Sixty-Seventh Day:
Monday, 25nd February, 1946
[Page 300]
Among the other fascist institutions carrying out various
pseudo-scientific experiments, the German criminals created
a special Institute for Economic Research. This institute
issued a document entitled "What the Polish Problem means
for War Production in Upper Silesia":-
[Page 301]
I will not quote large excerpts from the document, but will
limit myself only to short facts. I start on Page 63 of this
investigation in the document, which corresponds to Page
102, last paragraph of the document book:
[Page 302]
. . . it is no longer possible, by threats of deportation
to concentration camps, to induce to work under-fed
people incapable of physical effort. . . . sooner or
later there comes a day when the weakened body can no
longer work."
I begin the quotation from the document produced, on Page
127 which corresponds to page 110, second paragraph, of the
document book.
This legal situation is perhaps most clearly mirrored in
'the Poles lack of possession in the eyes of the law'. In
the administration of justice, a Pole is not permitted to
conduct his case before a court. In criminal procedure
the viewpoint of obedience dominates. The execution of
legal regulations is in the first place the task of the
police, who can decide at their discretion or refer
individual cases to the courts." [Page 303]
The restriction on the rights of Poles is illustrated by
an example: A German widow with three children receives
8o per cent. of the yearly salary of her fatally injured
husband; from an annual income of two thousand marks she
receives 1600 marks per year; but a Pole, in a similar
situation, would receive nothing."
I beg the Tribunal to enter into the record as evidence one
of these documents, which I submit as Exhibit USSR 218. It
is the report of the representative attached by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs to the General Staff of the 17th Army,
Captain Pflaiderer, and addressed to his colleague von
Rantzau from the Information Service of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
These documents were discovered by units of the Red Army on
the Dirksen estate in Upper Silesia.
From these documents it can be concluded that in 1941-42
Pflaiderer made a trip covering the following route through
the occupied territories of Yugoslavia - through the
Ukraine, - Lvov, - Tarnopol, - Proskurov, - Vinnitza, -
Uman, - Kirovograd, - Alexandria, - and Krementshug on the
Dnieper.
The purpose of this trip was to study economic and political
conditions in the occupied territories of the Ukraine. That
the author of this document was also completely lacking in
so-called humanitarian tendencies can be seen from the
following short excerpt from his report dated 28 October,
1941 - the Tribunal will find this quotation on Page 113,
second paragraph of the document book:
Mentality and Living Conditions of the Population by the
End of October, 1941." [Page 304]
Of course the supplying of our own troops comes first;
the method of the supplying in itself, however, is not
immaterial; psychologically, to requisition the last hen
is as unreasonable as it is, economically, to kill the
last pig or the last calf."
I refer to two short excerpts.
The quotation which I shall read into the record will
testify to the absence of any humanitarian tendencies on the
part of the author, and if Paul Thompson brought back from
his trip only "the most depressing impression", that is only
further proof of the depths of cruelty and brutality to
which the Germans were willing to descend. The Tribunal will
find these excerpts on Page 116 of the document.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now.
(The Tribunal adjourned until 26th February, 1946, at 10.00
hours.)
[
Previous |
Index |
Next ]
Home ·
Site Map ·
What's New? ·
Search
Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and
to combat hatred.
Any statements or excerpts found on this site are for educational purposes only.
As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may
include on this website materials, such as excerpts from the writings of racists and antisemites. Far from approving these writings, Nizkor condemns them and
provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist
and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.
(Part 8 of 8)
[COLONEL L. N. SMIRNOV continues] "In summing up, the Fuehrer once more stated: The last
German worker and the last German peasant must always
stand economically 10 per cent. higher than any Pole."
What actually happened? I would like to show that, in full
approval, the defendant Frank put these Hitler orders into
effect in Polish territory. I beg the Tribunal to accept in
evidence an original German document.
"... The fascist 'scientific' institute decided to make
such an investigation in order to clarify the reason why
the output of Polish workers had become considerably
reduced."
"This investigation is in no way to be construed as
propaganda to arouse pity."
On Page 149 of the quoted document the Tribunal will find
this on Page 101, third paragraph, of the document book:
"We raise our voices not to defend the Poles but to
protect the war production for the Armed Forces."
Quoting these two short excerpts characterising the aims and
nature of this investigation, I further quote a few excerpts
which show the status of the Polish worker and the practical
execution by the defendant Frank of the above-mentioned
directives of Hitler. I quote from Page 38 of the original
of the document, which corresponds to Page 101, paragraph 7,
of the document book:-
"Information concerning the situation of the Polish
population, and considerations as to which measures would
be the most suitable in this connection, differs on many
points, but one point, which can be summed up here in
four words, is recognised in all quarters: The Poles are
starving! Already some passing observations corroborate
these conclusions: One of our investigators visited a war
production plant during the lunch period. The workers
were standing or sitting apathetically, warming
themselves in the sun, and here and there smoking. The
investigator reports that of eighty persons, only one had
a piece of bread for lunch. The others, although all
working ten to twelve hours a day, had nothing."
I pass to Page 72 of the original, which corresponds to Page
102 of the document book; there is this quotation:
"Observations made in the factories prove that the
present rations of the Polish workers are so
insignificant that they do not have enough food to take
with them to work. In most cases the workers do not even
have anything for breakfast. When they do bring
something, it is only coffee and one or two pieces of dry
bread, or raw potatoes; in the worst cases they did not
even have this, but only raw turnip, which was then
heated on a stove during work."
I continue my quotation on Page 150 of the same document:
"In this connection it could be stated that on visiting
the mines, it appeared that nearly 10 per cent. of the
Polish workers sent on shifts into the mines did not have
any food, while 50 per cent. went to work underground
with only dry bread, or raw potatoes cut in slices, which
they warmed afterwards on a stove."
The Institute began its "Scientific Calculations" with
comparison of the calories received by the Poles in Upper
Silesia and the calories received by the German population.
"Comparison of the number of calories received by the
Poles in Upper Silesia with the number of calories
allocated to the German population, indicate that the
Poles receive 24 per cent. less than the Germans. This
difference reaches 26 per cent. on the food ration cards
of non-working Poles. For youths from fourteen to twenty
the difference in rations allocated to Germans and Poles
reached almost 33 per cent. However, it must be stressed
that this only applies to working youths over 14.
I continue on Page 178 of the original which corresponds to
Page 103, paragraph 2, in the second document book:
"In all categories the Polish youth, in comparison with
the German is most unfavourably treated. The difference
in rations of Poles and Germans reaches 6o per cent. and
more."
Extracts from the report of the German Labour Front, cited
in this investigation are also of interest. Particularly on
Page 76 are quoted excerpts from the report of the German
Labour Front, dated 10 October, 1941, after a visit to one
of the coal mines in Poland:
"It was established that in, various villages Polish
miners collapse from exhaustion. As the workers
constantly complained of stomach pains, doctors were
consulted, who answered that this was a symptom of under-
nourishment."
I would conclude this description of the Polish workers'
physical condition given by the German criminals themselves
(and, what is more by the "learned" criminals) by a short
quotation from the same report, which the Tribunal will find
on Page 106, paragraph 6, of the document book:
"The management of the factories constantly stresses
that,
There also is in this document an account of the legal
status of the Polish worker during the German occupation, an
account about which there is no ambiguity. This descriptive
sketch is all the more valuable because, as was stressed
above, the authors of the investigation report expressly
emphasised that "all humanitarian tendencies whatsoever were
lacking".
"The law does not recognise any legal claim of any member
of the Polish nation in any sphere of life. Whatever is
granted a Pole is done voluntarily by the German masters.
According to an order dated 26 August, 1942, Polish as well
as German workers were obliged to take out premiums against
illness, accidents and disability. These were deducted from
the wages and were larger for the Poles than those for the
Germans. While, however, the German workers profited by this
insurance, the Poles were actually deprived of its benefits.
As proof of this I shall present to the
"Insurance against accidents, which is incumbent on the
trade unions, involved particularly stringent measures
for the Poles. The recognition of disability caused by an
accident is much more limited than in the case of
Germans. Disability for the loss of an eye is 30 per
cent. for a German and 25 per cent. for a Pole. The
payment of a benefit depends on 331/3 per cent.
disability."
I continue my quotation on Page 135 of the original
document, that is to say on Page 111 of the document book:
"The most stringent measures are provided for the
dependants of fatally injured persons. The maximum a
widow can receive is half of that granted by the
insurance - and this only in case she has to support not
less than four children under fifteen years
of age, or is herself an invalid.
The major German fascist war criminals sent into the
temporarily occupied Eastern territories, not only soldiers
and the SS, but specially appointed "scientists" and
"consultants in economic problems", and all sorts of
"investigators". Some of them were detached from
Ribbentrop's office; others were sent by Rosenberg.
"There is an acute necessity to squeeze the country dry
to secure regular supplies for Germany."
But even with such a leaning to cruelty and rapacity,
Pflaiderer, was evidently abashed by the conduct of his
compatriots, for he deemed it necessary to bring it to the
attention of the highest authorities of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs: I quote his report, which the Tribunal will
find on Page 114 of the document book, it is entitled:-
"Basic Rules for the Guarantee of Fresh Supply and for
the Producing of the
Largest Possible Food Surplus in the Ukraine. . . ."
"The frame of mind of the population became generally
more hostile a few weeks after the occupation of the
territory by our troops. The reason for it? We display
... inner hostility, and even hatred toward this country,
and toward the people, arrogance.... The third year of
war, and the necessity of wintering in an unfriendly
country causes many difficulties. But they must be
surmounted with courage and self discipline. We must not
work off our discontent on the population of this
country.... How often it happened that, acting
illogically and committing mistakes that we could have
avoided, we lost all the sympathy of the population. The
people cannot understand the fact that we shoot exhausted
prisoners of war in villages and larger localities and
leave their bodies lying there. As the troops are
entrusted with a wide authority for self-provisioning,
the kolkhozes, along the main roads and near the larger
towns, for the most part lack pedigree cattle, seeds,
seed potatoes (Poltava). . . .
I continue my quotation, paragraph 3, Page 115 of the
document book:-
"The population is without leadership. It stands apart,
and feels that we look down on it from above, that we see
sabotage in their tempo of work, that we do not take any
steps to find a way to an understanding."
A similar document is that submitted as Exhibit USSR 439,
which was kindly given to us by our American colleagues. It
was filed by the American prosecution as 303-PS. This
document is a political report of the German professor, Dr.
Paul B. Thompson, written on the paper of the State
University of Poznan of the Biological Paleontological
Institute, and marked by the author himself "Not for
publication". The Tribunal will find it on Page 116 of the
document book. This document also introduces us into the
field of complete lawlessness and tyrannical arbitrariness
toward the local population of the temporarily occupied
districts of the Soviet Union. These observations were made
by the professor during his trip through the temporarily
occupied territories of the Soviet Union from Minsk to the
Crimea.