dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MAJOR FARR: "It is notable that by setting up this agency by division, corps, army in turn, we have gained for the SS the next higher step-which is the High Command of an army or even a group, if you wish to call it that." What the SS did with its divisions, corps, and army out of which the anti-partisan units were formed, is illustrated in the reports rendered as to the activities of such units. I offer in evidence the Activity and Situation Report 6 of the task forces of the Security Police and SD in the U.S.S.R., covering the period from the 1st to the 31st of October 1941. It is our Document R-102, and will be found in Volume 2 of the document book. It is Exhibit Number USA-470. The report shows that so-called "anti-partisan" activity was actually nothing but a name for extermination of persons believed politically undesirable and of Jews. The report is a very carefully organized and detailed description of such extermination. Section I describes the stations of the various task forces involved, Section II their activities. The latter section is divided into parts, each dealing with a different geographical region-the Baltic area, White Ruthenia, and the Ukraine. Under each area the report of activities is classified under three headings: (a) Partisan activity and- counteraction, (b) arrests and execution of Communists and officials, and (c) Jews. I shall read only a few typical paragraphs selected almost at random. First, to show the units involved, I quote the second and third paragraphs of Page 4 of the translation, which also appear on Page 1 of the original: "The present stations are: "Task Force A, since 7 October 1941 Krasnowardeisk; Task Force B. continues in Smolensk; Task Force C, since 27 September 1941 in Kiev; Task Force D, since 27 September 1941 in Nikolaiev.
MAJOR FARR: "The action and special commandos"-Einsatz- und Sonderkommandos-"which are attached to the task force continue on the march with the advancing troops into the sectors which have been assigned to them." I shall now read from the section headed "Baltic area" and subsection labelled "Jews," beginning with the first paragraph on Page 5 of the translation, Page 8 of the original, second paragraph: "The male Jews over 16 were executed with the exception of doctors and the elders. At the present time this action is still in progress. After completion of this action there will remain only 500 Jewesses and children in Ostland." I skip now to the section headed "White Ruthenia," the subsection headed, "Partisan activity and counteraction." The paragraph I shall read begins on Page 6, Paragraph 5 of the translation, found on Page 11, Paragraph 1 of the original. I quote: "In Wultschina eight juveniles were arrested as partisans and shot. They were inmates of a children's home. They had collected weapons which they hid in the woods. Upon search the following were found: 3 heavy machine guns, 15 rifles, several thousand rounds of ammunition, several hand grenades, and several packages of poison gas Ebrit. "b) Arrests and executions of Communists, officials, and criminals. A further large part of the activity of the Security Police was devoted to the combatting of Communists and criminals.
MAJOR FARR: A special Commando in the period covered by this report executed 63 officials, NKGB agents, and agitators." The subsection on arrests and executions of Communists, officials, and criminals in White Ruthenia ends as follows; and I read from Page 6 of the translation, Paragraph 14, Page 12 of the original, Paragraph 5: "The liquidations for the period covered by this report have reached a total of 37,180 persons." The final item I shall quote is from the section headed "Ukraine", under the subsection, "Jews." It will be found on Page 8 of the translation, Paragraph 10, Page 18 of the original, next to the last paragraph: "In Zhitomir 3,145 Jews had to be shot, because from experience they have to be regarded as bearers of Bolshevik propaganda and saboteurs." This report, the Tribunal will recall, deals with the activities of four task forces: A, B. C, and D. The more detailed report of Task Force A up to 15 October 1941 is our Document L-180. It has already been introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-276 and some paragraphs were read from it. It will be referred to again in the case against the Gestapo. I desire to read only two paragraphs, which show the great variety of SS components in such a task force. I might point out to the Court that this elaborately bound report, which the Court has already seen, has a sort of pocket-part supplement in which appears a breakdown of the personnel engaged in this action, in graphic form. I shall read the component parts which appear on this chart in a moment. First, I will quote from Page 5 of the translation, fourth paragraph...
THE PRESIDENT: Does that book you just put in refer to the extermination of the Jews in Galicia?
MAJOR FARR: This is the report of Action Group A, an antipartisan task force which operated in the Baltic States in 1941. The passage I will read appears on Page 5 of the translation, Paragraph 4 and on Page 12 of the original, first paragraph; I quote: "This description of the over-all situation shows that the members of the Gestapo"-the Secret State Police-"Kripo"- that is the Criminal Police-"and the SD"-Security Service- "who are attached to the task-force group, are active mainly in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, White Ruthenia, and to a lesser extent, in front of Leningrad. It shows further that the forces of the uniformed police and the Waffen-SS are active mainly in front of Leningrad, in order to take measures under their own officers against the streaming back of the population. This is so much easier because the task forces in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have at their disposal native police units, as described in Enclosure 1, and because so far 150 Latvian reinforcements have been sent to White Ruthenia. "The distribution of the leaders of Security Police and SD during the individual phases can be gathered from Enclosure 2; the advance and activities of the task force group and the task force commands, from Enclosure 3. It should be mentioned that the leaders of the Waffen-SS and of the uniformed police, who are on the reserve, have declared their wish to stay with the Security Police and the SD." I now quote from Enclosure 1a which was referred to, showing the constitution of the force. This will be found on Page 14 of the translation. It is the graphic chart which I showed the Court a few moments ago, the translation having simply the breakdown of the components.
MAJOR FARR: I quote: "Total strength of Task Force Group A, 990; Waffen-SS, 340, 34.4 percent; drivers, 172, 17.4 percent; administration, 18, 1.8 percent; Security Service"-SD-"35, 3.5 percent; Criminal Police"-Kripo-"41, 4.1 percent; State Police"-Stapo-"89, 9.0 percent; auxiliary police, 87, 8.8 percent; Order Police, 133, 13.4 percent; female employees, 13, 1.3 percent; interpreters, 51, 5.1 percent; telautograph operators, 3, 0.3 percent; wireless operators, 8, 0.8 percent." The Tribunal will observe that in that list there appear the Waffen-SS, the SD, Criminal Police, the Gestapo, and the ordinary police, all of which were part of the SS or under SS jurisdiction. One final report of anti-partisan activity may be referred to. It is a report from the General Commissar for White Ruthenia to the Reich Minister for Occupied Eastern Territories. It is our Document R-135, which I think is in the document book under 1475-PS-two document numbers have been combined. That document was introduced into evidence by Major Walsh as Exhibit Number USA-289, and he read into the record the letter from the Reich Commissar of the Eastern Territories transmitting the report in question. The letter he read appears on Page 1 of the translation. I desire to read a paragraph or two from the report itself, which is found on Page 3 of the translation. It deals with the results of the police operation "Cottbus." I quote the first paragraph: "SS Brigadefuehrer, Major General of Police Von Gottberg reports that the operation 'Cottbus' had the following result during the period mentioned: Enemy dead, 4,500; dead suspected of belonging to bands, 5,000; German dead, 59." I think it is unnecessary to continue further with the list. I skip to the fourth paragraph of the report: "The figures mentioned above indicate that again a heavy destruction of the population must be expected. If only 492 rifles are taken from 4,500 enemy dead, this discrepancy shows that among these enemy dead were numerous peasants from the country.
MAJOR FARR: The Battalion Dirlewanger especially has a reputation for destroying many human lives. Among the 5,000 people suspected of belonging to bands, there were numerous women and children. "By order of the Chief of Anti-Partisan Combat, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Von dem Bach, units of the Armed Forces have also participated in the operation." This is as far as I will quote. The Tribunal will recall that SS Obergruppenfuehrer Von dem Bach was referred to in the Posen speech by Himmler as "our comrade" whom he had placed in charge of anti-partisan activity. The activities I have just dealt with were joint activities, in which the Gestapo, Order Police, the Waffen-SS, and SS police regiments were all involved. But these units were also used individually to carry out tasks of such a nature. I offer in evidence a letter from the Chief of the Command Office of the Waffen-SS, our Document 1972-PS, as Exhibit Number USA-471. It is a letter from the Chief of the Command Office of the Waffen-SS to the Reichsfuehrer SS, dated 14 October 1941; subject: "Intermediate Report on Civilian State of Emergency." I shall read that letter; I quote: "I deliver the following interim report regarding the commitment of the Waffen-SS in the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia during the civilian state of emergency: "In turn all battalions of the Waffen-SS in the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia were assigned to shootings and hangings. "Up till now there occurred in Prague 99 shootings and 21 hangings, in Brunt 54 shootings and 17 hangings; total: 191 executions (including 16 Jews). "A complete report regarding other measures and on the conduct of the officers, noncommissioned officers, and men will be made following the termination of the civilian state of emergency." It is not surprising that units of the Waffen-SS and the branches which had thus been employed in extermination actions and in the execution of civilians are also to be found violating the laws of warfare when carrying on ordinary combat operations.
MAJOR FARR: I offer in evidence a supplementary report of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Court of Inquiry in regard to shooting of allied prisoners of war by the 12th SS Panzer Division in Normandy, France, between the 7th and 21st of June 1944. It is our Document 2997-PS, Exhibit Number USA-472. Extracts from that report consist of the formal record of the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry and the statement of its findings are included in the document book under that document number. They have been translated into German. Under Article 21 of the Charter , this Tribunal is directed to take judicial notice of the documents of committees set up in various Allied countries for the investigation of War Crimes and also of the records and findings of military or other tribunals of any of the United Nations. This report falls squarely within that provision. Therefore, without reading portions of the document, I shall summarize the findings of the Court of Inquiry which are set out on Pages 8 to 10 of the document. The court concluded that there occurred between the 7th and the 17th of June 1944 in Normandy, seven cases of violations of the laws of war...
THE PRESIDENT: What page?
MAJOR FARR: I am not quoting, I am summarizing what appears on Pages 8 to 10. There occurred seven cases of violations of the laws of war, involving the shooting of 64 unarmed Allied prisoners of war in uniform, many of whom had been previously wounded and none of whom had resisted or endeavored to escape; that the perpetrators were members of the 12th SS Panzer Division, the so-called Hitler Jugend Division; that enlisted men of the 15th Company of the 25th Panzer Grenadier Regiment of that Division were given secret orders to the effect that SS troops shall take no prisoners and that prisoners are to be executed after having been interrogated; that similar orders were given to men of the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the Division and of the 12th SS Engineering and Reconnaissance Battalions; and that the conclusion was irresistible that it was understood throughout the division that a policy of denying quarter or executing prisoners after interrogation was openly approved. Other combatants met a similar fate at the hands of other components of the SS. I refer to the execution of Allied fliers, of commandos and paratroopers, and of escaped prisoners of war who were turned over to the SD to be destroyed. Evidence of these actions will be presented in the case against the Gestapo. Combatants who were taken prisoner encountered the SS in another form. In the case against the Gestapo, evidence will be presented of commando groups stationed in prisoner-of-war camps to select prisoners for what the Nazis euphemistically called "special treatment". Finally, the entire control of prisoners of war was turned over to the Reichsfuehrer SS. I have read in evidence this morning our Document 058-PS which provided for the direction of all prisoner-of-war camps by Himmler. The final but vital phase of the conspiracy in which the SS played a leading role must be mentioned.
MAJOR FARR: The permanent colonization of conquered territories, the destruction of their national existence, and the permanent extension of the German frontier were fundamental objects of the conspirators' plans. The Tribunal received evidence, a day or so ago, of the manner in which these objectives were carried out through the forcible evacuation and resettlement of inhabitants of conquered territories, confiscation of their properties, denationalization and re-education of persons of German blood, and the colonization of the conquered territories by Germans. The SS was the logical agency to formulate and carry out the program. I have read into the record already the numerous statements made by Himmler as to SS training to play the role of the aristocracy of the new Europe. He put those theories into practice when he was appointed, on October 7, 1939, as Reich Commissioner for the consolidation of German folkdom. The decree by which he was appointed to that office, our Document 686-PS, has already been introduced into evidence as Exhibit Number USA-305. I shall not, therefore, read it. To make and carry out plans for the program of evacuation and resettlement, a new department of the SS Supreme Command was created: Staff Headquarters of the Reich Commissioner for the consolidation of German nationality. That is indicated on the chart by the fourth box from the top, on the extreme right-hand side. The functions of this office are described in the Organization Book of the NSDAP for 1943, our Document 2640-PS, which has already been introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-323. I shall read the description of the functions of that department appearing on Page 3 of the translation, the last paragraph, and Page 421 of the original.
MAJOR FARR: I quote: "The main office of the staff of the Reich Commissioner for the Preservation of German Nationality is entrusted with the whole settlement and constructive planning, for inclusion within the Reich of all those territories under the authority of the Reich, including all administrative and economic questions in connection with the settlement, especially the deployment, of manpower for this purpose." The colonization program had two principal objectives: First, the destruction of the conquered peoples by exterminating them, 20 Dec.45 deporting and confiscating their property; second, settling racial Germans on the newly acquired land. The extermination actions conducted by the SS, as to which I have just introduced evidence, contributed in part to clearing the conquered territories of persons who were deemed dangerous to the Nazi plan. But not every undesirable could be liquidated. Mass deportations accomplished the twin purpose of providing labor and of freeing the land for German colonists. Evidence as to the participation of SS agencies in deporting persons to concentration camps I have already introduced. The evacuation and resettlement program required the use of further deporting agencies. I quote from our Document 2163-PS, the National Socialist Year Book for 1941, Exhibit Number USA-444. The passage in question appears on Page 3 of the translation, Paragraph 5, and at Page 195 of the original. I quote: "For some time now, the Reichsfuehrer SS has had at his disposal an office under the management of SS Obergruppenfuehrer Lorenz, the National German Central Office"-Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VM). "This office has the task of dealing with national German questions and of gathering the required proofs. "In addition to the VM, the Immigration Center Office (EWZ), with the Chief of the Security Police and the Security Service of the SS (under the management of SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr.
MAJOR FARR: Sandberger) and the Settlement Staff of the Reich Commissioner were created which, in co-operation with the National Socialist Welfare Organization and the Reich Railroad Agency, took charge of the migration of national Germans." I also offer in evidence the affidavit of Otto Hoffmann, SS Obergruppenfuehrer and general of the Waffen-SS and Police, our Document L-49. I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-473. Hoffmann was Chief of the Main Office for Race and Settlement in the SS Supreme Command, until 1943. This affidavit was taken on August 4, 1945, at Freising, Germany. I shall read Paragraph 2 of that affidavit: "The executive power, in other words the carrying out of all so-called resettlement actions, that is to say, sending away of Polish and Jewish settlers and those of non-German blood from a territory in Poland destined for Germanization, was in the hands of the Chief of the RSHA (Heydrich, and later Kaltenbrunner, since the end of 1942). The Chief of the RSHA also supervised and issued orders to the so-called immigration center, which classified the Germans living abroad who returned to Germany and directed them to the individual farms already freed. The latter was done in agreement with the Staff Main Office of the Reichsfuehrer SS." Other SS agencies were involved in the program for deportation. The Tribunal has already received in evidence our Document 1352-PS, as Exhibit Number USA-176. It is a report relating to the confiscation of Polish agricultural enterprises, dated May 22, 1940, and signed "Kusche." Portions of that document dealing with the confiscation of Polish agricultural enterprises and the deportation of Polish owners of the land to Germany were read into the record. I shall read only one further paragraph showing SS personnel involved in this action. It appears on Page 2 of the translation, the first full paragraph; and on Page 10 of the original, Paragraph 2. Referring to the deportation of Polish farmers, the report says; and I quote: "Means of transportation to the railroad can be provided: 1.
MAJOR FARR: By the enterprise of the East German Corporation of Agricultural Development; 2. By the SS noncommissioned officers school in Lublinitz and the concentration camp of Auschwitz. "These two latter places will also detail the necessary SS men for the day of the confiscation, and so forth." The extent to which almost all departments of the Supreme Command of the SS were concerned with the evacuation program is shown by the minutes of a meeting on the 4th of August 1942 dealing with the deportation of Alsatians. It is our Document R-114, and was received in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-314. I shall read only the list of persons and offices represented at that conference, since the body of the report has been read in part into the record already. I start at the beginning of the document, Page 1 of R-114: "Memo on meeting of 4. 8. 42. Subject: General directions for the treatment of deported Alsatians. "Present: SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Stier, SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Petri, R.R. Hoffmann, Dr. Scherler, SS Untersturmfuehrer Forster;"-there is a notation next to their names of "Staff Main Office"; then-"SS Obersturmfuehrer Dr. Hinrichs, Chief of Estate Office and Settlement Staff, Strasbourg; SS Sturmbannfuehrer Bruckner, Racial German Arbitration Bureau;"-Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle-"SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Hummitsch, Reich Security Main Office;"-Reichssicherheitshauptamt-"SS Untersturmfuehrer Dr. Sieder, Main Office for Race and Settlement;"-RUS-Hauptamt-"Dr. Labes, D.U.T." The SS not only destroyed and deported conquered peoples and confiscated their property, it also repopulated the conquered regions with so-called racial Germans. Not all Germans were deemed reliable colonists, however. Those who were not were returned to Germany for re-Germanization and re-education along Nazi lines. A typical instance of the fate of such Germans is told in our Document Number R-112, which has already been introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-309. It is a decree of the Reich Commissioner for the consolidation of Germandom.
MAJOR FARR: That decree, as the Tribunal will recall, dealt with the treatment to be accorded so-called "Polonized" Germans. By the terms of that decree two SS functionaries were charged with the responsibility for the re-Germanization program: the Higher SS and Police Leaders, and the Gestapo. I think it is unnecessary for me to quote from that report, since portions have already been read into evidence. I will refer the Court specifically to Section III of the decree, which appears on Page 7 of the translation, and to Section IV of the decree, which appears on the same page, both of which indicate that the Higher SS and Police Leaders and the Gestapo were responsible for the re-Germanization actions. In the final stage of the process, the resettlement of the conquered lands by racially and politically desirable Germans, still other SS agencies participated. I quote again from our Document 2163-PS, the National Socialist Year Book for 1941, Exhibit Number USA-444. The passage appears on Page 3 of the translation, Paragraph 7, and on Page 195 of the original. I quote: "Numerous SS leaders and SS men helped with untiring effort in bringing about this systematic migration of peoples which has no parallel in history. "There were many authoritative and administrative difficulties which, however, were immediately overcome due to the unbureaucratic working procedure. This was especially guaranteed above all by the employment of the SS. "The procedure called 'Durchschleusung' takes 3 to 4 hours as a rule. The re-settler is being passed through eight or nine offices, following each other in organic order: Registration Office, card-index Office, certificate and photo Office, property Office, and biological, hereditary, and sanitary test of fines. The latter was entrusted to doctors and medical personnel of the SS and of the Armed Forces.
MAJOR FARR: The SS Corps Areas Alpenland, Northwest, Baltic Sea, Fulda-Werra, South and Southeast, the SS Main Office, the NPEA"-National Political Education Institution-"Vienna, and the SS Cavalry School in Hamburg, provided most of the SS officers and SS noncommissioned officers who worked at this job of resettlement." I omit the next three paragraphs and continue with the year book's conclusion as to the SS participation in the colonization scheme: "The settlement, establishment, and care of the newly-won peasantry in the liberated Eastern Territory will be one of the most cherished tasks of the SS in the whole future."
THE PRESIDENT: This might be a good time to break off until 2 o'clock.
MAJOR FARR: Yes, Sir.