Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-07/tgmwc-07-63.02
Last-Modified: 1999/11/15

PLUNDER OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROPERTY IN POLAND

I will now pass to the reading of the fourth section of the
official report of the Polish Government dealing with crimes
committed by the Hitlerites in occupied Poland. This report
has already been presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit USSR
93 and, according to Article 21 of the Charter, constitutes
irrefutable evidence. I quote an excerpt from this report
which the Tribunal will find on Page 14 of the document
book.

   "Expropriation and Plunder of Public and Private
   Property
   
   (a) On 27th September, 1939, the German military
   authorities issued a decree concerning the sequestration
   and confiscation of Polish property in the Western
   Provinces. 'The property of the Polish State, Polish
   public institutions, municipalities and unions,
   individuals and corporations can be sequestrated and
   confiscated,' stated paragraph 1 of the said decree.
   
   (b) The right of the military authorities to dispose of
   Polish property in the incorporated provinces passed to
   a special Trustee Board created by Goering on 1st
   November 1939, with headquarters in Berlin and branch
   offices in Poland. It was entrusted with the
   administration of confiscated property of the Polish
   State, as well as with the economic policy in Poland in
   accordance with the plan devised by the Reich
   Government.
   
   (c) By a decree of 15th January, 1940, the entire
   property of the Polish State was placed under
   'protection', which practically meant confiscation of
   all State property in the incorporated territories. A
   special decree of 12th February, 1940, dealt with
   agriculture and forestry, in the same way.
   
   (d) The confiscation of private property in the Western
   provinces was initiated by a decree of 31st January,
   1940. Special permission was required for acquisition of
   property and transfer of ownership rights in all
   enterprises in the incorporated territory. By another
   decree, of 12th June, 1940, Goering authorised the
   'Haupttreuhandstelle Ost' to seize and administer not
   only State property, but also the property of citizens
   of the 'former Polish State'.
   
   (e) The process of confiscation, however, went further.
   The property of Polish citizens became liable to seizure
   and confiscation unless the owner acquired German
   citizenship in accordance with Hitler's decree of 8th
   October,1939."

Other decrees dealt with the repayment of debts, because the
sequestrators were authorised to repay debts to privileged
creditors only. These were members of the "Deutsche
Volksliste" so far as war debts were concerned, as well as
citizens of the Reich or the free city of Danzig, as regards
debts incurred after 1st September, 1939.

I omit two pages of this report enumerating the companies
which were specially created for carrying out this plunder
and also for plundering the Polish-Jewish population, which
as is already known to the Tribunal, was later exterminated.
I pass on to the end of the Polish Government report. The
Tribunal will find this excerpt on Page 17 of the document
book.

                                                  [Page 142]

Mere quotations from these and other decrees may create a
wrong impression as to the means used by the defendants in
the case of the Jewish property in Poland. But it should be
pointed out that steps concerning Jewish property were only
preliminaries to infinitely greater crimes in the future. At
the end of this section of the report is justly stated:-

   "Aside from the crimes which have been proved and
   described here, there are thousands of others which fade
   into insignificance beside the numberless crimes of mass
   murder, mass plunder and mass destruction."

It is impossible to enumerate all the crimes committed in
Poland under the direct leadership of the defendant Frank,
who was the head of all the administration in the so-called
Government General.

Frank's diaries, which were found and became part of the
evidence in this case, give a clear and concrete idea of the
crimes committed by the Hitlerites in Poland under his
direction. In these diaries, your Honours, are entries which
have a direct bearing on the subject of my presentation.

Therefore, I would like, with your permission, to conclude
my presentation of evidence concerning the plunder of Poland
with excerpts from one of these diaries, which was submitted
to the Tribunal previously as Exhibit USSR 223.

I quote from the volume entitled "Conference of Departmental
heads" for 1939-1940, Pages 11 and 12. In your document
book, gentlemen, this excerpt is on page 21:-

   "My relationship with the Poles resembles that between
   an ant and a plant louse. When I treat the Poles
   helpfully, tickle them in a friendly manner, so to
   speak, I do it in the expectation that I shall profit by
   their labour output. This is not a political, but a
   purely tactical and technical problem. In cases where,
   in spite of all measures, the output does not increase,
   or where I have the slightest reason to step in, I would
   not hesitate to take even the most Draconian action."

From the volume entitled "Diary, 1942" I quote:-

   "We must remember that notes issued by the Bank of
   Poland to the value of 540,000,000 zlotys were taken
   over in occupied Eastern territory by the Governor
   General without any compensation being made by the
   Reich. This represents a contribution of more than half
   a billion exacted from the Government General by
   Germany, in addition to other payments."

From the same volume, Page 1277 - this concerns the
Governor's Conference which took place on 7th December,
1942, in Cracow - measures for increasing production for the
years 1942-43 were discussed.

A certain Dr. Fischer stated:

   "If the new food scheme is carried out it would mean
   that in Warsaw and its suburbs alone 500,000 people
   would be deprived of food."

From the same volume on Page 1331 Frank speaks:

   "I shall attempt to squeeze out from the reserves of
   this province everything that it is still possible to
   squeeze out. When you recall that I was able to send to
   Germany 600,000 tons of grain, and that an additional
   180,000 tons were reserved for local troops, as well as
   many thousands of tons of seed, fats, vegetables,
   besides the export to Germany Of 300 million eggs, etc.,
   you will understand the importance of this region for
   Germany."

This same Frank, on Page 1332, states the following (the
Tribunal will find this quotation on Page 27 of the document
book):-

   "There is, however, one definite drawback to these
   consignments to the Reich, since the quantities we are
   responsible for delivering encroach on the actual food
   supplies required by the region. We now have to face the
   following problem. Can we, as from 2nd April, cut two
   million non-German inhabitants of the region out of the
   general rationing scheme?"

                                                  [Page 143]

In the volume entitled "Workers Conference" for 1943, we
find an excerpt concerning the conference of 14th April,
1943, which took place in Cracow. On Page 28 of the document
book the tribunal will find the excerpt which I wish to read
into the record.

President Naumann is speaking, and he quotes the figures
estimated for 1943 1944:-

   "1,500 tons of sweets for the Germans; 36,000,000 litres
   of skimmed fresh milk for the Germans; 15,100,000 litres
   of full-cream milk for the Germans."

On page 24 the same person continues (this total account is
on page 28 of the document book).

   "Last year more than 20 per cent. of the total amount of
   livestock in the Government General was requisitioned.
   Cattle which were really required for the production of
   milk and butter were slaughtered last year so that the
   Reich and the armed forces could be supplied and the
   meat ration maintained to a certain extent. If we want
   10.000 tons of meat, we must sacrifice 40 per cent. of
   the remaining live stock."

And further:

   "In answer to a question by the Governor General,
   President Naumann replied that 383,000 tons of grain
   were requisitioned in 1940, 685,000 tons in 1941, and
   1,500,000 tons in 1942.
   
   It appears from these figures that requisitions have
   increased from year to year and have steadily approached
   the limits of possibility. Now they are preparing to
   increase the requisitions by another 200,000 tons, which
   will bring them to the extreme bounds of possibility.
   The Polish peasant cannot be allowed to starve beyond
   the point where he will still be able to cultivate his
   fields and carry out any further tasks imposed upon him,
   such as carting wood for the forestry authorities."

However, the quotation which I have read from Naumann's
reply in no way influenced the policy of the merciless
plundering of the Polish people, whose fate, to use Frank's
own words, interested him from one angle only.

In the volume entitled, "From 1st January to 29th of
February, 1944",
there is the following statement by Frank, made at the
conference of the leaders of German agriculture on the 12th
January, 1944. The Tribunal will find this excerpt on page
30:-

   "Once we have won the war, the Poles, Ukrainians and all
   other people living around can be made into mince meat,
   or anything else, as far as I am concerned."

I believe, your Honours, that after this quotation there is
no need for me, as a representative of the Soviet
prosecution, to add anything more to that section of my
statement which deals with the crimes committed by the
Hitlerite criminals on the territory of the Polish State.
Indeed, any one of the sentences quoted is more than
sufficient to give us an exact picture of the regime in
Poland created by Frank, and of Frank himself who created
this regime.

PLUNDER OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROPERTY IN YUGOSLAVIA

Turning now to the plunder and pillage of private and public
property by the Hitlerites in Yugoslavia, I must, your
Honours, read the appropriate extracts of the official
report of the Yugoslav Government, submitted to the
International Military Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution as
Exhibit USSR 36. This report, in accordance with Article 21
of the Charter, is submitted as irrefutable evidence.

Count 6 of this report, entitled "Plunder of Public and
Private Property reads as follows (this count is on Page 32
of the document book):

   "6. Plunder of Public and Private Property:
   
   Along with the exploitation of manpower, the plundering
   of public and  private property was systematically
   carried out in Yugoslavia. This plunder
   
                                                  [Page 144]
   
   was carried out in various ways and within the scope of
   the different measures taken. In this way too, Germany
   succeeded in completely exhausting the economic and
   financial resources in occupied Yugoslavia, and in
   destroying her almost completely from the economic point
   of view."

We will cite here only a few examples of this systematic
plunder:
(a) Currency and Credit Measures

Just as in other occupied countries, the Germans,
immediately after their entry into Yugoslavia, carried out a
series of currency measures which enabled them to take out
of Yugoslavia in great quantities goods and other valuables
at an insignificant cost. As early as 14th April, 1941 -
that is to say, even before the occupation of Yugoslavia was
actually completed - the Commander of the German land
forces, "on the basis of the authority received from the
Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the German armed forces",
issued the "Proclamation concerning occupied Yugoslav
Territory".

Article 9 fixes a compulsory rate of exchange of 20 dinars
for one German mark. Thus, the value of the dinar in
relation to the Reichsmark was artificially lowered. The
real rate of exchange before the war was much more
favourable to the Yugoslav currency.

This proves clearly the violation of the appropriate
regulations of the Hague Convention, as well as the
existence of a plan prepared in advance for the depreciation
of Yugoslav currency.

I submit to the Tribunal a certified photographic copy of
the aforementioned proclamation as Exhibit USSR 140.

Another predatory measure in the field of currency policy
was the introduction of German occupation marks -
Reichskreditkassenschein - as an obligatory means of payment
in the occupied territory of Yugoslavia. This measure was
also mentioned in Article 9 of the "Proclamation" submitted
to the Tribunal as Exhibit USSR 140. These occupation marks,
which were without any economic backing and without any
value whatsoever in Germany itself, were printed in
Yugoslavia in accordance with the needs of the German forces
of occupation and authorities, and in this way served as a
means for enabling them to make purchases at a very low
price.

On 30th June, 1942 - that is to say, more than a year later
- these occupation marks were withdrawn. This took place
after the Germans had already bought up almost everything
that could be purchased in Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav
State Bank had been liquidated and all its assets seized. In
its stead the Germans created the so-called Serbian National
Bank.

However, so that the Germans would suffer no loss through
this measure, the Serbian National Bank was forced to
exchange the so-called "occupation marks" for new dinars.
The marks thus exchanged were simply withdrawn from the
Serbian National Bank by the Germans against receipt. In
this way one of the most shameless thefts was carried out,
which cost Yugoslavia many thousands of millions of dinars.

I submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit USSR 194, the German
decree of 30th June, 1942, concerning the withdrawal of
notes issued by the Reichskreditkasse and also a certified
copy of the decree concerning the Serbian National Bank, of
29th May, 1941, as Exhibit USSR 135.

It can be seen from these documents that the German
occupation authorities carried out by force the illegal
liquidation of the Yugoslav State Bank, under the pretext
that Yugoslavia no longer existed, and that they took
advantage of this liquidation in order to plunder the
country on an enormous scale.

The Germans established the so-called Serbian National Bank
exclusively for the purpose of creating an instrument for
their predatory economic and currency policy in Serbia. The
Bank was administered by officials whom they themselves
appointed.

                                                  [Page 145]

The measures taken with regard to Yugoslav coinage are also
very characteristic. The Yugoslav coinage which contained a
certain percentage of silver and brass was withdrawn, and
replaced by coins of very poor metal alloy. Naturally the
Germans carried to Germany a large quantity of the most
valuable Yugoslav coins.

(b) Requisitions and Fines

(The Tribunal will find this excerpt on Page 40 of the
document book.)

Reich Minister Speer, head of the Armament Department,
declared that fixed prices were the "Magna Carta of the
Armament Programme". The defendant Goering, on 26th March,
1943, issued a decree demanding a further decrease in the
prices of all goods imported from the occupied countries.

This lowering of prices was attained by means of currency
measures as well as by means of requisitioning,
confiscation, fines and, in particular, a special price
policy.

By means of requisitioning, a policy of fixed low prices,
and compulsory sales, the Government of the Reich was
enabled to plunder thoroughly the Yugoslav people. This went
so far that even the Quisling institutions collaborating
with the Germans frequently had to declare that the quotas
of goods demanded by the Germans could not be filled.

Thus, a report made by the District Bailiff for the Moravski
District (Quisling Administration of Milan Nedic) on 12th
February, 1944, stated:-

   "1. If they are deprived of so many cattle, the peasants
   will not be able to cultivate their fields. On the one
   hand, they are ordered to cultivate every inch of
   ground, on the other hand their cattle are ruthlessly
   confiscated.
   
   2. The cattle are purchased at such a low price that the
   peasants feel that they are hardly compensated at all
   for their loss."

Similar examples from other regions or districts of
Yugoslavia are very numerous.

In order to plunder the country, the Germans often resorted
to the systematic imposition of fines. For instance, the
fines imposed by the "Feldkommandantur" in Belgrade during
1943 alone amounted to 48,818,068 dinars. In Nish, during
the first three and a half months Of 1943, the fines
amounted to 5,065,000 dinars.

Finally, we should like to give here a few details regarding
the clearing accounts through which the export of Yugoslav
goods to Germany was carried out. As early as 1st March,
1943, the clearing balance in favour of Serbia amounted to
219 million Reichsmark, or 4,380,000,000 dinars. By the end
of the occupation Germany owed Serbia 10 billion dinars.

The situation was the same in all the other provinces of
Yugoslavia, and only the methods of plundering varied
according to local conditions.

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