MARSHAL (Colonel Charles W. Mays): May it please the Court, I desire to announce that the Defendant Kaltenbrunner will be absent from this morning's session on account of illness.
M. EDGAR FAURE (Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the French Republic): One of the counsel would like to address the Tribunal.
DR. HANS LATERNSER (Counsel for the General Staff and High Command of the German Armed Forces): In the name of the organization I represent, I make application that the testimony of the witness, Van der Essen, who was. heard yesterday should be stricken from the Record for this reason: That the witness made declarations, firstly, concerning the alleged wanton destruction of the library in Louvain; secondly, concerning the treatment of the local population during the Rundstedt offensive, which led him to the conclusion that orders to this effect must have been received from higher quarters.
I wish that this testimony should be stricken from the Record for these reasons: Firstly, as regards yesterday's testimony there was no question of testimony by a witness. A witness should base his testimony on his own knowledge, which can be based only on his own observations. These prerequisites are not present in the points to which objection is made. For the most part the witness repeated statements made by other people, some of them actually made by people whom he himself did not know. The knowledge of this witness can consequently be ascribed only to a study of the documents.
Secondly, any third party is in a position to give similar testimony as soon as the documents to which this witness had access are put at his disposal, and if he is also in a position to talk to the people to whom the witness talked and who gave him his information. It is consequently proved that this witness, Van der Essen, was not a genuine witness at all, because such a witness cannot be replaced by a third person who may happen to come along.
Thirdly, although the Tribunal, in accordance with Article 19 of the Charter, is not bound by the ordinary rules of evidence, this
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evidence must be rejected because it has no probative value which can be determined by the Court. This emerges of necessity from the fact that the sources of the witness' testimony cannot be taken into consideration.
I regard it as my duty to point out that the introduction of such indirect proof cannot lead to the discovery of the truth regarding the points in dispute.,
THE PRESIDENT (Lord Justice Sir Geoffrey Lawrence): The Tribunal would like to hear, M. Faure, what you have to say in answer to the motion which has just been made.
M.FAURE: Gentlemen, Your Honors, I should like, first of all, -· to observe that, as already indicated by the counsel who has just spoken, the Charter of this Tribunal provides that it shall not be bound by the formal rules concerning the burden of proof. But, apart from this, I consider that counsel's objection cannot be upheld; this objection being based on three considerations which he has enumerated but which, as I understand, boil down to one single objection, namely, that this witness was an indirect witness. I would like to emphasize the fact that I called Mr. Van der Essen as a witness precisely because of his capacity as a member of the official and governmental Belgian commission of inquiry into the study and research of war crimes.
It is in conformity with all legal procedure with which I personally am acquainted that a person who has made investigations in connection with criminal matters may be called before a court of justice to state the conditions under which the inquiry was made and the results arrived at. It is therefore not necessary that the witness who has just testified regarding an investigation should have been himself an eye-witness of the criminal activities which this investigation is intended to bring to light.
Mr. Van der Essen, therefore, in my opinion, testified to facts of which he has personal knowledge, to wit, as regards the matter of Stavelot, he stated that he himself had heard witnesses and that he verified the authenticity of this testimony. As concerns the matter of the Library of Louvain, he testified as to the existing minutes of the commission of which he is a regular member.
I add that this procedure appears to me to have the advantage of avoiding the necessity of calling a large number of individual witnesses to the witness stand. However, in order to have every possible guarantee regarding the facts laid before the Tribunal in evidence, I have decided to bring here the briefs, the texts of the testimonies to which the witness referred. I shall then be able to communicate to the Defense the affidavits of the witnesses who were mentioned yesterday, and I think that this will give the Defense ample guarantee.
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I therefore propose to the Tribunal to reject the objection as far as the admissibility of the testimony is concerned; it being understood that the Defense will discuss the value and probative force of this testimony as it sees fit.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, you said something about the affidavits of witnesses which you could furnish to the Defendant's Counsel. I understand that you intended also to put in the governmental report or the committee's report with reference to which the witness had testified, did you not?
M. FAURE: Yes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: But you intended also, as a matter of courtesy, to furnish the affidavits which were before that committee to the Defendants' Counsel; is that what you meant?
M.FAURE: Yes, Mr. President; if this meets with the approval of the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: The governmental report, I suppose, does not actually annex the affidavits, does it?
M.FAURE: Yes, Mr. President, precisely.
THE PRESIDENT: It does? The affidavits are part of the report, are they?
M.FAURE: The report which was submitted does not contain the elements on which the witness depended yesterday with regard to certain points, particularly because the investigation on Stavelot was very long and very conscientious and has not been summed up in time. I said, therefore, that I proposed to submit these complementary elements as evidence and in this way to communicate them to the Defense.
THE PRESIDENT: That is what I thought; that is to say, the report did not contain all the details which were in the affidavits or evidence?
M. FAURE: No, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Therefore, you thought it right, as a matter of courtesy, to allow the Defendants' Counsel to see those details upon which the report proceeded. The Tribunal understands that.
The Tribunal will consider the motion which has been made. We will consider the motion which has been made at a later stage. You can now proceed with your argument.
M. FAURE: Your Honors, I should like, first of all, to point out to the Tribunal that since a certain amount of time has been given to witnesses and discussions, and as I do not wish to exceed the time limit which was announced, I am compelled to shorten to a considerable extent the presentation of the brief which I am now
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presenting on the subject of propaganda. I shall therefore ask the Tribunal kindly to excuse me if I occasionally hesitate during this presentation, inasmuch as I shall not follow my brief exactly.
I indicated yesterday the method employed by the Germans with regard to the freedom of public meetings and of association, which they suppressed. When they did uphold these rights they exploited them to their own advantage. I should like now to say something about books and publishing:
The German authorities, first of all, issued an ordinance on 30 August 1940, published in the Journal Officiel of 16 September, forbidding certain school books in France., We have already seen that they had done the same thing in Belgium.
Another step taken by the Germans was to prohibit a certain number of books of which they disapproved. I present in this connection Document Number RF-1103, which is the "Otto" list, published in September 1940; it is a list of 1,074 volumes forbidden by the Germans. I shall not, of course, read it to the Tribunal. It appears in the document book under Document Number RF-1103, as I have just said.
A second "Otto" list, longer than the first, was drawn up later and published on 8 July 1942, and I present it as Document Number RF-1104. The conclusion to this second document, which is the last page in my document book, gives a clear indication of the principles on which the German authorities worked. I read a few lines:
"As a matter of principle, all translations of English books, except the English classics, are withdrawn from sale."-And further-"All books by Jewish authors, as well as books in which Jews have collaborated, are to be withdrawn from sale with the exception of works of a scientific nature where special measures are anticipated. From now on biographies of Jews, even if written by, French Aryans, as, for instance, the biographies of the Jewish musicians Offenbach, Meyerbeer, Darius Milhaud, et cetera, are to be withdrawn from sale."
This method of procedure may have appeared fairly harmless at first, since only about 1,200 volumes were involved, but one can see the significance of the principle itself. By this procedure the German authorities achieved the practical result they sought, which was essentially, apart from other prohibitions, the complete disappearance of serious and objective works permitting a study of German doctrines, the policy of Germany, and the philosophy of Nazism.,
Apart from prohibiting works already existing, the Germans naturally established a censorship. At first they proceeded in a
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veiled manner by making a kind of agreement with publishers in which the publishers themselves were made responsible for indicating which of the books appeared to them to be subject to censorship. I submit this censorship agreement as Document Number RF-1105; and I wish, without reading it, to make but one observation in this regard which is highly characteristic of the invariable German method.
In the printed brochure of this agreement, of which the original is submitted, there appears, in addition to the agreement itself, a notice drafted in terms which do not reflect French feeling. This notice was not drafted by the publishers upon whom the agreement itself was imposed but was drafted by the Germans and published in the same brochure, which bears the words, "National Syndicate of Publishers," so that one might think that the French publishers accepted the phrases occurring in this preamble. For that matter, the attentive reader has only to see that this brochure does not bear the printer's name to realize that this is a German publication and not one put out by French publishers, for only the Germans were exempted from the French rule requiring mention of the printer's name.
The Germans did not limit themselves to this procedure which was apparently rather liberal; and later an ordinance of 27 April 1942 entitled, "Concerning the Rational Use of Printing Paper," was published in the Journal Officiel of 13 May. This ordinance stated, on pretext of the rational utilization of paper, that all publications without exception should bear the German authorization number.
I point out in addition that in their control of paper the Germans had a very effective weapon with which to put a stop to French publishing. I submit as Document Number RF-1106 the affidavit of M. Marcel Rives, Director of Internal Commerce at the Ministry of Industrial Productions In order to shorten the proceedings I shall not read this document. I may say in short that this document makes it clear that the distribution of available paper stocks was made entirely under the authority of the Germans and that the Germans reduced the amount of paper placed at the disposal of publishers in a proportion exceeding that of the general reduction in paper quotas as compared with the prewar situation.
I must add that the Germans also took for their own propaganda publication a certain amount of the reduced paper quota allotted to the French publishers. Thus, they not only used for their propaganda the paper which they themselves had in Germany, but they also took some of the small amount of paper which they allotted to the French publishers. I should like simply to read in this connection a few lines of the document which constitutes Appendix 2 of Document Number RF-1106, which I have just submitted. I
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merely read a few lines of this Appendix 2, which is a letter from the German Military Command to the Ministry of National Economy dated 28 June 1943:
"More especially during the month of March, which you particularly mention, it has been impossible to allot the publishers any quantity from current production, as this was needed for urgent propaganda purposes."
The other aspect of this German activity in the publishing sphere was, in fact, the carrying on of an intensive propaganda by means of all kinds of pamphlets and publications. This propaganda literature is extremely tedious. I should like to mention only one detail, which shows the method of camouflage always employed by the Nazis. I have here a few German propaganda pamphlets which I shall submit, naturally without reading them, as Document Number RF-1106 (his). The first ones are part of a series entitled England Unmasked. The first numbers of this series, taken at random, have on the flyleaf, "Office of German Information, England Unmasked Number. .." et cetera. No attempt at concealment is made, and the reader knows what he has before him. But by some curious accident, Number 11 in the same series no longer bears the words, "German Office of Information," and we see instead, "International Publishing House, Brussels." Here again, however, we are warned of its origin, for the author's name is Reinhard Wolf, and this is a German name.
But here, by way of a final example, is a pamphlet entitled The Pact against Europe, which is also published by the International
Publishing House, Brussels, (Document Number RF-1106(ter)). We know after seeing the other specimens that this publishing house is only a firm attached to the German office; but people who are not so well informed may believe the pamphlet to be a French or Belgian compilation, for in this case the name of the author is Jean Dubreuil.
I shall not dwell further on publishing, and I should like now to say a few words about the press. It is a matter of common knowledge that all the newspapers of the occupied countries were controlled by the Germans, and that most of these newspapers had been founded at their instigation by persons who were in their pay. As these facts are well known, I shall refrain from submitting documents on this point, and shall limit myself to the following remarks:
Firstly, restrictive measures-censorship. Although all these newspapers were practically "their" papers, the Nazis nevertheless submitted them to a very strict censorship. I shall submit, as evidence of this, Document Number RF-1108, which is a report of a press conference held on 8 January 1943 in the course of which the
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new censorship orders and regime are defined. I point out to the Tribunal that this document and others of the same nature were found in the archives of the French Office Information, which was under German control. They have been deposited either in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris or in the Document Library of the War Museum. These documents have been selected by us from the reports, either in the form of original documents, photostats, or from the French collection.
I should like simply to point out, by means of this Document RF-1108, that the Germans were concerned with the institution of a more liberal regime of censorship. On reading the document, however, it becomes evident that almost all news items and articles are subject to censorship, with the exception of serial stories, reviews of films and plays, items of scientific or university news, radio programs, and a certain number of completely trivial subjects.
The second aspect of the German interference, the positive aspect, appears in the directives given to the press; and these directives revere given by means of press conferences such as that which I have just described.
I shall submit to the Tribunal, without reading them, a certain number of documents numbered RF-1109 to RF-1120. I produce these documents in evidence not for the sake of their contents, which are simply a repetition of German propaganda, but merely as proof of their existence, that is, continued pressure exerted on the press.
I should like to say, however, how this was done. The press conferences were held either in the Propagandastaffel, Avenue des Champs-Elysees, or at the German Embassy. The representatives of the press were summoned by the competent Nazi officials who issued directives. After the conference, the substance of these directives was embodied in a dispatch from the French Office of Information. The Tribunal knows that agencies sent dispatches to the papers for their information. When a dispatch had been drawn up by the of lice it was submitted for checking to the German bureau, which affixed a seal to it. After that it could be distributed to the papers.
I stated that I would not read anything on these press conferences or on the agency's minutes and notes which form Documents RF-1109 to RF-1120. I should like to read only a very brief document, which I submit as Document Number RF-1121, the minutes of a press conference held on 16 April 1943 in the Propagandaabteilung. I quote:
"At the end of the conference the German commentator declared that on Tuesday, 20 April-the Fuehrer's birthday- the newspapers would consist of four pages instead of two,
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and on Wednesday, 21 April, they would consist of two pages instead of four. He asked the reporters present to stress the European orientation of the Fuehrer's political personality and to treat Franco-German relations very generously. A great deal of tact and reserve are necessary, however, in order not to give the newspapers the appearance of being no longer French, and in this way shocking public opinion."
I am not forgetting the fact that we are participating in a criminal trial and that we must select from the extremely varied facts which we have to present those elements characteristic of the intention and realization of an act condemned by criminal law. In consideration of this, I quote Document Number RF-1124, which I am also presenting and which is an attempt to promote, by means of press and propaganda, the enlistment of Frenchmen in the enemy army. Article 75 of the French Criminal Code provides for this crime and I recall that in juridical theory proceedings can be taken even against enemy nationals for crimes of this kind. I read this document, which is extremely short:
"At the end of the military conference, Dr. Eich announced that the O.F.I. would broadcast this afternoon an article devoted to the necessity of the inclusion of French sailors in the German Navy. He asked the newspapers to add commentaries to this text in which, for instance, the following theme might be treated: 'To be a sailor is to have a profession.'
"The article broadcast by the O.F.I. must appear tomorrow-a four-page day-on the first page, or the beginning, at least, must appear on the first page."
Finally, I must point out that, apart from the press conferences proper, there were so-called cultural conferences at which the German authorities gave their orders on all subjects. I should like to read a few very brief extracts from one of these cultural conferences in order to indicate the general oppression resulting from the interference of the Germans in every field without exception. I present these Documents RF-1125 and RF-1126; and I read two sentences on Page 1 of Document Number RF-1125, which is a report of the minutes of the conference held on 22 April:
"Reproductions of paintings by Picasso have recently been made in spite of the directives to the contrary previously given.
"Theater: Certain press publications have seen fit to praise the operetta Don Philippe to an extent belied by the reception given to this work by the general public. This goes beyond the bounds of the permissible."
I shall read a little further, on the top of Page 2:
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"The press has lent an obviously exaggerated backing to jazz concerts, particularly those of Fred Jumbo.. This shows a lack of tact which is all the more regrettable in that a very minor place has been accorded in general to concerts of real value."
Finally, at the end of this document, there is a general note which is interesting:
"The nationality of persons of standing in the world of science, art, et cetera, whose names occur in articles appearing in the press, is to be given as that of the Greater German Reich in the case of those born in any of the countries which have been restored to the Greater German Reich or incorporated into it."
We thus see that even in what might seem to us the most fanciful connections we can find evidence of the will to enforce Germanization and of the criminal will to strip men of the nationality which they have the right to retain.
I shall now say a few words about the cinema. The Germans, to do them justice, have never failed to understand the exceptional importance of the cinema as a means of propaganda. In France they devoted to this subject seven ordinances or decrees.
You must know that, in the first place, the Germans prohibited the showing of films of which they disapproved...
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, don't you think that evidence that the Germans used the cinema as a method of propaganda is really somewhat cumulative? You have shown already that they forbade a great number of books which they considered hostile to their ideology, and that they controlled the press, and is it not almost cumulative and a matter of detail that they also controlled the cinema?
Unless there is some evidence on behalf of the defendants contradicting the evidence which you have given, I think the Tribunal will be satisfied that the Germans did adopt all these methods of propaganda.
M. FAURE: When a brief is presented it sometimes does produce the impression that the arguments contained in it are cumulative, although that may not have been so apparent when the preparation was going on.
I shall not speak, then, on the subject of the cinema. I wish simply to point this out to the Tribunal We thought that with regard to these questions of propaganda with which we are dealing in the abstract it would perhaps be Howell to provide concrete illustrations of a few of the themes of German propaganda, and to this end we propose presently, with the permission of the Tribunal, to project very briefly a few of the themes of German propaganda.
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I wish to point out that these themes are taken from archives which we found. On the other hand, we intend to present, for one minute each, two pictures taken from a German propaganda film produced by a Frenchman at the instigation and with the financial support of the German office.
As we are now going to present these pictures, with the permission of the Tribunal I consider it indispensable to present just one document, Document RF-1141, since it is the interrogation of the producer of the film and establishes the fact that this film was made by order of the Germans and paid for by them. I therefore present in evidence this Document Number RF-1141, which is necessary for the presentation which we are about to make. Since it seems to me that sufficient evidence has already been advanced concerning the various methods of propaganda, I shall apply the same line of reasoning to the part anticipated for broadcasting.
Here I merely wish to present a document which goes beyond the field of pure propaganda. This is Document Number RF-1146. I must point out, first of all, that as regards broadcasting, the Germans obviously encountered an obstacle which was not present to the same degree in other fields. This obstacle lay in the transmissions broadcast by the free radios which, as the Belgian witness said yesterday, were followed with the greatest enthusiasm by the inhabitants of the occupied countries. The German Command then had the idea of penalizing the persons who listened to these broadcasts. In the document which I am going to quote, the Military Command went to the length of asking the French authorities most urgently to institute the most stringent penalties, even going so far as to prescribe the death penalty for persons repeating news heard on the foreign radio service.
I think it will be useful, if I deposit in evidence this document emanating from the Military Command and signed by Stulpnagel, which demonstrates the criminal intentions of the German staff I should like to read this document, RF-1146. I read from the beginning of the third paragraph:
"The French law of 28 October 1941 does not provide for special sanctions for the broadcasting of news from foreign stations calculated to endanger order or public security, although this offense constitutes a particularly grave danger. It is indispensable that the dissemination of such news should be punished by hard labor and in particularly serious cases by the death penalty. It is immaterial whether the disseminator of the news was listening in himself or obtained knowledge by other means.
"The possibility of legally prosecuting the mentioned offense by the state tribunal does not suffice to hinder the population
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from listening to the British radio and spreading the news. Since the law regarding the state tribunal does not mention listening to foreign stations there is no direct relation between listening in and dissemination on the one hand and punishment by hard labor or death sentence on the other. The population has, therefore, no idea that such acts are already punishable by hard labor or the death penalty.
"For this reason I request a draft to be submitted, amending the law of 28 October 1941 with deadline 3 January 1943.
"For your instruction I am adding, as an. appendix, a draft of the German decree relating to extraordinary measures about broadcasting, by which you may learn the details of the German regulation."
I shall now submit a document bearing the Document Number RF-1147. I think this document may interest the Tribunal. It presents quite a different character from that of the documents which I have produced up to now. This document consists, firstly, of a letter from Berlin dated 27 October 1941, the subject of which is an agreement relating to collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I read this letter, which is very short, and which authenticates our document:
"By authorization of the ministry, we enclose for your information, as a secret matter of the Reich, a copy of the agreement relating to collaboration, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a copy of the agreement of execution. The agreement itself is not confidential, but details of the contents must not be given."
The document enclosed with this is the full text, which I shall not read, of the agreement made between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Reich for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda relating to collaboration between their respective branches. I think that this document is of some interest, and that is why I submit it. I shall simply point out to the Tribunal that it shows at once the extent of the hold which the Germans wished to make sure of possessing over the minds of the populations of occupied and even foreign countries and the way in which they organized this.
Chapter I of this document is entitled, "Collaboration by Branches." Letter "a" concerns the cinema, the theater, music, and exhibitions. Letter "b" concerns publications.
I think it might be interesting to read the first few lines of letter "b," for after expounding the propaganda from the point of view of the receivers, it is worth while looking at the question from the point of view of the persons who put out this propaganda. And,
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on the other hand, I think we must not lose the opportunity of observing the extraordinary variety and skill of the German methods. This quotation is very brief:
"The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Propaganda are operating jointly a holding company, the Mundus A.G., of which they have equal shares and in which the publishing houses controlled by both ministries at home and abroad are combined, as far as they are concerned with the production of publications for abroad or their export to, and distribution in, foreign countries. All firms or partnerships which will be founded or acquired in future for this purpose by both ministries will be incorporated in this company."
On Page 3, Paragraph 4, I should like also to read a sentence: "Both ministries participate in the drawing up of propaganda matter issued by them or upon their initiative, at home, but intended for distribution abroad."
Finally, on Page 4, I shall read a sentence in the second last paragraph, and I quote:
"In order to consolidate the broadcasting stations and the partnerships openly controlled by Germans, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Propaganda are jointly operating a holding company, Interradio A.G., Berlin, each owning 50 percent."
The Tribunal has noticed the phrase "openly owned by the Germans."
This will be completed by a final quotation of a sentence on Page 5 at the beginning of Paragraph 2:
"The camouflaged (not apparent) influence exercised upon the foreign broadcasting stations must not be mentioned in connection with the joint holding company."
I should like, in concluding this brief on propaganda, to present Document Number RF-1148, which is a message circulated to all the propaganda offices. I think a very brief quotation from this document will be interesting for the definition of the very general use of propaganda as the tool of one of the most premeditated and most serious enterprises of Nazism, namely, the extermination of nationality and existence of a country. In this case Czech culture and tradition are involved.
I quote from Paragraph 4:
"The close relationship of the Czechs and European culture must always be pointed out in a positive manner. The fact of the far-reaching influence of German culture on Czech culture and even the latter's dependence on the former has to be stressed at every opportunity. The German cultural achievements in
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Bohemia and Moravia and their influence upon the cultural
work of the Czechs are to be mentioned particularly.
"Attention has always to be paid to the fact that although the Czechs speak a Slav language, they are subject to German culture by virtue of their living together for centuries with superior German peoples in German-directed states, and have scarcely anything in common with other Slav peoples "From the historical point of view, attention has always to be focused on the periods or personalities by which the Czechs sought and found contact with German culture: St. Wenceslas, the time of Charles IV, of Ferdinand I, Rudolf II, Bohemian baroque, et cetera."
Finally, I submit, without reading it, Document Number RF-1149.
I was anxious to include this document in our document book for. it constitutes a report of a year's propaganda activities in one of the occupied countries-Norway, to be exact. I have spoken at some length of this country, and that is why I do not wish now to quote the text of this document; but I do wish to mention that German propaganda formed the subject of extremely regular reports and that these reports touched on every subject: press, cinema, radio, culture, theater, schools, education.
This propaganda, then, as I have already stated, is something which covers a much wider range than that previously ascribed to it. No aspect of our life is unknown to it; it respects none of the things that are precious to us; it can become a real penitentiary for the spirit, when even the idea of escape is imprisoned.
If it please the Tribunal, may I suggest that the session be suspended now, so that the films may be shown immediately after this presentation.
My only purpose in showing these films is to illustrate one of the most common and disagreeable features of life in the occupied countries, the fact that wherever we went we were always compelled to see before us the stupid and ugly German propaganda pictures.
THE PRESIDENT: The Court will adjourn for 15 minutes.
[A recess was taken.]
THE PRESIDENT: With reference to the motion which was made before the adjournment by counsel for the General Staff, the opinion of the Tribunal is this:
In the first place the Tribunal is not confined to direct evidence from eyewitnesses., because Article 19 provides that the Tribunal shall admit any evidence which it deems to have probative value.
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Secondly, there is nothing in Article 21 of the Charter which makes it improper to call the member of a governmental committee as a witness to give evidence with reference to the governmental committee's report. But the Tribunal considers that if such a witness is called the governmental committee's report must be put in evidence; as a matter of fact, the Counsel for the Prosecution have offered to put the committee's report in evidence in this case and not only to do that, but also to make available to Counsel for the Defense the affidavits of witnesses upon which that report proceeded.
Thirdly, there were other matters upon which the witness, Mr. Van der Essen, gave evidence which was altogether outside the report or so it appeared to the Tribunal.
As to the weight which is to be attached to the witness' evidence, that, of course, is a matter which will have to be considered by the Tribunal. It is open to the Defense to give evidence in answer to the evidence of Mr. Van der Essen and also to comment upon or criticize that evidence, and so far as his evidence consisted of his own conclusions drawn from facts which he had seen or evidence which he had heard, the correctness of those conclusions will be considered by the Tribunal, conclusions being matters for the final decision of the Tribunal.
For these reasons the motion of counsel is denied.
It is suggested to me that I did not in that statement say that the report was to be filed in evidence. I intended to say that. I thought that I had said so. The report must be filed in evidence and the affidavits, as they are to be made available to the defendants' counsel will, of course, also be made available to the Tribunal.
M.FAURE: If it please the Tribunal, M. Fuster is going to project the films of which I spoke just now.
M. SERGE FUSTER (Assistant Prosecutor for the French Republic): Mr. President, I am to show you a few examples of direct propaganda in the occupied countries.
During the whole period of the occupation the inhabitants of the occupied countries had the walls of their houses covered with enormous posters, varying in color and text. There was very little paper in any of these countries, but there was always enough for propaganda; and this propaganda was carried on without regard for probability or moral considerations. If the Nazis thought any sort of campaign would prove effective, no matter in how small a degree, they immediately launched this campaign.
In France, for instance, the most illustrious names in history appeared on posters and were. made to proclaim slogans against the enemies of Germany. Isolated sentences were taken from the
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works of Clemenceau, Montesquieu, and many others who in this way were made to utter sentiments in favor of Nazism.
But German propaganda went beyond the adulteration of the works of the great historical geniuses of our nation. They also tried to pervert and cripple most sacred sentiments. We saw in France posters advertising work in Germany, which showed a mother saying to her children, "How happy we are now that father has gone to work in Germany." In this way, the family sentiment was made to further- the ends of Nazism.
German propaganda tried also to attack the sentiment of national patriotism. We saw posters asking young men to serve in the German forces; and these existed in every country. M. Faure stated yesterday that these unfortunate wretches who had served in the various legions must, in spite of their guilt, be considered to a great extent as victims of the Nazi system. In this way, German propaganda, in attacking simultaneously the genius of a nation and the most intimate sentiments of its people, committed a crime against the spirit; and that is something which, according to the quotation used by M. Dubost in his peroration, cannot be pardoned.
Publicity may be permitted, by all means, but publicity must remain within limits. It must have some respect for persons, laws, and morality. Guarantees for the protection of the individual exist in every country; there are laws against libel, against defamation; but in international matters, German propaganda had an unlimited field, without restrictions or penalties, at least until the day when this Tribunal was established to judge it.
That is why it seemed to us a useful and necessary duty to submit to this Tribunal one or two practical illustrations. We did not choose the best-known examples, but rather those which were most genuinely characteristic of the excesses and extremes of this propaganda.
First of all, we are going to show a very short extract from a very specialized film directed against Freemasonry, which was imposed by the Germans in the manner explained in the brief. The film in itself is of no interest, but it contains pictures illustrating the crude campaign of lies in which the Germans indulged in France.
As it is a very short film and will be shown very rapidly-we cannot slow it down on account of technical difficulties-I should like before showing it to draw attention to the Tribunal to the two kinds of pictures which will follow one another without transition: First you will see a map of the world. This map will be rapidly covered by a color indicating the influence of the Jews and the
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Freemasons, except for the two victorious islands, the Nazi-fascist bloc in Europe, on the one hand, and Japan on the other.
We give this picture to show the degree of crude simplicity arrived at by Nazi propaganda and how it submitted to the people the most stupid and misleading formulas.
An even worse example of calumny follows the portrait of President Roosevelt with the heading, "Brother Roosevelt Wants War."
This is all we have taken from the film. It will now be shown. Mr. Abbett, you can begin.
[Moving pictures were then shown.]
M.FUSTER It is taken from the film "Hidden Forces." Here is the map of the world [indicating7 with the zones of influence: the Soviet zone of influence, the British zone of influence, the American zone of influence. It is May 1939.
THE PRESIDENT: Is it necessary to have the accompaniment of music?
M. FOSTER: I am sorry, but it is impossible to cut out the sound from this film.
THE PRESIDENT: It cannot be helped? Very well.
M.FUSTER: The rapidity of the film made it necessary for us first to give a few details of the pictures which passed before the Tribunal. I think, however, that the Tribunal could appreciate them.
Now, we are going to show a few photographs of posters. These will be easier to deal with than the film, which cannot be slowed down. We are going to show them one by one, commenting on each as may be necessary.
I should like to point out to the Tribunal that the film which it has just seen is submitted as Document Number RF-1152 and also under Document Number RF-1152 (his).
The scenarios of other propaganda films, entitled "M. Girouette" (M. Weathercock), "French Workmen in Germany" and taken from the dossier of the proceedings taken against M. Musard before the Seine Court of Justice, will also illustrate the tendency and the subject matter of the German propaganda carried on by this means.
The photographs of posters which we are going to show now are submitted as Document Number RF-1153. Before showing these films, we must say something about the way in which poster propaganda was organized. It was organized with extreme care. In this connection we submit a pamphlet which contains full instructions for mounting and shows that a real administrative service existed to carry out projects which had been under consideration for a
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long time. This is Document Number RF-1150. We shall not read it, since it is a publication, but we will summarize the most important contents. The Tribunal will see that the most exact provision has been made for every detail, the sites for the billboards and so forth. All these posters were issued by the central bureau in Berlin, D.P.A. In their original form, they consisted only of pictures. The text was added later in the country for which they were intended. The text had to be printed in the language of this country and adapted to suit local conditions.
The Germans very often refrained from indicating their official German origin or even attributed a different origin to them. For instance, they used the phrase "Printed in France," which has no particular meaning since it never appears on genuine French posters. The French posters bear only the printer's name; and this, in its turn, never appears on German posters. By the use of the phrase "Printed in France," however, the Germans could undoubtedly make the French believe that the propaganda put before them was not directly of enemy origin. This is a feature at once curious and revealing.
As we have said, publicity has been practiced for a long time. but Nazi Germany made propaganda into a public institution and applied it internationally in a most reprehensible manner.
We are now going to show to the Tribunal a few of the stages in the development of this poster propaganda.
[Pictures were then projected on the screen.]
M. FOSTER: Here is the first poster [indicating]. I am obliged to describe it because we see' it rather badly. The text seems to indicate the noble attitude of the victor towards the French victims of war. It is expressed as follows: "Abandoned populations: Have confidence in the German soldier," and we see a German soldier with little French children in his arms.
At the same time that the Germans tried to gain the confidence of the French population a second poster, which we are going to show you, was posted in Germany regarding French prisoners of war. This is what they said to the Germans. I read the text of the poster:
"Companions: Retain your national dignity. Attitude toward prisoners-the attention of every member of the Party is drawn to the following points: It is unworthy to show the slightest sign of friendship to a prisoner. It is strictly forbidden to give food or drink to prisoners of war. Your fathers, sons, and brothers are fighting with all their strength against an enemy whose purpose is the annihilation of the German people. We have no reason to show the slightest friendship
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to such an enemy, even when he comes to us as a prisoner. The enemy remains the enemy."
We are now going to show a series of photographs of posters which were intended to show the French who their real enemies were; but first I should like to ask the Tribunal whether they can see the posters sufficiently welt considering the bad light.
THE PRESIDENT: We can see clearly enough, I think.
M. FOSTER: I thank you. We shall continue. This first photograph of the series, intended to show the populations who their real enemies were, is entitled, "Fake always comes out of the same spot." The enemy aimed at is England. The caricature shows by means of birds with human heads that the voice of the Free French is only a big story, symbolized by Masonic signs or emblems of the Jewish religion. The placards attached to these birds and which appear to defy these slogans of British propaganda are rather entertaining to read now: "The Germans Take All" and "We Have the Mastery of the Seas"-it refers to the Allies.
Another photo-we are still dealing with anti-British propaganda. It is a favorite theme of German propaganda. This photo is entitled, "Thanks to the English, our Road to Calvary." It tries to prove to the French by recalling certain historical events, that the English have always been the cause of French sufferings: Joan of Arc, Napoleon, the war of 1939-40 are the principal themes exploited by means of the poster.
This one now represents the English hydra which is encircling Africa; but it is mercilessly beheaded in Germany, in Norway, and rather oddly, in Syria. The text of this poster reads, "The hydra is still being systematically decapitated."
Poster Number 6 has the following text, which is almost invisible here:
"The ally of yesterday, great promises before the war: No help during the war. Retreat and flight of the English Expeditionary Force. Bombardment of French cities and blockade after the debacle. Let us be done with it!"
Poster Number 2, which is also anti-British, is constructed on the same model. There are three parts, "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow."
The Germans developed not only the theme of Anglo-Saxon greed which they represented by a hydra or a bulldog, but also the theme of the prestige of the occupied countries at sea. On this point we show photographs of French and Norwegian posters.
This poster is entitled, "You won't catch anything with that De Gaulle, Gentlemen!" British corpulence and Jewish capitalism bulge out from a fishing boat stopped by the coastal guns of Dakar.
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The style of the wording and the sailor's gesture are purely German. A Frenchman would have said, "With that Gaulle (fishing rod)," and the allusion would have been clear enough.
Poster Number 9 invites enrollment in the German Navy, "The Time Has Come to Free the Seas."
Here is a Norwegian poster: "Defend Norway. Enlist in the German Navy." The inscription might apply, firstly, to all the services of the German uniformed police; secondly, to all the commands of the German Wehrmacht; thirdly, to German harbor masters and port control officers; fourthly, to the commander of the SS Reserve Corps of Norway in Oslo, et cetera. Another Norwegian poster, with the following title, "All for Norway.... Help from England." This poster tries to prove to the civilian population that ruin, fire, and devastation are the only benefits of the English alliance.
The second enemy, America, is the subject of the posters we are going to show now.
Poster Number 11-"The American Press: 97 percent in the hands of the Jews." That allows the Germans to kin two birds with one stone: The Jews and America.
Poster Number 12-in the middle of this poster is the inscription, "They Wanted War," and the persons concerned are represented by six photographs. These persons, who were responsible for the war, are not any of the men whom you see in the dock, but six Americans: magistrates, officials, men in the public eye. Their names were not familiar to the French public, who had rarely seen them on the screen, except for Mr. La Guardia. Those who read articles on economics knew of Mr. Morgenthau; but it was difficult to persuade the French that Messrs. Baruch, Frankfurter, Wise, and Lehman were the instigators of the present war, and Hitler and Goering the victims. As I have said, however, Nazi propaganda did not shrink from any improbability.
The photo Number 13 is more picturesque. It shows both sides of a dollar bill and consists of two lines separated by a Masonic star with the inscription, "A dollar has no value unless signed by Morgenthau." Here are the texts of the inscriptions showing the imagination of the Nazi authors in this matter. On the left-hand side we read:
"The Minister of the Treasury is Jew Morgenthau Jr., related to the great racketeers of international finance. All the Jewish attributes are found on this dollar: the Eagle of Israel, the triangle, the Eye of Jehovah, the 13 letters of the motto, the 13 stars of the aureole, the 13 arrows, the 13 olive branches, the 13 steps of the unfinished pyramid. This money is Jewish indeed."
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And on the right-hand side:
"This dollar paid for the Jewish war, the sole message which the Anglo-Americans can address to us. Will it be enough to repay us for the misfortunes. arising from that Jewish war? The money does not stink but the Jew does."
Number 14-"Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt are dividing Africa."
Number 15-this is anti-Semitic propaganda properly speaking. We have already seen it mingled with anti-British and anti-American propaganda. This photograph shows children of a French technical school who were taken to an anti-Jewish exhibition and given anti-Jewish pamphlets to read.
Number 16-"Behold the Jewish invasion." France is gnawed by a symbolical hydra and figures are scrawled across her. "In 1914, 200,000 Jews; in 1939, 800,000 Jews, without mentioning the half-Jews."
Number 17-"For the Jews the right to live; for us the right to croak. Beneath the recriminations of all-enveloping Jewry, the crosses of the daily growing number of war victims are lined up." This propaganda aims on the one hand at collecting the Jews into a compact mass and isolating them, and on the other hand, at arousing the hatred of the remainder of the population against them. It aims at dividing France.
Number 18-finally, we see the terrible Russian foe. A tortured human beast is hauling a barrow-load of stones while a monster in uniform lashes him with a knout or nagaika and threatens him with a revolver. This picture was first intended for inclusion in a composite picture entitled "The Workers Paradise." This gives it additional interest; but owing to the lack of time, the poster was put out just as it was. We submit the plans for the entire project as Document Number RF-1151.
Number 19-this is a lovely Norwegian poster: "No" in the form of a flash of lightning strikes against the Russian hand which attempts to tear the national flag.
Number 20-"Never!" A romantic picture reminiscent of certain Russian pictures of the last century. Death escorts a train of deportees. The Nazis showed something which they knew well!
Number 21-a final picture concerning Russia, "What Bolshevism would bring to Europe." Scenes of mutilation, infanticide, rape, hangings, murder-exactly what the Nazi movement brought to Europe! However, this Europe must realize her good fortune in being led by the Fuehrer, must realize her strength and her unity, in order to fight victoriously against the barbarous enemy.
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And here is a photograph of a poster, "A Leader and His People." Hitler is depicted as endowed with every charm: sweetness, simplicity, understanding, while the text, unreadable on the reproduction, recalls that he, Hitler, is the unknown soldier of the first war. We call the Tribunal's attention to the photo.
THE PRESIDENT: Could you let the Tribunal know how much longer you are likely to be?
M. FOSTER: About 10 minutes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: You may continue.
M. FOSTER: In the photograph to the left, Hitler is shaking a little girl's hand and we read underneath, "The Little Congratulator." This term, which is not French, betrays the origin of the document.
Here is a poster-Number 23-which was widely circulated in France: "I work in Germany for my family and for France. Do as I do."
Number 24-"1918 to 1943-History Speaks. 1918-The Debacle. 1943-The Great Unity." This poster is the counterpart of the inscriptions which patriots used to write on the walls in France. The German defeat was rapidly approaching; and they could hope that the end of the year 1943, like the end of the year 1918, would bring the final victory. The Nazis were unable to make any reply to these crushing communiques except by issuing denials and posters like this, affirming the great unity of Europe.
Number 25-here is a poster which combines the productive and fighting forces, "The best workers make the best weapons for the best soldiers."
Number 26-finally propaganda attains the level of the conflict of political doctrines, "Socialism against Bolshevism or a free Europe."
Number 27-religious doctrine. This is a Norwegian poster which makes fun of the Anglo-Russian alliance. It is entitled, "A Blessed Meeting." An Anglican bishop, armed with a phosphorous bomb, presents a cross symbolizing Finland to Pope Stalin. Stalin accepts it with eyes lifted to heaven and a machine gun in his arms. A placard says, "Christianity is introduced into the country of the Soviets," and the motto says, "My dear brother, we wish to strengthen your faith with these beautiful crosses."
Number 28-"Anti-Christ: Communism, the scourge of civilization. Bolshevism against Europe. International Exhibition, 12 July to 15 August 1941." The Nazis pose as the defenders of Christianity.
Number 29-and to conclude, this is what the defenders of Christianity did to the Church of Oradour-sur-Glane.
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We have now finished showing the films. We have taken the liberty to submit to the Tribunal a few pictures forming concrete illustrations of a tendency whose spiritual character makes it perhaps more difficult of recognition but whose importance is considerable. In treating an emotionally subtle theme of this kind, we have used pictures in preference to words, since pictures can make clear in an instant something which it takes time to put into words. In this way we hope we have contributed towards making plain the truth.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn until 10 minutes past 2.
[The Tribunal recessed until 1410 hours.]
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Afternoon Session
MARSHAL: May it please the Court, I desire to announce that the Defendant Kaltenbrunner will be absent until further notice, on account of illness.
M. FAURE: Mr. President, I shall now take up the last chapter of my brief, which is devoted to the organization of criminal activities. I shall begin this last chapter by quoting a few words spoken by Monseigneur Piguet, Bishop of Clermont-Ferrand, in the course of a pontifical Mass on Whit Sunday, 20 May 1945. Monseigneur Piguet had just been liberated from the concentration camp to which he had been sent by the Nazis. He said:
"The criminal institutions of which we have been witness and victim bear within themselves all the scourges of barbarism and old-time servitude systematized and applied by a new method capable of increasing human misery by the whole range of modern scientific possibilities."
The evidence that I intend to present to the Tribunal with regard to the occupied countries of the West bears upon this aspect of the systematizing of German criminal enterprises. We have said that Germanization did not consist in the particular fact of the imposition of German nationality or of German law, but in the general imposition of the standards established by the Nazi regime, and in a general way, of its philosophy. This aspect of Germanization implies criminal activity at once as a means and as an end- as a means, because the criminal means is very often highly effective, and we know that Nazism professes indifference in regard to the immorality of the means; as an end, on the other hand, since the final organization of Nazi society postulates the elimination of elements hostile to it or which it regards as undesirable. Under these conditions the criminal activities therefore do not appear as accidents or regrettable incidents of war and of occupation. They must not be ascribed to un-coordinated action on the part of subordinates due to overzealousness or lack of discipline.
As the elimination of adversaries is recommended in principle, it will be carried out in fact by the normal and regular functioning of the administrative apparatus. If Nazism has a philosophy of criminal action, it also has, properly speaking, a bureaucracy of criminal activity.
The will which inspires this action is transmitted from one to another of the chief and secondary centers of the state organism. Each of the misdeeds or series of misdeeds of which we have told you already or shall do so again, assumes the existence of a whole series of transmissions: orders passed by superiors to inferiors, requests for orders or reports passed by inferiors to superiors, and
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finally the relations maintained between corresponding echelons of different services. This administrative organization of criminal activity appears to us a very important datum for the determination of responsibility and the proving of the charges formulated in the Indictment against the higher leaders and against the group organization.
The responsibility of any one of these superior leaders in regard to a determined criminal activity does not, indeed, require that an exhibit or a document signed by the person himself be produced or that it should involve him by name. The existence or nonexistence of such a document is a matter of chance.
The responsibility of the higher leader is directly established by the fact that a criminal activity has been carried out administratively by a service at whose head we find this leader.
This is all the more true in the case of a criminal activity pursued over a long period of time, affecting a considerable number of persons and whose development has given rise to a series of complications, of consultations, and of solutions. There is in every graded state service a continuous circuit of authority which is at the same time a continuous circuit of responsibility. Moreover, concerning charges made against organizations described as criminal organizations, their criminal nature springs from the very fact that their activity produces criminal results without there being any lack of knowledge or modification of the normal rules of competence and of functioning of their different organisms.
The collaboration which develops with a view to such an end between a series of agents belonging to the organization both vertically between the upper and lower grades and horizontally between the different specialist departments implies no less forcibly the existence of a collective criminal intent.
I shall speak first of the persecution of persons qualified as Jews by the German code. The Tribunal already knows from other evidence the Nazi doctrine on the subject of Jews. The historians of the future will perhaps be able to determine how much of this doctrine was the result of sincere fanaticism and how much was the result of premeditated intent to deceive and mislead public opinion.
It is certain that the Nazis found the theories which led them to undertake the extermination of the Jews extremely convenient.
In the first place, anti-Semitism was an ever accessible means of averting public criticism and anger. Moreover, it was a method of psychological seduction that was very cleverly calculated to appeal to simple minds. It made it possible to give a certain amount of satisfaction to the most needy and underprivileged
person by convincing him that he was nevertheless of a superior
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quality and that he could despise and bully a whole category of his fellow men. Finally, the Nazis obtained for themselves by this means the possibility of whipping up the fanaticism of their members by awakening and encouraging in them the criminal instincts which are always latent to a certain extent in the souls of men.
Indeed, it is a German scientist, Feuerbach, who developed the theory that disposition to crime does not necessarily proceed from long preparation. The criminal instinct present may spring to life in an instant. The Nazis gave to the elite of their servants the possibility of giving free rein to any inclination they might possess for murder, looting, the most atrocious actions, and the most hideous spectacles. In this way they fully assured themselves of their obedience and of their zeal.
In order to avoid repetition, I shad not speak in detail of the great sufferings endured by the persons qualified as Jews in France and in the other countries of western Europe. I should like simply to indicate here that it also caused great suffering to all the other inhabitants of these countries to witness the abominable treatment inflicted upon the Jews. Every Frenchman felt a deep affliction at seeing the persecution of other Frenchmen, many of whom had earned the gratitude of the fatherland. There is no one in Paris who did not feel deeply ashamed to learn that the dying Bergson had to be carried to the police commission to satisfy the census requirements.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, you will forgive my interrupting you, but the Tribunal feels that what you are now presenting to us, however interesting-and it is interesting-is really an argument and is not presenting evidence to us. And as we have already heard an opening on behalf of the United States, an opening on behalf of Great Britain, and an opening on behalf of France, we think that you really ought to address yourself, if possible, to the evidence which you are presenting, rather than to an argument.
I feel sure that, with your readiness to meet the wishes of the Tribunal in expressing your presentation, you will perhaps be able to do that.
M. FAURE: I understand perfectly the feeling of the Tribunal. I simply intended to say a few words referring to the feeling shown by Frenchmen in regard to these persecutions. But these words have now been spoken, and I have just arrived at the object of the demonstration which I am to present to the Tribunal with the documents. To show the Tribunal that the spirit of my presentation is in accordance with the requirements of the Tribunal, I should like to indicate that I am not presenting in this brief any document which constitutes an individual story or even a collective story, and no
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document which comes from victims themselves, or even from impartial persons.
I have tried to select only a certain number of German documents in order to furnish evidence of the execution of a criminal enterprise consisting in the extermination of Jews in France and the western countries.
I should like to observe first of all that the Nazi persecution of the Jews included two sets of actions. This is important from the point of view of the direct responsibility of the defendants. The first category of actions is that resulting from the actual texts of laws and regulations and the second category is that resulting from the way in which these were applied.
As regards the texts of laws and regulations, it is evident that these texts, which were issued by the German authorities-either military authorities or commissioners of the Reich-constituted particularly flagrant violations of the sovereignty of the occupied countries.
I do not think that it is necessary for me to present these laws and regulations in detail, for their main features are common knowledge. In order to avoid reading, I have had two tables drawn up and these are before the Tribunal in the document book, although they are not documents properly speaking. These documents are to be found in an appendix. I should like to explain what the two tables in this appendix show. The first table, in the left-hand column, is arranged in chronological order; the other columns indicate the names of the different countries. The Tribunal will find arranged in chronological order the measures taken against the Jews in different countries.
The second table classifies them according to subject-the concept "Jews," economic measures, bullying and petty irritations, the yellow star-and you will find in this table appropriate texts, arranged according to subject.
I likewise present in the form of documents under Document Number RF-1200 a certain number of decrees which were issued in France concerning the Jews, and as these decrees are public acts I shall simply ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of them.
I must now make this observation: These texts, taken as a whole, considerably lowered the status of the Jews. Yet there are no texts in existence of German decrees ordering the mass deportation or murder of Jews. On the other hand, you must remember that this legislation was developed by progressive stages up to 1942, after which a pause ensued. It was during this pause that, as we shall see, genuine administrative measures for the deportation and consequently for the extermination of the Jews were introduced.
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This leads us to consider the fact that we are not dealing with two separate actions-the legislative action, to be ascribed to the military authorities, and the executive action, to be ascribed to the police. This point of view, which regards the military authority only as the author of the decrees and, therefore, as bearing a lesser degree of criminal responsibility, would be false. In reality we are looking at the development of a continued action which employs by turns different means. The first means, that is to say, the legislative means, are the necessary preparatory measures for putting into force the other, or directly criminal means.
In order to put into practice their plan of extermination, the Nazis had first of all to single out the Jewish elements in the population and to separate them from the rest of the population of the country. They had to be able to find the Jews easily and to find them with decreased powers of self-defense and lacking in the material, physical, and intellectual resources which would have enabled them easily to avoid persecution.
They had to be able to destroy the whole of this doomed element of the national community at a single blow, and for this reason they had first to put an end to the constant interweaving of interests and activities existing between all the categories of the population. The Germans wished to prepare public opinion as far as possible; and they could succeed in this by accustoming the public to no longer seeing the Jews, as the latter were practically forbidden to leave their houses.
I shall now present to the Tribunal a few documents bearing on this general extermination deliberately undertaken by the Nazis. I shall first present a series of documents, Documents RF-1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, and 1206. I present these documents with reference to a particular question, the emigration of the Jews who tried to leave the occupied territories.
Inasmuch as the Germans made their desire to get rid of the Jews apparent in every way; it would seem logical for them to look favorably on the solution offered by emigration. On the contrary, as we shall see, they forbade emigration and did so by a permanent measure of general application. This is a proof of their will to exterminate the Jews and a proof of the ferocity of the measures employed. Here, to begin with, is Document Number RF-1201. These documents are submitted to the Tribunal in a series of photostatic copies for each member.
Document Number RF-1201 is a letter of 22 July 1941 emanating from the Bordeaux service and requesting certain instructions from Paris. I wish to read the beginning of this message:
"It has just been established that about one hundred and fifty Jews are still in the territory of the District Command
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of St. Jean de Luz. At the time of our conversation with the District Commander, Major Henkel, the latter asked that these Jews should leave his district as quickly as possible. At the same time, he pointed out that in his opinion it would be far better to allow these Jews to emigrate rather than to transfer them to other departments or even to concentration camps."
Here is the reply to this telegram. It is Document Number RF-1202, dated 26 July 1941. The second sentence:
"We do not approve Major Henkel's point of view as the Reich Security Main Office has stipulated again in a decree the principle that the emigration of Jews residing in the Occupied territories of the West, and if possible also of those living in Unoccupied France, is to be prevented."
Here is an exhibit which I submit as Document Number RF-1203 and which comes from the Military Command in France under date of 4 February 1942. We are no longer dealing with the SS but with the Military Command.
"The Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police at the R.M.d.I. has given orders that the emigration of Jews from Germany or the occupied territories has to be prevented, on principle."
The rest of the letter indicates that exceptions may be made. This document establishes the collaboration between the Army and the police, the Army assuring the execution of the orders given by the Supreme Chief of Police.
I now submit Document Number RF-1205. This document relates to the same subject, but I nevertheless submit it because it shows the intervention of a third German authority, the diplomatic authority. This is a note of the German Consulate General of Casablanca. I read the first sentence:
"The number of European emigrants hitherto leaving Casablanca for the American continent only at long intervals has greatly increased during the last month. On 15 March . . ." The rest of the letter indicates that these are Jewish emigrants.
Document Number RF-1204, which is joined to this one, constitutes a new report to the same effect from the Consulate General Casablanca, under the date of 8 June 1942. I read the last paragraph of this document:
"The emigrants leaving Casablanca are, for the most part, Jewish families from Germany and Central Europe and also some French Jews. There is no reason to suspect that young people fit for military service have left Casablanca with the avowed intention of entering military service on the side of
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the enemy. It is left to your discretion to inform the military authorities about this."
I have quoted this document to show that there was no question of a military emigration which they would have had an interest in preventing, and also to show that this document would normally have concerned firstly the German Embassy, to which it was addressed, and secondly the military services which it suggests should be informed.
Now, what is the sequel to these two communications? The sequel is shown by Document Number RF-1206, of which the two documents just read constitute appendixes. This Document RF-1206 emanates from Berlin, from the Reich Security Main Office, and is addressed to the Chief of Police for France and Belgium.
"Attached are two copies of confidential reports from the German Consulate General in Casablanca to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for your information.
"You are asked to give your special attention to the state of affairs described and to prevent, as far as possible, an emigration of this kind."
I therefore draw three conclusions. Firstly, as I have indicated, the Nazis opposed the emigration of the Jews, although they claim that they are undesirable. Secondly, this decision was made at a higher level and with a general application. Thirdly, all the services, the police, the Army, and the Department of Foreign Affairs intervened to ensure the execution of these barbarous orders.
I now present to the Tribunal Document Number RF-1207. This document is a voluminous German report. It is in fact 70 pages in length. It was found in the German archives in Paris This document is interleaved with a series of graphs, drawings, and models of census cards. It is mimeographed, and the copy which we present does not bear the author's signature, but simply the indication "SS Obersturmfuehrer." This is Obersturmfuehrer Dannecker, who played an important role in regulating Jewish questions in France and who was chief of this bureau.
THE PRESIDENT: That fact which you have just stated to us, has that been verified by the French authorities, namely, that it was a captured document in Paris?
M.FAURE: According to the report submitted to the Tribunal, we took possession of these documents at the archives of the Surete Nationale. They were among the documents found in the German offices at the time of the liberation. Besides, I point out to the Tribunal that the other documents produced do bear the signatures of the German officials. This report is the only document without
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a signature. The fact that it was written by Dannecker will be proved by other documents, which constitute a resume of it.
I shall not read to the Tribunal the 70 pages of this report, but I should like to read certain paragraphs which I think may interest the Tribunal. Here is the first page. To begin with, it is entitled, "The Jewish Question in France and Its Treatment. Paris, 1 July 1941." First page:
"Final solution of the Jewish question-this is the heading and the goal for the work of those services of the Sipo and SD which are handling the Jewish problem in France. It has always been clear that practical results cannot be achieved without a study of the political situation in general as well as of the situation of the Jews.
"The following pages, next to giving a general draft of our planning, are to explain the results achieved up to now as well as the immediate aims.
"Everything touching the principle must be considered from the following point of view: Since the chief of the Sipo and SD has been charged by the Fuehrer with preparing the solution of the Jewish question in Europe, his offices in France are to carry out the preliminary work in order to be able to serve abroad as the absolutely reliable agents of the European Commissioner for Jewish Affairs, at the appointed time."
I shall now point out to the Tribunal the chief headings of the paragraphs in order to pursue the development of the idea and of the operations of this German office.
THE PRESIDENT: I was considering, M. Faure, why this document has not got any identifying mark upon it. I mean, Of course we do not doubt for an instant what you say to us is true, but a the same time it is not the correct way to do it-for us to have to rely on counsel's statement as to the nature of the evidence And there is nothing on the document itself to show that it was captured in Paris or to show what it is except what it states.
M. FAURE: Mr. President, the joining of this document to the file of the French Prosecution was done by a report made in Paris which I shall present before the Tribunal, because as this report concerns a certain number of documents, it was not especial!, joined to the file of this particular document. On the other hand when I received these documents from the police, I did not wish to write anything on the document or to place it under a seal, for I wished to avoid altering the normal appearance of the document in any way.
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I must state that if the Tribunal prefers not to receive this document inasmuch as I do recognize that it does not bear a signature, I shall not submit the document for I have a second report by Dannecker which is signed by him. I submitted both in order to make clear the continuity of the operation.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, in the case of the documents presented by the United States, the captured documents by the United States, as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe reminded us the other day, there is an affidavit, I think, of Major Coogan, which states that all those documents of a certain series, PS, L, R. and various other series, were all captured in Germany by the United States forces. If there were such an affidavit with reference to documents captured in Paris which might be identified by some letter such as PS or some letter similar to that, the matter would seem to us to be in order. But when a document is presented to us which has no identifying mark upon it at all, we are then in the position which we are in now of simply hearing the statement of counsel, which, of course, is not evidence that the document was found in Paris or found somewhere else; and therefore it occurs to me that one way that it might be dealt with would be an affidavit by somebody who knows the facts that this document and any other documents of a similar sort were captured in the archives of the German forces in Paris or elsewhere.
M. FAURE: I could very easily produce before the Tribunal the affidavit which it requests. I say that if we do not have it in this form it is because our habitual procedure is not exactly the same as that which may be followed in the United States. In fact, as the Charter of the Tribunal indicates that the Prosecution was charged with the collection of evidence, we ourselves have authorized magistrates in our service to look for documents in the archives of the police and if the Tribunal wishes I shall ask the police in addition for attestation of the seizure of these documents in the German archives. I shall then ask the Tribunal to allow me to produce this affidavit in a few days' time, so that I can ask the police for it.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, the Tribunal think that we might admit the document, subject to your undertaking that you would do that in the course of a day or two.
M.FAURE: I cannot guarantee that I will have this document in a day or two.
THE PRESIDENT: I wasn't stressing the number of days. If you will undertake to do it that is sufficient.
M.FAURE: Certainly, Mr. President. I shall go on then with the analysis of the Dannecker report. The first chapter is called,
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"History of the Jews in France." I shall not read it. It includes a series of ideas on a very elementary intellectual level. The following chapter is entitled, "Organization of the Jews in France." It includes a first part under the heading, "Before 14 June 1940." This part does not seem to me interesting. The second part of this chapter is entitled, "Operations of the Sipo and the SD (SS Einsatzkommando Paris) against these Organizations and against Leading Jewish Personages." The report comes from the SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Hagen. I think I might read the beginning:
"From a study of the records collected in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, it was possible to conclude that the center of Judaism in Europe and with it the chief lines of communication to overseas must be sought in France. Realizing this, first of all, the offices of great Jewish organizations already known, such as World Jewish Congress"-then follows an enumeration-"have been searched and sealed."
Beginning with Page 14, the report attempts to demonstrate the existence of a bond between Judaism and Catholicism. It presents the results of searches made in the homes of various persons: The Rothschild family, the former minister, Mandel, the press attaché at the British Embassy, and other persons; including the lawyers Moro-Giafferi and Torres. The end of this chapter is as indicated, Page 16, last paragraph:
"To sum up, we can say on the basis of the records which have been collected, that France, where Judaism was linked with Catholicism and with certain important politicians, was its last bulwark on the continent of Europe."
The following section has the title, "Life of the Jews after the Entry of the Germans." The text describes the way in which the Germans created a central and unified organization of the Jews and imposed it on them. This is the beginning of the plan which I have just described to the Tribunal, which consisted in singling out the Jewish elements in the population, massing them together, and separating them entirely from the rest of the population. I should like to read the first paragraph, for the analysis of it is very important:
"After the Armistice and the return to normal life it appeared that almost all the Jewish associations had ceased to exist (in the absence of responsible officials and financial supporters who had fled into the unoccupied zone) while there was a growing need for aid. The progressive German anti-Jewish legislation caused a steady aggravation of the Jewish social problems. Generally considered, these circumstances should have provided a favorable ground in France for a Jewish all-round organization."
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In this text there is a very subtle idea. We note that the German legislation, that is to say, the legislation of the Military Command, brought about a great aggravation of social problems; and we conclude that this will facilitate the general organization of the Jewels., This reasoning confirms, I think, what I said to the Tribunal a while ago, namely, that we were faced with a whole system of measures, the first of which were intended to facilitate the separation of the Jewish community which was to be exterminated.
Dannecker then explains how a co-ordination committee was created. I skip the details and come to Page 21, Paragraph 2:
"An agreement has been made with the office of the Commander of Greater Paris that, in the future, Jewish organizations may address themselves to the German services only by way of the Committee of Jewish Co-ordination. This resulted in an enforced amalgamation of all minor Jewish organizations.
"Moreover, an agreement has been made with the Paris Office for National Relief (Bureau du Eecours National) that, after the expiration of a period of 4 weeks, no Jew can any longer be fed and housed by National Relief. The S.N. will appoint a special representative for controlling the coordination committee on this matter. The blocking of Jewish accounts will compel the Jews in the very near future to ask that the co-ordination committee be authorized to receive gifts intended for it from these blocked holdings. The granting of this request will demonstrate the actual existence of an enforced Jewish union.
"As can be seen this question too will be solved in the manner desired, even if it is a 'cold manner."'
The following chapter bears the title, "Political Activities of the Office for Jewish Affairs of the Sipo and of the SD." I should like to read some passages from this:
"After the promulgation of the Jewish statute of 3 October 1940 by the French Government, a certain slowing-down occurred in the handling of the Jewish question in France; and for this reason the Office for Jewish Affairs worked out plans for a Central Jewish Bureau. The plan was discussed with the military administration on 31 January 1941. The latter showed no interest; and, as the question was a purely political one, it was referred to the SD in agreement with the German Embassy."
This is followed by an analysis of various discussions with the French Commissioner Vallat, with Ambassador Abetz, and with
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De Brinon and indicates the various demands presented by the Germans to the French authorities. I pass now to Page 26, the last paragraph:
"The proposal of the Office for Jewish Affairs has been referred to SS Brigadefuehrer Dr. Best by SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr. Knochen. This proposal suggests that a liaison office ought to be created which should comprise the representatives of the four offices cited above. The management was to be in the hands of the Director of the Office for Jewish Affairs of the SD in compliance with the rules stipulating the competency of the OKW, the OKH, and the Commander in France. As a result of this suggestion, a conference was held on 10 June 1941. Those who attended were: Ministerial Counsellor Dr. Stortz for the Commander in France"-then German titles follow which have not been translated into French and which are a little hard for me to read-"Dr. Blancke, (Economic Service), Counsellor to the Embassy Dr. Zeitschel (German Embassy), and SS Obersturmfuehrer Dannecker. The representatives of the military administration stated clearly that the competence of the SD resulted from the decrees of the OKW and of the OKH as well as from the last confidential decree of 25 March 1941 of the Commander in France. Dr. Stortz declared that for various reasons it would be better to abstain from creating a special liaison bureau, under the direction of the SD. SS Obersturmfuehrer Dannecker explained for his part that we are concerned with the final solution of the question only; and, therefore, the SD must have the possibility of carrying out the orders given by the RSHA."
THE PRESIDENT: M. Faure, can't you summarize this? It is a very long document, and we have so many documents and so much evidence in connection with the Jews already.
M. FAURE: I shall simply read one sentence on the same page: "The result of the conference was the decision to meet every week at the Office for Jewish Affairs. In the course of these meetings they would discuss in common all their aims, experiences, and objections."
I think it is interesting to note these regular conferences held every week and in which representatives of the military services, the embassy, and the police took part.
The following pages of the report can be passed over. They contain remarks about Vallat, notes relating to the establishment offices concerning the Jews, and an analysis of the German ordinances. This is important as showing that these ordinances have their place
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in the general plan. Dannecker likewise speaks of the Anti-Jewish Institute, and observes that this institute was financed by the German Embassy.
The report goes on to give statistical notes and concludes with a statement of which I shall read only one paragraph:
"I hope I have succeeded in giving an idea of the present situation, and a summary of the manifold difficulties which had to be surmounted. I cannot help but acknowledge in this connection the really friendly and thorough support which has been given to our work by Ambassador Abetz and his representative, Minister Schleier, as well as by SS Sturmbannfuehrer and Counsellor to the Embassy Dr. Zeitschel."
To meet the desire of the Tribunal, I shall not submit all the documents included in my document file. I shall therefore pass now to Document Number RF-1210. I have not submitted Documents RF-1208 and 1209. This Document Number RF-1210 is a new report of Dannecker's. It is dated 22 February 1942. I submit it to show the regular and progressive character of the activities of the German offices. This is a letter of the 22d of February 1942. I shall read simply the headings, and I shall quote two passages.
The first heading is "Task of the Sipo and of the SD in France"; the second is "Card Index of Jews"; the third, "French Commission for Jewish Questions"; the fourth, "The French Anti-Jewish Police." The fifth is entitled "Activity." I shall quote this paragraph:
"Up to now three operations have been carried out against the Jews of Paris on a large scale. On each occasion the local office has been responsible for selecting the Jews who were to be arrested, as well as for the preparation and technical organization of the operations. The Jewish card index described above has considerably facilitated the organization of all these operations."
The next heading is "Anti-Jewish Institute"; next is "Compulsory Jewish Amalgamation"; and finally "Tuesday Conferences." I shall read Paragraph 2:
"A conference has been held every Tuesday since the middle of 1941"-Page 5 of the document-"attended by representatives of the following offices: 1) Military Command, Administrative Staff, Administrative Section; 2) Administrative Staff, Police Group; 3) Administrative Staff, Economic Section; 4) German Embassy in Paris; 5) Operations Staff West of Reichsleiter Rosenberg.
"The result of these conferences was that (of course, for very rare exceptions caused by outsiders) the policy regarding Jews
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in the occupied territories can be followed on absolutely uniform lines."
THE PRESIDENT: We will break off now.
[A recess was taken.]
M. FAURE: Gentlemen, in order not to prolong the discussion too much, I should like, if it please the Tribunal, to submit as documents all the documents in my book, but to read and analyze only some of the most important.
I shall then pass over Documents RF-1211, 1212, 1213, and 1214. I should like, however, to draw the attention of the Tribunal to the end of the mimeographed French text. As the letter "K" appeared on the document, the word "Keitel" was written in, quite wrongly. I should like to say that this does not occur in the document. I should like to read this Document Number RF-1215, which is very short:
"Secret-13 May 1942. To the Chief of Area A.
"In accordance with instructions from OKH, Quartermaster General, the words 'dispatch to the East' must not be used in announcements referring to the forced evacuation of the population, in order to avoid a defamation of the occupied regions in the East. The same applies to the expression 'deportation,' this word being too strongly reminiscent of the banishment to Siberia at the time of the Czars. In all publications and correspondence we must use the phrase 'dispatch for forced labor.'"
Document Number RF-1216, which I offer in evidence now, is another memorandum from Dannecker, dated 10 March 1942. The purpose of this memorandum is defined as "Deportation from France of 5,000 Jews." The quotation of the title suffices to indicate the subject of the document. Dannecker alludes to a meeting of the Office for Jewish Affairs, a meeting which took place at the RSHA in Berlin on 4 March 1942 at which it was decided that negotiations would be undertaken for the deportation of 5,000 Jews from France. The memorandum specifies Paragraph 4, second sentence:
"Jews of French nationality must be deprived of their nationality before being deported, or at the latest on the day of the deportation itself."
In a subsequent passage of the document Dannecker explains that the expenses of this deportation would have to be paid by the French Jews, since in the case of impending mass deportations of
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Jews from Czechoslovakia provisions had been made for the Slovakian Government to pay a sum of 500 marks for each Jew deported and, in addition, to bear the cost of deportation.
I now offer in evidence Document Number RF-1217, which is a memorandum of 15 June 1942 headed "Other Transports of Jews Coming from France." It is still dealing with the same operation, but I believe it is interesting to submit these documents without reading them, since they show the extremely complex and regular working of this administration whose purpose was to arrest and deport innocent people. The beginning of the memorandum alludes to a new conference held in Berlin on 11 June 1942 and attended by those responsible for the Jewish departments in Brussels and The Hague, as well as by Dannecker himself. In the fourth paragraph on Page 1 of this document I read the last sentence of the paragraph, "Ten percent of Jews unfit for labor may be included in these convoys." This sentence shows that the purpose of this deportation was not merely to procure labor, even if it involved labor to be exterminated by work.
I should like also to read the fifth paragraph, which contains only one sentence:
"It was agreed that 15,000 Jews should be expelled from Holland, 10,000 from Belgium, and up to 100,000 from France, including the unoccupied zone."
The last part of the memorandum relates to the technical execution. It alludes first to negotiations with the transport service to obtain the necessary trains. It then alludes to the necessity of inducing the de facto French Government to take steps to deprive of their nationality all Jews resident outside of French territory. This would mean that deported Jews would no longer be considered as French citizens. Lastly the French State was to pay the cost of transport and various expenses connected with the deportation.
I now present Document Number RF-1218, which is a memorandum dated 16 June 1942, entitled "The Transportation of Jews from France: Subject, Order from the SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann to SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dannecker, 11 June 1942." The first three paragraphs of this memorandum show that there was difficulty in transporting deportees, because of the large quantity of railway stock necessary for the preparation of the eastern campaign. I should like to read the last two paragraphs of this letter:
"We are now carrying out a large-scale reorganization of the German transport agencies in France. The main feature of this is that the numerous organizations existing hitherto will be taken over by the Reich Ministry of Transportation, which will be responsible for them. This reorganization, which was ordered without notice, takes a few days to complete. Before
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that date it is impossible to give approximate information as to whether the transportation of Jews can be carried out in the near future or at a later date, on the scale anticipated, or even partially."
These remarks seemed to me interesting as defining the responsibility of the Reich Cabinet. Such a large undertaking as the deportation of so many Jews required the intervention of many different administrative services, and we see here that the success of this enterprise depended on the reorganization of transport on the responsibility of the Reich Ministry of Transportation. It is certain that a ministerial department of this kind, which is above all a technical department, intervened to help carry out that general enterprise of deportation.
I now submit Document Number RF-1219 which is a memoranda dum by Dr. Knochen dated 15 June 1942. This memorandum is entitled, "Technical Execution of New Convoys of Jews from France." Not to take too much time I shall read only the first paragraph of this memorandum:
"To avoid any conflict with the operation in progress with regard to 'French workmen for Germany,' mention will be made only of Jewish resettlement. This version is confirmed by the fact that the convoys may include entire families and therefore the possibility is left open of sending at a later date for the children under 16, who were left behind."
The remainder of the memorandum, like all these texts, which are so extremely painful from a moral point of view, continues to discuss the question of the deportation of the Jews in round figures as if all these human beings were mere goods and chattels.
I now submit Document Number RF-1220, which is a letter from the German Embassy in Paris, from Dr. Zeitschel, dated 27 June 1942. I should like to read this letter, which is thus expressed:
"Following my conversation with Hauptsturmfuehrer Dannecker on 27 June, during which he stated that he needed, as soon as possible, 50,000 Jews from the free zone for deportation to the East and that something had to be done to support the operations of Darquier de Pellepoix, the Commissioner General on Jewish questions, I immediately informed Ambassador Abetz and Counsellor Rahn of this matter. Counsellor Rahn is to meet President Laval this afternoon and he promised to discuss with him at once the handing over of these 50,000 Jews, demanding at the same time plenary powers for Darquier de Pellepoix, in conformity with the laws already promulgated, and the immediate granting of the credits promised him.
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"As unfortunately I shall be away from Paris for a week, I request, in view of the urgency of the question, that Hauptsturmfuehrer Dannecker contact Counsellor Rahn directly, on Monday, 29 June, or Tuesday, 30 June, at the latest, to learn Laval's reply."
I thought it useful to read this letter, for it shows the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Defendant Ribbentrop in this abominable matter of handing over 50,000 Jews as required. It is quite evident that such a step cannot be taken by a counsellor at an embassy unknown to his minister and without the latter's full knowledge and consent.
I submit now Document Number RF-1221. It is a memorandum dated 26 June 1942 of which I shall give only the title, "Directives for the Deportation of Jews."
Now I come to Document Number RF-1222, of which I shall also read only the title, "Conference with the Specialists for Jewish Questions of the Security Police, Command of the Section IV-J on 30 June 1942. Deportation to Auschwitz of Jews from the Occupied Territories."
In this memorandum Dannecker again alludes to the conference which took place at the RSHA, according to which 50,000 Jews were to be transferred. There follows a list of trains, the stations in which they were to be assembled, and a request for reports.
I now submit Document Number RF-1223. It is a memorandum, dated 1 July 1942, summing up a conference between Dannecker and Eichmann, who, as we already know, was in Berlin but had to come to Paris on that occasion. "Subject: Departmental Conference with SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dannecker, Paris, Concerning the Impending Evacuation from France." It still deals with the preparation of the great operation envisaged.
I now submit Document Number RF-1224, of which I read only the title and the date, "4 duly 1942: Directives for a Major Round-tip of Jews in Paris."
I now offer in evidence Document Number RF-1225, which is a Dannecker memorandum dated 6 July 1942. Subject: "Deportation of Jews from France." It concerns a conference held with representatives of French authorities. We see in the document the expression "Judenmaterial," which was translated in a roundabout way by the words "Jewish livestock."
I now submit Document Number RF-1226. I should like to read, if the Tribunal please, the first paragraph of this document which is very revealing both in regard to the collaboration with the transport services and the horrifying mentality of the Nazi authorities. The memorandum is the sequel to a telephone conversation between the signatory Rothke and the SS Obersturmfuehrer Eichmann at Berlin:
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"The SS Obersturmfuehrer Eichmann in Berlin telephoned on 14 July 1942 about 1900 hours. He wished to know why the train provided for the transport of 15 July 1942 had been cancelled. I replied that originally the star bearers in the provinces were to be arrested too but that by virtue of a new agreement with the French Government only stateless Jews . were Jo be arrested to begin with.
"The train due to leave on 15 July 1942 had to be cancelled because, according to information received by the SD Kommando at Bordeaux, there were only 150 stateless Jews in Bordeaux. There was no time to find enough other Jews to fill this train. SS Obersturmfuehrer Eichmann replied that it was a question of prestige. They had to conduct lengthy negotiations about these trains with the Reichsminister of Transportation, which turned out successfully; and now Paris cancels a train. Such a thing had never happened to him before. The matter was highly shameful. He did not wish to report it to SS Gruppenfuehrer Muller right now, for the blame would fall on his own shoulders. He was reflecting whether he would not do without France as an evacuation country altogether."
I now submit Document Number RF-1227, which gives statistics indicating that up to the 2d of September 1942 27,069 Jews were evacuated and that by the end of October a total figure of 52,069 might be reached. They are anxious to accelerate the pace and to attack also the Jews in the unoccupied zone of France.
I now submit Document Number RF-1228. It is also an account of a conference where there were invited representatives of the French authorities. I should like to read only the last paragraph of this document:
"On the occasion of the meeting which took place on 28 August 1942 in Berlin, it was stated that most of the European countries are much nearer to a final solution of the Jewish problem than France. In fact, these countries began much earlier. We then must catch up with them in many matters between now and 31 October 1942."
I now submit Document Number RF-1229 without reading it. It is a memorandum by Dr. Knochen on this same subject of deportation dated 31 December 1942.
I now submit Document Number RF-1230, which is a memorandum dated 6 March 1943, headed, "Ref: Present Situation of the Jewish Question in France." In the first part of this document, the deportations are stated to have reached a total of 49,000 Jews as on 6 March 1943. This is followed by a statement of the nationalities, which are extremely varied, of a certain number of Jews who were
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deported in addition to the French Jews. Paragraph 3 of this memorandum is headed, "Attitude of the Italians with Regard to the Jewish Question." I shall read only the first and the last lines of this long paragraph:
"The attitude adopted up to now in the French territory occupied by Italy must be changed by all means if the Jewish problem is to be solved. A few conspicuous cases...."
I break off the quotation here. These conspicuous cases were cases in which the Italians opposed the arrest of Jews in the zone occupied by them.
I now read the last paragraph:
"A. A. has been informed by the RSHA (Eichmann) about proceedings of the Italians."-A.A. appears to be the initials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and this is confirmed by the following sentence. I continue the quotation-"The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ribbentrop, meant to discuss, in negotiations with the Duce, the attitude adopted by the Italians with regard to the Jewish question. We do not yet know the results of these discussions."
I shall not submit Documents RF-1231 and RF-1232. I pass then to the last documents which I want to present to the Tribunal. These documents relate more specifically to the deportation of children.
I submit Document Number RF-1233, which is a memorandum by Dannecker dated 21 July 1942. I shall read Paragraph 2:
"The question of deporting children has been examined with SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann. He decided that as soon
as deportations to the Government General could be resumed, convoys of children could be sent by rail. SS Obersturmfuehrer Nowak promised to arrange about six convoys to the Government General at the end of August or the beginning of September, which may comprise all sorts of Jews (also disabled and old Jews)."
Now I offer in evidence Document Number RF-1234. It is a memorandum dated 13 August 1942. Before pointing out the interest of this document I remind the Tribunal that I have already submitted Document Number RF-1219 and in that document there was a formula which I recall, namely, "The possibility is left open of sending at a later date for children under 16 who were left behind." The Nazis wished to give the impression that they deported entire families at the same time or at least that they did not deport whole trainloads of children. To give this impression, they invented a device which is wholly incredible unless you actually see it in black
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and white: the mingling of children and adults in definite proportions. I read Paragraph 4 of this Document Number RF-1234:
"The Jews arriving from the unoccupied zone will be mingled at Drancy with Jewish children now at Pithiviers and Beaunela-Rolande, so that out of a total of 700 at least 500 Jewish adults 300 to 500 Jewish children will be allotted. According to instructions of the Reich Security Main Office, no trains containing Jewish children only are to leave."
I read the next sentence too:
"Leguay has been told that 13 trainloads of Jews would also leave Drancy in September and that Jewish children from the unoccupied zone could be handed over."
I now submit the last document of the series dealing with the Jewish question, Document Number RF-1235. I am going to read it, as it is very short.
"6 April 1944, Lyons, 2010 hours. Subject: Home for Jewish Children at Izieu, Ain.
"The home for Jewish children, 'Child Colony,' at Izieu (sin) was raided this morning and a total of 41 children aged from 3 to 13 were apprehended. Moreover, the arrest of the entire. Jewish personnel, numbering 10 in all and including 5 women was successfully carried out. Money or other property could not be seized. The convoy for Drancy will leave on 7 April 1944."
This document also bears a memorandum written by hand and couched in the following terms:
"Matter discussed in the presence of Dr. V. B. and Hauptsturmfuehrer Brunner. Dr. V. B. stated that in cases of this kind, special measures were provided for the billeting of the children by the Obersturmfuehrer Rothke. The Hauptsturmfuehrer Brunner stated that he knew of no such instructions or plans and that on principle he did not approve of such special measures. In this case he would also follow the lines of the usual regulations for deportation. For the moment I made no decision affecting the principle in this respect."
For me what is even more striking and more horrible than the concrete fact of removing these children is the administrative color given to the proceedings, the report made through official channels, the meeting at which different officials placidly discussed the matter as if it were part of the normal business of the department. All the administrative mechanism of the State-I am speaking of the Nazi State-was set in motion on such an occasion and for such a purpose. It is a perfect illustration of the word used by Dannecker in his report: "The cold manner."
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I now present the Tribunal with a continuation under the same head, including a certain number of documents which have been collected in order to show in accordance with our general line of presentation the perpetual interference of the German administrative services.
As I am a little behind my timetable, I shall give the numbers of only those documents which I should like to offer in evidence and which I have no time to describe. These documents will be numbered Documents RF-1233 to 1249.
I would like to read to the Tribunal only the document which bears the Number RF-1243, which is interesting as showing the organic character and the juridical claims of the German organizations: I shall quote a few sentences from this document:
"In the report made by the Chief of the Administrative Staff on experience concerning the arrest from 7 to 14 December 1941 it was proposed to evade the execution of hostages in the future by having the death sentences passed through courtmartial proceedings."
I shall skip the following two lines and continue:
"The reprisal will be carried out by pronouncing and inflicting capital punishment on prisoners who would normally be sentenced only to imprisonment, or else be acquitted altogether. To influence the discretion of the judge concerning the meting out of punishment for committing murder or sabotage would answer the formalistic legal reasoning of the French."
I should like now, in the last paragraph of my presentation, to submit documentary evidence in connection with criminal actions of which the Tribunal has not yet been informed and which involve the personal responsibility of certain of the defendants present here. I must remind you that the criminal actions of the Nazis took extremely varied forms which have already been put before the Tribunal at some length. A particularly new and unusual manifestation of this consisted in causing crimes to be committed by organized bands of murderers, who were ordinary criminals, under conditions which made it appear as if these crimes were committed by ordinary bandits or even by resistance organizations which they tried in this way to dishonor.
Such crimes were committed in all the occupied countries; but the precautions taken, with good reason, to camouflage them sometimes make it difficult to trace back the responsibility for these crimes to the ringleaders, the leaders of the Nazi State. We were able to find this evidence in the records of proceedings instituted in Denmark. All the elements are contained in Danish reports of which we were able to get possession only a short time ago.
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I can indicate the position very briefly. It concerns a series of murders which were committed in Denmark and which were known as "compensatory" or "clearing" murders. This definition is explained . . .
Counsel for the Defense tells me that there is an error in translation in the last document which I read-RF-1243. He says that "acquittal" is not the correct translation of "Begnadigung." As I do not know German, it is quite possible that this error exists and that the word means "pardon."
THE PRESIDENT: Which part of the document?
M.FAURE: This error really exists. I hope the Tribunal will excuse me, because there is a considerable amount of translation work. I shall read line 14 of Document Number RF-1243: " . . . who would normally be sentenced to imprisonment only or else be acquitted altogether." According to Counsel for the Defense that should be, " . . . who would normally be sentenced to imprisonment only or else be pardoned." The construction of the sentence does not seem to be as good when this word is used, which explains the error in translation if there was one. In any case, I think it is sufficient to note the instructions given: The imposition of "capital sentences" in cases where only a sentence of imprisonment would normally have been justified.
To come back to the subject I was discussing, I should like to make the situation clear by reading the definition given in the Danish report. It is found on Page 19 of the supplementary memorandum of the Danish Government. This document was submitted last Saturday under Number RF-901. As it is very bulky, I see that it is not included in the document book but that the passages which I cite can be found in my brief.
The page numbers start again at the end of this brief, and I am now on Page 3 in the last series of numbers. I quote Page 19 of the Danish report:
"From New Year 1944 onwards, a large number of persons, most of them well known, were murdered at intervals which grew steadily shorter. The doorbell would ring, for instance, and one or two men would ask to speak to them. The moment they appeared at the door. . . "
THE PRESIDENT: I do not have it. Is it in this dossier of the administrative and juridical organization of the criminal actions? Under which document?
M. FAURE: It is not in the document book. It is in the dossier of the brief.
THE PRESIDENT: No. In the dossier? Which part of the dossier?
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M. FAURE: It is the last part of the dossier. The numbering of the pages starts again after Page 76. If the Tribunal will turn to Page 76, the page numbers begin again after that with Page 1.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I have it.
M. FAURE: I read from Page 19 of the report, the extract reproduced on Page 3:
"From New Year 1944 onwards, a large number of persons, most of them well known, were murdered at intervals which grew steadily shorter. The doorbell would ring, for instance, and one or two men would ask to speak to them. The moment they appeared at the door they were shot by these unknown persons. Or, someone would pretend to be ill and go to a doctor during the latter's consulting hour. When the doctor entered the room, the unknown shot him. At other times, unknown men would force their way into a house and kill the owner in front of his wife and his children, or else a man would be ambushed in the street by civilians and shot."
I do not need to read the following paragraph. I go on reading at the last paragraph on Page 19:
"As the number of victims increased it was borne in upon the Danes, to their amazement, that there was a certain political motive behind all these murders; for they realized that in one way or another the Germans were the instigators.
"After the capitulation of the German forces in Denmark, investigations by the Danish police established the fact that all these murders, running into hundreds, were in reality committed on the direct orders of the supreme authorities and with the active collaboration of Germans who occupied the highest positions in Denmark."
I end my quotation here and I shall summarize what follows: The Danish authorities were able to clear up these criminal affairs, 267 in number; and they are analyzed in the official Danish report and the documents attached to it. These acts consisted not only in actual crimes but also in other criminal activities, notably explosions. It was established that all these acts were committed by bands, consisting of Germans and some Danes, who constituted real groups of bandits but who acted, as I am going to prove to you, on orders from the highest quarters.
The Danish report contains in particular the detailed story of the investigation made into the first of these crimes, whose victim was Kaj Munk, the well-known Danish poet and pastor of a parish. The crime was confessed by the men who carried it out.
I summarize the document in order not to take too much time. The pastor was taken from his home, forced into a vehicle, and
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killed on the highway. His body was found next day with a sign pinned on it with the words, "Swine, you worked for Germany just the same."
The Tribunal sees how many similar crimes were committed in the vilest possible way. Now one of the first things discovered was that the members of the gangs of bandits who committed these different crimes had all received a personal letter of congratulation from Himmler. The text of this letter, which was found on one of the murderers, constitutes Appendix 14 of the Danish report; and, on the other hand, we have here photostatic copies with Himmler's signature.
But these extraordinary crimes involve in the most incredible way other persons responsible besides Himmler, himself. The Danish police were able to arrest Gunther Pancke, who exercised the functions of Chief of Police in Denmark from 1 November 1943.
The inquiry was established by the tribunal of first instance in Copenhagen and is in the Danish report. It contains an account of the interrogation of Gunther Pancke on 25 August 1945. It is necessary for me to read to the Tribunal an extract from this document, which involves several of the defendants. I quote:
"On 30 December 1943 Pancke and Best were present at a meeting at the Fuehrer's headquarters attended by Hitler, Himmler, Kaltenbrunner, General Von Hannecken, Keitel, Jodl, Schmundt, and others. This agrees with Best's diary for 30 December 1943. There is a copy of this. A representative of the German Foreign Office also attended; but Pancke does not remember his name nor whether the person in question made a speech. During the first part of the meeting, Hitler was in a very bad temper and everything led one to believe that the information that he had obtained concerning the situation in Denmark was rather exaggerated."
I should like to skip the following page, which is not indispensable and go on to Page 14 of my brief. In the passage which I am omitting, the witness Pancke reports that he and Dr. Best advised that saboteurs be fought in a legal way. He also points out on Page 14 that Hitler-I quote-" . . . was strongly opposed to the proposals of Pancke and Best, declaring there could be absolutely no question of judging saboteurs before a tribunal." He then said that such methods would lead to those condemned being considered as heroes.
I resume the quotation on Page 15, Line 3:
"There was only one way of dealing with saboteurs, namely, to kill them, preferably, at the moment when the crime was committed; otherwise, on arrest. Both of them received strict orders from Hitler personally to start compensatory
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murders. Pancke replied that it was very difficult and dangerous to shoot people on arrest, as they could not be sure when the arrest was made if the person arrested was really a saboteur. Hitler demanded compensatory murders in the proportion of at least five to one. In other words: Five Danes were to die for every German killed."
The rest of the document shows that General Von Hannecken made a report on the military situation. I shall read this paragraph, Page 16 of my brief:
"Moreover, General Keitel took part in the conversation; but he confined himself to a proposal to reduce food rations in Denmark to the same level as rations in Germany. This proposal was rejected by all the three representatives in Denmark. As a result, the meeting ended with Hitler's express order to Pancke to start compensatory murders and counter-sabotage. After this meeting, Pancke had a conversation alone with Himmler, who told him that he, Pancke, had now been told by the Fuehrer, himself, how to act and that he thought that he could rely on Pancke to execute the order which he had received. It seemed that up to now he had executed only those of Himmler. Pancke knows that Best had a conversation wiM1 Ribbentrop immediately after the meeting. but doesn't remember the result."
The document then shows that these compensatory murders were carried out, not in the proportion of five to one, but in the proportion of one for one. It shows that reports on these compensatory murders were sent to Berlin.
I read on Page 18 of my brief, second paragraph:
"Pancke explained that in his opinion these murders were decreed deliberately by the supreme jurisdiction in Germany, as being necessary for the protection of Germans stationed in Denmark and Danes working for Germany; and so Pancke had to obey the order. Bovensiepen stated the facts and made suggestions when subjects of importance were raised. Pancke does not know whether Bovensiepen selected his own subjects in every case or whether in certain cases the subjects were selected by his subalterns; but he, too, said that he was subjected to strong pressure from the military side, especially from General Von Hannecken, although General Von Hannecken was at first opposed to reprisals by terror. Later still more pressure was exercised by Colonel General Lindemann. When soldiers were killed or damage was caused to military objectives, Pancke was immediately asked what steps he had taken and what they were to report to general headquarters, that is, to Hitler himself, from a military point
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of view. Pancke had to give a satisfactory reply, and he also had to take action`"
I end my quotation here. General Pancke then explains how these terror groups were organized.
I must now say that the Danish police were also able to arrest Dr. Best, the German plenipotentiary, and make an inventory of his papers. Among they found Dr. Best's private diary. This diary has one leaf, dated 30 December 1943, which agrees with the information given in the preceding testimony about the meeting held on 30 December 1943 in the Fuehrer's tea house. This is at Page 21. "Lunch with Adolf Hitler, Reichsfuehrer Himmler, Dr. Kaltenbrunner, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Mr. Pancke, Field Marshal Keitel, General Jodl, General Von Hannecken, Lieutenant General Schmundt, Brigade Lieutenant Scherff. Lunch and discussions on the Danish question lasted from 1400 to 1630 hours."
Dr. Best was naturally interrogated on the subject. From official Danish documents, extracts from which are found on Page 23 of my brief, it appears that Dr. Best corroborated the note in his diary dated 30 December which I have cited. With regard to the fundamental questions concerned, here is what Dr. Best says at the bottom of Page 23:
"Dr. Best does not remember whether Hitler, who spoke at considerable length, said anything about compensatory murders being carried out in the proportion of five to one. Himmler and Kaltenbrunner agreed with Hitler. The rest of those present apparently expressed no opinion. The names given by Best agree with Pancke's list."-This is on Page 24-"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not represented, so that Sonnleitner did not attend the conference; After the conference, Dr. Best had a conversation alone with Ribbentrop, to whom he explained what had taken place. Ribbentrop shared his opinion that some protest should be made against such methods but that after all, nothing could be done."
It is proved, therefore, that the Defendants Kaltenbrunner, Keitel, and Jodl were present at a department meeting where it was decided that murder, pure and simple, should be organized in Denmark. The witnesses certainly do not say that the Defendants Keitel and Jodl showed any enthusiasm for this proposal, but it is established that they were present and that they were present in the exercise of their functions along with their subordinate, the military commander of Denmark. This is a question of responsibility for several hundred murders abominable in themselves but undoubtedly constituting only a small part of the crimes implied by the Prosecution and carried out on millions of victims. I think, however,
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that it is important to learn that the military and diplomatic leaders knew and accepted the systematic organization of acts of banditry and murders committed by professional killers who fled when they had committed their crimes.
The documents which I have just cited are the last of the series which I wanted to present to the Tribunal. I shall not follow them up by commentary. I think that there is so much monotony and at the same time so many shades of variety in the innumerable crimes committed by the Nazis that the human mind finds it difficult to grasp their whole extent. Each of these crimes has in itself all the intensity of horror and reflects the distorted values of the doctrine responsible for them. If it be true that life has any meaning whatsoever, if there is around and within us anything else than "sound and fury," such a doctrine must be condemned with the men who originated it and directed its enterprises.
THE PRESIDENT: Could you tell us what is proposed for tomorrow?
M. FAURE: Tomorrow, M. Gerthoffer will, if it suits the Tribunal, make a statement on pillage of works of art. A problem is involved here. For at the time when this would normally have been done, we decided to dispense with it, thinking that a reference to the American documents would be sufficient. On consulting our American colleagues, however, it appeared that they themselves relied on that part of the matter being presented by the French Prosecution. So, if the Tribunal does not object to our returning to the subject now, a statement will be presented to this effect.
On the other hand, one of the magistrates of the French Delegation proposes to present a brief which recapitulates systematically the charges against each of the defendants, according to the documents and briefs submitted.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Tribunal would hope that the expose on the pillage of objects of art will be quite short because it must be cumulative, because you will remember that we had at some stage of the Trial presented to us 39 books, or 30, or some number of books of objects of art which had been taken away from various parts of Europe and France and all photographed by the Germans themselves; and, therefore, any evidence which would now be given would be cumulative to that spoliation.
M. FAURE: That is why I asked the Tribunal whether it would agree to this procedure; but at any rate, if the Tribunal considers that the statement can be made, it will be only a very short statement which will take about two hours.
DR.ALFRED THOMA (Counsel for Defendant Rosenberg): If I understood M. Faure correctly, he asked the Tribunal whether the
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confiscation and plundering of works of art in France would again be dealt with tomorrow. I should like to add that the American Prosecution has already declared before this Tribunal that the question of the plundering of works of art could not be dealt with again. Accordingly, I myself, representing Rosenberg, and my colleague, Dr. Stahmer, representing Goering, took steps to cancel the calling of witnesses whom we had planned to bring. If, however, the French Prosecution intends to submit new material, we must have these witnesses called again. For this reason, I should like to ask the Tribunal to decide whether it is necessary for the confiscation of works of art objects in France to be taken up once more.
THE PRESIDENT: I think defendant's counsel must be wrong in thinking that the United States counsel said anything which meant that the French Prosecution could not produce evidence with reference to the spoliation of objects of art. I can't think the United States had any authority to do that and I had understood myself that this part of the Prosecution had been omitted by one of the French Counsel on account of the request of the Tribunal to shorten their argument. Was that not so?
M. FAURE: That is quite true, Mr. President. Your interpretation is exact.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Tribunal would wish that the presentation should be made, if the French Prosecutors wish it; and it should be made as shortly as possible.
M.FAURE: Thank you.
[The Tribunal adjourned until 6 February 1946 at 1000 hours.]
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