It was following a French attempt to escape, that I was with about two thousand Frenchmen taken to Poland.
I was at Lindberg an der Lahn, Stalag 12A, where we were regrouped and placed in cars, railway cars. We were deloused -- no, I beg your pardon -- we were stripped of our clothes, of our shoes, of all the food which some of us could have kept. We were placed in cars, where the number varied from 53 to 56. The trip lasted six days. The cars were open generally for a few minutes in the course of a stop in the countryside. In six days we were given soup on two occasions only, once at Oppeln and the soup was not edible and another time at Jaruslow. We remained for thirty-six hours without anything to drink in the course of that trip and we had no receptacle with us and it was impossible to get a provision of water. French prisoners, most of them French, who had been there for several weeks, extremely discouraged, with a ration scale much inferior to anything that we had witnessed until then and for no one had any parcel from their families or from the International Red Cross been issued. camp. There was for that total number one single faucet which furnished for several hours a day undrinkable water. This situation lasted until the visit of two Swiss doctors, who came to the camp in September, I think. The billets consisted of four barracks. The small rooms contained as many as six hundred men in the room. We were stacked, so to speak, on tiers along the walls, three rows of them, thirty to forty centimeters for each of us. more than five hundred in six months. Several of our comrades were killed. Some were killed at the time when a guard would notice them. In spite of the sadness of such occurrences, no one of us contested the rights of our guards in such cases but several were murdered. In particular, on the 12th of August, 1942, in the Tarnopol Kommando, there is the case of soldier Lavest. He was found bearing several evidences of shots and several large wounds caused by bayonets.
On the 14th of August in the Werschinek Kommando, ninety-three Frenchmen, having succeeded in digging a tunnel, escaped the following morning.
Three of them, Konneaux, von dem Busch and Poutrelle, were caught by German soldiers, who were seeking them, who were searching for them. Two of them were sleeping. The third, Poutrelle, was not sleeping. The Germans, a corporal and two enlisted men, verified the identity of the three Frenchmen. Very calmly they told them: "Now we are going to kill you. We are obliged to kill you." The three wretched men invoked their families, begged for mercy. The German corporal gave the following- reply, which we heard only too often: "An order is an order", and they shot down immediately two of the French prisoners, von dem Busch and Konneaux. Poutrelle left like a madman and by sheer luck was not caught again. On the other hand, he was captured a few days later in the region of Dragout. He was then brought back to Ravaruska proper, where we saw him in a condition close to madness. of about twenty prisoners accompanied by several guards, were on their way to work.
Q Excuse me - you are talking about French prisoners of war? sometime was persecuting two of them, Perrel and Don Viella, took them into the woods. A few moments later the others heard shots. Perrel and Den Viella had just been killed. work under the supervision of German soldiers and of civilian gang leaders, they were German civilians. One of the Frenchmen succeeded in escaping, without waiting, the German non-commissioned officer selected two men. If my memory serves me, their name was Saladan and Dubeuf and he brought them down on the spot.
Incidents of this type occurred in other circumstances. The list of them would be long indeed. refractory non-commissioned officers, who were with you at camp, lived?
A The non-commissioned officers who refused to work were grouped together in one section of the camp, in two of the large stables, which were used for billeting prisoners.
They were subjected to a regime of oppression that was most severe; frequent roll-call for assembly; gymnastics up and down -- that type of gymnastics which after you performed it for a while leaves you quite exhausted. a French name for a German captain -- having refused to pick up a tool to work with, the German captain made one gesture and one of the German soldiers who were with him pierced this man through with his bayonet, that is Corbionne. He escaped death by a miracle indeed.
Q Hon many were their missing? the burial of sixty of cur friends who died from disease or who were killed in attempted escapes. But so far, 100 of those who were with us and who sought to escape there have not been found again,
Q Is this all that you have witnessed?
A No. I should say that our sojourn at the punishment camp Ravaruska involved one thing more awful than what we, as prisoners, have seen and endured. We were obsessed by what we knew was taking place all about us. The Germans had transformed the area of Lindberg Ravaruska into a sort of immense ghetto. In that area there had been brought, where the Israelites were already quite numerous, the Jews from all the countries in Europe, Every day for five months, except for an interruption of six weeks approximately, in August and September, 1942, we have seen passing about 150 meters from our camp, one, two and sometimes three trains made up of freight cars, in which there were crowded men, women and children. One day, a voice coming from one of these cars shouted: "I come from Paris. We are on cur way to the slaughter," tasks would find corpses along the railway track. We knew in a vague sort of way at that time that these trains stopped at Belsac, which was located about seventeen kilometers from our camp and at that point they carried out the execution of these wretched people by employing means of which I am ignorant.
the night. We heard moans and shouts of women and children. The following morning bands of German soldiers were going through the rye plantations on the very edge of cur camp with-their bayonets pointed downwards, seeking people in hiding in the fields. Those of our comrades who went out on that day to go to their tasks told us that they saw corpses everywhere in the town, in the gutters, in the barns, in the houses. Later some of our guards, who had participated in this operation, quite good-humoredly explained to us that two thousand Jews had been killed that night under the pretext that two SS had been murdered in the region. program which in Lemberg caused the death of thirty thousand Jews. I was not personally in Lemberg but several military French doctors, Major Bigaille of the French Medical Corps, Lieutenant Vegin of the French Medical Corps, related to me the events.
THE PRESIDENT: The witness appears to be not finishing and therefore I think we had better adjourn now until two o'clock.
(Whereupon at 1250 hours the Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours on the same day.)
Military Tribunal, in the matter of: The
MARSHAL OF THE COURT: I desire to announce that the defendant Kaltenbrunner will be absent from this afternoon's session on account of illness.
M. DUBOST: With the permission of the Tribunal, we will continue hearing the witness, Mr. Roser.
Mr. Roser explained to us this morning conditions in which he witnessed the pogroms.
(Further examination by M. Dubost) pogrom where you stated a German soldier, before you, made a statement which you related to us? of meeting with a French doctor, the chauffeur of the German physician in the infirmary where I was at that time. This soldier, whose name I have forgotten, said the following:
"In Poland-" in a city the name of which I have also forgotten-"a sergeant from our regiment went with a Jewish woman. A few hours later, they found her dead. Then," said the German soldier, "They called the whole battalion to come out. Half of the forces were put in a cordon around the Ghetto, and the other half-two companies, of which I was a member--went into the houses and threw out of the windows pellmell the furniture and the people who were living in those rooms." The German soldier completed the story by these words: "Ach, Mensch, Schrecklich war es." We said, "How could you do such a thing?" He replied, "Befehl ist Befehl." was given to the Russians,
A Yes. That is correct. The first French detachment which arrived at Ravaruska the 14th or 15th of April, 1942, came after a group of 400 Russian war prisoners, who were the survivors of a detachment of 6,000 men who had died of typhus. The few medicants which the French found when they arrived in Ravaruska came from the infirmary of the Russian prisoners. That included a few aspirin tablets and different medicines which were of no value in caring for typhus. The camp was not disinfected after the Russian typhus patients left and we came. asking the Tribunal for permission to describe the terrible picture which all the French prisoners saw in the stalags in Germany in the autumn of 1941, which we all saw when the first Russian prisoners arrived. which was like an hallucination. The Russians arrived in columns of five, holding each other up by the arm, for none of them was strong enough to stand up alone. The looked like walking skeletons. That is the only expression that I can use. We saw afterwards photographs of concentration camps and dead persons in them. Those unfortunate persons looked in 1941 like the people we saw Later in the pictures. The skin of their faces wasn't yellow; it was green. Almost all squinted, not having the strength to keep their optical equipment in proper order. guns. As it was Sunday afternoon, the French prisoners were allowed to walk around within the camp. Seeing that, all the French began to scream, and the Germans made us go into the barracks. number of 10,000 in thirteenth of November, and there were only 2,500 in the month of February.
These figures are certain. I have them from two sources, an official source and an unofficial source, which was from the cook in the camp, in the kitchens. There was a chart on which the Germans wrote out the rations which were to be given to the forces that were there. The number of Russians decreased each day by 80 or 100.
prisoners who entered the camp, and they had the figures. The figure of 2,500 of those who survived in February is the same as that which we found in the kitchen. parts of Germany. All those who were in the stalag in the camp at that time saw the same thing. The Russian prisoners were put in a common grave. Some of them were not even yet dead, Dead and dying were then simply dragged from the barracks and thrown into the common grave. the camp didn't find it agreeable to see French prisoners who could observe the Russian prisoners who died, they covered them subsequently.
Q Your accounts were then supervised by the German Army or by the SS?
A By the Wehrmacht. Only by the Army. I was never supervised by any except the German Army, prisoner of war camps in Germany?
Q In all of those camps, were you able to practice your religion?
Q What is your religion? Protestants and Catholics to practice their religion, but the work commandersFor instance, in the agricultural commando in my block, where there was a Catholic priest--there were about 60 of us in this commando--this Catholic priest could only say the mass. They did not permit him to.
Q Who prevented him?
Q German soldiers?
M. DUBOST: I have no more questions to ask, the witness.
THE PRESIDENT: Does the British Prosecutor wish to ask any questions?
THE BRITISH PROSECUTOR: No.
THE PRESIDENT: Or the United States?
THE AMERICAN PROSECUTOR: No.
THE PRESIDENT: Do any of the Defense Counsel wish to ask any questions?
(Cross examination, by Dr. Nelte, Counsel for the defendant Keitel.)
Q Witness, when were you imprisoned?
Q In which camp for prisoners of war were you put?
Q You were in a camp? regarding a possible escape?
A They notified us that they would shoot at us; that we must not try to escape. Geneva Convention? 2 D, Oflag 2 D. You said that there was an officer that fled the camp, and that this officer, because he was the first who escaped through the tunnel and gained his freedom, was shot, Is that right?
Q Were you with these officers who tried to escape? was then in Oflag 2 D before I arrived.
Q I understood that. I just wanted to ascertain that this officer, Robert, found his death in flight, in his escape.
A Yes, but here I would like tp point out two things. One thing: All the war prisoners who escaped knew they risked their lives. Each of us, when we made such an attempt to try to escape, knew that we were risking getting shot, but one thing: We might be killed in the barbed wire when we tried to cross it, but it is another thing to have than lie in ambush for you and murder you when you can do nothing, when we are at the mercy of a man and have no arm, and this Lieutenant, he was in a puddle, and a very low puddle.
He was flat on his stomach. He was crawling along, and he couldn't escape then. That wasn't international Law there when he was shot. war who tried to do his patriotic duty I would congratulate. Here in this case, where you were not present, I would like to make the point clear that the possibility certainly existed that this first brave officer who left the tunnel did not answer the calling of the guards and was shot as a result of that.
You gave a vivid description of the incident, but I believe that was a product of your imagination because, according to your own testimony, you were not present yourself; is that correct.
A. No, no. There, are not 36 different ways of coming out of a tunnel. You are flat on your stomach. You crawl, and when you are killed before you get out of the tunnel, then you must be killed flat on your stomach.
THE PRESIDENT: We don't want argument in cross examination.
The witness has already stated that he was not there and didn't see it, and he has explained the facts.
DR. NELTE: Thank you.
Q. The incident of Lt. Thompson is not entirely clear to me. In this case also, I believe you said that you were not personally informed, but informed through a friend. Is that correct?
A. I only repeat what I said a while ago, I related the story of a French Lieutenant, Ledoux, who told me that he was at Rausen, in the fortress.
This English officer, Thompson, escaped from the fortress. He was recaptured on the airfield, brought back to the fortress, put into the same cell as Lt. Ledoux, and Ledoux saw him killed by a revolver shot in the back of the neck. Ledoux gave me the names of the murderers, Hopfeldt and Leipzig. That is the story which was told by a witness.
Q. Did Hopfeldt-- Was he a guard at the camp; to what division did he belong?
A. I don't know. I can't answer that question.
Q. Do you know that you, as a prisoner of war, can make a claim?
A. Certainly, I knew personally the Geneva Convention.
Q. Did you know that you had the possibility of making a claim through the commandant? Did you make use of this privilege?
A. I tried, myself, without success.,
Q. May I ask what the name was of the commandant who did not hear your complaint?
A. That I don't know, but I can tell you what happened when I tried to escape.
Q. Please.
A. Strafkommando of Lindberg -- This commander came from 10 C Stalag. After the night which I related a little while ago, during an attempted escape which failed, we were beaten for three hours successively. The following day a certain number of us were kept at the commando. We saw then the immediate superior of the Chief of the Command, an Oberleutnant, whose name I do not know, who saw that we were wounded, covered with wounds on our heads particularly, and he found that it was very fine. That evening we went to work. We came back at 7:00 o'clock. We received a visit of a mayor, who was a very distinguished man, who also found that since we had tried to escape, that it was quite just that we be punished, so my complaint didn't go much further, sir.
Q. Did you know that the German Government, with the current Vichy Government, had an agreement regarding prisoners of war?
A. Yes, I have heard of that, but they didn't inspect that kind of commando camp.
Q. Therefore, you wish to say that the visit of the people who were authorized did not apply to labor commandos?
A. The visits took place at the work commando, but not in the reprisal commando where I was. That is the real difference.
Q. You were not always in the reprisal commando?
A. No.
Q. And when were you put into this punishment commando?
A. Quite long before Ravaruska, April 1941, for the first time. It was a commando where they sent, without any motive, only the priests and officer candidates. We received no visits there.
The strafkommando at Lindberg -- nobody visited that camp either. There was no inspection. At Ravaruska we received a visit of two Swiss physicians in September.
Q. September, '42?
A. Yes, '42.
Q. Did you complain to the Swiss physicians?
A. Not myself personally, but some people were able to talk to them.
Q. And were there any results?
A. Yes, certainly.
Q. Don't you believe that the way to complain might have been successful to complain through the commandant if you had wished to do so?
A. We had no very friendly relations with the general commander at Ravaruska?
Q. I don't quite understand you.
A. I said that we had no friendly relationship with the German commander of the camp at Ravaruska.
Q. We are not concerned with the question of cordial relations, but an official, formal visit, which could have, been conducted in such a way. Don't you believe that?
A. To present a complaint would seem to have some relationship with somebody, if we could present a complaint.
Q. When did you leave Ravaruska?
A. The end of October, 1942,
Q. If I remember correctly, you gave the number of victims that were counted or observed by you. You gave that number, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. How many victims were there?
A. There was a figure that was given to me by Dr. Levin, who was a French physician at Ravaruska. About 60 I said in the camp itself, to which I must add about 100 who disappeared.
Q. The German Defense can't hear. Would you be kind enough to repeat the last few statements about the number of victims?
A. Yes, I said that there were about 60 dead for the camp of Ravaruska, at the time when I was there.
Q. Are you talking about French victims, or in general?
A. At Ravaruska there were hardly any nationalities except French -- a few Poles and a few Belgians.
Q. I am putting the question for this reason: An official French report, which I have with me, from 15 July 1945, gave the number of victims until the end of July as 14.
That is 14 Frenchmen according to the official French report, and for the period of time, August to September. The number that you gave seems to be quite high.
THE PRESIDENT: Does any other German counsel want to put any questions to this witness?
(No response.)
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost?
M. DUBOST: I have finished with this witness, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: One moment.
M. Dubost, the witness can retire. going to give us any evidence of a different nature from the evidence which has already been given? You will remember that we have in the French document, of which we shall take judicial notice -- a very large French document - I forget the number -- 321, I believe it is -- 321 -- We have a very large volume of evidence on the conditions in concentration camps. Is the witness you are going to call going to prove anything fresh?
M. DUBOST: The Witness whom we have called is going to submit direct testimony on a certain number of experiments which he saw.
He
THE PRESIDENT: Are these experiments about which the witness is going to speak all recorded in these, in the book 321?
M. DUBOST: They are quoted, but they are not given the importance that the French presentation gives concerning direct testimony.
We will direct testimony.
Once these witnesses have been heard, we will then be
THE PRESIDENT: You may call the witness, but try and not let him be
M. DUBOST: I shall do my best, Mr. President.
(Witness takes the stand)
THE PRESIDENT: What is your name?
THE WITNESS: Alfred Balachowsky,
THE PRESIDENT: Are you French?
THE WITNESS: French.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you take this oath? Do you swear to speak without hate nor fear, to say the truth, all the truth, only the truth? Raise your right hand and swear.
THE WITNESS: I swear.
THE PRESIDENT: You may sit if you wish.
(Examination by M. Dubost)
Q Your name is Balachowsky, Alfred B-a-l-a-c-h-o-w-s-k-y?
Q You are chief of the Pasteur Laboratory in Paris?
Q You reside in Viroflay; you were born 15 August 1901 at Kurutcha in Russia?
Q You are French?
A Yes. Russian by birth, French through nationalization.
Q What year were you naturalized?
Q Were you deported 16 January 1944? and Compiegne.
Q You then went to the camp of Dora?
Q Can you rapidly tell us what you know about the camp of Dora? the Suedharzgebiet in Germany. This camp was considered by the Germans as a secret commando. That is to say, a Geheimkommando, where prisoners consequently were interned. They were not permitted to leave. the V-1's and V-2's, Vergeltungswaffen, torpedoes, which the Germans shot at England. That is why Dora was a secret commando.
This camp was divided into two parts. One was the outer part, which included a third of the total number of persons employed in the camp, and two thirds of the persons were concentrated in the subterraneum factory.
Dora was a subterraneum factory for the manufacture of V-1's and V-2's.
Q Let's slow up please. You arrived, coming from Buchenwald, at Dora 10 February 1944? and hard, We left 10 February in a truck - 73 men in a large German truck. In the front part it had four SS guards. We could not squat, since we were too numerous. Every time that a man lifted his head, he received a blow with a butt of a gun. On many of these convoys, which lasted four hours, several persons were wounded during the convoy. food in the cold, in the snow, and had to undergo all the formalities of being registered in the camp, filling out forms, innumerable forms, and so on.
In comparison with Buchenwald it was quite different. There were numerous changes in Dora. For the general management, Dora was entrusted to a special category of prisoners who were criminals. These were criminals who were our block leaders, criminals who distributed the food, criminals who looked after us. These criminals were distinguished by a green triangle, and the political prisoners had a red triangle. It was a green triangle on which was written in black the letter "S", We called them the "S", that is to say, criminals who had been condemned by German tribunals before the war for crimes, but once their punishment had been completed, instead of being sent home, these criminals were sent for life to concentration camps to make up the personnel, to look after ether prisoners. This category of criminals served as personnel.
THE PRESIDENT: You are going too fast; please slow down.
A (Continuing) These criminals with the green triangles were people who had social vices; sometimes they would have 15 years in prison, and afterwards five or ten years in concentration camps. These social outcasts had no hope, they never had any hope, of leaving the concentratration camps. These criminals, thanks to the collaboration which they had with the SS management of the camp were able then, through this collaboration, to embark upon a career.
Their career consisted of stealing and pillaging from the other prisoners, and in obtaining from other prisoners the maximum labor or work output required by the SS.
They beat us from morning until night. We got up in the morning at 4 o'clock. We had to get up in five minutes. We were in subterranean dormitories. We were piled together, without ventilation, in a vicious atmosphere. In a block about as large as this room where we are at present, we found 3,000 or 3,500 prisoners. There were five stories of rotten straw mattresses, which were never freshened or renewed. In fivre minutes we had to get up, and so we went to bed completely dressed. We were hardly able to sleep. however, for at night there was a continual going and coming. Thefts of all sorts took place in the night among prisoners, and consequently it was not possible to sleep. Also, it was not possible to sleep because we were covered with lice. In all the camp of Dora the vermin swarmed. It was practically impossible to get rid of the lice.
THE PRESIDENT: Just one minute, please.
M. Dubost, you said you were going to call this witness upon experiments. He is now giving us all the details of these camp lives which we have already heard on several occasions.
M. DUBOST: No one has ever spoken of Dora, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: But every camp we have heard of has got the same sort of brutalities, hasn't it, according to the witnesses who have been called? experiments.
M. DUBOST: If the Tribunal is persuaded that all the camps had the same regime, then the witness will proceed to tell about the experiments. However, I wanted to show that in all German camps where civilians were interned the regime was the same. That is what I want to prove.
THE PRESIDENT: If you were going to prove that, you would have to call a witness from every camp, and there are hundreds of them.
M. DUBOST: This question must be proved because this is what is goingto prove the prosecution of the defendants so far as each camp is concerned. In every camp there was one person who was responsible. We are not judging the chief of the camp, but the person who was his superior.
THE PRESIDENT: I have already pointed out to you that there has been practically no cross-examination, and I have asked you to confine this witness, so far as possible, to the question of experiments.
M. DUBOST: The witness will then restrict himself to experiments. ment of prisoners in all camps is proved. BY M. DUBOST: Corps was concerned with in camps, criminal practices which took the form of scientific experiments? Block 50, which was, in fact, a factory for the manufacture of vaccines against typhus, the ordinary typhus. I was called from Dora to Buchenwald, and that was done because, in the meantime, the directors of scientific research, and consequently they wished to utilize my services within Block 50 for the manufacture of vaccines.
However, I was absolutely ignorant of this measure until the very last moment. I remained there until the liberation of the camp on the 11th of April, 1945. was directed by Sturmbannfuehrer Schuler, that is to say, a Physician Sturmbannfuehrer, having the rights, consequently, of a Commander-SS, who directed this block and had the responsibility for the manufacture of vaccines. This same Sturmbannfuehrer Schuler also directed another block in the camp of Buchenwald. This other block was Block 46, the famous block for experiments, the famous block where they interned men to utilize them as guinea pigs. secretary in the Geschaeftzimmer. Consequently, all the archives and files, all the forms and files of experiments, all the correspondence, all the decisions relating to Block 46, the block of experiments, and relating to Block 50, were put in the Geschaeftzimmer, in the General Secretary's office of Block 50. my friend, Eugene Kogen, for seven years imprisoned. Eugene Kogen and a few other comrades had, consequently, the opportunity of looking through all the archives of which they had charge. Therefore they could know, from day to day, exactly what went on either in Block 50 or in Block 46. Block 46 and even the record books of the experiments in Room 46 were saved. We have them; they are in our hands. They were given to the Psychological Service of the American Forces.
Consequently following personages:
Dr. Gaenschen, Obergruppenfuehrer, the highest grade in the Waffen SS, Dr. Poppendick, Gruppenfuehrer of the Waffen SS.
We also saw associated with these names Dr. Handloser there was also the name of Dr. Handloser.
Waffen SS of Leipzig. There was no personal initiative then on the phosphorus burns.
There were also experiments on sexual hormones.