dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
M. DELPECH: These men are therefore all specialists in commerce and industry. The choice of these technicians cannot be attributed to mere chance. According to the above instructions and more especially the instructions found under date of 10 May 1940, coming from General Hannecken (Exhibit Number RF-184), Document Number ECH-33, once the machines and the stocks have been identified, the offices set to work, the Roges on one hand, and the compensation bureaus on the other hand, to whose activities attention has already been called in connection with the pillage of Holland and of the Belgian non-ferrous metal industry. Another document, which is likewise presented as Exhibit Number RF-184 (Document Number ECH-33), shows that the very composition of the economic detachments emanates from the High Command. Quoting from Page 6: "The economic detachments already mentioned in Section I, which are composed of experts for the branches of industry found in the respective areas, shall gain information and secure stocks of raw materials and special machinery for the production of ammunition and war equipment which are at present important."
THE PRESIDENT: Is that quotation set out in your dossier? M. DELPECH: The quotation is on Page 84, bis.
THE PRESIDENT: Would this be a convenient time to break off? [A recess was taken.]
M. DELPECH: Besides the economic detachments to which I have just drawn the attention of the Tribunal, detailed to remove and redistribute machinery either to factories working in the country on behalf of the occupying power or to factories in Germany, these operations were directed by the Machine Pool Office. Such offices were set up in all the occupied territories of Western Europe during the last months of 1942, upon the order of the Minister for Armaments and War Production, for example, the Defendant Speer, and the Office of the Four Year Plan, for example, the Defendant Goering. The Machine Pool Office for Belgium and Northern France was set up upon the decision of the Chief of the Military Economic Section in Brussels under date of 18 February 1943. Its activity has already been outlined to the Tribunal in connection with the spoliation of non-ferrous metal industries. Its activity did not stop there; it is found in all branches of industry. The Exhibit Number RF-185 (Document ECH-29) can give us figures on its activity. This activity continued to the very last days of the occupation. Requisitions of machinery and instruments were not limited to industry; Documents Numbers ECH-16 and ECH-15 (Exhibits Numbers RF-193 and 194) show the extent of the requisitioning of scientific instruments. I have finished with the levies on industrial material. I shall present briefly in the fourth chapter the question of services, first of all: 1. The billeting of troops. By an ordinance dated 17 December 1940, Page 88, the Germans imposed the costs of billeting their troops upon Belgium. Having done this, the occupation authorities justified themselves by a rather liberal interpretation of Article 52 of the Hague Convention, according to the provisions of which the occupying power may require levies in kind and in services. The Wetter report (Document Number RF-186) wrongly contends that the Convention does not specify by whom the settlement should be made; Article 49 gives the right to make the occupied country defray the expenses.
M. DELPECH: Therefore Belgium had to meet expenses to the amount of 5,900 million francs for billeting costs, equipment, and furniture. The payments of the Belgian treasury for billeting is estimated in the report of the Belgian Military Administration at 5,423 million francs. It is evident that under the pretext of billeting costs, other expenses were entered to the detriment of the Belgian economy, as in other occupied countries-the purchases of furniture which was to be sent to Germany. 2. Transport and Communications. To assure transport and communications, the Belgian treasury had to advance a total of 8,000 million francs. As already pointed out to the Tribunal, the seizure by the occupation authorities covered even the river fleet to the extent that the transport plan restricted the use of rail to the operation troops. According to Article 53 of the Hague Convention, the occupying army has the right to seize means of transport and communications provided that it returns them and pays indemnity. That army, however, does not possess the right to make the occupied country pay the costs of transport put at the army's disposal. That is, however, what Germany did in Belgium. 3. Labor. The deportation of labor to Germany and forced labor in Belgium have already been explained to the Tribunal. It therefore seems unnecessary to stress this point (Page 91). At the most, we should recall certain consequences unfavorable to the Belgian economy. The measures concerning the deportation of labor caused an economic disorganization and weakening without precedent. Secondly, the departure of workers and particularly of skilled workers inadequately replaced by unskilled labor-women, adolescents and pensioners-brought about a decrease in production at the same time as an increase in the cost price, which contributed to complicating the problem of the financial equilibrium of industrial enterprises.
M. DELPECH: Third observation: The requisition of labor was the cause of political and social discontent owing to the dispersion of families and the inequalities which appeared in the requisition of workers. Fourth and last observation: The workers were required for spheres of work which were not necessarily their own, which resulted in a loss of their professional skill. Personnel were divided and unclassed. The closing of artisan workshops brought about changes more or less felt in certain branches of production. The losses thus suffered cannot be measured in terms of money, but they are none the less important to be submitted to your jurisdiction. I have finished with this subject and will turn to a last chapter, Chapter V, the acquisition of Belgian investments in foreign industrial enterprises. Since 1940 according to their general policy in all occupied countries of Western Europe, the Germans concerned themselves with acquiring shares in Belgian financial enterprises abroad. The official German point of view emerges clearly from a letter dated 29 July 1941, from the Minister of Finance to the Military Commander in Belgium. I have submitted it under Number 187, in the document book (Document Number RF-187). This conception of the right to acquire shares is certainly very far from the. idea as laid down by the Hague Convention in respect to the right of requisition. It clearly shows the German leaders' determination for enrichment at the expense- of Belgium. Thus, the Germans, since May 1940, sought to obtain influence in Belgian holding companies. Not being able to violate directly international laws, particularly Article 46 of the Hague Convention, they strove to influence the members of the executive boards through persuasion rather than by force.
M. DELPECH: In the course of a conference held on 3 May 1940 at the Reich Ministry of Economics, dealing with Belgian and Dutch capital which it would still be possible to acquire, it was decided that the Military Commander in Belgium should take all necessary measures to prevent, on the one hand, the destruction, transfer, sale, and illegal holding of all bonds and stocks of these countries and, on the other hand, to induce Belgian capitalists to hand over their foreign securities to the Germans. The minutes of this conference are found in the document book under Number RF-187 above. To prevent the flight of any capital, an ordinance of 17 June 1940 was promulgated, subjecting to authorization the sending abroad of any securities and any acquisitions or disposal of foreign securities. From 2 August 1940 the German leaders and the Defendant Goering himself took a definite stand on this point. In the course of the general remarks on economic plundering secret directives issued in this respect by the Defendant Goering. were read to you. It is the document submitted under Number RF-105 (Page 97). In spite of the German assurances and in spite of the wish of the occupying power to preserve the appearance of regularity, the German desire to absorb certain shares met with serious resistance. The occupation authorities several times had to resort to compulsion to conclude sales, in spite of the rights which they had reserved for themselves in the above cited decree of 27 August 1940. This was particularly the case with regard to the shares held by the Belgian Metal Trust in the electrical enterprises of Eastern Silesia and, still more clearly, the case regarding the shares of the Austrian Metal Company, which at that time were wanted by the Hermann Goering Works. The Belgian ill-will increased as the German determination to pillage became more evident. In this report of I December 1942, Exhibit Number RF-191 (Document Number ECR-132), the German Commissioner with the National Bank very clearly denounces this resistance on the part of the Belgian market.
M. DELPECH: Almost all acquisitions which could be realized by the Germans were settled by means of clearing (Page 98). The balance of clearing capital credited to Belgium, to the amount of 1,000 million Belgian francs on 31 August 1944, represents a forced loan imposed upon Belgium without any legal or logical relation to occupation costs, unless it is the Germans' will to hegemony. Such a practice, contrary to the principles of international law and to the rules of criminal law of civilized nations, falls under Article 6(b) of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal and constitutes an act of pillage of public or private property such as is envisaged in the above mentioned text. Closely allied to the acquisition of shares and 'always within the framework of legality, the levies made by the German authorities on foreign, enemy, and Jewish property, should be pointed out to the Tribunal. As to foreign property seized by the Germans, it must be mentioned that this measure was applied to French capital in Belgium in spite of numerous protests by the French Government. As to Jewish property, for the years 1943 and 1944, the figures are presented in Document Number ECH-35 (Exhibit Number RF-192). With this I conclude the presentation of the economic spoliation of Belgium (Page 100). The damage caused to Belgian economy in its principal branches have just been submitted to the Tribunal. The statistical data have been taken either from German reports or from official reports of the Belgian Government. The available estimates and figures are not yet sufficiently exact to fix the costs of war, the occupation and economic spoliation of Belgium; some losses and damages cannot be expressed in money. Among them, first of all, we must mention the privations resulting from the German commandeering of a large part of food supplies and from the particular situation of billeting and clothing. This purely material aspect of the question should not cause us to overlook the consequences of the occupation upon the public health (Page 103).
M. DELPECH: For lack of statistical data, it is difficult to show precisely the final state of public health resulting from the particular circumstances. One fact, however, must be remembered: The considerable increase in the number of persons who were eligible for special invalid diets. This number rose from 2,000 a month in 1941 to more than 25,000 a month in 1944. It had, therefore, increased more than tenfold, in spite of the rationing measures which became more and more severe. This increase in nutritional aid given to sick persons deserves the attention of the Tribunal, less for itself and for its statistical interest, than because it is the indication of the increase of disease in Belgium. This increase is itself the result of the undernourishment of the population during the four years of occupation. This deplorable state of affairs, however, had not escaped the attention of the occupation authorities, as appears from the letter of the Military Commander in Belgium already quoted which is found in the document book under Document Number RF-187: "Regarding the food situation in Belgium, neither the minimum for existence for the civilian population is secured nor the minimum amount necessary for feeding heavy laborers who are employed solely in the interest of the German war economy." I shall not dwell on this. This undernourishment of the Belgian population has been the inevitable and the most serious result of the huge levies made by the occupation authorities who willfully disregarded the elementary requirements of an occupied country in order to pursue only the war aims of the Reich. The lowering of the average standard of health and the rise in the death rate in Belgium from 1940 to 1945 may therefore be rightly considered the direct result of the spoliations committed by the Germans in Belgium in transgression of international law. I have concluded the presentation on Belgium. I would like to make a few brief remarks on the economic pillaging of Luxembourg (Page 106).
M. DELPECH: Supplementing the presentation on Belgium it is fitting to present to the Tribunal some details on the conduct of the Germans in Luxembourg. The Government of the Grand Duchy has submitted a general summary of its accusations which has been lodged with the Tribunal as Document Number UK-77 and in which an extract covering the crimes against property, the economic section, is in the document book under the Number RF-194. The Germans, shortly after their entry into the Grand Duchy, proceeded to annex it in fact. This attitude, similar enough to that adopted towards the inhabitants of the Departments of Moselle, Bas-Rhin, and Haut-Rhin, calls for some remarks. As was their wont, one of the first measures they put into effect was the exchange of the Luxembourg money at the rate of 10 Luxembourg francs to 1 mark. This was the subject of the ordinance of 26 August 1940, to be found in the document book under Number 195 (Document Number RF-195). This rate of exchange did not correspond to the respective purchasing power of the two currencies. It constituted a considerable levy on the wealth of the inhabitants and especially assured the Germans of a complete seizure of the monies. It thus procured for them the means for seizing a considerable part of the reserves of raw materials and manufactured goods of the country. The purchases were paid for in depreciated marks on the basis of controlled prices imposed by the Germans. Finally, by the Ordinance of 29 January 1941, the Reichsmark was introduced as the only legal tender (ordinance submitted as Document Number RF-196). The Luxembourg francs and the Reichskreditkasse notes were taken out of circulation, as well as Belgian francs, up to then considered as currency of the Franco-Luxembourg monetary union. All of these became foreign currency, as from 5 February 1941. I should like to draw the attention of the Tribunal to the fact that of all the countries occupied by Germany, Luxembourg is, like Alsace and Lorraine, one of the few countries which was totally deprived of its national currency.
M. DELPECH: Moreover, to procure for the Reich the financial means necessary for the prosecution of the war, the ordinance of 27 August 1940 (Document Number RF-197) prescribed compulsory delivery of gold and foreign currency. Moreover, the same ordinance stipulated that foreign shares and bonds had to be offered for sale to the Reichsbank at rates and under conditions fixed by the occupying power. As has already been pointed out, the Germans seized industrial stocks. In this respect, the report dated 21 May 1940, on the economic situation in Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg, contains information on the stocks found in the country: 1,600 million tons of iron ore; 125,000 tons of manganese; 10,000 tons of crude iron; 10,000 tons of ferro-manganese; 36,000 tons of plated products and finished products, and I could continue this enumeration. The German seizure spread from stocks to the management of the industrial production. According to the memorandum presented by the Reparations Commission of the Luxembourg Government, Document Number RP-198, the total economic damages amount to 5,800 million Luxembourg francs at the 1933 value. This figure can be analyzed as follows: Industry and commerce, 1,900 million; Railroads, 200 million; Roads and Highways, 100 million; Agriculture, 1,600 million; Damage to property in general, 1,900 million. From the same official source, the total loss in capital represents about 33 percent of the national wealth of Luxembourg, before the war estimated at approximately 5,000 million Luxembourg francs. The effect on the financial and monetary situation of the country was a loss exceeding 6,000 million Luxembourg francs. In these damages the increase in circulation of money and the amount of is forced investments in Germany-more than 4,800 million Luxembourg francs-as well as an additional charge imposed upon the taxpayers of the Grand Duchy following the introduction of the German fiscal system figure particularly.
M. DELPECH: To these burdens must be added the skimming of profits, fines, and the allegedly voluntary gifts of every kind imposed upon Luxembourg. Similar to what was done in other countries, the Ordinance of 21 February 1941 (Document Number RF-199, Exhibit Number RP-199 of the document book concerning Luxembourg) provided that no German managers could be appointed in large enterprises, particularly in smelting works, who-and this is the text of the ordinance "would not be prepared to favor the interests of Germanism in every circumstance." The task of these commissioners was to insure for the Reich, within the scope of the Four Year Plan, the direction and control of exploitation in the exclusive interest of the German war effort. Thus, on 2 August 1940, the "Reichskommissar" for the administration of enemy property appointed to the largest metal company in Luxembourg, the United Steel Works of Burbach-Eich- Dudelange (Arbed), three German commissioners who ensured the complete control of the company. Neither did other large companies escape this domination as can be seen from the documents submitted to the Tribunal under Number 200 (Document Number RF-200). The spoliation of Luxembourg and foreign interests in the insurance field, one of the most important branches of Luxembourg's activities, was complete. With the exception of three Swiss com panies and a German company, all transactions were prohibited to the Luxembourg companies, whose assets were transferred to German insurance companies-in an official way as regards the national companies, and secretly as regards the foreign companies. The insurance companies of Luxembourg were deprived of the premiums from fire insurance by the introduction of compulsory fire insurance, for which the German companies were given the monopoly. Introducing in Luxembourg their racial policy, the National Socialists seized and confiscated an Jewish property in the Grand Duchy to the profit of the "Verwaltung fur die Judenvermogen "(Administration of Jewish Property).
M. DELPECH: Also in regard to the Umsiedlungspolitik (resettlement policy), 1,500 families (that is 7,000 Luxembourg persons) were deported. The Germans took possession of their property. A German trust company, set up in the German Office for Colonization and Germanization, was charged with the administration of this property, and, in fact, set about to, liquidate it. Important assets were thus confiscated and transferred to the Reich. Germans from the Tyrol were, as has already been pointed out, installed in the buildings, and industrial, commercial, and artisan enterprises of the deportees. That is to say, Your Honors, that the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was the victim of economic pillage as systematically organized as that in Belgium.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Delpech, the Tribunal is grateful to you for the way in which you have performed the task which they asked you to perform last night, a task which is not altogether easy, of shortening the address which you had intended to make. As far as they are able to judge, no essential parts of your address have been omitted. It is of great importance that the Trial should be conducted, as the Charter indicates, in an expeditious way, and it was for this reason that the Tribunal asked you, if you could, to shorten your address.
M. DELPECH: I thank you, Your Honor, for your kindness.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, M. Gerthoffer.
M. CHARLES GERTHOFFER (Assistant Prosecutor for the French Republic): Mr. President, Your Honors, I come to the sixth section of this presentation, which deals with the economic pillage of France. When the Germans invaded France, they found there considerable wealth. They set about with ingenuity to seize it and also to subjugate the national production. When they failed to attain their ends by mere requisitions, they resorted to devious methods, using simultaneously ruse and violence, striving to cloak their criminal actions with legality. To accomplish this, they misused the conventions of the armistice. These, in fact, did not contain any economic clauses and did not include any secret provisions but consisted only of regulations, which were published. Nevertheless, the Germans utilized two clauses to promote their undertakings. I submit to the Tribunal as Document Number RF-203 a copy of the Armistice Conventions, and I cite Article 18, which reads as follows: "The maintenance costs of German occupation troops in French territory will be charged to the French Government." This clause was not contrary to the regulations of the Hague Conventions, but Germany imposed payment of enormous sums, far exceeding those necessary for the requirements of an occupation army. Thus she was enabled to dispose, without furnishing any compensation, of nearly all the money which, in fact, was cleverly transformed into an instrument of pillage. Article 17 of the Armistice Convention reads as follows: "The French Government undertakes to prevent any transfer of economic securities or stocks from the territory to be occupied by the German troops into the non-occupied area or into a foreign country. Those securities and stocks in the occupied territory can be disposed of only in agreement with the Reich Government, it being understood that the German Government will take into account what is vitally necessary for the population of the non-occupied territories." Apparently the purpose of this clause was to prevent things of any kind which might be utilized against Germany from being sent to England or to any of the colonies.
M. CHARLES GERTHOFFER (Assistant Prosecutor for the French Republic): But the occupying power took advantage of this to get control of production and the distribution of raw materials throughout France, since the non-occupied zone could not live -without the products of the occupied zone and vice versa. This intention of the Germans is proved particularly by Document Number 1741-PS which was discovered by the American army, and which I now submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number RF-204. I do not want to trouble the Tribunal by reading this long document, I shall give only a short summary. It is a secret report, dated 5 July 1940 addressed to the President of the Council ...
THE PRESIDENT: M. Gerthoffer, as this is not a document of which we can take judicial notice, I think you must read anything that you -wish to put in evidence.
M. GERTHOFFER: I shall read a passage of the document to the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.