Afternoon Session
MARSHAL: May it please the Court, I desire to announce that the Defendants Kaltenbrunner, Seyss-Inquart, and Streicher will be absent from this afternoon’s session on account of illness.
THE PRESIDENT: The question which was raised this morning about certain documents has been investigated, and the Tribunal understands that the documents were placed in the Defense Counsel’s Information Center yesterday; but it may be that the misunderstanding arose owing to those documents not having been in any way indexed, and it would, I think, be very helpful to the Defense Counsel if Prosecuting Counsel could, with the documents, deposit also some sort of index which would enable the Defense Counsel to find the documents.
M. FAURE: It is understood that we shall present a table of contents of the documents.
THE PRESIDENT: I think if you could, yes.
M. FAURE: Your Honors, I was speaking this morning of the incident which occurred at the Strasbourg faculty in Clermont-Ferrand, on 25 November 1943. I pointed out to the Tribunal that I shall produce to this effect a document. This document has not been classified in the document book, and I shall ask the Tribunal to accept it as an annex number or as the last document of this book, if that is agreeable.
This is a report of M. Hoeppfner, Dean of the Faculty of Letters, established on 8 January 1946, and transmitted from Lorraine to the French Prosecution. I should like simply to read to the Tribunal, in order not to take up too much of its time, the two passages which constitute the texts which were submitted to it as an appendix.
THE PRESIDENT: Have you got the original document here?
M. FAURE: Yes, Your Honor.
“It is the 25th of November 1943, a Thursday. The 10 o’clock class is drawing to an end. As I come out of the room, a student posted at a window in the hall signals me to approach and shows me in the inner court in front of the Department of Physics a Wehrmacht soldier with helmet, boots, a submachine gun in his arm, mounting guard. ‘Let us try to flee.’ Too late. At the same moment, wild cries arise from all directions—the corridors, the stairways are filled with the sound of heavy boots, the clanking of weapons, fierce cries, a frantic shuffling. A soldier rushes down the hall shouting, ‘Everybody in the courtyard—tell the others.’ Naturally, everyone understood.”
Second passage:
“One of our people, Paul Collomp, was cold-bloodedly murdered with a shot in the chest, and an eyewitness confirms the fact. Alas, it is only too true. Asked to leave the Secretariat where he was, Collomp no doubt obeyed too slowly to suit the policeman, for the latter gave him a violent blow on the back; instinctively, our colleague turned around, and the other then fired a shot directly into his chest. Death was almost immediate, but the body was left lying there alone until that evening. Another rumor reached us. We didn’t know from where. A colleague in Protestant Theology, M. Eppel, was apparently also shot down, in his own house, where they had gone to look for him. He received, as was later learned, several bullet shots in the abdomen but miraculously recovered and even survived the horrors of Buchenwald Camp.”
As I indicated to the Tribunal this morning, I wish to say that the Prosecution has no proof that such crimes were due to a German governmental order; but I believe that it is nevertheless interesting to advise the Tribunal of this last episode in the German undertakings against the University of Strasbourg, for the episode constitutes the sequel and, in a sense, the climax of the preceding incidents. We have seen, indeed, that German procedure began at first regularly and that after these regular procedures it reached the stage of recourse to the police. Brutality and violation accompanied this recourse.
I wish to advise you that this document which I have just read bears the Document Number RF-712 (bis).
I come now to the second part of this subject, which is the imposition of German standards. The leaders of the Reich began by organizing a specifically German administration. I already indicated a while ago the appointment of Gauleiter as heads of the civil administration. I continue on this point by producing as Document Number RF-713 the Ordinance of 28 August 1940, Official Gazette of the Reich, 1940, Page 22. The Ordinance is entitled: “Concerning the Introduction of the German Regime in Alsace.” I shall not read this Ordinance. I simply indicate that its object is to put into effect, from 1 October 1940 on, the German municipal regime of 30 January 1935.
The text and the organization show that the territories annexed were reorganized on the basis of German administrative concepts. At the head of each district (arrondissement) we no longer have a French subprefect but a Landkommissar, who has under his orders the different offices of Finance, Labor, School Inspection, Commerce, and Health. The large towns, the chief towns of arrondissements and even of cantons, were endowed with a Stadtkommissar instead of, and replacing, the mayors and elected counsellors, who had been eliminated. The judicial offices were attached to the court of appeals in Karlsruhe. The economic departments and, in particular, the chambers of commerce were run by the representatives of the chambers of commerce of Karlsruhe for Alsace and of Saarbrücken for Moselle.
After having germanized the forms of administrative activity, the Germans undertook to germanize the staffs. They nominated numerous German officials to posts of authority. They attempted, moreover, on a number of occasions, to make the officials who had remained in office sign declarations of loyalty to the Germans. These attempts, however, met with a refusal from the officials. They were therefore renewed on a number of occasions in different forms. We have recovered from the archives of the Gauleiter of Strasbourg 8 or 10 different formulas for these declarations of loyalty. I shall produce one of these for the Tribunal, by way of example.
This is Document Number RF-714. It is the formula for the new declaration which the officials are obliged to sign if they wish to retain their positions:
“Name and first name, grade and service, residence.
“I have been employed from —— 1940 to this date in the public service of the German administration in Alsace. During this period I have had, from my own observation as well as from the Party and the authorities, verbally and in writing, occasion to learn the obligations of a German official and the requirements which are exacted of him from a political and ideological point of view. I approve these obligations and these requirements without reservation and am resolved to be ruled by them in my personal and professional life. I affirm my adherence to the German people and to the National Socialist ideals of Adolf Hitler.”
Along with the administration, properly speaking, the Nazis set up in Alsace the parallel administration of the National Socialist Party, as well as that of the Arbeitsfront, which was the sole labor organization.
German currency legislation was introduced in Alsace on 19 October and in Lorraine on 25 October 1940. The Reichsmark became thenceforth the legal means of payment in the annexed territory. The German judicial organization was introduced by a series of successive measures leading up to the decree of 30 September 1941 concerning the simplification of the judicial organization in Alsace. I produce this ordinance as Document Number RF-715, without reading it.
In regard to the teaching system, the German authorities established a series of regulations and ordinances which were aimed at assuring the unification of the Alsatian school system with the German teaching system. I shall simply mention the dates of the principal texts, which we produce as documents, and which are of a public nature, since they were all published in the Official Gazette of the Reich in Alsace. Here are the main texts:
Document Number RF-717, regulation of 2 October 1940.
Document Number RF-718, ordinance of 24 March 1941 on elementary teaching in Alsace.
Document Number RF-719, ordinance of 21 April 1941 concerning the allocation of subsidies for education in Alsace.
Document Number RF-720, ordinance of 11 June 1941 on obligatory education in Alsace.
I now quote a series of measures ordering the introduction in Alsace and Lorraine of German civil law, German criminal law, and even procedure. I shall quote as the most important, under Document Number RF-721, the ordinance of 19 June 1941 concerning the application of the provisions of German legislation to Alsatians. I should like to read the first paragraph of Article 1 because it contains an interesting item:
“Article 1:
“1. The legal relationships of persons who acquired French citizenship under the Appendix to Articles 51 to 79 of the Versailles dictate and of those who derive their nationality from those persons, in particular in the domain of personal and family law, are governed by the legislation in force in the former Empire, in accordance with the law of the country of origin, insofar as this legislation applies to the country of origin.”
A similar ordinance was drawn up for Lorraine, Document Number RF-722, ordinance of 15 September 1941 concerning the application of German legislation to personal and family status in Lorraine. Official Bulletin of the Reich, Page 817.
I should like to quote, indicating the titles and references, the principal measures which have been introduced in penal matters:
Document Number RF-723, notice of 14 February 1941 relative to the penal dispositions declared applicable in Lorraine by virtue of Section 1 of the second ordinance concerning certain transitory measures in the domain of justice.
Document Number RF-724, ordinance of 29 October 1941 relative to the introduction into Alsace of the German legislation of penal procedure and of other penal laws.
Document Number RF-725, ordinance of 30 January 1942 relative to the introduction into Alsace of the German penal code and other penal laws.
I do not wish to read this text which is long, but I should like to draw the attention of the Tribunal to two features which show that the Germans introduced into Alsace the most extraordinary provisions of their penal law, conceived from the point of view of the National Socialist regime. The Tribunal will thus see, in this Document Number RF-725, Page 1 under Number 6 of the enumeration, that the law of 20 December 1934, repressing perfidious attacks directed against the State and the Party and protecting Party uniforms, was introduced into Alsace, as well as the ordinance of 25 November 1939, under Number 11 of the enumeration, completing the penal provisions relating to the protection of the military power of the German people.
As concerns public freedom, the Germans eliminated from the beginning the right of association; and they dissolved all existing associations. They intended to leave free room for the Nazi system, which was to be the only and obligatory association.
I shall quote in the same way a number of documents, with the titles of these public texts:
Document Number RF-726, regulation of 16 August 1940, dissolving the youth organizations in Alsace.
Document Number RF-727, regulation of 22 August 1940, setting up a supervising commission for associations in Lorraine.
Document Number RF-728, regulation of 3 September 1940, providing for the dissolution of teachers’ unions. I point out, in regard to this Document RF-728, that the last article provides an exception in favor of the organization called “Union of National Socialist Teachers.”
Document Number RF-729, regulation of 3 September 1940, providing for the dissolution of gymnastic societies and of sports associations in Alsace. I should like to read Article 4 of this Document RF-729:
“My Commissioner of Physical Culture will take, in regard to other gymnastic societies and sports associations in Alsace, all necessary provisions in view of their re-integration into the Reich’s National Socialist Union for Physical Culture.”
Following up these measures of Germanization, we now encounter two texts which are very characteristic and which I produce as Documents Numbers RF-730 and RF-731. Of Document Number RF-730 I read simply the title, which is significant: “Ordinance of 7 February 1942 Relative to the Creation of an Office of the Upper Rhine for Genealogical Research.” I shall likewise read the title of Document Number RF-731, “Regulation of 17 February 1942 Concerning the Creation of the Department of the Reich Commission for the Strengthening of Germanism.”
I indicated a moment ago to the Tribunal that the Party had been established in Alsace and in Lorraine in a way that was parallel with the administration in Germany. I shall produce in this connection Document Number RF-732, which is a confidential note of the National Socialist Workers Party of the province of Baden dated Strasbourg, 5 March 1942. This document belongs likewise to the series found in the files of the Gauleitung of Strasbourg. It bears as a heading, “Gaudirektion—Auxiliary Bureau of Strasbourg.” If it please the Tribunal, I shall read the beginning of this document:
“Evaluation of recruiting possibilities of the Party, its subdivisions and related groups in Alsace.
“In the framework of the drive of 19 June organized for the recruiting of party members, the Kreisleiter in collaboration with the Ortsgruppenleiter have to investigate Alsatians above the age of 18, even if their membership is not yet to be obtained within this drive which may be”—the word “which” was omitted in the text—“considered for prospective membership of the Party, its sections, and affiliated organizations and which men between the age of 17 and 48 could be actively employed in the Party or in its subdivisions. In order to gain a numerical survey, these investigations should also comprise all persons already enrolled in the Party, in the Opferring”—this is the collecting organization of the Party—“in the sections, and affiliated organizations.
“The Kreisleiter may call upon the collaboration of the Kreisorganisationsleiter”—these are the organizing directors of the section—“and of the Kreispersonalamtsleiter”—the personnel information offices of the sections—“In spite of this work the 19 June drive for recruiting members should not suffer but must be carried on by all possible means and gain the goal set by the Gauleiter at the given date.
“The results of the screening of the population are to be compiled in five lists, namely: List 1a; List 1b; List 2a; List 2b; Control list.”
I shall skip over the following paragraphs, which are rather long and purely administrative, and I shall continue on Page 2 of the document, Paragraph 9:
“Since it is the aim of the National Socialist movement to embrace all Germans in a National Socialist organization in order to mould and direct them in compliance with the intentions of the Movement, 90 percent of the population will have to figure on Lists 1a and b and 2a and b, while on the Control List only those shall be named who, on account of racial inferiority or asocial or anti-German attitude are considered unworthy of belonging to an organization, are not deemed worthy of membership in Party organizations.”
I shall now enter upon the two most serious questions which are directly interconnected, questions which, on the one hand, concern nationality and, on the other hand, military recruiting.
The German policy in the matter of nationality reveals a certain hesitation, which is related to the German policy in regard to military recruiting. Indeed, the German leaders seem to have been swayed by two contradictory trends. One of these trends was that of bestowing the German nationality on a large number of people, in order to impose the corresponding obligation for military service. The other trend was that of conferring nationality only with discrimination. According to this viewpoint it was considered, first of all, that the possession of nationality was an honor and should to some extent constitute a reward when conferred on those who had not previously possessed it. On the other hand, nationality confers on its possessor a certain special quality. In spite of the abolition of all democracy, it gives that person a certain influence in the German community. It should, therefore, be granted only to persons who give guarantees in certain regards, notably that of loyalty; and we know that, from the German point of view, loyalty is not only a matter of mental attitude and choice but that it also applies to certain well-known physical elements, such as those of blood, race, and origin.
These are the two opposed trends in the German policy of conferring nationality. This is how they develop:
At first—and up to the month of August 1942—the Reich, not yet requiring soldiers as urgently as it did later, deferred the introduction of compulsory recruiting. Along with this they also deferred any action to impose German nationality on the population generally. During this earlier period the Nazis did not resort to compulsory recruiting but relied simply on voluntary recruiting which, however, they tried to render more effective by offering all kinds of inducements and exercising pressure in various ways.
I shall not go into details regarding these German procedures for voluntary recruitment. I should like simply to give, by way of example, the subject matter of Document Number RF-733. It is an appeal posted in Alsace on 15 January 1942 and constitutes one of the appendices of the governmental report, which was submitted previously under Document Number UK-72. In this document, I shall read simply the first sentence of the second paragraph:
“Alsatians: Since the beginning of the campaign in the East, hundreds of Alsatians have freely decided to march as volunteers, side by side with the men of the other German regions, against the enemy of civilization and European culture.”
For anyone who knows German propaganda and its technique of exaggeration, the term “hundreds” which is used in this document immediately betrays the failure of the Nazi recruiters. “Hundreds” may obviously be translated by “tens,” and it must be admitted that this was a very poor supply for the Wehrmacht.
During the period that I am speaking of the Nazis practiced, in regard to nationality, a policy similar to their policy in recruiting military forces, that is, a policy of selective nationalization. They appealed for volunteers for German nationality. It is desirable to quote in this regard an ordinance of 20 January 1942, a general ordinance of the Reich, not a special one for the annexed territories.
This ordinance in its first article increases the possibilities of naturalization, which until then had been extremely limited, in accordance with the Reich statute book. In Article 3 it gives the following provision: (This ordinance is not produced in the document book, for it is an ordinance of the German Reich and, therefore, a public document.)
“The Reich Minister of the Interior may, by means of a general regulation, grant German nationality to categories of foreigners established on a territory placed under the sovereign power of Germany or having their origin in such territory.”
In connection with this earlier period it is necessary to stress that natives of Alsace-Lorraine who did not become German citizens did not retain their French nationality. They are all considered as German subjects. They are qualified in the documents of the period as “members of the German community (Volksdeutsch),” and are consequently liable for German labor service. I submit Document Number RF-734 in this connection, “Regulation of 27 August 1942, on Compulsory Military Service and on Labor Service in Alsace.” I shall return to this document presently with regard to military service, but I would like to quote now the passages relative to service in the Hitler Youth, one of which bears an earlier date, the ordinance of 2 January 1942 for Alsace and ordinance of 4 August 1942 for Lorraine.
The German policy regarding nationality and military recruiting reaches its turning point in the month of August 1942. At this moment, on account of military difficulties and the need for extensive recruiting, the Germans instituted compulsory military service in Lorraine by an ordinance of 19 August 1942 and in Alsace by an ordinance of 25 August 1942. These two ordinances, relative to the introduction of compulsory military service, constitute Document Number RF-735, ordinance for Lorraine, and Document Number RF-736, ordinance for Alsace.
At the same time, the Germans promulgated an ordinance of 23 August 1942 on German nationality in Alsace, Lorraine, and Luxembourg. This text is the subject of a circular issued by the Reich Minister of the Interior, which constitutes Document Number RF-737. These provisions are the following:
“Full rights of nationality are acquired by natives of Alsace and Lorraine and Luxembourgers of German origin:
“When they have been or will be called upon to serve in the armed forces of the Reich or in SS armed formations;
“when they are recognized as having acted as good Germans.”
As concerns the expression “of German origin,” which is used in these texts, this concerns Alsatians and Lorrainers who have become French either through the Treaty of Versailles or subsequently on condition of having previously been German nationals or having transferred their domicile from Alsace or Lorraine to the territory of the Reich after 1 September 1939; and, finally, children, grandchildren, and spouses of the preceding categories of persons are likewise considered as of German origin.
Lastly, it was anticipated that the Alsatians, Lorrainers, and Luxembourgers who did not acquire German nationality absolutely could obtain it provisionally.
I should like to mention, to complete this question of nationality, that an ordinance of 2 February 1943 gave details as to the German nationality laws applicable in Alsace, and that an ordinance of 2 November 1943 likewise conferred German nationality upon persons who had been in concentration camps during the war.
The German texts indicate that, on the one hand, German nationality was imposed upon a great number of persons; and, on the other hand, that Alsatians and Lorrainers who were French were forced to comply with the exorbitant and truly criminal requirements of military service in the German Army against their own country. These military obligations were constantly extended by the calling-up of successive classes, as far as the 1908 class.
These German exigencies provoked a solemn protest on the part of the French National Committee, which in London represented the Free French Government authority. I should like to read to the Tribunal the text of this protest, which is dated 16 September 1942, and which I submit as Exhibit Number RF-739. I shall read only the three paragraphs of the official protest, which constitute the beginning of this document of the Information Agency in London.
“After having proclaimed, in the course of the war, the annexation of Alsace and of Lorraine, banished and robbed a great number of the inhabitants, and enforced the most rigorous measures of Germanization, the Reich now constrains Alsatians and Lorrainers—declared German by the Reich—to serve in the German armies against their own compatriots and against the allies of France.
“The National Committee, defender of the integrity and of the unity of France and trustee of the principle of the rights of peoples, protests, in the face of the civilized world, against these new crimes committed in contempt of international conventions against the will of populations ardently attached to France. It proclaims inviolable the right of Alsatians and of Lorrainers to remain members of the French family.”
This protest could not have been unknown to the Germans, for it was read and commented on over the radio by the French National Commissioner of Justice, Professor René Cassin, on a number of occasions.
In regard to this solemn protest on the part of France, I shall allow myself to quote the justifications, if one may use this term, which were furnished in a speech by Gauleiter Wagner delivered in Colmar on 20 June 1943. This quotation is drawn from the Mühlhäuser Tageblatt of 21 June 1943. In view of its importance I shall not deal with it simply as a quotation, but I produce it as a document and submit it as Document Number RF-740. The clerk has been given this paper. I read the explanations of Gauleiter Wagner, as they are reproduced in this newspaper under the title “Alsace will not Stand Aloof”:
“The decisive event for Alsace in 1942 was therefore the introduction of compulsory military service. It cannot be my intention to justify legally a measure which strikes so deeply at the life of Alsace. There is no reason for this either. Every decision which the Greater Reich is taking, here is motivated and cannot be attacked as to its juridical and its de facto form.”
Naturally, the Alsatians and Lorrainers refused to accept the criminal orders of the German authorities, and they undertook to avoid these by every means. The Nazis then decided to compel them by means of merciless measures. The frontiers were strictly guarded, and the guards had orders to fire on the numerous recalcitrants who attempted to escape across the border. I should like to quote in this connection a sentence from a newspaper article, which appeared in the Dernières Nouvelles de Strasbourg of 28 August 1942. This is Document Number RF-741. This article deals with the death of one of these men who refused to serve in the German Army, and it concludes with the following sentence: “We insist most particularly on the fact that it is suicidal to attempt to cross the frontier illegally.”
Naturally, judicial penalties were applied with great severity and in a large number of cases. I do not consider that I should bring to the Tribunal all the instances of these cases, which would take too long; but I should like simply to insist on the principle that governed this form of repression.
I shall quote first of all a document which is entirely characteristic of the conception which the German administration had of justice and of the independence of judicial power. This is Document Number RF-742. It is a part of a series of documents discovered in the files of the Gauleitung. It is a teletype message dated Strasbourg, 8 June 1944, addressed by Gauleiter Wagner to the Chief of the Court of Appeals in Karlsruhe. I shall read Paragraph 2 of this document, which is on Page 1 of the same document:
“Especially in Alsace it is required that the sentences for refusal of military service should be intimidating. But upon those trying to evade military service, for fear of personal danger, this intimidating effect can be produced only by the death penalty, the more so, as an Alsatian bent upon escaping military service by emigration counts generally on an early victory of the enemy and, therefore, in case of conviction with punishment other than death, with a near cancellation of the penalty. The death penalty is, therefore, to be applied in all cases in which after 6 June 1944 an evasion of military service is attempted by illegal emigration, irrespectively of any other legal practice used in Germany proper.”
But I wish to indicate that the consideration of personal risk, even that of being killed at the frontier or condemned to death, was not sufficient to make the people of Alsace and Lorraine acknowledge the obligation for military service. Thus the Nazis decided to have recourse to the only threat which could be effective, the threat of reprisals against families. After 4 September 1942, there appeared in the Dernières Nouvelles de Strasbourg a notice entitled “Severe Sanctions Against Those Who Fail to Appear Before the Revision Council.” An extract from this notice constitutes Document Number RF-743. I shall read from it:
“In the case mentioned above it has been shown that parents have not given proof of authority in this regard. They have thus proved that they do not yet understand the requirements of the present time, which can tolerate in Alsace only reliable persons. The parents of the above-named young men will therefore shortly be deported to the Aleichem in order to re-acquire, in a National Socialist atmosphere, an attitude in conformity with the German spirit.”
Thus the deportation of families was decreed, not to punish a definite insubordination, but to punish failure to appear before the recruiting board.
In order to avoid repeated readings, I shall now present to the Tribunal, under the heading of Document Number RF-744, the ordinance of 1 October 1943, to check failure to perform military service (Official Bulletin of the Reich for 1943, Page 152). I shall read the first two articles:
“Article 1: The chief of the civil administration in Alsace may deny residence in Alsace to deserters and to persons who fail to fulfill their military obligations or those of the compulsory labor service, as well as to members of their families. This prohibition entails, for persons of German origin whom it may affect, transplantation to Reich territory by the Plenipotentiary for the Reich, Reich Commissioner for the Preservation of German Nationality. Measures to be taken in regard to property, seizure, indemnity, et cetera, are prescribed in the ordinance of 2 February 1943, concerning property measures to be applied in the case of persons of German origin transferred from Alsace to Reich territory.
“Paragraph 2: Independently of the preceding measures, criminal proceedings may be instituted under the penal code for violation of the provisions of the penal laws.”
THE PRESIDENT: Exactly what did “souche allemande” mean? How far did it go?
M. FAURE: The term “souche allemande” applies, as indicated in connection with the preceding text, to the following categories of persons: In the first place, persons who were in Alsace and Lorraine before the Treaty of Versailles and who became French by the treaty; persons whose nationality before 1919 was German are considered as of German origin, as well as their children, their grandchildren, and their spouses. This affects the great majority of the population of the three departments.
I continue reading Paragraph 2 of the first article of Document Number RF-744.
“Independently of the foregoing measures, penal prosecutions may be brought for violation of the provisions of the penal laws.”
According to Article 52, Paragraph 2, of the Reich Penal Code, members of the family who bring proof of their genuine efforts to prevent or dissuade the fugitive from committing his act or avoiding the necessity of flight shall not be punishable.
These abominable measures, the obligation of denunciation, punishment inflicted upon families, permitted the German authorities to carry out the enlistment of Alsatians and Lorrainers, which for many of them had fatal consequences and which was for all of them a particularly tragic ordeal.
I must finally indicate, to conclude this part, that the Germans proceeded to the mobilization of women for war work. I produce a Document Number RF-745, the ordinance of 26 January 1942, completing the war organization of labor service for the young women of Lorraine.
Then we find an ordinance of 2 February 1943, Document Number RF-746, concerning the declaration of men and women for the accomplishment of tasks pertaining to national defense. (Official Bulletin of the Reich, 1943, Page 26.) This ordinance concerns Alsace.
The following Document, Number RF-747, deals with Lorraine. This is an ordinance of 8 February 1943 concerning the enrollment of men and women for tasks relating to the organization of labor. The Tribunal will note that the ordinance concerning Alsace used the expression “tasks of interest to national defense,” whereas the ordinance relative to Lorraine specifies simply “tasks concerning the organization of labor”; but in principle these are the same. Article 1 of this second ordinance, Document Number RF-747, refers to the ordinance of the General Delegate for the Organization of Labor, relative to the declaration of men and women for tasks of interest to national defense, et cetera. This is a question of making not only men, but also women, work for the German war effort. I shall read for the Tribunal an extract from a newspaper article which comments on this legislation and likewise on the measures which Gauleiter Wagner proposed to undertake in this connection. This constitutes Document Number RF-748, taken from the newspaper Dernières Nouvelles de Strasbourg, dated 23 February 1943.
“In his speech at Karlsruhe Gauleiter Robert Wagner stressed that measures of total mobilization would be applied to Alsace and that the authorities would abstain from any bureaucratic working method. The Alsatian labor offices have already invited the first category of young women liable for mobilization to fill out the enlistment form.
“In principle, all women who until the present have worked only at home, who have had to care only for their husbands, and who have no other relatives, shall work a full day. Many married men who until now had never offered to help their wives with the household work will be obliged to put their shoulder to the wheel. They will work in the household and do errands. With a little goodwill, everything will work out. Women who have received a professional education shall be put, if possible, to tasks that relate to their professions, on condition that they have an important bearing on the war effort. This prescription applies only to all feminine professions which imply care given to other persons.”
Here again a rather comical or clumsily worded presentation should not prevent one from perceiving the odious character of these measures, which obliged French women to work for the German war effort.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now for ten minutes.
[A recess was taken.]
M. FAURE: Mr. Dodd would like to speak to the Tribunal concerning a question he wishes to put to the Tribunal.
MR. DODD: Mr. President, I ask to be heard briefly to inform the Tribunal that the affiant Andreas Pfaffenberger, whom the Tribunal directed the Prosecution for the United States to locate, if possible, was located yesterday and he is here in Nuremberg today. He is available for the cross-examination which, if I remember correctly, was requested by Counsel for the Defendant Kaltenbrunner.
THE PRESIDENT: Was his affidavit read?
MR. DODD: Yes, Your Honor, it was.
THE PRESIDENT: It was read, and on the condition that he should be brought here for cross-examination?
MR. DODD: Yes, Sir. He asked for him to be brought, if I recall it.
THE PRESIDENT: Does counsel for Kaltenbrunner wish to cross-examine him now—I mean, not this moment—does he still wish to cross-examine him?
DR. KAUFFMANN: I believe that the Defendant Kaltenbrunner does not need the testimony of this witness. However, I would have to take this question up with him once more, for up till today it was not certain that Pfaffenberger would be in court, and if he is to be cross-examined and to testify, I believe Kaltenbrunner would have to be present at the hearing.
THE PRESIDENT: It seems somewhat unfortunate that the witness should be brought here for cross-examination and that then you should be saying that you don’t want to cross-examine him after reading the affidavit. It seems to me that the reasonable thing to do would be to make up your mind whether you do, or do not, want to cross-examine him; and I should have thought that would have been done and he would have been brought here, if you want to cross-examine, and not brought here if you did not want to cross-examine. Anyway, as he has been brought here now, it seems to me that if you want to cross-examine him you must do so. Mr. Dodd, can he be kept here for some time?
MR. DODD: He can, Your Honor, except that he was in a concentration camp for 6 years; and we have to keep him here under certain security, and it is somewhat of a hardship on him to be kept too long. We would like not to keep him any longer than necessary. We located him with some difficulty with the help of the United States Forces.
DR. KAUFFMANN: In perhaps 2 or 3 days we might wish to cross-examine; perhaps two or three days.
THE PRESIDENT: I imagine that if after the affidavit had been read that you demanded to cross-examine him and that he has therefore been produced—well, in those circumstances it seems to me unreasonable that you should ask that he should now be kept for 2 or 3 days when he is produced. Mr. Dodd, would it be possible to keep him here until Monday?
MR. DODD: Yes, he can be kept here until Monday.
THE PRESIDENT: We will keep him here until Monday, and you can cross-examine as you wish, Dr. Kauffmann. You understand what I mean; when an affidavit has been put in and one of the Defense Counsel said that he wants to cross-examine, he ought to inform the Prosecution if, after reading and considering the affidavit, he finds that he does not want to cross-examine him; they ought to inform the Prosecution so as to avoid all the cost and trouble of bringing a witness from some distance off. Do you follow?
DR. KAUFFMANN: I will proceed with the cross-examination on Monday.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
M. FAURE: Mr. President, I would ask the Tribunal whether they would agree to hear the witness Emil Reuter at this point?
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
[The witness, Emil Reuter, took the stand.]
What is your name?
EMIL REUTER (Witness): Reuter, Emil.
THE PRESIDENT: Emil Reuter, do you swear to speak without hate or fear, to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
[The witness repeated the oath in French.]
THE PRESIDENT: Raise the right hand and say, “I swear.”
REUTER: I swear.
THE PRESIDENT: You may sit down.
M. FAURE: M. Reuter, you are a lawyer of the Luxembourg Bar?
REUTER: Yes.
M. FAURE: You are President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg?
REUTER: Yes.
M. FAURE: You had been exercising these functions at the time of the invasion of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg by the German troops?
REUTER: Yes.
M. FAURE: Can you give us any indication on the fact that the Government of the Reich had, a few days before the invasion of Luxembourg, given to the Government of the Grand Duchy assurances of their peaceful intentions?
REUTER: In August 1939 the German Minister for Luxembourg gave to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country a statement according to which the German Reich, in the event of a European war, would respect the independence and neutrality of the country, provided that Luxembourg would not violate its own neutrality. A few days before the invasion, in May 1940, the Germans constructed pontoon bridges over half of the Moselle River which separates the two countries. An explanation from the German Minister in Luxembourg represented such construction of pontoon bridges as landing stages in the interest of navigation. In the general public opinion of the country, these installations were really of a military character.
M. FAURE: Can you tell us about the situation of public authorities in Luxembourg following the departure of Her Royal Highness, the Grand Duchess, and of her government?
REUTER: The continuity of administration in the country was assured by a government commission which possessed the necessary powers bestowed upon it by the competent constitutional authorities. There was, therefore, no lack of authority in the administration.
M. FAURE: Is it not true, however, that the Germans claimed, upon their arrival in that country, that the government had failed to carry out its functions; and, following the departure of the government, that there was no regular authority in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg?
REUTER: Yes, such declaration was made by the Ministers of the Reich in Luxembourg before a Parliamentary Commission.
M. FAURE: Do I understand correctly that these statements on the part of the German authorities did not in fact correspond to the truth inasmuch as you have told us that there did exist a higher organism for the administration of the country?
REUTER: This statement did not correspond to the reality. It was obviously aimed at usurping authority.
M. FAURE: M. Reuter, the Germans never proclaimed by law the annexation of Luxembourg. Do you consider that the measures adopted by the Germans in that country were equivalent to annexation?
REUTER: The measures that were taken by the Germans in the Grand Duchy were obviously equivalent to a de facto annexation of that country. Shortly after the invasion the leaders of the Reich in Luxembourg stated in public and official speeches that the annexation by law would occur at a time which would be freely selected by the Führer. The proof of this de facto annexation is shown in a clear manner by the whole series of ordinances which the Germans published in the Grand Duchy.
M. FAURE: The Germans organized an operation which was called a census in Luxembourg. In the form that was given the inhabitants of Luxembourg to effect the census, there was one question concerning the native or usual language and another question as to the racial background of the individual. Are you prepared to assert that in view of these two questions this census was considered as having the character of a plebiscite, a political character?
REUTER: From the menacing instructions published by the German authorities in connection with this census, the political purpose was obvious; therefore public opinion never envisaged this census except as a sort of attempt to achieve a plebiscite camouflaged as a census, a political operation destined to give a certain justification to the annexation which was to follow.
M. FAURE: The report of the Luxembourg Government does not give any indication of the statistical results of this census, specifically with regard to the political question of which I spoke a moment ago. Would you be kind enough to tell us why these statistical data are not to be found in any document?
REUTER: The complete statistical data have never been collected because after a partial examination of the first results the German authorities noted that only an infinitesimal fraction of the population had answered the two tricky questions in the German sense. The German authorities then preferred to stop the operation, and the forms distributed in the country for obtaining the answers were never collected.
M. FAURE: Do you remember the date of the census?
REUTER: This census must have taken place in 1942.
M. FAURE: After the census the Germans realized that there was no majority, and not even any considerable part of the population which was desirous of being incorporated into the German Reich. However, did they continue to apply their measures of annexation?
REUTER: Measures tending to Germanization and later to the annexation of the country were continued, and later on they were even reinforced by further new measures.
M. FAURE: Am I to understand, therefore, that during the application of these measures the Germans could not be ignorant of the fact that the Luxembourg population was opposed to them?
REUTER: There can be no doubt at all on this question.
M. FAURE: Can you tell us whether it is correct that the German authorities obliged members of the constabulary force and the police to take an oath of allegiance to the Chancellor of the Reich?
REUTER: Yes. This was forced upon the constabulary corps and the police with very serious threats and punishments. Recalcitrants were usually deported, if I remember rightly, to Sachsenhausen; and on the approach of the Russian Army all or a part of the recalcitrants who were in the camp were shot. There were about 150 of them.
M. FAURE: Can you tell us anything concerning the transfer—I believe the Germans call it “Umsiedlung”—of a certain number of inhabitants and families living in your country?
REUTER: The transplanting was ordered by the German authority of Luxembourg for elements which appeared to be unfit for assimilation or unworthy of, or undesirable for, residence on the frontiers of the Reich.
M. FAURE: Can you indicate the approximate number of people who were victims of this transplanting?
REUTER: There must have been about 7,000 people who were transplanted in this manner, because we found in Luxembourg a list mentioning between 2,800 and 2,900 homes or families.
M. FAURE: These indications are based on knowledge you received as President of the Chamber of Deputies?
REUTER: Not exactly, the list was found in Luxembourg; it is still deposited there and the Office of War Criminals took cognizance of it, like all the judicial authorities in Luxembourg.
M. FAURE: Can you state, M. Reuter, how the people who were transplanted were informed of this measure concerning them, and how much time they had to be ready?
REUTER: In general, the families to be transplanted were not given notice in advance, officially, at least. About 6 o’clock in the morning the Gestapo rang at the door, and they notified those who were selected to be ready for departure within 1 or 2 hours with a minimum of luggage. Then they were taken to the station and put on a train for the camp to which they were at first to be sent.
M. FAURE: Can you tell us whether these measures were applied to people whom you know personally?
REUTER: I know personally a very large number of people who were transplanted, among them members of my own family, a great number of colleagues of the Chamber of Deputies, many members of the Bar, many magistrates, and so forth.
M. FAURE: In addition to these transplantations, were there also deportations to concentration camps? This is another question.
REUTER: Yes, there were deportations to concentration camps which everyone knew about. The number of such deportations in the Grand Duchy may be approximately four thousand.
M. FAURE: M. Reuter, it has been established, through their ordinances, that the German authorities prescribed compulsory military service. I will not ask you, therefore, any question on this particular point. However, I would like to ask you whether you are able to state, approximately, the number of Luxembourg citizens who were enrolled in the German Army.
REUTER: The young people who were incorporated into the German Army by force belonged to 5 classes, beginning with the class of 1920. The number is about eleven thousand to twelve thousand, at least. A certain number of them, I think about one-third, succeeded in avoiding conscription and became refractory. Others later deserted the German Army and fled to other countries.
M. FAURE: Can you indicate the approximate number of Luxembourgers who died as a result of their forced enlistment?
REUTER: At the end of September 1944 we had 2,500 dead. Searches have continued and at present I think we have established the names of at least 3,000.
M. FAURE: The sanctions that had been provided to force the enlistment of the Luxembourgers, were they very severe?
REUTER: These sanctions were extremely severe. First of all, the young people who were refractory were pursued and hunted by the police and by the Gestapo. Then they were brought before various types of Tribunals, in Luxembourg, France, Belgium, or Germany. Their families were deported; the family fortune was generally confiscated. The penalties pronounced by the Tribunals against these young people were very severe. The death penalty was general, or else imprisonment, forced labor, or deportation to concentration camps. Some of them were released later on, but there were some who were shot as hostages after having been released.
M. FAURE: I would like to ask one last question. Do you think it is possible that the measures which constituted a de facto annexation of Luxembourg could have been unknown to the persons who belonged to the Reich Government, or to the German High Command?
REUTER: I believe that it is hardly possible that such a situation could have been unknown to the members of the Reich and the supreme military authority. My opinion is based on the following facts: First of all, our young people, when mobilized by force, frequently protested at the time of their arrival in Germany by invoking the fact that they were all of Luxembourg nationality, and that they were the victims of force, so that the military authorities must have been informed of the situation in the Grand Duchy.
In the second place, several Ministers of the Reich—among them, Thierack, Rust, and Ley—visited the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and could see for themselves the situation of the country and the reaction of the population; other high political personalities of the Reich, such as Bormann and Sauckel, also paid visits.
Finally there were German decrees and ordinances concerning the denationalization of certain categories of Luxembourg citizens. These ordinances bore the signature of the Minister of the Reich. The executive measures implementing these ordinances were published in the Official Gazette of the Reich Ministry of the Interior under the signature of the Minister of Interior Frick with the indication that these instructions were to be communicated to all the superior Reich authorities.
M. FAURE: I thank you. Those are all the questions I have to put to you.
[The American, British and Russian prosecutors had no questions.]
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any member of the defendants’ counsel who wishes to ask the witness any questions? [No response.] Then M. Faure the witness can retire.
M. FAURE: Mr. President, am I to understand that the witness will not have to remain any longer at the disposal of the Tribunal and he may return to his home?
THE PRESIDENT: Certainly.
[The witness left the stand.]
M. FAURE: I had stopped my presentation at the end of the second part. That is to say, I have examined so far, in the first place, the elimination of the French regime and secondly, the imposition of German rules.
I now come to the third part, which gives measures for transplantation in Alsace-Lorraine. The German authorities applied in these annexed departments characteristic methods for the transport of populations. It so happens that, as the witness from Luxembourg was heard sooner than I had anticipated, the Tribunal is already informed of the aspect which these measures of transplantation assumed in the annexed territories.
The situation which I am about to describe with respect to Alsace and Lorraine is, indeed, analogous to the situation which existed with regard to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The principal purpose of the application of such methods by the Germans was to enable them to colonize by bringing German subjects into the country, who then seized the lands and property of the inhabitants who had been expelled.
A second advantage was the elimination of groups considered especially difficult to assimilate. I should like to quote in this connection—this will be Document Number RF-749—what Gauleiter Wagner stated in a speech given at Saverne, according to the Dernières Nouvelles de Strasbourg, of 15 December 1941.
“Today we must make up our mind. In the moment of our nation’s supreme struggle—a struggle in which you, too, must participate—I can only say to anyone who says ‘I am a Frenchman!’ ‘Get the hell out of here! In Germany there is room only for Germans.’ ”
From the beginning the Germans proceeded, firstly, to the expulsion of individuals or small groups, especially Jews and members of the teaching profession. Moreover, as is shown by a document which I have already cited this morning under Number RF-701 and which was the first general protest made by the French Delegation, under date of 3 September 1940, the Germans authorized the people of Alsace-Lorraine to return to their homes only if they acknowledged themselves to be of German origin. Now the Tribunal will understand that these restrictions upon the return of refugees were in themselves equivalent to expulsion. Mass expulsions began in September 1940. I now submit in this connection Document Number RF-750; it is again a note from the French Armistice Delegation taken from the files of the High Court of Justice. I shall now read this document, Paragraph 2:
“Since then it has been brought to the knowledge of the French Government that the German authorities are proceeding to mass expulsions of families in the three eastern departments. Every day French citizens, forced to abandon all their belongings on the spot, are driven into the unoccupied part of France in groups of 800 to 1,000 persons.”
It was only the 19th of September. On the 3rd of November the Germans undertook the systematic expulsion of the populations of the Moselle region. This operation was accomplished with extreme perfidy. The Germans, as a matter of fact, gave the Lorrainers of certain localities the choice of either going to eastern Germany or going to France. They gave them only a few hours to make up their minds. Moreover, they sought to promote the belief that such a choice was imposed upon the Lorrainers as a result of an agreement reached with the French authorities.
From the physical point of view, the transport of these people was effected under very difficult conditions. The Lorrainers were allowed to take away only a very small part of their personal belongings and a sum of 2,000 francs, plus 1,000 francs for the children. On 18 November, four trains filled with Lorrainers who had been torn away from their homes were headed for Lyons. The arrival in unoccupied France of these people who had been so sorely tried was for them, nevertheless, an opportunity for nobly manifesting their patriotic sentiments. With regard to the facts which I have presented I place before the Tribunal Document Number RF-751, which is a note of protest on the part of the French Delegation signed by General Doyen, dated 18 November 1940. I shall read excerpts of this Document Number RF-751, beginning with Paragraph 3 of Page 1:
“France is faced with an act of force which is in formal contradiction to the armistice convention as well as the assurance, recently given, of a desire for collaboration between the two countries. On the contrary, in Article 16, which the German commission had frequently invoked with specific regard to the departments of the East, the armistice convention stipulates the reinstallation of refugees in the regions in which they were domiciled. The creation of new refugees constitutes, therefore, a violation of the armistice convention. France is faced with an unjust act affecting peaceful populations against whom the Reich has nothing to reproach and who, settled for centuries on these territories, have made of them a particularly prosperous region.
“The unexpected decision of the German authorities is likewise an inhuman act. In the very middle of winter, without warning, families have to leave their homes, taking with them only a strict minimum of personal property and a sum of money absolutely insufficient to enable them to live even for a few weeks. Thousands of Frenchmen were thus suddenly hurled into misery without their country—already too heavily tried and surprised by the suddenness and amplitude of the measures adopted without its knowledge—being in a position to assure them, from one day to the next, a normal livelihood. This exodus and the conditions under which it is taking place cause most painful and sorrowful impressions throughout the French nation. The French people are particularly disturbed by the explanations given to the Lorrainers, according to which the French Government was reputed to be the source of their misfortune.
“It is that impression, in fact, which the poster in certain villages, where the population had to choose between leaving for eastern Germany or for Unoccupied France, was intended to convey.
“The poster is appended hereto, but we are not in possession of the text of this poster. That also encouraged the belief that these populations had themselves requested permission to leave following the appeals broadcast by the Bordeaux radio. Even if we admit that such appeals had been made by radio, it should be noted that the Bordeaux radio station is under German control. The good faith of the Lorrainers has been deceived as was shown by their reaction on arrival in the free zone.”
In spite of these protests, the expulsions continued. They reached a total of about 70,000 people, augmented by the deportation of Alsatians and Lorrainers to Eastern Germany and to Poland. These deportations were meant to create terror, and they particularly affected the families of men who had rightfully decided to refuse the German demand for forced labor and military service. (I am at present regarding the whole question of a French protest dated 3 September 1942; it is Document Number RF-752).
Since I do not wish to read to the Tribunal texts dealing with an identical subject I submit this document solely to show that this protest was made, and I believe that I can refrain from reading its content.
I shall refer, desiring to give only a short citation, to a document belonging to the American Prosecution. This document bears the Number R-114. It is a memorandum of the minutes of a meeting which took place between several officials of the SS concerning general directions in regard to the treatment of deported Alsatians.
It will be observed that this document has already been submitted by my American colleagues under Document Number R-114, Exhibit Number USA-314, the French Number RF-753. I merely wish to read one paragraph of that document, which may be interpreted as a supplement to this problem of deportation. I must say that these sentences have not been formally read in Court. The passage that I cite is on Page 2 of the document. At the end of that there is a paragraph which begins with the letter “d”:
“For further resettlement are destined:
“Members of the patois group. The Gauleiter would like to keep only those persons in the patois area who by their customs, language, and general attitude testify their adherence to Germany.
“Regarding the cases mentioned under a-d, it is to be noted that the racial problem is to be given foremost consideration, that is, in a way by which racially valuable persons shall be resettled in Germany proper, and the racially inferior in France.”
Finally, I should like to read to the Tribunal a few sentences from a newspaper article, which appeared in Dernières Nouvelles de Strasbourg, August 31, 1942—we are here dealing with a citation and not a document:
“On the 28th of August the families designated hereafter, of the Arrondissements of Mulhouse and Guebwiller, were deported to the Reich in order that they might recover a trustworthy German outlook in National Socialist surroundings. In several cases the persons involved did not conceal their hostility in that they stirred up sentiments of opposition, spoke French in public in a provocative manner, did not obey the ordinances concerning the education of youth, or in other ways showed a lack of loyalty.”
I would now like to indicate to the Tribunal that deportation or transportation entailed also the spoliation of property. This is not merely a fact; for the Germans it is a law. Indeed, there is an ordinance of 28 January 1943, which appeared in the Official Bulletin for 1943, Page 40, bearing the title, “Ordinance Concerning the Safeguarding of Property in Lorraine as a Result of Transplantation Measures.” I have placed this ordinance before you as Document Number RF-754. I would like to read Article One and the first paragraph of Article Two. I believe that the title itself is a sufficient indication of the contents:
“Article One. The safeguarding of property of people transplanted from Lorraine to the Greater German Reich or to territory placed under the sovereign power of Germany has been entrusted to the transfer services for Lorraine under the Chief of the Administration.
“Article Two. These services are authorized to put in effective safekeeping the property of the Lothringians who have been transplanted in order that such property may be administered, and—insofar as orders may have been given for this—exploited.”
This ordinance, therefore, still manifests some scruples of form. The intention is to “safeguard,” but we now know what the word “safeguard” means in Nazi terminology. We have already seen what safeguarding meant in the case of works of art and Jewish property. Even here, we have been specifically warned that the term “safeguard” carries with it the right of disposal or exploitation.
Other texts are even more specific or clear.
Here is Document Number RF-755. This is the ordinance of 6 November 1940 pertaining to the declaration of property in Lorraine belonging to the enemies of the people and of the Reich. And on the same subject I shall also submit to you Document Number RF-756, which is the regulation of 13 July 1940 applying to property in Alsace belonging to the enemies of the people and of the Reich. These two texts, one of which applies to Alsace and the other to Lorraine, permit the seizure and confiscation of properties designated as “enemy property.” Now, to realize the extent of the property covered by this term, I will read Document 756:
“Any objects and rights of any nature whatsoever, without regard to conditions of title, which are utilized for, or intended for use in, activities hostile to the people of Germany or the Reich will be considered as property belonging to the people and to the Reich.
“Such stipulation shall apply to the entire patrimony:
“(a) of all political parties, as well as of secondary or complementary organizations depending thereon;
“(b) of lodges and similar associations;
“(c) of Jews;
“(d) of Frenchmen who have acquired property in Alsace since 11 November 1918;
“(e) The Chief of the Administration Department and the Police will decide what patrimony in addition to the property mentioned above is likewise to be considered as property belonging to the enemies of the people and of the Reich. He will likewise decide on doubtful cases.”
We see, therefore, that in spite of the title, we are not dealing here with the measures of sequestration of enemy property taken in all countries within the scope of the laws of war. First of all, these are measures of definite confiscation; and in addition, they are applied to the property of numerous individuals who are in no wise subjects of enemy countries. We also see at this point the absolutely arbitrary power placed in the hands of the administration.
These texts are accompanied by many regulations; although the spoliations are particularly important in Alsace and in Lorraine, I shall not speak of them here in more detail, as the Prosecution has already dealt with the subject. I shall merely limit myself to the mentioning of two institutions special to Alsace and to Lorraine, that is, agricultural colonization, and industrial colonization.
In the first place, agricultural colonization is not a term that has been invented by the Prosecution; it is an expression which the Germans used. I submit in this connection, Document Number RF-757, which is the ordinance of 7 December 1940, “Pertaining to the New Regime of Settlement or Colonization in Lorraine.” I shall read the beginning of this Document Number RF-757:
“Real estate which has been vacated in Lorraine as a result of deportations will serve principally for the reconstitution of a German peasant class and for the requirements of internal colonization. In this connection and specifically in order to set us the required programs, I order, by virtue of the powers which have been conferred upon me by the Führer, the following:
“Article One. Real estate property of individuals deported from Lorraine shall be seized and confiscated for the benefit of the Chief of the Civil Administration.”
I will not cite the second paragraph of Article One, but I will cite Article Two:
“Agricultural properties or forest properties which are seized in consequence of the ordinance concerning enemy property of the people and the Reich in Lorraine are confiscated. Insofar as they are needed, they are included in the methodical organization of the region.”
Article Three:
“In addition to the cases provided for in Articles One and Two and according to the needs, other real estate property may be included in the programs for methodical reorganization if appropriate compensation is provided for.
“The Chief of the Civilian Administration and the services designated by him will decide upon the amount and nature of the compensation. Any recourse to the law on the part of the person involved is forbidden.”
Thus the Tribunal can see in a striking manner the processes and the methods pursued by the German authorities.
The first ordinance, cited earlier, spoke only of safeguarding the property of people who had been deported or displaced. A second ordinance now speaks of confiscations. It still refers only to the notion of enemies of the people and of the Reich.
The third ordinance is more complete, since it comprises confiscation prescriptions which are quite formal in their character, and which are no longer qualified as “safeguarding” property which has become vacant as the result of deportations.
This agricultural colonization of which I have spoken assumed a special importance in Lorraine. On the other hand, it is in Alsace that we find the greatest number of measures involving a veritable industrial colonization. These measures consisted in stripping the French industrial enterprises for the benefit of German firms. On this subject there are protests of the French Delegation to the Armistice Commission.
I submit as documents three of these protests, Documents Numbers RF-758, 759 and 760, which are notes under date of—respectively—27 April 1941, 9 May 1941, and 8 April 1943. I believe that it is preferable for me not to read these documents to the Tribunal and that I merely ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of them, as proof of the existence of these protests, because I fear that such a reading would be a mere repetition to the Tribunal, to whom the matter of economic spoliation has already been explained in sufficient detail.
I shall say, finally, that the Germans carried their audacity to the point of demanding the seizure in Unoccupied France and the transportation to Alsace of assets belonging to French companies which were by this means stripped of their property and actually “colonized.” I am speaking of assets belonging to companies in the other zone of France, under the control of the regular shareholders of such companies.
I think it is worth while considering just one example of such procedure, contained in a very short document, which I submit to you under Document Number RF-761. This document appears in the Archives of the French Agencies of the Armistice Commission, to which it had been sent by the director of the company mentioned in the document. It is a paper which is partly written in German and partly translated into French—in the same document—and it is signed by the German Commissioner for a French enterprise called the Société Alsacienne et Lorraine d’Electricité. In Alsace this enterprise had been placed illegally under the administration of this commissioner, and the commissioner—as the document will show—had come to Paris to seize the remainder of the company’s assets. He drafted this document, which he signed and which he also made the president of the French company sign. This document is of interest as revealing the insolence of German procedure and also the Germans’ odd conception of law. I quote now:
“Today the undersigned has instructed me that in future I am strictly forbidden to take legal action with regard to the property of the former Société Alsacienne et Lorraine d’Electricité. If I should transgress this order in any way, I know that I shall be punished.
“Paris, 10 March 1941.
“Signed: Kucka.
“F. B. Kommissar.
“Signed: Garnier.”
Now this German economic colonization in the areas annexed was to serve as an experiment for the application of similar methods on a broader scale.
There will be submitted to the Tribunal, in this connection, a document concerning a colonization attempt in the French Department Ardennes. On this procedure of annexation by the Germans of Alsace and of Lorraine, many other items could be cited; and I could submit many more documents—even if I were to deal only with the circumstances and the documents which are useful from the point of view of our own Prosecution.
I want to limit myself in order to save the time of the Tribunal and to comply with the necessities of this Trial where so many items have to be discussed. Therefore I have limited myself to the submission of documents or to examples which are particularly characteristic. I believe that this documentation will enable the Tribunal to appraise the criminality of the German undertakings which I have brought to its attention—criminality which is particularly characteristic of military conscription, which is a criminal offence since it entails deaths. At the same time I believe the Tribunal can evaluate the grave sufferings that were imposed for five years on the populace of these French provinces, already so sorely tried, in the course of history.
I have submitted a few details which may have seemed ridiculous or facetious; but I did so because I thought it desirable that one should visualize the oppression exercised by the German Administration in all circumstances of life—even in private life—that general oppression characterized by the attempt to destroy and annihilate, and extended in a most complete manner over the departments and regions which were annexed.
I believe that the Tribunal will possibly prefer me to leave until tomorrow my comments with respect to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
I would like, moreover, to have the Tribunal’s assent concerning a question of testimony. I should like to put a witness on the stand, but it is only a little while ago that I gave the Tribunal a letter concerning this request. May I ask to be excused for not having done so earlier because there has been some uncertainty on this point.
If the Tribunal finds it convenient, I should like to have this witness here at tomorrow, Saturday morning’s session. I state that this witness would be Mr. Koos Vorrink, who is of Dutch nationality. I also wish to say, for the benefit of Defense, that the question I would like to submit to the witness will deal with certain items concerning Germanization in the Netherlands.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you wish to call him tomorrow?
M. FAURE: If that is convenient to the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, certainly, call him tomorrow.
M. FAURE: If it please the Tribunal, his testimony could be taken after the recess tomorrow morning.
DR. GUSTAV STEINBAUER (Counsel for Defendant Seyss-Inquart): Mr. President, I do not wish to prolong the proceedings; but I believe it will be in the interest of justice if I ask that the Dutch witness be heard, not tomorrow but Monday, on the assumption that Seyss-Inquart who is now ill may be expected back on that date.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, would it be equally convenient to you to call him on Monday?
M. FAURE: Mr. President, I do not desire to vex the Defense; but the witness might like to leave Nuremberg fairly promptly. Perhaps I might suggest that he be heard tomorrow and that after he has been heard, if Counsel for Defendant Seyss-Inquart expresses his desire to cross-examine him, the witness could remain until Monday’s session.
If, on the other hand, after having heard the questions involved, the Counsel considers that there is no need for any cross-examination, then Seyss-Inquart’s absence would not matter. But I will naturally accept the decision of the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: That seems a very reasonable suggestion.
DR. STEINBAUER: I am agreeable to the suggestion of the French Prosecutor.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now.