In this connection I would also draw attention to the Directive No. 38 of the Control Council for Germany which I have submitted to the Court as an exhibit in the document book for the defendant Oswald Pohl. This directive deals among other subjects with the arrest and surveillance of "potentially dangerous Germans". According to section I, figure 1c, it is the object of this directive to establish a common policy for the whole of Germany concerning "the internment of Germans who, although not guilty of specific crimes, are to be considered dangerous to Allied purposes and the control and surveillance of others considered potentially so dangerous". That this is a political measure and that the reason for arrest lies in the political convictions of the persons arrested is clearly expressed by part I, figure 5, which is worded as follows:
"A distinction should be made between imprisonment of war criminals and similar offenders for criminal conduct and internment of potentially dangerous persons who may be confined because their freedom would constitute a danger to the Allied cause."
When judging the contents of this directive it is essential to take into consideration the date of its promulgation. It was issued on 12 October 1946; that is almost one and one-half years after cessation of hostilities. Insofar as after the outbreak of the war nationals of the occupied countries were sent to concentration camps, this was effected for reasons affecting the State and Security Police by the organs of the Reich Security Main Office. Neither the Economic and Administrative Main Office nor its chief Oswald Pohl was in any way connected with these measures.
(4) Incorporation of the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps into the Main Economic and Administrative Office Examined as a witness, the defendant Pohl stated individually the reasons which led to the incorporation of the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps into the Main Economic and Administrative Office as Office Group D in March 1942.
This incorporation was directly connected with the decree of the Fuehrer on the subject of designating a Plenipotentiary General for Labor Allocation dated 21 March 1942. For the purpose of safeguarding the manpower requirements of the entire war economy, this decree charged Reichsstatthalter (Appointed Reich Governor) and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel to direct the allocation of all available manpower in a uniform manner and in conformity with the requirements of the war economy. This decree of the Fuehrer was the result of a conference with Speer and Sauckel, also attended by the Reichsfuehrer-SS, at Fuehrer headquarters. Such a uniform directing of labor allocation could not disregard the manpower available in the concentration camps. The solution of this new economic task - namely that of directing the allocation for labor of the inmates of concentration camps - was the sole aim pursued by the incorporation of the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps into the Main Economic and Administrative Office, and also the sole aim that induced Reichsfuehrer-SS Himmler to remove the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps from the SS-Operational Main Office, where it had been a part of the organization since 1940, and establish it as Office Group D in the Main Economic and Administrative Office. The defendant Oswald Pohl opposed the reorganization planned by Reichsfuehrer-SS Himmler and pointed out the fact that the Main Economic and Administrative Office, whose task it was to care for the economic requirements of almost one million men of Waffen-SS troops, was suitable, both by purpose and organization, to absorb and handle in a responsible manner so far-reaching an administrative organization as the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps. The objections raised by the defendant Oswald Pohl did not serve to deter the Reichsfuehrer from his decision to carry out the planned reorganization. However, there was an agreement on the fact that this was only a special order, created by war conditions and limited in length of time, which was by no means destined, to have the responsibility for the entire administration of concentration camps combined with it.
This latter was to continue to be in the hands of the Inspector of Concentration Camps, Brigadefuehrer Gluecks. The activity of the defendant Pohl was to be confined to the handling, on ministerial level, of the allocation of labor of concentration camp inmates.
The incorporation of the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps into the Main Economic and Administrative Office took place by order of Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler dated 3 March 1942. The prosecution was unable to present the wording of this order. The statement made by the defendant Oswald Pohl, however, is proved as correct by another document submitted to the Court by the prosecution in its case in chief. This is the circular letter sent by the Chief of the Security Police and SD to all offices of the Security Police and the SD, dated 30 May 1942, and presented by the prosecution as Exhibit No. 39, Document No. 1063-F-PS. The wording of this letter is as follows:
"By order of the Reichsfuehrer-SS and Chief of the German Police dated the 3rd of March 1942, the agency of the Inspectorate of the Concentration Camps was removed from the SS Operational Main Office and incorporated into the SS-WVHA as Office Group D (concentration camps). These measures are taken in order to serve the war-important direction of the labor and, as I expressly emphasize, have no influence on the competency of the Reich Security Main Office concerning the commitments and releases of inmates, leaves and so on."
In this connection I would again like to go briefly into the matter of the wording of the order itself, which has in the meantime been introduced by the prosecution in evidence. I Will have to correct my statements made a few days ago that according to my opinion on the basis of the wording of that letter there can be no doubt that only the responsibility of labor allocation was to be covered and comprised by that order. This also results very clearly from the contents and the wording of this letter and from the sense of it where nothing is said about submitting the concentration camps to the supervision of Oswald Pohl or that they were to be incorporated into the WVHA, but it is only pointed out that SS-Brigadefuehrer Gluecks, together with his entire staff, was to be subordinated to the WVHA.
It results clearly there from that the agency Inspectorate of Concentration Camps was to lose nothing of its independence. The wording of the order is contained in Exhibit Pohl No. 39.
This circular was signed by the Chief of Office IV of the Reich Main Security Office (Secret State Police) SS-Gruppenfuehrer MUELLER and does not only disclose the purpose of the incorporation of the Concentration Camps Inspectorate into the Main Economic and Administrative Office as being solely that of uniformly directing manpower allocation of inmates, but also that the jurisdiction of the various offices of the Reich Main Security Office was not in any way affected by this re-organization. Even after the incorporation into the Main Economic and Administrative Office, all measures pertaining to matters of Security Police and State Police were directed and handled exclusively by the agencies of the Reich Main Security Office. This did not only apply to the question of confinement in or discharge from a concentration camp, but also to all other executive measures of the police or otherwise. The agencies of the Main Economic and Administrative Office did not dispose of any executive bodies, nor did they have authority for such measures.
The order of Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler, dated 3 March 1942, went into effect 1 May 1942. I have to correct this. It did not happen on 1 May 1942, but on the 16th of May 1942. This can also be seen from Pohl Exhibit No. 30. The incorporation of the Inspectorate into the Main Economic and Administrative office did not bring about the slightest change in the organization of the latter. Apart from the defendant Oswald Pohl, not a single, member of the Main Economic Administrative Office had more to do than before in connection with administrative matters pertaining to concentration camps.
The defendant Pohl, in his capacity as Chief of the Main Economic and Administrative Office, had no special aid on his staff to deal with concentration camp matters and did not keep any files. All questions of labor allocation were handled by the Concentration Camps Inspectorate in Oranienburg.
The main item of the defendant Oswald POHL's new duties was the weekly conference with Inspector of Concentration Camps Gluecks, which mostly took place in the Main Economic and Administrative Office in Berlin, and only in exceptional cases in the Oranienburg Inspectorate Office. The subject of this conference was the allocation of camp inmates to war industry. GLUECKS presentod to the defendant POHL requests made by the armament industry, which were received either by the camp commanders or by the Inspectorate and had already been dealt with by the latter up to a stage where only decision was required. The defendant POHL decided on those requests, in most cases in accordance with GLUECK's proposals, GLUECKS generally being accompanied by the Chief of office D II (Labor allocation) Standartenfuehrer MAURER.
GLUECKS and MAURER brought this data with them to Berlin into the Main Economic and Administrative Office for the weekly conference -- which lasted on an average not more than onehalf hour -- and took it back again to Oranienburg after it had been dealt with.
The requests for allocation of inmates to armament industry plants received directly by the defendant Pohl in the Main Economic and Administrative Office were first of all sent to Oranienburg for handling and then dealt with in the same manner as the others. All files remained in Oranienburg.
For details I refer to the contents of the affidavit made by Gerhard MAURER, dated 3 July 1947. After the incorporation of the Concentration Camps Inspectorate into the Main Economic and Administrative Office, this witness was Chief of Office D II and thus the specialist handling all questions of labor allocation pertaining to camp inmates. After giving an account of the weekly report of Gruppenfuehrer GLUECKS to the defendant Oswald POHL in the Main Economic and Administrative Office, the subject of the conference being the decision in answer to requests made by the war industry for manpower allocation, the witness, under figure 4 of his affidavit, declares the following, and I quote:
''Office D II, Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl, received in certain periods of time concerning the labor allocation of inmates certain compilations from which the figures and places of allocation can be seen. Furthermore, in this connection and these figures you could also see the number of inmates not used, the ones in which they were also used could be seen from those reports in connection with their professions. However, the figures did not contain their nationality and they were not arranged according to nationality, nor was the reason seen which led to the issuance of this decree.
These figures simply dealt with the necessity of labor allocation. Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl received from Amtsgruppe D. Furthermore, certain reports concerning the man hours in the economy, and also the wages which the inmates received during that time. He also received reports about their wages in the industry containing figures and personnel strength figures of the inmates used. There were also certain reports in there about the action on the production which had been achieved.'' Unquote.
The documents submitted by the Prosecution prove the account of the defendant POHL as correct. Almost all letters concerned with administrative matters of a general nature dealing with concentration camps were sent out directly in Oranienburg by Office Group D. The reports and notices of the commanders of the concentration camps were sent back to Oranienburg -- unless they dealt with matters of State Police and had to be addressed to the various offices of the Reich Main Security Office. In this connection reference must be made to the fact that the Concentration Camp Inspectorate (Office Group D), had its own radio and news service, in which nothing was changed even after the incorporation with the Main Economic and Administrative Office.
The same applies to jurisdiction with regard to feeding, clothing and quartering in the camps.
The Inspectorate (Administrative Office D IV) continued to be sole supervisory authority on all these questions for the administrative agencies of the concentration camps. Only the camp commander was responsible for feeding, clothing and quartering the inmates, and he carried out his duty with the aid of the chief administrator (Verwaltungsfuehrer) and the latter's aids, who were on the staff of the camp commander and subordinated to the camp commander in all matters.
The timely and satisfactory procurement of food and clothing for guard squads and inmates and the maintenance of quarters were therefore tho responsibility of the camp commander and of his aids. He alone was responsible for the proper supply of commodities necessary to fulfill requirements of the camp inmates.
In this respect the function of the camp commanders was identical with that of commanders of an independent detachment of troops. Their feeding schedules were bound to conform with directives and schedules determined by the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Subsequent to approval by the Regional Food Office and the Food Office respectively, the administrative chiefs of the camps purchased the required quantities on the free market.
The evidence has proved that, after the incorporation of the Concentration Camp Inspectorate into the Main Economic and Administrative Office, the responsibility of the defendant Oswald POHL was confined to the uniform directing of labor allocation pertaining to camp inmates.
Nevertheless, in his capacity as chief of the Main Economic and Administrative Office, the defendant Oswald POHL endeavored to improve the working conditions of the inmates by appropriate interpretation and by spontaneous extension of the order he was under. Among other things he endeavored to remove from office these camp commanders from their jobs who did not appear to have sufficient understanding for the humane aspect of labor allocation and to replace them by suitable leaders. This attitude will serve to explain the motives underlying the proposals made by the defendant POHL to Reichsfuehrer SS HIMMLER, pertaining to the transfer of certain camp commanders.
The further endeavors of the defendant POHL to go beyond the limits of centralized directing of labor allocation of camp inmates and to gain influence on the working conditions themselves, extended to the following matters:
a) Feeding
1) Ensuring the additional ration for heavy workers for 90% of all inmates irrespective of the type of work to which they were allocated. The camp commanders had to report each month that 90% of all inmates had received the additional ration for heavy workers. This illegal method was used in order to obtain a permanent improvement of food supply for all inmates.
2) Promotion of vegetable growing on a very large scale and storage of these supplies for the winter.
3) Berry- and mushroom-collection drives by especially appointed squads.
4) Procurement of additional food on the free market, independent of ration limits. This includes the purchase of Biosyn-Mycel products and of Phrix-Yeast. In order to ensure these highly nutritious products for the inmates, the defendant POHL personally undertook trips to the manufacturing plants to convince himself of the usefulness of these foods.
b) Clothing
1) In collaboration with the defendant Georg LOERNER, POHL attempted to improve the clothing status of the camp inmates. In the winter of 1943/44 a competition to improve winter clothing by the use of synthetic materials was organized for this purpose, at the instigation of Oswald POHL.
2) In 1943 and 1944, when plants throughout the Reich were being put out of action in everincreasing measure, the Weaving Section of the concentration camp Ravensbrueck was ordered to manufacture materials destined for the camp inmates.
3) Purchase of shoes from the shoe collection with the approval of the "Gemeinschaft Schuhe" (Association Shoes) in favor of camp inmates under labor allocation.
4) Commitment of armament works to provide protective garments for camp inmates.
c) Miscellaneous.
1) Issue of an order on the subject of privileges for camp inmates the so-called premium order.
2) Breaking-up of punishment squads.
3) Prohibition of work at the double
4) Abolition of roll-call or limitation of it to 10 minutes per day at the utmost.
5) Prohibition of any type of work being done by camp inmates after their return to camp.
6) Establishment of a working-day of 11 hours, which corresponded to the working-day of a German worker in armament industry during the second half of the war.
In connection herewith there is reason to investigate the basis facts of the contact which existed between Office Group C and the Administration of Concentration Camps.
1.) Up to the time when Obergruppenfuehrer EICKE left his post as Inspector of Concentration Camps in the spring of 1940, all engineering work connected with these camps was carried out be a special engineering division of the Inspectorate, under the personal and direct management of EICKE. Before that time, there had already existed departments in the Main Economic and Administrative office and in the Chief Office for Household and Engineering respectively, which had handled questions pertaining to engineering.
EICKE, however, had not made any use of them in connection with engineering work in the concentration camps. This fact has been fully proved by evidence established in this trial.
For lack of a suitable chief, the defendant Oswald POHL himself directed Office II (Engineering) in the Chief Office for Household and Engineering, by placing the three main department chiefs personally and directly under his supervision, until, in the fall of 1941, he found a suitable office chief in the person of KAMMLER, who later became SS-Obergruppenfuehrer.
2.) Only from this time on was there an organizational contact between Office Group C and agencies down to the lowest level (Engineering Management). The official engineering channels were: Office Group C (Office V. Central Engineering Inspectorate) - Engineering Inspectorate (of which there were five, namely: Reich North in Berlin, Reich West in Wiesbaden, Reich South in Munich, Reich East in Posen and Silesia in Breslau) Central Engineering Management - Engineering Management.
There was an Engineering Management in every concentration camp too; a Central Engineering Management was also located in several of these camps. In the government General the highest engineering agency was the engineering group with the SS Economic Office (SS-Wirtschaft) in Cracow. Its rank was equal to that of the inspectorates in the Reich.
3) The Office Group C had delegated its competence to a considerable degree to the Engineering Inspectorates, for reasons of decentralization. Thus, all engineering projects to the amount of maximum Reichsmark 100,000, and later up to Reichsmark 180,000, could be approved individually by the Engineering Inspectorates, within their own jurisdiction. As a result the official channels for construction managements generally ended with the Engineering Inspectorate.
However, engineering projects exceeding the value of RM 100,000 and RM 180,000 respectively, had to be submitted by the Engineering Inspectorate to the Office Group C for approval, and Kammer had reserved unto himself personally the approval of such projects. But it did also happen that engineering projects exceeding these limits did not reach the Office Group C and were not submitted to it for approval. This happened in cases in which the work involved extended over two seasons of the year and the engineering project was divided into two engineering portions, each of which did not exceed the amount of RM 100,000 and RM 180,000 respectively. This procedure was even obligatory if the yearly quota (wood, iron, concrete) was insufficient to cover entire engineering projects and had to be apportioned to two years or two seasons of the year.
4) The evidence has not furnished any concrete proof of the fact that the gas chamber facilities in Auschwitz were submitted through and approved by these official engineering channels.
In any case, the Prosecution was unable to submit evidence which might justify such an assumption. It must, much rather, be assumed that this engineering project was carried out by the local engineering management upon Himmler's order, which was given directly to the commander of the Auschwitz camp. For reasons of secrecy alone this appeared expedient, because otherwise, if this engineering project had been channeled via the Central Engineering Management and the Engineering Inspectorate, too large a circle of people would have obtained knowledge of it. This assumption is confirmed by the testimony which the Auschwitz Commander, Rudolf HOESS before the International Military Tribunal and which is submitted by me, in excerpt, as exhibit POHL No. 1. This testimony discloses, among other facts, that HIMMLER had even forbidden HOESS to discuss the contents of the order received by him with his direct superior, the Inspector of Concentration Camps Gruppenfuehrer GLUECKS. Under these circumstances it must be assumed that HOESS was also authorized directly to approve and carry out, within his own jurisdiction, all engineering projects subject to any particular obligation to secrecy and irrespective of any cost limit.
Now I shall come to number 5, dealing with labor allocation of concentration camp prisoners.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Seidl, I think we will take a short recess before you start on this subject.
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal will be in recess for fifteen minutes.
(A recess was taken)
Court No. II, Case No. 4.
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal is again in session.
DR. SEIDL: (5) Labor Allocation of Concentration Camp Prisoners.
I. In his capacity of Chief of the Economic and Administrative Main Office the defendant Oswald Pohl received an order from the Reichsfuehrer-SS to take up, within the scope of the competent ministry, the unified and centralized direction of the allocation of concentration camp prisoners. Defendant Pohl's function, substantially, was to decide on demands made by enterprises within the war economy for the labor allocation of prisoners. In addition, he was required to assume the unified direction of the allocation of prisoners in enterprises managed by the Office Group W of the Economic and Administrative Main Office. With regard to the details of this procedure I refer to the testimony of the defendants Pohl and Sommer and to the contents of Gerhard Maurer's affidavit, dated 3 July 1947.
The order given to Oswald Pohl for the unified direction of the labor allocation of prisoners was closely connected, in time and matter, with the development of the war and dependent on it was the nomination of a Plenipotentiary General in charge of labor supply, taking effect by an ordinance of the Fuehrer, dated 21 March 1942. I have submitted this ordinance to the Court as an exhibit and also the directives for its execution and am referring to it in detail.
Though in the Fuehrer's ordinance regarding a Plenipotentiary General for Labor Allocation, dated 21 March 1942, the latter received plenary powers to take all measures necessary "to guarantee a unified direction of allocation, adequate to the demands of war economics of all available labor-supplies, including foreign workers recruited and prisoners of war, as well as the mobilization of all labor forces previously not utilized", collaboration between the offices of the Plenipotentiary General and the Economic and Administrative Main office did not develop. The German labor-forces and foreign workers recruited by the agents of the Plenipotentiary General were immediately directed to war-economy and for the greater part quartered in camps, established Court No. II, Case No. 4.and administered by war-economy plants themselves and supervised by the German Labor Front (DAF). The freedom of the workers was not subjected to any other limitations except those originating from the labor-contract.
II.
The prisoners of concentration camps were directed to these camps by orders of the Reich Security Main Office, the administration of the Plenipotentiary General for Labor Allocation or any other labor-administration not being connected with it or in a position of influencing, to any notable degree, the decisions of the Economic and Administrative Main Office. As far as this concerned prisoners detained for political offenses, their transfer was effected by means of an order for protective custody issued by the Office IV of the Reich Main Security Office. That is the Secret State Police Office, the Gestapo Office. The transfer of criminal prisoners (professional criminals, captives in protective custody and others), of individuals detained in preventive custody by the police and similar categories was done according to a regulation of the Office V of the Reich Main Security Office (Reich Criminal Police Bureau). The agents of the Security Police were subject to police directives without being able to, or obliged to, consider questions connected with the allocation of labor and the procurement of labor-forces. The Economic and Administrative Main Office, as unequivocally proved by the evidence, had nothing to do with these police regulations and was in no connection whatever with them. It could neither transfer a person to a concentration camp nor was it authorized to order the release of a prisoner. The Economic and Administrative Main Office, in attaining the release of a prisoner, was under the obligation, uniformly with every other office of the Reich of the Party, to make an application to the Reich Main Security Office and whether this demand was granted or refused depended exclusively on the resolution of the police.
Court No. II, Case No. 4.
III.
The records of the number of prisoners employed in the different plants, furnished to the defendant Oswald POHL by the Office Group D, were arranged according to professional groups. This distinction alone was of importance for the uniform direction of labor-allocation. On the other hand, the nationality of the prisoner and the reason for his being taken into protective custody or preventive police detention did not become evident from these records and reports. These questions were of no importance for the execution of the order given to POHL and pertained exclusively to the competency of the Reich Main Security Office. Inmates of concentration camps whose allocation was to be uniformly directed by POHL within thy scope of the ministry to which he was attached were no less subject to compulsory work than the inmates of state prisons.
There is no doubt that prisoners serving sentence passed by a court were compelled to work and are still being compelled. In this way they could also be utilized in economy and war-economy. This becomes evident beyond any doubt from the Code of Penal Administration in the version of the announcement, dated 22 July 1940 (official special publication of German Justice No. 21), submitted as evidence by the Defense.
Under figure 67, referring to the fact that work is the basis of a regular and effective execution of punishment, it is expressly decreed that "every prisoner is obliged to work and to perform what can be accomplished with industry and care." Under figure 81 it is stipulated that the proceeds from the work allotted appertain to the Reich and "to the greatest possible extent should contribute to the payment of costs incurred by the Reich for the infliction of the punishment." The second part of the Code of Penal Administration contains regulations with regard to working-time, fixed at a minimum of 9 - 10 hours a day.
The Code of Penal Administration does not only deal with the compulsory work of persons sentenced to imprisonment by a court but also Court No. II, Case No. 4.tains regulations for the "execution of measures for security and the reformation of character in connection with deprivation of freedom," as provided for in paragraphs 42 and following of the Reich penal code.
Under figure 213 it is decreed that "the daily working-time of a prisoner in protective custody in general should not be less than 10 hours."
Finally there are in the Code of Penal Administration also provisions with regard to compulsory work when confined to a workhouse or institution (figure 216). Similar conclusions have to be drawn from previously existing regulations, the legal validity of which has never been doubted and can never be questioned. In this connection supplementary reference has to be made that already before the war, compulsory labor also for prisoners in custody on remand had been introduced by a provision of the Reich Ministry of Justice. With regard to details, I refer to the ordinances and regulations, submitted by the Defense, especially the general order of the Reich Minister of Justice, dated 7 June 1938 and the circular of the Reich Ministry of Justice, dated 10 May 1939.
Serious objections cannot be raised against proper application of these regulations, as far as I know existing also in the Code of Penal Administration of other countries, pertaining to inmates of concentration camps. Similar misgivings are all the less warranted, as many thousands of inmates were in concentration camps who, as criminal elements, had to be imprisoned by the police for reasons of public safety, at least for the duration of the war. The application of the regulations embodied in the Code of Penal Administration to concentration camps appears all the more obvious, as also external conditions are absolutely adequate. Compulsory labor in the concentration camps seems all the more understandable, as in opposition to penal prisoners, no compensation was claimed by the administration of the camps for the costs of accommodation, guarding, food, clothing and so on. In the German criminal code provision is made that the convicted persons Court No. II, Case No. 4.should be made to pay not only for the costs of the trial but also for the expenses of the execution of sentence.