We were at the point of reading a document of the Dutch Government, which was already presented to the Tribunal under Document Number F-224 (Exhibit Number RF-324) and which establishes that a protest was formulated, following the secret condemnation to death and the execution of three officers: Lieutenants J. J. B. ten Bosch, B. M. C. Braat, and Thibo.
I think that the document to which I alluded this morning, which is the official report of the French Government concerning prisoners, is now in the hands of the Tribunal. It is the document submitted by M. Herzog under Exhibit Number RF-46, Document Number UK-78. I ask the Tribunal to excuse me, as I cannot present this document again. I have no more copies.
It is evident from this document that the Nazis had a systematic policy of intimidation. They strove to keep the greatest possible number of prisoners of war in order to be able, if necessary, to exercise efficacious pressure over the countries from which these prisoners came. This policy was exercised by the irregular or improper capture of prisoners, and also by the refusal, which was systematically upheld, to repatriate the prisoners whose state of health would have justified this measure.
Concerning the irregular or improper capture of prisoners of war, we can cite the example of what happened in France after the signing of the armistice.
The report of the Ministry of Prisoners and Deportees, to which we refer, indicates, on Page 4:
“In 1940 certain French military formations laid down their arms at the time of the armistice under the assurance given by the German Army that troops who had thus surrendered would not be taken into captivity. These troops were, nevertheless, captured. The Alpine Army had passed over the Rhône in order to be demobilized and was west of the region of Vienne. They were taken prisoners and were sent to Germany until the end of July 1940.
“Moreover, noncombatant formations of special civilians were led into captivity and imprisoned in accordance with Himmler’s orders, which said that all Frenchmen of military age were to be seized indiscriminately. In short, it was only through the making of special exceptions and the private initiative of unit commanders that all Frenchmen were not transferred to Germany.
“Because of the enormous number of prisoners and the difficulties that faced the German Army in taking all those men to Germany, the German Army decided, in 1940, to create what they called ‘Front-Stalags.’