One-Hundred-and-Twelfth Day:
Tuesday, 23rd April, 1946 [Page 182]
DR. SEIDL: Mr. President, this document is the only one of
this kind which is available to me and in view of the fact
that the prosecution has only quoted in full those passages
which the defendant, Dr. Frank, himself criticized most
severely, I consider it my duty now to read a number of
passages, to quote them, in order to give the entire picture
correctly and to show what the defendant, Dr. Frank, really
intended to achieve with this document. I shall only quote a
few more lines and then I will pass to another document.
THE PRESIDENT: I had hoped that one or two extracts from
that document would show what the defendant Frank was
putting forward, one or two paragraphs.
DR. SEIDL: I go on to the next document, Mr. President, that
is on Page 68, the affidavit by the witness Dr. Buehler,
which I presented to the witness today and which has been
given the number Exhibit Frank-1, Page 68 in the document
book.
On Page 70 there appears Exhibit USA-473. If I remember
correctly this document has already been read in full by the
prosecution and I would like to ask the Tribunal to take
judicial notice of that also in the defence of Dr. Frank.
On Page 72 of the document book is an affidavit of the
former Kreishauptmann, Dr. Albrecht. To be exact I have to
state that this is not really an affidavit in the true sense
of the word. It is only a letter which Kreishauptmann Dr.
Albrecht has sent to me through the General Secretary of the
Tribunal. I then returned the letter in order to have it
sworn to by the witness, but I have to say that until now
that sworn statement has not been returned, so that for the
time being, this exhibit would only have the material value
of a letter. Therefore I ask the Tribunal to decide whether
that document can be accepted by the Tribunal as an exhibit
in the form of a letter.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Tribunal did consider that matter
before when your application was before it. They will accept
the document for what it is worth. If you get the document
in affidavit form you will no doubt put it in.
DR. SEIDL: Yes. That will be Exhibit Frank-7. I forgo the
quoting of the first points and proceed direct to Page 74 of
the document book and I
quote under No. 4:-
[Page 183]
In face of the demands of the Berlin central authorities,
who believed it possible to import more from the
Government General into the Reich than was advisable, Dr.
Frank asserted vigorously the political independence of
the Government General as an 'adjunct of Germany'
(Nebenland des Reiches), and his own independence as
being directly subordinated only to the Supreme Head of
the State, but not to the Reich Government. He also
instructed us on no account to comply with demands which
might come to us on the basis of personal relations with
the authorities by whom we were sent, or with the
Ministries concerned, and if by so doing we came into
conflict with such authorities or Ministries, to report
to him about it. This firm attitude gained Dr. Frank the
displeasure of the Berlin government circles, and the
Government General was dubbed 'Frankreich.' A campaign of
calumny was initiated in the Reich against him and
against the entire administration of the Government
General by systematically generalising and exaggerating
regrettable ineptitudes and human weaknesses of
individuals, at the same time by attempting to belittle
the actual constructive achievements."
Besides the exploitation and the pauperisation of the
Government General, the accusation of the enslaving of
the native population as well as deporting it to the
Reich, and many atrocities of various kinds have appeared
in the newspaper reports on the Nuremberg War Crimes
Trial and were interpreted as serious evidence against
Dr. Frank. As far as atrocities are concerned, the guilt
does not lie with Dr. Frank but in some measure with the
numerous non-German agitators and provocateurs who, with
the growing pressure on the fighting German fronts,
increased their underground activity, but more especially
with the former State Secretary for the Security
Organisation in the Government General, S.S.
Obergruppenfuehrer Kruger and his agencies. My
observations in this respect are sketchy, because of the
strict secrecy of these offices.
On the other hand, Dr. Frank went so far in meeting the
needs of the Polish population that this was frequently
objected to by his German [Page 184]
At times it came to a complete break. I still recall
quite clearly that Dr. Frank, during a governmental visit
to the District (Kreishauptmannschaft) of Stanislau in
the Carpathian areas in the summer of 1943, when he took
a walk alone with me and my wife in Jaremtsche on the
Prutz, complained most bitterly about the arbitrary acts
of the S.S., which quite frequently ran counter to the
political line taken by him. At that time he called the
S.S. the 'Black Plague,' and pointed out, when he noticed
our astonishment at hearing such criticism coming from
his lips, that if, for example, my wife were to be
wrongfully arrested one day or night by agencies of the
Gestapo and disappear, never to be seen again, without
having been given the opportunity of defence in a court
trial, absolutely nothing could be done about it. Some
time afterwards he made a speech to the students in
Heidelberg, which attracted much attention and was loudly
applauded, about the necessity for the re-establishment
of a German constitutional State (Rechtsstaat) such as
would do justice to the real needs of the German people.
When he wanted to repeat this speech in Berlin, he is
said to have been forbidden by the Fuehrer and Reich
Chancellor, at Himmler's instigation, to make speeches
for three months, as reported to me by a reliable, but
unfortunately forgotten source. The struggle against the
methods of violence used by the S.S. led to Dr. Frank
having a nervous breakdown and he had to take a fairly
long sick-leave. As far as I can remember this was in the
winter of 1943/44."
THE PRESIDENT: Didn't this witness give evidence?
DR. SEIDL: The witness was questioned here by the
prosecution and I made the motion at that time that either I
be allowed to interrogate the witness again or be granted
the use of an affidavit. On 8 March, 1946, the Tribunal made
the decision, if I remember correctly, that I could use an
affidavit from that witness, but that the prosecution would
be free to do so, if they desired, to question the witness
again.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
DR. SEIDL: I shall read the statements of the witness
concerning this matter, and I quote:
[Page 185]
(b) During a speech to a Polish delegation Frank had
disavowed some of Himmler's measures and had disparaged,
in front of the Poles, those charged with carrying them
out, but calling them 'militant personalities.'
Kruger spoke very disapprovingly about Dr. Frank and
blamed Frank's faltering and unstable policy towards the
Poles for conditions in the Government General. He called
for harsher and more ruthless measures and said that he
would not rest until the traitor Frank was overthrown. I
had the impression, from Kruger's statements, that
personal motives also influenced his attitude and that he
himself would have liked to become Governor General.
After that I had a long discussion with Dr. Frank. I told
him of my impressions, and he went into lengthy details
about a new policy for Poland which aimed at appeasing
the Poles by means of concessions. In agreement with my
personal impressions, Dr. Frank considered the following
factors responsible for the crisis in the Government
General:
(b) The insufficient food quota allotted to the
Government General. Dr. Frank called Kruger and Globoznik
declared enemies of any conciliatory policy, and said it
was absolutely essential that they should be recalled.
(3) The Warsaw revolt of 1944 - "
DR. SEIDL: In that case I ask the Tribunal to take judicial
notice of paragraph 3 of the affidavit by von dem Bach-
Zelewski. Paragraph 3 deals with the Warsaw revolt in the
year 1944 and the question
[Page 186]
Then I pass on to Page 92.
THE PRESIDENT: As a matter of fact, does the indictment
charge anything in connection with the crushing of the
Warsaw revolt in 1944?
DR. SEIDL: There is nothing in the Indictment itself about
the part played by the Governor General in the crushing of
that revolt. However, the Soviet Prosecution has submitted a
telegram which puts the defendant Dr. Frank in some relation
to the Warsaw revolt. But I shall not go into details about
that now.
I pass on to Page 92 of the document book.
This is an affidavit by the witness Wilhelm Ernst von
Palizieux, in whose case the Tribunal has approved an
interrogatory. But I was told by the Tribunal that in place
of an interrogatory I could submit an affidavit. I quote
only the two main paragraphs as follows:
Catalogues of the existing art treasures had already been
made before I came to Poland; the list of the first
selection had been printed in book form as a catalogue,
with descriptions and statement of origin and had been
ordered by the Governor General."
DR. SEIDL: Mr. President, I assumed that in those cases
where a witness does not appear before the Tribunal in
person, it is admissible that either the interrogatory or
the affidavit be read, because otherwise the contents of his
testimony would not become part of the record and therefore
part of the proceedings.
THE PRESIDENT: That rule was in order that the defendants
and their counsel should have the document before them in
German; that is the reason for reading the documents through
the earphones. The Tribunal will adjourn now. But I want to
tell you that you must shorten your presentation of this
documentary evidence. We have already been a good deal more
than an hour over one book and we have four more books to
deal with, and it doesn't do your case any good to read all
these long passages and it is only necessary for you to give
such connecting statements as make the documents
intelligible and to correlate them with the oral evidence
that is being given.
(The Tribunal adjourned until 24 April, 1946, at 10.00 hours.)
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(Part 10 of 10)
"Dr. Frank's fight against the exploitation and neglect
of the Government General in favour of the Reich.
Conflict with Berlin.
The first meeting with Dr. Frank occurred shortly after
the establishment of the Government General in the autumn
of 1939 in the Polish district-capital, Radom, where the
10 Kreis chiefs of this district had to report concerning
the condition of the population in their administrative
district, and the problem of reconstructing as quickly
and effectively as possible the general, as well as the
administrative and economic life. What struck one most
was the keen awareness of Dr. Frank and his deep concern
about the area entrusted to him. This found expression in
the instructions not to consider or treat the Government
General, or allow it to be used, as an organisation for
exploitation or as a useless area, but rather to consider
it as a centre of public order and an area of
concentration at the back of the fighting German front
and at the gates of the German homeland, forming a link
between the two. Also to consider that the loyal native
inhabitants of this country had claim to the full
protection of the German administration as citizens of
the Government General. To this end the constant efforts
of all authorities and economic agencies would be
demanded by him, and, by means of constant control
through supervisors, would be personally superintended by
him by periodical inspection trips, with the
participation of the specialised central offices. In this
way, for instance, the two districts which were
administered by me were inspected by him personally three
times in four years.
I should like to ask the Tribunal to take official notice of
number 5, also number 6, and I will only quote from number
7.
"(7) Dr. Frank as an Opponent of Acts of Violence against
the Native Population, especially as an Opponent of the
S.S.
compatriots. That he did the correct thing by his stand
for the just interests of the Polish population is
proven, for example, by the impressive fact that barely a
year and a half after the defeat of the Polish people in
a campaign of eighteen days, the concentration of German
Army masses against Russia in the Polish area took place
without any disturbances worth mentioning, and that the
Eastern railroad was able to move the troop transports
with Polish personnel up to the most forward unloading
points without being delayed by sabotage."
I quote the last paragraph on Page 79:
"This humane attitude of Dr. Frank, which earned him
respect and sympathy among considerable groups of the
native population, led, on the other hand, to bitter
conflicts with the S.S., in whose ranks Himmler's
statement, 'They shall not love us, but fear us,' was
applied as the guiding principle of their attitude and
actions.
I ask the Court to take official notice of number 8, and I
pass on to Page 84 of the document book. That is an
affidavit by S.S. Obergruppenfuehrer Erich von dem Bach-
Zelewski, of 21 February, 1946. This affidavit becomes Frank
Exhibit No. 8.
"(1) Owing to the infiltration of Russian partisan groups
over the line of the river Bug into the Government
General in 1943, Himmler declared the Government General
to be a 'guerrilla warfare territory.' Thus it became my
duty, as 'Chief of the guerrilla warfare units,' to
travel about the Government General to collect
information and get experience, and to submit reports and
suggestions for fighting the partisans.
In the general information Himmler gave me, he called the
Governor General, Dr. Frank, a traitor to his country,
who was conspiring with the Poles, and whom he would
expose to the Fuehrer very shortly. I still remember two
of the reproaches Himmler used against Frank:
THE PRESIDENT: I must point out to you that you said you
were going to be only two hours over five volumes. You have
now been over an hour over one volume, and you are reading
practically everything in these documents. It isn't at all
what the Tribunal has intended. You have been told that you
may make short comments showing how the documents are
connected with each other and how they are connected with
all the evidence. That is not what you are doing at all.
(a)At a lawyer's meeting in the Old Reich territory Frank
is said to have stated that 'he preferred a bad
constitutional state to the best conducted police state,'
and
After having, on a circular tour, personally obtained
information on the spot about the situation in the
Government General, I visited the higher S.S. and Police-
Fuehrer Kruger and the Governor General, Dr. Frank, in
Cracow.
(a) The ruthless resettlement action carried out now in
the midst of war, especially the senseless and
purposeless resettlement carried out by the S.S. and
Police-Fuehrer Globoznik in Lublin.
Being convinced that if Dr. Frank failed, he would only
be succeeded by a more ruthless and uncompromising
person, I promised him my support. Having been assured of
strictest secrecy, I told Frank I shared his opinion that
Kruger and Globoznik would have to disappear. He, Dr.
Frank, knew however that Himmler hated him and that he
was urging Hitter to have him removed. With such a state
of affairs, any request on Frank's part to have Kruger
and Globoznik recalled would not only be rejected, but
would even strengthen their position with Himmler. Frank,
therefore, should give me a free hand, then I could
promise him that both would be relieved of their posts
within a short time. Dr. Frank agreed to that, and I then
made use of the military mistakes that Kruger and
Globoznik had committed in order to bring about their
recall by Himmler.
"The art treasures stored in the castle in Cracow since
the spring of 1943 were under official and legal
supervision there. When speaking to me Dr. Frank always
referred to these art treasures as State property of the
Government General.
THE PRESIDENT: Now you are reading the affidavit all over
again. We don't want that sort of -