dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARRIS (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): It is therefore of decisive importance to infiltrate German farmers, laborers, civil servants, merchants, and artisans into the regained German region so that a living and deep-rooted bastion of German people can be formed as a protective wall against foreign penetration and possibly as a starting point for the racial infusion of the territories farther east."
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now for 10 minutes.
CAPT. HARRIS: Up to this point we have been speaking of the Germanization measures in the incorporated areas. I should like now briefly to turn to the Germanization program in the Government General. In the Government General there were relatively few persons, at the outset, who qualified as Germans according to the conspirators' standards. Hence little would be served by the introduction of a racial register categorizing persons of German extraction on the model of the one instituted in the incorporated area; and to our knowledge, no such racial register was prescribed in the Government General Rather, the plan seems to have been (a) to make the Government General a colony of Germany, which-as Your Honors will recall from Document EC-344(16), which has been introduced as Exhibit Number USA-297-was the objective expressed by the Defendant Frank; and then to create so-called "German island settlements" in the productive farming areas. These island settlements were to be created by an influx of German persons who faithfully adhered to the principles of National Socialism. In this connection I offer in evidence Document Number 910-PS. This is Exhibit Number USA-310. These are secret notes bearing the date line, "Department of the Interior, Krakow, 30 March 1942," and they concerned Himmler's statements upon the planned Germanization of the Government General. This document was obtained from the 3rd Army intelligence center at Freising, Germany; and I now quote from Page 2 of the English text, from line 3 to the end of the report. This appears in the German text at Page 2, line 21, continuing to the end of the report. The document states, and I quote: "The Reichsfuehrer SS"-Himmler-"developed additional trains of ideas to the effect that, in the first 5-year plan for resettlement after the war, the new German Eastern territories should first be filled; it is intended afterwards to provide the Crimea and the Baltic countries with a German upper class at least.
CAPT. HARRIS: Into the Government General, perhaps, further German island settlements should be newly transplanted from European nations. An exact decision in this respect, however, has not been issued. In any case, it is wished that at first a heavy colonization along the San and the Bug be achieved so that the parts of Poland with alien populations are encircled. Hitherto, it has been always proved that this kind of encircling leads most quickly to the desired nationalization." In this same connection, I offer in evidence Document Number 2233(h)-PS. This is Defendant Frank's diary, 1941, Volume II, Page 317. This is Exhibit Number USA-311. I quote from the last sentence at the bottom of our Page 3 of the English text of this exhibit. In the German text this passage appears on Page 317, lines 25 to 28. Defendant Frank stated in this diary, and I quote: "Thanks to the heroic courage of our soldiers this territory has become German; and the time will come when the valley of the Vistula, from its source to its mouth at the sea, will be as German as the valley of the Rhine." I now turn to another phase of the program that I mentioned earlier, that is the conspirators' plan to confiscate the property of Poles, Jews, and dissident elements. As I previously mentioned, the evidence will show that these plans were designed to accomplish a number of objectives. Insofar as the Jews were concerned, they were part and parcel of the conspirators' overall program of extermination. Confiscation was also a means of providing property for German settlers and of rewarding those who had rendered faithful service to the Nazi State. This phase of their program likewise made available dispossessed Polish farmers for slave labor in Germany and operated to further the conspirators' objective of preventing the growth of another generation of Poles. Proof of the fact that the conspirators confiscated the property of Poles in furtherance of their Germanization and slave labor program is contained in Document Number 1352-PS, previously introduced by Mr. Dodd as Exhibit Number USA-176.
CAPT. HARRIS: This exhibit contains a number of reports by one Kusche, who appears to have been one of Himmler's chief deputies in Poland. Mr. Dodd quoted from one of Kusche's confidential reports, dated 22 May 1940, at our Page 4, Paragraph 5 of the English text. In the German text it is at Page 9, lines 16 to 18. In this statement Kusche pointed out that it was possible, without difficulty, to confiscate small farms and that-and I now quote: "The former owners of Polish farms together with their families will be transferred to the Old Reich by the labor offices for employment as farm workers." I now desire to quote from another report by Kusche contained in the same exhibit and bearing the same date, 22 May 1940. I think the upper right-hand corner numbers might simplify it. The report from which I now quote is marked "secret" and is entitled, "...Details of the Confiscation in the Bielsko Region." Initially, I should like to quote from the last paragraph at the bottom of Page 1 of this exhibit. This exhibit, you will recall, is 1352-PS, last paragraph at the bottom of Page 1. The German text is at Page 11, Paragraphs 1 and 2. Kusche stated, and I quote: "Some days ago the commandant of the concentration camp being built at Auschwitz called on Staff Leader Muller and requested support for the carrying out of his assignments. He said that it was absolutely necessary to confiscate the agricultural enterprises within a certain area around the concentration camp, since not only the fields but also in some cases the farm houses of these border directly on the concentration camp. A local inspection held on the 21st of this month revealed the following: "There is no room for doubt that agricultural enterprises bordering on the concentration camp must be confiscated at once. In addition, the camp commandant requests that further plots of farm land be placed at his disposal, so that he can keep the prisoners busy. This, too, can be done without difficulty since enough land can be made available for the purpose.
CAPT. HARRIS: The owners of the plots are all Poles." I next quote from Page 2, lines 22 to 31, of the English text of this same exhibit. The German text is at Page 12, Paragraph 2, continuing through to line 22 from the top of the page. I quote: "I had the following discussion with the chief of the labor ounce in Bielsko: "The lack of agricultural laborers still exists in the Old Reich. The transfer of the previous owners of the confiscated agricultural enterprises to the Reich as farm workers, together with their entire families, is possible without any difficulty. It is only necessary for the labor office to receive the lists of the persons in time, in order to enable it to take the necessary steps (collection of transportation; distribution over the various regions in need of such labor)." Finally, I quote from Page 3 of this same exhibit, lines 6 to 13 of the English text. The German text appears at Page 13, the last three lines, continuing through to Page 14, line 9: "The confiscation of these Polish enterprises in Alzen will also be carried out within the next few days. The commandant of the concentration camp will furnish SS men and a truck for the execution of the action. Should it not yet be possible to take the Poles from Alzen to Auschwitz"-and Auschwitz, Your Honors will recall, is where the concentration camp was-"they should be transferred to the empty castle at Zator. The liberated Polish property is to be given to the needy racial German farmers for their use." In order to regularize the program of confiscation, Defendant Goering issued a decree on September 17,1940. This decree appears in the Reichsgesetzblatt, 1940, Part I, Page 1270; and I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of it. Under Section 2 of this decree sequestration of movable and immovable property, stores, and other intangible property, interests of Jews and "persons who have fled or are not merely temporarily absent", was made mandatory.
CAPT. HARRIS: In addition, sequestration was authorized under Section 2, Subsection 2, of this decree sequestration of movable and immovable property. Stores and other intangible property, interests of Jews and "persons who have fled or not merely temporarily absent", was made mandatory. In addition, sequestration was authorized under Section 2, Subsection 2, if the property was required "for the public welfare particularly in the interests of the Reich defense or the strengthening of the German folkdom." By Section 9 of this decree, issued by Defendant Goering, confiscation of sequestrated property was authorized "if the public welfare, particularly the defense of the Reich, or the strengthening of German folkdom, so requires." However, Section 1, Subsection 2, of the decree provided that property of German nationals was not subject to sequestration and confiscation; and Section 13 provided that sequestration would be suspended if the owner of the property asserted that he was a German. The decree, on its face, indicates very clearly a purpose to strip Poles, Jews, and dissident elements of their property. It was, moreover, avowedly designed to promote Germanism. We ask the Court to take judicial notice of -it. It is in the Reichsgesetzblatt . Apparently some question arose at one point as to whether the decree required that a determination be made in each case, involving the property of a Pole, that the property was required "for the public welfare, particularly in the interests of Reich defense or the strengthening of German folkdom." The answer supplied by the conspirators was firm and clear. In any case in which the property of a Pole is involved, the "strengthening of German folkdom" required its seizure. In this connection I offer in evidence document Number R-92, which is Exhibit Number USA-312.
CAPT. HARRIS: This document, which is dated 15 April 1941, bears the letterhead of the Reich Leader SS, commissioner for the consolidation of German nationhood, and is entitled, "Instruction for Internal Use on the Application of the Law Concerning Property of the Poles, of 17 September 1940." This document was captured by the US. Counter Intelligence Corps. I quote from Page 2, lines 11 to 14 of the English text. In the German text this statement appears at Page 3, Paragraph 2, Subparagraph 2. I quote: "The objective conditions permitting seizure according to Section II, Subsection 2(a), are to be assumed whenever, for example, the property belongs to a Pole, for the Polish real estate will be needed without exception for the preservation of the German folkdom." In the Government General Defendant Frank promulgated a decree on 24 January 1940 authorizing sequestration for the "performance of tasks serving the public interest" and liquidation of "anti-social or financially unremunerative concerns." The decree is embodied in the Verordnungstlatt of the Government General, Number 6, 27 January 1940, Page 23; and we ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of its The undefined criteria in this decree obviously empowered Nazi officials in the Government General to engage in wholesale seizure of property. The magnitude of the conspirators' confiscation program in Poland was staggering. I ask Your Honors to turn to the chart on the sixth page of Document Number R-92, which was introduced into evidence a moment ago as Exhibit Number USA-312. This chart shows that as of 31 May 1943 the staggering total of 693,252 estates, comprising 6,097,525 hectares, had been seized and 9,508 estates, comprising 270,446 hectares, had been confiscated by the Estate Offices Danzig-West Prussia, Posen, Ciechanotv, and Silesia. This, it will be noted, represented the seizure and confiscation of only four offices. That, Your Honors, concludes our discussion on Poland; and I now turn to Czechoslovakia.
CAPT. HARRIS: At this point of the proceedings we shall introduce only one document upon Czechoslovakia. This one document, however, contains a startling revelation of the conspirators' plans to germanize Bohemia and Moravia. It relates holy three plans, each characterized by its severity, were discussed; and finally how the Fuehrer decided on plan (c), which involved the assimilation of about one-half of the Czech population by the Germans and the extermination of the other half. Moreover, the plan envisaged a large influx into Czechoslovakia of Germans whose loyalty to the Fuehrer was unquestioned. I offer this document in evidence. It is Document Number 862-PS, and it is Exhibit Number USA-313. This is a top-secret report, dated 15 October 1940, which was written by General Friderici, Deputy General of the Wehrmacht in Bohemia and Moravia. On the face of the document, it appears that only four copies were made. The document eve offer in evidence is the original document, which was found among the captured files of the OKW. This document bears the handwritten letters "K" and "J" on the first page on the left-hand side, and I am advised that the handwriting is unquestionably that of Defendants Keitel and Jodl. I quote the document in its entirety: "On 9 October of this year the office of the Reich Protector held an official conference in which State Secretary SS Gruppenfuehrer K. H. Frank spoke about the following...." SS Gruppenfuehrer K. E. Frank, it may be noted, was Secretary of State under Defendant Von Neurath, who at the date of this report was the Protector of Bohemia and Moravia.
THE PRESIDENT: Who did you say Frank was?
CAPT. HARRIS: Frank was an SS Gruppenfuehrer, and Secretary of State under Defendant Von Neurath. He is not the Defendant Hans Frank. At the date of this particular report Von Neurath, under whom R. H. Frank served, teas the Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Continuing the quotation: "Since creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Party agencies, industrial circles, as well as agencies of the central authorities of Berlin, have considered a solution for the Czech problem. "After ample deliberation, the Reich Protector expressed his views about the various plans in a memorandum. In this three ways of solution were indicated: "a) German infiltration of Moravia and confinement of the Czech nationals to a residual Bohemia. This solution is considered unsatisfactory, because the Czech problem, even if in diminished form will continue to exist. "b) Many arguments can be brought against the most radical solution, namely, the deportation of an Czechs. Therefore, in the memorandum it is concluded that it cannot be carried out within a reasonable period of time. "c) Assimilation of the Czechs, that is, absorption of about half of the Czech nationals by the Germans insofar as these are of racial or otherwise valuable importance. This Will also be caused, among other things, by increased employment of Czechs in the Reich territory (with the exception of the Sudeten German border districts), in other words, by dispersing the concentrations of Czech nationals. "The other half of the Czech nationals must be deprived of their power, eliminated, and shipped out of the country by all sorts of methods. This applies particularly to the racially mongoloid part and to the major part of the intellectual class. The latter can scarcely be converted and would become a burden by constantly making claims for the leadership over the other Czech classes and thus interfering with a possible rapid assimilation. "Elements which counteract the planned Germanization ought to be handled roughly and eliminated.
CAPT. HARRIS: "The above development naturally pre-supposes an increased influx of Germans from the Reich territory into the Protectorate. "Having been reported, the Fuehrer has chosen solution (c) (assimilation) as a directive for the solution of the Czech problem and 'decided that, while keeping up the autonomy of the Protectorate on the surface, the Germanization will have to be carried out in a centralized way by the office of the Reich Protector for years to come. "From the above no particular conclusions are to be drawn by the Armed Forces. This is the line which has always been taken here. In this connection I refer to my memorandum submitted to the Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces, dated 12 July 1939, file number 6/39, top secret, entitled "The Czech Problem' (attached as annex). "The Representative of the Armed Forces with the Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia."-Signed-"Friderici, General of Infantry." With the permission of Your Honors, I should to comment further upon some parts of this memorandum. First, I invite your attention to solution (a). This solution would have called for German infiltration into Moravia and the forcible removal of the Czechs from that area to Bohemia. As Your Honors know, Moravia lies between Bohemia and Slovakia. Thus solution (a) would have involved the erection of a German State between Bohemia and Slovakia, and would have prevented effective inter-communications between the Czechs and the Slovaks. In this manner, the historic desire for unity of these two groups of peace-loving people and the continued existence of their Czechoslovakian State would have been frustrated. Solution (a), it may be noted, was rejected because the surviving Czechs, even though compressed into a "residual Bohemia", would have remained to plague the conspirators. Solution (b) which involved the forcible deportation of all Czechs was rejected, not because its terms were deemed too drastic, but rather because a more speedy resolution of the problem was desired.
CAPT. HARRIS: Solution (c), as shown in the exhibit, was regarded as the most desirable and was adopted. This solution first provided for the assimilation of about one-half of the Czechs. This meant two things: a. Enforced Germanization for those who were deemed racially qualified and b. deportation to slave labor in Germany for others. "Increased employment of Czechs in the Reich territory" as stated in the exhibit meant, in reality, slave labor in Germany. Solution (c) further provided for the elimination and deportation "by all sorts of methods" of the other half of the Czech population, particularly the intellectuals and those who did not meet the racial standards of the conspirators. Intellectuals everywhere were an anathema to the Nazi conspirators, and the Czech intellectuals were no exception. Indeed, the Czech intellectuals, as the conspirators well knew, had a conspicuous record of gallantry, self-sacrifice, and resistance to the Nazi ideology. They were, therefore, to be exterminated. As will be shown in other connections, that section of the top secret report which stated "elements which counteract the planned Germanization are to be handled roughly and eliminated" meant that intellectuals and other dissident elements were either to be thrown in concentration camps or immediately exterminated. In short, the provisions of solution (c) were simply a practical application of the conspirators' philosophy as expressed in Himmler's speech, part of which we have quoted in L=70, already presented in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-308. Nimbler said that "either we win over any good blood that we can use for ourselves . . . or we destroy this blood." I now turn briefly to the conspirators' program of spoliation and Germanization in the western occupied countries.
CAPT. HARRIS: Evidence which will be presented at a later stage of this proceeding will show how the conspirators sought to germanize the western occupied countries; how they stripped the conquered countries in the West of food and raw materials, leaving to them scarcely enough to maintain a bare existence; how they compelled local industry and agriculture to satisfy the insatiable wants of the German civilian population and the Wehrmacht; and finally how the spoliation in the western occupied countries was aided and abetted by excessive occupation charges, compulsory and fraudulent clearing arrangements, and confiscation of their gold and foreign exchange. The evidence concerning these matters which will be presented in great detail by the Prosecutor for the Republic of France is so overwhelming that the inference is inescapable that the conspirators' acts were committed according to plan. However, it will not be until after the Christmas recess that the evidence concerning the execution of the conspirators' plans in the West will be presented to this Tribunal. Accordingly, by way of illustration, and for the purpose of showing in this presentation that the conspirators' plans embraced the occupied Western countries as well as the East, we now offer in evidence a single exhibit on this aspect of the case, R-114, which is Exhibit Number USA-314. This document was obtained from the U.S. Counter-Intelligence branch. His exhibit consists of a memorandum dated 7 August 1942 and a memorandum dated 29 August 1942 from Himmler's personal files. The former memorandum deals with a conference of SS officers and bears the title, "Directions for the Treatment of Deported Alsatians." The latter memorandum is marked secret and is entitled, "Shifting of Alsatians into the Reich." The memoranda comprising this exhibit show that plans were made and partially executed to remove all elements from Alsace which were hostile to the conspirators and to germanize the province.
CAPT. HARRIS: I quote from Page 1, lines 21 to 31, of the English text entitled, "Directions for the Treatment of Deported Alsatians." These extracts contained in the German text at Page 1, the last 8 lines, and Page 2, lines 1 to 5. I now quote: "The first expulsion action was carried out in Alsace in the period from July to December 1940; in the course of it 105,000 persons were either expelled or prevented from returning. They were in the main Jews, gypsies and other foreign racial elements, criminals, asocial and incurably insane persons, and in addition Frenchmen end Francophiles. The patois-speaking population was combed out by this series of deportations in the same way as the other Alsatians. "Referring to the permission the Fuehrer had given him to cleanse Alsace of all foreign, sick, or unreliable elements, Gauleiter Wagner has recently pointed out the political necessity of a new deportation"-zweiteAussiedlungsaktion-"which is to be prepared as soon as possible." I should like Your Honors to permit me to defer the remainder of this presentation until Monday. Mr. Justice Jackson would like to make a few remarks to the Tribunal.