The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

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Last-Modified: 2000/11/08

Q. That is enough. I can assist you in that case. I want you
to look at a report of your colleague, Globocnik, on the
Action Reinhardt against the Jewish people of Poland.

MR. ELWYN JONES: It is Document 4024-PS, which will be
Exhibit GB 550. It is a lengthy report. My Lord, with
respect, it does merit the attention of the Tribunal.

BY MR. ELWYN JONES

Q. Witness, you see that it is a report from Globocnik to
Himmler, dated 5th January, 1943. The letter starts:

  "Reichsfuehrer,
  
  I am taking the liberty of submitting to you the enclosed
  report on the economic winding up of the Action
  Reinhardt."

In the next paragraph:

  "A proper winding up and my release are necessary because
  I carried out this activity within the framework of the
  SS" - I would like to underline these words, "within the
  framework of the SS - "and it must therefore be wound up
  in a proper manner with regard to the competent Reich
  authorities."

Then in a later paragraph it goes on:

                                                  [Page 269]

  "The global accounting is composed of two parts:
  
  (1) The economic part of the Action Reinhardt with the
  subdivisions,
  
     (a) Accounting and delivery of the assets seized and
     
     (b) Accounting of the assets obtained by the work.
  
  (2) The Settlers' Economic Association whose economic
  activity also depended on my work, and which is now being
  transferred to civilian hands."

Witness, that so-called resettlement was one of the
functions of the SS Organization?

A. (No response.)

Q. Then there follows on page 2 of the German text of this
report:

  "There is one additional factor to be borne in mind, when
  rendering the global accounts for 'Reinhardt,' which is
  that the vouchers dealing with it must be destroyed as
  soon as possible."

Now, the next document, Page 3 of the German text and Page 2
of the English -

THE PRESIDENT: Where is this part about the vouchers being
destroyed?

MR. ELWYN JONES: Paragraph 3, my Lord. Globocnik marked it
"2," "The Settlers' Economic Association," in the next
sentence to that.

BY MR. ELWYN JONES:

Q. Page 2 of the English text is a report on the economic
aspect of the Action Reinhardt. There are four copies only
of that report. It was "gathered together in the SS Economic
and Administrative Head Office."

It says:

  "The entire Action Reinhardt is divided into four parts:
  
     (a) The evacuation itself
     (b) The employment of labour
     (c) The exploitation of property
     (d) Seizure of hidden goods and landed property.
  
  a. The Evacuation
  
  This is settled and completed.
  
  In this case the prerequisite was to get hold of the
  people with the small forces available and to cause as
  little economic damage as possible to war production by
  methodically appropriate measures.
  
  On the whole this was achieved. Considerable damage
  occurred only in Warsaw, where, owing to ignorance of the
  position, the methods applied in the final action were
  entirely wrong."

Then I go to paragraph (b), "Employment of Labour":

  "The entire labour was put into closed camps, to which
  essential war production was transferred.
  
  For this purpose the following conditions had to be
  created:
  
     (1) Erection of all camps.
     
     (2) Erection of workshops with all the working
     equipment, such as the installation of machinery, power
     supply, etc,
     
     (3) The organization of provisions ...
     
     (4) Sanitation and Hygiene."

Then I want you particularly to notice 5, "Security
measures":

     (a) Achieved by adequate security precautions
     (b) By organization within the camp
     (c) By adequate guarding.
  
  For this purpose, the SS guards were created, the
  overwhelming majority of whom, led by Germans, carried
  out their duties satisfactorily.
  
  Their reliability was increased by mixing these guards
  with Reich German guards from concentration camps.
  
     (d) The prerequisites for a satisfactory security
     system were created by these camps being taken over by
     the Concentration Camp Department of the WVHA.

                                                  [Page 270]

     (b) The proper administration and methodical treatment
     were made possible thanks to the extensive training of
     the German personnel. It became apparent that the
     working capacity of the Jews in the camps was
     constantly increasing."

And then there is described the creation of a works
management under the name of 'Osti,' and the German
Equipment Works:

  "A total of 18 works was established; it was intended to
  add more. About 52,000 workers were available. These
  conditions of work made it possible to accept urgent
  orders both from the Armament Inspectorate and from
  Speer's Reich Ministry, and thus replace bombed-out
  works. The demand from these offices was considerable.
  'Osti' and the German Equipment Works were run by me,
  whereas other concerns, such as the Heinkel Aircraft
  Works, were only looked after by me."

And then paragraph (c) is on Page 5 of your German text:

  "Exploitation of Property." This had been completed, as
  shown in Enclosure 2 which I shall come to in a moment.
  
  Paragraph (d): Seizure of Hidden Goods. "The seizure of
  hidden goods and exploitation of landed property is
  divided into
  
  (1) Property such as machinery, raw materials, etc.,
  handed over by the 'Osti' to Aryans. To date the result
  is 6.3 million Reichsmarks; a further 7-8 million
  Reichsmarks are yet to be brought in."
  
  (2): "Seizure of Jewish claims at home and abroad by the
  camp inmates being ordered to cede these claims to the
  'Osti ' which then carried out the recovery. The first
  attempt resulted in a cession of an amount of 11,000,000
  Zloty, of which at least half appeared obtainable.
  However, since it was also possible to discover money
  that had been smuggled abroad, this action could have
  brought valuable foreign currency to the Reich."
  
  (3): "Real estate was transferred to the Real Estate
  Administration of the Government General for
  exploitation."

Then the measures taken were as follows:

     "(1) On the 13th of August, 1943, the SS Training Camp
     of Trawniki was handed over by SS Obergruppenfuehrer
     Pohl.
     
     (2) On the 7th of September, 1943, in a conference with
     SS Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl, the taking over of ten SS
     Working Camps in the Lublin District as subsidiaries of
     Lublin Concentration Camp was decided on and, in
     addition, the handing over of further working camps in
     the Government General. The head of the Lublin
     Concentration Camp was provided with suitable
     contracts. The conference was the result of a visit by
     SS Obergruppenfuehrer Krueger and SS Standartenfuehrer
     Schellin."
  
  Then paragraph 3: "In pursuance thereof, a letter from
  the Commandant of the Lublin Concentration Camp, dated
  14th September, 1943, to the SS Working Camps announced
  that they had become subsidiaries of the Lublin
  Concentration Camp."

And then there follows the sentence: "The mixing of guards
of foreign race with the German Concentration Camp guards
from the Reich has also been started."

And I need not trouble you with the rest of that document.

If you will turn to Page 8 of the German text you will see
the "Report on the administrative winding up of Action
Reinhardt " - just two pages, in the English text, from the
one that I have just read. The first paragraph described the
assets of this Action Reinhardt.

  Paragraph 3 of the text says: "The assets I collected
  were regularly delivered to the SS Economic and
  Administrative Head Office against receipts, and they in
  turn passed on the assets to the Reichsbank, the Reich
  Ministry of Finance, textile concerns, etc."

                                                  [Page 271]

  And then the next paragraph but one - perhaps it is only
  fair that I should read the next paragraph: "On the
  orders of the Reichsfuehrer SS, necessary articles could
  be removed for the maintenance of persons of the German
  race. The Reichsfuehrer SS forbade any appropriation for
  the purpose of the SS." But you will see later how this
  was qualified: "What is remarkable about the accounting
  is that no hard and fast basis for the amount collected
  existed, as the collection of the assets was carried out
  under orders and only the decency and honesty, as well as
  the surveillance of the SS men used for this purpose,
  could guarantee a complete delivery."

Page 9 of the German text - I trust you are following this,
witness, because it is not without interest, you know.

Page 9 of the German text sets out the assets, first sums of
Reichsmarks and Zloty:

  "By far the greater portion was placed at the disposal of
  the SS Economist in the Government General and the
  amounts were credited to the Action Reinhardt in
  Reichsmarks by the WVHA Office by an accounting
  transaction, and handed over to the Reichsbank."
  
  Next page, paragraph 2: "Foreign currency in banknotes or
  coined gold was collected, sorted, and also handed over
  to the Reichsbank via the WVHA."
  
  Then Page 10 of your German text: "Jewels, jewellery,
  watches and suchlike were sorted according to their value
  and delivered to the WVHA. On orders from this office,
  watches of non-precious metals were handed over to the
  troops, spectacles were repaired and placed at the
  disposal of wounded persons, and articles of no value
  were principally handed over to Wehrmacht authorities to
  cover urgent needs."
  
  Paragraph 4: "Textiles, garments, underclothing, bed
  feathers and rags were collected and sorted according to
  their quality. The sorted articles had to be searched for
  hidden valuables and finally disinfected. More than 1,900
  wagons were then placed at the disposal of the
  authorities named by the Reich Ministry of Economy by
  order of the WVHA. Out of these stocks not only foreign
  workers were clothed but a large portion was used for
  remanufacture. The best garments were separated and, by
  order of the Reichsfuehrer SS, were used for supplying
  persons of the German race. Shoes were also sorted
  according to how far they could be used and then either
  given to persons of German race or to concentration camps
  for supplying inmates, or else taken to pieces and used
  for wooden shoes for supplying inmates."
  
  Paragraph 5: "Individual valuables of a special kind,
  such as stamps, coins and suchlike, were sorted and
  delivered to the WVHA."
  
  Paragraph 8 on Page 11 of your German text: "Valuable
  furniture and household utensils were reconditioned and
  mainly put at the disposal of settlers of German race.
  But furniture was also loaned to German and Wehrmacht
  authorities against an accommodation bill. Inferior goods
  were either destroyed or given to the population as a
  reward for good work at the harvest, etc."
  
  The last paragraph: "The total value of the articles
  received is, according to the attached list,
  approximately 18,000,000 Reichsmarks. However, minimum
  values have been assumed, so that the total value is most
  likely twice as much, quite apart from the value of the
  articles obtained which are in short supply, such as
  textiles, of which alone more than 1,900 wagons have been
  made available to German industry."
  
  And then there follows a detail of these assets, on Page
  12 of the report:
  
  "Assets delivered from Action Reinhardt. The following
  assets from the Action 'Reinhardt' were delivered to the
  WVHA, Berlin, for further transmission to the Reichsbank
  or to the Reich Ministry of Economics:
  
     (a) Reichsmark sums totalling 53,000,000.

                                                  [Page 272]

     (b) currency in banknotes from all the principal
     countries in the world (half a million dollars being
     particularly worthy of note) to a total value of
     1,450,000-odd Reichsmarks
     
     (c) foreign currency in gold coins to a total value of
     843,000-odd Reichs                     marks
     
     (d) precious metals ... to a total value of 5,353,000-
     odd Reichsmarks
     
     (e) other valuables such as jewellery, watches,
     spectacles, etc. (the number of watches being
     particularly worthy of note - about 16,000 in working
     order and about 51,000 requiring repair, which have
     been placed at the disposal of the troops) value
     26,000,000-odd Reichsmarks
     
     (f) about 1,000 wagons of textiles to a total value of
     13,000,000-odd Reichsmarks. Grand total, 100,047,000-
     odd Reichsmarks.

  1,000 wagons of textiles and about 50 per cent of the
  above-mentioned assets - which still have to be counted
  and valued - are warehoused here. It should be noted that
  the estimated values were based on the officially
  established rates of exchange or prices, which, however,
  would be much higher on the open market, for instance if
  the precious stones or precious metals were sold abroad,
  as the investment in articles whose value is not subject
  to much fluctuation is much greater there than with us.
  Besides, these sales abroad bring us foreign currency. If
  these prices were taken as a basis of evaluation here,
  this was done in order to be able to give a picture of
  the assets delivered; in general this evaluation is not
  authoritative. The value of the acquisition lies
  principally in the fact that such large quantities of
  urgently needed raw materials can thereby be gained and
  that, on the basis of the assets obtained, foreign
  currency can be brought in with which new materials can
  in turn be bought by Reich authorities."

Then there follows a list of Jewish property received for
delivery up to the 3rd of February, 1943. This is a sort of
interim report: Cash in hand: 53,000,000; foreign currency
in notes 14,000,000-odd.

Then on Page 15 of the report: Currency in gold coins of
various countries of the world, 843,000 -odd Reichsmarks;
5,000,000 - odd in precious metals.

Then I want you to look at Page 16 of this report, witness:

  "Other valuables: gold revolving pencils, 578,
  gentlemen's watches, 13,445, gentlemen's pocket watches,
  and miscellaneous ladies' jewellery"; then the item
  "22,324 spectacles," and then next but one to that,
  "11,675 rings"; then all the precious little possessions
  of these people, necklaces, a mother-of-pearl opera
  glass, each one itemised down to the very last sordid
  Reichsmark.

Then on the next page, Page 17, there are other little items
of private possessions, making a total of 26,000,000
Reichsmarks.


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