Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-21/tgmwc-21-206.04
Last-Modified: 2000/12/04

DR. MERKEL CONTINUES:

From number 30 I shall read the following, on the first page
under the heading "Organization and Composition of the
Gestapo in Bielefeld," second sentence:

  "When this Gestapo office was founded, in 1934, about
  eight criminal investigation officials and two police
  administration officials of the Bielefeld State Police,
  and about five criminal investigation officials from
  branch offices were transferred to the Bielefeld Gestapo.
  The transfer was made without previously obtaining the
  consent of the officials."

Then, from Page 3 of the same affidavit, I beg to be allowed
to quote one example of the composition of a fairly large
Gestapo office.

                                                  [Page 269]

  "Organization and composition of the Gestapo in Bruenn.
  In the spring of 1944 the personnel comprised about 800
  persons, distributed approximately as follows:
  administrative officials, about 35; executive officials,
  about 280; drivers, employees, about 110; frontier police
  officials, about 65; criminal investigation employees,
  for instance interpreters, about 90; prison supervision
  personnel, about 80; female office personnel, about 90;
  other auxiliaries, about 50."

And then the second paragraph after that:

  "When the Gestapo office in Bruenn was created, about 400
  officials were transferred from offices in the Reich
  proper, without their consent having been secured, to
  Bruenn or to the branch offices connected with Bruenn.
  More than half of the personnel consisted of emergency
  service conscripts or was doing compulsory service."

From Affidavit 31, I shall read on Page 2, at the beginning:

  "At the end of 1944 the Gestapo consisted of
  approximately the following: Administrative officials,
  3,000; executive officials, 15,500; employees and
  workmen, including 9,000 called up for emergency service,
  13,500. Grand total, 32,000. These members of the Gestapo
  may be considered to be the permanent ones in so far as
  they made up the normal staff. In addition to these
  persons, there were the following groups: Detached from
  the Waffen SS, 3,500; taken over from the Secret Field
  Police, 5,500; taken over from the military counter-
  intelligence of the OKW, 5,000; personnel of the former
  military mail censorship, 7,500; members of the customs-
  frontier guard, 45,000."

Then I come to Affidavit 34, where I shall read from the
first page, under the heading "Professional career," the
last quotation:

  "1st April, 1933, transfer, that is, order to join the
  Gestapo Department of Berlin. I received at that time a
  letter reading as follows:
  
  'By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Reich
  Minister of the Interior, you are hereby transferred as
  of  to the Gestapo office.'

  I had nothing to say in the matter of this transfer. The
  attempt of my superior in the Police Presidency to save
  me from this transfer failed."

I now beg to be permitted, in connection with the
relationship of the Gestapo to the Frontier Police, to read
the following from Affidavit 22; this is on Page 2 of the
German original:

  "The members of the Frontier Police were taken over from
  the Frontier Police, which already existed in Bavaria
  before 1933, into the Frontier Police of the Gestapo.
  Later on, after the annexation of Austria, the Austrian
  Frontier Police were added as well. The incorporation of
  the Frontier Police officials in the Gestapo was not
  voluntary either in Bavaria or in Austria. On the
  contrary, the officials were transferred as a group when
  Control of the Gestapo was transferred to the Reich or
  when the annexation of Austria took place."

I omit the following sentence.

  "The officials could not object against their transfer to
  the Gestapo on grounds of the, instructions concerning
  the rights of officials. They had to agree to this
  transfer."

Then the second paragraph farther on:

  "The tasks of the Frontier Police consisted mainly in the
  supervision of the traffic of persons across the
  frontier, the carrying out of police instructions with
  regard to passports, and in the supervision of the
  traffic of goods in connection with the customs
  authorities. Political tasks, like those of the Gestapo
  in a stricter sense, were not the business of the
  Frontier Police."

I omit the next sentence and go on to quote:

"I know from my own experience that the tasks of the
Frontier Police and also its activity did not change after
1933."

                                                  [Page 270]

Then the last paragraph:

  "I must also draw attention to the fact that the same
  tasks as those of the Frontier Police were performed at
  many small frontier passages by members of the Reich
  finance administration and the customs administration. In
  this the customs officials were bound by exactly the same
  instructions as members of the Frontier Police."

Numbers 23, 24, 35 and 39 deal with the question of secrecy.

  "No department within the State Police knew anything
  about orders issued by any other department. Even private
  conversation was forbidden. Considering the strict
  secrecy, only the few persons of the Reich Security Main
  Office who were immediately concerned therewith knew of
  the individual measures."

From 35 I read the following; and this is on Page 8 of the
original, the second paragraph:

  "The centre of gravity of the factual discussions lay in
  the personal conferences between the department chief and
  group chief or their deputies on the one hand, and, as
  until now, between the department chief and his
  department heads on the other."

Then the beginning of the following paragraph:

  "In view of this form of personal collaboration it
  follows that only the persons actually and directly
  taking part in a matter were informed about it, the more
  so as, due to the directives which had been issued, the
  principles of secrecy were strictly observed in
  Department IV."

Then the beginning of the next paragraph:

  "Still a further fact must be given decisive
  consideration in this connection. In the course of the
  war up to September, 1944 - but particularly in the
  course of the air raids - Department IV in Berlin was
  decentralised to an increasing degree and spread to
  various quarters of the city."

Then also on Page 12 of the affidavit, the second paragraph
in the German text:

  "In view of the practice of absolute secrecy and
  isolation of information prevailing in all fields, it
  should be clear of itself that a problem which had as
  little to do with general tasks and activities as the
  physical extermination of Jews was, if that is possible,
  kept even more strictly secret. All plans and measures in
  connection therewith must of necessity have been
  discussed only in the closest circle of persons directly
  involved, for all other members of Department IV never
  received knowledge of it."

And then the beginning of the next paragraph:

  "The same must have been the case with regard to
  knowledge about the reports concerning mass shootings in
  the East, as quoted by the prosecution. It is not known
  in detail who could have had knowledge of such reports
  besides the Reichsfuehrer SS and some individual
  department chiefs. If this knowledge should, at the most,
  have extended even to the immediately competent group
  chiefs and specialists, it is still far from being the
  case, as asserted by the prosecution, that the bulk of
  the personnel in Department IV, or even in the Reich
  Security Main Office or in the offices throughout the
  Reich, were informed."

From Affidavit 39 I read the following from Page 3 of the
original:

  "Upon my assuming office in the Reich Security Main
  Office in August, 1941, Muller declared to me that in his
  sphere of activity he placed great value upon observing
  the stipulations for secrecy and that he would proceed
  without pity, with the severest measures, against
  violations thereof."

And then the last sentence of the same paragraph -

THE PRESIDENT: We have heard about this secrecy over and
over again, not only in your affidavits but throughout the
trial. Surely it is not necessary to read the paragraphs of
these affidavits about secrecy.

                                                  [Page 271]

We quite understand that everybody alleges that.

DR. MERKEL: Gestapo Affidavit 25 contains an opinion about
Exhibit USA 219. It deals with the transfer of 35,000
prisoners capable of work into armament plants attached to
concentration camps.

The affidavit originates from a sub-department chief
(Stellenleiter) of the Gestapo and I shall quote from the
third sentence of the third paragraph:

  "In another case, the order by the Chief of the Security
  Police and the SD of 17th December, 1942, according to
  which at least 35,000 persons capable of working were to
  be transported to concentration camps to work in the
  armament plants there, was not carried out by many
  Gestapo offices. These persons were to be recruited from
  the prisoners of the labour training camps of the Gestapo
  offices. This was incompatible with the customs followed
  until then, and by many office chiefs known to me was
  interpreted as an arbitrary measure. At conferences in
  the Reich Security Main Office I learnt that the office
  was unable to fulfil the request of the Reichsfuehrer SS
  to provide prisoners, because the Gestapo leaders did not
  provide prisoners from their labour training camps,
  avoiding doing so by means of pretexts."

The summary of Affidavit 36 states that in the spring of
1944 the bulk of the members of the department of foreign
intelligence (Amt Ausland Abwehr) in the OKW were forcibly
transferred into the Security Police.

Affidavit 40 states that the order for the evacuation of
Jews from Hessen in 1942 came directly from the Chief of the
Security Police and not from Department IV of the Reich
Security Main Office. Commitment for work in the East was
given as the reason for the evacuation.

Affidavits 42, and to some extent 91, deal with the decree
that the crucifixes should be removed from schools. From
Affidavit 42 I shall read the second sentence on the first
page:

  "Approximately in 1942, as I remember, Gauleiter Adolf
  Wagner, in his capacity of Bavarian Minister of Culture,
  ordered that the crucifixes were to be removed from all
  Bavarian schools."

I omit the following sentence:

  "Enforcement (of this ruling) met with the greatest
  difficulties due to the attitude of the population, so
  that the departments of the Party which were dealing with
  the carrying out of that order called upon the district
  officials (Landrate) and the district police offices for
  assistance. Since the affair had a political character,
  the district officials approached the State Police
  department in Nuremberg with the request for advice or
  assistance. As an expert for Church matters, I stated to
  the first district official approaching me that the
  Gestapo in Nuremberg would not help with this decree
  unless they were forced to it directly and that he would
  not receive any assistance from the State Police for the
  carrying out of the order. Even in the case of further
  instructions to the political officials, the State Police
  would not take any action."

I omit the following sentence.

  "I then reported the matter to the police chief, who
  entirely and without reserve shared my point of view. In
  agreement with him, I then informed the remaining
  district officials concerned, by telephone, to the effect
  that they should act accordingly."

Affidavit 43 says that, upon objections raised by the
competent commander of the Security Police, the intention of
the district official to turn the Protestant church in Welum
into a cinema was thwarted.

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Merkel, you heard what I said to Dr.
Servatius, did you not?

DR. MERKEL: Yes, Mr. President.

                                                  [Page 272]

THE PRESIDENT: Is not the state of affairs exactly the same
in your case, that all these affidavits have been summarised
in the transcript before the Commission, which we have got
before us in writing, and therefore what you are doing is
simply cumulative?

DR. MERKEL: I had merely thought that in order to support
these summaries in the record, short extracts from these
affidavits -

THE PRESIDENT: It is no use telling me what you merely
thought. You heard what I said to Dr. Servatius, that the
Tribunal did not want to hear the same thing over again
which appears in the transcript of the proceedings before
the Commissioners. It was all gone into perfectly clearly
with Dr. Servatius, and it was explained to him, in your
hearing, that we cannot carry all these things in our minds
and that it is useless to go over them twice unless there is
some matter of very great importance. which you want to draw
our attention to before you make your final speech; and I
said that before and I do not want to have to say it again.

DR. MERKEL: In that case, if I may, I shall refer to the
summaries of the transcripts of the Commission, that is to
the following numbers up to 91, and then I shall assume that
the Tribunal will take cognizance of the contents of these
summaries. I then have left only a collective affidavit. If
the Tribunal wishes me to do so, I can read the summary
contained in that affidavit; as far as I know, that has not
been translated. There are six pages of this summary of
1,276 individual affidavits which do not appear in the
Commission report.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, go on.

DR. MERKEL: Regarding the question of membership being
compulsory, 665 affidavits are available. They state that
when the Gestapo was created, the requirements for personnel
were for the most part met from the existing Political
Police. Regarding forced membership of persons doing
compulsory service, there are 127 affidavits which deal with
the same subject.

Seven hundred and eighty-five affidavits state that they had
no knowledge of the crimes of which the Gestapo is being
accused.

Thirty-nine affidavits treat with the difference in
organization between the Gestapo in the Reich and the
Security Police in occupied territories.

One hundred and ninety-five affidavits state that the
writers had no knowledge of inhuman treatment and atrocities
in the concentration camps. A few officials who had visited
concentration camps on conducted tours could not notice any
irregularities there. Also released detainees did not speak
about concentration camps in a critical manner.

One hundred and thirty-three affidavits state that no
participation or supervision of the excesses of 9th and 10th
November had taken place.

Sixty-seven affidavits state that the looting of private or
State property was expressly forbidden to members of the
Gestapo.

One hundred and thirty-five affidavits state that a large
number of Gestapo members knew nothing about the existence
of the Special Purpose Groups or of atrocities committed by
them.

Two hundred and eighteen affidavits state that the "Kugel"
(Bullet) decree was unknown to the majority of the Gestapo
officials and that recaptured prisoners of war were turned
over to Wehrmacht offices.

One hundred and sixty-eight affidavits state that enemy
parachutists were turned over to the Air Force by the of
evidence by means of documents and affidavits.

                                                  [Page 273]

LT.-COMMANDER HARRIS: May it please the Tribunal, I have
just two short comments to make concerning documents which
were presented here as to which I think he was in error, and
I respectfully request the Tribunal to turn to his Gestapo
Exhibit No. 33.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

LT.-COMMANDER HARRIS: Dr. Merkel has cited this document as
evidence that the executions in concentration camps were
ordered by the WVHA, but I would respectfully invite the
attention of the Tribunal to the sentence in the centre on
the first page and I quote: "For this measure, permission of
the Chief of the Security Police must be obtained."

THE PRESIDENT: Commander Harris, the Tribunal thinks that
this is a matter which can be dealt with in argument and not
at this stage.

LT.-COMMANDER HARRIS: Very well.

THE PRESIDENT: Now, the Tribunal will hear the case of the
SD. Is counsel for the SD not present?

DR. STAHMER: He is being fetched and will be here any
moment.

THE PRESIDENT: Marshal, have you made any effort to get - to
obtain the presence of this counsel? Have you communicated
with him?

THE MARSHAL: We got in touch with his office, and we are
looking for the defence counsel now.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn now until tomorrow
morning at ten o'clock.

(The Tribunal adjourned until 20th August, 1946, at 1000 hours.)

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