dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
REINECKE: The remaining sentences were not read. Paragraph 3 was not read either. THE PRESIDENT: Very well, Dr. Seidl, you may read what you want to read. DR. SEIDL: I shall then quote under Figure 12 a note for the files: "Concerning: Dachau Concentration Camp. "I. Memorandum. The proposal of the State Minister of the Interior to quash the inquiry now pending at the public prosecution office at the Provincial Court, Munich II, into the death of the prisoners Handschuch, Franz, and Katz, who were in protective custody, was the subject of a discussion during the meeting of the Council of Ministers on 5 Decem-ber 1933. As a result, the State Minister of Justice communi-cated the following to the undersigned official: "The criminal proceedings regarding the happenings in the Dachau Concentration Camp are to be continued with all determination. The facts are to be cleared up with the utmost speed. If necessary the Landespolizei are to be brought in to assist. Any attempts to hush up the case must be opposed by all available means. "The Oberstaatsanwalt (public prosecutor) at the Provincial Court, Munich II, was instructed, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers, to continue the proceed-ings immediately with all energy, and try to clear up the incidents as soon as possible. He will apply for preliminary court investigations and see to their being completed rapidly -in the case of Franz and Katz immediately, and in the case of Handschuch after the arrival of the documents from the Political Police, who have been requested to return them. He has been instructed to keep the State Ministry of Justice informed about the course of the proceedings and to produce the files with an attached report about the result after the closing of the preliminary investigation, stating also what further action is intended. The public prosecutor at the Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeal) in Munich has been notified and instructed that he also for his part is to pay particular attention to the proceedings.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: No, Witness, I am asking you something quite different. You are not answering my question. I asked you if it was not a fact that Himmler promoted the so-called honorary members according to his estimation of their activity? From the SS point of view, naturally. REINECKE: Yes, that is correct, insofar as it was typical of Himmler's policy that personalities who were holding certain posi-tions of power were granted the right to wear the SS uniform, and those are the honorary leaders. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I have no further questions to, put to the witness, Mr. President. DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): Mr. Pres-ident, this morning the, Prosecution submitted a Document D-926, also numbered GB-568. The subject of that document is files of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice which deal with the death of prisoners of war in the concentration camp at Dachau. I ask for permission to read into the record Figure 12 of that document now, which was not read out by the Prosecution. As reason for my application, I should like to explain that this is the same document which I applied for 6 months ago and which could not be found. The portions of this document read by the Prosecution may create the impression that the statement by the Defendant Frank in the witness box with reference to this question may not be correct. Figure 12, however shows ... THE PRESIDENT: Whom are you applying on behalf of-Frank? DR. SEIDL: I make the application on behalf of the Defendant Frank. THE PRESIDENT: I think on Page 10 of the English copy, and. with the Heading 12, the two top paragraphs were read this. morning. DR. SEIDL: Only the two first sentences of Paragraph 2 were read. The remaining sentences were not read. Paragraph 3 was not read either. THE PRESIDENT: Very well, Dr. Seidl, you may read what you want to read. DR. SEIDL: I shall then quote under Figure 12 a note for the files: "Concerning: Dachau Concentration Camp. "I. Memorandum.
REINECKE: Yes, that is correct, insofar as it was typical of Himmler's policy that personalities who were holding certain posi-tions of power were granted the right to wear the SS uniform, and those are the honorary leaders. MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I have no further questions to, put to the witness, Mr. President. DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): Mr. Pres-ident, this morning the, Prosecution submitted a Document D-926, also numbered GB-568. The subject of that document is files of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice which deal with the death of prisoners of war in the concentration camp at Dachau. I ask for permission to read into the record Figure 12 of that document now, which was not read out by the Prosecution. As reason for my application, I should like to explain that this is the same document which I applied for 6 months ago and which could not be found. The portions of this document read by the Prosecution may create the impression that the statement by the Defendant Frank in the witness box with reference to this question may not be correct. Figure 12, however shows ... THE PRESIDENT: Whom are you applying on behalf of-Frank? DR. SEIDL: I make the application on behalf of the Defendant Frank. THE PRESIDENT: I think on Page 10 of the English copy, and. with the Heading 12, the two top paragraphs were read this. morning. DR. SEIDL: Only the two first sentences of Paragraph 2 were read. The remaining sentences were not read. Paragraph 3 was not read either. THE PRESIDENT: Very well, Dr. Seidl, you may read what you want to read. DR. SEIDL: I shall then quote under Figure 12 a note for the files: "Concerning: Dachau Concentration Camp. "I. Memorandum. The proposal of the State Minister of the Interior to quash the inquiry now pending at the public prosecution office at the Provincial Court, Munich II, into the death of the prisoners Handschuch, Franz, and Katz, who were in protective custody, was the subject of a discussion during the meeting of the Council of Ministers on 5 Decem-ber 1933.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I have no further questions to, put to the witness, Mr. President. DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): Mr. Pres-ident, this morning the, Prosecution submitted a Document D-926, also numbered GB-568. The subject of that document is files of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice which deal with the death of prisoners of war in the concentration camp at Dachau. I ask for permission to read into the record Figure 12 of that document now, which was not read out by the Prosecution. As reason for my application, I should like to explain that this is the same document which I applied for 6 months ago and which could not be found. The portions of this document read by the Prosecution may create the impression that the statement by the Defendant Frank in the witness box with reference to this question may not be correct. Figure 12, however shows ... THE PRESIDENT: Whom are you applying on behalf of-Frank? DR. SEIDL: I make the application on behalf of the Defendant Frank. THE PRESIDENT: I think on Page 10 of the English copy, and. with the Heading 12, the two top paragraphs were read this. morning. DR. SEIDL: Only the two first sentences of Paragraph 2 were read. The remaining sentences were not read. Paragraph 3 was not read either. THE PRESIDENT: Very well, Dr. Seidl, you may read what you want to read. DR. SEIDL: I shall then quote under Figure 12 a note for the files: "Concerning: Dachau Concentration Camp. "I. Memorandum. The proposal of the State Minister of the Interior to quash the inquiry now pending at the public prosecution office at the Provincial Court, Munich II, into the death of the prisoners Handschuch, Franz, and Katz, who were in protective custody, was the subject of a discussion during the meeting of the Council of Ministers on 5 Decem-ber 1933. As a result, the State Minister of Justice communi-cated the following to the undersigned official: "The criminal proceedings regarding the happenings in the Dachau Concentration Camp are to be continued with all determination. The facts are to be cleared up with the utmost speed.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: If necessary the Landespolizei are to be brought in to assist. Any attempts to hush up the case must be opposed by all available means. "The Oberstaatsanwalt (public prosecutor) at the Provincial Court, Munich II, was instructed, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers, to continue the proceed-ings immediately with all energy, and try to clear up the incidents as soon as possible. He will apply for preliminary court investigations and see to their being completed rapidly -in the case of Franz and Katz immediately, and in the case of Handschuch after the arrival of the documents from the Political Police, who have been requested to return them. He has been instructed to keep the State Ministry of Justice informed about the course of the proceedings and to produce the files with an attached report about the result after the closing of the preliminary investigation, stating also what further action is intended. The public prosecutor at the Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeal) in Munich has been notified and instructed that he also for his part is to pay particular attention to the proceedings. The preliminary in-vestigations will probably be conducted by Landgerichtsrat (Provincial Court Counsellor) Kissner, competent for the district of Dachau. "The liaison officer with the Political Police, I. Staatsanwalt (first public prosecutor) Dr. Stepp, was instructed, according to orders, to communicate the decision of the Council of Ministers to the Chief of the Political Police, Himmler, and to the Chief of the Bavarian Political Police." DR. SEIDL: Thank you, Mr. President. HERR PELCKMANN: Witness, once again, I shall come back to the document which has just been read out by my colleague Seidl. When this document was put to you, you pointed out that this was an instruction concerning an incident which took place very early in 1933. During your interrogation, you, yourself, said that in the course of your investigation in later years you discovered that mur-ders had been hushed up by means of false reports on the facts.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: In addition, there was a goldsmelting furnace and really prodigious bars of gold. I also saw that the headquarters from which Wirth directed his operations was very small and inconspicuous., He had only three or four people working there for him. I spoke to them too. I saw and watched his couriers arrive. They actually came from Berlin, Tiergartenstrasse, the Fi1hrer's Chancellery, and went back there. I investigated Wirth's mail and I found in it confirmation of all this. Of course, I could not do or see all this on this first visit. I was there frequently. I pursued Wirth up to his death. HERR PELCKMANN: Did Wirth give you names of people who were connected with this operation? MORGEN: Not many names were mentioned, for the simple reason that the number of those who participated could be counted, so to speak, on one's fingers. I remember one name: I think the name was Blankenburg, in Berlin. HERR PELCKMANN: Blankenburg? MORGEN: Blankenburg, of the Fi1hrer's Chancellery. THE PRESIDENT: Well, we had better adjourn now. We have already been 50 minutes. [The Tribunal adjourned until 8 August 1946 at 1000 hours.]
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): Mr. Pres-ident, this morning the, Prosecution submitted a Document D-926, also numbered GB-568. The subject of that document is files of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice which deal with the death of prisoners of war in the concentration camp at Dachau. I ask for permission to read into the record Figure 12 of that document now, which was not read out by the Prosecution. As reason for my application, I should like to explain that this is the same document which I applied for 6 months ago and which could not be found. The portions of this document read by the Prosecution may create the impression that the statement by the Defendant Frank in the witness box with reference to this question may not be correct. Figure 12, however shows ... THE PRESIDENT: Whom are you applying on behalf of-Frank? DR. SEIDL: I make the application on behalf of the Defendant Frank. THE PRESIDENT: I think on Page 10 of the English copy, and. with the Heading 12, the two top paragraphs were read this. morning. DR. SEIDL: Only the two first sentences of Paragraph 2 were read. The remaining sentences were not read. Paragraph 3 was not read either. THE PRESIDENT: Very well, Dr. Seidl, you may read what you want to read. DR. SEIDL: I shall then quote under Figure 12 a note for the files: "Concerning: Dachau Concentration Camp. "I. Memorandum. The proposal of the State Minister of the Interior to quash the inquiry now pending at the public prosecution office at the Provincial Court, Munich II, into the death of the prisoners Handschuch, Franz, and Katz, who were in protective custody, was the subject of a discussion during the meeting of the Council of Ministers on 5 Decem-ber 1933. As a result, the State Minister of Justice communi-cated the following to the undersigned official: "The criminal proceedings regarding the happenings in the Dachau Concentration Camp are to be continued with all determination. The facts are to be cleared up with the utmost speed. If necessary the Landespolizei are to be brought in to assist. Any attempts to hush up the case must be opposed by all available means.
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): "The Oberstaatsanwalt (public prosecutor) at the Provincial Court, Munich II, was instructed, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers, to continue the proceed-ings immediately with all energy, and try to clear up the incidents as soon as possible. He will apply for preliminary court investigations and see to their being completed rapidly -in the case of Franz and Katz immediately, and in the case of Handschuch after the arrival of the documents from the Political Police, who have been requested to return them. He has been instructed to keep the State Ministry of Justice informed about the course of the proceedings and to produce the files with an attached report about the result after the closing of the preliminary investigation, stating also what further action is intended. The public prosecutor at the Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeal) in Munich has been notified and instructed that he also for his part is to pay particular attention to the proceedings. The preliminary in-vestigations will probably be conducted by Landgerichtsrat (Provincial Court Counsellor) Kissner, competent for the district of Dachau. "The liaison officer with the Political Police, I. Staatsanwalt (first public prosecutor) Dr. Stepp, was instructed, according to orders, to communicate the decision of the Council of Ministers to the Chief of the Political Police, Himmler, and to the Chief of the Bavarian Political Police." DR. SEIDL: Thank you, Mr. President. HERR PELCKMANN: Witness, once again, I shall come back to the document which has just been read out by my colleague Seidl. When this document was put to you, you pointed out that this was an instruction concerning an incident which took place very early in 1933. During your interrogation, you, yourself, said that in the course of your investigation in later years you discovered that mur-ders had been hushed up by means of false reports on the facts.
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): For that reason I would like to ask you once more: Is it correct that, when in the course of your investigation in later years you discovered cases of concealment, you fought against such procedure? REINECKE: That was precisely one of our main activities. We had to counter these attempts of concealment which cropped up everywhere in the course of current proceedings. Repeatedly, in many different camps, we were able to ascertain by our commissions that such cases of concealment did exist, and in those cases we at once called the guilty party to account. HERR PELCKMANN: Could your SS legal authorities take proceedings against such crimes already in 1933? REINECKE: In 1933 there was not yet an SS jurisdiction, that is, no penal jurisdiction. Responsibility for carrying out such criminal proceedings lay with the criminal prosecution authorities of the general justice, and this becomes apparent from this document. It was their task to bring to judgment the guilty men responsible in such cases. HERR PELCKMANN: A report, a document, has been put before you, Document D-924, GB-570, which refers to the horrible shooting of deportees by the escorts. You commented upon that and I noticed that you could not quite finish your statement, because I believe you wanted to add some details reflecting your personal impressions. Would you like to do that now? REINECKE: Yes. I wanted to say that this deals with a convoy of prisoners and the accompanying escorts, and that my own state-ments about the guards referred exclusively to those in the camps, that is to say, those guards who were on duty outside the camps on watchtowers, et cetera, and who had to return to their billets after duty. These men, therefore, had nothing to do with the in-ternal affairs of the camps. Presumably such transports were carried out by members of the commanders' staffs.
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): HERR PELCKMANN: From the document containing the statis-tics regarding the strength of the SS on 30 June 1934-and I regret that the document number is not visible on my copy -- I should like to put to you the figure of 794,000 members of the SS in 1944. Wit-ness Brill yesterday told us higher figures, approximately 900,000 to a million. Since the witness Brill is no longer present, I should like to ask you if you are sufficiently informed as to whether the difference may be attributed to the fact that the figure mentioned by witness Brill also included the dead, those who had been killed, and therefore the figure given by witness Brill was not an incorrect statement on his part. REINECKE: I have the knowledge necessary to answer the ques-tion because, working in the legal department, I constantly had to concern myself with the strength of the SS. I know that the state-ment by witness Brill corresponds to the facts. It is a fact, as stated by defendant's counsel, that the figure given by witness Brill includes the losses suffered by the Waffen-SS. The figures contained in this document must be increased by the number of killed in the course of the war, both of men and leaders, either low-ranking or senior, of the Waffen-SS, in order to draw conclusions regarding the real strength of the Waffen-SS. BERR PELCKMANN: On Page 28 of the same document you have the numbers in the various offices. The final total is 39,415 members of the SS. -Do you still have the document before you, Witness? REINECKE: No, unfortunately I have not. [The document was handed to the witness.] HERR PELCKMANN: You said that the figure representing the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office, which was respon-sible for the administration of the entire concentration camp system, was 24,091 persons. Does this mean persons who were carrying out purely clerical work? Were there in fact 24,000 clerks in that depart-ment? Or what does that figure mean?
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): REINECKE: The SS Economic and Administrative Main Office was a much inflated organization, which above all, as its name indicates, had at its disposal a large organization of firms and industries. All the employees of those industries which were for-mally attached to the Economic and Administrative Main Office were formally drafted into the SS in order to make them "uk.," that means to relieve them from compulsory service in. the Armed Forces. HERR PELCKMANN: As I understood you earlier, you also said that the guards should be counted into that figure? REINECKE: I had not finished my answer to that question. The guards in the concentration camps and the entire personnel in con-centration camps were also counted in the Economic and Administrative Main Office Department "Dora" as concerns personnel and organization, and thus they were exclusively under the jurisdiction of Pohl as the Chief of the Economic and Administrative Main Office. I assume that the number of those guards is included in the figure of 24,091. BERR PELCKMANN: Would you please look at the figure of 987 SS members attached to the Reich Commissioner for the Strength-ening of German Folkdom, Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle. Merely as an example, were these 987 men the only employees of that depart-ment? REINECKE: I know from my own experience as an SS judge that the department called "Reich Commissioner for the Strength-ening of German Folkdom" had at its disposal thousands of people who, as I said yesterday, were civil servants and were in no way connected with the SS. That figure of 987 members of the SS can be explained just in the same-way as all the other figures. They became members of the SS for the same reason; that is to say, in order to be classified as indispensable they had to be sheltered in an armed unit performing military duties, to prevent them from being drafted. Those persons had no real connection with the SS organization in any case, and it was merely for the technical reasons which I have described that they were taken over by the SS.
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): HERR PELCKMANN: Well then, these statistics which are before us show approximately 800,000 members of the SS. Is it correct, Witness, that against that figure the statistics show that the con-centration camp organization employed only about 25,000 members of the SS? REINECKE: In June 1944, which is the date of this document, that is the correct proportion of men employed in concentration camps in comparison to the total strength of the SS, which is clearly evident from this document. HERR PELCKMANN: May I now submit to Your Lordship the document which I unfortunately did not have at my disposal this morning. [Turning to the witness.] Witness, I will show it to you. Would you mind having a look at it. You know this document? REINECKE: Yes, that document became known to me during the last 12 months. HERR PELCKMANN: On Page 46 of that document there appears the testimony of a detainee who is referred to by the initials "E.H." The general impression is that the testimony was given before American interrogating authorities, and it reveals ... THE PRESIDENT: Is this document in evidence? HERR PELCKMANN: Your Lordship, it is not in my document book. I am merely putting it to the witness, but as Your Lordship desired to see the book, I submitted it to the Tribunal. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but ... Well, what is the book? I do not know what it is. What is it? Where does it come from? HERR PELCKMANN: I beg to be permitted to ask the witness just one question with reference to this. THE PRESIDENT: No, no, you may not do that until you have told me where the book comes from. Where does the book come from? HERR PELCKMANN: It comes from the library here. I just got it from the library. It is an official publication ... THE PRESIDENT: I see. HERR PELCKMANN: ... by a Colonel Quinn. On Page 46 there is the testimony of this detainee, and the impression given is that 474 7 Aug. 46 that testimony had been given before interrogating authorities of the American Army. [Turning to the witness.] Can you say anything with reference to that testimony, which describes atrocious conditions and crimes?