“A. I was active in sports, and I was a long distance runner. I can say my lungs were not blemished at all.”
The shattering of this man’s health is perhaps only a small part of the disaster which has befallen him. From the witness stand he gave the impression of one who had been spiritually crushed by his five years’ ordeal. His voice faltered, his shoulders drooped, his eyes looked out into distance. He was alive, but something within him had perished. Perhaps he reflected on the tragedy that this awful thing which had happened to him had been inflicted by his own countrymen, not for opposing his country but for speaking a truth which, if listened to, could have averted not only his own ruin but the misery of millions of his brethren.
II. PRISONERS OF WAR
Article 31 of the Geneva Convention provides—
“Work done by prisoners of war shall have no direct connection with the operations of the war. In particular it is forbidden to employ prisoners in the manufacture or transport of arms or munitions of any kind, or on the transport of material destined for the combatant units.”
The Hague Convention of 1907, Article 6 provides—
“The State may utilize the labor of prisoners of war according to their rank and aptitude, officers excepted. The tasks shall not be excessive and shall have no connection with the operations of the war.” (T-155.)
These prohibitions on the use of prisoners of war were flagrantly violated by the Germans in World War II. On 7 November 1941, Hermann Goering, speaking at the meeting in the Reich Ministry of Air, already referred to, declared that “it would be ideal if entire factories could be manned by Russian prisoners of war.” (T-52.) Then, insofar as feeding these prisoners was concerned the notes of the speech report: “Food is a matter of the Four Year Plan. Supply their own food (cats, horses, etc.).” (T-52.)
On 20 April 1942, Fritz Sauckel, Plenipotentiary General for Labor Mobilization, proclaimed that—
“All prisoners of war, from the territories of the West as well as of the East, actually in Germany, must be completely incorporated into the German armament and nutrition industries.” (T-58.)