dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): Sections for nutrition and agriculture, allotment of all agricultural products, provision of food supplies for the Army, in accordance with the competent army services." I next offer in evidence Document Number EC-126, which is Exhibit Number USA-316. This is a report dated 23 May 1941, which was before the invasion of the Soviet Union. It was found among the captured files of the OKW. It is entitled, "Economic Policy Directives for Economic Organization East, Agricultural Group." It was prepared by the Economic Staff East, Group La, the Agricultural Group, which as shown by the exhibit introduced a moment ago, was an important part of the organization which Defendant Goering established to formulate plans for the economic administration of Russia. The underscoring in the English text merely reflects the underscoring in the original. The document begins by a recitation of facts pertaining to the production of agricultural products in the Soviet Union. It states that the grain surplus of Russia is determined by the level of domestic consumption and that this fact affords the basis upon which the planners must predicate their actions and economic policy. I now quote from the sixth and seventh paragraphs of Page 2 of the English text. The German text is the last three lines of Page 3 and the first five lines of Page 4. I quote: "The surplus territories are situated in the black soil district (that is in the south and southeast) and in the Caucasus. The deficit areas are principally located in the forest zone of the North (podsol-soil district). Therefore, an isolation of the black soil areas will in any case place greater or lesser surpluses in these regions at our disposal. The consequences will be cessation of supplies to the entire forest zone, including the essential industrial centers of Moscow and Leningrad." Next, I quote from the last 11 lines of Page 2 and all of Page 3 of the English text. The German text begins in the middle of line 6 of Page 5 and continues through to line 29 of Page 6.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): I quote: "This"-the cessation of supplies-"means: "1. All industry in the deficit area, particularly the manufacturing industries in the Moscow and Leningrad regions as well as the Ural industrial regions will be abandoned. It may be assumed that these regions today absorb an annual 5 to 10 million tons from the food production zone. "2. The Trans-Caucasian oil district will have to be excepted, although it is a deficit area. This source of oil, cotton, manganese, copper, silk, and tea must continue to be supplied with food in any case, for special political and economic reasons. "3. No further exception, with a view to preserving one or the other industrial region or industrial enterprise, must be permitted. "4. Industry can only be preserved insofar as it is located in the surplus region. This applies, apart from the abovementioned oil field regions in the Caucasus, particularly to the heavy industries in the Donets district (Ukraine). Only the future will show to what extent it will prove possible to maintain in full these industries, and in particular the Ukrainian manufacturing industries, after the withdrawal of the food surplus required by Germany. "The following consequences result from this situation, which has received the approval of the highest authorities, since it is in accord with the political tendencies (preservation of the Little Russians, preservation of the Caucasus, of the Baltic provinces, of White Russia, to the prejudice of the Great Russians): "I. For the forest zone: "a) Production in the forest zone (the food-deficit area) will become 'naturalized,' similar to the events during the World War and the Communist tendencies of the war, and so forth -namely, agriculture in that territory will begin to become a mere 'home production.' The result will be that the planting of products destined for the market, such as flax and hemp in particular, will be discontinued; and the area used therefor will be taken over for products for the producer (grain, potatoes).
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): Moreover, discontinuance of fodder deliveries to that area will lead to the collapse of the dairy production and of pig-producing in that territory. "b) Germany is not interested in the maintenance of the productive power of these territories, except for supplying the troops stationed there. The population, as in the old days, will utilize their land for growing their own food. It is useless to expect grain or other surpluses to be produced. Only after many years can these extensive regions be intensified to an extent that they might produce genuine surpluses. The population of these areas, in particular the 17 Dec.45 urban population, will have to face most serious distress from famine. It will be necessary to divert the population into the Siberian spaces. Since rail transport is out of the question, this too, will be an extremely difficult problem. "c) In this situation, Germany will only draw substantial advantages by quick, non-recurrent seizure-that is, it will be vitally necessary to make the entire flax harvest available for German needs, not only the fibers but also the oleaginous seeds. "It will also be necessary to utilize for German purposes the livestock which has no fodder base of its own-that is, it will be necessary to seize livestock holdings immediately and to make them available to the troops, not only for the moment but in the long run, and also for exportation to Germany. Since fodder supplies will be cut off, pig and cattle holdings in these areas will of necessity drastically decline in the near future. If they are not seized by the Germans at an early date, they will be slaughtered by the population for their own use, without Germany getting anything out of it." That is the end of that particular quotation. Our next quotation is from the first paragraph of Page 4 of the English text. The German text is at Page 7, the last two words of line 26 down to the beginning of line 31: "It has been demanded by the Fuehrer that the reduction of the meat ration should be ended by fall.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): This can only be achieved by the most drastic seizure of Russian livestock holdings, particularly in areas which are in a favorable transport situation in relation to Germany." In the interests of expedition, Your Honors, I am omitting some sections from this last exhibit, which I had originally intended to quote. I skip now to line 29 of Page 4 of the English text, beginning with the underscored words "in the future," and quote to line 48. In the German text it is at Page 8, third line from the bottom, continuing to line 17 of Page 9: "In the future, southern Russia must turn its face towards Europe. Its food surpluses, however, can only be paid for if it purchases its industrial consumer goods from Germany or Europe. Russian competition from the forest zone must, therefore, be abolished. "It follows from all that has been said that the German administration in these territories may well attempt to mitigate the consequences of the famine which undoubtedly will take place and to accelerate the return to primitive agricultural conditions. An attempt might be made to intensify cultivation in these areas by expanding the acreage under potatoes or other important food crops giving a high yield. However, these measures will not avert famine. Many tens of millions of people in this area will become redundant and will either die or have to emigrate to Siberia. Any attempt to save the population there from death by starvation, by importing surpluses from the black-soil zone, would be at the expense of supplies to Europe. It would reduce Germany's staying power in the war and would undermine Germany's and Europe's power to resist the blockade. This must be clearly and absolutely understood." I next quote from Page 5, lines 18 to 30 of the English text. The German text is at Page 12, lines 1 to 11. "I.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): Supplies for the Army: "Germany's food situation in the third year of war demands, imperatively, that the Wehrmacht, in all its provisioning, must not live off Greater German territory or that of incorporated or friendly areas from which this territory receives imports. This minimum aim, the provisioning of the Wehrmacht from enemy territory in the third year and if necessary in later years, must be attained at any price. This means that one-third of the Wehrmacht must be fully provisioned by French deliveries to the army of occupation. The remaining two-thirds (and even slightly more in view of the present size of the Wehrmacht) must without exception be provisioned from the Eastern areas." I now quote from Page 8 of the English text, the last nine lines. The German text is at Page 18, lines 15 to 22: "Thus it is not important, under any circumstances, to preserve what has existed; but what matters is a deliberate turning away from the existing situation and introducing Russian food resources into the European framework. This will inevitably result in an extinction of industry as well as a large part of the people in what so far have been the food-deficit areas." It is impossible to state this alternative in sufficiently hard and severe terms. My next quotation is from the first 10 lines of Page 9 of the English text. The German text is at Page 19, lines 11 to 20: "Our problem is not to replace intensive food production in Europe through the incorporation of new space in the East, but to replace imports from overseas by imports from the East. The task is two-fold: "1. We must use the Eastern areas for overcoming the food shortages during and after the war. This means that we must not be afraid of drawing upon the capital substance of the East. Such an intervention is much more acceptable from the European standpoint than drawing upon the capital substance of Europe's agriculture." Finally, I quote from the remainder of Page 9 to the end of the penultimate paragraph of the English text. The German text appears at lines 24 to 31 of Page 19: "2.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): For the future New Order, the food-producing areas in the East must be turned into a permanent and substantial complementary source of food for Europe, through intensified cultivation and resulting higher yields. "The first-named task must be accomplished at any price, even through the most ruthless cutting down of Russian domestic consumption, which will require discrimination between the consuming and producing zones." It is submitted, Your Honors, that this document discloses, on its face, a studied plan to murder millions of innocent people through starvation. It reveals a program of premeditated murder of millions of innocent people through starvation; It reveals a program of premeditated murder on a scale so vast as to stagger the human imagination. Major Elwyn Jones, of the British Delegation, will subsequently show that this plan was, in effect, the logical culmination of general objectives clearly announced by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf. Each defendant in the box was fully aware of these general objectives when he committed the acts with which he is charged. I next introduce in evidence a document no less damaging than the one I have just quoted. This document is Number L-221, which is Exhibit Number USA-317. This is a top-secret memorandum, dated 16 July 1941, of a conference at the Fuehrer's headquarters, concerning the war in the East. It seems to have been prepared by Defendant Bormann because his initials appear at the top of Page 1. It was captured by the United States Counter-Intelligence branch. The text of the memorandum indicates that the conference was attended by Hitler, Lammers, and Defendants Goering, Keitel, Rosenberg, and Bormann. The exhibit is particularly important for the light it throws upon the conspirators' plans to germanize conquered areas of the Soviet Union. It is important also for its disclosure of the utterly fraudulent character of the whole Nazi propaganda program.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): It shows how the conspirators sought to deceive the entire world; how they pretended to pursue one course of action when their aims and purposes were to follow precisely the opposite course. I first quote from Page 1 of the English text, beginning at line 14 of Page 1 and continuing through to line 22 of Page 2. The German text is at Page 1, beginning with the last paragraph and continuing through to line 19 of Page 3. I quote: "A. Now it was essential that we did not publicize our aims before the world, also there was no need for that; but the main thing was that we ourselves knew what we wanted. By no means should we render our task more difficult by making superfluous declarations. Such declarations were superfluous because we could do everything wherever we had the power, and what was beyond our power we would not be able to do anyway. "What we told the world about the motives for our measures ought to be conditioned, therefore, by tactical reasons. We ought to act here in exactly the same way as we did in the cases of Norway, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium. In these cases, too, we did not publish our aims; and it was only sensible to continue in the same way. "Therefore, we shall emphasize again that we were forced to occupy, administer, and secure a certain area; it was in the interest of the inhabitants that we provided order, food, traffic, and so forth, hence our measures. Nobody shall be able to recognize that it initiates a final settlement. This need not prevent our taking all necessary measures-shooting, Resettling, et cetera-and we shall take them. "But we do not want to make any people our enemies prematurely and unnecessarily. Therefore we shall act as though we wanted to exercise a mandate only. At the same time we must know clearly that we shall never leave those countries. Our conduct therefore ought to be: "1) To do nothing which might obstruct the final settlement, but to prepare for it only in secret; 2) To emphasize that we are liberators.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): "In particular: The Crimea has to be evacuated by all foreigners and to be settled by Germans only. "In the same way the former Austrian part of Galicia will become Reich Territory. Our present relations with Romania are good, but nobody knows what they will be at any future time. This we have to consider, and we have to draw our frontiers accordingly. One ought not to be dependent on the good will of other people. We have to plan our relations with Romania in accordance with this principle. "On principle, we have now to face the task of cutting up the giant cake according to our needs, in order to be able: First, to dominate it; second, to administer it; and third, to exploit it. "The Russians have now ordered partisan warfare behind our front. This partisan war again has some advantage for us; it enables us to eradicate everyone who opposes us. "Principles: Never again must it be possible to create a military power west of the Urals, even if we have to wage war for a hundred years in order to attain this goal. Every successor of the Fuehrer should know security for the Reich exists only if there are no foreign military forces west of the Urals. It is Germany who undertakes the protection of this area against all possible dangers. Our iron principle is and has to remain: We must never permit anybody but the Germans to carry arms." I next quote from Page 3, lines 19 to 31 of the English text. In the German text this is at the last 13 lines of Page 5: "The Fuehrer emphasizes that the entire Baltic country will have to be incorporated into Germany. "At the same time, the Crimea, including a considerable hinterland (situated north of the Crimea), should become Reich territory; the hinterland should be as large as possible. "Rosenberg objects to this because of the Ukrainians living there.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): "(Incidentally: It occurred to me several times that Rosenberg has a soft spot for the Ukrainians; thus he desires to aggrandize the former Ukraine to a considerable extent.)" Departing from the text for just a moment, it may be noted parenthetically that this was the only aspect of the program outlined by Hitler at this meeting to which Rosenberg objected in any way. Resuming the quotation: "The Fuehrer emphasizes furthermore that the Volga colony, too, will have to become Reich territory, also the district around Baku; the latter will have to become a German concession (military colony)." Thus the program, as outlined by the conspirators at this meeting of 16 July 1941, called for the unlawful incorporation of a part of Galicia and all of the Baltic countries into Germany and for the unlawful conversion of the Crimea and areas north of it, the Volga territory, and the district around Baku, into German colonies. In further support of this point, I invite the attention of Your Honors to Document Number 1029-PS, already introduced in evidence by Mr. Alderman as Exhibit Number USA-145. This document was not included in our document book, Your Honors, 17 Dec.45 but has been read into the record by Mr. Alderman, Pages 1202 and 1203 (Volume III, Page 357). This document is entitled, "Instructions for a Reich Commissar in Ostland."
THE PRESIDENT: Where are you quoting from?
CAPT. HARRIS: Sir, it is not included in our document book, but it is in the record. In the German text, the original of which we have here, it is at Pages number 2 and 3: "The aim of a Reich Commissar for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and White Ruthenia"-last two words added in pencil-"must be to strive to achieve the form of a German protectorate and then transform the region into part of the Greater German Reich bar germanizing racially possible elements, colonizing Germanic races, and banishing undesirable elements. The Baltic Sea must become a Germanic inland sea under the guardianship of Greater Germany." I now offer in evidence Document Number EC-3; which is Exhibit Number USA-318, which was likewise found among the captured OKW files at Fechenheim. This document, Your Honors, is offered as direct proof of the fact, to which we have previously referred, that even in the food-surplus areas of the occupied regions of the Ukraine the conspirators planned to allocate food on a basis which left virtually nothing for those persons who were not engaged in the compulsory production of commodities for the German war machine. This document, as well as Document Number EC-126, which was introduced a few moments ago, and others we offer should, it is submitted, be read in the light of the explicit provision in Article 52 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, that requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded from municipalities or inhabitants except for the needs of the army of occupation. - I first quote from our Page 3, lines 21 to 23 of the English text of EC-3. In the German text it is Page 13, lines 1 to 3. The particular document from which I am about to quote is a top-secret memorandum, dated 16 September 1941, concerning a meeting of German military officials presided over by Defendant Goering. This is our Page 3, Sir, lines 21 to 23 of EC-3. The memorandum was signed by General Nagel, liaison officer between Defendant Goering's Four Year Plan office and the OKW.
CAPT. HARRIS: I now quote: "At this conference which was concerned with the better exploitation of the occupied territories for the German food economy, the Reich Marshal"-Goering-"called attention to the following:" I next quote from the first two paragraphs of Page 4 of the English text. The German text is at Page 13, the third and fourth paragraphs: "It is clear that a graduated scale of food allocations is needed. "First in line are the combat troops, then the remainder of troops in enemy territory, and then those troops stationed at home. The rates are adjusted accordingly. The supply of the German population follows and only then comes the population of the occupied territories." I now quote from another portion of this document, starting at Page 1 of the English text. This is a memorandum, dated 25 November 1941, relating to the general principles of economic policy in the newly-occupied Eastern Territories as prescribed in a conference held in Berlin on 8 November 1941. This memorandum was also written by General Nagel. It is on the stationery of the Liaison Staff of Supreme Headquarters, Armament Procurement Office with the Reich Marshal Goering. I quote from lines 13 to the bottom of Page 1.
THE PRESIDENT: Isn't this document, the part you are going to read now, merely cumulative to EC-126, which you have just read to us-that economic policy directive?
CAPT. HARRIS: It affords further proof, Sir, of the conspirators' plans to exploit the Eastern Occupied areas. I can omit it, if you like, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: It doesn't seem to add anything.
CAPT. HARRIS: Very well, Sir. I shall pass on to the next point. On 17 July 1941 Hitler and the Defendant Keitel issued a decree appointing Defendant Rosenberg as the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. This was the day following the meeting at the Fuehrer's headquarters, which is reported in Document Number L-221 and from which we have already quoted at length. The decree appointing Rosenberg as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories is set forth in Document Number 1997-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-319; and I offer it in evidence. I quote from Articles 2 and 4 on Page 1 of this decree. The German text is at Pages 27 and 28, Articles 2 and 4: "The civil administration in the newly-occupied Eastern Territories, where these territories are not included in the administration of the territories bordering on the Reich or the Government General, is subject to the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. "I appoint Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. He will hold office in Berlin." Defendant Rosenberg's views well fitted him for this task as one of the chief executioners of the conspirators' plans in the Soviet Union. His views were plainly expressed in a speech delivered on 20 June 1940 and are set forth in Document Number 1058-PS, now Exhibit Number USA-147. I refer Your Honors to the first three sentences of the English text. The German text appears on Page 8, last five lines and continuing through to line 2 of Page 9. In the speech Defendant Rosenberg stated, and I quote: "The job of feeding the German people stands, this year, without a doubt, at the top of the list of Germany's claims on the East; and here the southern territories and the northern Caucasus will have to serve as a balance for the feeding of the German people. We see absolutely no reason for any obligation on our part to feed also the Russian people with the products of that surplus territory.