He testified further that about the middle of January, Thierack had told him that Himmler had subordinated the prisoners at Sonnenburg to his own command and that as Minister of Justice of the Reich he, Thierack, could no longer do anything in regard to this institution. He testified further:
“It is not only my opinion but it was absolutely clear that at that time that penal institution was exclusively under the order of Himmler.”
He stated that he spoke to Hansen about the subject of Sonnenburg after this conversation with Thierack as to the change in authority, and that Hansen knew about such change. He testified further “that the prisoners were turned over to the Gestapo, I only found out here in this courtroom.”
As to what occurred in the Ministry of Justice with regard to the evacuation of Sonnenburg, the testimony of Robert Hecker is important. Hecker was the Referent in the department of justice in Department V of Berlin. Hecker testified in substance as follows: that in discussions with Hansen, the general public prosecutor for the Kammergericht in Berlin and the official under the Ministry of Justice responsible for certain matters in penal institutions, Hansen told him it might be necessary to evacuate Sonnenburg and that preliminary discussions had been carried on; that he, Hansen, had discussed the matter with the State Secretary with regard to the measures to be taken, and he had misgivings and suggested to Hecker that Hecker discuss the matter with the State Secretary. Hecker further stated that when he was the official on duty one night for the Minister of Justice, he received a telephone call from the director at Sonnenburg to the effect that a Russian break-through had taken place and asking for instructions; that he thereupon called Thierack at his home and asked for instructions and Thierack stated that the institution would be defended, and that the authorities at the institution were so informed. As the break-through did not then threaten the penitentiary, this order was not carried out. Hecker testified that later the director of the prison asked what measures he should take if the occasion should arise and that thereupon he called the general public prosecutor at the Kammergericht as to what instructions had been issued. The general public prosecutor was away at that time but the Referent who was present informed him that according to the instructions issued, the police were supposed to be informed in the case of evacuations. He testified further that Eggensperger, a Referent in Department V of the Ministry of Justice, who was on duty the night of the evacuation of Sonnenburg, had informed him the next morning that the prison had been evacuated; that Eggensperger told him that Hansen had called the night before, stating that the action of turning the prisoners not to be evacuated over to the Gestapo was under way and, when questioned as to whether it had been authorized by the Ministry of Justice, Hansen had named Klemm as the person in the Ministry who knew of and approved the transaction. He stated further that Eggensperger had made a typewritten note reporting his telephone conversation with Hansen and that he had received a copy of the note.
On cross-examination the witness Hecker testified in substance that he was himself in charge of the problem of the evacuation of prisons. When asked if he had heard that Himmler, in the middle of January, had issued an order concerning Sonnenburg, he answered that he had not and repeatedly denied any knowledge to the effect that Himmler had taken charge at Sonnenburg, and stated that he had not heard any rumor in the Ministry of Justice to the effect that Thierack had given up authority to issue orders concerning Sonnenburg. He stated that the conversation with Thierack over the telephone was at night and that Thierack had merely answered briefly his inquiry, stating that the institution would be defended. He testified that during the course of that night he repeatedly spoke to the authorities in Sonnenburg penitentiary and that he tried to contact the competent person in the Kammergericht, namely Hansen, in regard to the matter. Hecker stated that the director of the penitentiary knew that some kind of an agreement with the Gestapo existed and what he should do in the case of an evacuation, and that there were secret directives for evacuating penitentiaries and prisons. As to the note made by Eggensperger, he stated that it included a statement to the effect that the matter had been discussed between the General Public Prosecutor and the State Secretary Klemm. When asked about what happened to prisoners not evacuated, he replied that “as far as I was informed, the prisoners were shot by the Gestapo.”
The testimony of Eggensperger in connection with the evacuation of Sonnenburg is also significant. Eggensperger testified that he was an official in the penal execution department of the Ministry of Justice; that he was the official on duty for the entire Ministry of Justice to whom telephone calls were channeled on the night that Hansen reported the evacuation of Sonnenburg. Hansen called him during the night and informed him that during that night the prisoners of Sonnenburg penitentiary would be handed over to the Gestapo; that a detachment of the Gestapo had already arrived at Sonnenburg; and that the action was under way. “Hansen told me that this evacuation, or rather this transfer of the prisoners being carried out, was because the enemy constituted an immediate danger to the prison.” When asked whether this directive had been approved by anyone in the Ministry of Justice, Hansen answered, “Yes. This matter has been discussed with the State Secretary Klemm.” He testified as to the note which he made reporting the transaction, and that Hecker received a copy of this note. He stated that he had been deeply impressed by the information which he had received and asked Hecker if it was true that the State Secretary knew anything about the matter and approved it, and when asked what Hecker said, he answered:
“Hecker shrugged his shoulders. He looked at me and said, ‘Well, Hansen has—’ Well, I can only give you the sense of what he says, that Hansen has fooled this Under Secretary of State and he has got around him, or he impressed him. I think he said, ‘Hansen has convinced the Under Secretary of State to approve it.’”
He further stated that when he asked Hansen whether the minister or the Ministry were familiar with the matter, he answered in the affirmative and told him that the State Secretary knew about it and that he had put this down in his file note.
On cross-examination when asked if, as a liaison officer in Berlin in Department V, he reported repeatedly to the defendant Klemm in his capacity as State Secretary, he answered, “Yes.” When asked with what matters he was concerned, he answered, “Again and again there were current matters which had to be discussed with the State Secretary who wanted some information and some information I gave him myself. In some complicated cases I asked the officials in charge to come in.” The witness also testified that because of Klemm’s personality he, Eggensperger, was quite surprised at the action of Klemm and that was why he discussed the matter with Hecker in the morning. He testified further that it was his duty to make the file note as to the telephone conversation which he had received; that that file note was, he would say, about a half of a typewritten page. When asked if the file note included the name Klemm in connection with the fact that Hansen had referred to him, he answered, “Yes.” When asked whether Hansen spoke about an agreement, whether he used the word “agreement,” the witness answered that while he could not state the exact word used, that Hansen informed him that the matter had been discussed and approved, and stated that Hansen “reported to me the execution of a directive which had been issued.” He further stated:
“If you ask me concerning the execution, it was the report of a general public prosecutor concerning an important occurrence in a penitentiary. I would formulate it like that. It was his duty to report this matter.”