Archive/File: people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-063-04
Last-Modified: 1999/06/07

Attorney General: The final document from the Mufti's
archive is a draft of an official German-Italian
declaration, relating to Arab countries.  I pass over the
paragraphs which deal with other matters and come to
paragraph seven of the proposed draft declaration.

     "Germany and Italy acknowledge the illegality of the
     Jewish National Home in Palestine.  They recognize the
     right of Palestine and the other Arab countries to
     solve the problem of the Jewish elements in Palestine
     and in the Arab countries in accordance with the Arab
     national interest, and in the same way in which the
     question was solved in the Axis countries.  It follows
     also that no immigration of Jews will be permitted to
     the Arab countries."

Presiding Judge: Was that the Mufti's draft?

Attorney General: It is the draft of a declaration which, to
the best of my knowledge, was never published; apparently,
Hajj Amin asked the Germans and the Italians to declare that
in Palestine, too, the Arabs would be allowed to solve the
problem of the National Home in the same manner as the
problem was solved in the Axis countries.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/1274.

Attorney General: May I, in this context, be permitted to
draw the Court's attention to document T/89, which, of
course, has already been submitted.  This is what Wisliceny
wrote about the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, about the Mufti's
meeting with Eichmann.  The Mufti was so impressed - said
Eichmann - that he asked Himmler to promise him that
Eichmann's representative would be sent to serve as private
adviser to the Mufti of Jerusalem - after the Axis victory.
Eichmann asked Wisliceny if he wanted to accept this post
for himself, but Wisliceny replied that he was not
interested in such oriental adventures.

I move on to another chapter, and that is the killing of
Jewish prisoners of war from the Polish army.  I have two
witnesses on this.  I call Mr. Avraham Levinson.

Judge Halevi:  Perhaps, before we hear the witnesses, since
you are about to conclude the chapter of the political
documents in the main.  You said, in connection with the
rescue of Jews, that there is a complete file, the most
important documents from which you have submitted to us, in
the Weizmann Archives, and that the entire file is available
to the Court, should it be required.  I am not asking for
anything further, I don't want any further documents, but I
have a question.

I noted the fact that in most of the British statements it
says that everything is subject to the consent of the Soviet
Union.  It constantly says that despite the fact that we are
working in complete co-ordination with the United States, we
shall yet have to get in touch with the Soviet Union, in
order to obtain their consent.
Attorney General: Yes.

Judge Halevi:  From the documents, it is not clear whether
such consent was ever given, whether a reply was given at
all, and what the reply was.  Is there any document in the
Rescue file of the Weizmann Archives in Rehovot which hints
at any reply from the Soviet Union?

Attorney General: If the Court will permit me, before I
reply to this delicate question, to glance at these
documents once again...

Judge Halevi:  Please do so.

Attorney General: I shall do so and reply next week.

Presiding Judge: [ To witness] Do you speak Hebrew?

Witness Levinson:   Yes.

[The witness is sworn.]

Presiding Judge: What is your full name?

Witness: Avraham Levinson.

Attorney General: Mr. Levinson, you reside at 5 Hatam Sofer
Street, Tel Aviv, and you are a merchant by profession?

Witness Levinson:   Yes.

Q. You were born in Lublin and were a pupil at the gymnasium
when the Second World War broke out?

A. Yes.

Q. In 1940, you were taken to the Belzec camp, which was
then a labour camp?

A. Yes.

Q. What did you do there?

A. We dug anti-tank ditches on the Russo-German border, in
what was then the Generalgouvernement.

Q. You were there for some months, I understand?

A. Yes.

Q. Did many people die there from sickness, from starvation?

A. From sicknesses, typhus and dysentery.

Q. Later on, you were released from there and returned to
the Lublin Ghetto?

A. Yes.

Q. And you remained there until its liquidation in 1942?

A. Yes.

Q. In October, I believe?

A. Yes.

Q. Are these two of the documents you possessed at the time?
[Shows the documents to the witness.]

A. Yes.

Q. What is this one? [Passes one of the documents to the
witness]

A. This is a labour permit, on the strength of which I had
permission to go only from my place of residence to the
place of work.

Q. In Lublin?

A. Yes, in Lublin. [The permit is handed to the Presiding
Judge.]

Presiding Judge: This certificate will be marked T/1275.

Attorney General: What is this certificate with the Shield
of David and the letter "J"?

Witness Levinson:   This was called a "Judenkarte" (Jewish
card). At the time, the Lublin Ghetto, where there had been
forty thousand Jews, was liquidated; three to four thousand
remained.  Whoever received the Judenkarte had the right to
remain.

Q. On whose behalf was this card issued?

A. On behalf of the "SS und Polizeifuehrer" of Lublin.

Presiding Judge: This certificate will be marked T/1276.

Attorney General: Do you recall a march of Jewish prisoners
of war from the Polish army in Lublin?

Witness Levinson:   Yes.

Q. When was this?

A. This was at the beginning of 1940, in winter.

Q. Please describe to the Court what you saw.

A. It was on the Day of Atonement, close to thirty degrees
below zero.  I lived at the end of the city of Lublin, in
Levertovska Street, in the last house.  I saw that a
transport of Jewish prisoners of war from the Polish army
had arrived in uniform.

Q. In what uniform?

A. The uniform of the Polish army.  Many of them were
without shoes, completely barefoot; others were wearing
wooden shoes or torn shoes.  The contingent was marching.
Many were limping and called out to the front ranks "Go
slowly," for they were unable to keep up with the march.  On
the flanks, SS officers were riding on horses and guarding
the march.  And this is how I saw them as they left the city
of Lublin, since this was on the outskirts of the town.

The next morning, when I went to work, a cart passed in
which were seated two orderlies of the Jewish community, in
German uniforms.  They called out to me and told me to get
on to the cart, and we rode beyond the town.  About fifteen
kilometres outside the town, on the road to Lubartow, I saw
another cart with Jews who were already loading prisoners of
war who had been killed and who were lying at the sides of
the road.  We travelled further, to about twenty kilometres
from the town, already quite near to Lubartow, and we began
loading on to the cart dead bodies lying on both sides of
the road.  And after we had loaded them, we returned to the
town; on the outskirts of Lublin, I was allowed to get off
the cart, and the cart entered the town as far as the
Judenrat.

Q. To whom were the bodies delivered?

A. To the Jewish community council.

Q. For burial?

A. Yes.

Q. Were the bodies which you loaded those of persons dressed
in the uniform of the Polish army?

A. Yes.

Q. Jews?

A. Yes.

Q. Did other Jewish prisoners of war subsequently arrive in
Lublin?

A. Yes.

Q. Where were they housed?

A. They were housed in Camp Lipowa 7, which was in Lublin.

Q. Is that what it was called, Lipowa 7?

A. Yes.

Q. Who guarded them there?

A. The SS Lagerfuehrer Dolp.

Q. Did you learn what happened to these prisoners of war?

A. I found out after the War, when I returned to Lublin.
After the ghetto was liquidated, they were the last to
remain; and then they were brought to Field No. 6 in
Majdanek, and they were burned.

Presiding Judge: Dr. Servatius, do you have any questions?

Dr. Servatius:  I have no questions.

Judge Raveh:   Perhaps you can give me an explanation of an
expression mentioned in the certificate.  In this
certificate, it says "Selbstschutz" (Self-Defence). What
does this mean?

Witness Levinson:   This was "SS Un. Selbstschutz."  They
were the Volksdeutsche who received German uniforms and
assisted the SS in all kinds of operations.

Judge Halevi:  When did the murder of the prisoners take
place?

Witness Levinson:   It was at the beginning of 1940, in the
winter.

Q. And the prisoners of war were all Jews?

A. Yes.

Q. After they had been selected, that is to say?

A. Yes.  It was a transport of Jewish prisoners who had
served in the Polish army.

Q. All of them were in uniform, but only Jews?

A. Yes.

Presiding Judge: Did you see them at the sides of the road?

Witness Levinson:   Yes.

Q. Were they lying there in groups or singly?

A. Singly.

Q. And how were they killed - were you able to see that?

A. By shooting.

Presiding Judge: Thank you, Mr. Levinson, you have concluded
your evidence.

Attorney General: On the same subject, I wish to bring one
further short testimony, that of Avraham Buchman.

[The witness is sworn.]

Presiding Judge: What is your full name?

Witness: Avraham Buchman.

Attorney General: You live in Givatayim, at 18 Rehov
Gnessin?

Witness Buchman  Yes.

Q. You are a carpenter by profession?

A. Yes.

Q. In August 1939, you were mobilized for service with the
Polish army; you were in Poland at the time?
A. Yes.

Q. And, after a number of engagements, the unit in which you
served was taken prisoner by the German army?

A. Yes.

Presiding Judge: You may speak Yiddish, if that will be
easier.

Witness Buchman  I shall speak Yiddish when I shall not be
able to express myself in Hebrew.

Attorney General: You passed through several camps, until
you came to a prisoner camp, Stalag 3b?

Witness Buchman  Yes.

Q. Where was it?

A. In Jessnitz, near Guben.

Q. In Germany?

A. Yes.

Q. Near which river?

A. Near the Oder.

Q. What happened there to the Jewish prisoners?

A. They divided us up; we were separated from the Christian
prisoners and transferred to special tents, sort of huts.

Q. And you, of course, were transferred to those huts of
Jewish prisoners?

A. Yes, Sir.

Q. What happened to the Jewish prisoners who were separated
in this way at the end of 1939?

A. The entire camp was disbanded, all the prisoners were
sent to work in various places; only the Jews remained in
this place, and, at the end of 1939, all the Jews from all
the different places of work were concentrated into this
camp, Stalag 3b.

Q. when were you sent back to Poland?

A. At the beginning of 1940.

Q. How many of you were there?

A. Roughly three hundred persons.

Q. Where did they take you to?

A. To Poland, to a town called Szubin, Stalag 21b, if I
remember correctly.

Q. Did they transfer only the Jews?

A. Yes.

Q. How long did you remain in this camp?

A. Roughly one month.

Q. How many people were there in this camp?

A. At first, we were there by ourselves, but afterwards
transports arrived from various small places, until there
were about six hundred of us gathered together.

Q. How were you dressed - in military uniform?

A. Those who arrived in our group wore uniforms.

Judge Halevi:  Who did not wear uniform?

Witness Buchman: Later on, in Lublin, Jewish prisoners
arrived wearing wooden shoes and blue tunics.

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