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Archive/File: people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-043-07
Last-Modified: 1999/06/01

Presiding Judge: Where is this?  In which paragraph?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  On page 2.  In paragraph 5 it says
that in this connection, Hauptsturmfuehrer Eichmann declared
that he had taken over the direction of the Reich Authority
for Jewish Emigration, and that he was determined to let the
emigration offices in Berlin, Vienna and Prague operate
separately.  None of these offices would be superior or
subordinate to the other,  Vienna would preserve its
independence, and it was expected that the character of the
Religious Community under public law would be assured until
the end of 1940.  This was, of course, a matter of special
interest to Dr. Loewenherz.

In paragraph 7 he says he told Eichmann that the progress in
emigration depended in large measure on the release of
prisoners in protective custody in Buchenwald and Dachau.
He also told him about the news arriving from there about
cases of death, and that in the Community there were
unprecedented scenes of despair among the bereaved.  In
reply to a question by Eichmann in this matter, Loewenherz
said that since the autumn 355 deaths were reported, and
that the burial of the urns was being carried out by the
cemetery office of the Community, which caused feelings of
shock.  Eichmann said that he did not deal directly with the
concentration camps, but asked Loewenherz to inform him in
writing about the matter by 27 December.  Eichmann also
informed Loewenherz that he would divide his time, spending
two weeks every month in Berlin and the other two weeks in
Vienna, Prague, and the Generalgouvernement in Poland.  This
is in paragraph 13.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/798.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I pass on to No. 1140.  Again a memo
by Dr. Loewenherz about a meeting with Eichmann on 26
January 1940.  I direct your attention to paragraph V: The
Jewish Community in Moravska Ostrava has informed Eichmann
that they have spent 300,000 Reichsmark for setting up the
camp in Nisko; Loewenherz says he was told to contact the
Community in Moravska Ostrava and to demand from it, on the
basis of this report, an exact summary of the expenses and
the purpose for which the various sums were used.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/799.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  And finally, in paragraph VII, one
more question - whether the Jews who were taken to the
territory of Poland would be given a chance to return to
Vienna.

I go on to document No. 1411, a minute about a meeting which
took place in Eichmann's office in Berlin.  Again there is
mention of the release of the officials of the Community and
the Palestine Office, who are still under arrest in the
Buchenwald concentration camp.  Eichmann asks that a request
for their release be transmitted to him to Berlin (paragraph
5).

Paragraph 7 is also of interest.  Loewenherz says:

     "I asked for the release of Rabbi Dr. Arnold Israel
     Frankfurter from the Buchenwald concentration camp and
     stressed that he is apparently in protective custody
     only because of the name Frankfurter, but no doubt he
     has no connection with the attack on Gustloff.
     Eichmann gave me permission to submit a request for the
     release of Rabbi Dr. Frankfurter to him through the
     intermediary of the Central Office for Jewish
     Emigration."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/800.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I proceed to document No. 1142, a
meeting between Loewenherz and Brunner at the Central Office
for Jewish Emigration in Vienna.  Brunner told him what he
had heard in a telephone conversation with Eichmann about
what is here called "the impending return of 152 persons
from the relocation area in Poland."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/801.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Our document No. 1143, again a
meeting of Loewenherz with Eichmann in Berlin on 3 July
1940.  Loewenherz is told to submit to Eichmann, within four
weeks, statistics about the Jews living in Austria, their
institutions, etc.  As regards the financial affairs of the
Community, Dr. Loewenherz is asked to appear before Eichmann
on 4 July 1940, at 11 a.m.  Again an urgent request is made
for the release of the detainees in the concentration camp.
Eichmann says that this is not possible now: "The same
applies also to the further request that young detainees
should be released from protective custody."

What is said here, in paragraph 4, about migration is of
some interest:

     "Eichmann said that efforts in connection with
     emigration via the Far East, and also via Lisbon, must
     be continued.  However, after the end of the War, a
     comprehensive solution of the European Jewish question
     would presumably have to be sought.  This would be a
     matter of about four million Jews.  Eichmann then asked
     whether ideas or plans with this in view had already
     been discussed."

Today we know already what Loewenherz was asked to submit to
Eichmann, what kind of data.  During those months Eichmann
was actually occupied with preparations for what was called
"the Madagascar Plan."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/802.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I go on to a minute in document No.
1144.  I do not want to dwell on its contents, it is about a
meeting with Untersturmfuehrer Brunner on 26 June  1940, and
is of interest only because it has an annex.  The annex
shows how these minutes were transmitted to the Central
Office for Jewish Emigration.  The document is a covering
letter with two annexes.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/803.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  The Court will perhaps notice that
this office transmits the minute on the same day on which
the conversation was held, when everything was absolutely
fresh in the minds of the writers.

Now we move on to document No. 1145.  It is a letter from
Loewenherz to the Central Office for Jewish Emigration dated
4 July 1940.  He writes: "Concerning the visit of the
undersigned Head of the Jewish Religious Community, Dr.
Josef Israel Loewenherz, to SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Eichmann in
the Head Office for Reich Security, Berlin, on 4 July 1940,
at 11 a.m."  Finally, "The attention of Mr. Brunner, of the
office of the Special Plenipotentiary, has to be drawn to
the need for submitting to Hauptsturmfuehrer Eichmann
without delay the petition made in accordance with the
latter's instruction."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/804.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I go on to document No. 1146, a
minute of 15 July 1940, signed by Dr. Benjamin Israel
Murmelstein on behalf of the Head of the Jewish Community,
about a meeting with Brunner on 13 July.  Brunner requests
that in future the minutes he has to receive, be submitted
to him without a covering letter.  This has to be understood
in the light of what I have just submitted.

Presiding Judge: I do not follow that.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Until that date, it was apparently
the custom to submit these minutes with covering letters.  I
can only assume that these annoyed Brunner, and therefore he
asks for transmission of the minutes without addition.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/805.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I go on to document No. 126, a
letter from the Accused to Rademacher dated 13 May 1941.
The subject is "Letters of Recommendation for Jewish
Emigrants via, or to, the Far East."  This is only submitted
in order to show the Court that Eichmann, although
transferred to Berlin long ago, continues actively to
control matters in Vienna as well, and not only in a general
manner, as was the case with other Regional Headquarters of
the Gestapo.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/806.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Let us go to document No. 548.  The
document was shown to the Accused and was marked T/37(165).
The Accused speaks about this document, and another one
which I shall submit immediately afterwards, in his
Statement, beginning on page 2038.  The subject of this
correspondence is a Professor Emil Fleischmann, an
academically qualified painter who lives in Vienna - his
address is indicated.  It is reported here that information
has reached the German authorities by chance that
applications have been submitted to the Minister of Culture
of Afghanistan, apparently in connection with the employment
of this man, or, at any rate, with his emigration from
Vienna to Afghanistan.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/807.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Now let us look at document No. 549,
in which Eichmann, on 28 February  1941, replies to the
Foreign Ministry.  It was marked T/37(166).  Eichmann
writes:

     "With reference to your letter of 18 February 1941, I
     inform you that, in the meantime, I have instructed the
     Central Office for Jewish Emigration, Vienna, that the
     Jews Fleischmann and Kollmann, who are mentioned in the
     report of the German Legation for Afghanistan of 14
     December 1940, are to be deported by one of the next
     trains, in the framework of the deportation of Jews
     from Vienna to the Generalgouvernement.  The matter may
     thus be regarded as settled."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/808.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  And now - we made an effort to
locate this Jew, Emil Fleischmann.  In October 1960, we
applied to the Austrian authorities, and especially to the
Jewish Community in Vienna, and here, in Prosecution
document No. 1240, it becomes clear what happened to Emil
Fleischmann.  These documents are proof of his deportation
to the East.  And thus he appears to this day in the
Population Register in Vienna.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/809.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I proceed to document No. 1147, a
minute from Dr. Loewenherz about his meeting with Brunner
and Ebner dated 1 February 1941.  The Court will remember
that Ebner was the opposite number in the Gestapo in Vienna.
Brunner was Head of the Central Office, and Ebner headed the
Gestapo.  The conversation deals with the deportation of
10,000 persons from Vienna to the East: "It is intended to
transfer part of the Jews who are living in Vienna to the
Generalgouvernement. The Religious Community will be kept
out of this operation, it will merely have to carry out the
instructions given to it.  1,000 persons shall be dispatched
with each transport."  Paragraph 2 says: "The Central Office
for Jewish Emigration is responsible for seizing the Jews
who can be allotted to the individual transports, and for
carrying out these transports in accordance with the orders
it has received from higher authority."  There follow
specific instructions for carrying out the transports.

In the second part of paragraph 6 we read: "The proceeds of
the sale of these properties is earmarked for covering the
costs of relocation and emigration, as well as of the Final
Solution of the Jewish Question."  Thus writes Loewenherz.
In paragraph 9 it says: "The Jews are forbidden to leave
Vienna without special permission from the Central Office
for Jewish Emigration..."  Meanwhile, the retraining courses
are to be dispersed.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/810.

Mr. Bar-Or  I go on to document No. 1634, an urgent letter
dealing with the evacuation of the Jews from Vienna to the
Generalgouvernement.  It is of interest because it shows
that the implementation of these measures remained actually
concentrated in the Central Office for Jewish Emigration.
This document comes from Section IVD4 and is signed by
Eichmann.  A copy was sent to the Regional Headquarters of
the Gestapo in Potsdam, for their information.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/811.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  And now, document No. 1148, another
minute by Loewenherz about a meeting with Brunner on May 14
1941.  Here Brunner says again that he will have to obtain
instructions from SS Sturmbannfuehrer Eichmann with respect
to payments in connection with the relocation to the
Generalgouvernement.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/812.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  1149, a minute from Loewenherz about
a meeting with Brunner on 21 May 1941: Concentration of the
Jews of Vienna in certain districts.  This is actually the
measure closest to the creation of a ghetto in Vienna that
we know, the concentration of the Jews in the 2nd, 9th and
20th Districts of the city.

Presiding Judge: Which paragraph of the note is this?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  The last one, paragraph 6.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/813.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Document No. 1150.  Dr. Loewenherz
and Dr. Eppstein of the Reichsvereinigung have been ordered
to appear before Guenther and Suhr on 8 September 1941.
This is what they were told:
"In connection with the publication of the Police Order for
the designation of the Jews..." - which I have already
submitted to the Court - "the following is announced:

     (1) The designation signs will be delivered to the
     Reich Association of the Jews in Germany on 16.9.1941
     and to the Jewish Religious Community in Vienna on
     17.9.1941.  For the time being, one piece per person
     will be handed out.  Until 15.10.1941 additional pieces
     will be delivered... At the time of distribution, the
     needs of individual cases have to be taken into
     account..."

And in paragraph 7 we read the following:

     "It is pointed out expressly that exemptions from the
     compulsory designation are out of the question, and
     that therefore all applications in this matter are
     useless."

And attention is drawn to the penal provisions.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/814.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  This was the first joint appearance
of representatives from both Vienna and Berlin before
officials of the office of the Accused in Berlin.

No.1151, a meeting with Brunner: The vacating of Jewish
homes, which is explained by air attacks and deportations,
this time to Ghetto Lodz.  The first transport is to leave
on 15 October and the last one on 11 November 1941.
Altogether 5,000 Jews.

"Before departure," it goes on to say, "every Jew has to
sign a power of attorney, similar to the procedure at
previous transports.  The property left behind by the
relocated persons will be invested in their names, as was
done before.  The monies left behind at that time were
deposited with the Laenderbank in the name of each
individual by the Central Office for Jewish Emigration."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/815.

Are there many more documents about Austria, Mr. Bar-Or?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  There are more than ten.  We could
break off here.

Presiding Judge: It is possible to break off at any stage,
is it not?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Yes.

Presiding Judge: So we shall break off here.  As I said this
morning, the afternoon Session is cancelled.  I should also
like to announce that on Friday we shall begin at 8.30 a.m.
and finish earlier, at about 12.30.

The next Session is tomorrow, at 09.00 o'clock.


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