The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

The Trial of Adolf Eichmann
Session 43
(Part 3 of 7)


State Attorney Bar-Or: And on the second page we find Eichmann's reply, given to the Foreign Ministry on 19 November 1941. Again, "in view of the coming Final Solution of the European Jewish Question," the emigration of the Jewess to unoccupied France has to be prevented.

And now document No. 119, which was shown to the Accused and marked T/37(39). The Accused said what he had regarding this in his Statement on page 744 and following pages. This is one of the rare documents still extant in which we find the last, perhaps the only, record of the attitudes of the Jewish specialists within the Reich area in the Accused's office. Here is a report about a meeting, or a consultation, held in the Head Office for Reich Security, Section IVB4, on 6 March 1942. It is perhaps not superfluous for me to direct the attention of the Court to a few sentences in the report. It begins:

"SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann spoke, by way of introduction, about the additional evacuation of 50,000 Jews from the Old Reich, as well as from the Ostmark and the Protectorate. Prague, from which 20,000 Jews are to be evacuated, and Vienna - 18,000 - are to take the largest part in this."
Then it says:
"In this connection, Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann pointed out that the directives given, especially as regards age, infirmity, etc., have to be strictly followed since, in the transport to Riga, some forty to forty-five cases were reported by the Elders of the Jews to SS Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich, through District Party Leaders Liepe and Meyer, as having been deported without justification. Although, after further examination, most of these cases turned out to be perfectly justified, every effort has to be made to prevent complaints of this sort. For this reason, Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich imposes responsibility for the implementation of the directives on the State Police Commanders personally."
And here is one more paragraph on page 2 of the report. He says (it is the man from Duesseldorf reporting to his superior):
"The Jews must not under any circumstance receive information about the preparations for the evacuation; absolute secrecy is therefore necessary. The so-called Special Account W is at the disposal of Section IVB4 of the Head Office for Reich Security since, in accordance with Regulation 11, that Head Office no longer has access to the property of the Jews. In order to put enough funds at the disposal of the account, it is requested that the Jews be made to contribute substantial donations to Account W in the near future. It was said that so far small amounts have been received, apparently because of the misunderstanding that the account would benefit the Jews directly."
Presiding Judge: That is to say, a misunderstanding on the part of the collectors, not on the part of the contributors?

State Attorney Bar-Or: The collectors, men of the Gestapo. We have already seen how the Reich Association announces, by order of the Accused, that these funds will be put at the disposal of the Reich Association. This was also the impression locally. For this reason, there was a misunderstanding which had to be cleared up.

Finally, the last sentence reads: "After this, notes were compared about the experience of State Police Offices which are already carrying out evacuations, and those for whom these are new tasks."

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/734.

State Attorney Bar-Or: I go on to document No. 1189, a request from the Embassy of Italy, dated 20 February 1942, a document which comes, of course, from the files of the German Foreign Ministry. It says that, in accordance with information received by the Royal Italian Embassy, the police authorities in Magdeburg have ordered the confiscation, as of 1 March of that year, of the private dwelling of the Italian citizen, Countess Geltrude Irene Sacconi, aged 72. The embassy asks the Foreign Ministry to help the countess in her predicament.

Presiding Judge: She is Jewish?

State Attorney Bar-Or: It does not say so here.

Presiding Judge: It says: The confiscation is said to be based on the fact that she is supposed...to belong to the Jewish race.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Thank you very much, Your Honour. The Italians write that she is reputed to belong to the Jewish race.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/735.

State Attorney Bar-Or: The matter is cleared up very quickly in our document No. 1190, the reply of the Accused to the Foreign Ministry of 13 March 1942. He writes briefly: "I have instructed the State Police Head Office Magdeburg to refrain from taking any measures whatever against the Jewess of Italian nationality, Countess Sacconi, especially from sequestering her personal dwelling, until further notice."

With reference to the earlier question by His Honour, Judge Halevi, here also we have, of course, a matter which is not actually relevant, nobody speaks here about evacuation or deportation. This is a matter that was within the general field of activity of the Gestapo in Magdeburg. The Accused orders the Gestapo how to act, when to refuse, and whether to refuse. Always with respect to Jewish affairs, at least inside Germany. When we come to other countries, we shall, of course, also find other cases.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/736.

State Attorney Bar-Or: I go on to document No. 1279. There are again guidelines about deportations, transports of Jews to the area of the Generalgouvernement (Trawniki near Lublin), guidelines received by Gestapo Wuerzburg on 2 March 1942. Here I want to draw the attention of the Court to three matters which seem important. First of all, under paragraph IV, "Escort of Transports," it says: "An additional copy of this transport list must be submitted to the Head Office for Reich Security Section IVB4 immediately after the departure of each transport." After this, and even more important, in paragraph VI, where matters of reporting, recording, or information are dealt with, detailed instructions are given on how to report about transports carried out. And this is what it says:

"The departure of each transport train must be reported immediately by urgent telegram, as per attached sample (Addendum 1) to: (a) Head Office for Reich Security, Section IVB4; (b) Commander of the Security Police and the Security Service, SS Obersturmfuehrer Dr. Schoengarth, Cracow; (c) Commander of the SS and the Police in the Lublin district, SS Brigadefuehrer Globocnik, Lublin. The arrival of the transports and their orderly reception at destination will be reported by the receiving office (Commander of the SS and the Police in the Lublin District) by telegram, as per attached sample (Addendum 2) to Head Office for State Security, Section IVB4."
I place special emphasis on the reporting arrangements, because it seems that here the Economic-Administrative Main Office no part whatever with respect to these transports, as from the beginning of 1942. No information has to be sent to it, and the reporting was exclusively between the Generalgouvernement and the Section of the Accused.

Presiding Judge: Who issued these orders?

State Attorney Bar-Or: These orders were issued by the Accused and his men to all Regional Headquarters of the Gestapo. We have already referred to two of them. The Gestapo Regional Headquarters copied the orders and passed them on to the branch offices. One of these was Wuerzburg, and it was from there that it reached us. In this way, we shall have to reconstruct, with some difficulty, the files of the Accused which were lost, and of which we have no copies.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/737.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Now we come to document No. 1289. Here it is decided in Nuremberg to establish a special commission in connection with the deportation of Jews from the Reich to Lublin, and the document starts right away: "By virtue of instructions from the Head Office for Reich Security of 31.1.1942, IVB4" and so on. It refers to information which came by telephone from IVB4 to the Regional Headquarters of the Gestapo, according to which "a further 1,000 Jews will be evacuated from the three districts of Franconia" which we know already, "and deported to Lublin by a special Reich Railways train.

Simultaneously, the typewriters, bicycles, cameras and binoculars, seized from Jews in accordance with the urgent order from the Head Office for Reich Security of 13.11.1941, IVB4, are to be confiscated and stored." These orders were issued by the Regional Headquarters of the Gestapo on 11 April 1942.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/738.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Prosecution document No. 1288 is a telegram from the Accused sent from Berlin on 17 April 1942. It may perhaps be called a circular telegram to all Gestapo units and emigration centres. It is addressed to the Gestapo units in Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Bruenn, Frankfurt/Main, Duesseldorf, Hannover, Muenster, Koeln, Breslau, Kassel, Dortmund, Osnabrueck, Stuttgart, Nuremberg - from there it reached us - Kiel, and furthermore to the Central Offices for Jewish Emigration in Vienna and Prague, and also to the Liaison Office Bruenn and to the Inspectorate of the D.S. and the Security Service in Danzig.

It says: "With reference to the above-mentioned, I" - the Accused - "inform you that Jews who hold the wounded soldiers decoration shall likewise not be evacuated to the East. It is intended to transfer these Jews at a later date to a special old age ghetto inside the Reich area. For your information and attention." At the end of the telegram, there is the marking RSHA IVB4. Signed: Eichmann, SS Obersturmbannfuehrer.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/739.

State Attorney Bar-Or: I go on to document No. 1290. Here Gestapo Wuerzburg reports about the evacuation of the Jews in accordance with the instructions for reporting, at which the Court has just seen. We find that this telegram was indeed sent to those addresses which were to be informed in accordance with the instructions of the Accused, i.e., first of all it was sent to IVB4 for the attention of Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann; it was sent to the Commander of the Security Police and the Security Police in Cracow; it was sent to the Commander of the SS and the police in the Lublin District. And in the telegram it says that "On 25 April 1942, at 15.20 transport train No. DA 49 left departure station Wuerzburg-Main Station for Lublin-Izbica, carrying altogether 852 Jews. Another 103 Jews will be loaded on in Bamberg, so that the transport includes altogether 955 Jews."

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/740.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Let us now pass on to Prosecution document No. 1291. This is a settlement of account which Wuerzburg owes to Regional Gestapo Headquarters Fuerth about the collection, and especially the expenses in connection with the transport of 25 April 1942, which we have just mentioned. And here we find various payments which, of course, in the end are covered by the method with which the Court is by now already familiar. It says that on that day, 25.4.1942, 852 Jews were evacuated to the East from the area of jurisdiction of State Police Office Wuerzburg, and another 103 Jews from Bamberg. And then it goes on to list what was received and what was paid out, in full detail.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/741.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Now we go on to our document No. 1280. A telegram to all Gestapo offices, both in the Greater Reich and in the East. Litzmannstadt, Posen, Zichenau and other places are especially mentioned* {*According to Doc. T/742: "excluded"} here. The telegram is marked IVB4a and signed by Mueller, SS Gruppenfuehrer. It deals with lists of additional Jews who are to be included in the transport. He says, inter alia, that "In order to make use of the possibilities for reception still existing in the East, I ask you to report the number of those Jews remaining in your area who can still be evacuated while strictly respecting the existing guidelines." In this context he mentions the exceptions who must not be included in the transports to the East, and who must be kept for transportation to the Old Age Ghetto Theresienstadt in the Protectorate Bohemia-Moravia when the time comes (zu gegebener Zeit).

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/742.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Now to our document No. 730, which actually consists of two documents. These two letters were shown to the Accused and were numbered T/37(218). Somebody, who mentions Dr. Rasche, writes to Advocate Rajakowitsch, whom we know from the office of the Accused, and asks the advice of this lawyer about the treatment of Jewish property; he also mentions the special legal problems which arise in this connection. We find here one more minute for the file concerning immovable property which formerly belonged to Jews, and how this should be dealt with. These documents are actually not very important for proving the version of the Prosecution; we showed them to the Accused only in order to clarify how it could happen that Rajakowitsch, who was an official in the office of the Accused, receives mail in Vienna, and acts as a private lawyer and appears here in an unusual, non-official capacity.

I have to say that the Accused - who refers to this matter on page 2595 ff. - does not contribute - I am not saying on purpose - does not apparently remember the matter, and he makes no significant contribution to elucidating the strange things that happened here.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/743.

State Attorney Bar-Or: I proceed to document No. 147, a letter from the Accused to the Foreign Ministry, addressed to Counsellor of Legation Rademacher. Eichmann asks how Jews of foreign nationality inside the Reich area should be treated. And this is what he writes:

"Since, as you know, the evacuation of Jews from France, Belgium and the Netherlands will also begin in the near future, the question of the treatment of Jews of foreign nationality abroad, in the occupied areas, and in the Reich - with regard to their evacuation - is becoming ever more urgent (e.g., Jews of Hungarian nationality in the occupied areas of the Netherlands). I should be grateful for early, comprehensive information about your attitude in principle on the question of evacuation, including the legal liquidation of property and its inclusion in the general measures taken against the Jews."
Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/744.

State Attorney Bar-Or: We now go on to document No.1569. This is a letter to which I alluded earlier, a letter to the Accused, Head Office for Reich Security, for Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann. Subject: "Reich Association of the Jews in Germany - Sanatorium of the Rothschild Foundation in Nordrach/Baden. On behalf of the Senior SS and Police Commander "South West," Eichmann is approached and informed that the Lebensborn has cast its eye on this institution which has been vacated by the Jews. This property, these assets, pass to the Reichsvereinigung of the Jews in Germany. We have already submitted a document in which Eichmann orders this property to be transferred to the Reichsvereinigung. "In case you, Obersturmbannfuehrer, are not competent for this matter, I ask you kindly to forward my request."

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/745.

State Attorney Bar-Or: I now pass on to document No. 915. It is a letter sent to the Senior SS and Police Commander "South-West."

Presiding Judge: Is there no reply to this request (in document T/745)?

State Attorney Bar-Or: This is the document which I now submit. The letter was sent from Stuttgart on 30 September 1942, and it says, inter alia: "Accordingly, the property belongs to the Reich Association of the Jews, which is subject, as an institution of the Security Police, to Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann in Bureau IV of the Head Office for Reich Security. For the purpose of transferring the building and the assets connected with it to the Reichsfuehrer-SS or to Lebensborn, respectively, you would have to contact Eichmann." It is assumed that it will be no problem to put the institution immediately at the disposal of Lebensborn in Munich, as requested by the senior SS officer.

Presiding Judge: "If they will not get hold of it quickly, the Air Force will get hold of it," I see here.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Yes.

Judge Raveh: This apparently precedes T/745. This is not a reply, on the contrary. It seems that this was earlier. On the basis of it, the Accused was approached. Is there no date on the previous document, No. 1569?

State Attorney Bar-Or: No. 1569 is dated 30 September 1942.

Judge Raveh: That is actually the same day.

State Attorney Bar-Or: It is actually the same day.

Judge Raveh: But this is not a reply.

State Attorney Bar-Or: It seems to me that these two documents actually run parallel.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/746.

State Attorney Bar-Or: I go on to document No. 1392. This also came to us from the Wuerzburg file. But this time the Accused writes to the State Police in Nuremberg about deportation of Jews to Theresienstadt. Writing from Berlin on 31 August 1942, he refers to his telegram IVB4a of 21 May 1942. He says that the Jews still living in the Nuremberg district and who are eligible for evacuation to the Old Age Ghetto Theresienstadt can probably be deported to Theresienstadt by special train in the months of August, September or October. He transmits to Nuremberg a copy of the special guidelines prepared for the evacuation of old people in Theresienstadt.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/747.


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