He was, moreover, responsible for having compelled prisoners of war to produce arms and munitions for use against their own countries and their actively resisting allies.
Plenipotentiary General for manpower for the express purpose, among others, of integrating prisoners of war into the German war industry; and in a series of reports to Hitler, Sauckel described how successful he had been in carrying out that program. One such report states that in a single year, the Defendant Sauckel had incorporated 1,622,829 prisoners of war into the German economy.
I refer to Document No. 407 V-PS, which is U.S.A. Exhibit 228. It is a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler, on the 14th of April, 1943. Although the figures in the document have been contained in another document, this is the first introduction of this particular document. Quoting from paragraphs numbered 1 and 2 of the English text, it begins:
"My Fuehrer, and March 31st of this year."
THE PRESIDENT: Are you reading Paragraph 1?
MR. DODD: Yes, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: It says five million, not three.
MR. DODD: I think it is three million, if Your Honor pleases.
THE PRESIDENT: It should be three?
MR. DODD: I think so. The original looks to us like three. war, we find this statement:
"Besides the foreign civilian workers, another in the German economy."
prisoners of war were incorporated into the German war industry, and quoting from Document 407-IX PS, which is also a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler, I read in part from page 1, paragraphs 1 and 2:
"My Fuehrer:
five months of 1943. For the first time, the war industry:
Total: 846,511." by the Defendant Sauckel, was confirmed by the Defendant Speer, who stated that 40 per cent of all prisoners of war were employed in the production of weapons and munitions, and in subsidiary industries. I wish to refer briefly to paragraphs 6, 7 and 8, on page 15 of the English text of an interrogation of the Defendant Speer, on the 18th of October 1945, which was offered and referred to yesterday, and has the U.S.A. Exhibit No. 220. Quoting from Paragraphs 6, 7 and 8, on page 15, paragraph 1, on page 2 of the German text. There are two questions which will establish the background for this answer:
"Q Let me understand, when you wanted labor from prisoners or did you ask for a total number of workers?
"A Only Schmelter can answer that directly. As far as the effected through employment offices of the Stalags.
I "Q Will you explain that a little more?
"A In the last phase of production, that is, in the year 1944, of war employed in the production.
I wanted to have this "Q And when you say 'employed in the production', you mean right?
"A Yes. That is the total extent of my task."
MR. BIDDLE: What do you mean by "subsidiary industries," Mr. Dodd? Is that war industries?
MR. DODD: Yes, sir; war industries, as we understand it. It was referred to many times by these defendants as the component parts of the place. Minutes of the 36th Meeting of the Central Planning Board, Document R-124, from which we read a number of excerpts yesterday, and remind the Tribunal that in the report of the Minutes of that meeting, the Defendant Speer stated that:
"90,000 Russian prisoners of war employed in the greatest part skilled men."
the Defendant Speer and to discuss the evidence of the various crimes committed by Defendant Speer in planning and participating in the vast program of forcible deportation of the citizens of occupied countries. He was the Reich Minister of Armaments and Munitions, and Chief of the Organization Todt, both of which positions he acquired on the 15th of February 1942, and by virtue of his later acquisition of control over the armament offices of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the production offices of the Ministry of Economics, the Defendant Speer was responsible for the entire war production of the Reich, as well as for the construction of fortifications and installations for the Wehrmacht. Proof of the positions held by the Defendant Speer is supplid in his own statement, as contained in Document 2980-PS, which has already been offered to the Tribunal, and which bears U.S.A. Exhibit No. 18.
The industries under the Defendant Speer's control were really the most important users of manpower in Germany; and thus, according to the Defendant Sauckel, Speer's labor requirements received unconditional priority over all ether demands for labor. We refer to the transcript of the interrogation of the Defendant Sauckel, on the 22nd of September, 1945. It is U.S.A. Exhibit 230. It is next to the last document in the document book. I wish to refer to page 1 of that document, paragraph 4. It is a brief reference, the last answer on the page.
The question was asked of the Defendant Sauckel:
"Q Except for Speer, they would give the requirements in general for the broad field, but in Speer's work, he would get them allocated by industry, and so on; is that right?
"A The others I only got whatever was left. Because Speer told for Speer and that mainly I am his man."
in the discussions, during which the decision to use foreign forced labor was made. He has also said that he concurred in the decision, and that it was the basis for the program of bringing foreign workers into Germany by compulsion. I make reference to the interrogation of the Defendant Speer, of the 18th of October, 1945. It bears the U.S.A. Exhibit No. 220. We have already read from it; and I particularly refer to the bottom of page 12, and the top of page 13 of the English text:
"Q But is it clear to you Mr. Speer, that in 1942 when the foreign labor that you participated in the discussions yourself?
"A. Yes.
"Q So that I take it that the execution of the program of with your agreement?
"A Yes, but I must point out that only a very small part of other departments that demanded them".This admission is confirmed by the minutes of Speer's conference with Hitler on 10, 11 and 12 August 1942, in document R124, which has been offered here and from which excerpts have been read.
Page 34 of that document, paragraph 1 of the English text, has already been quoted, and those excerpts have been read before the Tribunal yesterdays. The Tribunal will recall that the Defendant Speer related the outcome of his negotiations concerning the forcible recruitment of a million Russian laborers for the German armaments industry, and this use of force was again discussed by Hitler and Defendant Speer on the 4th day of January, 1943 as shown by the excerpts read from the document 536-PS 13, where it was decided that stronger measures were to be used to accelerate the conscription of French civilian workers. ries under his control and used these workers with the knowledge that they had been deported by force and were being compelled to work, Speer has stated under oath in his interrogation of 18th October, 1945, page 5, paragraph 9 of the English text, quoting it directly:
"I do not wish to give the impression that I want to deny the very energetically."
large part of which was forced labor, and referring again to that same interrogation of the 18th of October 1945, and to pages 8 and 9 of the English text and page 10 of the German text:
"Q So that during the period when you were asking for labor, "A Yes "Q So that, simply by way of illustration, suppose that on workers?
"A Yes.
least as early as September of 1942 that workers from the Ukraine were being forcibly deported for labor into Germany. Likewise he knew that the great majority of the workers of the Western occupied countries were slave laborers forced against their will to come to Germany, and again referring to his interrogation on this 18th day of October, 1945, and beginning with the fourth paragraph from the bottom of page 5 of the English text, paragraph 10 on page 6 of the German text, we find this series of questions and answers:
"Q When did you first find out then that some of the manpower from the Ukraine was not coming voluntarily?
"A It is rather difficult to answer this here, that is to name a certain date to you.
However, it is certain that I knew "Q And does that apply also to the manpower from other occupied that they were not coming voluntarily?
"A Yes.
"Q When, in general, would you say that time was, without placing a particular month of the year?
"A As far as the Ukraine situation goes, I believe that they immense mistakes were made in their treatment by us.
I interrogation, and page 7 and paragraph 8 of the German text, we find this series of questions and answers--and I am quoting:
"Q But many workers did come from the West, did they not, to Germany?
"A Yes.
"Q That means, then, that the great majority of the workers that came from the Western countries, the Western occupied countries, came against their will to Germany?
"A Yes." as Document R-124 shows, and as we have shown by the readings from it, in all countries conscription for work in Germany could be carried out only with the active assistance of the police, and that the prevailing methods of recruitment had provoked such violence that many German recruiting agents had been killed. ments for 1944, which is reported in Document 1292-PS, Speer was informed by the Defendant Sauckel that the requirements-including Speer's requirement for 1,300,000 additional Laborers--could be met only if German enforcement agents were furnished to carry out the enslavement program in the occupied countries. were conscripted and deported to Germany against their will, Speer, nevertheless, continued to formulate requirements for the foreign workers and requested their allocation to these industries which were subject to his control. This is borne out by the minutes of the Central Planning board, as contained in Document R-124, and particularly page 13, paragraph 4 of the English text; and that is page 6 and paragraph 4 of the German text.
Speer speaking:
"Now, the labor problem in Germany. I believe it is still possible to transfer some from the western territories.
The Fuehrer stated only ballast.
Therefore, if we cannot settle this matter ourselves, we shall However, I see another possibility:
We might organize another drive to the Reich.
But this possibility is none too promising."
be furnished from German sources instead of from foreign sources. And the Defendant Speer speaking:
"We do it that way: Kehrl collects the demands for labor necessary Sauckel.
Probably there will be a conference of the Reich Marshal's in together with Weger."
Kehrl speaking; quoting Kehrl:
"I wish to urge that the allotments to the mines should not be made dependent on the recruitment of men abroad.
He were completely frustrated these last three months because this principle had been applied.
We ended December with a deficit of 25,000 and we never get replacements.
The "Speer:
No, nothing doing."
And again I refer to this Documeunt R-124. At page 42 there is a discussion concerning the supply and exploitation of labor.
That excerpt for its policies, which were in direct conflict with the laws of war;exploitation of foreign labor by Germany.
We have only one copy of this Montreal, Canada in 1945.
We ask that the Tribunal take judicial notice this study by the International Labour Office.
It is not long; it is very brief.
I am quoting directly. It says:
"The methods used for the recruitment of foreign workers who for deportation to Germany."
"The main difference was that, since the principal activities "In the recruitment drives for foreign workers for the were used, the latter usually with very little result."
armaments and munitions. This has been made plain by the evidence R-124, the minutes of the meeting of the Central Planning Board; prisoners of war to factories as convicts.
That is shown again by
THE PRESIDENT (interposing): Mr. Dodd, don't you think that we really have got this sufficiently now?
MR. DODD: Yes, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: We have Speer's own admission and any number of
MR. DODD: Well, I just wanted to refer briefly to that passage
THE PRESIDENT: Did you say 124?
MR. DODD: Yes, 124.
THE PRESIDENT: What page?
MR. DODD: Thirteen. Well, I don't want to labor this responsibility of the Defendant Speer.
I was anxious -- or perhaps
THE PRESIDENT: Which is the passage you want to refer to on page 13?
MR. DODD: I just referred in passing to the statement which begins with the words, "We have come to an arrangement with the Reichsfuehrer SS."
And the next to the last sentence says: "The men should be put into the factories as convicts."
13. Dec. M.RT-2 to say to the Tribunal that he visited the concentration camp at Mauthaussen, and he also visited factories such as those conducted by the Krupp industries, where concentration camp labor was exploited under degrading conditions. Despite this first-hand knowledge of these conditions both in Mauthaussen and places where these forced laborers were at work in factories, he continued to direct the use of this type of labor in factories under his own jurisdiction.
THE PRESIDENT: How do you intend to prove it as to these concentration camps?
MR. DODD: I was going to refer the Tribunal to page 9 of the interrogation of the 18th of October, 1945, and I refer to page 11, paragraph 5 of the German text; and page 9, beginning with paragraph 9 of the English text:
"Q But, in general, the use of concentration camp labor was known to you and approved by you as a source of labor?
"A Yes.
"Q And you knew also, I take it, that among the inmates of the concentration camps there were both Germans and Foreigners?
"A I did'nt think about it at that time.
"Q As a matter of fact, you visited the Austrian concentration camp personally, did you not?
"A I did'nt -- well, I was in Mauthaussen once, but at that time I was not told just to what categories the inmates of the concentration camps belonged, "Q But in general everybody knew, did they not, that foreigners who were taken away by the Gestapo or arrested by the Gestapo, as well as Germans, found their way into the concentrations camps?
"A Of course, yes. I did'nt mean to imply anything like that."
13.Dec.M.RT-3 13th paragraph of the English text, and page 20 in the German text, we find this question:
"Q Did you ever discuss, by the way, the requirements of Krupp for foreign labor?"
The answer is: "It is certain that it was reported to me"
THE PRESIDENT ( Interposing): What page is this?
MR DODD: Page 15.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
MR. DODD: Beginning with paragraph 13.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
DODD: "Did you ever discuss by the way, the requirements of Krupp for foreign labor?
"A It is certain that it was reported to me what lack Krupp "Q Did you ever discuss it with any of the members of the Krupp first?
"A I cannot say that exactly, but during the time of my lack of manpower."
the Tribunal to refer to what we consider to be some of the applicable law of the case for the assistance of the Tribunal in considering these documents which we have offered.
We refer, of course, first of all, to Sections 6 (b) and 6 (c) of the Charter of this Tribunal. We also say that the acts of the conspirators constituted a flagrant violation of Articles 46 and 52 of the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention No. IV of 1907. lives of persons in areas under belligerent occupation Article 52 provides in part that:
"Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded from municipalities or inhabitants except for the needs of the army of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the country". labor which they conscripted was not used to satisfy the needs of the army of occupation, but, on the contrary, was forcibly removed from the occupied areas and exploited in the interest of the German war effort. Defendant Sauckel and Speer, by virtue of their planning, of their execution, and of their approval of this program which we have been describing yesterday and today, the enslavement and the misuse of the forced labor of prisoners of war -- that for this they bear a special responsibility for their crimes against humanity and their war crimes.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you finishing, Mr. Dodd?
MR. DODD: Yes, I have concluded.
THE PRESIDENT: I should like to ask you why you have'nt read Document 3057-PS, which is Sauckel's statement.
MR. DODD: Yes. We had intended to offer that document. Counsel for the Defendant Sauckel informed me a day or two ago that his client maintained that he had been coerced into making the statement. Because we had not ample time to ascertain the facts of the matter, we preferred to withold it, rather than to offer it to the Tribunal under any question of doubt.
THE PRESIDENT: He objects to it, and therefore, you haven't put it?
MR. DODD: No, we did not offer it while there was any question about it.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MR. DODD: Might I suggest to the Tribunal that a recess be taken at this time? I am sorry to have to say that I am due to be before the Tribunal for a little while - that is, I am sorry for the Tribunal - with the matters on the concentration camps.
THE PRESIDENT: You mean a recess now?
MR. DODD: If Your Honor pleases.
THE PRESIDENT: Certainly, yes; ten minutes.
(Whereupon at 1120 hours a ten-minute recess was taken).
MR. DODD: May it please the Tribunal, we propose to offer additional evidence at this time concerning the use of Nazi concentration camps against the people of Germany and allied nationals. We propose to examine the purposes and the role of the concentration camp in the larger Nazi scheme of things. We propose to show that the concentration camp was one of the fundamental institutions of the Nazi regime, that it was a pillar of the system of terror by which the Nazis consolidated their power over Germany and imposed their ideology upon the German people; that it was really a primary weapon in the battle against the Jews, against the Christian Church, against Labor, against those who wanted peace, against opposition or non-conformity of any kind. We say it involved the syste matic use of terror to achieve the cohesion within Germany which was necessary for the execution of the conspirators' plans for aggression.
principle instruments used by the conspirators for the commission on an enormous scale of crimes against humanity and war crimes; that it was the final link in a chain of terror and repression which involved the SS and the Gestapo and which resulted in the apprehension of victimes and their confinement, without trial, often without charges, generally with no indication of the length of their detention. role of the SS and the Gestapo in this phase of Nazi terorism, the concentration camp, but at this point, I wish simply to point out that the SS, through its espionage system tracked down the victims, that the criminal police and the Gestapo seized them and brought them to the camps, and that the concentration camps were administered by the SS. of the brutality of the concentration camp from the showing of the moving picture. More than that, individual prosecutions are going on, going forward before other courts which will record these outrages in detail. Therefore, we do not propose to present a catalogue of individual brutalities, but, rather, to submit evidence showing the fundamental purposes for which the camps were used, the techniques of terror which were employed, the large number of victims and the death and the anguish which they caused. in a document book bearing the letter "S". I might say that the documents in this book have been arranged in the order of presentation, rather than, as we have been doing, numerically. In this book we have put them in as they occur in the presentation. One document in this book, 2309-PS, is cited several tines, so we have marked it with a tab with a view to facilitating reference back to it. It will be referred to more than once. of actual and potential opposition, they could not consolidate their power over the German people.
We have seen that immediately after Exhibit A. It was this decree which was the basis for the so-called "Shutzhaft", that is, protective custody -- the terrible power to imprison people without judicial proceedings.
This is made clear by document No. 2499-PS, which is a typical order for protective custody.
We offer come into the possession of the Prosecution.
It bears USA Exhibit No. 232, I should like to quote from the body of that order:
"Order of Protective Custody.
"Based on Article 1, of the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State of 28 February 1933 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 83), you are taken into protective custody in the interest of public "Reason:
Suspicion of activities inimical toward, the State."
Defendant Goering in a book entitled "Aufbau Einer Nation", published Social Democrats.
We refer to document 2324-PS, USA Exhibit 233. This document is an excerpt from page 89 of the German book.
We refer to the third and fourth paragraphs of the document, which I read as follows:
"We had to deal ruthlessly with these enemies of the State. It must "Thus the Concentration Camps were created, to which we had to send parties."
camps was almost without limit. The defendant Frick, in an order which made this quite clear.
An extract from this order is set forth in Document 1723-PS, to which we make reference.
It bears United States Exhibit No. 206.
I wish to read Article 1, beginning at the bottom of page 5 of the English translation of this order:
"Protective custody can be decreed as a coercive measure of the aspirations of enemies of the people and State."
order, which are found at the top of Page 1 of the English translation:
"In a summary of all the previously issued decrees on the co and ordain:
"1. To the Gestapo has been entrusted the mission by the kinds directed against both.
The successful solution of this mission frictionless work of the Party.
The Gestapo, in their extremely difficult the NSDAP".against the "enemies of the State", against "disintegrating forces", against those people who endangered the State "with their attitude".Whom did they consider as belonging in these broad categories?
Well, first, there were the men in Germany who wanted peace.
We refer to THE PRESIDENT:
What was the date of that document that you have been referring to, Number 1723-PS?
MR. DODD: January 25, 1938. Which has already been introduced and which is included in USA Exhibit A. This document consists of an affidavit of Gerhart H. Segar, and I wish only to read from Page 1, Paragraph 2 of that affidavit:
"2. During the period after World War One up until my commitment tactics.
My conflich with the Nazis by virtue of my identification with ing a political faith (Social Democratic Party) hostile to National weapon in overcoming democratic opposition."
Passing to Page 5 of the same document, and the paragraph marked (9) "That the Nazis had already conceived the device of the Concentration which I had with Dr. Wilhelm Frick in December 1932.
Frick at that time I was a member.
When I gave an emphatic answer to Frick concerning the particular matter discussed, he replied, 'Don't worry, when we are in power we shall put all of you guys into Concentration Camps'. When the Chief of the Prussian State Police, and Himmler."
by terror and Frick's statement to Segar is completely consistent with evidence and has been included in USA Exhibit A. We refer to the first page of the English translation, page 48 of the German text.