Q. What were the activities of the concentration dentists?
A. The concentration camp dentist had to take care of all the members of the administrative staff of the camp, and of the guards. As far as treatment of inmates was concerned, it varied. One in a while, the SS dentist did it, and later on in 1944-- approximately, due to the increase in the number of dental stations, dentists from the ranks of inmates were used. Those were subordinated to the dentists, professionally, and the camp dentist was responsible for their activity, for everything else that occurred in the camp area.
Q. Could the camp dentist carry out any correspondence on his own?
A. No; all the mail which he had to send out had to be turned over to his superior, the camp physician; that camp physician wrote on it "acknowledged" or "viewed" and that mail was then sent to Office D-3; and from there to Lolling. Lolling then handed it over to me, as far as it concerned me.
Q. How were the installations, the dental installations, in the concentration camps?
A. The dental stations which were established before the war, or early in the beginning of the war, were established in a wonderful Way. During the course of the first few years of the war, this equipment and material became rather scarce; every thing had to be established on a makeshift basis. That, of course, did not affect the treatment of the inmates in the concentration camps. It was just more difficult for the man who was giving the treatment to work under those conditions, and things would have been much easier for him if he had everything he needed for that.
Q. Will you tell us a few figures with reference to the various dental clinics in the camps?
A. That is very difficult for me to tel you that. All I can recall is that the camp Gross-Rosen, towards the end of 1944, I believe, had sixty or seventy dental installations.
I know of Sarchsenhausen. And that it had, I believe, from between thirty to forty dental installations, and all the other camps varied on the same level.
Q. How was the treatment of the concentration camp inmates in the camps? Was everything done for the inmates as was necessary-in a dental respect? Was that done professionally and according to all the principles of the dental profession?
A. During that time when I was a dentist in Office-D-3, I never heard any complaints. All dental work which was necessary could be carried out.
Q. Was all that done with the necessary conscientiousness required by dentists?
A. I never heard anything to the contrary. I have to assume that the dentists--as far as the SS dentists were concerned--treated all patients with the same conscientiousness.
Q. How was it then with the false teeth? How was it with the material and the drugs, and particularly as far as anesthetics were concerned?
A. False teeth could he manufactured in all camps; that is, the larger camps and all the main camps where the installations were rather good. In all those stations which were nearly established in the year 1944, there was not always the possibility to make false teeth. The dentist helped himself by dimply carrying out the preliminary work in his won station, and the false teeth were then manufactured in the main camp. All the camps which were a part of a main camp--were constantly in connection with each other for the delivery of materials.
Q. How was it with the drugs, material and anesthetics?
A. All material, drugs and anesthetics which were used in order to eliminate pain when dental operations were to be carried out, were delivered up to the very last few days of the war.
In any case, all those things which the dentist required each month, he received. I stated before that from the summer of 1944 onward, when I dealt with those things personally, I had to inquire several times if the medical stocks in the medical camps were being delivered to the fulliest extent.
Q. You, as leading physician, Office D-3--did you ever write any general regulations or decrees concerning the treatment of inmates? For instance, that certain medical or dental care was to be denied inmates--because they were inmates? Or because, due to the war, the drugs and material had become rather scarce?
A. I could; not give any such instructions, and I really can't recall that any of my superior agencies ever issued such an order or regulation. The material was always delivered.
Q. You told us all about those things yesterday. Would you explain to us again today with one single sentence the general attitude of the dentists towards the inmates?
A. As far as I know--and I know nothing to the contrary-the attitude of a dentist towards his patients is the same, regardless of what circles on what units his patients came from. That attitude was always a good one. Therefore, inmates were treated with the same conscientiousness as SS men, for instance. As far as I remember.
Q. Did you make any difference between the inmates, for instance between the Jewish, the political inmates, eh?
A. I know nothing about the fact that the difference was made here.
Q. The witnesses Abend and Lauber declared on the 11 of April--it is contained in page 294 of the German record and 319-they stated that you, on one of your visits in Ohrdruf, had ordered that teeth of inmates be pulled without any anesthetic, Is that correct?
A. Both witnesses testified here that they had not heard that alleged order from me, personally, and that they had been told about it by other inmates. I had no right whatsoever to issue such an order, and I would not have had any reason to do so in the first place.
Q. I would like to show you now Document Book 21. You will find there the affidavit by the former concentration camp physician of Ohrdruf, Dr. Greunuss, which was introduced by the Prosecution. It is NO-2156, Exhibit No. 519. It is on page 21 of the English Document Book and 19 of the German. The witness, Greunuss, towards the end of his affidavit is telling us something about a visit which you payed to Ohrdruf, He states in that affidavit all sorts of remarks which you made about the dental care for the inmates. Would you tell us, first of all, the circumstances pertaining to your visit to Ohrdruf?
A. My visit in Ohrdruf took place in the middle of March 1945. I did not leave Oranienberg with the intention to visit Ohrdruf. In the month of March, 1945, anyway, there was hardly the possibility to do anything because our activity in Oranienberg was as most stopped. A friend of mine who came from a field unit with a car had something to take care of in Buchenwals, since there were some officers of the WVHA, of the Main Office, there at that time; as I had nothing else to do in Office D-3 at that time, I succeeded in getting it through that I could go and see that place, together with him. For me, personally, there was one reason behind it all: I could visit my family which was near there, in Harz.
Court No. II, Case No. 4.
It must have been around the 12th or 13th of March that I found out in Buchenwald itself that the camp of Ohrdruf not so long ago had been declared an outside camp of Buchenwald and subordinated to Buchenwald. My family, by the way, was in the Harz Mountains. The physician from the garrison of Buchenwald had been transferred to that place. Due to the now subordination, difficulties had arisen in supplying physicians there, so that the physicians at Buchenwald went to Ohrdruf in order to have a conference with the physician there. Dr. Greunuss had to go there and see him anyway. Therefore, I availed myself of the opportunity to join him in his trip, and I also took Dr. Abraham with me, who was the immediate superior of the dentists in Ohrdruf.
Q After you arrived at Ohrdruf, how did the whole thing continue, or what occurred there?
A We arrived in Ohrdruf towards the evening. We went straight into the dispensary of the training place, a stone building, and there we were received by Dr. Scholz, who was the dentist in charge there. He took us to Greunuss and I was introduced to Greunuss. Between the camp physician of Buchenwald and Dr. Greunuss shortly afterwards a very vivid conversation concerning medical matters developed. As I wasn't very interested in all that, I went to the dental station near by, together with Abraham, and Scholz was awaiting us. In the dental clinic, we discussed those things with Scholz, which were to be discussed concerning dental matters. It didn't take very long; after ton or fifteen minutes we returned and we stayed within the rooms of the dispensary the same evening, Dr. Abraham, as well as Scholz, was there all the time on that evening and they were in my surroundings all the time. I spent the night with Abraham in the same room. On that evening in the presence of Greunuss I am sure there were no medical or dental questions discussed, because we had done that already in the dispensary itself, and there really wasn't any necessity to do so afterwards.
Q You made no decisions whatsoever that only the least to be Court No. II, Case No. 4.expected treatment was to be given to the inmates, that is to say, the extraction of teeth without giving an anaesthetic injection and things like that which were testified to by Dr. Abend here?
A No, I couldn't possibly make any such decision and I really wouldn't know why I would have made such a decision for one single camp, Ohrdruf. In this case, there was no reason whatsoever for doing so.
Q Dr. Greunuss also made heavy charges against you particularly with respect to the treatment of inmates in a dental respect, saying that it was too humane. He quoted you as saying that it would be too humane to send material and that you did not believe in those democratic ways of doing things and that you had ordered that the very least only should be given the inmates and particularly that you had forbidden anybody to manufacture false teeth and that due to that order the inmates were not in a position to digest their food in such a manner that no stomach diseases would occur. That do you have to say about that?
A I already stated before that there was no reason nor any possibility to make such decisions. All these charges as they have been preferred against me by Greunuss are absolutely unknown to me and they are new to me, nor would I ever have given any order, as stated, to forbid anybody else to manufacture false teeth. I couldn't possibly have given any such order to a physician, but, if one considers the period of time, which was the middle of March, 1945, you will see that is not logical. I understand that the Americans took Ohrdruf on the 2d of April, 1945. Even if you take that date as a proof, it can be seen that during those 14 days which preceded the liberation the arrangements could not possibly have occasioned such stomach diseases that would lead to death, but even in the period of time prior to that, I believe, that the camp only existed there for half a year. Greunuss would have had the opportunity then to have false teeth prior to that time up to the middle of March, but apparently he didn't do that either. After all, if he has any patients in his dispensary who are suffering Court No. II, Case No. 4.from such diseases then the least he could have done would have been to find out what their diseases were and to make sure if the whole thing was due to an indigestion due to bad teeth.
Now, if I were the physician, if I were in his place, I would have seen that the possibility would be to given to make such false teeth to take care of the inmates. Now, even if I had prohibited them to make false teeth towards the middle of March, even then, according to my opinion, he should not have been satisfied with that, but rather through official channels, that is to say, through his superior in Buchenwald he would have had to report to Lolling. He would have had to report about it and I remember that particular restriction which he had already made and all those things didn't happen and couldn't possibly happen, because there was no such thing as forbidding them to make those false teeth.
Q You therefore, stated that Dr. Greunuss' testimony concerning your statements was wrong and erroneous?
A I have already thought over the reason why Dr. Greunuss made such a statement, but I can't think of any reason, because I hardly know the man, unless the reason is that in those conferences which took place between the camp physician in Buchenwald and the administrative department which were not always carried out in good terms, I was a witness without even getting mixed up in the matter, because I was not competent to handle medical matters and I didn't know anything about them. I really can't think of any other reason. I can't understand all that.
DR. RATZ: May it please Your Honors, I am in a position to present two affidavits concerning that conference between Dr. Pook and Greunuss and also can present witnesses who were present during all those conferences that Physician Dr. Karl Abraham and the dentist Roman Scholz. The affidavit by Dr. Abraham is in my document book on page 3 and I would like to submit it as Exhibit No. 4. This affidavit by Roman Scholz is on page 41 of my document book. I would like to introduce it as Exhibit No. 5. Will you please permit me to read something out of Court No. II, Case No. 4.this as this statement made by Dr. Scholz is a rather heavy charge against my client.
Dr. Abraham in his affidavit states under paragraph 4, page 37 of my document book:
4.) "I can still remember Dr. Pook's visit to Buchenwald in the spring of 1945. He inspected first of all the dental clinic in Buchenwald jointly with Dr. Schiedlausky, who was garrison and Camp Physician of Buchenwald, and then drove with me and Schiedlausky to Ohrdruf; this building project had been put under the control of the Concentration Camp Buchenwald only a short time before; I do not know what the subordination conditions were before then. The dentist Roman Scholz was appointed in Ohrdruf, who had set up there the dental clinic for the treatment of the guard unit and of the prisoners. When we arrived we first of all met Scholz who took us to Greunuss. Scholz went away again to the clinic, we, Pook, Schiedlausky and I, were again alone with Greunuss. Schiedlausky had several matters to discuss with Greunuss, which no longer interested Pook and myself. Then Pook and I went to the clinic, which Scholz showed us. The visit did not last long, Pook was satisfied with the equipment and the working. So there was in Ohrdruf a firmly established dental station, which was a rest of the troop training centre; but it was not put at our disposal by the competent military administrative officials, so that dental surgical equipment had to be ordered from Berlin, which arrived indeed. It was a mobile field station, as far as I can remember, where as far as I know the prisoners were also treated; of course it is also possible that Scholz set up a special emergency station for the prisoners. The dental surgery according to Scholz's statement and according to our personal impression, which was cursory to be sure, at the mentioned visit, was carried out normally.
Pook and I then returned to the room where Schiedlausky and Greunuss were. At that time Greunuss praised Scholz in every respect when talking to me; now too in prison Greunuss has repeatedly praised Scholz to me as a skilled dental attendant and declares bin to be a Court No. II, Case No. 4.great chap (fabelhafter Kerl). We then sat down and spent the evening together; I can in no way recollect that the dental surgical treatment of prisoners once became the subject of conversation.
I would certainly have remembered it if Pook had made statements to Greunuss such as those of which Greunuss gave evidence in his affidavit of 21 February 1947. Scholz and I were with Dr. Pook all the time, it is quite impossible that a long tete-a-tete conversation could have taken place between Greunuss and Pook.
"I consider this affidavit of Greunuss, so far as it concerns the alleged statements of Dr. Pook, as false; I must have remembered at least something of them. Nor can it be a question of mere exaggeration. The physicians Dr. Katzenellenbogen and Dr. Bender have often, now in captivity, made statements to me to the effect that Dr. Greunuss was to be described as a psychopath. It already occurred to me myself, as also to other friends, e.g., he once wanted to draw God all day in spiral and triangular figures. If Dr. Pook had really issued the orders reported by Greunuss, in the first place I and Scholz must have come to know about it. More over, Dr. Pook was not authorized to be a dental surgeon at all, to issue a direct order to Dr. Greunuss. In addition, I would remark that I am not indicted in the Buchenwald trial at present in progress."
Dr. Greunuss is a defendant in the Buchenwald trial.
THE PRESIDENT: The Court will recess until Tuesday morning, July 8, at 9:30.
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal will recess until 0930 hours, 8 July.
Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal in the Matter of the United States of America against Oswald Pohl, et al., defendants, sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 8 July 1947, 0930-1630, Justice Toms presiding.
THE MARSHAL: The Honorable, the Judges of Military Tribunal No. II.
Military Tribunal No. II is now in session. God save the United States of America and this honorable Tribunal.
There will be order in the court.
DR. STEIN: Dr. Stein, deputy for Dr. Fritsch, counsel for Baier, Your Honor, my colleague Fritsch has the following request to make. For the time being he is busy with the preparations for the examination of his client. He would therefore appreciate it if his client could be excused from the session this afternoon.
THE PRESIDENT: You mean the defendant Scheide?
DR. STEIN: No, Baier.
THE PRESIDENT: The defendant Baier maybe excused from the session this afternoon at the request of his counsel.
DR. STEIN: Thank you, Mr. President.
DR. RATZ: ( Counsel for defendant Hermann Poole): May it please Your Honors, in order to refute the affidavit by Dr. Greunuss, I introduced an affidavit by Scholz during the last session. It is contained on Page 41 of my document book, and I introduced it as Exhibit No. 5. I would appreciate it if you would permit me to read the entire affidavit, which is rather short, because of its importance.
THE PRESIDENT: Which affidavit do you refer to?
DR. RATZ: It is the affidavit by Scholz, on Page 41 of my document book and Page 41 of the English also. Scholz states the following, and I shall quote:
"1. I am a dentist, having passed a state examination, and was working at the garrison dental station Weimar-Buchenwald as dental assistant from September 1942 until the end of December 1944. I never carried out any dental work in a concentration camp itself. In the beginning of January 1945 I received orders from Dr. Abraham, saying that I should establish a field dental station at the troop training center Ohrdruf.
The dental station which I established was intended for the troops. I received from Dr. Abraham a second chair for the treatment of patients which I brought to the Camp Ohrdruf, together with the necessary instruments, materials and medicaments. The dental treatment in the camp was carried out by prisoner dental surgeons who worked completely independently. By virtue of the supplied equipment, instruments and medicaments, they were able to carry out the required dental treatment at least in an emergency fashion as far as it had become necessary, e.g., provisional fillings could be made without any further difficulties, extractions under narcosis, as well. I do not know the least thing about an order according to which the dental treatment administered to prisoners in future should be restricted to extractions and that the latter should be carried out without narcosis. I can only be amazed at such an assertion. Had such an order been issued by any side, I certainly would have heard about it; e.g., Dr. Abraham, who was my immediate superior, would certainly have passed on information about that to me. According to my opinion, even during the state of emergency generally prevaling at the beginning of 1945, dental care for the prisoners was safeguarded in all cases where help was absolutely urgent. The provisional field outfit however which we had at our disposition was not sufficient for difficult causes, as, e.g., surgical operations, as opening of the jaw by chiseling.
"2) I still can remember Dr. Pook's visit together with Dr. Schiedlausky and Dr. Abraham in Ohrdruf in spring, 1945. After their arrival the three mentioned persons went to the dwelling room belonging to Dr. Greunuss, while I returned to the dental station. Sometime afterwards Dr. Pook and Dr. Abraham came to me to the station. They took a look at my station and were satisfied. Then they left again and probably returned to Dr. Greunuss' dwelling room. Later on I joined them in that room and-as far as I remember, I stayed there for some time. Nothing was said at the time about dental surgical matters. I certainly would have kept it in my memory if there had been talks on dental surgical matters.
I read over the affidavit submitted by Dr. Greunuss on 21 February 1947 insofar as it concerns itself with Dr. Pook's visit to Ohrdruf, and I can only declare that I do not know the least thing about the remarks which Greunuss pretends to have heard from Pook. If Pook had expressed himself in such a way, certainly Dr. Abraham would have said something to me about it. I do not know any thing about prisoners having been treated as dental patients in a brutal, cruel or inexpert fashion. That is impossible to assume, because of the very fact that the prisoners were administered treatment by their own fellow-prisoners. As far as I remember, this was the case in Ohrdruf, just as it was in the case in Buchenwald. Nor have I ever heard complaints or troubles in this respect. As I said before, everything was at hand for an emergency treatment, as, e.g., cement for tooth fillings, syringes for injections, and the adequate means belonging thereto for effecting a local narcosis as well as the necessary set of instruments. Replacement of teeth as well as dentures could not be supplied any more in Spring 1945, because we were lacking the technical equipment for such work. I myself too had no technical equipment for the dental treatment of the Wehrmacht units and SS troops stationed at Ohrdruf, nor could I provide any replacement of teeth to those. The German soldiers too had to be content with an emergency dental treatment."
This is the end of the affidavit.
HERMANN POOK -- Resumed DIRECT EXAMINATION -- Continued BY DR. RATZ:
Q Dr. Pook, I would like to ask you now to tell us again in a few words about the treatment of the inmates in the concentration camp dental stations and also about the installations of those stations.
A I did not by far see all the stations in all the camps where inmates were being treated. I really only saw a very small part of them. However, I can tell you that those dental stations within the protective custody camps, the old camps themselves, were installed in an excellent way.
Those dental stations had already been established before the war or at the beginning of the war. That is to say, at a time when there was still everything to be had and all the equipment could be purchased. I have, for instance, seen the dental station in Gross-Rosen, and I was surprised to see the first-class equipment which could be found there. The equipment was so good that actually a private dentist could not usually afford it. For instance, there was one of those hydraulic chairs. There was a small box which contained all the necessary instruments for proper treatment--for instance, a large dar-light lamp, an electric drill, a ventilator for hot days, and there was also a spittoon with running water, and there was also a small tube in order to wash out the mouth.
There was a possibility of warming that water. There was sprinkling equipment, sprinkling equipment for pyorrhea, which could also be arranged either to flow hot or cold. Then there was special equipment for electric treatments, then an instrument with which one could tell if a tooth still had a nerve, or a dead nerve in it, which was an electric instrument. That is a unit which as a rule, or rather cannot be found among private dentists. As I said before there was this large instrument box containing all sorts of instruments, and there was an X-ray machine. This X-ray machine had also been manufactured by the firm of Ritter. Everything wore ivory colours. The other dental stations had been installed in a similar manner, and they contained equipment produced by other firms also. Of course, if wasn't possible in my time, that is to say 1944, and particularly towards the end of 1944, to obtain such equipment due to the priority orders of the armament industry, and due to the increase of the number of concentration camps, dental stations at that time had to be established on a provisional basis, and the equipment was not everything we needed, but there were all those instruments there which were necessary for a good treatment.
The dental care itself extended to all treatments which occur in connection with dental care, starting with fillings, cement fillings, amalgam fillings, and then it continued over treatment of roots up to the extraction of the teeth, with both a local anesthesia or complete anesthesia.
BY JUDGE MUSMANNO:
Q For whom was all this highly modern equipment available?
A Your Honor, that was the equipment of dental stations where the inmates only were being treated, not SS members, in the protective custody camps.
Q Do I understand you to say that all this equipment, and all this very advanced method of treatment were available to the inmates of concentration camps, in all the concentration camps?
A Your Honor, in the original camps, yes, indeed. Equipment there, if it was not the same, was indeed similar.
Q And am I to understand that if a Russian Jew went to one of these dental offices and complained about a pain in a tooth that they would X-ray the tooth and they would treat it, and they would fill it, and give all this treatment which you have described?
A Yes, indeed. If it was necessary X-ray pictures were taken because there was an X-ray camera there.
Q Do you know this of your own personal knowledge?
A Yes. That is to say the X-ray machine was there, and the dentists reported to me, they showed me the files where they wrote down the treatment given to an inmate, and they also showed me the X-ray pictures, which were also collected and kept on file. I saw all those things during my visits.
Q Let's take a typical camp, let's take Auschwitz. How many inmates were there in Auschwitz?
A Your Honor, I don't know that.
Q About 10,000, let's say, just as a working figure, probably a great many more.
A Yes.
Q All right. Now, out of a population of 10,000 there would be quite a few who would need dental treatment normally, wouldn't there, in a town of 10,000 people?
A Yes, of course.
Q Now, how many dentists would you have in Auschwitz?
A In Auschwitz itself, that is to say in the main camp, there were four dentists, four dentists altogether, and in the dental stations where the inmates were being treated there was one dentist who was as a rule an inmate, and he was giving them their necessary treatment.
Auschwitz itself, you know, consisted of three camps. Auschwitz I, II, and III, and the largest part of the camp was outside of Auschwitz in so-called outside camps, located with the various industrial firms, enterprises which were using the inmates. In every one of them there was a dental station. I drove through all those outside camps in order to visit ten or twelve of those camps, and to also inspect the dental stations there. At the present moment I couldn't tell you just how many dentists there were there altogether. I cannot recall that today.
Q You don't seriously mean to say that if a Russian Jew that had been brought there for the very obvious purpose of extermination, had dental trouble, they would treat his teeth before they killed him?
A Your Honor, I couldn't give you any information on that. I don't know it. I can only judge about those people who were being used as laborers, and these people who were in the camps where they were working. There were also dental stations in those particular camps, and treatment was given, to be sure without any permission, or without paying for it. Every inmate of a concentration camp had the right to go and ask for treatment in one of those dental stations, and he was also cared for.
Q Did you know about the extermination program?
A No, your Honor, it was not known to me.
Q Yes, but you did not know about these dental offices in Auschwitz?
A I didn't see all the dental stations in Auschwitz because the camp was too large to enable me to see everything. I only saw a few of them.
Q Well, how could you see all these dental stations and yet not be familiar with what was taking place in Auschwitz?
A Because all those camps which I saw were not in Auschwitz itself but within an area of thirty to fifty and eighty kilometers.
Q Can you, of your own personal knowledge - now I am speaking of your own information and observation - say that in all these concentration camps there were dental stations so equipped that they could care for all the inmates who required dental treatment?
A Yes, indeed, your Honor, I can confirm you that with a good conscience and a clear conscience.
Q In order to have that kind of knowledge then, you couldn't help but know of the atrocities which were committed in these various camps which have been testified to here, some of which you must admit happened.
A No, your Honor, I can't do that. I have stated in my previous examinations that my visits only were limited to a short period of time, that all these visits were announced in advance, and that those visits were rather infrequent, furthermore, that I could only enter the protective camp in company with somebody else, and only in order to visit the dental stations that had been explicitly ordered.
Q. So you don't know what happened when you weren't there?
A. No, I don't.
Q. So that your statements about the kind of treatment are bound to be based, to a great extent, on hearsay and reports given to you, and not because you were there personally?
A. Your Honor, every month we received a report by the dentists from the concentration camps concerning the work that had been done. Therefore, exactly like Office 14, I could see from those reports what had been done by every individual station. It was stated there how many fillings had been carried out, how many teeth had been extracted, and how many dentures had been made, including the number of teeth contained there; it was stated how many X-ray pictures were taken, how many operations were carried out, etc.
Q. But it didn't give negative reports; it didn't tell about those who were not treated. You just assume that because a certain number of extractions were indicated, a certain number of treatments, that everybody had access to that treatment?
A. Your Honor, only those people could be treated who went to be treated; files were kept of all these treatments. I saw those files during my visits. The files were kept by one of the inmates in the dental station and, as I said before, I took a look at those files and I compared the files with the monthly report to see if they checked. So I actually had some sort of a control that those things contained in the files were not only written into the report but actually carried out. That was the task of that file, namely, every inmate who came in there for treatment received his own file record.
Q. OK, you may proceed.
A. And that was the reason for the monthly reports also. That was the reason for the whole thing.
BY DR. RATZ (Counsel for defendant Pook):
Q. Witness, you stated that everything could be done that the inmates needed, and that without permission. According to your previous statements, only dentures had to be approved.
A. Yes, all dental treatment, as I stated before, could be carried out without any previous permission. Every inmate of a concentration camp at any time had the right to go to such a dental station for treatment. The treatment was then given him immediately without any delay. As far as dentures were concerned, it was necessary to write out an application first which had to be approved by both the dentist, the medical officer there, and the protective custody camp leader. All kinds of dentures were manufactured consisting of a rubber or paladon, which had been developed in the past ten years and which was being used more and more. Bridges were made; steel plates were also inserted, and steel frames together with rubber and paladon, a plastic material.
If in any of the smaller camps or one of the outside camps there was no possibility to make such dentures, then it was handled in the following manner: All the preliminary work, the taking of a form, was carried out in one camp; whereas the manufacture itself was carried out in the laboratory of the main camp. This manufacture of dentures was carried out by permission, but, as I said before, I cannot recall a single case where I didn't approve one of the requests. All requests which were turned in to me were approved by me.
Q. Would you like to tell us why dentures had to be applied for since it had been basically approved?
A. This was to be a guarantee that, first of all, only urgent work would be carried out - that is, on dentures - and also that those urgent jobs were carried out in preference to purely cosmetic work.
Q. Were dentures made in gold for the inmates or for the SS members?
A. I received a few applications for gold dentures; however, they didn't amount to much. The possibility for that was given, if the individual brought along the gold. If the inmate had the gold, he received his gold dentures. Gold dentures were made for SS members if certain prerequisities were met. First of all, if the man had been injured while in action, or then in the event of an accident during his service in the army, or then if the dental report stated that no other metal was to be used for his treatment.