PUHL: Yes; the reason was, as I have said repeatedly, that from the beginning special secrecy was desired, this desire was respected and adhered to everywhere, also as to this telephone call.
MR. DODD: And you are still insisting that this transaction was not a special secret transaction that you told Dr. Kempner was a “Schweinerei.” Do you know what that word means?
PUHL: Yes.
MR. DODD: What does it mean? It means it smelled bad, doesn’t it?
PUHL: That we should not have done it.
MR. DODD: Now, you called up Thoms on more than one occasion to ask him how the deposits from the SS were coming in, didn’t you?
PUHL: No, I saw Thoms relatively seldom, often not for months, as he could hardly come to my office.
MR. DODD: I didn’t ask you if you saw him often. I asked you if you didn’t call him on the telephone and ask him how the deposits were coming along?
PUHL: No, I took no further interest in the conduct of this particular transaction. Moreover, the requesting of a report from the cashier would have been the proper procedure.
MR. DODD: Did you tell him to get in touch with Brigadeführer Frank or Gruppenführer or Obergruppenführer Wolff of the SS? Did you tell that to Thoms?