dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MR. ALBRECHT: I therefore would like to know whether it would not be more appropriate to forbid Landesleiter Leopold and the other members of the country's leadership to negotiate with Chancellor Schuschnigg as well as with any Austrian Government authorities as to the execution of the pact of the 11th of July 1936, unless it is done after contacting and in agreement with the authorities in charge in the Reich." Now below, if I may call the attention of the Tribunal to the note that appears in this letter. It is written in blue pencil, and, while the translator has not indicated the initial below that note, it is a large "G"; and I have no doubt that that note was written by the Defendant Goering. It reads: "Agreed, Minister Hess or Herr Bormann can give this order best! Keppler ought to ask therefore by telephone!" If I may direct your attention to the upper right corner, there is another note in pencil, "Transmitted to Herr Keppler on the 11th of February 1938 by Fraulein Ernst;" and it is signed with initial "G." which in this case, however, we are quite sure is the initial of Miss Grundmann, who was one of Goering's secretaries. The third document I offer as Exhibit Number USA-583, our Document 3471-PS. The first letter of this exhibit is written by the same Keppler to the same Bodenschatz mentioned a short while ago, but who is now a general I shall not read from this exhibit, with the permission of the Tribunal, but I shall briefly summarize it. This letter and the annexes show that Leopold, the Nazi Landesleiter in Austria, was apparently not completely amenable to the orders given by Berlin and pursued his own methods for accomplishing an Anschluss.
MR. ALBRECHT: The second annex to this letter, addressed to Keppler, who appears from this letter to have been an SS Gruppenfuehrer, shows that prominent Nazis had declared themselves in favor of a Major Klausner to succeed Leopold as Landesleiter; and I would like to call the Tribunal's attention to the -fact that in the left margin of the covering letter appear some red crayon marks in the characteristic color employed on several occasions, to our knowledge, by Goering; and they would seem to show that Goering personally had seen these documents and that General Bodenschatz had brought them to his attention. In any event these letters again demonstrate that Goering was one of the principal conspirators in the Austrian affair. When the time finally came, on 11 March 1938, to consummate the Anschluss, Goering was in complete command. Throughout the afternoon and evening of that day he directed by telephone the activities of the Defendant Seyss-Inquart and of the other Nazi conspirators in Vienna. The pertinent portions of these telephone conversations, it will be, remembered, were read into the record. It will be recalled that early on the same evening of 11 March he dictated to the Defendant Seyss-Inquart the telegram which the latter was to send to Berlin, requesting the Nazi Government to send German troops to "prevent bloodshed." Two days later he was able to call the Defendant Ribbentrop in London and gleefully relate to him of his success and that "this story that we had given an ultimatum is just foolish gossip." If I may interrupt for a moment, that passage I just alluded to was read into the record at Page 581 ( Volume II, Page 424 ). Similarly, Goering played an important role in the attack on Czechoslovakia.
MR. ALBRECHT: In March of 1938, at the time of the Anschluss, he had given a solemn assurance to the Czechoslovakian Minister in Berlin that the developments in Austria would in no way have a detrimental influence on the relations between Germany and Czechoslovakia and he had emphasized the continued earnest endeavor on the part of Germany to improve these relations. In this connection Goering had used the expression, "Ich gebe Ihnen mein Ehrenwort" ("I give you my word of honor"). That expression was read previously into the record at Page 962 ( Volume III, Page 192 ). On the other hand, in his address to German airplane manufacturers on the 8th of July 1938, which I have already mentioned, he made his private views on this subject, which were hardly consistent with his solemn official statements, abundantly clear. On the 14th of October 1938, shortly after the Munich Agreement, at a conference in the Air Ministry, Goering stated that the Sudetenland had to be exploited with all means and that he counted upon a complete industrial assimilation of Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, as proof before the Tribunal shows, he was deceiving the representatives of the puppet Slovakian Government to the same end. In the following year, with the rape of Czechoslovakia complete, Goering frankly stated what Germany's purpose had been throughout the whole affair. He explained that the incorporation of Bohemia and Moravia into the German economy had taken place, among other reasons, in order to increase the German war potential by exploitation of the industry there. Goering was also a moving force in the later crimes against the peace. As the successor designate to Hitler, chief of the air forces and economic czar of Greater Germany, he was a party to all the planning for military operations of the Nazi forces in the East and in the West.
MR. ALBRECHT: In the Polish affair, for example, it was Goering who, on the 31st of January 1935, gave assurances to the Polish Government through Count Czembek, as revealed in the Polish White Book, of which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice, that "there should be not the slightest fear in Poland that on the-German side it"- meaning the German-Polish alliance-"would not be continued in the future." Yet, 4 years later, Goering helped to formulate plans for the ruthless invasion of Polish territory. In respect to the attack upon the Soviet Union, the documents already introduced prove that plans for the ruthless exploitation of Soviet territory were made months in advance of the opening of hostilities. Goering was placed in charge of this army of spoliation, whose mission was that of "seizing raw materials and taking over all important concerns." But these specific instances cited are merely illustrative of Goering's activities in the field of aggressive war. On Pages 20, 21, and 22 of our brief there appears a list of documents-by no means exhaustive-previously offered by the Prosecution, which demonstrate Goering's knowledge of and continued participation in the Nazi war program. We turn now to Goering's responsibility for planning and his participation in the procurement of forced labor, the deportation and enslavement of residents of occupied territories, the employment of prisoners of war in war industry, the looting of works of art, and the Germanization and spoliation of countries overrun by the Nazis. Evidence previously introduced has detailed the slave labor program of the Nazi conspirators and has shown its two purposes, both of them criminal. The first was to satisfy the labor requirements of the Nazi war machine by forcing residents of occupied countries to work in Germany. The second purpose was to destroy or weaken the peoples of the occupied territories.
MR. ALBRECHT: It has been shown that millions of foreign workers were taken to Germany, for the most part under pressure and generally by physical force; that these workers were forced to labor under conditions of indescribable brutality and degradation; and that often they were used in factories and industries devoted exclusively to the production of munitions of war. Goering was at all times implicated in the slave labor program. Recruitment and allocation of manpower and determination of working conditions were included in his jurisdiction as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, and from its beginning a part of the Four Year Plan Office was devoted to such work. I ask the Tribunal in this connection to take judicial notice of our Document 1862-PS, Ordinance for the Execution of the Four Year Plan, dated 18 October 1936, which appears in 1936 Reichspesetzblatt , Part I, Page 887, and with the permission of the Tribunal I shall not read the same. Soon after the fall of Poland Goering began the enslavement of large numbers of Poles. On 25 January 1940 the Defendant Frank, the Governor General of Poland, reported to Goering on his directive for the: "Supply and transportation of at least 1 million male and female agricultural and industrial workers to the Reich- among them at least 750,000 agricultural workers of which at least 50 percent must be women in order to guarantee agricultural production in the Reich and as a replacement for industrial workers lacking in the Reich." This is taken from our Exhibit Number USA-172, our Document Number 1375-PS. That orders for this enormous number of workers originated with the Defendant Goering is clear from statements in the Defendant Frank's diary for 10 May 1940, already introduced in evidence. For the harsh treatment given those workers when they reached Germany the Defendant Goering is also responsible.
MR. ALBRECHT: On 8 March 1940, as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan and as Chairman of the Cabinet Council for the Defense of the Reich, he issued a directive entitled, "Treatment of Male and Female Civilian Workers of Polish Nationality in the Reich." I refer to our Document R-148 as proof of that fact. I shall not introduce it at this time into evidence, with the permission of the Tribunal, as it will be introduced by the Soviet prosecution at a later date. On 29 January 1942 the division for the employment of labor in the Four Year Plan office issued a circular, signed by Dr. Mansfeld, the general delegate for labor employed in the Four Year Plan office, addressed to various civilian and military authorities in the occupied territories, explaining that, and I quote, "any and all . . . methods . . . must be adopted" to force workers to go to Germany. I shall not read from our exhibit, if the Tribunal please, but I would like to offer in evidence Document 1183-PS as our Exhibit Number USA-585. This is a circular letter dated the 29th of January 1942 of the Commissioner for the Four Year Plan. It has been shown previously that on 21 March 1942 Hitler promulgated a decree appointing the Defendant Sauckel Plenipotentiary General for manpower, directing him to carry out his tasks within the framework of the Four Year Plan, and making him directly responsible to Goering as head of the Four Year Plan. On 27 March 1942 the Defendant Goering issued his important enabling decree in pursuance of the decree of the Fuehrer of 21 March 1942. The Tribunal has already judicially noted this decree, which is our Document 1666-PS. Since the Defendant Sauckel was an authority under the Four Year Plan, the Defendant Goering retains full responsibility for the enormous war crimes committed by Sauckel as Plenipotentiary General for manpower. These crimes have been the subject of our presentations on slave labor and on the illegal use of prisoners of war.
MR. ALBRECHT: It was also proven during those presentations that the Nazi conspirators ordered prisoners of war to work under dangerous conditions and in the manufacturing and transportation of arms and munitions of war, in violation of the laws of war and of Articles 31 and 32 of the Geneva Convention of 27 July 1929 on prisoners of war. The Defendant Goering had a part in all these crimes. At a conference on 7 November 1941, the subject of which was the employment of citizens of the Soviet Union, including prisoners of war, it appears from a memorandum signed by Korner, who was State Secretary to the Defendant Goering as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, that Goering gave certain ruthless directives for the use of Soviet citizens, both prisoners of war and free Soviet workers, as laborers. I refer to our Document 1193-PS which, with the permission of the Tribunal, I shall not offer in evidence at this time and which will be offered by the Soviet Prosecution. In a set of top-secret notes of outlines laid down by Goering in what was apparently the same conference of 7 November 1941, which are already in evidence, the following facts appear: 1) That, of a total of 5 million prisoners of war, 2 million were employed in war industries; 2) That it was better to employ PW's than unsuitable foreign workers; 3) That Poles, Dutchmen, et cetera, should be seized if necessary as PW's and employed as such, if work through free contract cannot be obtained. These facts, if Your Honors please, appear in our Document 1206-PS, which was submitted in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-215. In a secret letter from the Reich Minister of Labor to the presidents of the regional labor exchange offices, already in evidence, it is furthermore recorded that upon the personal order of the Reich Marshal, the Defendant Goering, 100,000 men are to be taken from among the French PW's not yet employed in the armament industry and assigned to the airplane armament industry and that gaps in manpower supply resulting therefrom are to be filled by Soviet PW's.
MR. ALBRECHT: Evidence has also been introduced showing the organized, systematic program of the Nazi conspirators for the cultural impoverishment of every country in Europe. The continuous connection, of the Defendant Goering with these activities has been substantiated. In October 1939 the Defendant Goering requested Dr. Muhlmann to undertake immediately the "securing" of all Polish art treasures. In his affidavit, already offered, Dr. Muhlmann states that he was the special deputy of the Governor General of Poland, the Defendant Frank, for the safeguarding of art treasures in the Government General from October 1939 to September 1943, and that the Defendant Goering, in his capacity as Chairman of the Reich Defense Council, had commissioned him with this duty. Muhlmann also confirms that it was the official policy of the Defendant Frank to take into custody all important art treasures which belonged to Polish public institutions, private collections, and the Church, and that such art treasures were actually confiscated. It appears also from a report made by Dr. Muhlmann on 16 July 1943 on his operations that at one time 31 valuable sketches by the artist Albrecht Durer were taken from the Polish collection and personally handed to the Defendant Goering who took them to the Fuehrer's headquarters. The part played by Goering in the looting of art by the Einsatzstab Rosenberg has been shown.
MR. ALBRECHT: We refer to Exhibit Number USA-368, which is our Document Number 141-PS, which is an order dated 5 November 1940, already read in evidence, in which Goering directs the chief of the Military Administration in Paris and the Einsatzstab Rosenberg to dispose of the art objects brought to the Louvre in the following priority: "1) Those art objects as to the use of which the Fuehrer has reserved the decision for himself; "2) Those art objects which serve to complete the Reich Marshal's collection; "3) Those art objects and library stocks, which seem of use for the establishment of the Hohe Schule and for Rosenberg's sphere of activities; "4) Those art objects suitable for German museums...." In view of the high priority afforded by the foregoing order to the completion of the defendant's own collection, it is not surprising to find that Goering continued to aid the operations of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg. It has been established that on 1 May 1941 Goering issued an order under his own signature to all Party, State, and Wehrmacht services, requesting them to give all possible support and assistance to the chief of staff of Reichsleiter Rosenberg. By May 1942 the Defendant Goering was able to boast of the assistance which he had rendered to the work of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg. In our Document 1015(i)-PS which has been read in evidence on Page 1678 of the record ( Volume IV, Page 87 ), he is shown writing to the Defendant Rosenberg that he personally supports the work of the Einsatzstab wherever he can do so and that accounted for the seizure of such a large number of art objects because he was able to render assistance to the Einsatzstab. Thus, the Defendant Goering's responsibility for the planning of the looting of art, which was actually accomplished by the Einsatzstab Rosenberg, would seem clear. Details of the execution of both the Germanization and spoliation policies in both the Western and Eastern countries occupied by the German armies will be presented subsequently by the French and Soviet Delegations.
MR. ALBRECHT: The responsibility of the Defendant Goering, in his capacity as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, as President of the Cabinet Council for the Defense of the Reich, and in other capacities, will be further demonstrated by that evidence. The plans of the Nazi conspirators with respect to Poland have been shown by evidence already offered. The Basis purported to incorporate the four western provinces of Poland into the German Reich. In the remaining portions occupied by them they set up the Government General. It has been shown that the Nazis planned to germanize the so-called incorporated territories ruthlessly, by deporting the Polish intelligentsia, Jews, and dissident elements to the Government General for eventual elimination, by confiscating Polish property, by sending those so deprived of their property to Germany as laborers, and by importing German settlers. It was specifically planned to exploit the people and material resources of the territory within the Government General by taking whatever was needed to strengthen the Nazi war machine, thus impoverishing this region and reducing it to a vassal state. The Defendant Goering, together with Hitler and Lammers and with the Defendants Frick and Hess, on 8 October 1939 signed the decree by which certain parts of Polish territory were incorporated into the Reich. Purporting to act by virtue of the foregoing decree, Goering, as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, signed an order on 30 October 1939 concerning the introduction of the Four Year Plan in the Eastern territories. In his directive dated 19 October 1939 (Document Number EC-410, Exhibit Number USA-298) Goering stated that the task for the economic treatment of the various administrative regions would differ, depending on whether a country was to be incorporated politically into the German Reich or whether the Government General was involved, which, in all probability, would not be made a part of Germany.
MR. ALBRECHT: He went on to say: "In the first mentioned territories the reconstruction and expansion of the economy, the safeguarding of all their production facilities and supplies must be aimed at, as well as a complete incorporation into the Greater German economic system at the earliest possible time. On the other hand there must be removed from the territories of the Government General all raw materials, scrap materials, machines, et cetera, which are of use for the German war economy. Enterprises which are not absolutely necessary for the meager maintenance of the bare existence of the population must be transferred to Germany, unless such transfer would require an unreasonably long period of time and would make it more practical to exploit those enterprises by giving them German orders to be executed at their present location." From the foregoing documents the complicity of the Defendant Goering in the plans for the ruthless exploitation of Poland appears clear. But his fine hand also maybe found behind the remainder of the Nazi plans for Poland. As an illustration, it was the Defendant Goering who signed, with Hitler and the Defendant Keitel, the secret decree of 7 October 1939 which entrusted Himmler with the task of executing the Germanization program. That secret decree was read into evidence at Pages 1522-23 ( Volume III, Page 583 ). Evidence already introduced has shown from the mouths of Himmler, the Defendant Frank, and others just what this appointment involved in human suffering and degradation. Similarly, it was the Defendant Goering who, by virtue of his powers as Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, issued a decree on 17 September 1940 concerning confiscation in the incorporated Eastern territories.
MR. ALBRECHT: This decree applied to "property of citizens of the former Polish State within the territory of the Greater German Reich including the incorporated Eastern territories." I ask the Court to take judicial notice of our Document 1665-PS, which is an "Order concerning Treatment of Property of Nationals of the Former Polish State," cited in 1940 Reichsgesetzblatt , Part I, Page 1270. I shall read from this document: "Article I. "1) Property of nationals of the former Polish State within the area of the Greater German Reich, including annexed Eastern territories, is subject to confiscation, administration by commissioner and sequestration in accordance with the following regulations." I now skip to Article II. "1) Confiscation will be applied in case of property belonging to: a) Jews; b)persons who have fled or who have absented themselves for longer than a temporary period. "2) Confiscation may be applied: a) If the property is needed for the public good, especially for purposes of national defense or the strengthening of German folkdom; b) if the owners or other persons entitled to it immigrated into the area of the German Reich after 1 October 1918." I skip now to Article IX, the first part: "1) Sequestered property can be confiscated in favor of the Reich by the competent office...if the public weal, particularly the defense of the Reich or the consolidation of the German nationality, requires it." Evidence has also been introduced by the United States showing the extent to which the spoliation of Soviet territory and resources and the barbarous treatment inflicted on Soviet citizens were the result of plans long made and carefully drawn up by the Nazis before they launched their aggressive war on the Soviet Union.
MR. ALBRECHT: The Nazis planned to destroy the industrial potential of the northern regions occupied by their armies and so to administer the production of food in the south and southeast, which normally produced a surplus of foods that the population of the northern region would inevitably be reduced to starvation because of diversion of such surplus food to the German Reich. It has been shown also that the Nazis planned to incorporate Galicia and all of the Baltic countries into Germany and to convert the Crimea, an area north of the Crimea, the Volga territory, and the district around Baku into German colonies. By 29 April 1941, almost 2 months prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union, it appears that Hitler had entrusted the Defendant Goering with the over-all direction of the economic administration in the area of operations and in the areas under political administration. It further appears that Goering had set up an economic staff and subsidiary authorities to carry out this function. The form of this organization created by Goering and the duties of its various sections appear more clearly in a set of directives "for the operation of the economy in the newly occupied Eastern territories" issued by Goering, as Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich, in June 1941. These directives are contained in the important Green Portfolio which, curiously enough, was printed by the Wehrmacht. By the terms of these directives it is stated that: "The orders of the Reich Marshal cover all economic fields, including nutrition and agriculture. They are to be executed by the subordinate economic offices...." An Economic Staff East was charged with the execution of orders transmitted to it from higher authority.