Archive/File: people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-047-08
Last-Modified: 1999/06/02

Presiding Judge: What marginal remark?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  It says: "To the Head Office for
Reich Security for Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann." This is
written by hand. The document is NG 5050, and this is why we
do not have the original, but only a copy.

Presiding Judge: Let us hope that it is the same document, I
simply cannot find the remark here.
State Attorney Bar-Or:  On page 2 of that document it says:
"An das Reichssicherheitshauptamt" (to the Head Office for
Reich Security).

Presiding Judge: Do you not have a photostat?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  No, this is from N.G. and we have
only a copy.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/988.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  The Foreign Ministry gives its
consent to the transfer of these 600 Spanish Jews to Bergen-
Belsen.

Document No. 682, a letter from Bergmann to Rome, about the
acquisition of Italian citizenship by Jews of various other
nationalities. He quotes the text of a communication from
the Head of the Security Police and the Security Service
about the experience gathered in this field by the Commander
of the Wehrmacht Salonika-Aegeis. While pointing to the case
of Salonika, he asks that Italian nationality acquired by
Jews be cancelled retroactively because, if it is not
cancelled retroactively, it will not be possible to deport
these Jews.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/989.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Document No. 683, a letter from
Mackensen, the German Ambassador in Rome, dated 13 March
1943 about a communication from the Italian Foreign Ministry
concerning the treatment of the Jews in the Greek areas
occupied by Italy. The communication says that these Jews in
the Italian-occupied area will be treated exactly as set out
in paragraphs (1),(2) (3).

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/990.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Document No. 685 contains two
papers: The first one contains draft notes for a report to
the Foreign Minister; the second contains the notes in their
final form on 18 March 1943. The document was shown to the
Accused and marked T/37(227) and the Accused speaks about it
on pages 3493 and 3502.

Presiding Judge: The document will be marked T/991.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  The Foreign Ministry reports about
the views of the "Reich Leadership SS (Reichsfuehrung-SS),
Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann," which are quoted in detail
in this document.

Document No. 235 is a solemn declaration by Dieter
Wisliceny, one of the many declarations which he wrote
during his prolonged detention. This declaration, Honourable
Judges, deals in fact mainly with his activities in Greece,
about which we now have detailed information from the
documents. It was written in Bratislava on 27 June 1947.
Dieter Wisliceny's signature on the declaration has been
authenticated by Mr. Hagag in a declaration which has been
submitted.

Dr. Servatius:  I just wanted to point out to the Court
that, in the last paragraph, Wisliceny again tries to gain
the sympathy of the interrogators because there is also an
exact description of Dr. Merten, so that he can be found.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I shall add one more detail: This
document was shown to the Accused and was submitted to you
as part of the Accused's Statement submitted by Mr. Less and
marked T/37(101). The reaction of the Accused can be found
on page 1365ff. up to 1377. I might also add that, on page
1366, the Accused says that "the details in this declaration
might well be correctly described (Die Details koennten
schon korrekt dargestellt sein)."

Presiding Judge: Decision No. 44

We accept the declaration by Wisliceny in evidence (see
Decision No. 7).

This document is marked T/992.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  On the first page Wisliceny relates
that Eichmann informed him that Rolf Guenther, his permanent
deputy, went to Salonika by plane in order to discuss the
question of the local branch office of the Accused with the
Military Government. He mentions Merten as the person with
whom he was in touch and also Chief Rabbi Dr. Koretz, with
whom he will be dealing in the course of his work in
Salonika. Eichmann told him that he would in fact be
responsible for this work. From the declaration it is
clearly evident that Wisliceny was not pleased with this and
when a second man from the Section of the Accused joins him
(i.e. Brunner), he does not know that Wisliceny is actually
in charge of the branch office in Salonika.

Then he speaks about the fact that there was an epidemic and
that he did not want to go on with the deportations. He
cabled Eichmann and asked for a postponement. The reply came
from Eichmann, but this time not to Wisliceny, but to
Brunner, and in the telegram to Brunner Eichmann orders the
immediate, definite implementation of the expulsion in spite
of the epidemic conditions among the Jewish population.

In the end he says that he returned to Bratislava and
briefly describes the chain of events after the defeat of
the Italians in the southern area and the arrival of the
Germans there.

Document No. 421 was shown to the Accused and marked
T/37(141), and he speaks about it on page 1846 of his
Statement. It is a letter dated 28 July 1943 from von
Thadden to the Accused. It refers to what we have already
seen, to the proposal of the Foreign Ministry for the
transfer, or rather the exemption, of the so-called Spanish
Jews from the deportation and their transfer to Bergen-
Belsen.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/993.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  This action is carried out, these
Jews are transferred to Bergen-Belsen. There remains the
question of the property of the Jews and we find a report
about this in a Verbalnote (note verbale), our document No.
345. This was also shown to the Accused and was marked
T/37(144). Wisliceny reports about the seizure of all the
foreign currency from the Spanish Jews before they were sent
to Bergen-Belsen and his report is annexed to the document,
to the Verbalnote of the Foreign Ministry. 22,300,000
drachmas were seized.

Presiding Judge: What was the value of the drachma?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I am sorry, I cannot help the Court
here. I will not read the whole document. Other currency is
also mentioned, 55,345 Swiss francs.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/994.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Document No. 1022, a letter from
Guenther to von Thadden dated 14 September 1943 concerning a
Jewish woman of Greek nationality who was sent to the
Birkenau work camp in the course of the evacuation from
Greece. Her emigration to Switzerland, which is requested
here, is out of the question.

Presiding Judge: I think the name...

State Attorney Bar-Or:  This is why we included the
document. We know the name. This was the same Jewish
representative of the Red Cross who was arrested in the
course of the operations of the branch office in Salonika. A
document about that case is before the Court. This is the
wife of that representative of the Red Cross.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/995.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Document No. 176 was before the
Accused and is marked T/37(97). It is a letter from
Neubacher in Athens to the Foreign Ministry dated 27
November 1943. In the end von Thadden passes the matter on
to Eichmann on 2 December 1943. Neubacher asks that it be
suggested to the Head of the Security Police and the
Security Service to postpone the deportation of the Jews who
are concentrated in Athens. This concerns an operation which
was begun after the Germans entered Athens in the wake of
the defeat of Badoglio.

Presiding Judge: Badoglio's defeat or his rise to power in
Italy?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  After the replacement of the
Italians in Athens by the German Army, which moved from
north to south. We see here that most of the Jews, about
8,000, who are for the time being under Italian authority,
have either fled - with help from the local population - or
gone into hiding so that they can no longer be seized.
Neubacher asks that immediate directions be sent to him to
Belgrade and to the Higher SS and Police Officer in Athens.
The Accused refers to this on page 1346ff. of his Statement.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/996.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I go on to document No. 520, a
letter from Guenther, IVB4, to von Thadden, dated 2 March
1944. He informs him that Jews of foreign nationality
residing in Greece have not received demands from the Police
to return to their homelands. This again concerns those who
are eligible for repartriation to their home countries, or
what is here referred to as "their so-called home-
countries," via the holding camp Bergen-Belsen.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/997.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  I go on to document No. 346, a
letter by von Thadden to the Accused dated 11 October 1944:
"The Foreign Ministry has received a letter from the High
Command of the Armed Forces concerning the financing of
transports of Jews from Greece." The Foreign Ministry does
not know what to do about the matter, but it assumes that
the financing of the Jewish transports from Greece will be
arranged by the office of the Accused.

Presiding Judge: The document will be marked T/998.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  And now the last document on the
Greek chapter, document No. 1263. Here I ask for a decision
by the Honourable Court under Section 15 of the Law. We are
dealing with a sworn declaration which was before the
Nuremberg Court and was given the marking NOKW, 1715,
Kommando der Wehrmacht, a sworn declaration by a German
soldier named Erwin Lenz. The declaration is dated 10 May
1947 and describes the activities of the Army, with the help
of police units, designed to rid the Greek island of Rhodes
and those around it of Jews; this was the end of the German
presence there, i.e., during the months of June, July 1944.
This is actually the only source we have among our documents
which shows how it happened that these Jews were also
arrested and that most of them perished, some in the sea
when their boat sank and others in the gas chambers of
Auschwitz, where they finally ended up.

The Accused is of course not mentioned here. This soldier
only knows what he saw with his own eyes at the time of his
service in the Army.

Presiding Judge: Is this an ordinary soldier?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  Yes - although he says that on 30
November 1937 he was sentenced to two and three quarter
years in the penitentiary for anti-nationalsocialist
activities. It may be assumed therefore that, during the War
also, he did not exactly sympathize with the doings of the
Gestapo and the SS. He himself served with the German Army
in Rhodes and he describes his personal experiences, mainly
about the commando of Oberst (Colonel) Weissenburg,* {*The
reference should be to Lieutenant-General Kleemann.}  who
was in charge of the German headquarters in Rhodes. I ask
you to accept this sworn declaration as evidence.

Presiding Judge: Do you have any information about Lenz?

State Attorney Bar-Or:  We know nothing about Lenz. I have
to add that no attempt was made to find him. If the Court so
orders we shall look for him. At the moment we have no
information regarding his whereabouts.

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

Dr. Servatius:  I read this declaration once, but I do not
have it with me because it is not on my list. I should
recommend to try first of all to find this man. If his last
address is apparent from the document it should not be
difficult to find him through the excellent German
registration system.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  In 1947 his address was: Erwin Lenz,
Berlin-Zehlendorf, Hirschsteig 7. It may be possible to
reach him through the population register. I have no doubt
that it is.

Presiding Judge: If that is so, Mr. Bar-Or, try and find him
and then we shall see what can be done with this document.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  If he is alive, I have no doubt that
he can be found. The question is whether the Court will
prefer to see him here, because it is quite possible that we
shall be ready to bring him here. He is not a war criminal.
We know that he was taken prisoner by the British and was
detained in a prison camp in Cairo. In the end he was
released. He was only brought to Nuremberg in order to give
evidence about the activities of the Army, against Army
personnel. The question is whether to bring him here.
Presiding Judge: The question is whether it is worth while.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  We have no direct evidence about the
fate of the Jews of Rhodes and the neighbouring islands
other than from this source. Perhaps we should reserve the
right to decide after we know whether the man can be found.

Presiding Judge: Dr. Servatius.

Dr. Servatius:  Perhaps the witness will come forward in
response to press reports - even before we look for him. And
for me it would be sufficient if he were briefly examined in
Germany, so that he need not come here. He does not seem to
me to have all that much importance for the case.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  For us it would be sufficient if we
could find him and if he could be interrogated about the
truth of his declaration.

Judge Halevi:  Perhaps the question will only arise if Dr.
Servatius should wish to cross-examine him, that is, after
he is found. The document could be submitted subject to the
right of Counsel for the Defence to examine him, or to do
without his examination. Let Counsel for the Defence decide
what he wishes to do.

Presiding Judge: At any rate, you will first of all find out
whether he can be located and then we shall revert to the
matter.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  We shall do so. And this brings the
chapter of Greece to its end.

Dr. Servatius:  I agree to the acceptance of the document,
subject to the option to cross-examine the witness, if he
will be found.

State Attorney Bar-Or:  If so, Your Honour, I suggest that
it be accepted now. I take it upon myself to make every
effort, so that the man will be found. As soon as I succeed,
I shall inform the Court, as well as the Counsel for the
Defence, so that he may decide if he wishes to call him for
examination in Germany or not.

Presiding Judge:

Decision No. 45

We accept the Declaration by Mr. Lenz under Section 15 of
the Nazi and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law 5710-1950,
while reserving the right of Counsel for the Defence to
examine him before a German Court, after the Prosecution
will have ascertained whether he can be found.

The document  will be marked T/999.

[The session was closed at 19.00]

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