2 August 1945
I, Kurt Lindow, born 16 February, 1903 in Berlin, director of the Office for criminal affairs in the RSHA, declare herewith:
1. I worked since 1938 in the office of the Secret State Police [Gestapo], respectively in office IV of the RSHA and then in the years 1938, 1939 and beginning of 1940 in the department of preventive arrests in which the political prisoners who were in the concentration camps were registered; furthermore, I worked in 1940 and 1941 in group IV E (counterespionage), department IV El and 1942 and 1943 in department IV/A 1 (combatting of communism) and finally in 1944 in the department for education of office I (IB).
2. On the basis of general experience as well as of individual cases I can confirm that the Gestapo (office IV) wrote reports about practices of the administrative authorities in the concentration camps and that these were given by the chief of office IV to the Chief of the Security Police for signature and were submitted to the Reichsfuehrer Himmler.
3. The office chief IV has repeatedly attempted to get the attitude of the Gestapo in the judgment of individual cases to bear more weight, so much the more as the administrations of the concentration camps, respectively the chief office for economy and administration, office D is reported to have hardly considered the attitude or wishes of office IV in the last years. According to
796
information received by me such a report which also referred to the general undignified conditions in the camps was prepared by the chief of office IV for the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler and was submitted a short time ago to the Chief of the Security Police Kaltenbrunner for signature. Kaltenbrunner is said to have repudiated this report, to have sent it on, however, signed with a marginal note to the Reichsfuehrer Himmler. In this note of the Chief of the Security Police—so I was told—he brought out that now even Mueller got apprehensions or became soft or something similar and that he, at any rate, did not share Mueller's opinions. The Reichsfuehrer Himmler returned then the report concerned to the chief of office IV with corresponding notation. As I was further told by criminal commissary Duchstein who worked in the ante chamber of the chief of office IV and who was arrested with me, the position of chief of office IV was weakened thereby for a certain time, so that even a contemplated promotion of Mueller to the rank of Obergruppenfuehrer was cancelled. .
4. To my knowledge no chief of office or any of the officials of the RSHA, authorized to sign, had the right to sign, in any fundamental affairs of particular political significance, without, consent of the Chief of the Security Police—not even during his temporary absence. From own experience I can furthermore declare that particularly the chief .of office IV, Mueller, was very cautious in signing documents, concerning questions of general nature and in some cases of greater importance, and that he put aside events of such nature in most cases for the return of the Chief of the Security Police, whereby, alas, often much time was lost.
[Signed]: Kurt Lindow
This declaration has been written down by my own hand on three pages at Freising, Germany, on 3 August 1945 at 15-16.30 hours. This has been done of my own free will.
I swear to God the Almighty that I will say nothing but the truth, that I will withhold nothing noi add anything.
[Signed]: Kurt Lindow
Subscribed and sworn to before me at Freising, Germany, this 3rd day of August 1945.
' [Signed] : Lloyd M. Rausch
Capt., FA
Investigating Officer
693260—46—51
797
Affidavit on the Gestapo's role in the concentration camps, and the security police chief's (Kaltenbrunner) control over major decisions in RSHA
Authors
Kurt Lindow (Gestapo, RSHA; protective custody program; office on communists (1941-44))
Kurt Lindow
German police officer
- Born: 1903-02-16 (Berlin)
- Died: 1972-01-18
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: police officer (since: 1928-01-01)
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel
- Participant in: Pohl Trial (date: 1947-07-18; role: affiant)
- Military rank: Sturmbannführer
Date: 03 August 1945
Defendant: Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Total Pages: 2
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: L-50
HLSL Item No.: 451695