M. DUBOST: Do you know what the attitude of mind of the prisoners was shortly before their liberation by the American forces?
BALACHOWSKY: The prisoners of the camp expected the liberation to come at any moment. On the 11th of April, in the morning, there was perfect order in the camp and exemplary discipline. We hid, with extreme difficulty and in the greatest secrecy, some weapons: cases of hand grenades, and about two hundred and fifty guns which were divided in 2 lots, 1 lot of 100 guns in the hospital, and another lot of about one hundred and fifty guns in my Block 50. As soon as the Americans began to appear below the camp of Buchenwald, about 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the 11th of April 1945, the political prisoners assembled in line, seized the weapons and made prisoners of most of the SS guards of the camp or shot all those who resisted. These guards had great difficulty in escaping as they carried rucksacks filled with booty—objects they had stolen from the prisoners during the time they guarded the camp.
M. DUBOST: Thank you. I have no further questions to put to the witness.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now for ten minutes.
[A recess was taken.]
THE PRESIDENT: Do any of the defendants’ counsel want to ask any questions of this witness?
DR. KAUFFMANN: Are you a specialist in research concerning the manufacture of vaccines?
BALACHOWSKY: Yes, I am a specialist in matters of research.
DR. KAUFFMANN: According to your opinion, was there any sense in the treatment to which these people were subjected?
BALACHOWSKY: It had no scientific significance; it only had a practical purpose. It permitted the verification of the efficacy of certain products.