dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will consider the objection that has been raised when the Court adjourns.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: May I have one word?
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Justice Jackson, it is unusual to hear counsel who opposes an objection a second time.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: I merely want to give you the answer to the question which you asked me as to the whereabouts of Pfaffenberger. My information is that these affidavits were taken by the American Army at the time it liberated the people in these concentration camps, at the same time the films were taken and the whole evidence that was available gathered. This witness was present at the concentration camp, and at that time his statements were taken. We do not know his present whereabouts, and I see no reasonable likelihood that we will be able to locate him within any short time. We will make an effort.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
MR. ROBERTS: May it please the Tribunal, might I endeavor to assist? I think I have now obtained the German order to white the Defense Counsel referred, Paragraph 160. It is, My Lord, of course, in German. Perhaps I might hand it up, and the court translators will no doubt deal with the paragraph.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: I think one bit of additional information should be furnished in view of the statements made here that we have information that we are withholding. Kaltenbrunner has been interrogated. At no time has he made such a claim, so I am advised by our interrogators; and under the Charter our duty is to present the case for the Prosecution. I do not, in any instance, serve two masters.
THE PRESIDENT: Now, I call upon Major Walsh. Major Walsh, did you give a lettering to the document book with which you are dealing?
MAJOR WALSH: Yes. If Your Honor please, it is the letter "T." May it please the Tribunal, during the last session the Prosecution presented briefly the preliminary steps leading to the ultimate objective of the Nazi Party and the Nazi-controlled State, that is, the extermination of the Jews. Propaganda, decrees, the infamous Nuremberg Laws, boycotts, registration, and "ghettoization" were the initial measures in the program. I shall, with the Court's permission, continue with a discussion of the methods utilized for the annihilation of the Jewish people. I would like first to discuss starvation. Policies were designed and adopted to deprive the Jews of the most elemental necessities of life. Again the Defendant Hans Frank, then Governor General of Poland, wrote in his diary that hunger rations were introduced in the Warsaw ghetto; and referring to the new food regulations in August 1942, he callously, and perhaps casually, noted that by these food regulations he virtually condemned more than 1 million Jews to death. I offer in evidence that part of Document 2233(e)-PS, diary of Hans Frank, "Conference Volume," 24 August 1942, Exhibit USA-283. And I quote: "That we sentence 1,200,000 Jews to die of hunger should be noted only marginally. It is a matter of course that should the Jews not starve to death it would, we hope, result in a speeding up of the anti-Jewish measures." Frank's diary was not the only guide to the deliberate policy of starvation of the Jews. They were prohibited from pursuing agricultural activities in order to cut them off from access to the source of food. I offer Document 1138-PS in evidence, Exhibit USA-284. I refer the Court to Page 4 of the translation, marked with numeral V, Paragraphs a and b. The document is entitled "Provisional Directive on the Treatment of Jews..." and it was issued by the Reich Commissioner for the Ostland. I read: "Jews must be cleaned out from the countryside.
MAJOR WALSH: The Jews are to be removed from all trades, especially from trade with agricultural products and other foodstuffs." Jews were excluded from the purchase of basic food, such as wheat products, meat, eggs, and milk. I offer in evidence Document 1347-PS, Exhibit USA-285, and I quote from Paragraph 2 on the first page of the translation before the Court. This is an original decree, dated 18 September 1942, from the Ministry of Agriculture. I quote: "Jews will no longer receive the following foods, beginning with the 42d distribution period (19 October 1942): meat, meat products, eggs, wheat products (cake, white bread, wheat rolls, wheat Dour, et cetera), whole milk, fresh skimmed milk, as well as such food distributed not on food ration cards issued uniformly throughout the Reich but on local supply certificates or by special announcement of the nutrition office on extra coupons of the food cards. Jewish children and young people over 10 years of age will receive the bread ration of the normal consumer." The sick, the old, and the pregnant mothers were excluded from the special food concessions allotted to non-Jews. Seizure by the State Police of food shipments to Jews from abroad was authorized, and the Jewish ration cards were distinctly marked with "Jew," in color, across the face of the cards, so that the storekeepers could readily identify and discriminate against Jewish purchasers. The Czechoslovakian Government published in 1943 an official document entitled "Czechoslovakia Fights Back;." I offer this book in evidence, Document 1689-PS, Exhibit USA-286. To summarize the contents of Page 110, it states that the Jewish food purchases were confined to certain areas and to certain days and hours. As might be expected, the period permitted for the purchases was during the time when food stocks were likely to be exhausted.
MAJOR WALSH: By Special Order Number 44 for the Eastern Occupied Territories, dated 4 November 1991, the Jews were limited to rations as low as only one-half of the lowest basic category of other people; and the Ministry of Agriculture was empowered to exclude Jews entirely or partially from obtaining food, thus exposing the Jewish community to death by starvation. I now offer in evidence Document L165.
THE PRESIDENT: Did you read anything from 1689-PS?
MAJOR WALSH: to summarize, Sir, the contents of Page 110.
TO PRESIDENT: I see. Now you are offering L...
MAJOR WALSH: L-165, Your Honor, Exhibit USA-287. I refer the Court to the last half of the first paragraph of the translation. This is a press bullet-in Issued by the Polish Ministry of Formation, dated 15 November 1942. The Polish Ministry concludes that, upon the basis of the nature of the separate rationing and the amount of food available to Jews in the Warsaw and Krakow ghettos, the system was designed to bring about starvation; and from the quotation I read: "In regard to food supplies they are brought under a completely separate system, which is obviously aimed at depriving them of the most elemental necessities of life." I would now like to discuss annihilation within the ghettos. Justice Jackson in his opening address to the Tribunal made reference to Document 1061-PS , "The Warsaw Ghetto Is No More," marked Exhibit USA-275. This finest example of ornate German craftsmanship, leather bound, profusely illustrated, typed on heavy bond paper, is the almost unbelievable recital of a proud accomplishment by Major General of the Police Stroop, who signed the report with a bold hand. General Stroop in this report first pays tribute to the bravery and heroism of the German forces who participated in the ruthless and merciless action against a helpless, defenseless group of Jews, numbering, to be exact, 56,065, including, of course, the infants and the women. In this document he proceeds to relate the day-by-day account of the ultimate accomplishment of his mission-to destroy and to obliterate the Warsaw ghetto. According to this report, the ghetto, which was established in Warsaw in November 1940, was inhabited by about 400,000 Jews; and prior to the action for the destruction of this ghetto, some 316,000 had already been deported.
MAJOR WALSH: The Court will note that this report is approximately 75 pages in length, and the Prosecution believes that the contents are of such striking evidentiary value that no part should be omitted from the permanent records of the Tribunal and that the Tribunal should consider the entire report in judging the guilt of these defendants. The defendants were furnished with several photostatic copies of the entire document at least 20 days ago and have had ample time, I am sure, to scrutinize it in detail. If the Court, in the exercise of its judgment, determines that the entire report may be accepted in tote, the Prosecution believes that the reading of a portion of the summary, together with brief excerpts from the daily teletype reports, will suffice for the oral record. I would like the Court to examine it; and I present it to the Court, together with the duplicate original thereof, and ask that the Court rule that the entire document may be accepted.
THE PRESIDENT: Major Walsh, the Court will take that course, provided that the Prosecution supplies as soon as possible, both to the Soviet and to the French members of the Tribunal, copies in Russian and French of the whole document.
MAJOR WALSH: Yes, Sir; may I consult with . .
THE PRESIDENT: I do not say present immediately, but present as soon as possible.
MAJOR WALSH: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: You are going to read the passages that you think necessary?
MAJOR WALSH: Yes. From Page 6 of the translation before the Court of Document 1061-PS I would like to read the boastful but nonetheless vivid account of some of this ruthless action within the Warsaw ghetto. I quote, second paragraph, Page 6: "The resistance put up by the Jews and bandits could be broken only by the relentless and energetic use of our shocktroops by day and night. On 23 April 1943 the Reichsfuehrer SS issued through the Higher SS and Police Leader East at Krakow his order to complete the combing out of the Warsaw ghetto with the greatest severity and relentless tenacity. I therefore decided to destroy the entire Jewish residential area by setting every block on fire, including the blocks of residential buildings near the armament works. One building after the other was systematically evacuated and subsequently destroyed by fire. The Jews then emerged from their hiding places and dugouts in almost every case. Not infrequently the Jews stayed in the burning buildings until, because of the heat and the fear of being burned alive, they preferred to jump down from the upper floor after having thrown mattresses and other upholstered articles into the street from the burning buildings. With their bones broken they still tried to crawl across the street into blocks of buildings which had not yet been set on fire or were only partially in flames. Often the Jews changed their hiding places during the night by moving into the rooms of burnt-out buildings, taking refuge there until they were found by our patrols. Their stay in the sewers also ceased to be pleasant after the first week. Frequently from the street we could hear loud voices coming through the sewer shafts. Then the men of the Waffen-SS, the Police, or the Wehrmacht Engineers courageously climbed down the shafts to bring out the Jews and not infrequently they then stumbled over Jews already dead or were shot at.
MAJOR WALSH: It was always necessary to use smoke candles to drive out the Jews Thus one day we opened 183 sewer entrance holes and at a fixed time lowered smoke candles into them, with the result that the bandits fled from what they believed to be gas into the center of the former ghetto, where they could then be pulled out of the sewer holes there. A great number of Jews who could not be counted were exterminated by blowing up sewers and dugouts. " The longer the resistance lasted, the tougher the men of the Waffen-SS, Police, and Wehrmacht became. They fulfilled their duty indefatigably in faithful comradeship and stood together as models and examples of soldiers. Their duty hours often lasted from early morning until late at night. At night search patrols, with rags wound around their feet, remained at the heels of the Jews and gave them no respite. Not infrequently they caught and killed Jews who used the night hours for supplementing their stores from abandoned dugouts and for contacting neighboring groups or exchanging news with then. "Considering that the greater part of the men of the Waffen-SS had only been trained for 3 to 4 weeks before being assigned to this action, high credit should be given to the pluck, courage, and devotion to duty which they showed. It must be stated that the Wehrmacht Engineers, too, executed the blowing up of dugouts, sewers, and concrete buildings with indefatigability and great devotion to duty. Officers and men of the Police, a large part of whom had already been at the front, again excelled by their dashing spirit. "Only through the continuous and untiring work of all involved did we succeed in catching a total of 56,065 Jews whose extermination can be proved. To this should be added the number of Jews who lost their lives In explosions or fires but whose number could not be ascertained."
THE PRESIDENT: Major Walsh, in the section that you are just upon now, ought you not to read the opening paragraphs of this document, which set out the amount of the losses of the German troops?
MAJOR WALSH: I will do so, Sir. On Page 1 of the translation, I quote. The title: "The Warsaw Ghetto is no more." "For the Fuehrer and their country the following fell in the battle for the destruction of Jews and bandits in the former Jewish residential area of Warsaw."-Fifteen are thereafter listed. "Furthermore, the Polish Police Sergeant Julian Zielenski, born 13 November 1891, 8th Commissariat, fell on 19 April i943 while fulfilling his duty. They gave their utmost, their life. We shall never forget them. "The following were wounded...." Then follow the names of 60 Waffen-SS personnel, 11 watchmen from training camps (probably Lithuanians), 12 Security Police officers in SS units, 5 men of the Polish Police, and 2 soldiers of the Wehrmacht Engineers. Permit me to read some brief excerpts of the daily teletype reports. Page 13 of the translation, from the teletype message of 22 April 1943, I read: "Our setting the block on fire achieved the result in the course of the night that those Jews whom we had not been able to find despite all our search operations left their hideouts under the roofs, in the cellars; and elsewhere and appeared on the outside of the building, trying to escape the flames anyhow. Masses of them-entire families were already aflame and jumped from the windows or endeavored to let themselves down by means of sheets tied together or the like. Steps had been taken so that these Jews as well as the remaining ones were liquidated at once." And from Page 28 of the translation, the last part of the first paragraph, I read: "When the blocks of buildings mentioned above were destroyed, 120 Jews were caught and numerous Jews were destroyed when they jumped from the attics to the inner courtyards, trying to escape the flames.
MAJOR WALSH: Many more Jews perished in the flames or were destroyed when the dugouts and sewer entrances were blown up.' And on Page 30, second half of the second paragraph, I read: "Not unto the blocks of buildings were well aflame and were about to collapse did a considerable number of Jews emerge, forced to do so by the flames and the smoke. Time and again the Jews tried to escape even through burning buildings. Innumerable Jews whom we saw on the roofs during the conflagration perished in the flames. Others emerged from the upper stories in the last possible moment and were only able to escape death from the flames by jumping down Today we caught a total of 2,283 Jews of whom 204 were shot; and innumerable Jews were destroyed in dugouts and in the flames." And from Page 34, the second paragraph, I read, beginning the second line: "The Jews testify that they emerge at night to get fresh air, since it is unbearable to stay permanently within the dugouts owing to the long duration of the operation. On the average the raiding parties shoot 30 to 50 Jews each night. From these statements it was to be inferred that a considerable number of Jews are still underground in the ghetto. Today we blew up a concrete building which we had not been able to destroy by fire. In this operation we learned that the blowing up of a building is a very lengthy process and takes an enormous amount of explosives. The best and only method for destroying the Jews therefore still remains the setting of fires.'' And from Page 35, the last part of the second paragraph, I read: "Some depositions speak of three to four thousand Jews still remaining in underground holes, sewers, and dugouts. The undersigned is resolved not to terminate the large-scale operation until the last Jew has been destroyed." And from the teletype message of 15 May 1943 on Page 44, we gather that the operation is in its last stage. I read the end of the first paragraph on Page 44: "A special unit once more searched the last block of buildings, which was still intact, in the ghetto and subsequently destroyed it.
MAJOR WALSH: In the evening the chapel, mortuary, and all other buildings in the Jewish cemetery there blown up or destroyed by fire." On 24 May 1943 the final figures have been compiled by Major General Stroop. He reports on Page 45, last paragraph: "Of the total of 56,065 caught, about 7,000 were destroyed in the former Jewish residential area during large-scale operations; 6,929 Jews were destroyed by transporting them to T. II"-which we believe to be Treblinka, Camp Number 2, which will later be referred "the sum total of Jews destroyed is therefore 13,929. Beyond the number of 56,065 an estimated number of 5,000 to 6,000 Jews were destroyed by being blown up or by perishing in the flames." The Court has noted within the report 1061-PS a number of photographs; and with the Court's permission I should like to show a few of these photographs, still pictures, on the screen, unless the Court believes that reference to the original text will be sufficient for the Court's purpose.
THE PRESIDENT: No; if you want to put them on the screen, you may do so. Perhaps it would be convenient to adjourn now and you can put them on the screen afterwards. [A Recess was taken.] Still pictures were projected on the screen in the courtroom.7
MAJOR WALSH: This first picture [pointing to a picture on the screen] is shown on Page 27 of the photographs in Document 1061-PS . It is entitled "The Destruction of a Block of Buildings" The Court will recall those portions of the teletype messages that referred to the setting of fires for the purpose of driving out the Jews. This picture, taken from the record, portrays such a scene. This picture [pointing to a picture on the screen] is from Page 21 of the photographs contained in the exhibit, and the caption is "Smoking out of the Jews and Bandits." Excerpts from the teletype messages read in the record relate to the use of smoke as a means of forcing Jews out of the hiding places. This picture [pointing to a picture on the screen] is from Page 36 of the photographs in the exhibit and it is called "Fighting a Nest of Resistance." It is obviously a picture of an explosive blast being used to destroy one of the buildings, and the Court may recall the message of 7 May 1943 that related to the blowing up of buildings as a lengthy process requiring an enormous amount of explosive. The same message reported that the best method for destroying the Jews was the setting of fires. This picture [pointing to a picture on the screen] is taken from Page 36 of the photographs. The Court's attention is invited to the figure of a man in mid-air who appears in the picture about halfway between the center and the upper right-hand corner. He has jumped from one of the upper floors of the burning building. A close examination of this picture by the Court in the original photograph will disclose other figures, in the upper floor windows, who apparently are about to follow him. The teletype message of 22 April reported that entire families jumped from burning buildings and were liquidated at once. This picture [pointing to a picture on the screen] is from Page 39 of the photographs. It is entitled "The Leader of the Large-scale Action." The Nazi-appointed commander of this action was SS Major General Stroop, who probably is the central figure in this picture.
MAJOR WALSH: I cannot refrain from commenting at this point on the smiting faces of the group shown there, in the midst of the violence and destruction.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you passing from that document now?
MAJOR WALSH: Yes, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: you tell the Tribunal where the document was found?
MAJ0R WALSH: It is a captured document, Sir. I do not have the history, but I shall be very pleased to submit the background and history to the Court at the beginning of the afternoon session.
THE PRESENT: The Tribunal, I think, would like to know where it was found and to whom it was submitted.
MAJOR WALSH: I have that. I believe that is contained in the document. The teletype messages, Sir, that are contained in this exhibit were all addressed to the Higher SS and Police Fuehrer, SS Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Police Kruger or his deputy. It was not always necessary, or perhaps desirable, first to place me Jews within the ghettos to eject the elimination. In the Baltic States a more direct course of action was followed. I refer to Document L-180, now in evidence, which is Exhibit USA-276. This is a report by SS Brigadefuehrer Stahlecker to Himmler, dated 15 October 1941, enabled "Action Group A," found in Himmler's private files. He reported that 135,567 persons, nearly all Jews, were murdered in accordance with basic orders directing the complete annihilation of the Jews. This voluminous document provides me with the following statement by the same SS Brigade Fuehrer, and from the translation at the bottom of Page 6, the second sentence of the last paragraph, I read: "To our surprise it was not easy, at first, to set in motion an extensive pogrom against the Jews. Klimatis, the leader of the partisan unit. mentioned above, who was used for this purpose primarily, succeeded in starting a pogrom on the basis of advice given to him by a small advanced detachment acting in Kovno and in such a way that no German order or German instigation was noticed from the outside. During the first pogrom in the night from 25 to 26 June the Lithuanian partisans did away with more than 1,500 Jews, setting fire to several synagogues or destroying them by other means and burning down a Jewish dwelling district consisting of about 60 houses. During the following nights 2,300 Jews were eliminated in a similar way." From the last part of Paragraph 3, Page 7, I read: "It was possible, though, through similar influences on the Latvian auxiliary to set in motion a pogrom against the Jews also in Riga.