DR. STEINBAUER: Then I shall turn to another question.
[Turning to the witness.] Is it true that in the second half of the year 1944 a state of emergency was declared?
SCHWEBEL: Yes, on 4 September.
DR. STEINBAUER: And the executive powers were turned over to the Armed Forces within a radius of 30 kilometers?
SCHWEBEL: Yes, but this transfer did not take place due to the regulation declaring this emergency state but as a result of a special military regulation.
DR. STEINBAUER: Due to military developments?
SCHWEBEL: Yes.
DR. STEINBAUER: Is it true that at the beginning of the year 1945 special Kommandos of the Reichsführer SS Himmler began to place time bombs in the public buildings of your province in case of an evacuation of this territory?
SCHWEBEL: As far as these special Kommandos of Himmler’s were concerned, I know nothing about them. I know only one case in which an Oberleutnant appeared, but I believe that that was prior to the time you mentioned. He wanted to take such steps. I immediately got in touch with the Reich Commissioner and the military commander, and I learned that none of these gentlemen knew about this. Thereupon, at the request of the Reich Commissioner, this Oberleutnant was told to cease his activity, to remove the bombs which he had already planted, and to leave immediately. I know of no other cases like that.
DR. STEINBAUER: Do you know that difficulties arose in Gouda as a result of the so-called “Wehrfähige ins Reich” drive, meaning that these who were fit for military service should be taken into the Reich?