dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MAJOR WALSH: Thus we succeeded in destroying this plague-boil, losing thereby only one officer. Almost the same conditions were found in Rohatyn." On page 19 of the same document, L-18, the last paragraph, I wish to quote further.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MAJOR WALSH: "Since we received more and more alarming reports on the Jews becoming armed in an ever June 1943, an action throughout the whole of the District of Galicia with the intent to use strongest measures to destroy the Jewish gangsterdom. Special measures were found necessary during the action to dissolve the living quarters in Lvov where the dug-out mentioned above had been established. Here we had to act brutally from the beginning in order to avoid losses on our side; we had to blow up or to burn down several houses. On this occasion the surprising fact arose that we were able to catch about 20,000 Jews instead of 12,000 Jews who had registered. We had to pull at least 3,000 Jewish corpses out of every kind of hiding place; they had committed suicide by taking poison." On Page 20 of this document, the third paragraph I read: "Despite the extraordinary burden heaped upon every single SS and Police member during these actions, the mood and spirit of the men were extraordinarily good and praiseworthy from the first to the last day." These acts and actions of removal and slaughter were not entirely without profit. The author of this report, on the ninth page of this translated copy stated, and I quote the last paragraph: "Together with the evacuation action we executed the confiscation of Jewish property.
MAJOR WALSH: Very high values were confiscated and handed over to the Special Staff 'Reinhard.' Apart from furniture and many textile goods, the following amounts were confiscated and turned over to Special Staff 'Reinhard."' I would like to read a few of the many and assorted items listed under this confiscation: "20.952 kilograms of golden wedding rings; 7 stamp collections, complete; 1 suitcase with pocket knives; 1 basket of fountain pens and propelling pencils; 3 bags filled with rings -not genuine; 35 wagons of furs." I will not burden the Court with the detailed lists of objects of value and of the money confiscated; but the foregoing is cited to illustrate the thoroughness of the looting of a defenseless people, even to the 11.73 kilograms of gold teeth and inlays. By the end of 1942 Jews in the Government General of Poland had been crowded into 55 localities whereas before the German invasion there had been approximately 1,000 Jewish settlements within this same area. This is reported in the 1942 official gazette for the Government General, Number 94, Page 665, 1 November 1942. The Jews having been registered and confined within the ghettos, they now furnished a reservoir for slave labor. It is believed pertinent at this time to point out the difference between the slave labor and labor duty. The latter group were entitled to reasonable compensation, stated work hours, medical care and attention, and other social security measures, while the former were granted none of these advantages, being in fact on a level below a slave. Defendant Rosenberg, as Reich Minister for the Eastern Occupied Territories, set up within his organization a department which, among other things, was to seek a solution for the Jewish problem by means of forced labor. His plans are contained in another document, 1024-PS, which I now offer in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-278.
MAJOR WALSH: I quote the first part of Paragraph 3 of Page 1 of the document entitled, "General Organization and Tasks of Our Office for the General Handling of Problems in the Eastern Territory." This is dated 29 April 1941. This brief excerpt reads as follows: "A general treatment is required for the Jewish problem for which a temporary solution will have to be determined (forced labor for the Jews, creation of ghettos, et cetera )." Thereafter he issued instructions that Jewish forced labor should be effected and utilized for every manual labor; and I refer to Document 212-PS, already in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-272. From Page 3 of this document, Paragraph 5 and Paragraph 7, I quote Paragraph 5: "The standing rule for the Jewish labor employment is the complete and unyielding use of Jewish manpower regardless of age in the reconstruction of the Eastern Occupied Territories." And from Paragraph 7 of the same page I read: "Violations of German measures, especially evasions of the forced labor regulations, are to be punished by death in the case of the Jews." From the ghettos Jewish labor was selected and sent to a concentration area. Here the usable Jews were screened from those considered worthless. For example, a contingent of 45,000 Jews would be expected to yield 10,000 to 15,000 usable laborers. My authority for this statement is contained in a RSHA telegram to Himmler, marked "urgent" and "secret," dated 16 December 1942. I offer this document, 1472-PS, in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-279; and from the translation before the Court I read the last four lines: . "In the total of 45,000 are included physically handicapped and others (old Jews and children).
MAJOR WALSH: In making a distribution for this purpose, at least 10,000 to 15,000 laborers will be available when the Jews arriving at Auschwitz are assigned." From Document L-18, a report from the Lieutenant General of the Police, Katzmann, to General of the Police east, Kruger, already in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-277, we find the clearly outlined nature of the forced labor situation for the Jews. On Page 2 of the translation, starting with Paragraph 6, I read: "The best remedy consisted in the formation of forced labor camps by the SS and Police Leader. The best opportunity for labor was offered by the necessity to complete the 'Dg. 4' road which was extremely important and necessary for the whole of the southern part of the front and which was in a catastrophically bad condition. On October 15, 1941, the establishment of camps along the road was commenced; and despite considerable difficulties there existed, after a few weeks only, seven camps containing 4,000 Jews." Prom Page 2, Paragraph 7, I read: "Soon more camps followed these first ones, so that after a very short time the completion of 15 camps of this kind could be reported to the superior leader of SS and police. In the course of time about 20,000 Jewish laborers passed through these camps. Despite the hardly imaginable difficulties arising from this problem I can report today that about 160 kilometers of the road are completed." And from Page 2, Paragraph 8, I read: "At the same time all other Jews fit for work were registered and distributed for useful work by the labor agencies." And on Page 5, last part of Paragraph 1...
THE PRESIDENT: Don't you want the remainder of that paragraph on Page 2?
MAJOR WALSH: It is such a lengthy document, I hesitated to burden the record with so much of it, and had extracted certain portions therefrom, but I shall be very glad to read it into the record.
THE PRESIDENT: "Then, for instance, the Municipal Administration at Lvov had no success in their attempts to house the Jews within a closed district which would be inhabited only by Jews. This question, too, was solved quickly by the SS and Police Leader through his subordinate officials."
MAJOR WALSH: With the Court's permission, I add that to the record. Reading the last paragraph of Page 2: "When the Jews were marked by the Star of David, as well as when they were registered by the labor agencies, the first symptoms appeared in their attempts to dodge the order of the authorities. The measures which were introduced thereupon led to thousands of arrests. It became more and more apparent that the civil administration was not in a position to solve the Jewish problem in an approximately satisfactory manner. Then, for instance, the municipal administration at Lvov had no success in their attempts to house the Jews within a closed district which would be inhabited only by Jews. This question, too, was solved quickly by the SS and Police Leader through his subordinate officials. This measure became the more urgent as in the winter of 1941 big centers of spotted fever were noted in many parts of the town...." And on Page 5 of this document, L-18, last half of Paragraph 1, I read: "During the removal of the Jews into a certain quarter of the town several sluices were erected at which all the work-shy and asocial Jewish rabble were caught during the screening and treated in a special way. Owing to the peculiar fact that almost 90 percent of artisans working in Galicia were Jews, the task to be solved could be fulfilled only step by step, since an immediate evacuation would not have served the interest of war economy." And again, on Page 5, Paragraph 2, the latter part, beginning with "cases were discovered": "Cases were discovered where Jews, in order to acquire any certificate of labor, not only renounced all wages but even paid money themselves. Moreover, the organizing of Jews for the benefit of their employers grew to such catastrophical extent that it was deemed necessary to interfere in the most energetic manner for the benefit of the German name. "Since the administration was not in a position and showed itself too weak to master this chaos, the SS and Police leader simply took over the entire disposition of labor for Jews.
MAJOR WALSH: The Jewish labor agencies, which were manned by hundreds of Jews, were dissolved. All certificates of labor given by firms or administrative offices were declared invalid, and the cards given to the Jews by the labor agencies were validated by the police offices by stamping them. In the course of this action, again, thousands of Jews were caught who were in possession of forged certificates or who had obtained, surreptitiously, certificates of labor by all kinds of pretexts. These Jews also were exposed to special treatment." If the Court please, at this time I would like to arrange for the showing of a very short motion picture, perhaps one of the most unusual exhibits that will be presented during the Trial. With the Courts permission I would like to call upon Commander Donovan to assist.
THE PRESIDENT: Need we adjourn for it or not?
MAJOR WALSH: No, Sir. The movie itself is very, very short, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
COMMANDER DONOVAN: May it please the Tribunal, the United States now offers evidence Document Number 3052-PS, Gambit Number USA-280, entitled "Original German 8-millimeter Film of Atrocities against Jews." This is a strip of motion pictures taken, we believe, by a member of the SS and captured by the United States military forces in an SS barracks near Augsburg, Germany, as described in the affidavits now before the Tribunal. We have not been able to establish beyond doubt in which area these films were made, but we believe that to be immaterial The film offers undeniable evidence, made by Germans themselves, of almost incredible brutality to Jewish people in the custody of the Nazis, including German military units. It is believed by the Prosecution that the scene is the extermination of a ghetto by Gestapo agents, assisted by military units. And, as the other evidence to be presented by the Prosecution will indicate, the scene presented to the Tribunal is probably one which occurred a thousand times all over Europe under the Nazi rule of terror. This film was made on an 8-millimeter home camera. We have not wished even to reprint it, and so shall present the original, untouched film captured by our troops. The pictures obviously were taken by an amateur photographer. Because of this, because of the fact that part of it is burned, because of the fact that it runs for only 1 1/2 minutes, and because of the confusion on every hand shown on this film, we do not believe that the Tribunal can properly view the evidence if it is shown only once. We therefore ask the Tribunal's permission to project the film twice as we did before the Defense Counsel. This is a silent film. The film has been made available to all Defense Counsel, and they have a copy of the supporting affidavits, duly translated. [The film was shown.]
COMMANDER DONOVAN: [Continuing.] May it please the Tribunal while the film is being rewound I wish to say that attached to the affidavits of fared in evidence is a description of every picture shown in this film. And, with the Tribunal's permission, I wish to read a few selections from that at this time, before again projecting the film, in order to direct the Tribunal's attention to certain of the scenes: Scene 2-A naked girl running across the courtyard. Scene 3-An older woman being pushed past the camera, and a man in SS uniform standing at the right of the scene. Scene 5-A man with a skullcap and a woman are manhandled. Number 1-A half-naked woman runs through the crowd. Number 15-Another half-naked woman runs out of the house. Number 16-Two men drag an old man out. Number 18-A man in German military uniform, with his back to the camera, watches. Number 24-A general shot of the street, showing fallen bodies and naked women running. Number 32-A shot of the street, showing five fallen bodies. Number 37-A man with a bleeding head is hit again. Number 39-A soldier in German military uniform, with a rifle, stands by as a crowd centers on a man coming out of the house. Number 44-A soldier with a rifle, in German military uniform, walks past a woman clinging to a torn blouse. Number 45-A woman is dragged by her hair across the street. [The film was shown again.]
COMMANDER DONOVAN: [Continuing.] We submit to the Tribunal for its permanent records this strip of 8-millimeter film.
MAJOR WALSH: It is difficult from this point to follow the thread of chronological order or a topical outline. So numerous are the documents and so appalling the contents that in this brief recital the Prosecution will make no effort to itemize the criminal acts. Selected documents, however, will unfold the crimes in full detail. Before launching a discussion of the means utilized to accomplish the ultimate aim, that is the extermination of the Jewish people, I now turn to that fertile source of evidence, the diary of Hans Frank, then Governor General of occupied Poland. In a cabinet session on Tuesday, 16 December 1941, in the government building at Krakow, the Defendant Frank made a closing address to the session. I offer now in evidence that part of the document, Number 2233(d)-PS, Exhibit Number USA-281, identified CV 1941, October to December, and from Page 76, line 10, to Page 77, line 33, of the original and of the entire translation before the Court. I quote: "As far as the Jews are concerned, I want to tell you quite frankly that they must be done away with in one way or another. The Fuehrer said once: 'Should united Jewry again succeed in provoking a world war, the blood of not only the nations which have been forced into the war by them will be shed, but the Jew will have found his end in Europe.' I know that many of the measures carried out against the Jews in the Reich at present are being criticized. It is being tried intentionally, as is obvious from the reports on the morale, to talk about cruelty, harshness, et cetera . Before I continue, I would beg you to agree with me on the following formula: We will principally have pity on the German people only and nobody else in the whole world. The others, too, had no pity on us. As an old National Socialist I must also say: This war would be only a partial success if the whole lot of Jewry would survive it, while we would have shed our best blood in order to save Europe. My attitude towards the Jews will therefore, be based only on the expectation that they must disappear.
MAJOR WALSH: They must be done away with I have entered negotiations to have them deported to the East. A large conference concerning that question, to which I am going to delegate the State Secretary Dr. Buehler, will take place in Berlin in January. That discussion is to take place in the Reich Security Main Office with SS Lieutenant General Heydrich. A great Jewish migration will begin, in any case. "But what should be done with the Jews? Do you think they will be settled down in the 'Ostland' in villages? This is whet we were told in Berlin: Why all this bother? We can do nothing with them either in the 'Ostland' or in the 'Reichskommissariat.' So liquidate them yourselves. "Gentlemen, I must ask you to arm yourselves against all feeling of pity. We must annihilate the Jews, wherever we find them and wherever it is possible, in order to maintain there the structure of the Reich as a whole. This will, naturally, be achieved by other methods than those pointed out by Bureau Chief Dr. Hummel. Nor can the judges of the Special Courts be made responsible for it because of the limitations of the frame work of the legal procedure. Such outdated views cannot be applied to such gigantic and unique events. We must find at any rate a way which leads to the goal, and my thoughts are working in that direction. "The Jews represent for us also extraordinarily malignant gluttons. We have now approximately, 2,500,000 of them in the Government General, perhaps with the Jewish mixtures and everything that goes with it, 3,500,000 Jews. We cannot shoot or poison those 3,500,000 Jews; but we shall nevertheless be able to take measures which will lead, somehow, to their annihilation, and this in connection with the gigantic measures to be determined in discussions with the Reich. The Government General must become free of Jews, the same as the Reich. Where and how this is to be achieved is a matter for the offices which we must appoint and create here.
MAJOR WALSH: Their activities will be brought to your attention in due course." This, if the Tribunal please, is not the planning and scheming of an individual, but is the expression of the official of the German State, the appointed Governor General of occupied Poland. The methods used to accomplish the annihilation of the Jewish people were varied and, although not subtle, were highly successful. I have from time to time made reference to certain utterances and actions of the Defendant Rosenberg as one of the leaders and policy makers of the Nazi Party and German State. It is perhaps reasonable to assume that the Defendant Rosenberg will claim for many of his actions that he pursued them pursuant to superior orders. I have before me, however, a captured document, Number 001-PS , marked "secret," dated 18 December 1941, entitled "Documentary Memorandum for the Fuehrer-Concerning Jewish Possessions in France," Exhibit Number USA-282. I dare say that no document before this Tribunal will more clearly evidence the Defendant Rosenberg's personal attitude, his temperament, and convictions toward the Jews more strongly than this memorandum, wherein he, in his own initiative, urges plundering and death. I offer in evidence Document Number 001-PS . The body of the memorandum reads as follows: "In compliance with the order of the Fuehrer for protection of Jewish cultural possessions, a great number of Jewish dwellings remained unguarded. Consequently, many furnishings have disappeared because a guard could, naturally, not be posted. In the whole East the administration has found terrible conditions of living quarters, and the chances of procurement are so limited that it is not possible to procure any more. Therefore, I beg the Fuehrer to permit the seizure of an Jewish home furnishings of Jews in Paris who have fled or will leave shortly and those of Jews living in all parts of the occupied West to relieve the shortage of furnishings in the administration in the East. "2.
MAJOR WALSH: A great number of leading Jews were, after a short examination in Paris, again released. The attempts on the lives of members of the Forces have not stopped; on the contrary they continue. This reveals an unmistakable plan to disrupt the German-French co-operation, to force Germany to retaliate and, with this, evoke a new defense on the part of the French against Germany. I suggest to the Fuehrer that, instead of executing 100 Frenchmen, eve shoot ~ their place 100 Jewish bankers, lawyers, et cetera. It is the Jews in London and New York who incite the French Communists to commit acts of violence, and it seems only fair that the members of this race should pay for this. It is not the little Jews but the leading Jews in France who should be held responsible. That would tend to awaken the anti-Jewish sentiment."-Signed-"A. Rosenberg." [Dr Thoma approached the lectern.]
THE PRESIDENT: May I ask you to speak slowly so that your application will come to me through the earphones correctly.
DR. THOMA: Since the Prosecutor is now dealing with the case against my client, Rosenberg, may I be permitted to voice an objection to Document 212-PS, Exhibit Number USA-272. The Prosecutor claims that this document was a directive issued by the Minister for the East. It begins with the words...
THE PRESIDENT: None of that has come through on the earphones. I don't understand you. You had better begin again.
DR. THOMA: The Prosecutor presented earlier today Document Number 212-PS, Exhibit Number USA-272, claiming that its content as a directive issued by the Minister for the East on the treatment of Jews. In this document he is said to have given instructions that violations of German regulations by Jews, especially violations of the compulsory labor laws, could only be punished by death. This document does not originate with the Defendant Rosenberg; nor did it by mistake...
THE PRESIDENT: More slowly, please.
DR. THOMA: This document does not originate with the Defendant Rosenberg. It bears neither a date nor an address, nor his signature. I, therefore, object to the assertion that this document originated with the Defendant Rosenberg.
THE PRESIDENT: Wait a minute. I don't think that Counsel for the Prosecution said that, that Document 212-PS emanated from Rosenberg. I didn't so understand him.
DR. THOMA: I understood him to say that it was a directive issued by the Minister for the East; and if I am not mistaken, he also said it was dated April 1941. At that time there was no Ministry for the East. Rosenberg was only named Minister for the East in July 1941.
THE PRESIDENT: I will ask the Counsel for the Prosecution.
MAJOR WALSH: It is my understanding, Sir, that that document, 212-PS, was taken from the captured files of Rosenberg.
DR. THOMA: That is true, it was found among the papers of the Defendant Rosenberg; the Defendant Rosenberg claims, however, that he has never seen this document, that he knows nothing about it, and that it has never passed through his hands.
THE PRESIDENT: Rosenberg, when he is called as a witness or when you appear to speak for him, will be able to say that he has never seen the document before. All that Counsel for the Prosecution has said-and it appears to be true-is that the document was found in Rosenberg's file. You can say or prove by Rosenberg's evidence when you call Rosenberg-if you do call him-that he never saw the document. Do you understand?
DR. THOMA: Yes, thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: It is 5 o'clock now, so we will adjourn. [The Tribunal adjourned until 14 December 1945 at 1000 hours]