dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Gentlemen of the Tribunal. I already indicated in my opening statement that the action of forcibly deporting peaceful civilians -- men, women, and children -- for forced labor into Germany was one of the most important in the chain of foul crimes committed by the German fascist invaders. The decisive role in this sinister crime was enacted by the Defendant Fritz Sauckel. During cross-examination in this courtroom, Defendant Sauckel could not help but admit that during the war about 10 million slave laborers, originating both from occupied territories and from the ranks of the prisoners of war, were utilized in German industries and partly for German agricultural labor. While admitting the deportation to Germany and the utilization for the war industries of Hitlerite Germany of millions of workers from the occupied territories, Sauckel denied the criminal character of this action, affirming that the recruitment of labor was allegedly carried out on a voluntary basis. This assertion is not only a lie but a slander against the millions of honest patriots of the Soviet Union, of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, France, and Holland who, devoted to their country, were forcibly sent for labor into Hitlerite Germany. The attempts of Defendant Sauckel to depict his part of Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor as consisting merely in the co-ordination and control of other government labor organizations are futile. As the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor, Sauckel was invested by Hitler with supreme and all-encompassing powers and was in these activities directly and personally subordinated to Goering. And Sauckel extensively used these full powers in order to deport to Germany labor from the occupied territories. There is no need to refer to the extensive documentary evidence presented to the Tribunal, which irrefutably establishes the criminal character of the methods of mass deportation into slavery of the population of occupied territories, nor to the role of the Defendant Sauckel in organizing these crimes.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): How far these crimes extended is shown in the operation carried out by the German military and civil authorities, coded under the name "Hay Action," which provided for the forced deportation of children from the age of 10 to 14 into slavery, as well as for the deportation of Ukrainian girls destined by Hitler for Germanization. The Defendant Sauckel has tried to assure the Tribunal that he had complied strictly with the provisions of the Geneva and Hague Conventions concerning the utilization of labor of prisoners of war. His own instructions, however, fully expose his lies. The Defendant Sauckel had planned beforehand the forced utilization of Soviet war prisoners for the war industry in Germany and never made any distinction between them and civilian labor.The inhuman conditions under which the foreign workers and prisoners of war deported for slavery lived, are testified to by the numerous documents submitted as evidence. The Defendant Sauckel himself was obliged to admit that foreign workers were kept in camps with barbed wire and were obliged to wear special identification badges. The witness Dr. Wilhelm Jöger, summoned to the Tribunal by the defendant's counsel for Sauckel, was obliged to give a picture of the awful conditions under which the enslaved workers at Krupp's works existed. After all this, the deposition of the other witness, Fritz Wieshofer, seems actually ridiculous when, in trying to exonerate Sauckel, he manifestly overdid it by informing the Tribunal that he, himself, allegedly saw foreign workers walking and enjoying themselves in the Prater in Vienna. The Defendant Sauckel displayed great activity in committing all these crimes. In April 1943 he personally visited the towns of Rovno, Kiev, Dniepropetrovsk, Zaporozhie, Simferopol, Minsk, Riga, and in June of the same year Prague, Kraków, and again Kiev, Zaporozhie, and Melitopol in order to speed up the deportation of labor.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): And it was as a result of his journey to the Ukraine in 1943 that Sauckel expressed his gratitude for the successful mobilization of labor forces to the Reich Commissioner for the Ukraine, Koch, known for the drastic, cruel measures which he applied to the fullest extent to the Ukrainian population. And it is not mere chance that the criminal activities of Sauckel's were so highly appreciated in Hitlerite Germany. On 6 August 1942 the Defendant Goering declared at the conference of the Reich commissioners for the occupied territories: "I do not wish to praise Gauleiter Sauckel. He does not need it. But what he has done in so short a time in order to gather workers and to have them brought to our enterprises is a  unique achievement. I must tell everybody, gentlemen, that if each of you applied but one-tenth of the energy applied by Gauleiter Sauckel, it would be easy indeed to fulfill the tasks imposed upon you..." In the article published in the Reichsarbeitsblatt for 1944 and dedicated to Sauckel's fiftieth anniversary it was said: "True to his political task, he pursues his responsible course with unyielding consistency and tenacity, with a fanatical belief. As one of the most faithful adherents of Hitler, he draws his creative and spiritual strength from the Föhrer's trust in him." When estimating Sauckel's criminal activity, Your Honors will surely consider the tears shed by the millions of people who languished in German slavery, of the thousands of people tortured in inhuman conditions in the workers' camps-you will consider this and will judge accordingly. The Defendant Arthur Seyss-Inquart was appointed by Hitler Chief of the Civil Administration in southern Poland at the beginning of September 1939, and since 12 October of the same year Deputy Governor of Poland. He occupied this post till May 1940.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): For 7 months Seyss-Inquart, under the leadership of Frank and jointly with him, had personally conducted a regime of terror in Poland, and he took an active part in elaborating and realizing the plans for the extermination of many thousands of people, for the economic plunder and enslavement of the people of the Polish State. On 17 November 1939 Seyss-Inquart addressed the chiefs of the administration and departments of the Warsaw Government, mentioning among other things that: "When the German administration acted in the Government General its guiding principle should be the interests of the German Reich. By means of a severe and unrelenting administration this region should be utilized for German economy; and, in order not to show any undue leniency, one should try to visualize the consequences of Polish penetration into German territory." Two days later Seyss-Inquart instructed the Lublin Governor, SS Brigadefuehrer Schmidt, on the same question in the following way: "The resources and the inhabitants of this country should serve Germany, and they may prosper only within these limits. The development of independent political thinking cannot be permitted. Perhaps the Vistula will have an even greater significance for the fate of Germany than the Rhine" (Exhibit USA-706).
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): From the report on an official journey of Seyss-Inquart we learn that the Governor of Warsaw, Fischer, informed the defendant that all valuables of the Warsaw Bank in gold, precious metals, and bills of exchange had been transferred to the Reichsbank, while the Polish inhabitants were obliged to leave their deposits in the banks; that the German administration was employing forced labor; that the Lublin Governor Schmidt declared in the presence of Seyss-Inquart: "This territory with its strongly-marked swampy nature could serve as a reservation for the Jews; this measure would possibly lead to a decimation of the Jews." I draw the attention of the Tribunal to the fact that it was exactly at Maidanek near Lublin where the Hitlerite hangmen erected an enormous extermination camp in which they killed about a million and a half human beings. It is also known that Seyss-Inquart, as Frank's deputy, carried out "special tasks" on his behalf. On 8 December 1939 Seyss-Inquart took part in a conference at which the following subjects were discussed: The appointment of Frank as deputy to the Delegate for the Four Year Plan and the economic exploitation of the Government General for the best interests of the Reich; the arrival of numerous trains with Jews and Poles from the newly-acquired territories, which transportations would continue-according to SS Obergruppenfuehrer Krueer-till the middle of December; the issuing of a supplementary order extending labor duty to the age group 14 to 18. On 21 April 1940 the defendant took part in the conference at which plans for forced deportation of Polish workers to Germany were elaborated. On 16 May 1940 the defendant took part in the elaboration of the "AB Action," which was nothing but a premeditated plan of mass extermination of the Polish intellectuals.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): In connection with the appointment of Seyss-Inquart as Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands, Frank and his worthy deputy exchanged farewell speeches: "I am exceedingly glad"--said Frank--"to assure you that the memory of your work in the Government General will live forever when the future German Reich of peace has been created ... "I have learned much here"-answered Seyss-Inquart "... and this because of the initiative and firm leadership of the kind I saw in my friend, Dr. Frank.... ". . . all my thoughts are connected with the East. In the East we have a National Socialist mission, in the West we have a task." Seyss-Inquart's task in the West, as well as that of the other Reich ministers and commissioners in all territories occupied by the  Germans, is well known: It is the function of hangman and plunderer. My colleagues have given the details about the criminal part played by Seyss-Inquart when annexing Austria and realizing other aggressive plans of the Hitlerite conspiracy. They have clearly shown how Seyss-Inquart applied in the Netherlands the bloody experience gained by him while collaborating with Frank in Poland. For this reason I fully support the charges against Seyss-Inquart as formulated in the Indictment. - As early as 1932, while still Reich Chancellor of the German Republic, the Defendant Franz von Papen actively contributed to the development of the fascist movement in Germany. Papen rescinded the decree of his predecessor Bruening prohibiting the activities of the SA. It was he who had overthrown the Braun-Severing Social Democrat Government in Prussia. These measures greatly strengthened the position of the fascists and contributed to their accession to power. Thus Papen cleared the way for Hitler. Having secured the power for the Nazis, Papen himself assumed the post of Vice Chancellor in Hitler's Cabinet. In this capacity Von Papen participated in the elaboration and the promulgation of a series of legislative acts aimed at the consolidation of German fascism.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): And later on, for many years, until the collapse of Hitlerite Germany, Von Papen remained true to his fascist friends and participated to the utmost of his abilities in the realization of the criminal conspiracy. The Defendant Von Papen is attempting now to explain his role in the development of the fascist movement and in Hitler's seizure of power in terms of the political situation of the country which, he says, made Hitler's accession to power unavoidable. The real motives which guided Von Papen were different: They were that he himself was a convinced fascist devoted to Hitler. Speaking at Essen on 2 November 1933, during the election campaign for the Reichstag, Papen declared: "Ever since Providence called upon me to become the pioneer of national resurrection and of the rebirth of our homeland, I have tried to support with all my strength the work of the National Socialist movement and its leader; just as I, at the time of taking over the chancellorship, have helped pave the way to power for the young, fighting, patriotic movement, just as I on 30 January was selected by a providential fate to place the hands of our Chancellor and Fuehrer into the hand of our beloved Field Marshal, so do I today again feel the obligation to say to the German people and all those who have kept confidence in me: The kind Lord has blessed Germany by giving her in times of dire need a leader who will lead her with the unerring instinct of the statesman through distress and weaknesses, through all crises and dangers, into a happy future." The International Military Tribunal will fully estimate the criminal activities of the Defendant Von Papen, who played a decisive part in the seizure of power by Hitler and in so doing contributed in creating the dark powers of fascism which plunged the world into bloody wars and caused unspeakable misery. Long before the Nazis came to power the architect Albert Speer was a personal friend of the draftsman Hitler and remained so until the end.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Not only common professional interests, but political interests also brought them together. Speer began his career in 1932 with the reconstruction of the Brown House, the headquarters of the NSDA-P in Berlin, and in 10 years' time he was at the head of all military construction and war production in fascist Germany. Starting with the construction of the buildings of the Reichsparteitag, Speer ended by setting up the Atlantic Wall. Speer held an important post in the Government and military machinery of Hitler's Germany and played a direct and active part in planning and realizing the criminal conspiracy. What is Speer's line of defense at the Trial? Speer presents his case in the following way: He was pressed by Hitler to take on the post of Minister; he was an intimate friend of Hitler's, but he knew nothing about his plans. He had been a member of the Nazi Party for 14 years, but he was far from politics and he'd never even read Mein Kampf. It is true that upon being given the lie Speer confessed that he had lied during his preliminary interrogation. Speer lied when he denied that he had ever belonged to the SA and then to the SS. The Tribunal possesses the original file of the SS man Albert Speer, who belonged to the personal staff of the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler. Speer also held a rather high rank in the Nazi Party. In the Party Chancellery he was a delegate for all technical questions; he headed the Main Office for Engineering of the Party; he directed the union of German National Socialist technicians; he was deputy for the staff of Hess, and a leader of one of the major German Labor Front organizations. After all this can Speer's declaration that he was a specialist indifferent to politics be given credence? In reality, as a close collaborator of Hitler, Hess, Ley, and Goering, he directed German engineering not only as Reich Minister, but also as a fascist political leader. Upon succeeding to Todt, Speer, as he expressed himself in his speech before the Gauleiter, devoted himself completely to war tasks.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): By means of the pitiless exploitation of the population in the occupied territories and of the prisoners of war of the Allied countries, at the expense of the health and lives of hundreds of thousands of people, Speer increased the production of armament and ammunition for the German Army. By plundering the raw materials and other resources of the occupied territories, Speer, by all possible means, increased the war potential of Hitler's Germany. His powers grew with every month of the war. By Hitler's decree of 2 September 1943 Speer became plenipotentiary and the responsible man for the supply of raw materials, for the direction and production of war industry. He was even commissioned to regulate the turnover of commodities, and by Hitler's decree of 24 August 1944 Speer was practically made dictator of all German offices, in Germany as well as in the occupied territories, whose activity was in any way connected with the strengthening of the German war potential. And when the fascist fliers bombed peaceful towns and villages, thereby killing women, old men, and children, when the German artillery bombarded Leningrad, when the Hitlerite pirates sank hospital ships, when English towns were bombed by th e V-weapon -- all this came as a result of Speer's activity. Under his leadership the production of gas and of other weapons of chemical warfare had been greatly increased. The defendant himself, when interrogated by Justice Jackson at the Trial, confessed that three factories were producing gas and that they were working at full speed till November 1944. Speer not only knew of methods used by Sauckel for deporting the population from the occupied territories for slave labor, but he himself took part, together with Sauckel, in conferences with Hitler and of the Central Planning Board where decisions were taken to deport millions of people to Germany from the occupied territories.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Speer kept up a close contact with Himmler; he received from Himmler prisoners for work in war factories; branches of concentration camps were organized in many factories subordinated to Speer. In recognition of Himmler's services, Speer supplied the SS with experienced specialists and with supplementary war equipment. Speer has spoken quite a bit here about his having sharply criticized Hitler's close circle, that he had allegedly had very serious differences with Hitler and that, in his letters to Hitler, he had written about the futility of continuing the war. When the representative of the Soviet Prosecution asked Speer which of the persons close to Hitler he had criticized and in what connection, the defendant answered, "I shall not tell you." It is quite evident that Speer not only did not want to, but that in fact he could not tell, for the simple reason that he had never criticized anyone who was close to Hitler and could not do so as he was a convinced Nazi himself and belonged to this close circle. As to the so-called serious differences, they began, as Speer admitted, when it became clear to him that Germany had lost the war. Speer's letters to Hitler are dated March 1945. At that time Speer could without great risk depict Germany's hopeless condition. It was apparent to everyone and was no longer a subject of discussion. And it was not by accident that after these letters Speer still remained Hitler's favorite. It was precisely Speer whom Hitler appointed on 30 March 1945 to direct measures for the total destruction of the industrial enterprises by obliging all Party, State, and military offices to render him all possible help. That is the true picture of the Defendant Speer and the real part played by him in the crimes committed by the Hitler clique. Constantin von Neurath's part in the consolidation of the Nazi conspirators' power and in the preparation and realization of aggressive plans is a remarkable one.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Over a period of many years, whenever traces had to be covered up, when acts of aggression were to be veiled by diplomatic manipulations, Neurath, fascist diplomat and SS general, came to the help of the Hitlerites, bringing them his long experience of world affairs. May I remind you of the high official appraisal of Neurath's activity which appeared in all the newspapers of fascist Germany on 2 February 1943: "Germany's leaving the Geneva Disarmament Conference on 14 October 1933, the return of the Saar territory, and the denunciation of the Locarno Treaty will rank among the most outstanding political events since the inauguration of the Nazi regime. In these Baron von Neurath played a decisive part and his name will always be connected with them." In his capacity of Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Neurath represented to the Nazi conspirators those "firm and reliable hands" of which General Friderici wrote in his memorandum, which were to transform the Czechoslovak Republic into an "indissoluble part of Germany." In order to attain that object Neurath established the notorious "New Order," the nature of which is now known to all. Neurath attempted to assert here that all the atrocities were committed by the Police and Gestapo, upon Himmler's direct order, and that he knew nothing of them. It is quite comprehensible that Neurath should say so, but one can hardly agree with him. Interrogated on 7 March 1946, Karl Frank testified that Neurath received regularly the reports of the Chief of Security Police, as well as those of Frank himself, regarding the "most important events in the Protectorate" pertaining to the Security Police. He stated also that it was possible for Neurath to issue directives to the Reich Security Police, and that he did indeed do so; while, as far as the SD was concerned, his powers were still greater, depending in no way upon the consent of the Reich Security Main Office.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): I wish also to recall to your memory Paragraphs 11, 13, and 14 of the decree, issued on I September 1939 by the Reich Defense Council, which proves that the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police carried out administrative measures in Bohemia and Moravia with the knowledge of the Reich Protector, and that the German Security Police agencies in the Protectorate were obliged to inform the Reich Protector as well as the offices subordinated to him and to keep them aware of all major events. If I add that on 5 May 1939 the Defendant Neurath appointed an SD Leader and Plenipotentiary of the Security Police to the post of his political reporter; if we recall the testimony read to the court of Richard Bienert, the former Czech Minister President under Neurath, in which it says that the Gestapo carried out arrests on orders of the Reich Protector, we can hardly have any doubt but that Neurath gave his sanction to the mass arrests, summary executions, and other inhuman acts committed by the Gestapo and Police in Czechoslovakia. I will pass on to the events of 17 November 1939 when nine students were shot without trial, while over a thousand were thrown into concentration camps and all the Czech high schools and universities were closed for 3 years. Neurath said that he heard of these acts of terror post factum. But we have submitted to the Tribunal a public announcement of the shooting and arrests of the students which bears Neurath's signature. Neurath then seeks another loophole. He declares that Frank signed this announcement in his -- Neurath's -- name, and to be more convincing he even adds that later he heard from an official that Frank often misused his name in documents. Are Neurath's statements to be credited? One has only to analyze briefly the actual facts in order to answer this question in the negative. Neurath says that Frank misused his name. What did Neurath do in answer to this? Did he demand Frank's resignation or his punishment for forgery? No. Did he, perhaps, report this forgery officially to somebody? No.