HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES FORCES IN AUSTRIA Office of the Judge Advocate APO 777, U. S. Army
15 March 1946
SUBJECT: Letter of Transmittal
TO: Office of United States Chief of Counsel, Nürnberg APO 163, U. S. Army.
1. Transmitted herewith original letter of Kaltenbrunner, and letter of transmittal from Mayor of Vienna.
2. For your information, Bleschke is presently confined at _ Camp Marcus W. Orr, Salzburg, Austria.
FOR THE JUDGE ADVOCATE:
ARTHUR T. RATCLIFFE . Major JAGD
Asst Judge Advocate
Telephone VIENNA A-20472
Copy to Judge Advocate General, War Crimes Branch, Wiesbaden
Vienna, on the 11 March 1946 Mayor of the City of Vienna:
To the Legal Division USFA:
Vienna IX, Otto Wagnerplatz
I permit myself to refer to you a letter of the former Chef of the Sicherheitspolice and of the SD, Dr. Kaltenbrunner to Blaschke, the former mayor of the city of Vienna, with the request to transmit same to the court at Nürnberg. This letter was found in the files of the Viennese City Hall and is in my opinion an important document of proof for the war criminal case at Nürnberg. I transmit this letter to you since Nürnberg lies in the American occupied zone.
A copy of this letter goes at the same time to the minister of Justice, Dr. Geroe.
The mayor of the city of Vienna:
s/
KOERNER
737
3803-PS
Chief of the Security Police and of the SD IV A 4b—3433/42g (1446)
(In reply refer to above and date)
Berlin SW 68, 30 June 1944 Prinz-Albrecht Strasse 8 Telephone: 12 00 40 SECRET [Stamp]
Immediate action
TO: Buergermeister of the City of Vienna, SS Brigadefuehrer Blasehke, Vienna.
SUBJECT: Assignment of Labor Force to War essential work in the city of Vienna.
RE: Your letter of 7 June 1944
Dear Blasehke!
For the special reasons cited by you I have in the meantime given orders to ship several evacuation transports to Vienna-Strasshof. SS Brigadier Dr. Dellbruegge had, as a matter of fact, already written to me concerning the same matter.
At the present 4 shipments with approx. 12,000 Jews are pending. They should reach Vienna within the next few days.
According to previous experience it is estimated that 80 c/o of the transport will consist of Jews able to work (approx. 8,600 in this case) who can be utilized for the work in question, whereby it shall be understood that they are subject to be removed at any time. It is obvious that only a well guarded, enclosed place of work and a secured camplike billeting arrangement can be utilized and this is an absolute prerequisite for making these Jews available. Women unable to work and children of these Jews who all are kept in readiness for special action [Sonderaktion], and therefore one day will be removed again, have to stay in the guarded camp also during the day.
Please discuss further details with the State police Headquarters in Vienna, SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ebner and SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Krumey from the Special Action Command Hungary [Sondereinsatzkommando Ungarn] who at the present happens to be in Vienna. ,
I hope that these transports will be of help to you in carrying out these urgent work details of yours.
Heil Hitler!
(signed)
Your Kaltenbrunner
738
Cover letters and Kaltenbrunner's instructions on the transfer of Jews to Vienna for work, and the later "special action" to be taken for the Jewish women and children unable to work
Authors
Arthur T. Ratcliffe (US Army major, assistant judge advocate in Austria (1945-46))
Arthur T. Ratcliffe
British politician (1882-1963)
- Born: 1882-02-17
- Died: 1963-05-03
- Country of citizenship: United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (end cause: Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927; until: 1927-04-12)
- Occupation: politician
- Member of political party: Conservative Party
- Position held: Member of the 36th Parliament of the United Kingdom (elected in: 1931 United Kingdom general election; electoral district: Leek; end cause: dissolution of parliament)
Koerner (mayor of Vienna (1946))
Koerner
Soldier, mayor of Vienna, federal president of Austria (1873-1957)
- Born: 1873-02-24 1873-04-24 (Komárom)
- Died: 1957-01-04 (Vienna)
- Country of citizenship: Austria
- Occupation: military personnel; politician
- Member of political party: Social Democratic Party of Austria
- Military rank: general; soldier
- Position held: President of Austria (period: 1951-06-21 through 1957-01-04); mayor of Vienna (period: 1945-04-17 through 1951-06-22; replaced by: Franz Jonas; replaces: Rudolf Prikryl); member of the Austrian federal council (parliamentary term: 2nd National Council of Austria); member of the National Council of Austria
- VIAF ID: https://viaf.org/viaf/67260428
Ernst Kaltenbrunner (chief of security police and security service (SD), RSHA)
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Austrian SS official, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal (1903-1946)
- Born: 1903-10-04 (Ried im Innkreis) (country: Austria-Hungary)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg Court Prison)
- Country of citizenship: Austria; German Reich
- Occupation: lawyer; military officer; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Military rank: Obergruppenführer
- Military branch: Schutzstaffel (period: 1940-01-01 through 1945-01-01)
- Position held: Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (period: 1943-01-30 through 1945-05-08); President of Interpol (period: 1943-01-30 through 1945-05-12; replaces: Arthur Nebe); member of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany
Date: 15 March 1946
Literal Title: [third page:] Subject: Assignment of Labor Force to War essential work in the city of Vienna.
Defendant: Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Total Pages: 4
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-3803
HLSL Item No.: 451760
Notes:Ratcliffe to US chief of counsel, 15 March 1946; Koerner to US forces in Austria, 11 March 1946; Kaltenbrunner to Blaschke, 30 June 1944.
Trial Issues
Forced labor and mistreatment of workers in war economy (IMT, NMT 2) Extermination of the Jews (IMT, NMT 4, 9)
Document Summary
PS-3803: Letter from Kaltenbrunner to the Burgomaster of Vienna, 30 June 1944: of the 12,000 Jews who will shortly reach Vienna in "evacuation transports", those capable of work can be employed on essential war work for the city of Vienna; women and children incapable of work will be dealt with by "special action" and must meanwhile remain in the camp under guard