Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-02/tgmwc-02-20.06
Last-Modified: 1999/09/18


I first offer in evidence Document EC 344-16, which is
Exhibit USA 297. This document is a report of an interview
with defendant Frank on 3rd October, 1939, and was found
among the files of the O.K.W., which were assembled in bulk
at the Fechenheim Document Centre. This particular document
was included in a large report prepared in the O.K.W. by one
Captain Varain at the direction of General Thomas, then
Chief of the Military

                                                  [Page 423]

Economic Staff of the O.K.W. I quote from the first 19 lines
of Page 3 of the English text. The German text appears on
Page 29, Lines 25-36 and Page 30, Lines 1-6. The report
states, and I quote:-

   "In the first interview which the chief of the Central
   Division and the liaison officer between the Armament
   Department Upper East and the Chief Administrative
   Officer (subsequently called Governor General) had with
   Minister Frank on 3rd October, 1939, in Posen, Frank
   explained the directive and the economic and political
   responsibilities which had been conferred upon him by
   the Fuehrer and according to which he intended to
   administer Poland. According to these directives, Poland
   can only be administered by utilising the country
   through means of ruthless exploitation; deportation of
   all supplies, raw materials, machines, factory
   installations, etc., which are important for the German
   war economy; availability of all workers for work within
   Germany; reduction of the entire Polish economy to the
   absolute minimum necessary for the bare existence of the
   population; and the closing of all educational
   institutions, especially technical schools and colleges
   in order to prevent the growth of the new Polish
   intelligentsia. Poland, defendant Frank stated (and this
   is an exact quotation), 'Poland shall be treated as a
   colony; the Poles shall be the slaves of the Greater
   German World Empire.'"

I should like also to quote from the last six lines of the
English text. In the German text it is Lines 18 to 23 of
Page 30.

Defendant Frank further stated:

   "By destroying Polish industry, its subsequent
   reconstruction after the war would become more
   difficult, if not impossible, so that Poland would be
   reduced to its proper position as an agrarian country
   which would have to depend upon Germany for the
   importation of industrial products."

As further proof of the defendants' plan to plunder and
despoil the Government General of Poland, I next offer in
evidence Document EC-410, which is Exhibit USA 298. In
addition to the proof of the defendants' plans to plunder
and despoil the Government General, this document
demonstrates the difference in treatment which the
conspirators planned for the incorporated area of Poland and
the Government General. It is a copy of a directive issued
and signed by defendant Goering on 19th October, 1939, and
was likewise found among the captured O.K.W. files. I quote
from Lines 1 to 19 on Page 1 of the English text, Page 1514,
Paragraph 4, Line 11. In the German text it is all of Page 1
and the first line of Page 2. Defendant Goering's directive
states, and I quote:-

   "In the meeting of 13th October, I have given detailed
   instructions for the economical administration of the
   occupied territories. I will repeat them here in short:
   1. The task for the economic treatment of the various
   administrative regions is different, depending on
   whether a country which will be incorporated politically
   into the German Reich is involved, or whether we are to
   deal with the Government General, which, in all
   probability, will not be made a part of Germany.
   
   In the first-mentioned territories the reconstruction
   and expansion of the economy, the safeguarding of all
   their production facilities and supplies must be aimed
   at, as well as a complete incorporation into the Greater
   German economic system at the earliest possible time. On
   the
   
                                                  [Page 424]
   
   other hand, there must be removed from the territories
   of the Government General all raw materials, scrap
   materials, machines, etc., which are of use for the
   German war economy. Enterprises which are not absolutely
   necessary for the mere maintenance of the naked
   existence of the population must be transferred to
   Germany, unless such transfer would require an
   unreasonably long period of time, and would make it more
   practical to exploit these enterprises by giving them
   German orders to be executed at their present location."

Once the Government General had been stripped of its
industrial potential, the defendants planned to leave the
country desolate. Not even the war damage was to be
repaired. This is the clear import of the documents
previously introduced, and is likewise made clear by
Document EC-411, which is Exhibit USA 299. I offer this
document in evidence. This is a copy of an order dated 20th
November, 1939, by defendant Hess, in his capacity as Deputy
Fuehrer. This document was also found in the captured O.K.W.
files. I quote the English and German texts in their
entirety. Defendant Hess stated, and I quote:-

   "I hear from Party members who came from the Government
   General that various agencies, as, for instance, the
   Military Economic Staff, the Reich Ministry for Labour,
   etc., intend to reconstruct certain industrial
   enterprises in Warsaw. However, in accordance with a
   decision by Minister Dr. Frank, as approved by the
   Fuehrer, Warsaw shall not be rebuilt nor is it the
   intention of the Fuehrer to rebuild or reconstruct any
   industry in the Government General."

Turning from the defendants' programme of economic
spoliation in the Government General to their programme of
deportation and resettlement, I next offer in evidence
Document 661-PS, which is Exhibit USA 300. This is a secret
report prepared by the Academy of German Law in January,
1940, upon plans for the mass migration of Poles and Jews
from incorporated areas of Poland to the Government General,
and for the forcible deportation of able-bodied Poles to
Germany. This document was obtained from the Ministerial
Collecting Centre at Kassel, Germany. The date does not
appear in the English translation, but it is clearly set
forth on the cover page of the original document as January,
1940. Before quoting from this document, I ask first, that
the Tribunal take judicial notice of the decree of 11th
July, 1934, embodied in the Reichsgesetzblatt, Part 1, Page
605, which provided that the Academy of German Law would be
a public corporation of the Reich under the supervision of
the Reich Ministers of Justice and the Interior, and that
their task would be:-

   "To promote the reconstruction of German legal life and
   to realise, in constant close collaboration with the
   competent legislative organisations, the National
   Socialist programme in the entire sphere of law."

Secondly, before quoting from the afore-mentioned report of
the Academy of Law, I should like to offer in evidence
Document 2749-PS, which is Exhibit USA 301. This is the
title page of the publication of the Academy of German Law
for 1940. It is offered for the purpose of showing that
defendant Frank was the president of the Academy of German
Law during the period that the above-mentioned secret report
of the Academy was made. The document specifically states,
and I quote:-

   "Reich Minister Dr. Hans Frank, President of the Academy
   for German Law: 7th year 1940."

                                                  [Page 425]

Now, if I may ask your Honours to turn to Document 661-PS, I
should first like to quote Lines 6 to 24 of Page 1 of the
English text. In the German text, these extracts appear at
Page 6, Lines 6 to 10; and Line 22, Page 6 to Line 4, Page
7. I quote:-

   "For the carrying out of costly and long term measures
   for the increase of agricultural production the
   Government General can, at most, absorb 1 to 1.5 million
   resettlers, as it is already over-populated. By further
   absorption of 1.6 million resettlers the 1925 Reich
   census figure of 133 inhabitants per square kilometre
   would be reached, which, because of already existing
   rural over-population and lack of industry, would
   practically result in a double over-population.
   
   This figure of 1.6 million will barely suffice to
   transfer from the Reich:
   
   The Jews from the liberated East (over 600,000), groups
   of the remaining Jews, preferably the younger age groups
   from Germany proper, Austria, Sudetengau and the
   Protectorate (altogether over 1 million)."

Continuing the quotation, the report goes on with respect to
transfers from the Reich:

   "The Polish intelligentsia, who have been politically
   active in the past, and potential political leaders; the
   leading economic personalities, comprising owners of
   large estates, industrialists and business men, etc.;
   the peasant population, so far as it has to be removed
   in order to carry out, by strips of German settlements,
   the encirclement of Polish territories in the East."

Next I quote the last paragraph on Page 1 of the English
text. The German text is at Page 8, Lines 3-10:-

   "In order to relieve the living space of the Poles in
   the Government General as well as in the liberated East,
   one should temporarily remove cheap labour by the
   hundreds of thousands, employ them for a few years in
   the Old Reich, and thereby hamper their native
   biological propagation. (Their assimilation into the Old
   Reich must be prevented.)"

Finally, I quote from the last paragraph of Page 2 of the
English text. In the German text it is the last five lines
of Page 40:-

   "Strictest care is to be taken that secret circulars,
   memoranda and official correspondence which contain
   instructions detrimental to the Poles are kept steadily
   under lock and key so that they will not some day fill
   the White Books printed in Paris or the U.S.A."

Your Honours will recall, from your own experiences, the
vicious propaganda campaigns conducted by Nazi Germany to
discredit the Polish books when they made their appearance
in countries friendly to Poland. The last paragraph from
this document which I have just read gives the lie to that
whole Nazi propaganda campaign.

The plans for the deportation of thousands of innocent
people, which are set forth in the document from which I
have just quoted, were not mere theories spun by lawyers.
They represented, as the next three documents to be offered
in evidence will show, a programme which was, in fact,
ruthlessly executed.

I next offer in evidence Document 2233-PS-G, the Frank
Diaries, 1939, from 25th October to 15th December, which is
Exhibit USA 302. This document was obtained from the 7th
Army Documentation Centre at

                                                  [Page 426]


Heidelberg. I quote from the last paragraph of Page 1,
carrying over to the first two lines of Page 2 of the
English text. In the German text, the statements appear at
Page 19, Lines 19 to 28. Defendant Frank stated, and I
quote:-

   "The Reichsfuehrer S.S." - meaning Himmler - "wishes
   that all Jews be evacuated from the newly gained Reich
   territories. Up to February approximately 1,000,000
   people are to be brought in this way into the Government
   General. The families of good racial extraction present
   in the occupied Polish territory (approximately
   4,000,000 people) should be transferred into the Reich
   and individually housed, thereby being uprooted as a
   people."

I next offer in evidence Document EC-305, which is Exhibit
USA 303. This exhibit is the top secret minutes of a meeting
held on 12th February, 1940, under the chairmanship of the
defendant Goering on "Questions Concerning the East." The
document was found in the captured O.K.W. files. Himmler and
defendant Frank, likewise, were present at this meeting.

I first quote Lines 15 to 17 of Page 1 of the English text.
These extracts are found in the front page, Lines 1 to 8 of
the German text. The minutes state, and I quote:-

   "By way of introduction the General Field Marshal" -
   meaning defendant Goering - " explained that the
   strengthening of the war potential of the Reich must be
   the chief aim of all measures to be taken in the East."

I next quote the first two lines of the last paragraph on
Page 1 of the English text. The German text appears at Page
2, Lines 2 to 4.

   "Agriculture:
   
   The task is to obtain the greatest possible agricultural
   production from the new Eastern Gaus without regard to
   questions of ownership."

I then quote from the first sentence of the second paragraph
of Page 2 of the English text. This is at Page 3, Lines 22-
24 of the German text.

   "Special questions concerning the Government General:
   
   The Government General will have to receive the Jews who
   are ordered to emigrate from Germany and the New Eastern
   Gaus."

Finally, I quote paragraph numbered 2 under Roman numeral II
of Page 2 of the English text. These statements appear in
the German text at Page 4, Lines 3-19.

   "The following reported on the situation in the Eastern
   territories: 2. Reichsstatthalter Gauleiter Forster, who
   said, 'The population of the Danzig/West Prussia Gau
   (newly acquired territories) is 1.5 million, of whom
   240,000 are Germans, 850,000 well-established Poles and
   300,000 immigrant Poles, Jews and asocials (1,800 Jews).
   87,000 persons have been evacuated, 40,000 of these from
   Gotenhafen. From there also the numerous shirkers, who
   are now looked after by welfare, will have to be
   deported to the Government General. Therefore an
   evacuation of 20,000 additional persons can be counted
   on for the current year.'"

Comparable reports were made by other Gauleiters at the
meeting. These figures, it may be noted, were only as of
February, 1940. The forcible deportations which are reported
in the exhibits from which I have just read, did not involve
merely ordering the unfortunate victims to leave their homes
and take up new residences elsewhere. These deportations
were accomplished

                                                  [Page 427]

according to plan, in an utterly brutal and inhuman manner.
Document 1918-PS, which is Exhibit USA 304, affords striking
proof of this fact, and I offer it in evidence. This is a
speech delivered by Himmler to officers of the S.S. on a day
commemorating the presentation of the Nazi flag. It is
contained in a compilation of speeches delivered by Himmler,
which was captured by the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps.
The exact date of the speech does not appear in the exhibit,
but its contents plainly show that it was delivered some
time after Poland had been overrun. I quote from the second
to the eighth lines of Page 1 of the English text. In the
German text, this quotation appears on Page 52, Lines 2 to
10. In this speech Himmler said, and I quote:-

   "Very frequently a member of the Waffen S.S. thinks
   about the deportation of the people living here. These
   thoughts came to me today when watching the very
   difficult work out there performed by the Security
   Police, supported by your men, who help them a great
   deal. Exactly the same thing happened in Poland in
   weather 40 degrees below zero, where we had to haul away
   thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands;
   where we had to have the toughness - you should hear
   this but also forget it again - to shoot thousands of
   leading Poles."

I repeat the latter part of the statement:

   "Where we had to have the toughness - you should. hear
   this but also forget it again - to shoot thousands of
   leading Poles."

Those Poles from the incorporated area who managed to
survive the journey to the Government General could look
forward, at best, to extreme hardship, and exposure to every
form of degradation and brutality. Your Honours will recall
defendant Frank's statement contained in Document EC-344-16,
now Exhibit USA 297, which was introduced a short while ago,
that the Polish economy would be reduced to the absolute
minimum necessary for the bare existence of the population.

Your Honours will also recall defendant Goering's directive
in Document EC-410, now Exhibit USA 298, also introduced a
few moments ago, that all industrial enterprises in the
Government General not absolutely necessary for the
maintenance of the naked existence of the Polish population
must be removed to Germany. A bare and naked existence, by
the precepts of the conspirators, meant virtual starvation.

For the Jews who were forcibly deported to the Government
General there was, of course, absolutely no hope. They were,
in effect, deported to their graves. The defendant Frank, by
his own admissions, had dedicated himself to their complete
annihilation. I refer your Honours to the Frank Diaries,
Conference Volume, 1941, October to December, which is
Document 2233-PS-D, and which was introduced by Major Walsh
as Exhibit USA 281. The particular statement to which I want
to call your attention particularly is on Page 4, Document
2233-PS. I believe it appears at Page 77, Lines 9 and 10 of
the German text. I quote the following from defendant
Frank's statement:-

   "We must annihilate the Jews, wherever we find them, and
   wherever it is possible."

I turn next to that aspect of the conspirators' programme
which involved the forcible Germanisation of persons in the
incorporated area who were deemed to possess German blood. I
refer now again to the incorporated area, to those persons
who were deemed to possess German blood. Such

                                                  [Page 428]

persons, the evidence will show, were given the choice of
the concentration camp or submission to Germanisation.
Himmler was the chief executioner of this programme, and
initially I should like to introduce a few documents which
disclose the powers bestowed upon him, and his conception of
his task.

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