1939.
The next German document is the Document D/578.
MR. ELWYN JONES: My Lord, my attention has been drawn to another sentence in the Document D/419, which I should like to draw the Tribunal's attention to, the last paragraph but one:
"As the military commander of Posen has already reported to the High Command of the army, the men feel very strongly about the disproportion between their pay and the many times higher daily rate of pay of other formations."
The Document D/578 is a report by the German Brigade Commander of the 1st Mountain Brigade, Colonel Pericic. It is dated the 26th of September, 1943. This document, My Lord, will be GB 553. It is a report on the activities of the SS units in the area of Popovaca, in Bosnia. I only want to trouble you with the first two paragraphs:
"On the 16th of September, 1943, an SS unit of 80 men marched from Popovaca to Osekovo for the compulsory purchase of cattle. I was not notified by anybody about the arrival of this unit in the technical operational area of the 1st Mountain Brigade and about the activity of this unit in the area, for which I alone am responsible.
"A short time after their arrival in Osekovo this unit was attacked by partisans. Under the pressure of the numerically superior partisans, this unit had to retreat in the direction of the railway station, which they succeeded in doing, but they had four men seriouly and several lightly wounded, among them the unit commander. One man was missing, and they also lost an armoured car. The unit commander then reported from Popovoco by telephone that when he had to retreat, he had killed all persons who were in the open because he had no chance to distinguish between the loyal population and the Partisans. He himself said that he killed about 100 persons in this incident." atrocities, first from the Yugoslav delegation, the Document D/945.
BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. witness, you appreciate that the Prinz Eugen Division was a division of the Waffen SS, do you not?
A. (No response)
THE PRESIDENT: Witness, did you hear that question? BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. Witness, I asked you --
A. Yes: this division does belong to the Waffen SS.
MR. ELWYN JONES: The Document D/945, My Lord, will be GB 554. It is an extract of the report from the Yugoslav State Commission for Ascertaining the Crimes of the Occupiers and their Accomplices. I want to read the second and third paragraphs:
"'In accordance with the order of the commander of the 118th German division, an SS battalion of the 'Prinz Eugen' division and a battalion of the 'Teufels Division' under the command of the German Lieutenant Colonel Dietsche carried out on the 27th if March, 1944, and on the following days a 'purge action' from Sinj in the direction of the villages of Otok-Ruda-UdovicicKrivodol-Vostane-Grab.
"'On the 28th March this SS battalion overran the villages of Otok Cornji Ruda and Dolac Dolnji one after the other and carried out horrible massacres, destructions by fire and looting. These boasts murdered on a single day in the three above-named Dalmatian villages 834 people -- apart from grown-up men, also women and children -- set on fire 500 houses and looted everything there was to be looted. They removed rings, watches and other valuables from the dead bodies. The mass slaughter was carried out in all the villages in the same horrible manner. The German soldiers gathered women, children and me in one place and the opened fire on the crowd with machine guns, throw bombs at them, looted their property and set them on fire. In the House MilanevicTrapo 45 burned bodies were found. In another house in the same village of Otok 22 unburned corpses were found in a pile. In the village of Ruda they collected all the people in one place and killed all of them. These who happened not to be collected were killed when they were found. Not even the smallest babies at their mothers' breasts were spared.
In some places the victims were soaked in petrol and set on fire. They also killed these who offered them hospitality out of fear. They also killed these people who were forced to follow them to carry their ammunition and other things. According to the evidence of reliable witnesses, the massacres were prepared beforehand, and this all the more so as the above mentioned villages gave no reason whatsoever previous to the 'purge action' for any kind of reprisals..."
That report is signed by the President of the State Commission, Dr. Dusan Nedeljkovic, University professor.
The the document D/940, which will be GB 555, which is another extract from the Yugoslav State Commission report signed by the same President of the State Commission, Dr. Dusan Nedeljkovic, on The Crimes of the 7th SS Division, "Prinz Eugen" in Crna Gora (Montenegro); it reads:
"The various German divisions operating in the area of occupied Yugoslavia marked their path by traces of devastation and annihilation of the peaceful population which will testify to the criminal character of the German conduct of the war for many years to come. The operations of the German divisions were in reality primitive expeditions. They destroyed and burnt down whole villages and exterminated the civil population in a barbarous manner, without any military necessity whatsoever.
"The 7th SS Division, 'Prinz Eugen', is famed for its cruelty".
Then I go on to the next paragraph:
"Wherever it passed -- through Serbia, through Bosnia and Herzegorina, through Lika and Banija so through Dalmatia -- everywhere it loft behind scones of conflagration and devastation and the bodies of innocent men, women, and children who had been burnt in the houses.
"At the end of Hay 1943 the division 'Prinz Eugen' came to Montenegro to the area of Miksic in order to take part in the fifth enemy offensive in conjunction with the Italian troops. This offensive was called Offensive Black by the German occupying forces. Proceeding from Herzegovina parts of the division fell upon the peaceful villages of the Niksic district: Gornje, Polje, Rastovac, Orah, Granic, Praga, Jasenevo Polje, Duge, and Dubocka.
"Immediately after its invasion, this formation, opening fire with all its arms, commenced to commit outrageous crimes on the peaceful villages for no reason at all. Everything they came across they burnt down, murdered, and pillaged. The officers and men of the SS division 'Prinz Eugen' committed crimes of an outrageous cruelty on this occasion. The victims were shot, slaughtered and tortured, or burnt to death in burning houses. Where a victim was found not in his house, but on the road or in the fields some distance away, he was murdered and burnt there. Infants with their mothers, pregnant women and frail old people were also murdered. In short, every civilian met with by these troops in these villages was murdered. In many cases, whole families who, not expecting such treatment or lacking the time for escape, had remained quietly in their homes. were annihilated and murdered. Whole families were thrown into burning houses in many cases and thus burnt.
"It has been established from the investigations entered upon that 121 persons, mostly women, and including 30 persons aged 60-92 years and 29 children of ages ranging from 6 months to 14 years, were executed on this occasion in the horrible manner narrated above.
"The villages -- "; and then follows the list of the villages. Then over on the next pages:
"For all of these most serious war crimes those responsible besides the actual culprits -- the members of the SS Division 'Prinz Eugen' -- are all superior and all subordinate commanders as the persons issuing and transmitting the orders for murder and devastation.
Among others the following war criminals are known: SS-Gruppenfuehrer and Lieutenant-General of the Waffen SS Phleps, Divisional Commanders MajorGeneral of the Waffen SS von Oberkamp, Ritter Karl, Commander of the XIII Regiment, later Divisional Commander; Major General Schimidthuber, August, Commander of the XIV Regiment"; and then there follow the names of about another ten high ranking German SS Regimental and other commanders.
THE PRESIDENT: Shouldn't you ask whether they are Waffen SS? BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. These men, witness, were members of the Waffen SS, were they not?
Just look at the names.
A. I know part of these names. They were leaders -
Q. Let us take them in turn: Phleps, Divisional Commander?
A. Yes.
Q. He was one of your colleagues in the Waffen SS, was he not?
A. Yes.
Q. Major General of the Waffen SS von Oberkamp -- he was in the Waffen SS, was he not?
A. I know the next few names: Oberkamp, Schmidthuber, and Diltsche. The rest of the names I do not know.
Q. But you do not deny, from the description of them, at any rate, that they were officers in the Waffen SS?
A. I would assume so, even though I do not know what the origin of this report is. These are most likely reports which originated in an oral manner and were they put into this form.
Q. I won't trouble you with the value of the reports as documents, witness, That is a matter for the Tribunal. of the Polish delegation, again relating to the SS. command of SS functionaries and by SS men. The first is Document 4041 PS, which will be GB 556, which consists of 31 posters for the years 1943 to 1944, signed by the Chief of the SS and Police in Warsaw, or in some cases by the Commander of the Security Police and of the SD for Warsaw, announcing the killing of hostages.
MR. ELWYN JONES: The Tribunal will see that in those frim records of murder there are listed varying numbers of the victims of the Nazi occupation. In Poster No. 25, for instance, on Page 16, there is a list of 270 hostages.
On Poster 29, page 20, there are 200 shot hostages; Poster 31, page 28 there are 100 shot hostages. These SS shootings were certainly not an original SS conception. I hand in the two documents, 4039-PS and 4039-PS which are -
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Elwyn Jones, I think you should ask the witness or put it to him, whether there is any connection between the Waffen SS and this document.
MR. ELWYN JONES: If Your Lordship please.
THE WITNESS: Unfortunately I have an English copy before me. I am not completely conversant with the English language and could not follow the question, but I gather that these measures which took place in Warsaw as well as in the case of the first document which dealt with the Warthegau, the Waffen SS had nothing to do with this matter here.
THE PRESIDENT: Wait until you are given the proper copy.
MR. ELWYN JONES: I am not suggesting, naturally, My Lord, that all the documents I am putting in relate only to the Waffen SS branch of the SS organization. The whole prosecution's case is based on the theory that there was a unity between the various sections of the SS.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but you should give him the opportunity of making his point if he wishes so.
MR. ELWYN JONES: Yes, My Lord. BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. Have you had an opportunity of looking at those posters now, witness ?
A. I have seen that the signatures how them to be only SS and Police Leaders, which had nothing to do with the Waffen SS, as I have already stated earlier today; and the same applies to the incidents in the Warthegau where, in November of 1939, units of the Waffen SS were not stationed. As to these documents, the Documents 3 and 4 apply to the Waffen SS only where they mer the "Prinz Eugen" Division. I cannot check the data there. I have never been to the Balkans.
THE PRESIDENT: Was the "Teufel" Division also part of the Waffen SS ?
THE WITNESS: No. There never was a "Teufel" Division.
BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. You say there never was a "Teufel" Division in Jugoslavia ?
A. Not in the Waffen SS, no.
MR. ELWYN JONES: I shall call some subsequent testimony with regard to that, My Lord, if the Tribunal would allow me, at a later stage, to cross examine on the whole question of the unity of the SS. It would involve putting in old documents and I understand that there was a certain reluctance on the part of the Tribunal to permit me to do that; but I should be quite content to drawthe Tribunal's attention.-
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Elwyn Jones, the Tribunal doesn't desire you to cross examine but only not to read out and put to the witness documents which have already been put in; you can put the facts which are in the document to the witnessfor the purpose of cross examination.
MR. ELWYN JONES: If Your Lordship pleases. Then at a later stage in my cross examination I will return to that subject if the Tribunal permits me to do so. I should like to put these documents in first if I may.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Elwyn Jones, I think the only way the Tribunal meant was that it didn't want you to put long passages or short passages from documents which the witness has never seen and which are already in evidence that you may cross examine the witness upon any document apart from that.
MR. ELWYN JONES: If Your Lordship pleases. Then I shall return to cross examination on this general issue after I have put these documents in if I may My lord. that the SS shootings in Warsaw were a continuation of the practice of the civil power of the Government General from the period March 1941. I needn't trouble the witness with these documents. Polish report on German Crimes in Poland. I only desire to draw the Tribunal attention to an entry on page 184 of that report relating to the shooting of hostages, which says that the approximate number of Poles killed in Warsaw from the beginning of the public executions until the rising, from October the 5th 1943 until August the 1st 1944, was about 8,000 most of whom had been caught in manhunts in the Warsaw streets.
DR. BELCKMANN: Your Lordship, may I be permitted to make a reference to the method of procedure ? Mr. Jones said that this document which he was submitting to the High Tribunal he could not submit to the witness. However, I am of the opinion that a submission of documents is possible only at this stage in connection with the cross examination, and that means for the locking into the question of whether the witness is actually crecible Otherwise, the prosecution could bring any incriminating material without any connection into this thing, and I should like to ask other wise to give the witness an opportunity to define his attitude and comment.
MR ELWYN JONES: I have no objection at all, of course, to the witness seeing all the documents, I was only, in the interest of time, referring to one sentence in this document which the witness heard interpreted, and I should have thought that was sufficient; but by all means, I should let the witness see all the documents.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Pelckmann, the Tribunal has already ruled that these documents can be put in in this way, and Mr. Elwyn Jones is referring to specific passages in the documents and you have the opportunity of re-exam nation and you have a copy of the document, and that way you can put any question you would like upon the document when you come to re-examine.
MR. ELWYN JONES: I next present some documents relating to atrocities committed by the SS in connection with the destruction of Warsaw. First is the document 4042-PS, which will be GB-560, which consists of three affidavits from another official Polish report entitled "The German Crime in Warsaw in 1944". tes that :"On the 2nd of August the SS men i ssued an order for us to move to the house across the road; our house, as well as the house next door was set on fire; on the 3rd of August we were informed that we would be shot. Several hundred persons were assembled in the house; on August 4 at 11 a.m. the Termans surrounded the house and gave the order to evacuate apartments.
There were awful cries of children and women and we heard some shots -several persons were killed and wounded at the exit; we were driven to potatoe field and still guarded we were ordered to lie down; there could be no question of escape. A few minutes later we were ordered to get up and we were driven under a bridge which was nearby. At the question of one of the women "where are we being taken to ?", we heard the answer "German women and children are perishing by your fault; therefore, all of you must perish". We were put in ranks and a group of seventy people was separated from us and ordered to go behind the bridge on the hill; the rest, including myself, were put against the war between barbed wires. From different points nearby, we heard shots; we were huddled together and I was on the outer edge of the corwd. At a distance of five meters in front of us, one of the henchmen very quietly loaded his machine-gun; another one was preparing his camera. Several Germans were guarding us; we heard several shots, noises, groans -I fell down wounded and lost consciousness. After a while I came back to my senses and I heard how they were finishing up the wounded. I did not move and I simulated death; they left one of the Germans on guard and the rest of them went away. The ehnchmen set fire to the huts and the houses in the neighborhood. I was scorched by the heat and almost suffocated by the smoke and my dress smouldered. The German was still on guard, so quietly I tried to put out the fire on me". Then she describes how she ran to a cellar and she says -
THE PRESIDENT: This is a woman is it ?
MR. ELWYN JONES: This is a woman. At the end :" The group of people shot in my presence numbered some 500 persons, of whom no more than three or four managed to escape. All the executioners were SS men". the SS atrocities in a hospital in Warsaw :
"Very badly wounded in the stomach I was hospitalized in the Field Hospital Dluga Street 7. On the 7th of September 1944 the Germans ordered the nurses and those of the inmates who were able to walk to abandon the hospital and the heavily wounded.
I was in this latter group and we stayed in the ward situated in the cellar. In the whole hospital there were a few hundred sick and heavily wounded who could not abandon the hospital. Shortly after the nurses had left the hospital, in the evening the German SS arrived; shooting started. First those were killed who, with a superhuman effort, left their beds and went to the doors and the staircases waiting for the possibility to get out and save themselves. They were immediately killed by the Germans. Two murderers burst into our ward. One had a candle in his hand -- it was already dark. The other was killing, shooting from his pistol the men lying in beds, and shouting 'bandits'. Together with a few of the inmates of our ward, I was saved because the passage to our beds was obsturcted by other beds. Our ward consisted of two different parts; I was in the second smaller part, the entrance to which was obstructed. In the first part, all were killed; the second ward was saved by a pure miracle, maybe because somebody was calling the murderers away. We heard many shots from the other wards. The execution went on throughout the hospital. One of the other many Germans was checking whether everybody was dead. Then we were simulating death; one of my comrades lying near me stained himself with blood on his chest and head and was simulating death. One of the Germans, speaking Ukrainian, went about among the killed and striking them in their faces with his gun. It was a terrible night. During a certain moment a hand grenade was thrown through the window into our ward. Finally the building was set on fire. The fire spread very quickly; those who tried to escape were killed. A woman in our ward tried to push the inflammable staff away from the exit and to protect the ward from the fire. All other wards. as well as the staircase, were on fire; the smoke the smell of burning corpses, indescribable thirst." And then the last sentence "Thus , out of several hundred heavily wounded at the Hospital is Dluga Street 7. only a few score were left alive."
And the third affidavit is by Maria Bukowaka, who states that :" On the 7th of August 1944 by order of the SS, the people of the whole district had to abandon their houses which were immediately set on fire." "There were several thousands of us who were driven and pushed about by the SS.
All who turned to lock back, as well as anyone who tried to help, were beaten. And further on in the statement :"We go further on; there is shooting once more. A car full of the SS men approaches; the oficers get out. They inspect us and take away from our ranks three young, pretty girls; two sisters N. and another girl, unknown to me. The car goes away, the girls cry out, trying to defend themselves against the SS men. An old woman falls down, she can't go on any more. An SS officer shoots her in the neck." And then at the last :"In a church at Wola the rest of our belongings is taken away from us. All the young girls, sometimes no more than 12-14 years of age, are left behind, while the older ones, with the children, are led to the western Station and then by railway to Pruszkow." BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. These were crimes of the SS, were they not, witness ?
A. That was not the Waffen SS, but that was only a group of men who belonged to Himmler who had nothing whatsoever to do with the fighting groups. We never fought at Warsaw.
Warsaw? But, to my knowledge, there was no fighting there. A riot was quelled there and witnesses have testified.... that's what happened in Warsaw, wasn't it? SS were fighting. which are depositions by Professor Tomkiewicz Wladislaw, and Dr. Stanislaw Lorentz of the National Museum in Warsaw, on the looting and terrible, piece-meal destruction of Warsaw by German formations and by SS men. I shall attempt to summarize the documents. the Defendant Frank showing the cooperation between the SS and the civil power in the courts of this murderous event.
THE PRESIDENT: What's the reference?
MR. ELWYN JONES: 2233-DD-PS, My Lord, GB-562. That is an entry from the diary of the Defendant Frank from the 16th of October, 1944.
"The Governor General receives SS Oberfuehrer Dierlewanger and SS Untersturmfuehrer Ammann in the presence of SS Sturmbannfuehrer Pfaffenroth. "SS Oberfuehrer Dierlewanger reports to the Governor-General on the employment of his combat group in Warsaw.
"The Governor-General thanks SS Oberfuehrer Dierlewanger and expresses to him his appreciation for the model employment of his combat group in the fighting in Warsaw.
"Lunch on the occasion of the presence of SS Oberfuehrer Dierlewanger." was he not?
THE PRESIDENT: Can you offer any evidence as to what units these officers were commanding?
MR. ELWYN JONES: I am Just going to put it to the witness, My Lord.
BY MR. ELWYN JONES: was he not? concentration camp that had to prove themselves. He had no connection with the SS. I did not meet him nor his troops so I could not testify as to that.
Q where the officers of his unit SS men?
Q I see. I shall produce later, documents on this issue -- at a later stage, my Lord. of the Jews by the SS. In this document there is specific evidence that the Waffen SS is included. The first is exhibit D-939, GB-563. That is an affidavit by Izrael Eisenberg, and he states:
" I lived in Lublin and from there I was sent to Maidanek in the beginning of 1942. However, as a prisoner I continued to work for the Germans who employed me as an expert for electro-mechanical jobs in the various SS houses and SS offices in Lublin. I worked as an electro-mechanic in the palace building of the SS and Police Chief Globocnik and in the headquarters of the SS in Lublin, Warschauer Street 21. The Waffen SS were also there. On the outer wall the notice 'SS-Waffen' could be seen and on the pass which I received at the entrance, the words 'SS-Waffen' were also marked. I knew all the officers, for instance, Oberscharfuehrer Riedel, Rottenfuehrer Mohrwinkel, Unterscharfuehrer Schramek. I know that the leaders of the SS Waffen, as well as the regiment of the SS Waffen whose seat was in the same building where I worked, participated directly in all the expulsions of the Jews from the district of Lublin. In these expulsions thousands of persons were killed on the spot and the rest sent away for extermination, I myself saw how, in the winter of 1941, the 'SS-Waffen' of 21 Warschauer Street participated in the deportation of some hundred Jews to Maidanek, when several persons were killed on the spot. At that time my father was also deported because of his long beard, as this action mainly concerned Jews with beards. I know that Rottenfuehrer Mohrwinkel directed this action and was promoted to the rank of Untersturmfuehrer for it. I worked for the Waffen SS until November 1942, i.e., until I was transported to Radom.
The same persons participate the whole time in all the crimes of the SS in Lublin and district. I wish to point out that these SS men kept their herses in the stables on the airdrome where there was a notice: 'Mounted Regiment SS Waffen.'
THE PRESIDENT: I think we should give the witness an opportunity to speak about this document if he prefers.
MR. ELWYN JONES: If your Lordship wishes. BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q Witness, you heard me reading the last document. From what you heard him say that the Waffen SS participated directly, and also his reference to the SS Mounted Regiment, the Waffen SS in the Lublin district, those were men in the Waffen SS, weren't they?
A The names that were read off were not officers. Of course, I do not know the names of all units. During the war the men in the Waffen SS were mostly in the front lines, and the front lines were not in Lublin but were more Eastward. The name Mounted Regiment SS Waffen was mentioned, but this might have been the replacement of a Mounted Regiment unit, however, I cannot give you any particulars. and not members of the Waffen SS because the members of the Waffen SS were at the front lines? of those in the rear. There were very few in the rear lines because all other units were at the front, and those units at the front were the Waffen SS. of the SS. What other units were there if this wasn't a Waffen SS unit? behind the lines.
Q You mean they were masquerading under the name of the Waffen SS? this matter. D-953, which will be GB-566. The last is GB-565. I beg your pardon, your Lordship, but this will be GB-565. This is an affidavit by David Wajnapel.
"A few weeks after the entry of the German troops into Radom, police and SS authorities arrived. At the very monent of their arrival, the conditions became immediately worse. The house in the Zeromskist where their headquarters was became a menace to the entire population. People who were walking in this street were dragged into the gateway, and ill-treated by merciless beatings and by the staging of sadistic games. All members of the SS officers, as well as other ranks, took part in this. Being a physician, I often had the opportunity to give medical help to seriously injured victims of the SS.
" After a short time the SS uniform became a menace to the population. I myself was beaten up until I bled, by four other ranks in the street in spite of my doctor's armlet. Later on two ghettoes were established in Radom. In August 1942 the so-called 'deportation' took place. The ghettos were surrounded by many SS units who occupied all the street exists. People were driven out to the streets and those who ran were fired at. Sick people at home or in hospitals were shot on the spot, among others also the sick people who were in hospital where I was working as a doctor. The total number of people killed amounted to about 4,000. About 3,000 people were spared and the rest -- about 20,000 people -- were sent to Treblinka.
The whole action was directed and executed by the SS. I myself saw that the SS staff were on the spot forming a group and issuing orders. In the streets and in the houses SS men ill-treated and killed people without waiting for orders. After the 'deportation', the remaining group of people were massed in a few narrow lanes and we came under the exclusive rule of the SS and became the private property of the SS who used to hire us out for payment to various firms. I know that these payments were credited to a special SS account at the Radom Bank Emisyjny. We were visited by SS men only. Executions carried out by the SS in the ghetto itself were frequent occurrence. On 14 January 1947 another 'deportation' at Treblinka took place. On 21 March 1943 in the whole district there took place the so-called action against the intelligentsia which action, as I know, was decided upon in an SS and Police Fuehrer's meeting in Radom. In Radom alone about 200 people were shot at that time; among others, my parents, my brother and his nine-months old child met their deaths. On 9 November of the same year all Jewish children up to 12 years of age as well as the old and sick were gathered from Radom and from camps situated near Radom and shot in the biala Street in Radom. Both SS officers and other ranks participated in this. From March 1943 I stayed 18 months in Blizyn camp. The camp was entirely under the SS and the Radom Police Chief's control. Its commandant was Untersturmfuehrer Paul Nell. The guards were composed of SS privates and NCO's. The foreman were Waffen SS men who had been wounded at the front. Both behaved in an inhuman manner by beating and ill-treating us. Shootings of people were frequent occurrences. Originally sentences were pass by the SS and Police Fuehrer, later on by the camp commandant. The SS other ranks knew very well about the bloody deeds which were committed by the SS in Poland, in particular they told me personally about mass murders of Jews on Maidenek (in November, 1943). This fact was no secret. It was common knowledge among the civil population as well as among the lowest ranking SS men. When the camp was taken over by the Maidenek concentration camp, new guards were sent to our camp, but there was no difference between them and the previous ones. In July 1944 the whole camp, including myself, was sent to Auschwitz camp, which could be entered only by SS men.
The conditions of this camp are well known. I escaped during the evacuation of this camp into Germany. On the way, the SS escort machine-gunned exhausted prisoners and later on the rest of the inarching column. Several hundred people were killed at that time. is underlined. Do you deny the SS participated in the murders of Jewish people in view of affidavits like that?
A. It is expressly noted here in this document that the Police Fuehrer and the SS are mentioned in those places where the SD worked with the SS, but they had nothing in common with the SS and all examples mentioned by you, Mr. Prosecutor, I must say that only the affidavit by Maria Bukewska and the one about the Mounted Regiment are members of the SS. Beyond that, I cannot tell you of my own experiences.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you read the last paragraph to him?
MR. ELWYN JONES: The last paragraph may help you on this.
"I emphasize that during the few years of war, being a Jew and a doctor, I met a great number of SS men from the Waffen SS as well as other formations and of various ranks, but I must state that I noticed no defference between them as far as their inhuman attitude towards the civilian population was concerned." BY MR. ELWYN JONES:
Q. The Waffen SS was always the cause for any of these acts against the population. That was its function, that its whole .....
A. No, it was not the function of the Waffen SS. The Waffen SS was incorporated into the Army.
Q. Did you ever, on this particular point, see Hitler's directive about the future of the SS?
A. I did not understand your question.
Q. Did you ever see Hitler's directive?
A. Directives by Hitler regarding the future of the SS? No, I don't know that.
Q. In that directive which is, I think, familiar to the Tribunal, it is the document D-665, GB-280, Hitler points out that the functions of the Waffen SS are to be the spearhead of Nazism and to be used as an agent for effective acts against resistance at home and against opposition in foreign countries. Did you see those instructions of Hitler's on the role of the Waffen SS?
A. Is that perhaps a directive sent by Hitler to the military offices dealing with the future of the Waffen SS after the war?
Q. That was a directive of 1941 which was distributed to regimental units and was made available to the Waffen SS. I have not got the document available at the moment. Do you say you never heard of that?
A. No, I know only a directive which was an oral one and which contained the intentions of the organization after the war; a directive which went only to the various Army units.
THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps this would be a convenient time to break off.
(A short recess was taken.)
MR. ELWYN JONES: If your Lordship please, I want to make 6 Aug M LJG 7-1 a slight correction of the exact numbers of these documents.
The document GB-953 was put in twice as GB-564 and 565. GB-953 will be 564 and the next document D-955 will be GB-565.
THE PRESIDENT: The last document you mentioned will be what -- 564, 565? You mentioned some other document after that.
MR. ELWYN JONES: The next document D-955, which I am just putting in, will be GB-565. This is a final affidavit from a Jewish merchant, Mojzesz Goldberg, and It reads:
"On the 23 June 1941 I was called up into the Soviet army in Lemberg. In the middle of July I was taken prisoner by the Germans. At a locality 5 kilometres from Podwoloczysk the SS companies sought the Jews out of the whole mass of prisoners and shot them on the spot. I remained alive as they did not recognize me as a Jew. I stress the fact that it was the Waffen SS. who did this.
"After my captivity was ended, I lived In Radom and worked from June 1942 to July 1944 for the Waffen SS at 3 places; the SS Veterinary Reinforcement Detachment, Koscinskistreet, the Garrison administration of the Waffen SS, Planty 11 and the Building directorate of the Waffen SS, Slowacki Street 27. As I worked so long for the SS, I know the names and faces of all the offices and NCOs of the above named detachments of the Waffen SS very well. At the head of the SS Veterinary Reinforcement Detachment were Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Held and Hauptsturmfuehrer Schreiner; at the head of the garrison administration there was Obersturmfuehrer Grabau ( at present in Dachau camp) and at the head of the Building directorate Oberscharfuehrer Seiler. All the persons mentioned took a direct part, together with their companies in carrying out the expulsions in Radom on the 5, 16, and 17 August 1942, during which xome thousands of people were shot on the spot. I know that the SS Veterinary Reinforcement companies went to the provincial town to carry but the 'expulsions' of Jews. I heard individual soldiers boasting about the number of Jews they had killed.
I know from 6 Aug M LJG 7-2 their own stories that those some companies participated in the actions against Polish partisans and also set the surrounding Polish villages on fire."
BY MR. ELWYN JONES: part in the atrocities that were committed in Poland? How could units of veterinary companies Participate in such measures? I can't say any more than that because I don't know the particular units. the Waffen SS, who knew them personally, who spoke to them. He is a man of thirty-six year who suffered at their hands and he has mentioned in detail whatever the Waffen SS units are concerned with. Do you still way that the Waffen SS had no part in these matters? belonged to the Waffen SS and I can't tell you any more than that. BY THE PRESIDENT: mentioned in this letter?
Q Have you ever been in Radom?
Q. Do you know whether there were Waffen SS at any of these places named in this affidavit?
A I am afraid I didn't understand, your Lordship. of units at any of the places named in that affidavit?
A These units weren't stationed there, belonging to the division in question. which were quartered at particular places in Radon and what I was asking was, whether you know what units were stationed at 6 Aug M LJG 7-3 these places?