BLAHA: Yes. I said that I was ready, since it is technically impossible to use my native Czech tongue in the hearing, to give my testimony in German, because I have lived in German surroundings through all these events which occurred during the last 7 years and which are now the subject of this Trial. Moreover, the special and new expressions referring to life in the camp can be found only in German, and in no other dictionary can one find such suitable and expressive terms as in the German language.
DR. SAUTER: Then, Mr. President, I have no further questions. Thank you.
DR. THOMA: Witness, were the inmates of the Concentration Camp Dachau bound to secrecy?
BLAHA: No. Of course, if someone was discharged from the camp by the Gestapo—those cases were few and far between, particularly in the case of the Germans, who were then drafted—one had to sign a so-called pledge of secrecy.
DR. THOMA: Could the inmates of the camp, those inside the camp, who worked on farms, et cetera, talk to the other workers about conditions in the camp?
BLAHA: Yes, there were opportunities, because the people worked in the same rooms and factories with other workers—civilian workers. That was the case in the German armament industry, in the fields, and in all factories in Munich and the surroundings.
DR. THOMA: If I understood you correctly, you said previously that visitors, people who delivered things, and customers, also had an opportunity of observing these conditions in the camp without difficulty.
BLAHA: Yes. Many of these people had access everywhere, in the fields as well as in the various factories, and could observe what life was like in these places.
DR. THOMA: And what did they see there in the way of atrocities and ill-treatment, and so forth?
BLAHA: I believe they saw how the people worked, what they looked like and what was produced there. For instance, I can remember one example of what they saw quite well. At that time I was working in the fields. We were pulling a heavy street roller, 16 men, and a group of girls passed who were on an excursion. When they passed, their leader said very loudly, so that we all could hear it, “Look, those people are so lazy that rather than harness up a team of horses they pull it themselves.” That was supposed to be a joke.