“The whole organization set up for the extermination of people was so cunningly devised and carried out that right up to the last moment the next transport of doomed persons could not guess the fate of the group which had preceded them. The departure of transports—consisting of 1,000 to 2,000 persons—from the village of Sawadki to the extermination camp and the extermination of the arrivals lasted until 2 o’clock.
“The cars loaded with Jews arrived in the camp and stopped before the mansion. A representative of the Sonderkommando made a short speech to the new arrivals. He assured them that they were going to work in the East. He promised them just treatment by the authorities and adequate food and, at the same time, instructed them to take a bath before leaving, while their clothing was disinfected. From the courtyard the Jews were then brought to a big warm room on the second floor of the mansion. There they had to undress, and, clad in underclothes only, they went downstairs, passed through a corridor with signs such as ‘To the medical officer’ and ‘To the bath’ on the walls. The arrow which showed the way ‘To the bath’ pointed toward the exit. The Germans told the Jews who came out into the yard that they would go to the bath in a closed car; and, true enough, a large car was brought up to this door so that the Jews coming out of the house found themselves on a ladder leading straight inside the car. The loading of the Jews into the car lasted a very short time. Police were on guard in the corridor and near the car. With blows and shouts they forced the Jews to enter the car, stunning them, so that they could not attempt any resistance. When all the Jews were piled inside the car, the doors were carefully locked, and the chauffeur switched on the motor, so that those in the car were poisoned by the exhaust gas.”
I consider it unnecessary to quote that part of the report which testifies that the car in question was the “murder van” already well known to the Court.
I will just quote one sentence from Page 10 of this document, Paragraph 3:
“Thus, at least 340,000 men, women, and children, from newborn babies to aged persons, were exterminated in Helmno.”
I believe that I can end here that part of my statement which concerns the secret exterminating centers. And now I pass on to the part of my statement dealing with religious persecutions.
In the Soviet Union as well as in the occupied countries of Eastern Europe, the German fascist criminals brought shame upon themselves by their mockery of the religious feelings and faith of the people, by persecuting and murdering the priesthood of all religious creeds. In proof of this I shall read a few excerpts from the pertinent reports of the various governments.
On Page 70 of the Russian text, which corresponds to Page 80 of the document book, we find the description of the persecution of the Czech Orthodox Church by the German fascist criminals. I quote only one paragraph:
“The hardest blow was directed against the Czech Orthodox Church. The Orthodox parishes in Czechoslovakia were ordered by the Berlin Ministry for Church Affairs to leave the jurisdiction of Belgrade and Constantinople dioceses and to become subordinate to the Berlin bishop. The Czech Bishop Gorazd was executed together with two other priests of the Orthodox Church. By a special order of the Protector Daluege, issued in September 1942, the Orthodox Church of Serbian-Constantinople jurisdiction was dissolved on Czech territory, its religious activity forbidden, and its property confiscated.”
On Page 69 of the same report, which corresponds to Page 79 of the document book, in the last paragraph, there is a description of the persecutions of the Czech National Church, which was persecuted by the German fascists, according to the report, “Just because of its name, because of its sympathy for the Hus movement, the democratic constitution, and because of the role it played in founding the Czech Republic.” The Czech national church in Slovakia was prohibited and its property confiscated by the Germans in 1940.