dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
M. DUBOST: The moment they reached the trench the policemen each seized a prisoner, pushed him against the side of the trench, and. fired a pistol into the nape of his neck." The same thing prevailed in deportations from Denmark. The Danish Jews were particularly affected. A certain number, warned in time, had been able to escape to Sweden with the help of Danish patriots. Unfortunately, eight to nine thousand persons were arrested by the Germans and deported. It is estimated that 475 of them were transported by boat and truck under inhuman conditions to Bohemia and Moravia to Theresienstadt. This is stated in the Danish document submitted under Document Number F-666, Exhibit Number RF-338. In connection -with this country it is necessary to inform the Tribunal of the deportation of the frontier guards: "At most places, however, the policemen were dismissed as soon as they had been disarmed. Only in Copenhagen and in the large provincial towns were they retained, and partly by ship and partly by goods vans, taken southwards to Germany. "The policemen were taken via Neuengamme to the concentration camp at Buchenwald. They were quartered there under indescribably insanitary conditions; a very large proportion of them were taken ill; about one hundred policemen and frontier guardsmen died and several still bear traces of the sojourn." When these deportations had been carried out, all the citizens of the subjugated countries of the west of Europe found themselves in the company of their comrades of misfortune of the east, in the concentration camps of Germany. These camps were merely a means of realizing the policy of extermination which Germany had pursued ever since the National Socialists seized power. This policy of extermination would lead, according to Hitler, to installing 250 million Germans in Europe in the territories adjoining Germany, which constituted her vital space. The police, the German Army, no longer dared to shoot their hostages, but neither of the two had any mercy on them.
M. DUBOST: More and more were transported in ever increasing numbers from 1943 to German concentration camps, where all means were used to annihilate them-from exhausting labor to the gas chambers. Censuses taken at various times in France enable us to ascertain that there were more than 250,000 French deportees, of which only 35,000 returned. Document Number F-497, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-339, indicates that out of 600,000 arrests which the Germans made in France, 350,000 were carried out with a view to internment in France or in Germany: "Total number deported, 250,000; number of deportees returned, 35,000." On the following page are a few names of deported French personages. "Prefects: M. Bussieres, M. Bonnefoy, disappeared in the Cap Arcona, Generals: de Lestraing, executed at Dachau; Job, executed at Auschwitz; Frere, died at Struthof; Bardi de Fourtou died at Neuengamme; Colonel Roger Masse died at Auschwitz. "High officials: Marquis of Moustier, died at Neuengamme; Bouloche, Inspector General of Roads and Bridges died at Buchenwald; his wife died at Ravensbruck, one of his sons died during deportation, his other son alone returned from Flossenburg; Jean Deveze, engineer of roads and bridges, disappeared at Nordhausen; Pierre Block, engineer of roads and bridges, died at Auschwitz; Mme. Getting, founder of the social service in France, disappeared at Auschwitz. "Among university professors, names well-known in France, such as: Henri Maspero, Professor at the College de France, died at Buchenwald; Georges Bruhat, Director of the Ecole Normale Superieure, died at Oranienburg; Professor Vieille died at Buchenwald. . . ." It is impossible to name each of the intellectuals exterminated by German fury. Among the doctors we must, however, mention the disappearance of the Director of the Rothschild Hospital and of Professor Florence, both murdered, one at Auschwitz, the other at Neuengamme. As to Holland: 110,000 Dutch citizens of the Jewish faith were arrested, only 5,000 returned; 16,000 patriots were arrested, only 6,000 returned.
M. DUBOST: Out of a total of 126,000 deportees, 11,000 were repatriated after the liberation. In Belgium, there were 197,150 deportees, not including prisoners of war; including prisoners of war, 250,000. In Luxembourg, 7,000 deportees-more than 700 were Jews There were 4,000 Luxembourgers; out of these, 500 died. In Denmark (Exhibit Number RF-338, Document Number F-666 already submitted) 6,104 Danes were interned; 583 died.. There were camps within and outside Germany. Most of the latter were used only for the sorting of prisoners, and I have already spoken about them. Ho,% ever, some of them functioned like those in Germany and among them, that of Westerbork in Holland must be mentioned. This camp is dealt with in Document Number F-224, already submitted under Exhibit Number RF-324, which is the official report of the Dutch Government. The camp of Amersfoort, also in Holland, is the subject of Document Number F-677, which will be submitted as Exhibit Number RF-344. What we already know through direct testimony of the regime of the Nazi internment camps makes it unnecessary for me to read the whole report, which is rather voluminous, and which does not bring any noticeably new facts on the regime of these camps. There is also the camp of Vught in Holland. Then in Norway the camps of Grini, of Falstad, of Viven; that of Espeland, and that of Sydspissen, which are described in a document provided by the Norwegian Government-Document Number F-240, Exhibit Number RF-292, which we have already submitted. The Tribunal will excuse me for not reading this document, which does not give us any information that we have not heard before from the witnesses. The camps inside Germany, like all those outside Germany which were not transit camps only, should be divided into three categories-which is in accordance with German instructions themselves which fell into our hands. You will find these instructions in your second document book, Page 11. The pages follow in regular order. It is Document Number 1063-PS, USA-492.
M. DUBOST: We read: "The ReichsFuehrer SS and Chief of' the German Police has given his approval for the classification of the concentration camps into various categories which. take into account the prisoner's character and the degree of danger which he represents to the State. Accordingly, the concentration camps will be classified in the following categories: "Category 1: For all prisoners accused of minor delinquencies.... "Category 1a: For aged prisoners and those able to work under only certain conditions. "Category 2: For prisoners with more serious charges, but still capable of re-education and improvement. "Category 3: For major offenders charged with particularly serious crimes ...... On 2 January 1941, the date of this document, the German administration, in dividing the camps into three categories, made an enumeration of the principal German camps throughout Germany in each category. It seems unnecessary to me to -revert to the geographical location of these camps within Germany, since my American colleagues, with the help of geographical maps, have already dealt fully with this question. The organization and functioning of these camps had a double purpose: The first, according to Document Number F-285, was to make good the labor shortage, and obtain a maximum output at a minimum cost. This document is submitted as Exhibit Number RF- 346. I shall not read it in extenso, but from Page 14 of your second document book, I shall read the first paragraph: "For important military reasons.. ."-this is dated 17 December 1942 and coincides with the difficulties encountered in the course of the Russian campaign-" . . . because of great difficulties of a military nature, which cannot be stated, the ReichsFuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police ordered on 14 December 1942 that, by end of January 1943 at the latest, at least 35,000 internees, fit for work, shall be sent to concentration camps.
M. DUBOST: "To obtain this number the following is ordered: "As from this date and to I February 1943, all Eastern or foreign workers who escaped or broke their contracts, and who do not belong to allied, friendly or neutral states, shall be sent back to concentration camps by the quickest means possible." Arbitrary internments with a view to procuring, at the least possible cost, the maximum output from labor which had already been deported to Germany but which had to be paid since it was under labor contracts. The organization of these camps was further intended to exterminate all unproductive forces which could no longer be exploited by German industry, and which in general might hinder Nazi expansion. Evidence for this is furnished by Document Number R-91, Pages 20 and 21 of the second document book, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-347, which is a telegram from the Chief of Staff of the ReichsFuehrer SS, received at 2:10 o'clock on 16 December 1942 from Berlin. "In connection with the increased allocation of labor to concentration camps, ordered to be completed by 30 January 1943, the following procedure may be applied regarding the Jews: 1) Total number: 45,000 Jews. 2) Start of transportation: 11 January 1943. End of transportation: 31 January 1943.... 3 )The most important part of the document--- The figure of 45,000 Jews is to consist of 30,000 Jews from the district of Bialystok; 10,000 Jews from the ghetto of Theresienstadt, 5,000 of which are capable of work and until now have been used for light tasks in the ghetto; and 5,000 Jews generally unfit for work, including those over 60 years of age. In order to use this opportunity for reducing the number of inmates now amounting to 48,000 which is too high for the ghetto, I ask that special powers be given to me. At the very end of this paragraph: "The number of 45,000 includes those unfit for work"-underlined (italics)-"(old Jews and children included).
M. DUBOST: By applying suitable methods, the screening of newly-arrived Jews in Auschwitz should yield at least 10,000 to 15,000 people fit for work." This is underlined in the text. And here is an official document which corroborates the testimony of Mme. Vaillant-Couturier, among various other testimonies on the same question, as to how the systematic selections were made from each convoy arriving at Auschwitz, not by the will of the chief of the camp of Auschwitz, but the result of higher orders coming from the German Government itself. If it please the Tribunal, my report will cease here this evening, and will be continued tomorrow, dealing with the utilization of this manpower, which I shall endeavor to treat as quickly as possible. in the light of the testimonies we have already had. [The Tribunal adjourned until 30 January 1946 at 1000 hours.]
MARSHAL: May it please the Court, I desire to announce that Defendants Kaltenbrunner and Seyss-Inquart will be absent from this morning's session on account of illness.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Babel, I understand that you do not wish to cross-examine that French witness.
HERR BABEL: That is correct.
THE PRESIDENT: Then the French witness can go home.
M. DUBOST: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, there is one reason that possibly that French witness ought not to go. I think I saw she was moving out of Court. Could you stop her, please? I am afraid that she must stay for today. M. Dubost, are you going to deal with documents this morning?
M. DUBOST: Yes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Would you be so good as to give us carefully and slowly the number of the documents first, because we have a good deal of difficulty in finding them.
M. DUBOST: Yes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: And specify, also, so far as you can, the book in which they are to be found.
M. DUBOST: With the permission of the Tribunal, I shall continue my description of the organization of the camps and the way in which they functioned. We began last night by submitting to the Tribunal Document Number R-91 which showed that their purpose was: 1) to make good the shortage of labor; 2) to eliminate useless forces. After Document R-91, which has been submitted under Exhibit Number RF-347, we shall read Document Number F-285, already submitted under Exhibit Number RF-346-second document book. This document is dated 17 December 1942 and is the conclusion of the document which we read to you yesterday. First paragraph: "For important military reasons, which cannot be stated, the ReichsFuehrer SS and the Chief of the German Police ...... THE, PRESIDENT: You read that yesterday.
M. DUBOST: That is correct, Mr. President, Page 18, sixth paragraph, at the top of the page. "Poles eligible for German citizenship and prisoners for whom special requests have been made, will not be transferred to. . . ." Last paragraph, Page 19: "Other papers will not be required for Eastern workers." This shows that arrests were made without discrimination in order to obtain labor and that this labor was considered to be so unimportant that it was sufficient to register it under serial numbers. Now, we will show how this labor was utilized. Men were housed, as the witness, Balachowsky, said yesterday, near factories in Dora in underground shelters which they themselves had dug and where they lived under conditions which violated all the rules of hygiene. At Ohrdruf near Gotha, the prisoners constructed munition factories. Buchenwald supplied the labor for the factories of Hollerith and Dora and for the salt mines of Neustassfurt. The Tribunal will read in Document Number RF-301, at the bottom of Page 45: "Ravensbruck supplied the labor for the Siemens factories, those of Czechoslovakia, and the workshops at Hanover." These special measures, according to the witness, Balachowsky, enabled the Germans to keep secret the manufacture of certain war weapons, such as the V-1 and V-2: "The deportees had no contact with the outside world. The work of deportees enabled the Germans to obtain an output which they could not have obtained even from foreign workmen. The French Prosecution will now submit Document R-129 as Exhibit Number RF-348, which the Tribunal will find in the second document book. It deals with the management of concentration camps: "The administration of a concentration camp, and of all economic enterprises attached to it, rests with the camp commandant." Fifth paragraph, Figure IV: "The camp commandant alone is responsible for the work carried out by the workmen.
M. DUBOST: This work"-I underline (italics) the word work-"this work must be, in the true sense of the word, exhausting in order to obtain the maximum output." Two paragraphs lower on the page: "The hours of work are not limited. This duration depends on the technical structure of the camp' and the work to be done and is determined by the camp commandant alone." Further on, the last paragraph, Page 23 of the book: "He"-the camp commandant-"must combine a technical knowledge of economic and military subjects with wise and clever management of the men so as to reach a high potential of output." This document is signed by Pohl. It is dated, Berlin, 30 April 1942. I should just like to refer again to a document which we have already quoted in relation to the camp of Ohrdruf, and which was submitted under the Number RF-140. I will now read from Document 1584-PS, Exhibit Number RF-349. This document is signed by Goering and is addressed to Himmler. It definitely establishes the responsibility of Goering in the criminal utilization of this deported labor. I shall read the second paragraph of the second page: "Dear Himmler: "... at the same time I ask you to keep at my -disposal for Air Force armament the greatest possible number of KZ prisoners."-The initials "KZ" mean concentration camp. "Experience has so far shown that this labor can be put to very good use. The situation of the war in the air necessitates the transfer of this industry to underground workshops. In such workshops, work and housing can be particularly well combined for KZ prisoners," We know then who was responsible for the frightful conditions which the deportees of Dora had to endure. The person responsible is in the dock.
THE PRESIDENT: You did not give us the date of that, did you? Is that 19 February 1944?
M. DUBOST: On the first page you will see that on 19 February 1944 a letter was addressed to Dr. Brandt, referring to teletypes which were sent by the Field Marshal.
THE PRESIDENT: Is it the second letter, the letter that you read? Is the date of that 19. 2. 44?
M. DUBOST: It is 15 April 1944 on the original, of which this is a photostat.
THE PRESIDENT: And could you tell us what KZ means, the two letters, KZ?
M. DUBOST: 15.4.44 on the original of the teletype, that means concentration camp.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, for the accuracy of the record, it appears that the letter on the second page is not 15 April 1944, but 14 February. Is that not so?
M. DUBOST: Yes. It is 14 February, 2030 hours. It is a teletype, which *as booked 15 April 1944. That was the cause of my error
THE PRESIDENT: But, M. Dubost, were you submitting or suggesting that this letter showed that the defendant, Goering was a party to the experiments which took place, or only to the fact that these prisoners were used for work?
M. DUBOST: I was not referring to experiments. I was referring to internment in underground camps, like the Dora Camp of which the witness Balachowsky spoke yesterday in the first part of his testimony. With regard to this will to exterminate, of which I have been speaking from the beginning of my presentation this morning, I think it is proved first of all by the text of Document Number R-91, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-347, which I read yesterday afternoon at the end of the session, a letter which has not as yet been authenticated, and by statements made by the witnesses who brought you proof that, at all the camps in which they were, the same methods of extermination by work were carried out. As far as the brutal extermination by gas Is concerned, we have the invoices for poison gas, intended for Oranienburg and Auschwitz, which we submit to the Tribunal under Exhibit Number RF-350. The Tribunal will find translations on Page 27 of the second document book, Document Number 1553-PS. I must point out, to be quite honest, that the French translation of these invoices is not -absolutely in agreement with the German text. Therefore, in the fifth line, instead of "extermination" it should be "purification." The testimony of Mme. Vaillant-Couturier showed us that these gases, used for the destruction of lice and other parasites, were also used to destroy human beings. Besides, the quantity of gas which was sent and the frequency with which it was sent, as you can see from the great number of invoices which we offer in evidence, prove that the gas was used for a double purpose- We have invoices dated 14 February, 16 February, 8 March, 13 March, 20 March, 11 April, 27 April, 12 May, 26 May, and 31 May which are all submitted as Exhibit Number RF-350.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you putting in evidence the originals of these other bills to which you refer on this document?
M. DUBOST: I beg the clerk of the Court to hand them to Your Honor, and I request the Tribunal to examine these invoices carefully. They will observe that -the quantities of toxic crystals sent to Oranienburg and Auschwitz were considerable; from the invoice of 30 April 1944 the Tribunal will see that 832 kilograms of crystals were sent, giving a net weight of 555 kilograms.
THE PRESIDENT: What is this document that you have just put in?
M. DUBOST: The 30th of April 1944, but I am taking them at random.
THE PRESIDENT: I am not asking the date. What I want to know is what is the authority for this document? It comes, does it not, from one of the committees set up by the French Republic?
M. DUBOST: No, Mr. President. The Document is an American document which was in the American archives, under the Document Number 1553-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, this note at the bottom of Document 1553-PS was not on the original put in by the United States, was it?
M. DUBOST: No, Mr. President, but you have before you all the originals under the number which the clerk of the Court has just handed you.
THE PRESIDENT: Unless you have an affidavit identifying these originals, the originals do not prove themselves. You have got to prove these documents which you have just handed up to us either by a witness or by an affidavit. The documents are documents, but they do not prove themselves.
M. DUBOST: These documents were found by the American Army and filed in the archives of the Nuremberg Trial. I took them from the archives of the American Delegation, and I consider them to be as authentic as all the other -documents which were filed by my American colleagues in their archives. They were no doubt captured by the American Army.
THE PRESIDENT: There are two points, M. Dubost. The first is, that in the case of the original exhibit, 1553-PS, it was certified, we imagine, by an officer of the United States. These documents which you have now drawn our attention to are not so certified by anyone as far as we have been able to see. Certainly we cannot take judicial notice of these documents, which are private documents; and therefore, unless they are read in Court, they cannot be put in evidence. That can all be rectified very simply by such a certificate or by an affidavit annexing these documents and showing that they are analogous to the document which is the United States exhibit.
M. DUBOST: They are all United States documents, and they are all filed in the archives of the United States in the American Delegation under the Number 1553-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: The American Document Number 1553-PS has not yet been submitted to the Tribunal and the Tribunal is of the opinion that they cannot take judicial notice of this exhibit without any further certification, and they think that some short affidavit identifying the document must be made.
M. DUBOST: I will request my colleagues of the American Prosecution to furnish this affidavit. I did not think it possible that this document, which was classified in their archives, could be ruled out. This purpose of extermination, moreover, does not need to be proved by this document. It is sufficiently established by the testimony which we have submitted to the Tribunal. The witness, Boix, spoke these words: "No one is allowed to leave this camp alive.... There is only one exit, -and that is the chimney of the crematorium." In Document F-321, Exhibit Number RF-331, Page 49, at the top of the page, we read: "The only explanation which the SS men made to the prisoners was that no captive should leave the place alive." On Page 179, the paragraph before the last of the French text: "The SS told us there was only one exit-the chimney." On Page 174, the last paragraph before the heading "Gassing and Cremation": "The essential purpose of this camp was the extermination of the greatest possible number of men. It was known as the extermination camp." This destruction, this extermination of the internees, assumed two different forms. One was progressive; the other was brutal. In the second document book which is before the Tribunal, we find the report of a delegation of British Members of Parliament, dated April 1945, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-351, from which we quote these words (the third paragraph on Page 29): "Although the work of cleaning out the camp had gone on busily for over a week before our visit ... our immediate and continuing impression was of intense general squalor ......