dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
DR. GAWLIK: In my supplementary affidavit, Number SD-27, Hoettl has declared that the SD did not exercise any direct influence on the choice of Nazi leaders, and I also refer to Affidavits Numbers SD-4 to 10, 39, 61, and 63, and to the affidavits compiled in the collective list, Number SD-70. The Prosecution have furthermore alleged that the SD had checked the loyalty and reliability of civil servants. Here I refer to the testimony of the witnesses Hoengen and Roessner, and to Affidavits Numbers SD-3, 7, 8, 9, 61, 63, and Document Number SD-14, as well as to the affidavits compiled in the collective list, Number SD-70. Concerning the aims, purposes, and methods of the indicted Amt III, I should like to refer to statements made in Document SD-70, the handbook of the Supreme Headquarters of the United Nations of April 1945. There it says: "The SD maintained for its purposes a network of newsmen throughout all fields of life in Germany"--some words are missing--"who were recruited from all social strata and professions. The information gained through the newsmen was used in the situation reports.... "These reports are exceptionally frank and contain a complete and uncolored picture of the mood and attitude in Germany ...." The correctness of this is proven by the 649 affidavits submitted in my summary and made by former full-time and honorary workers and Vertrauensmaenner (persons entrusted with special tasks) for the total area of the Reich and for parts of the Reich. The aims, purposes, and-activities of Amt VI are shown by Affidavits SD-61, 62, and 66, also by Document SD-1. In regard to Amt VI I refer particularly to Affidavit SD-66. I shall now turn to Section B: Crimes against Peace (Statement of Evidence V of the English trial brief against the Gestapo and SD). As a crime against peace the SD is accused of having staged so-called border incidents before the outbreak of the war to give Hitler an excuse for starting the war. The Prosecution, however, referred to only one border incident in which the SD is alleged to have participated.
DR. GAWLIK: That is the alleged attack on the Gleiwitz radio station. In this connection the Prosecution made reference to the affidavit of Alfred Naujocks of 20 November 1945. This is Prosecution Document 2751-PS. The deponent of Document 2751-PS, Alfred Naujocks, was heard before the Commission. On that occasion he declared that the execution of the attack on the Gleiwitz radio station was not included in the aims and purposes of Aemter III and VI. The witness further testified that no sections of Aemter III and VI were used for the execution of that border incident in Gleiwitz and that the men who with him attacked the Gleiwitz station did not belong to the SD, Amt III. The witness also stated that by the term "SD men" in his affidavit of 20 November 1945 he did not mean the members of any definite office of the RSHA; but common usage of the term "SD men" referred to RSHA members of all offices which were subordinate to Heydrich. The witness further stated that he was charged with the execution of the border incident at Gleiwitz, not because he belonged to Amt VI and worked there, but that exclusively personal reasons were responsible for that decision. The witness testified that on the basis of the conversation he had had with Heydrich he had gained the impression that Heydrich would have given him that assignment even if he had not been a member of Amt VI and the SS. The order for the execution of this assignment reached the witness Naujocks not through the official channels of the chiefs of Aemter III or VI. The chiefs of Aemter III and VI had no knowledge of this action. The members of the SD, Amt III and Amt VI, had no knowledge that the attack was carried out by Naujocks, a member of Amt VI. Particularly the members of the SD-Leitabschnitt which was in charge of Gleiwitz, and the outpost of the SD, had no knowledge of this activity and could not have had, because Naujocks had been forbidden to get in touch with any members of the SD whatsoever in that territory.
DR. GAWLIK: The statements of this witness have been reaffirmed by the witness Somman and through Affidavit Number SD-11, deposed by Dr. Marx. I also submitted 215 affidavits for the office of the RSHA as well as for all territories of the SD-Leitabschnitte and the SD-Abschnitte, particularly for those situated in the regions of Katowice, Danzig, and Saxony. Those affidavits testify that the members of the SD during the critical time had no knowledge of the faked border incidents or the participation of the SD in them. The affidavit by the witness Dr. Mildner (2479-PS) is refuted by the testimony of the witness Naujocks and Affidavit Number SD-11, Dr. Marx. This subject matter does not provide sufficient grounds to declare the SD to have been criminal, since this would presuppose proof of the fact that the SD as an organization was employed in the aggression, and that its members had cognizance thereof. The Prosecution have also submitted Document Number USSR-509 as proof of the fact that the SD had participated in the preparations for a solution by force of the Czechoslovakian problems. The first letter bearing the Number III 225 is a draft without reference number and date, which was signed only by the official who prepared it. His superiors failed to sign the draft and rejected it. The other letter should carry no weight as far as the organization of the SD is concerned, because no proof is forthcoming to show that such activities were known to all members. The letter indicates that this was clearly not the case. In the course of the session of 2 August 1946 the Prosecution have alleged that this document also contains a reference to the preparation of liquidations. As will be seen from Page 7 of the first letter this is not the case. In order to judge whether the SD can be declared criminal on the grounds of the activities of the Einsatzgruppen, the following questions must be examined: 1. Did the Einsatzgruppen A, B, C, and D, which were assigned in the East to the army groups, belong to the organization of Aemter III, VI, and VII? 2.
DR. GAWLIK: Were parts of these office organizations used in these Einsatzgruppen? 3. Did the Aemter III, VI, or VII give orders to the Einsatzgruppen to commit crimes against the laws of war and against humanity? 4. Did the members of the Domestic Intelligence Service (Amt III), or of the Foreign Intelligence Service (Amt VI), have any knowledge of the activities of the Einsatzgruppen, which are crimes in the sense of the Charter? First I must rectify an error. In this Trial and before the Commission the Einsatzgruppen have repeatedly been designated as Einsatzgruppen of the SD, up to a short time ago. As an example, I refer in particular to the records of Keitel, Dr. Best, Hausser, and Von Manstein. This designation is wrong. The four Einsatzgruppen employed in the East were designated A, B, C, and D. They had under them the Einsatzkommandos, which were designated by the Numbers 1 to 12. Thus the word "SD" is mentioned neither in the designation of the Einsatzgruppen nor of the Einsatzkommandos. Furthermore, there was no reason for that since, according to the evidence submitted by the Prosecution, only 3 percent of their members were part of the SD Aemter III or VI. The members of the SD were in the eighth place, as far As membership was concerned. I refer you to the statistics found in Document L-180 submitted by the Prosecution and repeated in the record of 20 December 1945. The designation of the Einsatzgruppen is also shown by the distribution list of Prosecution Document D-569. This shows the various relationships. The Einsatzkommandos 1-a, 1-b, 2, and 3 were under Einsatzgruppe A; Einsatzkommandos 7-a, 7-b, 8, and 9 --Moscow-- were under Einsatzgruppe B; 4-a, 4-b, 5, and 6 were under Einsatzgruppe C; 10-a, 10-b, 11-a, 11-b, and 12 were under Einsatzgruppe D. The setting up of the Einsatzgruppen was not ordered by Aemter III, VI, or VII, but by Himmler on the basis of an agreement with the High Command of the Army. I refer you to the testimony of Dr. Best, Schellenberg, Ohlendorf, to Document USA-557, and Affidavits Numbers SD-41 and 46.
DR. GAWLIK: The evidence has shown further that the Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos were not under the orders of Aemter III, VI, and VIL I refer again to Document USA-557, Affidavits SD-41, 44, and 46, to the record of 3 January 1946, to Prosecution Document L-180, Pages 2 and 3, to the record of 5 June 1946 and Document 2620-PS. If one considers in particular the constitution of the Einsatzgruppen, which is set forth in the record of 20 December 1945, one will have to admit, as has been deposed by the witness Hoeppner and confirmed by the witness Bendt in Affidavit SD-41, that this concerns an affiliation of a special kind of persons who did not belong to the organizations of Aemter III, VI, or VII. The evidence has further shown that no parts of the organizations of Aemter III, VI, or VII were employed in the Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos, and that the Aemter III, VI, and VII did not issue any orders for -the mass destruction carried out by the Einsatzgruppen. I refer to Affidavit SD-61, Affidavit SD-41, particularly the answers to Questions Numbers 6 and 9, and to Affidavit SD-44, Numbers 4 and 5. The Einsatzgruppen and the Einsatzkommandos are special units which deviated in their composition entirely from the structure of the Security Police and SD in the Reich itself. I refer in this connection to the statements of Ohlendorf and Hoeppner and to Affidavits SD-41 and SD-46. The witness Best testified (Record of 31 July 1946): "They were Security Police units of a special kind." It is of decisive significance for the question whether the organization can be declared criminal that no parts of the SD, Aemter III, VI, or VII, were employed in the Einsatzgruppen, but only individual members were assigned to these Einsatzgruppen as. a result of legal regulations. In this connection Hoettl's affidavit of 10 April 1946 seems especially important to me. I emphasize that this is a Prosecution document.
DR. GAWLIK: Hoettl declared in the affidavit mentioned that the membership of the people in the SD was inactive during their affiliation with the Einsatzgruppen. Insofar as members of Aemter III, VI, and VII were assigned by legal order to the Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos in the East, I refer for their tasks and activities to the testimony of Dr. Ehlich and Von Manstein, and to Affidavit SD-69. The selection of the members of the Security Service for the Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos was not carried out on the basis of their position and duties in the Reich offices. For that point I refer to the testimony of Ohlendorf (Record of 3 January 1946) and Affidavits SD-41 and SD-45. Thus I come to the conclusion: (1) Einsatzgruppen A, B, C, and D did not belong to the Domestic Intelligence Service, Amt III, to the Foreign Intelligence Service, Amt VI, or to Amt VIL (2) No parts of this organization were used for this purpose, but individual members were assigned to the Einsatzgruppen. (3) The legal position of these persons was the same as, for example, that of persons who had been called up for military service. Their affiliation with Aemter III, VI, or VII was inactive. They were no longer subject to instructions from their original offices. I skip the next pages, that is, 64, 65, 66, 67; Pages 68 to 71 deal with Einsatzkommandos in prisoner-of-war camps.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Gawlik, the Tribunal understands that the SS, the Gestapo, and the SD all disclaim responsibility for the Einsatzgruppen. Could you tell the Tribunal who is responsible for the Einsatzgruppen?
DR. GAWLIK: The Einsatzgruppen were subordinated to--the responsibility may be seen from my statement on Page 61. I should like to refer you to the testimony of Dr. Best, Schellenberg, Ohlendorf, and to Document ...
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Gawlik, the Tribunal would like to know who you say was responsible for the Einsatzgruppen. They do not want to be referred to a crowd of documents and a crowd of witnesses. They want to know what your contention is.
DR. GAWLIK: The Einsatzgruppen, in my opinion, were organizations of a special kind which were directly under Himmler, and for the rest, the testimony of the witnesses diverges as to how far they were subordinate to the commanders-in-chief. Some of the witnesses have stated that they were subordinate to the commanders-in-chief, and some disputed this. As far as this question is concerned, I cannot define my attitude.
THE PRESIDENT: Was it possible, according to your contention, for Himmler to control these Einsatzgruppen without any organization, and if it was not, what organization controlled it?
DR. GAWLIK: The Einsatzgruppen had their own head, as may be seen from Prosecution Document L-180, the Stahlecker report. Stahlecker was the Chief of the Einsatzgruppe A, and this man probably sent this report, which was found, directly to Himmler, and from that I may assume that the heads of the Einsatzgruppen were directly under Himmler. That was a subordinate organization along with the RSHA for occupied countries. Your Lordship, may I...
THE PRESIDENT: Can you tell the Tribunal who were the individual men who composed the Einsatzgruppen? Did they consist of SS or SA or SD or the Wehrmacht?
DR. GAWLIK: Your Lordship, the composition may be seen in the record of 20 December 1945. I do not remember them exactly, Your Lordship, but I do know that they included Waffen-SS, Criminal Police, Stapo, SD ...
THE PRESIDENT: You are too fast. Waffen-SS?
DR. GAWLIK: Waffen-SS, Criminal Police, Stapo, SD, and on this page, as far as I can recall, drivers are mentioned, and I believe interpreters, but I cannot say for certain. The various groups are stated exactly on this page, Your Lordship, which is Page 17 ...
THE PRESIDENT: I have down Waffen-SS, Criminal Police ... The last one I have got here is NSKK. What did you give then?
DR. GAWLIK: No, Your Lordship, not NSKK.
THE PRESIDENT: Waffen-SS, Criminal Police ...
DR. GAWLIK: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: State Police?
DR. GAWLIK: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: SD?
DR. GAWLIK: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: NSKK?
DR. GAWLIK: No, drivers.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have crossed out NSKK.
DR. GAWLIK: Your Lordship, it is an error. The NSKK is not involved.
THE PRESIDENT: I have crossed out NSKK. Is there anything else? Any Gestapo?
DR. GAWLIK: Yes, Gestapo, of course. Your Lordship, State Police and Gestapo are identical. Interpreters are enumerated in this document. I believe -- as far as I can remember--these were the main groups, but at the moment I cannot tell you for certain.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
DR. GAWLIK: I beg your pardon, did Your Lordship wish to know the chiefs of the Einsatzgruppen or the members?
THE PRESIDENT: I meant the memberships.
DR. GAWLIK: Yes, that is quite correct. Your Lordship, I wanted to add that altogether there were 1,000 to 1,200 men in these four Einsatzgruppen.
THE PRESIDENT: How many did you say?
DR. GAWLIK: One thousand to approximately 1,200 men, and from the SD there were 3 percent. That may be seen from the document. It is Document L-180. The setup is shown there.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn for a recess. [ A recess was taken. ]
DR. GAWLIK: Your Lordship, I shall have to correct my statement regarding the Einsatzgruppen on one point. I procured Document L-180 during the recess, and the total strength of Einsatzgruppe A was 990 men. It was composed as follows: Waffen-SS, 34 percent; drivers, 17 percent; administration, 1.8 percent; SD 3.5 percent; Criminal Police 4.1 percent; Stapo, 9 percent; Auxiliary Police, 8.8 percent--those, Your Lordship, were apparently indigenous police from the occupied territories--Regular Police, 13.4 percent; female employees, 1.3 percent; interpreters, 5.1 percent; teletypists, 0.3 percent; wireless operators, 0.8 percent. That is Einsatzgruppe A, as far as I know; no documents are available for Einsatzgruppen B, C, and D, but the witnesses have testified that Groups B, C, and D had about the same ratio.
THE PRESIDENT: Then the extent is nearly four times as large as you said?
DR. GAWLIK: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Can you give a date for that constitution of Group A? What date was that, that constitution of those percentages?
DR. GAWLIK: The Einsatzgruppe D was formed before the beginning of the campaign, before June 1941.
THE PRESIDENT: When you get down to 0.3 percent, that must have been at a certain time. It could not have remained 0.3 percent all the time, could it, or is that an establishment?
DR. GAWLIK: Your Lordship, I do not understand. Which 0.3 percent do you mean?
THE PRESIDENT: I meant teletypists, 0.3 percent; wireless, 0.8 percent--did it remain at that exact figure throughout the whole war?
DR. GAWLIK: I assume so, Your Lordship. We do not have records on that.
THE PRESIDENT: The percentages are then matters of what in English would be called establishment?
DR. GAWLIK: They are average figures, Your Lordship. They may have changed slightly during the war, either more or less.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
DR. GAWLIK: I beg to apologize, My Lord, but I did not remember the first figure which I mentioned before the recess. I based my statement on the Einsatzkommandos and that is how I arrived at my figures. Pages 68 to 71 deal with the Einsatzkommandos in prisoner-of-war camps (Statement of Evidence VI-B of the English trial brief against the Gestapo and the SD). Pages 72 to 75 deal with the Bullet Decree (Statement of Evidence VI-C). Pages 76 up to 79 deal with concentration camps (Statement of Evidence VI-D), Pages 80 to 83 deal with deportation (Statement of Evidence VI-E). Pages 84 to 89 deal with the Commando Order (Statement of Evidence VI-F) Pages 90 to 93 deal with the Nacht-und-Nebel Decree (Statement of Evidence VI-G). Pages 94 up to 96 deal with summary proceedings (Statement of Evidence VI-H). Pages 97 and 98 deal with liability of next of kin (Statement of Evidence VI-E). Pages 99 and 100 deal with the shooting of prisoners in the Sipo and SD prisons in Radom (Statement of Evidence VI-J). Pages 101 and 102 deal with the employment of force in confiscations (Statement of Evidence VI-K). Pages 103 and 104 deal with third-degree interrogations (Statement of Evidence VI-L); and I continue on Page 105, Section D, which deals with crimes against humanity (Statement of Evidence VII of the English trial brief against the Gestapo and the SD). The tasks and activities, as indicted here as executive tasks, were not within the competence of Aemter III, VI, and VII (Affidavits SD-41, 42, 45, 46). In Document 3428-PS the head of the SD and the SD itself are constantly referred to, but this, as is apparent from the above-mentioned context, obviously refers to the office of the Security Police and the SD. I refer in particular to the Affidavit Number SD-69 of Breiter. A number of documents, such as Exhibits Numbers USSR-1, USSR-6, and USSR-119, submitted by the Prosecution, mention the SD.
DR. GAWLIK: Here too, however, the evidence can be taken to show that this cannot refer to the Aemter III and VI--Domestic Intelligence Service and Foreign Intelligence Service--or AmtVII of the SD, which are under indictment. In this context I also refer to Document 2992-PS, the statement by Graebe. Graebe declared that during the shooting of Jewish men, women, and children at the airport at Rovno an SS man, wearing SS uniform with an SD badge on his left arm, had been sitting on top of the ditch. This fact is not sufficient to provide proof of the fact that this was really a member of Aemter III, VI or VII, for in the occupied territories members of the Einsatzgruppen and the units under the commander of the Security Police and the SD, in particular the officials of the Gestapo and the Criminal Police, all used to wear the same uniform with an SD badge. This was the uniform of the SS special formation SD, not the uniform of Aemter III and VI. The SS Sturmbannfuehrer Puetz, mentioned in Graebe's report, was not a member of the SD, but a Government Counsellor and an official of the Gestapo. For this I also refer to Affidavit Number SD-50 by Wanninger. The Prosecution have also submitted Document Number 501-PS on the use of gas vans. I must point out that Amt III never issued instructions on the use of gas vans, as testified by the witness Dr. Ehlich. Document 501-PS submitted by the Prosecution shows by its reference Number II that the matter of gas vans was dealt with in Amt II of the RSHA. The SS ObersturmbannFuehrer Rauff mentioned in the document was not a member of Aemter III and VI, but a group chief in Amt II of the RSHA. He was at that time in charge of motor transport. I refer in this connection to the testimony of the witnesses Ohlendorf and Hoeppner (Session of 3 January 1946) and to 60 affidavits from the entire Reich and the occupied territories for the period from 1941 to 1945, according to which the SD had nothing to do with the use of gas vans. As regards the Prosecution Document 1475-PS I have already referred to Affidavit Number SD-69.
DR. GAWLIK: In the Prosecution Document L-180, the Stahlecker report, it is stated in enclosure Number 8 that the SD Section Tilsit had participated in liquidating Communists and Jews. For this I refer to Affidavit Number SD-12 by Ziebs. Ziebs belonged to the SD Main Section Koenigsberg, which received reports from the subsidiary SD Section Tilsit. Ziebs stated that the SD Main Section Koenigsberg never issued any such order and that no information was received there on the events described in the Stahlecker report. He, therefore, considers this statement to be a mistake as to the place or the subject-matter. If members of the SD Section Tilsit should have participated in the execution of Jews and Communists, which Ziebs himself considers quite impossible, such activity would have been outside the scope of the tasks of the SD Section Tilsit and would certainly not have become known. The members of the Domestic Intelligence Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and Amt VII had no knowledge of the activities of the Einsatzgruppen, especially not of shootings. Document 3867-PS, submitted by the Prosecution, shows that the distribution contained no office of the SD (Amt: III, VI, or VII or subsidiary offices). The reference Number IV A 1 indicates that the reports were compiled in an office of Amt IV (Gestapo). The witness Hoeppner stated before the Tribunal that the Einsatzgruppen reports were not forwarded to subsidiary offices in the Reich and that members of SD offices in the Reich could not have had cognizance of the contents of the reports, including shootings of Jews and Communists. These reports went to only a few members of Amt III who were concerned with intelligence from the Eastern territories. I refer to the Affidavits Numbers SD-44, 47, 41, 48, 49, and 61; also to Document 2752-PS and the testimony of the witnesses Ehlich and Hoeppner.