Nineteenth Day:
Thursday, 13th December, 1945
[Page 366] [Page 367]
I wish to quote also from the body of this memorandum which
is found on Page 2 of the English translation and I quote
directly:-
It was particularly noted that, when marching, for
example, from the railroad station to the camp, a rather
large number of prisoners of war collapsed on the way
from exhaustion, either dead or half dead, and had to be
picked up by a truck following the convoy.
It cannot be prevented that the German people take
notice of these occurrences.
Even if the transportation to the camps is generally
taken care of by the Wehrmacht, the population will
attribute this situation to the S.S.
In order to prevent, if possible, similar occurrences in
the future, I therefore order that, effective from today
on, Soviet Russians, declared definitely suspect and
obviously marked for death (for example with typhus) and
therefore not able to withstand the exertions of even a
short march on foot, shall in the future, as a matter of
basic principle, be excluded from the transport into the
concentration camps for execution." [Page 368]
2. Since the transfer of the prisoners of war to the
Security Police and Security Service must not become
officially known to the outside under any
circumstances, other prisoners of war must by no
means be informed of the capture. The captured
prisoners are to be reported to the Army Information
Bureau as 'escaped and not captured'. Their mail is
to be handled accordingly. Inquiries of
representatives of the Protective Power of the
International Red Cross and of other aid societies
will be given the same answer." [Page 369]
Nazi conquest was marked by the establishment of
concentration camps over all Europe. In this connection we
refer to Document R-129. It is a report on the location of
concentration camps, signed by Pohl, who was an S.S. General
in charge of concentration camp labour policies. Document R-
129 is Exhibit USA 217.
I wish to refer particularly to Section 1, Paragraphs 1 and
2 of this document, which are found on Page 1 of the English
translation. It is addressed to the Reichsfuehrer S.S. and
bears the stamp "Secret":-
1. At the outbreak of war there existed the following
concentration camps:
(a) Dachau-1939, 4,000 prisoners; today, 8,000.
(b) Sachsenhausen-1939, 6,500 prisoners; today, 10,000.
(c) Buchenwald-1939, 5,300 prisoners; today, 9,000.
(d) Mauthausen-1939, 1,500 prisoners; today, 5,500.
(e) Flossenburg-1939, 1,600 prisoners; today, 4,700.
(f) Ravensbruek-1939, 2,500 prisoners; today, 7,500." [Page 370]
The camps were established in networks, and it may be
observed that surrounding each of the major camps-the larger
red dots - is a group of satellite camps, and the names of
the principal camps, the most notorious camps, at least, are
above the map and below it on the chart; and those names,
for most people, symbolise the Nazi system of concentration
camps as they have become known to the world since May or a
little later in 1945.
I should like to direct your attention briefly to the
treatment which was meted out in these camps. The motion
picture to which I have made reference a short time ago and
which was shown to the members of this High Tribunal, has
disclosed the terrible and savage treatment which was
inflicted upon these Allied nationals, prisoners of war and
other victims of Nazi terror. Because the moving picture has
so well shown the situation, as of the time of its taking at
least, I shall confine myself to a very brief discussion of
the subject.
The conditions which existed inside these camps were, of
course, we say, directly related to the objectives which
these Nazi conspirators sought to achieve outside the camps
through their employment of terror.
It is truly remarkable, it seems to us, how easily the words
"concentration camps" rolled off the lips of these men. How
simple all problems became when they could turn to the
terror institution of these camps. I refer to Document R-
124, which is already before the Tribunal as Exhibit USA
179. It is again that document covering the minutes of the
Central Planning Committee on which the defendant Speer sat,
and where the high strategy of the high Nazi armament
production was formulated. I do not intend to read from the
document again, because I read from it this morning, to
illustrate another point, but the Tribunal will recall that
it was at this meeting that the defendant Speer and others
were discussing the so-called slackers,
[Page 371]
Words spoken in this fashion, we say, sealed the fate of
many victims. As for getting the news around, as suggested
by the defendant Speer, this was not left to chance, as we
shall presently show.
The deterrent effect of the concentration camps upon the
public was a carefully planned thing. To heighten the
atmosphere of terror, these camps were shrouded in secrecy.
What went on in the barbed wire enclosures was a matter of
fearful conjecture in Germany and countries under Nazi
control; and this was the policy from the very beginning,
when the Nazis first came into power and set up this system
of concentration camps. We refer now to Document 778-PS,
Exhibit USA 247. This document is an order issued on the 1st
October, 1933, by the camp commander of Dachau. The document
prescribed a programme of floggings, solitary confinement
and executions for the inmates for infractions of the rules.
Among the rules were those prescribing a rigid censorship
concerning conditions within the camp ; and I refer to the
first page of the English text, paragraph numbered Article
11, and quoting:-
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(Part 5 of 10)
[MR. DODD continues]
"The name: Henricy. Charge: For associating with members
of illegal resistance movements and making money for
them, violating legal foreign exchange rates, for
harming the interests of the Reich and being expected in
the future to disobey official administrative
regulations and act as an enemy of the Reich. Place of
confinement: Natzweiler."
Next comes the name of "Krier" and the charge:-
"For being responsible for advanced sabotage of labour
and causing fear because of his political and criminal
past. Freedom would only further his anti-social urge.
Place of confinement: Buchenwald."
Passing to the middle of Page 2, after the name "Monti":-
"Charge: For being strongly suspected of aiding
desertion. Place of confinement: Sachsenhausen."
"Charge: Because as a relative of a deserter he is
expected to endanger the interests of the German Reich
if allowed to go free. Place of confinement:
Sachsenhausen."
"Jaeger" is the next name and the charge against Jaeger,
quoting:-
"Because as a relative of a deserter he is expected to
take advantage of every occasion to harm the German
Reich. Place of confinement: Sachsenhausen."
And down to the name "Ludwig" and the charge against Ludwig:-
"For being strongly suspected of aiding desertion. Place
of confinement: Dachau."
Not only civilians of the occupied countries but also
prisoners of war were subjected to the horrors and the
brutality of the concentration camps; and we refer to
Document 1165-PS, Exhibit USA 244. This document is a
memorandum to all officers of the State Police signed by
Muller, the Chief of the Gestapo, dated 9th November, 1941.
The memorandum has the revealing title of, and I quote,
"Transportation of Russian Prisoners of War, Destined for
Execution, into the Concentration Camps."
"The commandants of the concentration camps are
complaining that 5 to 10 per cent. of the Soviet
Russians destined for execution are arriving in the
camps dead or half dead. Therefore the impression has
arisen that the Stalags are getting rid of such
prisoners in this way.
More evidence of the confinement of Russian prisoners of war
in concentration camps is found in an official report of the
investigation of the Flossenburg concentration camp by the
Headquarters of the United States Third Army, the Judge
Advocate Section, and particularly the War Crimes Branch,
under the date of 21st June, 1945. It is our Document 2309-
PS, and is Exhibit USA 245. At the bottom of Page 2 of the
English text the last two sentences of that last paragraph
say, and I quote:-
"In 1941 an additional stockade was added at the
Flossenburg Camp to hold 2,000 Russian prisoners. Of
these 2,000 prisoners only 102 survived."
Soviet prisoners of war found their allies in the
concentration camps too and at Page 4 of this same Document
2309-PS it will show, particularly Paragraph 5, on Page 4,
and I quote it:-
"The victims of Flossenburg included among them Russian
civilians and prisoners of war, German nationals,
Italians, Belgians, Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, British
and American prisoners of war. No practical means was
available to complete a list of victims of this camp;
however, since the foundation of the Camp in 1938 until
the day of liberation it is estimated that more than
29,000 inmates died."
Escaped prisoners of war were sent to concentration camps by
the conspirators, and these camps were specially set up as
extermination centres ; and we refer to Document 1650-PS,
being Exhibit USA 246. This document is a communication from
the Secret State Police of Cologne and it is dated the 4th
March, 1944. At the very top of the English text it says "To
be transmitted in secret - to be handled as a secret
Government matter."
In the third paragraph, quoting:-
"Concerns: Measures to be taken against captured escaped
prisoners of war who are officers or non-working non-
commissioned officers, except British and American
prisoners of war. The Supreme Command of the Army has
ordered as follows:
The same communication carried a copy of an order of S.S.
General Muller, acting for the Chief of the Security Police
and S.D., directing the Gestapo to transport escaped
prisoners directly to Mauthausen; and I quote the first two
paragraphs of Muller's order, which begins on the bottom of
Page 1 and runs over to Page 2 of the English text. Quoting:-
1. Every captured escaped prisoner of war who is an
officer or a non-working non-commissioned officer,
except British and American prisoners of war, is to
be turned over to the Chief of the Security Police
and of the Security Service under the classification
'Step III', regardless of whether the escape occurred
during a transport, whether it was a mass escape or
an individual one.
"The State Police Directorates will accept the captured
escaped officer prisoners of war from the prisoner of
war camp commandants and will transport them to the
concentration camp Mauthausen following the procedure
previously used, unless the circumstances render a
special transport imperative. The prisoners of war are
to be put in irons on the transport - not on the station
if it is subject to view by the public. The camp
commandant at Mauthausen is to be notified that the
transfer occurs within the scope of the action 'Kugel'.
The State Police Directorates will submit semi-yearly
reports on these transfers giving merely the figures,
the first report being due on 5th July, 1944."
Passing the next three sentences, we come to this line:-
"For the sake of secrecy the Supreme Command of the
Armed Forces
It is no coincidence that the literal translation for the
German word 'Kugel' is the English word 'bullet', since
Mauthausen, where the escaped prisoners were sent, was an
extermination centre.
"Reichsfuehrer: Today I report about the present
situation of the concentration camps and about measures
I have taken in order to carry out your order of the 3rd
March, 1942:
And then it goes on to say in Paragraph 2, quoting:
"In the years 1940 to 1942 nine further camps were
erected:
In addition to the camps in the occupied territory mentioned
in this Document R-129, from which I have just read these
names and figures, there were many, many others. I refer to
the official report by the United States Third Army
Headquarters, to which we have already made reference,
Document 2309-PS, on Page 2 in the English text, Section IV,
Paragraph 4, quoting:_
(a) Auschwitz.
(b) Neuengamme.
(c) Guson.
(d) Natzweiter.
(e) Gross-Rosen.
(f) Lublin.
(g) Niederhagen.
(h) Stutthof.
(i) Arbeitsdorf." "Concentration Camp Flossenburg was founded in 1938 as a
camp for political prisoners. Construction was commenced
on the camp in 1938 and it was not until April, 1940,
that the first transport of prisoners was received. From
this time on prisoners began to flow steadily into the
camp. (Exhibit B-1.) Flossenburg was the mother camp and
under its direct control and jurisdiction were 47
satellite camps or outer-commandos for male prisoners
and 27 camps for female workers. To these outer-
commandos were supplied the necessary prisoners for the
various work projects undertaken.
I do not wish to take the time of the Tribunal to discuss
each of the Nazi concentration camps which dotted the map of
Europe. We feel that the widespread use of these camps is
commonly known and notorious. We do, however, wish to invite
the Tribunal's attention to a chart which we have had
prepared. The solid black line marks the boundary of Germany
after the "Anschluss", and we invite the Tribunal's
attention to the fact that the majority of the camps shown
on the chart are located within the territorial limits of
Germany itself. They are the red spots, of course, on the
map. In the centre of Germany there is the Buchenwald camp
located near the city of Weimar, and at the extreme bottom
of the chart there is Dachau, several miles outside Munich.
At the top of the chart are Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen,
located near Hamburg. To the left is the Niederhagen camp in
the Ruhr Valley. In the upper right there are a number of
camps near Berlin, one named Sachsenhausen (formerly
Oranienburg, which was one of the first camps established
after the Nazis came into power). Near to that is the camp
of Ravensbruck, which was used exclusively for women. Some
of the most notorious camps were indeed located outside
Germany. Mauthausen was in Austria. In Poland was the
infamous Auschwitz; and to the left of the chart is a camp
called Hertogenbosch which was located in Holland, as the
chart shows; and below it is Natzweiler, located in France.
"By virtue of the law on revolutionaries, the following
offenders, considered as agitators, will be hanged:
anyone who, for the purpose of agitating, does the
following in the camp, at work, in the quarters, in the
kitchens and workshops, toilets and places of rest:
talks politics, holds inciting speeches and meetings,
forms cliques, loiters around with others; who, for the
purpose of supplying the propaganda of the opposition
with atrocity stories, collects true or false
information about the concentration camp and its
institution, receives such information, buries it, talks
about it to others, smuggles it out of the camp into the
hands of foreign visitors or others by means of
clandestine or other methods, passes it on in writing or
orally to released prisoners or prisoners who are placed
above them, conceals it in clothing or other articles,
throws stones and other objects over the camp wall
containing such information, or produces secret
documents; who, for the purpose of agitating, climbs on
barracks roofs and trees, seeks contact with the outside
by giving light or other signals, or induces others to
escape or commit a crime, gives them advice to that
effect or supports such undertakings in any way
whatsoever."