Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression [Page 991]
D. Extermination.
(At this point a strip of motion picture footage taken,
presumably, by a member of the SS, and captured by the
United States military forces in an SS barracks near
Augsburg, Germany, was shown to the tribunal. The film
depicts what is believed to be the extermination of a ghetto
by Gestapo agents, assisted by military units. The following
scenes are representative:
Scene 2: A naked girl running across the courtyard.
The means of accomplishing the extermination of the Jews are
discussed in the diary of Hans Frank, then Governor General
of Occupied Poland (2253-D-PS). In a cabinet session on
Tuesday, 16 December 1941 in the Government Building at
Cracow, Frank made a closing address, as follows:
"As far as the Jews are concerned, I want to tell you
quite frankly that they must be done away with in one
way or. another. The Fuehrer said once: 'Should united
Jewry again succeed in provoking a world-war, the blood
of not only the nations which have been forced into the
war by them, will be shed, but the Jew will have found
his end in Europe'. I know that many of the measures
carried out against the Jews in the Reich at present
are being criticized. It is being tried intentionally,
as is obvious from the reports on the morale, to talk
about cruelty, harshness, etc. Before I continue, I
want to beg you to agree with me on the following
formula: We will principally have pity on the German
people only, and
[Page 992]
nobody else in the whole world. The others, too, had no
pity on us. As an old National-Socialist, I must say:
This war would only be a partial success if the whole
lot of Jewry would survive it, while we would have shed
our best blood in order to save Europe. My attitude
towards the Jews will, therefore, be based only on the
expectation that they must disappear. They must be done
away with. I have entered negotiations to have them
deported to the East. A great discussion concerning
that question will take place in Berlin in January, to
which I am going to delegate the State Secretary Dr.
Buehler. That discussion is to take place in the Reich
Security Main Office with SS-Lt. General Heydrich. A
great Jewish migration will begin, in any case.
"But what should be done with the Jews? Do you think
they will be settled down in the 'Ostland', in
villages? This is what we were told in Berlin: Why all
this bother ? We can do nothing with them either in the
'Ostland' nor in the 'Reich kommissariat'. So liquidate
them yourself.
"Gentlemen, I must ask you to rid yourself of all
feeling of pity. We must annihilate the Jews, wherever
we find them and wherever it is possible, in order to
maintain there the structure of the Reich as a whole.
This will, naturally, be achieved by other methods than
those pointed out by Bureau Chief Dr. Hummel. Nor can
the judges of the Special Courts be made responsible
for it, because of the limitations of the framework of
the legal procedure. Such outdated views cannot be
applied to such gigantic and unique events. We must
find at any rate a way which leads to the goal, and my
thoughts are working in that direction.
"The Jews represent for us-also extraordinarily
malignant gluttons. We have now approximately 2,500,000
of them in the General Government, perhaps with the
Jewish mixtures and everything that goes with it,
3,500,000 Jews. We cannot shoot or poison those
3,500,000 Jews, but we shall nevertheless be able to
take measures, which will lead, somehow, to their
annihilation, and this in connection with the gigantic
measures to be determined in discussions from the
Reich. The General Government must become free of Jews,
the same as the Reich. Where and how this is to be
achieved is a matter for the offices which we must
appoint and create here. Their activities will be
brought to your attention in due course." (2233-D-PS)
[Page 993]
This was not the planning and scheming of an irresponsible
individual, but the expression by the Governor General of
Occupied Poland, of the official policy of the German State.
Rosenberg's notion of the means to be taken against the Jews
is expressed in a secret "Document Memorandum for the
Fuehrer Concerning: Jewish Possessions in France," dated 18
December 1941. Rosenberg urges plundering and death:
"*** In compliance with the order of the Fuehrer for
protection of Jewish cultural possessions, a great
number of Jewish dwellings remained unguarded.
Consequently, many furnishings have disappeared because
a guard could, naturally, not be posted. In the whole
East the administration has found terrible conditions
of living quarters, and the chances of procurement are
so limited that it is not practical to procure any
more. Therefore, I beg the Fuehrer to permit the
seizure of all Jewish home furnishings of Jews in
Paris, who have fled or will leave shortly, and that of
Jews living in all parts of the occupied West, to
relieve the shortage of furnishings in the
administration in the East.
"2. A great number of leading Jews were, after a short
examination in Paris, again released. The attempts on
the lives of members of the armed forces have not
stopped; on the contrary they continue. This reveals an
unmistakable plan to disrupt the German-French
cooperation, to force Germany to retaliate, and, with
this, evoke a new defense on the part of the French
against Germany. I suggest to the Fuehrer that, instead
of executing 100 Frenchmen, we substitute 100 Jewish
bankers, lawyers, etc. It is the Jews in London and New
York who incite the French communists to commit acts of
violence, and it seems only fair that the members of
this race should pay for this. It is not the little
Jews, but the leading Jews in France, who should be
held responsible. That would tend to awaken the Anti-
Jewish sentiment.
"(Signed) A. Rosenberg." (001-PS)
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
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Volume
I Chapter XII
The Persecution of the Jews
(Part 7 of 14)
Scene 3 An older woman being pushed past the camera, and a
man in SS uniform standing at the right of the scene.
Scene 5: A man with a skull cap and a woman are manhandled.
Scene 14: A half-naked woman runs through the crowd.
Scene 15: Another half-naked woman runs out of the house.
Scene 16: Two men drag an old man out.
Scene 18: A man in German military uniform, with his back to
the camera, watches.
Scene 24: A general shot of the street, showing fallen
bodies and naked women running.
Scene 32: A shot of the street, showing five fallen bodies.
Scene 37: A man with a bleeding head is hit again.
Scene 39: A soldier in German military uniform, with a
rifle, stands by as a crowd centers on a man coming out of
the house.
Scene 44: A soldier with a rifle, in German military
uniform, walks past a woman clinging to a torn blouse.
Scene 45: A woman is dragged by her hair across the street.)