dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
DR. SERVATIUS: Document Sauckel-41 shows that caring for the Eastern Workers was especially the task of the German Labor Front, which is explained here in detail. Document Sauckel-42 deals with the same subject. It stresses above all the importance of trade inspection and says that all necessary measures for the welfare of foreign workers must be taken immediately and all shortcomings remedied at once. The inspection officials and the local authorities have to arrange matters together with the Labor Front. It is issued by Reich Minister of Labor Seldte, not by Sauckel, which makes it evident that Sauckel had not become the Reich Minister of Labor. In Document Sauckel-43 there are explanations of the camp regulations to which I shall refer in detail later. But in Document Sauckel-43 I should like to stress again the position of the Trade Inspection Board. Here the question of responsibility for hygienic conditions and for the extermination of vermin is regulated; and it says at the end: "The supervisory authority in accordance with the new regulations is the Trade Inspection Board...." Document Sauckel-44 contains specifications about sleeping quarters: Their size, the number of beds, and the administration of medical care. This again is signed by the Reich Minister of Labor, Franz Seldte, and not by Sauckel The next group of documents deals with food. Document Sauckel-45 is the meat inspection law which deals with the question of how far meat of inferior quality is fit for consumption. That law too has a certain importance with regard to the witness.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Servatius, about the inspection of meat, we do not require any further information about it.
DR. SERVATIUS: Document Sauckel-46 shows merely that the foreign workers received their food ration cards when away from the camp. Document Sauckel-47 is a decree by the Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture, and shows that he was responsible for determining the food quotas. The document also gives the rations. I mention only a few: For the ordinary workers, 2,600 grams of bread per week. That increases, and it may be read here, if questions of importance . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Page 128 shows that prisoners of war are employed in the armament industry, does it not? Page 128.
DR. SERVATIUS: It says there: "Food rations of Soviet prisoners of war working in the armament industry or in trade industries, if Hey accommodated in camps..." and then follows a list of rations. I cannot see how far that shows...
THE PRESIDENT: 128 in English, Page 128, Lines 4 to 12: "Treatment of the sick. All prisoners of war and Eastern Workers, male and female, who are employed in the armament industry..."
DR. SERVATIUS: It says there, "All prisoners of war or Eastern Workers . . . who are employed in the armament industry . . ." Armament industry is not the manufacture of weapons. Document Sauckel-48 only refers to a law-I see the translation department has left out a short paragraph, but I can do without that. The heading indicates the subject. It refers to taking food for the journey home. It thus concerns supplies for the return journey. Document Sauckel-49 shows a regulation whereby additional food could also be given; and special diets in the hospitals were also provided. In the next group, questions of wages are dealt with. The first decree is Document Sauckel-50.
THE PRESIDENT: How far you go-it seems to me sufficient if you give us a group, and then tell us what it deals with.
DR. SERVATIUS: Yes. That is from Documents Sauckel-50 to 59, omitting Document Sauckel-56. The questions of wages and scales of wages are included here. One will have to look at these more carefully if these questions become crucial. Therefore, I shall not make any further specific statements about that now. Sauckel Document Book Number 3 is a group of documents containing legal orders. Documents Sauckel-60 to 68 refer to medical care. I believe here also I need not go through the individual documents, because they become of interest only when the subject is dealt with.
THE PRESIDENT: Give us a group and tell us what it is about, and then we can look at it.
DR. SERVATIUS: Yes. It deals with medical care; and as I said, the details become of interest only when the question becomes important. There is no point in speaking of them now. The next group is speeches made by Sauckel on the subject of labor allocation, and they are contained in the manual. I should like to refer to one in particular-a speech of 6 January 1943 which was made after the conference between Sauckel and Rosenberg. It says there at the beginning: "The Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor on 5 and 6 January..."
THE PRESIDENT: Which page?
DR. SERVATIUS: It is 204 in my book, and in the English text it should also be Page 204. An; PRESIDENT: Probably that 8,000 should be 800.
DR. SERVATIUS: Yes, it should be 800. I have also mentioned that document already, and read the main parts. Documents Sauckel-82 and 83 have also been mentioned already in their essential parts. Document Sauckel-84 is a manifesto which has already been presented in detail. Document Sauckel-85 shows the generally valid and binding principles followed by Sauckel, all of them well-known principles. The main fact is that after 1943 they showed the same tendency as they had before. Document Sauckel-86 is a later speech-a speech of 24 August 1943-to the presidents of the Gau labor offices. Here again in his speech to the responsible Gau labor presidents Sauckel stresses his basic attitude, as he has often stated it here. He adheres to the same attitude on 17 January 1944-that is, Document Sauckel-88-when he again emphasizes to these presidents, that: "The foreign workers must be treated better. The reception camps are not to be primitive; rather they must be a recommendation for us." And at the end: "The more I do for the foreign laborers working in Germany, the better I treat them, the more I influence them-the greater the extent of their available production capacity." And that was shortly-2 months-before he succeeded in putting the other foreign workers on an equal footing with the German workers.
THE PRESIDENT: We have heard the Defendant Sauckel explain . . .
DR. SERVATIUS: I beg your pardon?
THE PRESIDENT: . . . that the work was carried on. And will you tell us where the group of speeches-how far does the group go?
DR. SERVATIUS: It is Document Sauckel-89. Document Sauckel-94 I have read already. Documents Sauckel-95, 96, 97 I have already read to the extent necessary. And that brings me to the end of the presentation of documents. Now, comes an affidavit of the witness Karl Goetz, which is included in the document book. I submit it as Exhibit Number 10, the affidavit by Karl Goetz. This is an interrogatory which was submitted very early and was therefore considered in a very abridged form, as the details had not become apparent at that time. Consequently, the witness answered very shortly and could say nothing specific to a number of questions. Where he did answer the questions, he refers to an introduction which he wrote, and in answering the questions raised by the Prosecution he also refers to that introduction. Therefore, I believe that I might also read this introduction as far as is necessary. The affidavit is of 20 March 1946. In this introduction, on the second page, I should like to call attention to a conference in Paris. This witness Goetz was a bank expert in Weimar. He had known Sauckel before and had worked on his staff of experts. He had been with him in Paris and had taken part in the negotiations with Laval. He says here: "The negotiations led to an extensive talk, which was conducted in a proper and polite manner as far as I could judge. Laval took note of Sauckel's proposals and agreed to accede to his request. But he made counterproposals..." I do not think I need go into detail, because what was then negotiated is of minor significance. He says on the third page: "During a later conference in Paris the proceedings were similar. Laval assumed a stiffer attitude, and he pointed out the great difficulties which would impede the recruitment of additional workers. He emphasized in particular the necessity of not stripping the French labor market of its best forces." I think I can go on to Page 4.
DR. SERVATIUS: The witness says there under 5: "My last mission, at Sauckel's request, was to ascertain whether it was possible by means of using our banking connections to purchase an additional amount of grain in Romania and Hungary-about 50,000 to 100,000 tons was the figure given. This grain was to be used as additional food for foreign laborers in the form of a light afternoon, meal." Then he says that that project failed due to circumstances. He gives a general impression of Sauckel, and says briefly: "Sauckel approached that task with the energy and vigor peculiar to him. He pointed out repeatedly what conditions were necessary for the success of the task and repeatedly emphasized that it was the major duty of all authorities to see that correct treatment was given to workers at their places of employment." Then he describes the details: "Above all, he demanded that foreign workers should not be given the feeling of being imprisoned in their camps. He demanded the removal of all barbed wire fences." He continues by saying: ". . . Sauckel said that the workers must return to their native countries as propaganda agents." Then the witness gives an important statement concerning information as to atrocities and bad conditions. I should like to read something from Page 6 to show what kind of person this witness Goetz is. He says...
THE PRESIDENT: What page is your excerpt from?
DR. SERVATIUS: Page 6, or Page 266 of the document book, at the top of the page.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Go on.
DR. SERVATIUS: He says: "I feel also that I should mention that following my arrest by the Gestapo, after the affair of 20 July 1944, Sauckel spoke on my behalf to the RSHA (Kaltenbrunner). I cannot say to what extent my release from the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp was brought about by this. "I wish to state further that I did not receive from Sauckel any material remuneration, awards, or decorations. "I found it expedient to conceal from him my own inner political convictions and my connections with Goerdeler and Popitz. In his blind obedience to Hitler-and in spite of our old friendship-he would otherwise no doubt have handed me over to that Gestapo from which he endeavored to free me in November 1944." I have read this in advance and I return now to Page 265, because the witness, who was then working on Sauckel's staff, states his attitude to that question which is of great interest to all of us. He says: "Now that the extent of atrocities in concentration camps has become known to me from publications, I ponder and rack my brains as to how the picture drawn above can be made to tally with the events now brought to light. Although I have thought it over for weeks, I can find no explanation for this."
THE PRESIDENT: What page is this? Page 265?
DR. SERVATIUS: Page 265. It is near the top of the page. Where it is in the English text, I cannot say; but it should be Page 265. 1~; PRESIDENT: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: "On one side I see the foreign workers, men and women who move freely about in great numbers and associate with the German population. Frenchmen and Belgians, with whom I spoke out of personal interest, were usually happy to hear their native tongue, conversed freely, hoped the war would soon end, and criticized their work, but rarely sharply. On the other side appears the totally unbearable sight of the recently revealed mass atrocities. One had heard that foreign workers were tried and sentenced-they were certainly subject to the same arbitrariness and the same methods of punishment as were the natives-but not that mass sentences were passed. But that really had nothing to do with the Allocation of Labor. I find it impossible to reconcile what I heard and what I saw in those days with the present revelations. Either this was a development which took place in the last year and a half, when I was not able to observe the situation because of my arrest and my retirement to the country, or else there existed, besides the regular Allocation of Labor, an employment of concentration camp inmates on a vast scale. It is also possible that Sauckel was not able to supervise things and was not informed or that he deceived himself with his general orders and oral statements, which I could not comprehend." I considered these statements of particular importance, because the witness stood on the side of the men of 20 July 1944 and certainly observed carefully, and great importance has to be attached to his judgment. As to the questions themselves, Question Number 1 and its answer I consider irrelevant; also, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. All of these are answers which are of minor importance.
DR. SERVATIUS: To Question Number 10, Page 276: "Who was responsible for the billeting, treatment, and feeding of foreign workers after they had arrived at the place of work?" The answer is: "The only thing I heard was that from the moment work was started responsibility for that rested with the factory managers, and in most cases with special employees under them." Question 11 is: "What kind of orders did Sauckel issue for the treatment of workers in the factories?" The witness in his answer refers to the introduction which I have read. The next questions-13, 14, 15, 16, and 17-are irrelevant. Question 18 is: "Did Sauckel receive reports about irregular conditions? What measures did he take? Do you know of any individual cases?" The answer is: 'I remember only one case. Sauckel was informed that the workers of a certain factory were still housed in a camp surrounded by barbed wire. I cannot recollect the name of the place or the factory concerned. I heard that he ordered the immediate removal of the fence." Then we come to the questions which are put by the Prosecution. I consider that Question Number 1 is not relevant because it deals with personal, unofficial relations with Sauckel, and how he became acquainted with him. He made his acquaintance when a prisoner of war.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Servatius, Mr. Diddle thinks that the Prosecution ought to be asked to read anything they wish to out of those interrogatories.
M. HERZOG: The Prosecution, Mr. President, does not wish to read any excerpts from this interrogatory.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Servatius, you know that the witness Jager is present, do you not?
DR. SERVATIUS: Yes, he is present.
THE PRESIDENT: You know he is present.
DR. SERVATIUS: Then, with the permission of the Tribunal, I will call the witness Jager. [The witness Jager took the stand.]
THE PRESIDENT: Will you state your full name, please?
DR.WILHELM JAGER (Witness): Dr. Wilhelm Jager.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat this oath after me: I swear by God-the Almighty and Omniscient-that I will speak the pure truth-and will withhold and add nothing. [The witness repeated the oath.]
THE PRESIDENT: You may sit down.
DR. SERVATIUS: Witness, during the war you worked as a doctor with the firm of Krupp, in Essen, and were entrusted with the medical care of the camps of foreign workers? Is that true?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: Who put you in charge there?
JAGER: I was appointed by the firm of Krupp which employed me when a change in the care of foreign workers was brought about through the public health administration having to take it over.
DR. SERVATIUS: Were you not also appointed to this post by the German Labor Front?
JAGER: No. The contract which the firm of Krupp made with me was made through the German Labor Front.
DR. SERVATIUS: If I understand you correctly, you did not conclude the contract directly with the Labor Front; but you were under obligations to the German Labor Front, were you not?
JAGER: I have never felt that I had anything to do with the Labor Front in that respect.
DR. SERVATIUS: Witness, did you not continuously send reports to the German Labor Front about the conditions in the camps?
JAGER: That happened only in a few cases, as far as I can remember. I generally sent these reports to the public health authorities and to the firm of Krupp.
DR. SERVATIUS: Did you not also report to the Trade Inspection Board?
JAGER: Not always. I reported just a few cases to the health office of the city of Essen, but only in individual cases when it appeared important to me that the health office should be informed.
DR. SERVATIUS: Do you know the of lice for public health and medical care?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: With what office was that connected?
JAGER: That was in Essen.
DR. SERVATIUS: I do not mean the locality, but with what of lice was it connected? Was it not with the German Labor Front?
JAGER: I cannot say that precisely. I know only that it was a sub-department of the public health administration in Essen.
DR. SERVATIUS: Is it known to you that the foreign workers were under the care and control of the German Labor Front?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: Also with respect to their health?
JAGER: On only one occasion did I meet a commission from the Labor Front in my camp.
DR. SERVATIUS: Do you know the institution of Gau camp doctors?
JAGER: An institution of that kind was to have been created in Essen, but it did not happen. At that time, when we had just had a typhus epidemic, I suggested to the health officer-who was then Dr. Heinz Buhler of Muhlheim-that something of the sort should be instituted. Then also at a meeting I spoke about my idea, but I did not hear anything more about this Gau office for camp doctors.
DR. SERVATIUS: That will do. How many camps did you supervise?
JAGER: That varied. First, there may have been 5 or 6, then later maybe 17 or 18, and later again it fell to a lower figure. But I am not able at this moment to give you the exact figure.
DR. SERVATIUS: What was the nature of your task?
JAGER: Above all, I was supposed to assure the medical care of foreign workers.
DR. SERVATIUS: Did you have anything to do with the treatment of the sick?
JAGER: Only when they were brought to me and when I was in the camps. I always concerned myself personally with individual cases in the camps whenever I inspected them.
DR. SERVATIUS: You had not only a supervisory capacity, but you also gave treatment yourself?
JAGER: Whenever I was in a camp I would be consulted by the camp doctors and I would advise them.
DR. SERVATIUS: What was the job of the camp doctors?
JAGER: The camp doctors had their daily duty in the infirmary and the care of the patients in general.
DR. SERVATIUS: So your work was supervisory?
JAGER: Yes; supervisory.
DR. SERVATIUS: Witness, the Prosecution has repeatedly interrogated you outside this courtroom?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: You have been in Nuremberg before-in this building here?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: Did you make an affidavit about the conditions in the Krupp camps?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: I will put this affidavit to you. This is an affidavit of 15 October 1945. Did you give that affidavit as a witness for the Prosecution?
JAGER: As far as I can remember, yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: Now I ask you to state whether you still stand by the statements which you made at that time?
JAGER: Yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: I shall read the statements to you: "My name is Dr. Wilhelm Jager. I am a physician in Essen . . ." 'l' PRESIDENT: Dr. Servatius, we cannot have the whole document read to him. You can put to him anything you want to challenge him upon.
DR. SERVATIUS: Very well. [Turning to the witness.] You say, at about the middle of the first page: "I began my work with a thorough inspection of the camps. At that time, in October 1942, I found the following conditions..."-and you go on to say-"The Eastern Workers were housed in the following camps: Seumannstrasse, Grieperstrasse, Spendlerstrasse, Hoegstrasse, Germaniastrasse, Dechenschule..."
THE PRESIDENT: Are you challenging that?
DR. SERVATIUS: Yes
THE PRESIDENT: Where were these camps?
DR. SERVATIUS: Yes, that is what I want to ask him. [Turning to the witness.] Did these camps exist at the time, and were they occupied?
JAGER: As far as I can remember. One has to take into consideration that until I started my work I did not know at all what camps existed. At a meeting which had been called, where there were doctors of the various nationalities, I asked first of all what camps there were. They did not know; and then a list was procured in which the camps were given. Then...
DR. SERVATIUS: Witness, you have mentioned the camps here by name, and yet you are not certain that these camps existed at that time, in October 1942?
JAGER: I have given the camps which existed at the beginning of my activities, as far as I could remember. I had to go to each one of these camps personally, and I had to depend entirely upon myself.
DR. SERVATIUS: Further, concerning the food of the Eastern Workers-if you will look at the second page of the document-you state the following: "The food for the Eastern Workers was completely inadequate. They received 1,000 calories less per day than the minimum for Germans...."
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Servatius, below the names of the camps he says: ". . . all surrounded by barbed wire and were closely guarded." I understand you are challenging that?
DR. SERVATIUS: Were the camps surrounded by barbed wire and closely guarded, as it says here?
JAGER: In the beginning, yes.
DR. SERVATIUS: But you do not know whether that was the same case in all camps, do you?
JAGER: The camps which I visited, where I was as yet unknown, for instance, Kramerplatz and Dechenschule, were closely guarded, and I had to show my credentials in order to get in.
DR. SERVATIUS: I repeat the question concerning the food. You said the Eastern Workers received 1,000 calories less per day than the minimum for Germans. Whereas German workers who did hard work received 5,000 calories per day, the Eastern Workers who performed the same kind of work received only 2,000 calories per day. Is that true?
JAGER: That was true at the beginning of my activities. The food for Eastern Workers-as could be seen from the posted lists- had been determined as to quantity, and there was a difference between that for Eastern Workers and that for German workers. The 5,000 calories mentioned here were given to specific categories of German workers who did the hardest type of work. That was not given to everybody.
DR. SERVATIUS: Witness, I shall put to you a chart of the calories. I submit to the Tribunal a copy of this chart. That is an exact table of the calories to which the individual categories of workers were entitled. It begins with 9 February 1942 and shows the individual quotas for the various types of workers; and on the last page there is a summary of the average quotas of calories which were allotted. It is shown there in the summary, Group 1. Eastern Workers and Soviet prisoners of war: Average workers, 2,156 calories; heavy workers, 2,615; very heavy workers, 2,909; for long hours and night workers, 2,244. Are you familiar with these figures?
JAGER: Approximately.
DR. SERVATIUS: Will you compare that with what the German workers received: The normal consumer, 2,846 calories; heavy workers, 3,159; very heavy workers, 3,839; for long hours and night workers, 2,846 calories. Is that in accordance with your statement, according to which you said that German workers doing the heaviest work received 5,000 calories, whereas the Eastern Workers received only 2,000 calories?
THE PRESIDENT: It is very hard to follow these figures unless you give us, the exact page. Are you on the last page?
DR. SERVATIUS: This is a summary.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, on which page are you?