THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Seidl, you are not as innocent and ingenuous as you pretend. Do not refer to the affidavit which has not been received in evidence. I have told you plainly how you can get this information. Now don't do it again.
Q. Do you know anything about the speculations of the WVHA, Witness?
A. What do you mean by speculations? Do you mean by speculations with shares?
Q. I shall give you an example. Did you hear of speculations with Saba shares?
A. Yes, I believe that was the only speculation which was carried out there.
Q. And you made a profit of 27,000 marks, is that correct?
A. Yes, quite so.
Q. This morning you testified about a resistance circle around an officer whose name was Passman, I believe. And you also testified that officers belonging to that circle with which you were in contact personally as a member of a res-istance movement and that they were executed as a result of events of the 30th of Juno, 1944, can you give me a few names of such higher ranking officers with which you were personally in contact in connection with a resistance movement?
A. I can't give you any other name except Count Von Schulenburg. The reason was that it wasn't quite the way you put it, namely that there was a resistance movement, but rather, it was a house where all sorts of people met at regular intervals and they all had the same ideas. I endeavored to be able to play a certain part in those resistance movements myself, but I didn't succeed in doing so.
DR. SEIDL: No further questions to the witness.
BY DR. CARL HAENSEL (Attorney for Defendant Georg Loerner):
Herr Hohberg, I would like to refer to this document here, but not in Document Book No. II, which was introduced by my colleague Heim, I am referring to that secret document book, which was introduced by Dr. Heim, the secrecy of which he is trying to keep so much to himself, but, rather, I would like to refer to the document book which was introduced by the prosecution, and it is Document Book No. XIV. You will find a copy of commercial register of the DWB. This is not the German resistance movement, but rather the German economic movement and from this commercial register excerpt, the following can be seen: the date of the establishment of the GHMB is the 14th of August, 1940. please remember that date, the 14th of August, 1940. The next entry is by agreement of all the share holders on the 6th of July 1941, Georg Loerner was appointed Second Business Manager. That is entered on the 23rd of July, 1941. All I wanted you to do was, if you could possibly clarify those two dates, because at the time you sot the date I can understand very well that after all you can't remember all the things, of the time of the establishment of the DWB, Loerner had become the second business manager. Now please convince yourself about those two dates and you will tell me then that he only became second business manager later.
A. Yes, it took one year. It was one year after the establishment.
Q. You stated, Herr Hohberg, that in the WVHA there were actually only soldiers who were working.
Would you recall that? It was during the examination this morning. Now, this Georg Loerner, was he one of those soldiers too?
A Yes.
Q When you say soldiers, do you mean to say they were the people who had come up from a military career as opposed to civilians from commercial professions?
A Yes, I wanted to compare the two together, the civilian and the Army soldier.
Q Then you spoke about Document Book No. XVII where there is a list of letters which you dictated. You don't have to refer to the letters. You remember that answer. You said there that the letters had been dictated by you and that Dr. Weller or somebody else had signed them. All I wanted to find out was the difference between you and Georg Loerner as far as those letters were concerned, because Georg Loerner would have signed or that Loerner would have dictated; in that connection we didn't receive them. The prosecution did not introduce them. May we then understand that you dictated various letters, although you didn't have the right of signature in the DWB and that Loerner had the right of signing in the DWB, but didn't use it.
A Yes, I can say that particularly as far as the letters of taxations were concerned.
Q You told us that on one occasion when you paid back the credit, you signed that yourself.
A Yes, as Chief of Staff W.
Q Why was it that you didn't get Georg Loerner's signature and after all you could have gotten it very easily, or do you think that Loerner would have gone to see Pohl first. Do you think he could have done such a thing with Loerner?
A I believe that Loerner would have refused to sign it and I believe that he would have referred me to Pohl. Loerner was outside of the DWB, apart from a few conferences and apart from discussions concerning the establishment he didn't appear too much.
Q You stated that during the new establishment you were asked to go to see Pohl on certain offcasions. Now, was Loerner called to these preliminary discussions or was he outside of these too?
A Yes, I believe that he was present on such discussions. There weren't too many of them. 20 new firms were established in three years and I am sure that he was present on quite a few occasions.
Q Did he participate actively, or was he just there?
A He said something now and then, but I believe he was there for the statistics.
Q In your testimony you repeatedly stated that you thought to turn all those enterprises over to the Reich later on, shall we say, to remove them from the SS and give them to the Reich. Did you also have the idea since it was the SS was composed of soldiers who would not be suitable to direct an economic enterprise?
A No, that was not my starting point, but my ideas were entirely different ones.
Q However, if you wanted to stay in later when it was to be transferred to the Reich would you have put a man in charge; would a man like Loerner have been taken into that enterprise as a man who had a capacity which could not be used or that he should have remained outside?
A Herr Loerner is not as silly as you describe him. He is a man who thinks calmly and I believe he could have been used for that purpose.
Q Yes, well, I didn't ask you if he could have been used for something. I am asking you if he could have played a certain part in your plan?
A My plans were not so far advanced as all that, because the person who would have to decide this later on would have been the Reichs Finance Minister. I didn't think that far.
Q Yes, but I hive to ask you a question are you of the opinion that person should direct an enterprise who puts the money in it, who is in charge of
A The man who according to the statute would be entitled to it, which would be the one who had the fact of saying so in the matter.
Q Yes, and so far as I understand it, sofar this Reich money did not come in as an increase in capital but rather as a loan?
A No, the capital majority on the part of the Reich was not in part a Reich fund, and not as a loan; they were used only here in increasing the capital.
Q That was done at the time?
A Yes, the ratio was 8.5 million of the Reich and 7.5 million of the Party that were distributed. The 30 millions were here simply to reinforce the Reich position to assert itself in the enterprise.
DR. HAENSEL: I have no further questions. Thank you.
DR. FRITSCH: Dr. Fritsch for the defendant Baier.
Q Witness, I have only a very few questions to ask you. You introduced a few charts through my colleague Dr. Heim. One of these bears the caption "after 30 June, 1943". I don't believe I have submitted that chart, but I believe you know which one it is, and by saying picture. That was the time after you left?
A Yes.
Q You had quite set up this particular chart according to your own knowledge of affairs after 30 June 1943, or what do you base your knowledge on about the conditions as described in this chart?
A In the affidavit attached to the chart, I took the liberty to point out that I only referred to statute of the business as contained in the document, and not according to my own knowledge, because I was not there after all. I had to make this chart because I wanted to give you the difference between the method before the 30 June 1943, and the one afterwards.
Q The attached affidavit is not known to me at least. I know, however, that you testified in the witness box that the conditions changed immediately and fundamentally, is that correct?
A Yes, quite.
Q You based your knowledge on this fundamental change, however, and on the particular business directive?
A No, the fundamental changes I also base on my own experience because Herr Baier was a Prokurist. Baier was not an auditor. I was. The auditors who worked together with me were all released. New auditors were introduced who only worked with me on the framework of the Internal Revision Department. That was the change which according to my opinion was total, and I could see it through and quite close up.
Q One more question in this connection. When did that business directive go into effect, do you know that?
AAfter what I heard, it was on 1 January 1945.
Q That was one year and a half after you left?
A Yes. All I can tell you about that is what I got from the documents.
Q How do you know that Baier became a Prokurist?
A I know from the report submitted to me by Dr. Volk.
Q Do you know when Baier became a Prokurist?
A No, I have no knowledge about that.
Q You don't know that it was in March 1945?
A No.
Q A Prokurist is a manager with authority to handle business affairs of a concern. Yon just mentioned that the auditors were released. Would you bring that into any connection with the intended fundamental changes which were to occur?
A No.
Q I can state then, that basically those were a reconstruction of all those facts later?
A Yes, quite so, quite so, by reason of the business directive.
Q Herr Dr. Hohberg, in this connection you also spoke about the Internal Finance Office. Will you please be kind enough to explain to us here very briefly what you mean by that?
A Before the corporation charters were established, every one of the members of a company could correspond directly with his finance office locally. After the corporation charters were assigned, these affiliated companies, which were included in this corporation charter, in fact, no one were to use the finance offices but to deal directly with the DWB, that is, with the exception of taxation, namely, the property tax, and similar taxes. During the first few months, or at the beginning, the DWB had nothing to do with the taxation office, but after I left they carried out certain computations for the various affiliated companies in order to show how much money could be made in those corporation charters.
Q And Baier was the man in charge of this internal finance office?
A First was Dr. Wenner, and then Herr Baier became his superior, therefore, Baier was the man in charge of the internal finance office.
Q Now, Dr. Hohberg, I shall now ask you to point out what was testified to this morning about the Equalization Treasury. This is contained in a document which is entitled "Unfinished Work." First of all, you stated what was contained in that treasury; if I am not mistaken you said it contained over ten million Reichsmarks at the end of the war. May I ask you where you found out about that figure?
A From Dr. Volk, that figure was written down in reports; in the Mindener report which I completed.
Q You did not obtain figures from any other source?
A No, I had no further source of information after I left.
Q You know that the defendant Baier turned over all his files which was at his disposal to the American authorities?
A Yes.
Q When you wrote down your memoirs to make the Mindener report, did you have any such documents at your disposal?
A No, we had no documents whatsoever at our disposal. The only document which we had was the photograph copy, rather the photostatic copy of that which I left in Berlin, and Captain Walker from the British Royal Air Force has it, and I can take a lot of figures there, so far as remaining figures are concerned, just as I remembered them from memory.
Q Therefore, no figures have been mentioned about the Equalization Treasury from which an actual figure could be shown, namely, about three million marks?
A No.
Q You brought this point in connection with concentration camp inmates, witness. Do you know of any single case where from this Equalization Treasury funds were paid to any affiliated company when an inmate did not appear for work?
A The Treasury was only established at about the time when I left. What I mean, was, while I was working as an auditor for the DWB this was not possible, but I believe that there is something contained in one of the document books to that effect.
Q You furthermore spoke about a Red Cross loan. Do you know there was still a Red Cross loan after you left?
A Separated into various branches there were eight million. I don't believe that there was another loan on the part of the Red Cross later on, I think that it is out of the question that there was one.
Q You said these loans were paid back?
A Yes, I intervened to that affect and it happened one or two days after I left.
Q Witness, I shall have to come back to one point. During your direct examination you repeatedly mentioned that Dr. Wenner, and Dr. May were your personal friends?
A Dr. Wenner, no. He was a friend of mine until he joined the SS. We had a very vivid quarrel and then he separated from me spiritually.
Q Because he joined the SS?
A Yes, I guess so, but amongst other things, there was also a question of my influence and my observation upon his work with taxes, and so on, which was not welcome to him.
He went his own way, and I could not assert myself with him, because of the fact I had no command with the DWB, and I assume this was one of the reasons that he did not have to run the danger of my giving him any orders or advice which he simply had to accept. He was very proud of his uniform later on.
Q You personally stated that Dr. May was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo for over a year. Then you stated that somebody gave him a pat on the back and told him, "Now, Herr Dr. May, you can go again, it was all a big mistake." Was Dr. May arrested on a second time?
A No.
Q You don't know of it?
A No, that would be something new to me. But everything is possible.
Q You spoke of a collection of evidence against you witness. Was that generally after you left or before you left?
A It was already before I left.
Q However, you said that Dr. Wenner left because of the instigation and the jealousies of other SS leaders. You said that was the reason, is that correct?
A No.
Q You spoke about the degradation of Dr. Wenner, and you said that Dr. Wenner, who was your friend had been attached in the same way that you were attached?
A Yes. According to Dr. Wenner's statement, that was the case. There was the following incident. Dr. Wenner together with Dr. Hoffman was on the supervisory board of the Wolfram factory near Iglau, in Czechoslovakia. And as members of the supervisory board they received a bonus. Dr. Wenner stated that the bonus had been paid into his bank account, and that he at the beginning did not notice anything at all, because the bank did not inform him about it. However, it was held against him, that against the order of Herr Pohl he had accepted the bonus. Wenner told me that was the reason why he had such difficulties.
Q Yes, however, witness, this does not show that evidence was gathered against you. What I was driving at, was, you said prior to your departure -- and after you departure -- certain evidence was being gathered against you?
A Yes.
Q Will you tell us anything more about it. Can You tell us who did that?
A Before my departure Dr. Schmidt Klevenow was collecting evidence against me, and after my departure I was only informed by my defense counsel here that due to Dr. Schmidt Klevenow there was another arrest warrant issued against me, and there was also additional troubles. Furthermore, I had another series of sources of information, because I received quite a few additional information.
Q: In any case, you do not know who gathered the evidence against you there?
A: No, I don't. It was a special group of people that appeared once in a while.
DR. FRITSCH: Thank you. I have no further questions.
BY DR. FROESCHMANN (Counsel for defendant Mummenthey):
Q: Herr Hohberg, in the course of your direct examination you repeatedly mentioned Mummenthey. How long have you know Mummenthey?
A: I have known Mummenthey ever since I started my activity, approximately, as an auditor of the companies of the WVHA.
Q: That was the year of -
A: 1940, in May.
Q: Since 1940, did you meet Mummenthey several times and on several occasions?
A: Yes. I met Mummenthey first of all in connection with the auditing which my auditors carried out with the DEST. Then Herr Mummenthey used to say Hello to me in my office when he walked by.
Q: On those occasions, did you also deal with the official matters of the DEST?
A: Undoubtedly yes.
Q: What did Mummenthey tell you about the conditions in the DEST, and particularly about his position in the DEST?
A: It is very difficult for me to recall all those details, but I will give you a fundamental answer. The position of Mummenthey was difficult for the reason that the technical man in charge of that enterprise, who in reality was in charge of the enterprises, Schondorf, had a special position as far as Pohl was concerned. Mummen they called himself a chief of office.
Therefore, he was in charge of a firm-group. In reality, however, Schondorf as a person was much stronger, as far as I could deduce from conversations.
Q: Witness, when you spoke to Mummenthey, you could gain an impression as to what the attitude of his management of such an enterprise was? I ask you, what did you understand from the statements made by Mummenthey? Did you gain the impression that he in the DEST actually pursued certain aims which were directed at the economy of the enterprise?
A: Based on our audit, it was shown that the economic and financial conditions of the DEST were unbearable. The head of the DEST, one may say, was too large. Hundreds of thousands of Reichsmarks were thrown away. Although Mummenthey did not have too much experience in management he did it easily, and he succeeded in removing all the unnecessary people in order to make the entire management quite small. It was later on practically then that the enterprises belonging to Mummenthey -- that is the enterprises of the DEST -- became independent and were independently managed, while Mummenthey from Berlin directed the financial transactions. He deal to only with larger questions. His apparatus later as compared with former times was only a fraction of what it was.
Q: Is it correct, witness, that in 1940 Salpeter was still in charge of the DEST?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you tell us in a few brief terms a few things about the character and the person of Dr. Salpeter -- whether he saw in Mummenthey his collaborator who was on the same level that he was, or did he just only think that that was an assistant who was working for him?
A: Well, if I tell you anything about it, I believe that it will be prejudiced because Salpeter was entirely against me, and I was against him, but I would like to say that Herr Salpeter wanted to be the man in charge and that he did not want to have anybody beside him, and I don't believe that Mummenthey was a very important person.
Q: Do you know that Salpeter was in charge of the management of the DEST up to the autumn of 1941?
A: That is quite possible. I cannot tell you for sure.
Q: Do I have to understand from that statement that until the end, until Salpeter left, Mummenthey had no independent position within the DEST?
A: Yes, that is quite impossible, because Salpeter took over everything himself.
Q: Did you, from the conversations you had with Mummenthey, gain the impression that Mummenthey in the way he dealt with various business things worked correctly, cleanly and decently?
A: Yes, I always had that impression of Mummenthey.
Q: In the course of your examination, you also told us about your being together with Mummenthey in Minden; is that correct?
A: Yes.
Q: The whole thing lasted until the 6th or 7th of January 1947. Was Mummenthey transferred to Nurnberg on that day?
A: Yes, all three of us were transported to Nurnberg.
Q: Can you tell me, witness, how were the last few days of your stay in Minden? Where were you? By whom were you supervised, and what was Mummenthey's activity while there?
A: In the last few days in Minden, we were allowed to move about freely. We went to the movies, and in the evening we reported back to the War Criminal Holding Center in Minden, but I believe that this lasted only for two days.
Q: What did Mummenthey do during all those days?
A: You mean in those last few days?
Q: Yes. IN all that time. I would like to refresh your memory. Do you recall that Mummenthey at all that time studied all those books published by Kogon, Rosch and so forth?
A: Yes, that's right.
Q: Do you also recall that you suggested to him that he should at least stop reading all those things because he would get everything mixed up or something like that?
A: Yes, something like that, yes. He was very much depressed at the time.
Q: Did he speak with you about the contents of those books?
A: Yes, I believe he did discuss it. There was a a certain passage there in which, in his opinion, he had been charged with something he didn't do, but I really can't recall it.
Q: Did you and Mummenthey have to suffer from physical conditions because of the billeting you had there?
A: Your Honors, after this trial, I may be sent back to the British authorities. In any case, I would not like to make a statement here that would be disadvantageous to me later on.
Q: I am interested in this question, only, witness, for the following reason:
Mummenthey was transported to Nurnberg, together with you, on 8 January. On the following morning he was examined by the examiner. Mummenthey made statements which testimony, upon the suggestion of the interrogator, he was to compile into an affidavit and sign. However, he refused to sign it because he had made the statements in a physically bad and psychologically depressed state, and that is the only reason why I would like you to tell me if in the immediate days preceding the 8 January you suffered under physicial duress.
A: Yes. Mummenthey during the entire time, particularly during the last few days, was particularly depressed -- psychologically, that is, especially because the British officers had told him that if one was supposed to be sent to Nurnberg, it was only as a witness. That was a threath that was over all of us. Mummenthey himself, however, during all those weeks had swollen hands because of freezing, which he suffered under. He could hardly move them.
Q: Therefore, he had physical pain?
A: Yes, he did.
Q: And that is how he was transported to Nurnberg?
A: Well, yes, but the swelling had gone down, because the hands had been much more swollen at the beginning.
Q: I shall now return to the first complex of questions. You stated that Mummenthey had no independent position as a DEST manager until Salpeter left, you state the exact period of time. Did you meet Mummenthey after that period of time -- that is to say after 1941?
A: Yes, according to my recollection and opinion, we met quite frequently.
Q. Did Mummenthey discuss with you the question of labor assignment of inmates in the factories of the DEST, the German Earth and Stone Works?
A. I cannot recall that. But he told me other things. It was Mummenthey's ambition to totally mechanize some of those factories he had so that they would run by themselves. And he wrote to me how this was going to be done. He also invited me to come and see it, but I didn't do so.
Q. What were the plans Mummenthey developed and told you about concerning the DEST--German Earth and Stone Works?
A. Mummenthey very much liked this mechanismation which he wanted to carry out. Apart from that I can recall, and it is not important here in this connection, that he personally felt it rather important to sell the DESY, to the Reich, and that they should be used as a Reich company fundamentally. But there were other reasons too.
Q. According to your knowledge of the conditions of the DEST was the DEST highly centralized during 1939 and 1940?
A. It was absolutely centralized between 1939 and 1940.
Q. Did Mummenthey mention to you anything about the fact that according to his opinion it would be much more correct to decentralize the DEST, that is to say, to make every one of those enterprises independent and, if possible, also turn them into official and comrmercial enterprises--for instance, into GMBH, or something, is that correct?
A. Yes, that was the practical result of our auditing report and we had compiled exactly what the expenses would be. We had found that there was very little left to pay the cost by the trials. That is the reason why he had to find a way to cut down expenses and why he was in favor of the decentralization.
THE PRESIDENT: We will take the afternoon recess.
(A recess was taken)
THE MARSHAL: Take your seats, please.
The Tribunal is again in session.
BY DR. FROESCHMANN (For Defendant Mummenthey):
Q. Witness, you had stated before that you could not remember any more whether Mummenthey had discussed the allocation of inmate labor with the DEST with you. Can you recall from the conversation with Mummenthey, and did you gain any certain impression in that conversation with regard to his social attitude?
A. I think I was the one who, as far as the successor of Dr. Salpeter was concerned, was able among others to suggest Mummenthey for that position, as far as I was allowed to make such a suggestion. I only did this for the reason that in the scope of several conversations I had discussed the matter with Mummenthey, and I had the impression at the time that he was a very good man.
Q. Did this decency on the part of Mummenthey also express itself in his social attitude?
A. I know that he went to very great efforts in that direction. However, I cannot give you any details at the moment, because our auditing at that time was only limited to a certain amount of work and not to a certain sector of time.
Q. You have further stated that in the year 1939 and 1940 the DEST, as a result of its centralization, had economic and financial difficulties, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know the reasons for this bad financial and economic condition?
A In my opinion the reason for it was that the ambition of Dr. Salpeter was to develop a big machine in that organization, which almost had the character of a ministry. He did not pay any attention whatsoever to the financial aspects.
Q May I assume from that that the DEST in the years 1938, 1939, and 1940 already had undertaken too many obligations?
A Yes, it had entered into too many obligations, However, certain circumstances were responsible for that.
Q Was it the fault of Mummenthey?
A No, the first business managers in Berlin who had let the two Berlin construction firms do whatever they wanted to, let them spend too much capital.
Q In the course of your examination you have already mentioned the corporation charter which had been concluded between the DWB and the DEST. When did this contract go into effect?
AAs far as I can recall, this contract went into effect before the 31st of December, 1940.
Q What results did this corporation charter have, as far as the legal independence of the DEST was concerned?
A I believe the conclusion which you want to draw is not quite correct. The corporation charter was only carried out for the purpose of helping the DEST over its losses. May I continue in this matter?
You are right insofar as the Higher business management in the DWB as a result of the corporation charter, was now entitled by commercial law to supervise and to rule over the DEST. However, that actually had been the case before, already.
Q Did you gain any insight into the activities of the DEST, in so far as the position of the business managers was already considerably curtailed through the directives coming from Pohl and the DWB?
AAlready from the moment on when I became an auditor of the SS enterprises there were official instructions which also applied to the DEST; and by virtue of these instructions the business managers of the DEST, although they were not subordinated by commercial law, could not dispose of certain sums; that is, the expenses of more than fifty thousand marks.
Of course this differed in all the enterprises, and Pohl had the sole authority over these things.
Therefore, no great expenditures could be made without the agreement of Pohl, and that was a long time before the DWB was founded.
The balanced of power from the top down and from the DWB to the companies did not change as a result of the founding of the DWB. After all, the high position above was already in existence.
Q Are you informed, witness, about the purpose of the SS enterprises? Were these aims in the cultural, the economic, or any other field?
A I would like to answer this question to the effect that this depends on who is the contractor in this case. I have seen here from a report from the Chief of the Office III-A -- that is, Dr. Salpeter -that he thought the purpose of the SS enterprises was the labor allocation of inmates, and that was a new method of carrying out punishment. This very narrow point of view, however, only originated from the fact that Dr. Salpeter only saw these things from his own point of view. Mr. Pohl described these things to me in a completely different way. He was mainly interested in cultural and social aims.
Q Did you get any insight into the papers and books concerning the inventory of the DEST which went to the DWB, together with the balance of the DEST?
A That was done by one of my auditors.
Q Did you personally occupy yourself with these inventories?
A Well, from the commercial point of view, we understood by inventory the inventory of goods. Not with the inventory of goods. However, with the inventory of the plant.
Q What point of view did you get of the inventories? According to your opinion, was this a capital intensified company?
A Yes, of course, they were companies in which the capital was working intensively, too intensively.
For example, if normally a plant would cost one million marks - now these plants cost approximately three million marks. Of course I wanted to see that this difference was written off.
Q Now, I only have very few individual questions.
Did Mumenthey ever discuss the difficulties with you which the DEST had with various concentration camp commanders?
A Yes.
Q What did he complain about in detail?
A In connection with the foundation of the equalization treasury Mummenthey complained in this respect that inmates who had become well trained in their work suddenly were not furnished to him any more, and that the camp commanders made it very difficult for him.
Q Was it, therefore, the attempt of Mummenthey to train inmates for a certain work, and to use them for certain work, and to keep them within the DEST?
A Yes; I have that impression. I know that he always took care that they received cigarettes, and so on.
Q Do you know that Mummenthey pursued the plan to help these inmates to get back to a free life, an economically free and secure life by trying to train them; and that after the war -- or even during the war -to see that they were discharged so that they would be used in the enterprises of the DEST as free civilian workers?
A I know that plans in that direction existed; however, to what extent they were carried out I do not know, because I actually did not have any immediate contact with the DEST after the auditing was ended. Since 1941.
Q You have already mentioned the plant at Linz. Do you know who actually handled the matter there?
A Yes. Herr Schondorf was appointed by Pohl to negotiate this matter. Just what happend in this case I don't know. As far as I know, only a small experimental station was established.