TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-976

Nürnberg, 13 August 1946 AFFIDAVIT OF RUDOLF DIELS I, RUDOLF DIELS, declare the following under oath:
At the time when I was head of the Secret State Police (Gestapo) in Prussia I received from various sides—among others from the American journalist LOUIS LOCHNER—serious complaints about ill-treatments by SA men in concentration camps. I learned that the SA guards had badly ill-treated the following persons in the concentration camp Oranienburg: Mr. EBERT son of the former Reich President, ERNST HEILMAN, the leader of the Prussian Social Democrats, the Reichstag President PAUL LOEBE, and the Oberpraesident LUKASCHEK. These concentration camp inmates, who had been apprehended by the SA, had also been severely beaten by the SA guards and they had further been forced to hold lectures in which they had to praise National Socialist politics.
I myself have gained confirmation of those ill-treatments on the occasion of an inspection tour through the camp Oranienburg. At that time the commandant was SA leader SCHAEFER. For a short time conditions improved after my interference, then they deteriorated again. I myself did not succeed in removing SCHAEFER, since he was backed by the SA leadership. The SA has also carried out severe ill-treatments and killing of defenseless prisoners in other camps, such as for instance in the moor camps in the West near Papenburg. The SA has murdered the former police president OTTO EGGARSTAEDT of Altona and HEILMANN was shot at, he died later. I know all this from complaints, on the basis of which I tried to help, I also succeeded in achieving the release of several persons and thus managed to save their lives.
Read, approved of, subscribed to and sworn.
[sgd] Rudolf Diels
Sworn before me this 13th day of August 1946
[sgd] Anthony Marreco Lieut. Commander R.N.V.R.
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