dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
COL. PHILLIMORE: My Lord, the second document, D-912, will be GB-526. This is a series of broadcasts from German stations between 6 September and 22 October 1939, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation and dealing with the Athenia . My Lord, I of Per that document in view of the Defendant Raeder's evidence. The Tribunal will remember that, according to him, the article on the 23 October in the Volkischer Beobachter came as a complete surprise. The reference in the shorthand notes is 9832, Page 9832 (Volume XIV, Page 80). My Lord, it also arises out of the question, I think, put to the Tribunal-put by the Tribunal to the Defendant Fritzsche; and it confirms his evidence that broadcasts blaming Mr. Winston Churchill for being responsible for the sinking of the Athenia started at the early part of September and went right on through the month. Actually, these broadcasts, the Tribunal will see-the first on 6 September. I might read perhaps one sentence in the second line: "The German press refutes the accusations of the British press that the German submarine had sunk the Athenia . Churchill, as one of his first actions, ordered the Athenia to be sunk in order to stir up anti-German feeling in the U.S.A." Well, then there are similar broadcasts from other stations on that day, again on the 7th, the 11th, the 25th. I have not got the one on the 27th, put in by General Rudenko; but there is one by the Defendant Fritzsche on 1 October, and so on, culminating with a broadcast by Goebbels on the 22d, the day before the article appeared. My Lord, that will be GB-526. The next document, 3881-PS, is an extract from the proceedings before the Peoples' Court on 7 and 8 August 1944, when seven defendants were tried for the attempt on Hitler's life. My Lord, I am only putting in a translated extract, but the photostat is in fact complete. I should have said that what is before the Tribunal is only a translation of certain extracts, but the exhibit contains the complete record of the proceedings. My Lord, I...
THE PRESIDENT: Unless we have it translated, we shall not be able to have it in evidence.
COL. PHILLIMORE: My Lord, we do not intend to refer to more than the translated extracts.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
COL. PHILLIMORE: I only said that for the benefit of Defense Counsel, who may wish to look elsewhere. My Lord, I put that in in view of the Defendant Jodl's evidence that it was only because British generals obeyed orders that the German generals were now being tried. That is Page 11043 of the shorthand notes (Volume XV, Page 383). And the passages-the nature of the passages is that the president of the Peoples' Court is refusing to accept the defense of superior orders put forward by the defendants. My Lord, that will be GB-527. My Lord, .the next document is D-181, which I offer as Exhibit GB-528. It is a letter by a Gauleiter to Gauamtsleiter, Gauinspektor, and Kreisleiter on the subject of the law of hereditary health and sterilization on the ground of  imbecility. It is an important document in connection with the Defendant Frick, and I put it in in view of the statements made on his behalf by his counsel at Page 8296 (Volume XII, Page 162) of the shorthand notes, My Lord, when he said in effect that Frick had no control over the political police and that Himmler's subordination to him was purely nominal. My Lord, there are a number of references in the letter to the fact that the decree-and indeed its administration-was the responsibility of the Defendant Frick. My Lord, the next document is of a similar nature, and I attribute it to the same page of the shorthand notes. It is Document M-151, and I offer it as Exhibit GB-529. It consists of three letters on the subject of the murder of mental patients in institutions. The first is dated the 6th of September and addressed by the supervisor of a sanatorium at Stetten to the Reich Minister of Justice. It sets out the feeling of insecurity in the neighborhood of the sanatorium administered by its inspector, in view of the number of deaths which are occurring. The second, dated the 10th, is a letter from the Minister of Justice acknowledging the complaint and saying that it has been passed to the Defendant Frick. And the third, of the same date, is the Minister's letter to his. colleague passing the complaint to him.
COL. PHILLIMORE: My Lord, the next document is again on the same subject. It is Document M-152, and I offer it as Exhibit GB-530. It consists of four letters. The first, dated the 19th of July 1940, is addressed to the Defendant Frick as Reich Minister of the Interior, by Bishop Wurm, the Provincial Bishop of the Wurttemberg Evangelical Provincial Church. My Lord, it again sets out the mass of complaints he is receiving and then goes on to deal with the wickedness of the practice which is apparently going on. The second letter, dated the 23d of August, is a letter to the Minister of Justice referring to the letter sent to the Defendant Frick. The third, of the 5th of September, is a letter to the Defendant Frick reminding him of the previous letter of the 19th of July to which no reply had been received. And, on the 6th of September, the next letter is a parallel communication again to the Minister of Justice. Finally, on the 11th of September, the last page of the document, there is a memorandum on the Minister of Justice's file indicating that an official of the Ministry had informed the Bishop's dean, presumably Dean Keppler, that the matter was entirely one for the Defendant Frick. My Lord, the next document, D-455, which I offer as Exhibit GB-531, is a pamphlet prepared by the German Military Government authorities in Belgium. It comes from the files of the German War Office, the OKW, and it is entitled, Belgium's Contributions to Germany's War Economy , and is dated the 1st of March 1942. My Lord, I offer it in view of the general evidence that German occupation was benevolent and that-the Tribunal has heard, again and again, the suggestion that they did a great deal of good to the countries they occupied. This document is a very graphic illustration of the falsity of that evidence out of the mouths of the Defense. My Lord, if I might take the Tribunal very quickly through it, at Page 3 is a chart of the population figures in terms of employees, and it shows that more than half the working population was working for Germany.
COL. PHILLIMORE: Of the 1,800,000 workers and employees in Belgium, 901,280 were employed with the German Armed Forces and in the German interests. My Lord, at Page 4 is a comparison between Belgium, Holland, and France in terms of percentage of workers employed as slave labor. My Lord, at Page 5 is a statement of the production figures for the Belgian contribution to Germany, in-I think it is the seventh line, it is summed up: "Output to the value of 1,200 million Reichsmark." Page 6-there is a comparison between the coal taken from Belgium and the same amount produced in the year in the Ruhr. At Page 8 there is comparison of iron, with the total amount of iron used in the West Wall. Page 9, cement; Page 10, textiles; Page 11, metals. There is a statement there which contains a sentence about the summing up of what had been taken out: "It was possible to achieve these results only by exhausting the last reserves of the country." At Page 12 there is a chart of how the metal collection has affected individuals. It is a comparison between Belgium, Holland, and France. At Page 13 there is a statement about the contribution to traffic; and a chart on Page 14. At Page 15 it appears that the contributions in money exceeded the total earning-earned income of the Belgian workers for the last year. At Page 16 there are figures with regard to the quantity of gold taken for safekeeping in the Reichsbank. Page 18 deals with shares, a comparison with the total share capital of I. G. Farben, the comparison being 700 million Reichsmark as against the share capital of I. G. Farben of 800 millions. Then there is a statement with regard to rations, showing that Germany had imported food into Belgium but that, despite that, the rationing was the lowest of all western countries. And finally, on the last page, there is an indication of the change in the Belgian rations by comparison between 1938 and under the benevolent rule of the German Military Government in 1941. My Lord, it speaks for itself. My Lord, I-My Lord, the last document, D-524, is a similar pamphlet referring to France.
COL. PHILLIMORE: It comes from the same source, and I offer it as Exhibit GB-532. My Lord, owing to a breakdown in electric power, I have not been able to finish photostating the English copies, but I will hand them in, if I may, subsequently and for the moment I hand up German photostats. My Lord, I offer it in view of the Defendant Sauckel's evidence, at Page 10617 of the shorthand notes (Volume XV, Page 52), where he said that the total slave labor figure was not more than 5 millions. My Lord, at Pages 8 and 9 of this document, the Tribunal will see the slave labor position of Germany at the end of 1943, so that to this must be added slave labor drawn in during 1944. My Lord, it amounts to just under 7 millions, of which 1,462,000 were prisoners of war, so that the figure of slave labor at the date was slightly over 5 millions; that is, slave labor excluding prisoners of war was slightly over 5 millions, and to that, as I say, one must add the increase during 1944. My Lord, on Page 8 are the figures and comparisons: Men, civilians, 3,631,000; prisoners of war, 1,462,000; women, 1,714,000. And then it is set out how that is divided by countries. And on Page 9 is merely an illustration in color. My Lord, the rest of the pamphlet merely gives figures illustrative of what was taken from France, very similar to those in the case of Belgium. And I would not propose to take the Tribunal through it unless it is desired that I should do so. My Lord, I think I gave that a number, Exhibit GB-532. My Lord, that is all the documents that I have to offer. I understand my friend, Mr. Dodd, has some.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): May it please the Tribunal, at the time of the crossexamination of the Defendant Hermann Goering we confronted him with a document, numbered 3787-PS. It was received as Exhibit USA-782. It was the report of the second meeting of the Reich Defense Council. Goering acknowledged the authenticity of the minutes as presented to him in the German text. But the document at that time had not been translated, and consequently it was not possible to read into the record the many parts of that document which we considered important as bearing upon his credibility and testimony, and as bearing upon the denials of many other of the defendants that they knew of the planning of the war and that they knew-participated in it. I would now like to read from the record part of this which we consider extremely important as rebuttal testimony received from several of the defendants. On the face of it, it is a letter of transmittal dated the 10th day of July 1939, from the supreme command of the Armed Forces, on the subject, "Second Meeting of the Reich Defense Council." One hundred copies were prepared, and our copy is the 84th. It is labeled "most secret" and merely transmits in the name of the chief of the supreme command of the Armed Forces the enclosed document to following parties, among others.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): I shall name only the ones to which we have attached some importance: To the Party, the Elihrer's Deputy, the first copy; to the Chief of the Reich Chancellery; to Ministerprasident, Field Marshal Goering, the Reich Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force; to the Foreign Office; to the Plenipotentiary General for Reich Administration are nine copies, including copies for the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Education, the Minister for Church Affairs, and the Reich Of lice for Planning; also to the Plenipotentiary General for Economy, including copies for the Minister of Economy, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry of Labor, the Chief Forester, and the Commissioner for Price Control; to the Minister of-Finance; the Minister of Transport, Motor Transport, and Roads; and the Minister of Railways; the Post Minister; the Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda; the Reichsbank Directorate; the General Inspector of German Roads; the Armed Forces, including nine copies for the OKH, five copies for the OKM, the Reich Minister for Air and Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force; the supreme command of the Armed Forces; a series of other copies being enclosed. The enclosure is a report of the second meeting of the Reich Defense Council, held on a date to which we attach importance, the 6th day-the 23d day of June 1939. "Place: Large conference room of the Reich Air Ministry. "Commencement: 1110; termination: 1355. "President: Ministerprasident, General Field Marshal Goering. "Persons present..." I shall name only those to which we attach some importance, because the list is very long: The Fuehrer's Deputy; the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Dr.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): Lammers; Reichsministerprasident General Field Marshal Goering's staff, Secretary of State Korner, Secretary of State Neumann, Councillor Bergbohm, and several others; Plenipotentiary General for Reich Administration, Reichsminister Frick, Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler and uniformed police, Daluege; Plenipotentiary General for the Economy, Reichsminister Funk; the Reichsminister of Finance Von Krosigk; Minister of Transport; General Inspector of German Roads, Dr. Todt; supreme command of the Armed Forces, Generaloberst Keitel, Warlimont, and Generalmajor Thomas;. supreme command of the Army, by-from the General Staff, General of Artillery Halder; supreme command of the Navy, General Admiral- Grossadmiral Raeder; Reich Minister for Air Force, Milch and Bodenschatz, both of whom were witnesses here. The contents, summarized, I will not read. The minutes of the meeting: "Ministerprasident, General Field Marshal Goering emphasized in a preamble that according to the Fuehrer's wishes the Reich Defense Council was the determining body in the Reich for all questions of preparation for war. It is to discuss only the most important questions of Reich defense. They will be worked out by the Reich Defense Committee. "Meetings of the Reich Defense Council are to be convened only for these decisions which are unavoidable. It is urged that the departmental chiefs themselves be present. "Distribution of labor. "I. The President announced the following directives to govern the distribution and employment of the population in wartime. "1. The total strength of the Armed Forces is determined by the Fuehrer. It includes only half of the number of those fit and liable for military service. Nevertheless, their disposition will involve difficulties for economy, the administration, and the whole of the civil sphere. "2. When a schedule of manpower is made out, the basis on which the question is to be judged is how the remaining number, after those required for the Armed Forces have been withdrawn, can be most suitably employed. "3.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): Of equal importance to the requirements of the Armed Forces are those of the armament industry. It, above all, must be organized in peacetime as regards material and personnel in such a way that its production does not decrease but increases immediately with the outbreak of war. "4. The direction of labor to the vital war armament industry and to other civilian requirements is the main task of the Plenipotentiary General for Economy. "a. War armament covers not only the works producing war materials, but also those producing synthetic rubber (Buna), armament production tools, hydrogenation works, coal mining, et cetera. "b. (1) As a rule, no essential and irreplaceable specialists may be taken away from 'war decisive' factories, on whose production depends the course of the war, unless they can be replaced. "Coal mining is the most urgent work. Every worker who is essential to coal mining is 'indispensable.' "Note: Coal mining has even now become the key point of the whole armament industry, of communications, and of export. If the necessary labor is not made available for it now, the most important part of the export trade, the export of coal, will cease. The purchase of coal in Poland will stop. The correct distribution of labor is determinative. In order to be able to man these key points with the right people, severe demands will shortly be submitted to the Fuehrer which, even in the current mobilization year, will under certain circumstances lead to an exceptional war economy, for instance, to the immobilization of lorries and to the closing down of unessential factories owing to lack of coal. "In addition, there is the supplying of Italy and other countries such as Scandinavia with coal (to maintain the German supplies of iron)." I shall omit certain parts of the document which do not seem particularly important to our argument and pass to Item 2, Page 9 of the English translation: "(2) A second category of workers liable for military service will be called up during the war after their replacements have been trained.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): A decisive role is played by the extensive preliminary training and retraining of workers. "(3) Preparations must be made for replacing the mass of other workers liable for military service, even by drawing on an increased number of women. There are also disabled servicemen. "(4) Compulsory work for women is of decisive importance in wartime. It is important to proceed to a great extent with the training of women in important war work, as replacements and to augment the number of male workers. "(d) In order to avoid confusion when mobilization takes place, persons working in important war branches, that is, administration, communications, police, food, will not be removed at first. It is essential to establish the degrees of urgency and importance. "In the interests of the auxiliary civilian service, provided by every European people to gain and maintain the lead in the decisive initial weeks of a war, efforts must in this way be made to insure by an efficient organization that every German in wartime not only possesses his mobilization orders but has also been thoroughly prepared for his wartime activity. The works must also be adapted to receive the replacements and additional workers." I shall skip to the bottom of Page 10, Item 6: "The Plenipotentiary General for Economy is given the task of settling what work is to be given to prisoners of war, to those in prison concentration camps and penitentiaries. "According to a statement by the Reichsfuehrer SS, -greater use will be made of the concentration camps in wartime. The 20,000 inmates will be employed mainly in workshops inside the concentration camps. "IV. Secretary of State Dr. Syrup, of the Reich Ministry of Labor, made a report on the allocation of labor in the event of mobilization and the schedule of manpower for the war." This seems a little detailed; but it is, I think, very important, showing the totality of the mobilization planned months before the war started and indicating, as we shall argue, preparations for a war more extensive than the mere brush, with Poland.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): "The figures for the schedule of manpower, drawn up experimentally, could only be of a preparatory character and merely give certain guiding principles. The basis of a population of 79 millions was taken. Of these, 56.5 millions are between the ages of 14 and 65, It is also possible to draw upon men over the age of 65 and upon minors of between 13 and 14. The disabled and the infirm must be deducted from the 56.5 millions. Most prisoners are already employed in industry. The greatest deduction is that of 11 million mothers with children under 14. After deduction of these groups, there remains an employable population of 43.5 millions: 26.2 million men- after deducting 7 million members of the Armed Forces, 19.2; 17.3 million women-after deducting 250,000 nurses et cetera, 17.1 for the whole of Germany's economic and civil life. The President does not consider women over the age of 60 as employable. "8. The number of workers at present employed and of employees (two-thirds of the wage workers) distributed over 20 large branches of industry amounts roughly to the following: 24 million men (excluding 2 million service men), 14 million women. "9. No information was then available regarding the number which the Armed Forces will take from the individual branches of industry. Therefore an estimate was made of the numbers remaining in the individual branches of industry after 5 million servicemen had been called up. "The President's demand that the exact number liable to military service be established, is being complied with. These inquiries are not secret apart from figures given and formations." I shall skip the next paragraph, 10, as of no importance. "11. Apart from the 13.8 million women at present employed, a further, 3.5 million unemployed women, who are listed on the card index of the population, can be employed.
MR. JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (Chief of Counsel for the United States): "2 million women would have to be redirected; that is, a transfer can be made to agriculture and to the metal and chemical industry, from the textile, clothing, and ceramic industries, from small trading, insurance and banking businesses, and from the number of women in domestic service. "12. The lack of workers in agriculture, from which about 25 percent of the physically fit male workers will be withdrawn, must be made up by women (2 in the place of 1 man) and prisoners of war. No foreign workers can be counted on. The Armed Forces are requested to release to a great extent owners and specialists such as milkers, tractor drivers, 35 percent of whom are still liable for call-up. "13. The President emphasized that factory managers, police, and the Armed Forces must make preparations for the employment of prisoners of war. "14. In the agricultural sphere preparations must also be made to relieve bottlenecks by help from neighboring farms, systematic use of all machines and laying in stocks of spare parts. "15. The President announced that in wartime hundreds of thousands of workers from nonwar industries in the Protectorate are to be employed under supervision in Germany, particularly in agriculture. They are to be housed in barracks. General Field Marshal Goering will obtain a decision from the Fuehrer on this matter." I shall omit 16. If I may say as I offer this, it seems rather detailed as showing the extent of preparation already accomplished at the time, in June of 1939: "17. a. The result of the procedure of establishing indispensable and guaranteed workers is at present as follows: Of 1,172,000 applications for indispensability, 727,000 have been approved and 233,000 rejected." I shall pass to "c" near the bottom of the page: "The orders to supplementary personnel to report for duty are ready and tied up in bundles at the labor offices." The meeting proceeds to consider production premiums in connection with wages, and I pass to 21, a detail which I offer as indicating that a long war was in anticipation.