dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MR. DODD: because as a relative of a deserter he is expected to take advantage of every occasion to harden Greater German Reich if allowed to go free; place of confinement Sachsenhausen." And down to the name "Ludwig" and the charge against Ludwig: ". . . for being strongly suspected of aiding desertion; place of confinement-Dachau." Not only civilians of the occupied countries but also prisoners of war were subjected to the horrors and the brutality of the concentration camps; and we refer to Document Number 1165-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-244. This document is a memorandum to all officers of the State Police signed by Mueller, the Chief of the Gestapo, dated the 9th of November 1941. The memorandum has the revealing title of-and I quote-"Transportation of Russian Prisoners of War, destined for Execution, into the Concentration Camps." I wish to quote also from the body of this memorandum, which is found on Page 2 of the English translation, and I quote directly: "The commandants of the concentration camps are complaining that 5 to 10 percent of the Soviet Russians destined for execution are arriving in the camps dead or half dead. Therefore the impression has arisen that the Stalags are getting rid of such prisoners in this way. "It was particularly noted that when marching, for example, from the railroad station to the camp a rather large number of PW's collapsed on the way from exhaustion, either dead or half dead, and had to be picked up by a truck following the convoy. "It cannot be prevented that the German people take notice of these occurrences. "Even if the transportation to the camps is generally taken care of by the Wehrmacht, the population will attribute this situation to the SS.
MR. DODD: "In order to prevent, if possible, similar occurrences in the future, I therefore order that, effective from today on, Soviet Russians declared definitely suspect and obviously marked by death (for example with hunger-typhus) and therefore not able to withstand the exertions of even a short march on foot shall in the future, as a matter of basic principle, be excluded from the transport into the concentration camps for execution." More evidence of the confinement of Russian prisoners of war in concentration camps is found in an official report of the investigation of the Flossenburg Concentration Camp by the Headquarters of the United States Third Army, the Judge Advocate Section, and particularly the War Crimes Branch, under the date of the 21st day of June 1945. It is our Document Number 2309-PS and bears Exhibit Number USA-245. At the bottom of Page 2 of the English text the last two sentences of that last paragraph say, and I quote: "A 1941 an additional stockade was added at the Flossenburg camp to hold 2,000 Russian prisoners. Of these 2,000 prisoners only 102 survived." Soviet prisoners of war found their allies in the concentration camps too; and at Page 4 of this same Document Number 2309-PS, it will show, particularly Paragraph 5 on Page 4, and I quote it: "The victims of Flossenburg included among them: Russian civilians and prisoners of war, German nationals, Italians, Belgians, Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, British, and American prisoners of war. No practical means was available to complete a list of victims of this camp; however, since the foundation of the camp in 1938 until the day of liberation, it is estimated that more than 29,000 inmates died." Escaped prisoners of war were sent to concentration camps by the conspirators, and these camps were specially set up as extermination centers; and we refer to Document Number 1650-PS, bearing Exhibit Number USA-246. This document is a communication from the Secret State Police of Cologne and it is dated the Ah day of March 1944.
MR. DODD: At the very top of the English text it says, "To be transmitted in secret-to be handled as a secret Government matter." In the third paragraph, quoting: "Concerns: Measures to be taken against captured escaped prisoners of war who are officers or non-working noncommissioned officers, except British and American prisoners of war. The Supreme Command of the Army has ordered as follows: "1. Every captured escaped prisoner of war who is an officer or a non-working noncommissioned officer, except British and American prisoners of war, is to be turned over to the Chief of the Security Police and of the Security Service under the classification Step III regardless of whether the escape. occurred during a transport, whether it was a mass escape, or an individual one. "2. Since the transfer of the prisoners of war to the Security Police and Security Service may not become officially known to the outside under any circumstances, other prisoners of war may by no means be informed of the capture. The captured prisoners are to be reported to the Army Information Bureau as 'escaped and not captured.' Their mail is to be handled accordingly. Inquiries of representatives of the protective power, of the International Red Cross, and of other aid societies will be given the same answer." The same communication carried a copy of an order of SS General Mueller, acting for the Chief of the Security Police and SD, directing the Gestapo to transport escaped prisoners directly to Mauthausen; and I quote the first two paragraphs of Mueller's order, which begins on the bottom of Page 1 and runs over to Page 2 of the English text. Quoting: "The State Police directorates will accept the captured escaped officer prisoners of war from the prisoner-of-war camp commandants and will transport them to the Concentration Camp Mauthausen following the procedure previously used, unless the circumstances render a special transport imperative. The prisoners of war are to be put in irons on the transport-not on Me way to the station if it is subject to view by the public.
MR. DODD: The camp commandant at Mauthausen is to be notified that the transfer occurs within the scope of the action 'Kugel.' The State Police directorates will submit semi-yearly reports on these transfers giving merely the figures, the first report being due on 5 July 1944." Passing the next three sentences, we come to this line: "For the sake of secrecy the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces has been requested to inform the prisoner-of-war camps to turn the captured prisoners over to the local State Police of lice concerned and not to send them directly to Mauthausen." It is no coincidence that the literal translation for the German word "Kugel" is the English word "bullet," since Mauthausen, where the escaped prisoners were sent, was an extermination center. Nazi conquest was marked by the establishment of concentration camps over all of Europe. In this connection we refer to Document Number 31-129. It is a report on the location of concentration camps signed by Pohl, who was an SS general who was in charge of concentration camp labor policies. Document Number B-129 bears our Exhibit Number USA-217. I wish to refer particularly to Section 1, Paragraphs numbered 1 and 2 of this document, white are found on Page 1 of the English translation. It is addressed to the Reichsfuehrer SS and bears the stamp "secret": "Reichsfuehrer: "Today I report about the present situation of the concentration camps and about measures I have taken in order to carry out your order of 3 March 1942: "1. At the outbreak of war there existed the following concentration camps: "a. Dachau-1939, 4,000 prisoners; today, 8,000. "b. Sachsenhausen-1939, 6,500 prisoners; today, 10,000. "c. Buchenwald-1939, 5,300 prisoners; today, 9,000. "d. Mauthausen-1939, 1,500 prisoners; today, 5,500. "e. Flossenburg-1939, 1,600 prisoners; today, 4,700. "f. Ravensbruck-1939, 2,500 prisoners; today, 7,500." And then it goes on to say in Paragraph Number 2, quoting: "In the years 1940 and 1942 nine additional camps were erected: "a. Auschwitz, b. Neuengamme, c. Gusen, d. Natzweiler, e. Gross-Rosen, I. Lublin, g. Niederhagen, h.
MR. DODD: Stutthof, i. Arbeitsdorf." In addition to the camps in the occupied territory mentioned in this Document R-129, from which I have just read these names and figures, there were many, many others. I refer to the official report by the United States Third Army Headquarters, to which we have already made reference, Document Number 2309-PS, on Page 2 in the English text, Section IV, Paragraph 4, quoting: "Concentration Camp Flossenburg was founded in 1938 as a camp for political prisoners. Construction was commenced on the camp in 1938 and it was not until April 1940 that the first transport of prisoners was received. From this time on prisoners began to flow steadily into the camp. (Exhibit B-1.) Flossenburg was the mother camp and under its direct control and jurisdiction were 47 satellite camps or outer-commandos for male prisoners and 27 camps for female workers. To these outer-commandos were supplied the necessary prisoners for the various work projects undertaken. "Of all these outer-commandos, Hersbruck and Leitmeritz (in Czechoslovakia), Oberstaubling, Mulsen and Sall, located on the Danube, were considered to be the worst." I do not wish to take the time of the Tribunal to discuss each of the Nazi concentration camps which dotted the map of Europe. We feel that the widespread use of these camps is commonly known and notorious. We do, however, wish to invite the Tribunal's attention to a chart which we have had prepared. The solid black line marks the boundary of Germany after the Anschluss, and we call the Tribunal's attention to the fact that the majority of the camps shown on the chart are located within the territorial limits of Germany itself. They are the red spots, of course, on the map. In the center of Germany there is the Buchenwald camp located near the city of Weimar, and at the extreme bottom of the chart there is Dachau, several miles outside of Munich At the top of the chart are Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen, located near Hamburg. To the left is the Niederhagen camp in the Ruhr Valley.
MR. DODD: In the upper right there are a number of camps near Berlin, one named Sachsenhausen (formerly Oranienburg, which was one of the first camps established after the Nazis came into power). Near to that is the camp of Ravensbruck which was used exclusively for women. Some of the most notorious camps were located indeed outside of Germany. Mauthausen was in Austria. In Poland was the infamous Auschwitz; and to the left of the chart is a camp called Hertogenbosch and this one was located in Holland, as the chart shows; and below it is Natzweiler, located in France. The camps were established in networks; and it may be observed that surrounding each of the major camps-the larger red dots-is a group of satellite camps; and the names of the principal camps, the most notorious camps, at least, are above the map and below it on the chart; and those names, for most people, symbolize the Nazi system of concentration camps as they have become known to the world since May or a little later in 1945. I should like to direct your attention briefly to the treatment which was meted out in these camps. The motion picture to which I have made reference a short time ago and which was shown to the members of this High Tribunal has disclosed the terrible and savage treatment which was inflicted upon these Allied nationals, prisoners of war, and other victims of Nazi terror. Because the moving picture has so well shown the situation, as of the time of its taking at least, I shall confine myself to a very brief discussion of the subject. The conditions which existed inside these camps were, of course, we say, directly related to the objectives which these Nazi conspirators sought to achieve outside of the camps through their employment of terror. It is truly remarkable, it seems to us, how easily the words "concentration camps" rolled off the lips of these men. How simple all problems became when they could turn to the terror institution of the concentration camps. I refer to Document Number R-124, which is already before the Tribunal as Exhibit USA-179.
MR. DODD: It is again that document covering the minutes of the Central Planning Committee on which the Defendant Speer sat and where the high strategy of the high Nazi armament production was formulated. I do not intend to read from the document again, because I read from it this morning to illustrate another point; but the Tribunal will recall that it was at this meeting that the Defendant Speer and others were discussing the so-called slackers, and the conversation had to do with having drastic steps taken against these workers who were not putting out sufficient work to please their masters. Speer suggested that, "There is nothing to be said against the SS and Police taking steps and putting those known as slackers into concentration camp industries," and he used the words "concentration camp industries." And he said, "Let it happen several times and the news will soon get around." Words spoken in this fashion, we say, sealed the fate of many victims. As for getting the news around as suggested by the Defendant Speer, this was not left to chance, as we shall presently show. The deterrent effect of the concentration camps upon the public was a carefully planned thing. To heighten the atmosphere of terror, these camps were shrouded in secrecy. What went on in the barbed wire enclosures was a matter of fearful conjecture in Germany and countries under Nazi control; and this was the policy from the very beginning, when the Nazis first came into power and set up this system of concentration camps. We refer now to Document Number 778-PS, which bears Exhibit Number USA-247. This document is an order issued on the 1st of October 1933 by the camp commander of Dachau. The document prescribed a program of floggings, solitary confinement, and executions for the inmates for infractions of the rules.
MR. DODD: Among the rules were those prescribing a rigid censorship concerning conditions within the camp; and I refer to the first page of the English text, paragraph numbered Article 11, and quoting: "By virtue of the law on revolutionaries, the following offenders considered as agitators, will be hanged: "Anyone who, for the purpose of agitating, does the following in the camp, at work in the quarters, in the kitchens and workshops, toilets and places of rest: holds political or inciting speeches and meetings, forms cliques, loiters around with others; who, for the purpose of supplying the propaganda of. the opposition with atrocity stories, collects true or false information about the concentration camp and its institution, receives such information, buries it, talks about it to others, smuggles it out of the camp into the hands of foreign visitors or others by means of clandestine or other methods, passes it on in writing or orally to released prisoners or prisoners who are placed above them, conceals it in clothing or other articles, throws stones and other objects over the camp wall containing such information, or produces secret documents; who, for the purpose of agitating, climbs on barracks roofs and trees, seeks contact with the outside by giving light or other signals, or induces others to escape or commit a crime, gives them advice to that effect or supports such undertakings in any way whatsoever." The censorship about the camps themselves was complemented by an officially inspired rumor campaign outside the camps. Concentration camps were spoken of in whispers, and the whispers were spread by agents of the Secret Police. When the Defendant Speer said that if the threat of the concentration camp were used, the news would get around soon enough, he knew whereof he spoke. We refer to Document 1531-PS. With reference to this document, I wish to submit a word of explanation.
MR. DODD: The original German text, the original German document, the captured document, Bras here in the document room and was translated into English as our translation shows. Yesterday we were advised that it has either been lost or misplaced, the original German text; and unfortunately no photostatic copy was available here in Nuremberg. A certified copy is, however, being sent to the office here from Frankfurt, and it is on its way today; and I ask the Tribunal's permission to offer the English translation of the German original, which is certified to be accurate by the translator, into evidence, subject to a motion to strike it if the certified copy of the original German document does not arrive. I now refer to the Document Number 1531-PS. It bears our Exhibit Number USA-248. This document is marked "top secret" and it is addressed to an State Police district offices and to the Gestapo office and for the information of the Inspectors of the Security Police and the SD. It is an order relating to concentration camps, issued by the head of the Gestapo; and I read from the English text, beginning with the second paragraph, and quoting directly: "In order to achieve a further deterrent effect, the following must, in the future, be observed in each individual case: "3. The length of the period of custody must in no case be made known, even if the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police or the Chief of the Security Police and the SD has already fixed it. "The term of commitment to a concentration camp is to be openly announced as 'until further notice.' "In most serious cases there is no objection to increasing the deterrent effect by the spreading of cleverly carried out rumor propaganda, more or less to the effect that, according to hearsay, in view of the seriousness of his case, the arrested man will not be released for 2 or 3 years. "4. In certain cases the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police will order flogging in addition to detention in a concentration camp.
MR. DODD: Orders of this kind will, in the future, also be transmitted to the State Police district office concerned. In this case, too, there is no objection to spreading the rumor of this increased punishment as laid down in Section 3, Paragraph 3, insofar as this appears suitable to add to the deterrent effect. "5. Naturally, particularly suitable and reliable people are to be chosen for the spreading of such news."
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, the Tribunal think that they will take judicial notice of that United States Document, Number 2309-PS; and for the convenience of the Defense Counsel, the Tribunal having say until 1 will not sit again until 2:15.
MR. DODD: Very well, Your Honor. [A recess was taken until 1415 hours.] Afternoon Session MR. DODD: May it please the Tribunal, the deterrent effect of the concentration camps was based on the promise of brutal treatment. Once in the custody of the SS guards, the victim was beaten, tortured, starved, and often murdered through the so-called "extermination through work" program which I described the other day or through the mass execution gas chambers and furnaces of the camps, which were shown several days ago on the moving picture screen in this courtroom. The reports of official government investigations furnish additional evidence of the conditions within the concentration camps. Document 2309-PS, which has already been referred to and of which the Tribunal has taken judicial notice, I now refer to again, particularly to the second page of the English text, beginning with the second sentence of the second paragraph: "The work at these camps mainly consisted of underground labor, the purpose being the construction of large underground factories, storage rooms, et cetera . This labor was performed completely underground and as a result of the brutal treatment, working and living conditions, a daily average of 100 prisoners died. To the one camp Oberstaubling 700 prisoners were transported in February 1945, and on the 15th of April 1945 only 405 of these men were living. During the 12 months preceding the liberation, Flossenburg and the branch camps under its control accounted for the death of 14,739 male inmates and 1,300 women. These figures represent the deaths as obtained from the available records in the camp. However, they are in no way complete, as many secret mass executions and deaths took place. In 1941 an additional stockade was added at the Flossenburg camp to hold 2,000 Russian prisoners. From these 2,000 prisoners only 102 survived. "Flossenburg Concentration Camp can best be described as a factory dealing in death.
MR. DODD: Although this camp had in view the primary object of putting to work the mass slave labor, another of its primary objectives was the elimination of human lives by the methods employed in handling the prisoners. "Hunger and starvation rations, sadism, housing facilities, inadequate clothing, medical neglect, disease, beatings, hangings, freezing, forced hand hanging, forced suicides, shooting, all played a major role in obtaining their objective. Prisoners were murdered at random; spite killings against Jews were common. Injections of poison and shooting in 512 13 Dec. 45 the neck were everyday occurrences. Epidemics of typhus and spotted fever were permitted to run rampant as a means of eliminating prisoners. Life in this camp meant nothing. Killing became a common thing, so common that a quick death was welcomed by the unfortunate ones." Passing to the next to the last sentence of this same paragraph, quoting directly ... THE PRESIDENT: What are those exhibits that are referred to? MR. DODD: They are in evidence with the affidavit. They are attached to it. THE PRESIDENT: They are not, I suppose, mimeographed in our copy? MR. DODD: No, we have not had an opportunity to mimeograph each one of them. THE PRESIDENT: Are they documents or photographs or what? MR. DODD: They are principally documents. There are some few plans and photographs, and so on. THE PRESIDENT: Are they affidavits or what? There seem to be instances of ... MR. DODD: Well, some of them are in the form of affidavits taken at the time of the liberation of the camp from persons who were there, and others are pictures of writings that were found there and of the plans and so on-such sort of thing. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well the Tribunal will take judicial notice of those exhibits as well. MR. DODD: Very well, Your Honor. Reading from the last sentence of this same paragraph on the same page and quoting: "On Christmas, 1944, a number of prisoners were hanged at one time. The prisoners were forced to viewer this hanging.
MR. DODD: By the side of the gallows was a decorated Christmas tree; and as expressed by one prisoner, 'It was a terrible sight, that combination of prisoners hanging in the air and the glistening Christmas tree." "In March or April, 13 American or British parachutists were hanged. They had been delivered to this camp some time before and had been captured while trying to blow up bridges." We will not burden the Tribunal with a recital of all of these reports. We wish, however, to make reference to the Concentration Camp Mauthausen, one of the most notorious extermination centers; and I refer particularly to Document Number 2176-PS, 513 13 Dec. 45 which I have already placed in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-249. This is also an official of the office of the Judge Advocate General of the United States 3rd Army, dated 17 June 1945. I wish to refer to the conclusions on Page 3 of the English text, at paragraph numbered Roman V, beginning with the second sentence as follows: "V. Conclusions. There is no doubt that Mauthausen was the basis for long-term planning. It was constructed as a gigantic stone fortress on top of a mountain flanked by small barracks. Mauthausen, in addition to its permanency of construction, had facilities for a large garrison of officers and men and had large dining rooms and toilet facilities for the staff. It was conducted with the sole purpose in mind of exterminating any so-called prisoner who entered within its walls. The so-called branches of Mauthausen were under direct command of the SS officials located there. All records, orders, and administrative facilities were handled for these branches through Mauthausen.