Then we come to the Holland period, and the Prosecution have no objection to Wimmer and Schwebel, but they do object to Bolle’s being called as an oral witness. The position is that he was refused by the Tribunal on the 26th of January. After the refusal interrogatories were submitted, but these seem to be almost entirely covered by the interrogatories administered to the witness Von der Wense, who is the second under the heading of affidavits. I think out of the 20 questions suggested for Bolle, there are only two that are not covered by Von der Wense, which are Numbers 17 and 18, and two others which seem to deal with very obvious points. So that is the objection with regard to Bolle, and the Prosecution submit that he would really be cumulative and is unnecessary. They make no objection to Fischböck, who speaks on the Jews, financial administration, art treasures, and forced labor. They make no objection to Hirschfeld, who speaks about confiscations and destruction of factories and the food situation. So, on the oral witnesses, the only objection is regarding Bolle.
With regard to the affidavits there is no objection—or rather, they should be interrogatories. They were all granted by the Tribunal on the 26th of January, and under these circumstances the Prosecution make no objection to them.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Dr. Steinbauer.
DR. GUSTAV STEINBAUER (Counsel for Defendant Seyss-Inquart): Mr. President, Your Honors, my client, Dr. Seyss-Inquart, had at first asked for a large number of witnesses and then, at my advice, and according to the desire of the Tribunal, reduced this number considerably.
I ask that the witness, construction supervisor Bolle, be admitted before the Tribunal because in my opinion the objection made by the Prosecution, that this is a cumulative witness, is not quite correct. Bolle was, before the occupation, Director of the Port of Hamburg, and then during all the years of the occupation he was director of the transportation department in Holland.
In particular he can testify about the railroad and shipping strike in October 1944. This chapter of the history of the occupation is extraordinarily important, because this strike resulted in a blocking of traffic which led to an embargo. The Indictment asserts, moreover, that the causes of the later famine catastrophe in Holland, as we may call it, can in part be traced back to measures which the Defendant Seyss-Inquart took in October 1944. Quite understandably, the Armed Forces wanted to use the few means of transportation which were still functioning, for their own purposes. The very examination of the witness Bolle should prove, however, that Seyss-Inquart endeavored, insofar as possible, to mitigate the effects of the measures taken by the Wehrmacht in this matter. In an interrogatory this complex of questions could not be treated exhaustively.
I ask you, Gentlemen, to realize that we are dealing here with the examination of the administration of a kingdom of 9 million within a period of 5 years. If we read through the report submitted by the Dutch Delegation we see, in regard to the financial consequences, alone, that it is alleged that the damage, which had been brought about by the administration on the one hand and by the events of war on the other hand, in short, by the occupation of Holland by Germany, reaches a figure of 25,725,000,000 Dutch guilders, to which, considering the difference in prices between 1938 and now, we have to add a margin of 175 percent.
I wish to point out that we are dealing here with the examination of administrative, legal, financial, and economic measures over a period of 5 years. I therefore believe that the request of the defendant that this witness be admitted is quite justified.
Concerning the affidavits, I took the liberty of making two more applications which have not yet been granted. This is on the last page, a very short affidavit by Baron Lindhorst-Hormann. He was formerly Commissioner of the Province of Groningen and should in particular be examined in regard to one point, in regard to the treatment of the so-called hostages in the hostage camp, and also in regard to the fact that none of these hostages was shot.
In addition to getting this affidavit, I have also asked that some official announcements be obtained, announcements by the Higher Police and SS Leader Rauter regarding the executions in order to prove who had done these things, that is, that the point of view of the defendant is that these regrettable measures were taken by the police and not by the civil administration.