"Effective immediately, I am taking you into the Waffen-SS". I was then on leave with the Luftwaffe. "And you are not going to leave Berlin again. You will report at once to Sturmbannfuehrer Stein." who was the expert for personnel questions of the SS officers. I said, "Yes Sir." I went to Stein. Stein took down my unit from my pay book, and he wanted to know who my superior officer in the Air Ministry was. That was my opportunity to leave the WVHA again, by saying that agency, the Air Equipment Office, was about to evacuate Berlin and that I had to find out the address first of all. I disappeared and was not seen again.
DR. HEIM: If the Tribunal please, I shall later on submit another few affidavits about the things the witness has told us just now.
JUDGE MUSMANNO: Have you given us the date of this episode?
THE PRESIDENT: February 1945.
THE WITNESS: February 12, 1945.
BY DR. HEIM:
Q Witness, would it have been financially advantageous for you to join the SS?
AAlmost without doubt. Pohl-
THE PRESIDENT: I don't know, but he answered your question. He said, "Yes, without a doubt."
DR. HEIM: I did not understand the witness, Your Honor.
THE WITNESS: I said Yes.
BY DR. HEIM:
Q Witness, since no ruling has been made about the question of conspiracy in this Indictment, I want to put a few questions to you in connection with that Count.
THE PRESIDENT: I suggest that you defer these questions, please. You can ask them later if it seems to be important.
DR. HEIM: Thank you very much, Your Honor.
BY DR. HEIM:
Q Witness, let us now talk about the time after May's arrest up to the middle of 1943. Did you at any time try to gain influence on the aims of the DWB concern?
A Yes. After we had succeeded in having the Chief of Group W-IV, which was the Timber Processing Works-- at that time it was Maurerreplaced by Dr. May, who was a timber expert.
Q Will you please tell us how you made this attempt to gain influence?
A Dr. May came from a firm of a furniture dealer in Southern Germany, and he had a large number of social reform plans in his mind. In order to carry out a home beautifying program, he wanted to have a large number of furnitures manufactures concentrated and to have cheap and beautiful furniture manufactured specifications. I helped him most enthusiastically in these tasks, including Herr Pohl. For instance, we had already the basis, by distributing the work over the various plants, to produce furniture, including the kitchen, for the price of about 1200 or 1400 marks, and from today's situation when everybody--refugees and bombed-out people-- need so much furniture, it is to be regretted that this wonderful social plan which was Dr. May's contribution could not be carried out.
DR. HEIM: If the Court please, I would like to submit here Document No. 36, which is on page 81 of the Document Book, and it will become Exhibit No. 27. I should like to draw the Tribunal's attention to Page 82, the third paragraph, which bears out what the witness has said just now.
BY DR. HEIM:
Q Witness, these social plans, were they realized?
AA large number of furnitures factories had, on the basis of a contract, put a part of their production potential at the disposal of the enterprise ta produce better homes. Deliveries were already under way.
The Court might be interested in the fact that the laws said expressly that no piece of furniture must be supplied which had been produced by inmate labor. They were all enterprises which did not employ inmates.
Q Were these plans carried on to the end?
A No. In July 1942 Dr. May at the suggestion of Pohl, was arrested by General Nebe, who was the Chief of the Reich Criminal Police Office. Nebe also lost his life after the events of 20 July, and that was the end of that plan.
Q Why was Dr. May arrested?
A Dr. May was arrested by the Gestapo, and the Gestapo had fought against him already in Prague and in Bruenn where he had his firm. He had about seven private enterprises at that time. I assume that the animosity of the Gestapo towards Dr. May can be explained by the fact that Dr. May had acquired the work Buczowicz near Bruenn, a large furniture factory, from the Jewish family Drucker, and that he had helped that family to escape across the frontier. When there was a fire in that factory, Dr. May was persecuted by the Gestapo in an incredible manner, in the course of which Pohl--of course, he really couldn't help himself--had to abandon May.
Q How was that Dr. May's arrest important?
A It was generally know that Dr. May and I were friends. He was regarded as an intruder because he had replaced an old SS officer like Mauer. In any case, he had met resistance with many SS leaders when he settled down to improve working conditions in the German equipment works. The arrest of Dr. May seemed to be a welcome opportunity to take action against me.
Q How was that expressed toward you?
A I noticed it from the behavior of a large number of SS officers towards me. They no longer greated me or smiled.
I was insulted over the telephone, and I was told confidentially that my telephone was being watched.
THE PRESIDENT: What was the reason for this? Was it because you were not a member of the SS?
A Mr. President, I think the main reason was that after Dr. May and I had worked for the DWB, three of the oldest SS officers had to go--Chief of W-1, Salpeter, the Chief of W-3, a very old SS officer with the Golden Badge, and then there was Mauer. That was why we two were faced with a closed front--because they all stuck together.
THE PRESIDENT: We'll recess until tomorrow morning.
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal will recess until 0930 hours tomorrow morning.
Whereupon, at 1630 hours, 14 July 1947, the Tribunal recessed until 0930 hours, 15 July, 1947.
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 15 July 1947, 0930-0945, Justice Toms presiding.
THE MARSHAL: The Honorable, the Judges of Military Tribunal No. II.
Tribunal No. II is again in session. God bless the United States of America and this Honorable Tribunal.
DR. SEIDL (Counsel for defendant Pohl): If the Tribunal please, both I and other Defense Counsel in the opening statements commented on Count I, the conspiracy count. At that time no formal application was submitted in this trial. Meanwhile, there has been a meeting of all Tribunals about that point, and both Tribunal No. 1 and Tribunal No. III have ruled on that count of the Indictment. Therefore, and for the reason that the Defense have not submitted a formal application in this respect, I should therefore like now to submit the application for this Court to give a ruling as Tribunals I and III have on the conspiracy count, in order to avoid a repetitious treatment of this count and also legal argument at the end of the trial.
THE PRESIDENT: If any of the Defense Counsel wish to make a motion in this Court with reference to Count I, the Court will entertain it and decide it. No such motion has yet been made. As soon as a motion is made, we will decide it.
While I am on the microphone, I would like to advise Counsel that there will be no session of this case this afternoon. The room is being used by another Tribunal just for this afternoon. We will resume as usual tomorrow morning after the recess at 12:30.
DR. HEIM (Counsel for defendant Hohberg): May it please the Tribunal, if the Court is agreeable, I shall submit the balance of the documents of Document Book No. I.
I offer Hohberg No. 21, which is on Page 46 of the Document Book, and it will be Exhibit No. 28. Document No. 25 will become Exhibit No. 29. Document No. 26 will be Exhibit No. 30. Document No. 27 will be 31. No. 28 I offer as Exhibit 32. Document 31 will become Exhibit 39. I'm 4333 A sorry.
It will be No. 33. No. 32 will be Exhibit No. 34. Number 33 will be Exhibit 35. No. 34 will be 36. No. 35 will be 37. No. 37 will be Exhibit 38. No. 38 will be Exhibit 39, and finally, No. 39 will become Exhibit No. 40.
I shall now continue with the examination of the defendant.
DEFENDANT HOHBERG -- Resumed DIRECT EXAMINATION -- Continued BY DR. HEIM:
Q Witness, we stopped yesterday when Dr. May was being arrested. You told us that May in 1942 was arrested and that this was expressed towards you in some way also. Were you in a position at the time to help Dr. May in any sense when he was in prison?
A Very little, I'm afraid. Pohl had told me not to interfere in any way. I tried to get him an attorney. Dr. Langbeen was to take over his defense. He was half Swedish. He, however, declined because it was too dangerous. Langbeen himself was executed a little later for another matter. I did not succeed in preventing the confiscation of the largest part of Dr. May's fortune while he was arrested, the works in Buczowicz, through an allegedly free contract. Dr. May did not receive any compensation.
Q Why did you not resign in that case?
A Dr. May and I felt that the large concern of the DWB was an excellent platform for our plans to build better homes. No inmate work was needed for that. The only thing which we had to achieve was to evacuate the whole concern and distribute it all over the Reich for the reason that it was planned originally that the profits of the concern should be put at the disposal only of SS members and their families, whereas those manufacturers who were concentrated in this scheme wanted to supply the whole of the German Reich.
THE PRESIDENT: Just a minute. I think there was an error in translation. Instead of "profits", I think it is "output". You means the houses that you build were to be sold to SS men?
A No, the furniture which was to be produced, the equipment for houses.
THE PRESIDENT: The word "profits" was used, and I think it means the output instead.
A Yes, I think so too.
BY DR. HEIM:
Q.- How long did you audit the concern of DWB from that time onwards?
A.- I continued to audit until January, 1943. On the 20th of January I was transferred. All my auditors were transferred, either to other agencies or to subsidiary companies, and some of them went to the front.
Q.- What was the reason why all your auditors were taken away from you?
A.- Pohl explained this act with the action of General Unruh. I personally thought that this was a reply when I turned down the proposition to be appointed economic inspector, which happened a few months before, and which would have brought me under the disciplinary authority of Pohl if I had accepted.
Q.- Were your auditors transferred to the front or other militarily important places which was the point of the action of General Unruh?
A.- Most of them went to subsidiary companies. It was a piece of tomfoolery really. They didn't audit in the top agency but simply in the subsidiary agencies. This was very dangerous professionally because the auditors had not been sufficiently trained. I used to give lessons to my auditors in Berlin every Saturday.
Q.- Was Dr. Horn transferred on that day, on the 20th of January, 1943?
A.- Yes, Dr. Horn, who was one of my auditors, was taken away from me officially that day.
Q.- Did you from that day onwards have any authority to issue orders to Dr. Horn or to anyone of your former auditors?
A.- No, from that day onwards I and my secretary were all alone.
Q.- Now, I have to speak about the period of time from the 20th of January, 1943, onwards. What did you do after that date?
A.- I was no longer able to audit; I didn't have the staff. For that reason I concentrated mainly on taxation activities, and I went out to the various subsidiary companies with whom we had taxation contracts.
As far as I was in Berlin, I only spent a few hours in the office, as I had to look after other orders as well.
Q.- Did you try at that time to shut down your activities?
A.- I attempted to join the Wehrmacht. I started trying to join the Wehrmacht in autumn 1942, actually once I had found out that it was only a matter of time when I would risk my life.
Q.- Were your attempts successful?
A.- Not at the beginning. I was put off. In the spring of 1943 the following incident helped me. Lord Mayor Winkler appeared in Pohl's office one day, together with Director Kiesewetter of the Foreign Exchange Institute in Prague, and they complained about me. Here we were concerned with the matter of taking over the shares of the Wolfram Limited Company. These gentlemen alleged that I and the Czech citizen, Bieleck, I had protected Bieleck to the disadvantage of those two. Pohl was highly indignant, and I used this opportunity to ask for my dismissal. This was complied with, and shortly afterwards Pohl, through Dr. Volk, tried to have me declared indispensable, but he was unsuccessful. That was how I joined the Army.
DR. HEIM: Mr. President, because of this incident with Bieleck I shall submit an affidavit by the Czech citizen Bieleck in Document Book II.
BY JUDGE PHILLIPS:
Q.- Doctor, right while you are winding up your discussion with Pohl, I noticed in your affidavit, No. NO-194 that you state this on Page 84 of the English translation. "I was the only man whose position would have enabled him to take steps against Pohl, and I was the only one who would have been able to confiscate Pohl's entire possessions. But Pohl's enormous power was well known. One word from him and a person was done for. I therefore had to be careful. In spite of this I managed to collect data against Herr Pohl during the time prior to my departure."
Now, what do you mean by the date that you had collected against Pohl?
A.- Your Honor, at that time I asked Mr. Ponger who interrogated me not to say "Pohl" but "SS" but I did not succeed in convincing him. We argued, Ponger and I, which becomes clear from the many corrections which this report has. Mr. Ponger said that he had to have the report by the evening, and I was not allowed to make any more corrections. That is the reason why these statements are a little unclear. What I meant by this was the following: By putting all the economic properties into a status under commercial law it was to be prevented that money was taken out from these enterprises for purposes outside the enterprises, for SS purposes, that is. I succeeded in getting Pohl, because personally he didn't even notice it to the full extent, to have the shares transferred to the Reich by having the funds which were used to increase the capital declared official Reich moneys. Therefore, it was no longer possible to take anything out of the capital because under German commercial law that would have been impossible. Secondly, it was not possible for Pohl to use profits for SS purposes. That would have been an act of defrauding under Reich laws. Only one thing had to be done now, to put the concern away from the SS and transfer it to the Reich authority, for which purpose I collected evidence and at that the bigger part of the fundamental capital came from moneys which belonged to the Reich.
Q.- What did you mean by being able to confiscate Pohl's entire possessions?
A.- The term "Confiscate" is not a very good translation. We are concerned here with the transfer of the supervision, who would direct the enterprise from above, and if it was a Reich enterprise it would not have been Pohl. It would have been the Reich Minister of Finance together with the Reich Minister of Economic Affairs. The word should not be "confiscate" but "transfer".
Q.- You also say that you had to be careful. One word from Pohl and you would be finished, You mean Pohl could have ordered you to be executed at any time?
A.- It wouldn't have been quite so quick, but I must say if I had acted and had reported these things to the Reich Ministry of Finance or the Reich Ministry of Economic Affairs, nothing very pleasant would have happened to me, I am sure. I would like to say in this connection that Himmler in his Posen speech said, "When I discuss loyalty I mean roughly this: If somebody is disloyal, you see to it that this man will be pushed out from our order; I shall see to it that he shall lose his life." That was Himmler's idea, which came also to the surface in some of his colleagues and collaborators.
Q.- Well, from your affidavit you did not have the best opinion of your superior, Pohl, did you?
A.- I always had a dual opinion of Pohl. Every man has a good soul and an evil soul. Pohl was a very forceful man, also in personal matters, both in the pleasant and in the unpleasant sense of the word.
Q.- That is all you have to say?
A.- Yes.
BY JUDGE MUSMANNO:
Q.- Witness, did you hear the Posen speech?
A.- I read it here in Nurnberg, sir. When the speech was made I was a soldier.
Q.- Did you know of it at the time or immediately thereafter? I didn't get the answer.
A.- I don't recall the speech anywhere before I came to Nurnberg.
BY DR. HEIM (Counsel for defendant Hohberg):
Q. Witness, it was here in Nuernberg for the first time that you obtained knowledge of Himmler's Posen speech?
A. I believe so, yes.
Q. Witness, you said, when the Tribunal asked you questions, that by May or June 1943 you succeeded in getting Pohl to withdraw your declaration as an indispensable man. Did that mean that you finally were separated from DWB at last?
A. No, I had a contract which entailed giving annual notice. The contract continued, therefore. My tendency, however, was to remain with the concern because I expected actually the concern to become a Reich concern later on. My salary was relatively low compared to my claims; I had certain claims and expectations under the law, and when I become a soldier I made a new contract with Pohl, the aim of which was if I should be killed as a soldier my family would be supported in some form. For that reason I concluded a new contract with Pohl when I became a soldier.
Q. On the basis of your second contract with Pohl, were you used again for the DWB in any sense?
A. No.
Q. What was the financial status of the DWB concern at the time when you discontinued your auditing activities of the concern, that is, by the middle of 1943?
A. With the assistance of the contracts for adjustment of profits and losses, to which I referred before, it had been possible to adjust all the big losses which had occurred before. These included the losses which were originally not to be found on the balance sheets even. The Tribunal knows that we always drew up these balance sheets.
When I left, the DWB had, as far as cash on hand was concerned, about 13 or 14 million marks, which was invested in shares. The financial situation of the enterprise could be called extremely good at that time.
When I was interrogated in this building, my attention was drawn to the fact that the concern, when I left, was ripe for bankruptcy - which is quite incorrect.
But I must point but one thing. The profits which now came in were all much too high because the prices had not yet been sufficiently adjusted to the official regulations, on the various directives which I have described before, and something had to be done in order to bring order into that problem. That was entirely up to the accounting system.
Q. Witness, your testimony so far shows the following: Neither your position nor the obligations under your contract as an auditor correspond to the picture draw by the prosecution. While you were an auditor with the DWB, you were not only an enemy of National Socialism, but because of your political attitude and ideas you found stringent opposition among the SS officers in the WVHA and the DWB. Furthermore, your testimony has show that the responsibility for the crimes with which you are charged is not existent.
The documents submitted by the prosecution seem to contradict your testimony. Therefore, I want to discuss these documents of the prosecution and, in accordance with the opening statement by the prosecution, I want to deal with the question of inmate labor, or, as the prosecution puts it, the Slave Labor Program.
First of all, I want to put a few basic questions connected with that problem to you.
Did you have anything to do with Office Group D, the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps?
A. I knew Maurer because he was formerly the chief of the group of firms W-4, Timber, before Dr. May appeared, and that resulted in occasional discussions with Herr Maurer. It became quite clear later on that the main problem was to increase inmates wages, but otherwise I did not have any discussions or contact with anybody of the Inspectorate. On one single occasion I endeavored to get Gluecks and Maurer, through a letter, to save the life of an inmate. Maurer promised to do that. This was not an inmate who was involved in the Heydrich business. But a fortnight later the relatives were told that he had been gassed or shot. That, I think, was my only contact with Office Group D.
Q. With reference to Document Book 3 of the prosecution, page 104 of the German text and 114 of the English version - which is Document NO-126, and Exhibit 76. It is a letter from Office Group D, D-2, to you, and you are informed of the transfer of commandants of concentration camps with reference to the compensation sums involved therein.
Can you enlighten us on the contradiction resulting from this document, and the answer you have just given me?
JUDGE MUSMANNO: Counsel, may I interrupt just for one second, please.
Witness, in your previous answer you referred to the Heydrich Action. Did you mean by that the extermination program?
WITNESS: No, I meant the arrests in Bohemia, in Czechoslovakia, after the assassination of Heydrich. Several thousand Czechs were arrested and some of them were executed.
BY DR. HEIM:
Q. Have you got the document?
A. Yes.
Q. Please tell us about this contradiction?
A. Pohl was the manager of the DWB. In that capacity he ordered the accountants to address to the commandants of concentration camps a monthly compensation which was to be paid to them. That probably was the compensation for the fact that he had appointed them directors of enterprises, and it was to be an inducement to be given to the concentration camp commandants to supply inmates to the SS enterprises in a regular manner. For instance, if an enterprise uses two thousand inmates a day, the commandants would one day send fifteen hundred, and a thousand the next day - completely irregularly, in other words. The managers of the economic enterprises found themselves incapable of working in a normal manner. This money was decided on by Pohl himself probably in consultation with Gluecks and Maurer. Nobody in Staff W had any influence on this and it was completely unknown to us even.
Maurer thereupon called in Herr Ansorge, who was the expert of the department, and told him the sum of money which the DWB had to pay per month.
Changes occurred now every month because people moved, changed their bank accounts, and so forth. Therefore, in the documents of Staff W there must be at least a hundred letters of that type with reference to changes in the actual sums to be paid out. It would appear that Maurer sent two such letters to me, probably because he didn't know who was working as an expert on this problem. The reason for that was that the fields of tasks of Staff W were so completely different from one another, and no one official in charge was available.
Q. When was it for the first time that you heard that in the economic enterprises inmates were used as workers?
A. I knew that from the beginning. Pohl told me that when I signed my contract, but I did not know the extent.
Q. Did you ever visit a concentration camp - and by a concentration camp I mean the actual protective custody camp?
A. The actual concentration camp, in that sense, I never saw from the inside. But I saw what we call the labor camp, which was the Jewish labor camp for the German Equipment Works in Lublin, which at that time had a Jewish camp police of its own. They were usually former Polish officers and non-commissioned officers, and the Jewish inmates went in and out without any guards, in some cases.
Q. Were you entitled to enter a concentration camp?
A. No.
Q. Here I should like to point to Exhibit 38 which is Hohberg Document 39 and Exhibit 40. Did you ask for permission to enter a concentration camp, and did you receive that permission?
A. I didn't ask for such permission, nor did I obtain it at any time.
Q. Did you have the possibility otherwise to study conditions in concentration camps?
A. I did not have that possibility because when I visited the enterprises I did not see anything irregular. What I heard and what I know came only from the stories told by SS officers or other people who had some contact with concentration camps.
Q Did you know anything about labor conditions in the enterprises which employed inmates?
A Yes, I visited several of those enterprises where inmates were working because I was under legal obligation to do so, because as an auditor I had to form an opinion about the legal aspects of the economic conditions. In some cases conditions were good. In some, conditions were bad -- I mean, conditions under which these people worked. There were first rate production halls in some cases and there were very bad ones too.
Q When you inspected these enterprises, were you able to form the opinion that conditions were inhumane?
A From what I saw conditions were not inhumane. The conditions by and large were such, as was the rule in other enterprises as well that in some cases the inmates worked in a too confined space, that is say, in a room where normally only 100 workers should work, considerable more or larger numbers worked.
Q Were you able to make observations to the effect that workers were worked to death?
A No, I made no such observations. I can well imagine that atrocities have occurred, but probably not at a moment when an inspection was being held, and it probably was the guards, but in the enterprises which I visited, it cannot have happened that anybody was worked to death. For instance, if somebody sits at a sewing machine or somebody polishes a table, or repairs a wireless, he doesn't die from that effect.
Q Will you please look at Document Book 3 of the Prosecution, page 59 of the German text and page 57 of the English text. This is Document NO-1216, Exhibit 58. It is a report by Dr. May on a trip which he made between the 1st and 8th of June 1942 to Auschwitz, Lembemberg Lublin and Posen. According to that report you and Dr. May made this trip together. Looking at that document one might feel doubts of the correctness of your testimony so far, namely, that you had nothing to do with concentration camp inmates nor ever entered a protective custody camp.
Furthermore, the document shows that whenever there were negotiations during that trip you were not only present, but you lead these negotiations yourself in some cases. To clear that matter up, it seems to be essential to discuss a few points regarding Dr. May's character and your relationship to him before dealing with the document itself. When you made that trip, did you have an intimate contact with Dr. May?
A He was my friend.
Q What was Dr. May's position at the time in the WVHA and what were his tasks?
A May at that time was in charge of the W-IV, a group of firms which dealt with problems. He held that position together with the position as manager of his own enterprises.
Q Was ther any necessity for you to work together with Dr. May officially, because of your task as auditor of the DWB?
A No. No necessity existed. As an auditor I could inspect and audit his enterprises without him, but I used that opportunity to deal with that matter, together with him, because we could use his car.
Q Did you know what the reasons were which moved Dr. May to make this trip?
A Yes, he had never seen the enterprises of the German Equipment Works which were under him and he wanted to see them.
Q Did you accompany Dr. May on your own initiative or was the trip done at the order of his superiors?
A He made the trip because he wanted to on his own initiative.
Q According to Document NO-1216, first of all you inspected the Buczowicz works. Did you know Buczowic before?
A Yes.
Q Did you have any conferences in Buczowicz and did you lead them yourself?
A Of course, I took part in all sorts of conferences, because, after all, I made this trip in order to acquaint myself, in my capacity as an auditor, with such questions as were concerned with my duties.
Buczowicz, incidentally, was the main work at which we planned to produce better homes.
Q Where inmates working in Buczowicz?
A No, never at any time.
Q The same document shows that the inspection of Auschwitz was made for the German Equipment works. Did you enter the protective custody camp on that occasion?
A No.
Q Did you see inmates working in the enterprises in Auschwitz?
A Yes, in Auschwitz a number of new halls were being established at that time and nobody was working at that moment. Only a small hall was being used.
Q What were the conditions there under which the inmates worked, whom you saw at that time?
A Small complaints were expressed and Dr. Bay made note of them. For instance, the sewage system was at fault and also the dust which results from working on timber is highly dangerous for the lungs and Dr. May did something about it. Otherwise, everything was fairly all right.
Q The document shows that Dr. May and yourself called on Sturmbannfuehrer Hoess. Where did you see him?
A In his office in the commandant's building.
Q Was that building inside or outside the protective custody camp?
A Outside the protective custody camp.
Q Mr. McHaney, bearing in mind that document, asked Witness Kogon the following the hypothetical question, whether Kogan thought that somebody who in 1942 called on Hoess must not have known about the extermination of the Jews in concentration camps. Did you, during this visit to Hoess, hear anything about the extermination of the Jews?
A This was a courtesy which Dr. May had to make and I simply went, because I didn't want to sit downstairs in the car. It can hardly be assumed that either Kogon or Mr. McHaney believed themselves that Hoess as early as June 1942 would make remarks to a total stranger and a civilian at that about the extermination of the Jews. I would like to call the court's attention to the fact that in Hoess' own affidavits, which are part of our documents -- in Book 20 it is Document 2368, page 25 of the English, page 26 of the German -- Hoess says himself that the gassings started in the summer of 1942 which would have been after my visit.
Q On the occasion of that visit to Hoess were questions touched upon which concerned concentration camps or the use of concentration camp inmates?
A No, as far as I remember it, Dr. May and Hoess discussed the question to have the work shops under Hoess' charge transferred, particularly machines and put them at the disposal of the German Equipment Works.
Q The document shows also that the I. G. Farben there in Auschwitz had a man called Dr. Savelsberg. You met him and had a discussion with him. What was that conversation concerned with?
Q This was not a business conversation, but a private conversation with a man with whom I had been to the university. Dr. Savelsberg passed his examination with me on the same day in Cologne. He had been to England meanwhile and for six years in India. We had written letters to each other and this visit was an old arrangement which I finally honored: At Dr. May's request in his capacity as the manager of the German Equipment works, the question was touched upon whether the capacity of the German Equipment Works could produce doors and window frames for the Buna works of the I. G. Farben industry, but these were conversations between Dr. May and Dr. Savelsberg where I acted purely as an intermediary and were held quite casually.