Whom are you applying on behalf of-Frank? DR. SEIDL: I make the application on behalf of the Defendant Frank. THE PRESIDENT: I think on Page 10 of the English copy, and. with the Heading 12, the two top paragraphs were read this. morning. DR.
MAJOR JONES: SEIDL: Only the two first sentences of Paragraph 2 were read. The remaining sentences were not read. Paragraph 3 was not read either. THE PRESIDENT: Very well, Dr. Seidl, you may read what you want to read. DR. SEIDL: I shall then quote under Figure 12 a note for the files: "Concerning: Dachau Concentration Camp. "I. Memorandum. The proposal of the State Minister of the Interior to quash the inquiry now pending at the public prosecution office at the Provincial Court, Munich II, into the death of the prisoners Handschuch, Franz, and Katz, who were in protective custody, was the subject of a discussion during the meeting of the Council of Ministers on 5 Decem-ber 1933. As a result, the State Minister of Justice communi-cated the following to the undersigned official: "The criminal proceedings regarding the happenings in the Dachau Concentration Camp are to be continued with all determination. The facts are to be cleared up with the utmost speed. If necessary the Landespolizei are to be brought in to assist. Any attempts to hush up the case must be opposed by all available means. "The Oberstaatsanwalt (public prosecutor) at the Provincial Court, Munich II, was instructed, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers, to continue the proceed-ings immediately with all energy, and try to clear up the incidents as soon as possible. He will apply for preliminary court investigations and see to their being completed rapidly -in the case of Franz and Katz immediately, and in the case of Handschuch after the arrival of the documents from the Political Police, who have been requested to return them. He has been instructed to keep the State Ministry of Justice informed about the course of the proceedings and to produce the files with an attached report about the result after the closing of the preliminary investigation, stating also what further action is intended. The public prosecutor at the Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeal) in Munich has been notified and instructed that he also for his part is to pay particular attention to the proceedings.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal would like to have translations of the documents, of these two documents that you have referred to. MAJOR JONES: If Your Lordship pleases, they will be put in. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: My Lord, I do not wish to subject the witness to a detailed examination; I would like merely to be allowed to put one single question to him -upon a matter which he dealt with yesterday and in connection with a very short docu-ment which was mentioned yesterday. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You may do so. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Witness, did I understand you yesterday to say that there were honorary members of the SS? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: You asserted that this quality was only conferred in order to allow them to wear a uniform? Did I understand you correctly? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR ST~IIRNOV: I would7like to show you a let-ter to Himmler from one of those people whom you named yester-day as honorary members of the SS. I would like to read this very short document into the record. I quote: "22 July 1940. Berlin W-8, Wilhelmstrasse 73." THE PRESIDENT: Is it 1944 or 1940? MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: 1940, My Lord. It is a new docu-ment which bears the Number USSR-512. It was found by the Red Army in the Berlin archives. It will be submitted now to the Tribunal. I quote: "My dear Himmler: I was highly pleased to learn of my promotion by the Führer to the rank of Obdrgruppenführer of the SS. You know my attitude to your SS and how greatly I admire their development, which was the fruit of your own work. I shall always consider it a special honor to belong to this proud corps of the Führer, which is of decisive importance for the future of our Great German Reich. I remain your faithful friend, Joachim Ribbentrop." MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Tell me, Witness, does not the first sentence of the document testify to the fact that the members of the SS whom you ' called honorary members were actually promoted by Himmler according to his estimation of their activity? REINECKE: This document, in my opinion, proves something which I tried to describe yesterday.
MAJOR JONES: If Your Lordship pleases, they will be put in. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: My Lord, I do not wish to subject the witness to a detailed examination; I would like merely to be allowed to put one single question to him -upon a matter which he dealt with yesterday and in connection with a very short docu-ment which was mentioned yesterday. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You may do so. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Witness, did I understand you yesterday to say that there were honorary members of the SS? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: You asserted that this quality was only conferred in order to allow them to wear a uniform? Did I understand you correctly? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR ST~IIRNOV: I would7like to show you a let-ter to Himmler from one of those people whom you named yester-day as honorary members of the SS. I would like to read this very short document into the record. I quote: "22 July 1940. Berlin W-8, Wilhelmstrasse 73." THE PRESIDENT: Is it 1944 or 1940? MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: 1940, My Lord. It is a new docu-ment which bears the Number USSR-512. It was found by the Red Army in the Berlin archives. It will be submitted now to the Tribunal. I quote: "My dear Himmler: I was highly pleased to learn of my promotion by the Führer to the rank of Obdrgruppenführer of the SS. You know my attitude to your SS and how greatly I admire their development, which was the fruit of your own work. I shall always consider it a special honor to belong to this proud corps of the Führer, which is of decisive importance for the future of our Great German Reich. I remain your faithful friend, Joachim Ribbentrop." MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Tell me, Witness, does not the first sentence of the document testify to the fact that the members of the SS whom you ' called honorary members were actually promoted by Himmler according to his estimation of their activity? REINECKE: This document, in my opinion, proves something which I tried to describe yesterday.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: My Lord, I do not wish to subject the witness to a detailed examination; I would like merely to be allowed to put one single question to him -upon a matter which he dealt with yesterday and in connection with a very short docu-ment which was mentioned yesterday. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You may do so. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Witness, did I understand you yesterday to say that there were honorary members of the SS? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: You asserted that this quality was only conferred in order to allow them to wear a uniform? Did I understand you correctly? REINECKE: Yes. MR. COUNSELLOR ST~IIRNOV: I would7like to show you a let-ter to Himmler from one of those people whom you named yester-day as honorary members of the SS. I would like to read this very short document into the record. I quote: "22 July 1940. Berlin W-8, Wilhelmstrasse 73." THE PRESIDENT: Is it 1944 or 1940? MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: 1940, My Lord. It is a new docu-ment which bears the Number USSR-512. It was found by the Red Army in the Berlin archives. It will be submitted now to the Tribunal. I quote: "My dear Himmler: I was highly pleased to learn of my promotion by the Führer to the rank of Obdrgruppenführer of the SS. You know my attitude to your SS and how greatly I admire their development, which was the fruit of your own work. I shall always consider it a special honor to belong to this proud corps of the Führer, which is of decisive importance for the future of our Great German Reich. I remain your faithful friend, Joachim Ribbentrop." MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Tell me, Witness, does not the first sentence of the document testify to the fact that the members of the SS whom you ' called honorary members were actually promoted by Himmler according to his estimation of their activity? REINECKE: This document, in my opinion, proves something which I tried to describe yesterday.