Morning Session
MARSHAL: May it please the Court, I desire to announce that Defendants Kaltenbrunner and Seyss-Inquart will be absent from this morning’s session on account of illness.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Babel, I understand that you do not wish to cross-examine that French witness.
HERR BABEL: That is correct.
THE PRESIDENT: Then the French witness can go home.
M. DUBOST: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, there is one reason that possibly that French witness ought not to go. I think I saw she was moving out of Court. Could you stop her, please? I am afraid that she must stay for today.
M. Dubost, are you going to deal with documents this morning?
M. DUBOST: Yes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Would you be so good as to give us carefully and slowly the number of the documents first, because we have a good deal of difficulty in finding them.
M. DUBOST: Yes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: And specify, also, so far as you can, the book in which they are to be found.
M. DUBOST: With the permission of the Tribunal, I shall continue my description of the organization of the camps and the way in which they functioned. We began last night by submitting to the Tribunal Document Number R-91 which showed that their purpose was: 1) to make good the shortage of labor; 2) to eliminate useless forces.
After Document R-91, which has been submitted under Exhibit Number RF-347, we shall read Document Number F-285, already submitted under Exhibit Number RF-346—second document book. This document is dated 17 December 1942 and is the conclusion of the document which we read to you yesterday. First paragraph:
“For important military reasons, which cannot be stated, the Reichsführer SS and the Chief of the German Police. . . .”
THE PRESIDENT: You read that yesterday.
M. DUBOST: That is correct, Mr. President, Page 18, sixth paragraph, at the top of the page.
“Poles eligible for German citizenship and prisoners for whom special requests have been made, will not be transferred to. . . .”
Last paragraph, Page 19:
“Other papers will not be required for Eastern workers.”
This shows that arrests were made without discrimination in order to obtain labor and that this labor was considered to be so unimportant that it was sufficient to register it under serial numbers.
Now, we will show how this labor was utilized. Men were housed, as the witness, Balachowsky, said yesterday, near factories in Dora in underground shelters which they themselves had dug and where they lived under conditions which violated all the rules of hygiene. At Ohrdruf near Gotha, the prisoners constructed munition factories. Buchenwald supplied the labor for the factories of Hollerith and Dora and for the salt mines of Neustassfurt. The Tribunal will read in Document Number RF-301, at the bottom of Page 45:
“Ravensbrück supplied the labor for the Siemens factories, those of Czechoslovakia, and the workshops at Hanover.”
These special measures, according to the witness, Balachowsky, enabled the Germans to keep secret the manufacture of certain war weapons, such as the V-1 and V-2:
“The deportees had no contact with the outside world. The work of deportees enabled the Germans to obtain an output which they could not have obtained even from foreign workmen.”
The French Prosecution will now submit Document R-129 as Exhibit Number RF-348, which the Tribunal will find in the second document book. It deals with the management of concentration camps:
“The administration of a concentration camp, and of all economic enterprises attached to it, rests with the camp commandant.”
Fifth paragraph, Figure IV:
“The camp commandant alone is responsible for the work carried out by the workmen. This work”—I underline (italics) the word work—“this work must be, in the true sense of the word, exhausting in order to obtain the maximum output.”
Two paragraphs lower on the page:
“The hours of work are not limited. This duration depends on the technical structure of the camp and the work to be done and is determined by the camp commandant alone.”
Further on, the last paragraph, Page 23 of the book:
“He”—the camp commandant—“must combine a technical knowledge of economic and military subjects with wise and clever management of the men so as to reach a high potential of output.”
This document is signed by Pohl. It is dated, Berlin, 30 April 1942.
I should just like to refer again to a document which we have already quoted in relation to the camp of Ohrdruf, and which was submitted under the Number RF-140.
I will now read from Document 1584-PS, Exhibit Number RF-349. This document is signed by Göring and is addressed to Himmler. It definitely establishes the responsibility of Göring in the criminal utilization of this deported labor. I shall read the second paragraph of the second page:
“Dear Himmler:
“. . . at the same time I ask you to keep at my disposal for Air Force armament the greatest possible number of KZ prisoners.”—The initials “KZ” mean concentration camp.
“Experience has so far shown that this labor can be put to very good use. The situation of the war in the air necessitates the transfer of this industry to underground workshops. In such workshops, work and housing can be particularly well combined for KZ prisoners.”
We know then who was responsible for the frightful conditions which the deportees of Dora had to endure. The person responsible is in the dock.
THE PRESIDENT: You did not give us the date of that, did you? Is that 19 February 1944?
M. DUBOST: On the first page you will see that on 19 February 1944 a letter was addressed to Dr. Brandt, referring to teletypes which were sent by the Field Marshal.
THE PRESIDENT: Is it the second letter, the letter that you read? Is the date of that 19.2.44?
M. DUBOST: It is 15 April 1944 on the original, of which this is a photostat.
THE PRESIDENT: And could you tell us what KZ means, the two letters, KZ?
M. DUBOST: 15.4.44 on the original of the teletype, that means concentration camp.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, for the accuracy of the record, it appears that the letter on the second page is not 15 April 1944, but 14 February. Is that not so?
M. DUBOST: Yes. It is 14 February, 2030 hours. It is a teletype, which was booked 15 April 1944. That was the cause of my error.
THE PRESIDENT: But, M. Dubost, were you submitting or suggesting that this letter showed that the defendant, Göring, was a party to the experiments which took place, or only to the fact that these prisoners were used for work?
M. DUBOST: I was not referring to experiments. I was referring to internment in underground camps, like the Dora Camp of which the witness Balachowsky spoke yesterday in the first part of his testimony. With regard to this will to exterminate, of which I have been speaking from the beginning of my presentation this morning, I think it is proved first of all by the text of Document Number R-91, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-347, which I read yesterday afternoon at the end of the session, a letter which has not as yet been authenticated, and by statements made by the witnesses who brought you proof that, at all the camps in which they were, the same methods of extermination by work were carried out.
As far as the brutal extermination by gas is concerned, we have the invoices for poison gas, intended for Oranienburg and Auschwitz, which we submit to the Tribunal under Exhibit Number RF-350. The Tribunal will find translations on Page 27 of the second document book, Document Number 1553-PS.
I must point out, to be quite honest, that the French translation of these invoices is not absolutely in agreement with the German text. Therefore, in the fifth line, instead of “extermination” it should be “purification.”
The testimony of Mme. Vaillant-Couturier showed us that these gases, used for the destruction of lice and other parasites, were also used to destroy human beings. Besides, the quantity of gas which was sent and the frequency with which it was sent, as you can see from the great number of invoices which we offer in evidence, prove that the gas was used for a double purpose. We have invoices dated 14 February, 16 February, 8 March, 13 March, 20 March, 11 April, 27 April, 12 May, 26 May, and 31 May which are all submitted as Exhibit Number RF-350.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you putting in evidence the originals of these other bills to which you refer on this document?
M. DUBOST: I beg the clerk of the Court to hand them to Your Honor, and I request the Tribunal to examine these invoices carefully. They will observe that the quantities of toxic crystals sent to Oranienburg and Auschwitz were considerable; from the invoice of 30 April 1944 the Tribunal will see that 832 kilograms of crystals were sent, giving a net weight of 555 kilograms.
THE PRESIDENT: What is this document that you have just put in?
M. DUBOST: The 30th of April 1944, but I am taking them at random.
THE PRESIDENT: I am not asking the date. What I want to know is what is the authority for this document? It comes, does it not, from one of the committees set up by the French Republic?
M. DUBOST: No, Mr. President. The Document is an American document which was in the American archives, under the Document Number 1553-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, this note at the bottom of Document 1553-PS was not on the original put in by the United States, was it?
M. DUBOST: No, Mr. President, but you have before you all the originals under the number which the clerk of the Court has just handed you.
THE PRESIDENT: Unless you have an affidavit identifying these originals, the originals do not prove themselves. You have got to prove these documents which you have just handed up to us either by a witness or by an affidavit. The documents are documents, but they do not prove themselves.
M. DUBOST: These documents were found by the American Army and filed in the archives of the Nuremberg Trial. I took them from the archives of the American Delegation, and I consider them to be as authentic as all the other documents which were filed by my American colleagues in their archives. They were no doubt captured by the American Army.
THE PRESIDENT: There are two points, M. Dubost. The first is, that in the case of the original exhibit, 1553-PS, it was certified, we imagine, by an officer of the United States. These documents which you have now drawn our attention to are not so certified by anyone as far as we have been able to see. Certainly we cannot take judicial notice of these documents, which are private documents; and therefore, unless they are read in Court, they cannot be put in evidence. That can all be rectified very simply by such a certificate or by an affidavit annexing these documents and showing that they are analogous to the document which is the United States exhibit.
M. DUBOST: They are all United States documents, and they are all filed in the archives of the United States in the American Delegation under the Number 1553-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: The American Document Number 1553-PS has not yet been submitted to the Tribunal and the Tribunal is of the opinion that they cannot take judicial notice of this exhibit without any further certification, and they think that some short affidavit identifying the document must be made.
M. DUBOST: I will request my colleagues of the American Prosecution to furnish this affidavit. I did not think it possible that this document, which was classified in their archives, could be ruled out.
This purpose of extermination, moreover, does not need to be proved by this document. It is sufficiently established by the testimony which we have submitted to the Tribunal. The witness, Boix, spoke these words: “No one is allowed to leave this camp alive . . . . There is only one exit, and that is the chimney of the crematorium.”
In Document F-321, Exhibit Number RF-331, Page 49, at the top of the page, we read:
“The only explanation which the SS men made to the prisoners was that no captive should leave the place alive.”
On Page 179, the paragraph before the last of the French text:
“The SS told us there was only one exit—the chimney.”
On Page 174, the last paragraph before the heading “Gassing and Cremation”:
“The essential purpose of this camp was the extermination of the greatest possible number of men. It was known as the extermination camp.”
This destruction, this extermination of the internees, assumed two different forms. One was progressive; the other was brutal.
In the second document book which is before the Tribunal, we find the report of a delegation of British Members of Parliament, dated April 1945, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-351, from which we quote these words (the third paragraph on Page 29):
“Although the work of cleaning out the camp had gone on busily for over a week before our visit . . . our immediate and continuing impression was of intense general squalor. . . .”
Page 30, the last paragraph but one:
“We should conclude, however, by stating that it is our considered and unanimous opinion, on the evidence available to us, that a policy of steady starvation and inhuman brutality was carried out at Buchenwald for a long period of time; and that such camps as this mark the lowest point of degradation to which humanity has yet descended.”
Likewise, in the report of a committee set up by General Eisenhower, Document L-159, which we submit under Exhibit Number RF-352, Pages 31, 32, and 33 of the same document book, we read:
“The purpose of this camp was extermination. . . .”
Page 31:
“Atrocities and other conditions in the concentration camps in Germany. Report of a committee founded by General Eisenhower under the auspices of the Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, to the Congress of the United States, concerning atrocities and other conditions in concentration camps in Germany.”
Page 32:
“The mission of this camp was extermination, by starvation, beatings, torture, incredibly crowded sleeping conditions, and sickness. The result of these measures was heightened by the fact that prisoners were obliged to work in an armament factory adjoining the camp which manufactured small firearms, rifles. . . .”
The means which were used to carry out this progressive extermination are numerous, as shown in documents which have just been handed to us. These documents, which we are going to submit, have been communicated to the Defense. They consist of printed formulas coming from Auschwitz, concerning the number of blows which could be administered to the internees or prisoners.
These documents will be handed over to the Defense for their criticism. They have just been given to us. I am not able to authenticate their origin today. They appear to me to be of a genuinely authentic character. Photostats of these documents have been given to the Defense.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, the Tribunal thinks that they cannot admit these documents at present. It may be that after you have more time to examine the matter you may be able to offer some evidence which authenticates the documents, but we cannot admit the documents simply upon your statement that you believe them to be genuine.
M. DUBOST: Moreover, everything in the camps contributed to pave the way for the progressive extermination of the people who were interned there. Their situation was as follows: They were exposed to a hard climate; some worked underground. Their living conditions have been brought to light by the testimony which you have heard. When the internees arrived, they were compelled to remain naked for hours while they were being registered or waiting to be tattooed.
Everything combined to cause the rapid death of those who were interned in the camps. A good number of them were subjected to an even harder regime, the description of which was given to the Tribunal by the American Prosecution when they submitted Document Number USA-243 and the following, dealing with the Nacht und Nebel regime, the NN.
I do not think it is necessary to return to the description of this regime. I shall merely submit a new document which shows the rigor with which the NN regime was applied to our compatriots. It appears under the Document Number F-278(b), submitted under Exhibit Number RF-326. It comes from the German Armistice Commission of Wiesbaden and shows that no steps were ever taken in reply to repeated protests by the French population, and even by the de facto government of Vichy, against the silence which shrouded the internees of the NN camps.
I shall now read Paragraph 2 which explains why no reply could be given to families, who had good reason for anxiety:
“This result was foreseen and desired by the Führer. His opinion was that effective and lasting intimidation of the population, which would put a stop to its criminal activities against the occupation forces, would be achieved by the death sentence, or by measures which would leave the offenders’ next of kin and the population generally in the dark as to their fate.”
We will not devote any more time to describing the blocks and the hygienic conditions under which the internees in the blocks lived. Four witnesses, who all came from different camps, have pointed out to you that the hygienic conditions in these different camps were identical and that the blocks were equally overcrowded in all these camps. We know that in all cases the water supply was insufficient and that deportees slept two or three in beds 75 to 80 centimeters wide. We know that the bedding was never renewed or was in very bad condition. We know likewise the conditions in which the medical services of the camp functioned. Several witnesses belonging to the medical profession have testified to this fact before you. The Tribunal will find confirmation of their testimony in Document F-121, Exhibit Number RF-354. We shall read just one line of Page 100 of your document book:
“Because of lack of water the prisoners were obliged to fetch stagnant water from the water closets to satisfy their thirst.”
And then in Exhibit Number RF-331, (Document Number F-321), Page 119 of the French text, third paragraph:
“The surgical work was done by a German who claimed to be a surgeon from Berlin, but who was an ordinary criminal. He killed the patient in each operation. . . .”
Two paragraphs lower:
“The management of the block was in the hands of two Germans, who acted as sick bay attendants—unscrupulous men, who carried out surgical operations on the spot with the help of a certain H . . ., who was a mason by trade.”
After the statements of our witnesses, who in their capacity as doctors of medicine were able to care for patients in the camp infirmaries, it seems superfluous to give further quotations from our documents.
When the workers had been worked to the point of exhaustion, when it became impossible for them to recover, selections were made setting apart those who were of no further use with a view to exterminating them either in the gas chambers, as related by our first witness, Mme. Vaillant-Couturier, or by intracardiac injections, as related by two other French witnesses, Dr. Dupont and Dr. Balachowsky. This system of selection was carried out in all the camps and was, moreover, in response to general orders, proof of which we showed when reading Document Number R-91, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-347.
In the first document book the Tribunal will find the testimony of Blaha, testimony which it will certainly recall and which was received here the 9 January—it is the testimony of Blaha, 3249-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: You have already given this as evidence, have you not?
M. DUBOST: I am not going to read it. I merely wish to recall it to the Tribunal because it forms part of my collection of proofs.
THE PRESIDENT: We do not want affidavits by witnesses who have already given evidence. This affidavit, 3249-PS, has not been put in, has it?
M. DUBOST: No, I am merely recalling the testimony which was given at the session. We shall not submit this document, Mr. President. We are merely utilizing this document to remind the Tribunal that during the session Blaha pointed out conditions existing in the infirmary.
To all these wretched living conditions must be added work, exhausting work, for all the deportees were intended to carry out extremely hard work. We know that they worked in labor squads and in factories. We know, according to the witnesses, that the work lasted 12 hours a day at a minimum, and that it was often prolonged to suit the whim of the camp commandant.
Document R-129 (Exhibit Number RF-348), from which I have already read, emanating from Pohl and addressed to Himmler, Pages 22 and 23 of the second document book, suggests that the working hours should be practically unlimited.
This work was carried out, as the witnesses have told us, in water, in the mud, in underground factories—in Dora for instance—and in the quarries in Mauthausen. In addition to the work, which was exhausting in itself, the deportees were subject to ill-treatment by the SS and the Kapos, such as blows or being bitten by dogs.
Our Document Number F-274, Exhibit Number RF-301, Pages 74 and 75, brings official testimony to this effect. Is it necessary to read to the Tribunal from this document, which is an official document to which we constantly refer and which has been translated into German and into English?
THE PRESIDENT: I do not think you need read it.
M. DUBOST: Thank you, Mr. President. This same document, Page 77 and Page 78, informs us that all the prisoners were forced to do the work assigned to them, even under the worst conditions of health and hygiene. There was no quarantine for them even in case of contagious diseases or during epidemics.
The French Document Number F-392, Exhibit Number RF-330, which we have already submitted, which is the testimony of Dr. Steinberg, confirms that of Mme. Vaillant-Couturier. It is the twelfth document of your first document book. We shall read at Page 4:
“We received half a liter of herb tea; this was when we were awakened. A supervisor, who was at the door, hastened our washing by giving us blows with a cudgel. The lack of hygiene led to an epidemic of typhus. . . .”
At the end of the third paragraph you will find the conditions under which the prisoners were taken to the factories; in the fifth paragraph a description of shoes:
“We had been provided with wooden shoes which in a few days caused wounds. These wounds produced boils which brought death to many.”
I shall now read Document R-129, Pages 22, 23, and 24 in the second document book, and which we submit under the Number . . .
THE PRESIDENT: One moment; the Tribunal will adjourn now for fifteen minutes.
[A recess was taken.]
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, the Tribunal has been considering the question of the evidence which you have presented on the concentration camps; and they are of opinion that you have proved the case for the present, subject, of course, to any evidence which may be produced on behalf of the defendants and, of course, subject also to your right under Article 24-c of the Charter to bring in rebutting evidence, should the Tribunal think it right to admit such evidence. They think, therefore, that it is not in the interests of the Trial, which the Charter directs should be an expeditious one, that further evidence should be presented at this stage on the question of concentration camps, unless there are any particular new points about the concentration camps to which you have not yet drawn our attention; and, if there are such points, we should like you to particularize them before you present any further evidence upon them.
M. DUBOST: I thank the Tribunal for this statement. I do not conceal from the Tribunal that I shall need a few moments to select the points which it seems necessary to stress. I did not expect this decision.
With the authorization of the Tribunal, I shall pass to the examination of the situation of prisoners of war.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, possibly you could, during the adjournment, consider whether there are any particular points, new points, on concentration camps which you wish to draw our attention to and present them after the adjournment, in the meantime proceeding with some other matter.
M. DUBOST: The 1 o’clock recess?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that is what I meant.
M. DUBOST: I shall, therefore, consider as established provisionally the proof that Germany, in its internment camps and in its concentration camps, pursued a policy tending towards the annihilation and extermination of its enemies, while at the same time creating a system of terror which it exploited to facilitate the realization of its political aims.
Another aspect of this policy of terror and extermination appears when one studies the war crimes committed by Germany on the persons of prisoners of war. These crimes, as I shall prove to you, had two motives, among others: To debase the captives as much as possible in order to sap their energy; to demoralize them; to cause them to lose faith in themselves and in the cause for which they fought, and to despair of the future of their country. The second motive was to cause the disappearance of those of them who, by reasons of their previous history or indications given since their capture, showed that they could not be adapted to the new order the Nazis intended to set up.
With this aim, Germany multiplied the inhuman methods of treatment intended to debase the men in her hands, men who were soldiers and who had surrendered, trusting to the military honor of the army to which they had surrendered.
The transfer of prisoners was carried out under the most inhumane conditions. The men were badly fed and were obliged to make long marches on foot, exposed to every kind of punishment, and struck down when they were tired and could no longer follow the column. No shelter was provided at the halting places and no food. Evidence of this is given in the report on the evacuation of the column that left Sagan on 28 January 1945 at 12:30 p.m.
THE PRESIDENT: Where shall we find it?
M. DUBOST: It is in the document book submitted by M. Herzog. It is the report on the evacuation of the column that left Sagan on 28 January 1945. It is Document Number UK-78, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-46. A column of 1,357 British soldiers, including soldiers of all ranks, started out on 28 January 1945 for Spremberg.
THE PRESIDENT: Possibly this is the first document in your document book which has been handed up to us.
M. DUBOST: That is right, Mr. President. I shall now read to you the document on the evacuation of the Sagan Camp from 28 January to 4 February 1945. As the Tribunal has not the copy before it, I pass to Document Number UK-170, Exhibit Number RF-355.
THE PRESIDENT: I am just telling you that I rather think this may be the document, if it begins with “1,357 English prisoners of war. . . .” Does it begin in that way?
M. DUBOST: Yes. The document which you have before you, Mr. President, deals with the transfer of British prisoners. The one about which I wished to speak and from which I wanted to read to you dealt with the transfer of French prisoners. I think that it is not necessary for me to lengthen the session by showing the Tribunal that the British and the French prisoners were treated in the same fashion. I shall, therefore, restrict myself to your document.
“1,357 British war prisoners of all ranks marched out of Stalag Luft III in columns on 28 January 1945, and were thereafter marched for distances varying from 17 to 31 kilometers a day to Spremberg, where they were entrained for Luckenwalde. Food, water, medical supplies, and adequate accommodation were more or less nonexistent throughout the trip. At least three prisoners . . . had to be left at Muskau. . . .”
On the bottom of the page, three lines before the end:
“On the 31st they covered the distance of 31 kilometers to Muskau. It is small wonder that at this stage three men, Lieutenants Kielly and Wise, and Sergeant Burton collapsed and had to be left in the hospital at Muskau.”
Page 2 at the end of the document:
“On the march, apart from the Red Cross parcel already referred to, the only rations issued to the men were one-half loaf of bread and one issue of barley soup for each. The supply of water is described as ‘haphazard’. . . . No fewer than 15 of them escaped during the march.”
Now a statement by M. Bondot:
“The camp conditions of the Franco-Belgian column were even more rigorous. The camps were organized in a manner which was contrary to all the rules of hygiene. The prisoners were crowded into a very narrow space. They had no heat or water. There were 30 to 40 men to a room in Stalag III-C.”
M. Boudot’s statement is to be found in the report on prisoners and deportees which was also handed to you the other day by M. Herzog. I believe that the Tribunal has kept its documents of last Thursday . . .
THE PRESIDENT: We have kept those documents, but if we had them on the Bench before us you would not be able to see us.
M. DUBOST: Similar statements are found in the Red Cross reports. Berger, who was in charge of prisoner-of-war camps under Himmler from 1 October 1944, admitted in the course of his examination that the food supply of prisoners of war was entirely insufficient. The Tribunal will find on Page 3 of the document book, which is before it, an extract from Berger’s examination. Second paragraph:
“I visited a camp south of Berlin, the name of which I cannot remember at the moment. I shall perhaps remember later. At that time it was obvious to me that the food conditions were absolutely inadequate and a violent argument between Himmler and myself arose. Himmler was violently opposed to continuing the distribution of packages of the Red Cross in the prisoner-of-war camps at the same rate as before. As for me, I thought that in this case we should be faced with serious problems regarding the men’s health.”
We present Document Number 826-PS as Exhibit Number RF-356. This document was issued by the Führer’s headquarters and is a report on a visit to Norway and Denmark. It is on Page 7 of your document book, Paragraph 3:
“All the prisoners of war in Norway receive only sufficient food to keep them alive without working. The felling of timber, however, makes such physical demands on these prisoners of war that, if the food remains the same, a considerable decline in production must soon be expected.”
This note applies to the situation of the 82,000 prisoners of war held captive in Norway, 30,000 of whom were employed on very hard construction work which was being carried out by the Todt organization. This is found in the first paragraph of Page 7.
I now present to the Tribunal a document, Number 820-PS, Page 9 in the document book. It deals with the establishment of prisoner-of-war camps in the regions exposed to aerial bombardment. It was issued by headquarters. It is dated 18 August 1943. It was sent by the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force to the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht. We submit it as Exhibit Number RF-358, and we shall read to the Tribunal Paragraph 3:
“The Commander-in-Chief, Air General Staff, proposes to erect prisoner-of-war camps in the residential quarters of cities, in order to obtain a certain protection thereby.”
I skip a paragraph:
“In view of the above reason, consideration should be given to the immediate erection of such camps in a large number of cities which appear to be endangered by air attacks. As the discussions with the city of Frankfurt . . . have shown, the towns will support and speed up the construction of the camps by all available means.”
The last paragraph:
“So far, there are in Germany about 8,000 prisoners of war of the British and American Air Forces (without counting those in hospitals). By evacuating the camps actually in existence, which might be used to house bombed-out people, we should immediately have at our disposal prisoners of war for a fairly large number of such camps.”
This refers to the camps set up in bombed areas and areas which were particularly exposed.
On Page 10 the Tribunal will find a document issued by the Führer’s headquarters, dated 3 September 1943, dealing with the establishment of these new prisoner-of-war camps for British and American airmen. We submit this document as Exhibit Number RF-339 (Document Number 823-PS):
“1) The Commander-in-Chief, Air General Staff, is planning the erection of further camps for air force prisoners, as the number of new prisoners is mounting to more than 1,000 a month, and the space available at the moment is insufficient. The Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe proposes to establish these camps within residential quarters of cities, which would constitute at the same time a protection for the populations of the town and, in addition, to transfer all the existing camps, containing about 8,000 British and American Air Force prisoners, to larger towns threatened by enemy air attack. . . .
“2) The Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, Chief of War Prisoners, has approved this project in principle.”
On Page 12 of the document book which the Tribunal has before it is a document, Number F-551, which we shall submit as Exhibit Number RF-360. It deals with the sentencing of prisoners of war in violation of Article 60 and the following articles of the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention provides that the protecting power shall be advised of judicial prosecutions that are made against prisoners of war and will have the right to be represented at the trial. The document which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-360 shows that these provisions were violated:
“In practice, the application of Articles 60 and 66, particularly Paragraph 2 of Article 66 of the Convention of 1929, concerning the treatment of prisoners of war causes considerable difficulties. For the application of severe penal jurisdiction, it is intolerable that precisely for the most serious offenses, as for instance, attacks on the guards, the death sentence cannot be carried out until 3 months after its notification to the protecting power. The discipline of prisoners of war is bound to suffer from this.”
I pass over the rest of the paragraph. On Page 12:
“The following regulation is proposed:
“a) The French may be confident that the trials by German courts-martial will be carried out thoroughly and conscientiously as before;
“b) Germany will designate, as before, a defense counsel and an interpreter. . . .
“c) In case of a death sentence an adequate respite will be granted.”
On top of Page 13:
“In this respect, in urgent cases, however, Germany must reserve for herself the right—even if not expressly stated—to execute the sentence immediately.”
Third paragraph:
“There is no question of allowing France, by virtue of Article 62, Paragraph III (POW), of the Geneva Convention, to delegate representatives to the chief sessions of the German Military Tribunals.”
We possess an example of the violation of Articles 60 and those following of the Geneva Convention in the report of the Netherlands Government, which the Tribunal will find on Page 14 of its document book.
THE PRESIDENT: I think we better break off now.