Chapter XIII: Part I: , Page 713 (5)

“All other prisoners incapable of working (tubercular cases,
bedridden cripples, _et cetera_) are to be basically excepted
from this action. Bedridden prisoners are to be drafted for
suitable work which they can perform in bed.

“The order of the Reichsführer SS is to be obeyed strictly in
the future.

“Therefore requests for fuel for this purpose are unnecessary.”

The action “14-F-13” is not defined in the letter, but it is perfectly apparent what it means. Every human being, bedridden, crippled, no matter what his physical condition, from whom any work at all could be extracted was to be excepted from the action. Only the insane, from whom nothing could be expected, were to suffer the action. What could the action be? It is perfectly apparent. The action was extermination.

The SS, however, was to some extent enabled to achieve both goals: that of increased production and of elimination of undesirables. The Tribunal will recall the agreement between Minister of Justice Thierack and Himmler on September 18, 1942, our Document 654-PS, which was read in evidence by Mr. Dodd as Exhibit Number USA-218. I am not going to quote again from that document but will remind the Tribunal that the agreement provided for the delivery of anti-social elements after the execution of their sentences to the Reichsführer SS to be worked to death.

The conditions under which such persons worked in the camps were well calculated to lead to their death. Those conditions were regulated by the WVHA. As an illustration of WVHA management, I call the Court’s attention to our Document 2189-PS, which I offer in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-460. It is an order directed to commandants of concentration camps, dated 11 August 1942, and bearing the facsimile signature, which does not appear on the translation but does appear on the original, of SS Brigade Führer and General of the Waffen-SS Glücks, who was Chief of Office Group D of WVHA. That is Document Number 2189-PS. I will read the body of that letter:

“The Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police has ordered
that punishment by beating will be executed in concentration
camps for women by prisoners under the ordered supervision.

“In order to co-ordinate this order the Main Office Chief SS of
the Economic Administration Main Office, SS Obergruppenführer
and General of the Waffen-SS Pohl, has ordered, effective
immediately, that punishment by beating will also be executed by
prisoners in concentration camps for men.

“It is forbidden to have foreign prisoners execute the
punishment on German prisoners.”

Even after their death the prisoners did not escape the management of WVHA. I refer the Court to our Document 2199-PS, a letter to commanders of concentration camps dated 12 September 1942 and signed by the Chief of the Central Office Group D of WVHA, SS Obersturmbannführer Liebehenschel. I offer this as Exhibit Number USA-461. I shall read the body of that directive, which appears on Page 1 of the translation. I quote:

“According to a communication of the Chief of the Security
Police and the SD, and conforming to a report of the Chief of
the Security Police and the SD in Prague, urns of deceased
Czechs and Jews were sent for burial to the home cemeteries
within the Protectorate.

“In view of different events (demonstrations, erecting of
posters inimical to the Reich on urns of deceased inmates in the
halls of cemeteries of the home communities, pilgrimages to the
graves of deceased inmates, _et cetera_) within the
Protectorates, the delivery of urns with the ash remnants of
deceased nationals of the Protectorate and of Jews is henceforth
prohibited. The urns shall be preserved within the concentration
camps. In case of doubt about the preservation of the urns oral
instructions shall be available at this agency.”

The SS indeed regarded the inmates of concentration camps as its own personal property to be used for its own economic advantage. The Tribunal will recall that as early as 1942 the Defendant Speer recognized that the SS was motivated by the desire for further profits when he suggested to Hitler that the SS receive a share of the war equipment produced by concentration camp labor in ratio to the working hours of the prisoners. I refer to our Document R-124, at Page 36, which was read into evidence by Mr. Dodd as Exhibit Number USA-179. The Führer agreed that a 3 to 5 percent share should satisfy the SS commanders. Himmler himself frankly admitted his intention to derive profits for SS purposes from the camp in his Metz speech to the officers of the SS Leibstandarte “Adolf Hitler,” our Document 1918-PS, Exhibit Number USA-304—the passage in question being found at the top of Page 3 of the English translation and on Page 10 of the original German, 7 lines from the bottom. The passage begins:

“The apartment-building program, which is the prerequisite for a
healthy and social basis of the entire SS, as well as of the
entire leadership corps, can be carried out only when I get the
money for it from somewhere. Nobody is going to give me the
money. It must be earned, and it will be earned by forcing the
scum of mankind, the prisoners, the professional criminals, to
do positive work. The man guarding those prisoners serves harder
than the one on close-order drill. The one who does this and
stands near these utterly negative people will learn within 3 to
4 months—and we shall see. In peacetime, I shall form guard
battalions and put them on duty for 3 months only. They will
learn to fight the inferior beings; and this will not be a
boring guard duty, but if the officers handle it right, it will
be the best indoctrination on inferior beings and inferior
races. This activity is necessary, as I said, 1) to eliminate
these negative people from the German people; 2) make them work
once more for the great national community by having them break
stones and bake bricks, so that the Führer can again erect his
grand buildings; and 3) to in turn invest the money, earned
soberly this way, in houses, in ground, in settlements, so that
our men can have houses in which to raise large families and
have many children. This in turn is necessary because we stand
or die with this leading blood of Germany; and if the good blood
is not reproduced, we will not be able to rule the world.”

One final aspect of SS control over concentration camps remains to be mentioned. That is its direction of the program of biological experiments on human beings, which was carried on in the camps. Just a few days ago another military tribunal passed judgment on some of those who participated in the experiments at Dachau.

THE PRESIDENT: There is no date on that document you just read, is there?

MAJOR FARR: There appears to be no date on the English translation. The original document bears the notation of a speech in April 1943.

At a later stage in this case, evidence of some of the details of this program of experiments will be presented. It is not my purpose to deal with those experiments from the substantive aspect. I shall show only that they were the result of SS direction and that the SS played a vital part in their successful execution.

The program seems to have originated in a request by a Dr. Sigmund Rascher to Himmler for permission to utilize persons in concentration camps as material for experiments with human beings in connection with some research he was conducting on behalf of the Luftwaffe. I refer to our Document 1602-PS, a photostatic copy of a letter dated 15 May 1941, addressed to the Reichsführer SS, and signed “S. Rascher.” I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-454. I shall quote from the second paragraph of the translation, the fourth paragraph of the original letter. I quote:

“For the time being I have been assigned to the Luftgaukommando
VII, Munich, for a medical course. During this course where
researches on high-altitude flights play a prominent part
(determined by the somewhat higher ceiling of the English
fighter planes), considerable regret was expressed at the fact
that no tests with human material had yet been possible for us,
as such experiments are very dangerous and nobody volunteers for
them. I put, therefore, the serious question: Can you make
available two or three professional criminals for these
experiments? The experiments are made at Bodenständige
Prüfstelle für Höhenforschung der Luftwaffe, Munich. The
experiments, by which the subjects may, of course, die, would
take place with my co-operation. They are essential for
researches on high-altitude flight and cannot be carried out, as
has been tried, with monkeys, who offer entirely different
test-conditions. I have had a very confidential talk with the
deputy of the Surgeon of the Air Force, who makes these
experiments. He is also of the opinion that the problem in
question could only be solved by experiments on human persons.
(Feeble-minded could also be used as test material.)”

Dr. Rascher promptly received assurance from the SS that he would be allowed to utilize concentration camp inmates for his experiments.

I refer to our Document 1582-PS, a letter dated 22 May 1941, addressed to Dr. Rascher, and bearing the stamp of the Personal Staff of the Reichsführer SS, and the initials, “K Br,” which initials are those of SS Sturmbannführer Karl Brandt. I offer this letter as Exhibit Number USA-462. I quote the first two paragraphs of that letter:

“Dear Dr. Rascher:

“Shortly before flying to Oslo, the Reichsführer SS gave me your
letter of 15 May 1941 for partial reply.

“I can inform you that prisoners will, of course, be gladly made
available for the high-flight researches. I have informed the
Chief of the Security Police of this agreement of the
Reichsführer SS, and requested that the competent official be
instructed to get in touch with you.”

The altitude experiments were conducted by Rascher; and in May 1942 General Field Marshal Milch, on behalf of the Luftwaffe, expressed his thanks to the SS for the assistance it furnished in connection with the experiments.

I refer to our Document 343-PS which will be found in Volume I of the document book. I offer an original letter, dated 20 May 1942, addressed to SS Obergruppenführer Wolff, and signed E. Milch, as Exhibit Number USA-463. That letter, which appears on Page 2 of the translation and on Page 1 of the original German, is as follows:

“Dear Wolff”—the German says, “Liebes Wölffchen”:

“In reference to your telegram of 12 May, our sanitary inspector
reports to me that the altitude experiments carried out by the
SS and Air Force at Dachau have been finished. Any continuation
of these experiments seems not to be necessary. However, the
carrying out of experiments of some other kind, in regard to
perils on the high seas, would be important. These have been
prepared in immediate agreement with the proper offices; Major
Weltz (Medical Corps) will be charged with the execution and
Captain Rascher (Medical Corps) will be made available until
further orders in addition to his duties within the Medical
Corps of the Air Corps. A change of these measures does not
appear necessary, and an enlargement of the task is not
considered pressing at this time.

“The low-pressure chamber would not be needed for these
low-temperature experiments. It is urgently needed at another
place and therefore can no longer remain in Dachau.

“I convey the special thanks from the Supreme Commander of the
Air Corps to the SS for their extensive co-operation.

“I remain with best wishes for you in good comradeship and with
Heil Hitler! Always yours, E. Milch.”

THE PRESIDENT: Major Farr, hadn’t you better read the letter on the preceding page? It may be capable of an explanation.

MAJOR FARR: The letter on the preceding page, dated 31 August 1942, is also from General Field Marshal Milch, and is addressed to the Reichsführer SS. It reads as follows:

“Dear Mr. Himmler:

“I thank you very much for your letter of the 25th of August. I
have read with great interest the reports of Dr. Rascher and Dr.
Romberg. I am informed about the current experiments. I shall
ask the two gentlemen to give a lecture, combined with the
showing of motion pictures, to my men in the near future.

“Hoping that it will be possible for me to see you at the
occasion of my next visit to headquarters, I remain with best
regards and Heil Hitler! Yours, E. Milch.”

Having finished his high-altitude experiments, Dr. Rascher proceeded to experiment with methods of rewarming persons who had been subjected to extreme cold. I refer to our Document 1618-PS, which is an intermediate report on intense chilling experiments which had been started in Dachau on 15 August 1942. That report, signed by Dr. Rascher, I offer in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-464. I shall read only a few sentences from the report, beginning with the first paragraph:

“Experimental procedure.

“The experimental subjects (VP) were placed in the water,
dressed in complete flying uniform, winter or summer
combination, and with an aviator’s helmet. A life-jacket made of
rubber or kapok was to prevent submerging. The experiments were
carried out at water temperatures varying from 2.5° to 12°
(centigrade). In one experimental series the neck (brain stem)
and the back of the head protruded above the water, while in
another series of experiments the neck (brain stem) and the back
of the head were submerged in the water. “Electrical measurement
gave low temperature readings of 26.4° in the stomach and 26.5°
(centigrade) in the rectum. Fatalities occurred only when the
brain stem and the back of the head were also chilled. Autopsies
of such fatal cases always revealed large amounts of free blood,
up to a half liter, in the cranial cavity. The heart invariably
showed extreme dilation of the right chamber. As soon as the
temperature in these experiments reached 28°, the experimental
subjects (VP) were bound to die despite all attempts at
resuscitation.”

I skip now to the last paragraph of the report. I quote:

“During attempts to save severely chilled persons, it was
evident that rapid rewarming was in all cases preferable to a
slow rewarming because, after removal from the cold water, the
body temperature continued to sink rapidly. I think that for
this reason we can dispense with the attempt to save intensely
chilled subjects by means of animal warmth.

“Rewarming by animal warmth—animal bodies or women’s
bodies—would be too slow.”

Although Rascher was thus of the preliminary opinion that rewarming by women’s bodies would be too slow, means for conducting such experiments were nevertheless placed at his disposal. I refer to our Document 1583-PS, a photostatic copy of a letter from Reichsführer SS Himmler addressed to General Pohl, dated 16 November 1942. I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-465. I shall read just the first two paragraphs of that letter:

“Dear Pohl:

“The following struck me during my visit to Dachau on the 13th
of November 1942 regarding the experiments conducted there for
the saving of people whose lives are endangered through intense
chilling in ice, snow, or water, and who are to be saved by the
employment of every method or means:

“I had ordered that suitable women are to be set aside from the
concentration camp for these experiments for the warming of
those who were exposed. Four girls were set aside who were in
the concentration camp for loose morals and because as
prostitutes they were a potential source of infection.”

I think it is unnecessary for me to go on with the rest of the paragraph, in which he expresses his dissatisfaction that a German prostitute should be used for this purpose.

To insure the continuance of Rascher’s experiments, Himmler arranged for his transfer to the Waffen-SS. I offer in evidence a letter which appears as our Document 1617-PS. It is a letter from Reichsführer SS addressed to “Dear Comrade Milch”—General Field Marshal Milch—dated November 1942. I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-466. I will now read the first two paragraphs of that letter, our Document 1617-PS. I quote:

“Dear Comrade Milch:

“You will recall that through SS General Wolff I particularly
recommended to you for your consideration the work of a certain
SS Führer, Dr. Rascher, who is a physician of the supplementary
reserve of the Air Force.

“These researches which deal with the reaction of the human
organism at great heights, as well as with manifestations caused
by prolonged chilling of the human body in cold water, and
similar problems which are of vital importance to the Air Force,
in particular, can be performed by us with particular efficiency
because I personally assumed the responsibility for supplying
asocial individuals and criminals, who only deserve to die, from
concentration camps for these experiments.”

I shall omit the next four paragraphs, in which Himmler reflects upon the difficulties of conducting such experiments because Christian medical circles were opposed, and pass on to the last paragraph on the first page of the translation. That is the seventh paragraph of the letter:

“I beg you to release Dr. Rascher, medical Officer in the
Reserve, from the Air Force and to transfer him to me to the
Waffen-SS. I would then assume the sole responsibility for
having these experiments made in this field and would put the
experiences, of which we in the SS need only a part for the
frost injuries in the East, entirely at the disposal of the Air
Force. However, in this connection I suggest that with the
liaison between you and Wolff a non-Christian physician should
be charged, who should be at the same time honorable as a
scientist and not prone to intellectual theft and who could be
informed of the results. This physician should also have good
contacts with the administrative authorities, so that the
results could really attract attention.

“I believe that this solution to transfer Dr. Rascher to the SS,
so that he could carry out the experiments under my
responsibility and under my orders, is the best way. The
experiments should not be stopped; we owe that to our men. If
Dr. Rascher remained with the Air Force, there would certainly
be much annoyance because then I would have to bring a series of
unpleasant details to you because of the arrogance and
presumption which Professor Holzlöhner, who is under my command,
has displayed in his post at Dachau by making remarks about me
to SS Colonel Sievers. In order to save both of us this trouble,
I suggest again that Dr. Rascher should be transferred to the
Waffen-SS as quickly as possible. . . .”

THE PRESIDENT: Is that letter from Himmler?

MAJOR FARR: Yes, Sir.

Now Rascher’s experiments were by no means the only experiments in which the SS were interested. Without attempting even to outline the whole extent of the experimental program, I shall give just one further illustration of this type of SS activity. I refer to our Document L-103, which is a report prepared by the chief hygienist in the Office of the Reich Surgeon of the SS and Police, dated 12 September 1944. I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-467. (Parenthetically I might note that the office of the Reich Surgeon SS and Police will be found in the personal staff department, as indicated by the second box on the right-hand side of the line leading down from the personal staff.)

I shall read a few paragraphs from this report, which is a report prepared by the chief hygienist in the office of the Reich Surgeon of SS and Police and signed SS Oberführer Dr. Mrugowsky. It relates to experiments with poison bullets. Beginning with the first paragraph, I quote:

“On 11 September 1944, in the presence of SS Sturmbannführer Dr.
Ding, Dr. Widmann, and the undersigned, experiments with aconite
nitrate bullets were carried out on five persons who had been
sentenced to death. The caliber of the bullets used was 7.65
millimeters, and they were filled with poison in crystal form.
Each subject of the experiment received one shot in the upper
part of the left thigh, while in a horizontal position. In the
case of two persons, the bullets passed clean through the upper
part of the thigh. Even later no effect from the poison could be
seen. These two subjects were therefore rejected.”

I omit the next few sentences and proceed beginning with Paragraph 3 of the report:

“The symptoms shown by the three condemned persons were
surprisingly the same. At first, nothing special was noticeable.
After 20 to 25 minutes, a disturbance of the motor nerves and a
light flow of saliva began, but both stopped again. After 40 to
44 minutes, a strong flow of saliva appeared. The poisoned
persons swallowed frequently; later the flow of saliva is so
strong that it can no longer be controlled by swallowing. Foamy
saliva flows from the mouth. Then a sensation of choking and
vomiting starts.”

The next three paragraphs describe in coldly scientific fashion the reactions of the dying persons. The description then continues, and I want to quote the two paragraphs before the conclusion. It is the last paragraph on Page 1 of the translation, the sixth paragraph of the report:

“At the same time there was pronounced nausea. One of the
poisoned persons tried in vain to vomit. In order to succeed he
put four fingers of his hand, up to the main joint, right into
his mouth. In spite of this, no vomiting occurred. His face
became quite red.

“The faces of the other two subjects were already pale at an
early stage. Other symptoms were the same. Later on the
disturbances of the motor nerves increased so much that the
persons threw themselves up and down, rolled their eyes, and
made aimless movements with their hands and arms. At last the
disturbance subsided, the pupils were enlarged to the maximum,
the condemned lay still. Rectal cramps and loss of urine was
observed in one of them. Death occurred 121, 123, and 129
minutes after they were shot.”

The fact that SS doctors engaged in such experiments was no accident. It was consistent with an ideology and racial philosophy which, to use Himmler’s words, regarded human beings as lice and offal. But the most important factor was that the SS alone was in a position to supply necessary human material. And it did supply such material through WVHA. I refer to our Document 1751-PS, which is a letter from the Chief of Office Group D of WVHA, dated 12 May 1944. I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-468. I quote that letter. It appears in the original file on the last page. I quote:

“There is cause to call attention to the fact that in every case
permission for assignment has to be requested here before
assignment of prisoners is made for experimental purposes.

“To be included in this request are number, kind of custody, and
in case of Aryan prisoners, exact personal data, file number in
the Reich Security Main Office, and the reason for detainment in
the concentration camp.

“Herewith, I explicitly forbid assignment of prisoners for
experimental purposes without permission.”

The translation says that the signature is illegible, but I think it appears from the original that it is the signature of Glücks, since he was the department chief of Department D of WVHA. It was on the basis of being able to supply such material that the Reich Ministry of Finance was prepared to subsidize the SS experimental program. I offer in evidence a series of letters between the Reich Ministry of Finance, the Reich Research Council, and the Reich Surgeon of the SS and Police. They are our Document 002-PS, which I offer in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-469. The first letter from which I shall quote appears on Page 4 of our Document 002-PS and is from the head of the Executive Council of the Reich Research Council, addressed to the Reich Surgeon of SS and Police. It is dated 19 February 1943. I quote the first three paragraphs of the letter:

“The Reich Minister of Finance told me that you requested 53
leading positions . . . for your office, partly for new research
institutes.

“After the Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich has as
President of the Reich Research Council entrusted himself with
all German research, he issued directives, among other things,
that in the execution of scientific tasks important for war, the
available institutions including equipment and personnel should
be utilized to the utmost for reasons of necessary economy of
effort.

“The foundation of new institutes comes therefore in question
only insofar as there are no outstanding institutes for the
furtherance of important war research tasks.”

I omit the rest of the letter.

To this letter the Reich Surgeon of the SS and Police replied on the 26 February 1943. The reply will be found on Page 2 of the English translation. It is a letter from the Reich Surgeon SS and Police to the head of the Executive Council of the Reich Research Department, dated 26 February 1943. I quote the first three paragraphs of that letter. It begins:

“My Dear Ministerial Director:

“In acknowledgment of your correspondence of 19 February 1943, I
am able to reply the following to it today:

“The statement of the budget for the 53 key positions of my
office which you made the basis of your memorandum was a
veritable peace plan.

“The special institutes of the SS which are to be filled, in
part, with these positions should serve the purpose to establish
and make accessible for the entire realm of scientific research
the particular possibilities of research only possessed by the
SS.”

Omitting the next two paragraphs, I continue:

“I will gladly be at your disposal at any time to discuss the
particular research aims, in connection with the SS, which I
would like to bring up after the war upon the direction of the
Reichsführer SS.”

An interview between the Reich Surgeon and Mentzel, the author of the original letter, took place; and on the 25th of March 1943 Mentzel wrote a letter to the Reich Minister of Finance, which will be found on Page 1 of the translation. It is a letter from the President of the Reich Research Department, Head of the Executive Council, to the Reich Minister of Finance, dated 25 March 1943. The letter begins:

“In regard to your correspondence of 19 December”—and then
follows the serial number of the letter—“to which I gave you a
preliminary communication on 19 February, I finally take the
following position:

“The Reich Surgeon SS and Police, in a personal discussion, told
me that the budget claim which he looked after is used primarily
in the pure military sector of the Waffen-SS. Since it is
established on a smaller scale for the enlarging of scientific
research possibilities, they pertain exclusively to such
affairs, which are carried out with the material (prisoners)
which is only accessible to the Waffen-SS and are therefore not
to be undertaken by any other experimental office. I cannot
object therefore on behalf of the Reich Research Council against
the budget claim of the Reich Surgeon SS and Police.”

The letter is signed, “Mentzel, Ministerial Director.”

Thus it was because the SS was in a position to supply material for the program of experiments that it took the lead in that field of endeavor.

THE PRESIDENT: Does the letter on Page 4 mean that the Defendant Göring was President of the Reich Research Department?

MAJOR FARR: Page 4 of the translation? That I understand to be the case. The point of the letter being that Göring had laid down the rule that during the war there was to be no duplication of experimental facilities. Therefore, the Reich Research Department to whom the Minister of Finance had turned for an opinion, asked the Reich Surgeon, “Why do you want to carry out this program of experiments?”

THE PRESIDENT: I was only asking whether the President of the Reich Research Department was the Defendant Göring.

MAJOR FARR: That is what is stated in the letter. I understand that to be the case.

THE PRESIDENT: Then what do the words, “President of the Reich Research Department” on Page 1 mean? Does that mean that the letter went to the Defendant Göring?

MAJOR FARR: No. The letterhead bears the notation “President of the Reich Research Department,” and the letter proceeds from an office of that department, Head of the Executive Council. The letter was addressed to the Reich Minister of Finance.

THE PRESIDENT: I see.

MAJOR FARR: I have concluded the concentration camp phase.

THE PRESIDENT: We will recess now for 10 minutes.

[_A recess was taken._]

THE PRESIDENT: It will perhaps be convenient that I should announce that the Tribunal will adjourn today at 4 o’clock.

MAJOR FARR: Through its activities with respect to concentration camps, the SS performed part of its mission to safeguard the security of the Nazi regime. But another specialized aspect of that mission must not be forgotten. The Tribunal will recall Himmler’s definition of that task—a definition I referred to earlier—the prevention of a Jewish-Bolshevist revolution of subhumans; in plain words, participation in the Nazi program of Jewish persecution and extermination.

It would be idle for me to refer again at any length to the evidence relating to that program which the Tribunal heard a day or so ago from Major Walsh. I want to call attention to just a few documents showing how the program involved every branch and component of the SS.

The racial philosophy of the SS, which I dealt with at the very outset, made that organization a natural agency for the execution of all types of anti-Semitic measures. The SS position on the Jewish question was publicly stated in the SS newspaper _Das Schwarze Corps_, the issue of August 8, 1940, by its editor, Gunter d’Alquen, a statement which has already been read into evidence as Exhibit Number USA-269. It is our Document 2668-PS. I shall not repeat that quotation in which D’Alquen says that the Jewish question will not be solved until the last Jew has been deported, and that the German peace which awaits Europe must be a peace without Jews.

The attempted solution of the Jewish question through the “spontaneous” demonstrations in Germany, following the murder of Vom Rath in November of 1938, has been presented to the Tribunal. In those demonstrations all branches of the SS were called on to play a part. I refer to the teletype message from SS Gruppenführer Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police and SD, issued on the 10th of November 1938. It is our Document 3051-PS. Portions of that teletype have already been read into evidence as Exhibit Number USA-240. I wish to read one further paragraph, which has not been read. It appears on Page 2 of the translation, the fourth paragraph. I quote:

“The direction of the measures of the Security Police concerning
the demonstrations against Jews is vested with the organs of the
State Police”—by which he means the Gestapo—“inasmuch as the
inspectors of the Security Police are not issuing their own
orders. In order to carry out the measures of the Security
Police, officials of the Criminal Police as well as members of
the SD, of the Verfügungstruppe, and the Allgemeine SS may be
used.”

With the outbreak of the war and the march of Nazi armies over Europe, the SS participated in solving the Jewish question in other countries in Europe. The solution was nothing short of extermination. To a large degree these wholesale murders were disguised under the name of “anti-partisan” or “anti-guerilla” actions and as such they included as victims not merely Jews but Soviets, Poles, and other Eastern peoples. With this anti-partisan activity I shall deal in a few moments.

I want to refer now to a few actions confined essentially to Jews. To take one example—the mass annihilation of Jews in gas vans—described in our document 501-PS, which was read into the record by Major Walsh as Exhibit Number USA-288. I do not think that that document appears in the document book, because I am not going to read from it. I simply want to point out that these gas vans, as appears from the letters, were operated by the Security Police and SD under the direction of RSHA. Or to take another example—the report entitled, “Solution of the Jewish Question in Galicia,” our Document L-18, prepared by SS Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Police Katzmann and rendered to SS Obergruppenführer and General of the Police Krüger—that report has already been received in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-277. The Tribunal will recall that the solution, which consisted in the evacuation and extermination of all the Jews in Galicia and the confiscation of their property, was carried out under the energetic direction of the SS and Police Leaders with the assistance of SS Police units. I wish to read three short items in the report which have not already been read. The first is a text under a photograph which appears on Page 3 of the translation and on Page 3(a) of the original report. It is the first item on Page 3 of the translation. I quote: “Great was the joy of the SS men when the Reichsführer SS in person in 1942 visited some camps along the Rollbahn.”

The second is a balance sheet, which appears on Page 11 of the translation and Page 17 of the report. I read Item 3 on the balance sheet:

“3. Amount paid over to the SS cashier: a. Camps, 6,867,251.00
zlotys; b. industrial and armament factories, 6,556,513.69
zlotys; total, 13,423,764.69 zlotys.

“Further payments to the SS cashier are effected every month.”

The third item I desire to read is the last two paragraphs of the report found on Page 20 of the translation and on Page 64 of the original document. I read the last two paragraphs of the report:

“Despite the extraordinary burden heaped upon every single SS
Police Officer during these actions, mood and spirit of the men
were extraordinarily good and praiseworthy from the first to the
last day.

“Due to the high personal sense of duty of every single leader
and man we have succeeded in getting rid of this plague in so
short a time.”

The final example of SS participation in Jewish extermination to which I shall call the Tribunal’s attention is the infamous report by SS Brigadeführer and Major General of the Police Stroop, on the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, our Document 1061-PS. That report was introduced in evidence by Major Walsh as Exhibit Number USA-275, and the Tribunal indicated that it would take the whole report in evidence without the necessity of reading it in full. I shall not, therefore, read any further passages; but I do want to point out specifically two sections dealing with the constitution of the forces which participated in that fearful action. On Page 1 of the translation is a table of the units used.

THE PRESIDENT: It is here?

MAJOR FARR: Our Document 1061-PS. I am just going to call your attention to the table of units which were employed in this action, indicating the average number of officers and men from each unit employed per day. It will be observed that among the units involved were the staff of the SS and Police Leader, two battalions of the Waffen-SS, two battalions of the 22d SS Police Regiment, and members of the Security Police. The part played by the Waffen-SS came in for high praise from the writer of the report. The Tribunal will recall the passage which was read by Major Walsh in which reference was made to the toughness of the men of the Waffen-SS, the Police, and the Wehrmacht and in which the writer said that “considering that the greater part of the men of the Waffen-SS had been trained for only 3 or 4 weeks before being assigned to this action, high credit should be given to them for the pluck, courage, and devotion which they showed.”

The Tribunal has already heard Himmler’s proud boast of the part that the SS played in the extermination of the Jews. It occurs in his Posen speech, our Document 1919-PS, and was read into the record in the presentation of the case dealing with concentration camps. The passage to which I refer appears on about the middle of Page 4 of the translation and on Page 66 of the original. Since that passage has already been read, it is unnecessary for me to quote it again; but I do want the Tribunal to note that Himmler stated that only the SS could have carried out this extermination program of the Jews and that its participation in that program was a page of glory in its history which could never be fully appreciated.

I now turn to the manner in which the SS fitted into the aggressive war program of the conspirators and, too, its responsibility for the Crimes against Peace which were alleged in the Indictment. From its very beginning, it made prime contributions to the conspirators’ aggressive war aims.

First, it served as one of the para-military organizations under which the conspirators disguised their building up of an army in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Second, through affiliated SS organizations in other countries and through some of the departments in its own Supreme Command, it fostered Fifth Column movements outside Germany and prepared the way for aggression. Third, through its militarized units, it participated in aggressive actions which eventually were carried out.

The Tribunal has just heard the evidence against the SA, which demonstrated that from 1933 to 1938 the SA were militarized and were in fact nothing but a camouflaged army. Some of that evidence referred to the SS as well. The para-military character of the Allgemeine SS is apparent. I have already described the military character of its structure, the military discipline required of its members, and the steps it took to enlist in its ranks young men of military age. In addition to this volunteer army, the SS created as early as 1933 fully armed professional units. These were the SS Verfügungstruppe and the Death’s-Head Units with which I have dealt yesterday.

While building up the SS as a military force within Germany, the conspirators also utilized it in other countries to lay the groundwork for aggression. The evidence, presented by Mr. Alderman, of the preparations for the seizure of Austria showed the part played by the SS Standarte 89 in the murder of Dollfuss and described the memorial plaque which was erected as a tribute to the SS men who participated in that murder. I refer to Exhibit Number USA-59 and USA-60, our Document Number L-273 and 2968-PS, which were introduced by Mr. Alderman. The Tribunal will recall the subsequent story of the events of the night of March 11, 1938, when the SS marched into Vienna and occupied all government buildings and important posts in the city—a story unfolded in Exhibit Number USA-61, our Document Number 812-PS, the report of Gauleiter Rainer which was read in evidence by Mr. Alderman, and in our Document Number 2949-PS, Exhibit Number USA-76, the record of the telephone conversation between the Defendant Göring and Dombrowski, which appears on Page 570 of the transcript of the record (Volume II, Page 417).

The same pattern was repeated in Czechoslovakia. Henlein’s Free Corps played in that country the part of Fifth Column which the Austrian SS had played in Austria, and it was rewarded by being placed under the jurisdiction of the Reichsführer SS in September 1938. I refer to our Document 388-PS, which was read in evidence by Mr. Alderman as Exhibit Number USA-26.

The items touched are Items 37 and 38 of the so-called Schmundt file. Moreover, as shown by Item 36 of that file, which Mr. Alderman read into the record, the SS had its own armed units—four battalions of the Totenkopf Verbände—actually operating in Czechoslovakia before the Munich Pact was signed. SS preparations for aggression in Czechoslovakia were not confined to military forces. One of the departments of the SS Supreme Command—the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle—which is represented on the chart by the third box from the top at the extreme right—was a center for Fifth Column activity. The Tribunal may recall the secret meeting between Hitler and Henlein in March 1938, described in notes of the German Foreign Office, Exhibit Number USA-95, at which the line to be followed by the Sudeten German Party was determined. The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle was represented at that meeting by Professor Haushofer and SS Obergruppenführer Lorenz. And when the Foreign Office, in August 1938, awarded further subsidies to Henlein’s Sudeten Party, the memorandum of that recommendation for further subsidies contained the significant footnote “Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle will be informed. . . .” I refer to Exhibit Number USA-96, our Document 3059-PS, which was read into the record by Mr. Alderman, at Pages 789 and 790 (Volume III, Pages 75 and 76).

When at last the time came to strike, the SS was ready. I quote from the _National Socialist Yearbook_ for 1940, our Document 2164-PS, Exhibit Number USA-255, on Page 1, Paragraph 2, of the translation, Page 365 of the original, Paragraph 3:

“When the march into the liberated provinces of the Sudetenland
began, on that memorable 1st of October 1938, the emergency
forces”—Verfügungstruppe—“as well as the Death’s-Head
Units”—Totenkopf Verbände—“were along with those in the lead.”

I omit the balance of the paragraph and continue with the next paragraph:

“The 15th of March 1939 brought a similar utilization of the SS
when it served to establish order in the collapsed
Czechoslovakia. This action ended with the founding of the
Protectorate Bohemia-Moravia.

“Only a week later, on the 22d of March 1939, Memel also
returned to the Reich upon basis of an agreement with Lithuania.
Again it was the SS, here above all the East Prussian SS, which
played a prominent part in the liberation of this district.”

In the final act in setting off the war—the attack on Poland in September 1939—the SS acted as a sort of stage manager. The Tribunal will recall the oral testimony of Erwin Lahousen with relation to the simulated attack on the radio station at Gleiwitz, by Germans dressed in Polish uniform—what Lahousen referred to as one of the most mysterious actions which took place in the Abwehr. Describing his task of getting the Polish uniforms and equipment together, he said at Page 620 of the transcript (Volume II, Page 450):

“These articles of equipment had to be prepared, and one day
some man from the SS or the SD—the name is on the official
diary of the War Department—fetched them.”

The war erupted and the Waffen-SS again took its place in the van of the attacking forces.

During the war great use was made of the peculiar qualities possessed by the SS, qualities not only of its combat forces but of its other components as well. I turn now to a consideration of some of the tasks in which the SS was engaged during the war—tasks which embraced the commission of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity described in the Indictment.

The Tribunal has already received in evidence our Document 447-PS as Exhibit Number USA-135. It is a directive issued by the Defendant Keitel, on the 13th of March 1941, covering some of the preparations made 3 months in advance for the attack on Russia. Paragraph 2b of that directive, which was read into the record, provided that in the area of operations the Reichsführer SS was entrusted with special tasks for the preparation of the political administration, tasks which would result from the struggle about to commence between two opposing political systems.

One of the steps taken by the Reichsführer SS to carry out those “special tasks” was the formation and use of so-called “anti-partisan” units. They were discussed by Himmler in his Posen speech, our Document 1919-PS, at Page 3 of the translation, Paragraph 5, Page 57 of the original, last paragraph. I read those two paragraphs in which he discusses the anti-partisan units:

“In the meantime, I have also set up the office of the chief of
the anti-partisan units. Our comrade SS Obergruppenführer Von
dem Bach is chief of the anti-partisan units. I considered it
necessary for the Reichsführer SS to be in authoritative command
in all these battles, for I am convinced that we are best in
position to take action against this enemy struggle, which is
decidedly a political one. Except where units which had been
supplied and which we had formed for this purpose were taken
from us to fill in gaps at the front, we have been very
successful.

“It is notable that by setting up this agency by division,
corps, army in turn, we have gained for the SS the next higher
step—which is the High Command of an army or even a group, if
you wish to call it that.”

What the SS did with its divisions, corps, and army out of which the anti-partisan units were formed, is illustrated in the reports rendered as to the activities of such units. I offer in evidence the Activity and Situation Report 6 of the task forces of the Security Police and SD in the U.S.S.R., covering the period from the 1st to the 31st of October 1941. It is our Document R-102, and will be found in Volume 2 of the document book. It is Exhibit Number USA-470. The report shows that so-called “anti-partisan” activity was actually nothing but a name for extermination of persons believed politically undesirable and of Jews. The report is a very carefully organized and detailed description of such extermination. Section I describes the stations of the various task forces involved, Section II their activities. The latter section is divided into parts, each dealing with a different geographical region—the Baltic area, White Ruthenia, and the Ukraine.

Under each area the report of activities is classified under three headings: (a) Partisan activity and counteraction, (b) arrests and execution of Communists and officials, and (c) Jews. I shall read only a few typical paragraphs selected almost at random.

First, to show the units involved, I quote the second and third paragraphs of Page 4 of the translation, which also appear on Page 1 of the original:

“The present stations are:

“Task Force A, since 7 October 1941 Krasnowardeisk; Task Force
B, continues in Smolensk; Task Force C, since 27 September 1941
in Kiev; Task Force D, since 27 September 1941 in Nikolaiev.

“The action and special commandos”—Einsatz- und
Sonderkommandos—“which are attached to the task force continue
on the march with the advancing troops into the sectors which
have been assigned to them.”

I shall now read from the section headed “Baltic area” and subsection labelled “Jews,” beginning with the first paragraph on Page 5 of the translation, Page 8 of the original, second paragraph:

“The male Jews over 16 were executed with the exception of
doctors and the elders. At the present time this action is still
in progress. After completion of this action there will remain
only 500 Jewesses and children in Ostland.”

I skip now to the section headed “White Ruthenia,” the subsection headed, “Partisan activity and counteraction.” The paragraph I shall read begins on Page 6, Paragraph 5 of the translation, found on Page 11, Paragraph 1 of the original. I quote:

“In Wultschina eight juveniles were arrested as partisans and
shot. They were inmates of a children’s home. They had collected
weapons which they hid in the woods. Upon search the following
were found: 3 heavy machine guns, 15 rifles, several thousand
rounds of ammunition, several hand grenades, and several
packages of poison gas Ebrit.

“b) Arrests and executions of Communists, officials, and
criminals. A further large part of the activity of the Security
Police was devoted to the combatting of Communists and
criminals. A special Commando in the period covered by this
report executed 63 officials, NKGB agents, and agitators.”

The subsection on arrests and executions of Communists, officials, and criminals in White Ruthenia ends as follows; and I read from Page 6 of the translation, Paragraph 14, Page 12 of the original, Paragraph 5:

“The liquidations for the period covered by this report have
reached a total of 37,180 persons.”

The final item I shall quote is from the section headed “Ukraine”, under the subsection, “Jews.” It will be found on Page 8 of the translation, Paragraph 10, Page 18 of the original, next to the last paragraph:

“In Zhitomir 3,145 Jews had to be shot, because from experience
they have to be regarded as bearers of Bolshevik propaganda and
saboteurs.”

This report, the Tribunal will recall, deals with the activities of four task forces: A, B, C, and D. The more detailed report of Task Force A up to 15 October 1941 is our Document L-180. It has already been introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-276 and some paragraphs were read from it. It will be referred to again in the case against the Gestapo. I desire to read only two paragraphs, which show the great variety of SS components in such a task force.

I might point out to the Court that this elaborately bound report, which the Court has already seen, has a sort of pocket-part supplement in which appears a breakdown of the personnel engaged in this action, in graphic form. I shall read the component parts which appear on this chart in a moment. First, I will quote from Page 5 of the translation, fourth paragraph . . .

THE PRESIDENT: Does that book you just put in refer to the extermination of the Jews in Galicia?

MAJOR FARR: This is the report of Action Group A, an anti-partisan task force which operated in the Baltic States in 1941.

The passage I will read appears on Page 5 of the translation, Paragraph 4 and on Page 12 of the original, first paragraph; I quote:

“This description of the over-all situation shows that the
members of the Gestapo”—the Secret State Police—“Kripo”—that
is the Criminal Police—“and the SD”—Security Service—“who are
attached to the task-force group, are active mainly in
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, White Ruthenia, and to a lesser
extent, in front of Leningrad. It shows further that the forces
of the uniformed police and the Waffen-SS are active mainly in
front of Leningrad, in order to take measures under their own
officers against the streaming back of the population. This is
so much easier because the task forces in Lithuania, Latvia, and
Estonia have at their disposal native police units, as described
in Enclosure 1, and because so far 150 Latvian reinforcements
have been sent to White Ruthenia.

“The distribution of the leaders of Security Police and SD
during the individual phases can be gathered from Enclosure 2;
the advance and activities of the task force group and the task
force commands, from Enclosure 3. It should be mentioned that
the leaders of the Waffen-SS and of the uniformed police, who
are on the reserve, have declared their wish to stay with the
Security Police and the SD.”

I now quote from Enclosure 1a which was referred to, showing the constitution of the force. This will be found on Page 14 of the translation. It is the graphic chart which I showed the Court a few moments ago, the translation having simply the breakdown of the components. I quote:

“Total strength of Task Force Group A, 990; Waffen-SS, 340, 34.4
percent; drivers, 172, 17.4 percent; administration, 18, 1.8
percent; Security Service”—SD—“35, 3.5 percent; Criminal
Police”—Kripo—“41, 4.1 percent; State Police”—Stapo—“89, 9.0
percent; auxiliary police, 87, 8.8 percent; Order Police, 133,
13.4 percent; female employees, 13, 1.3 percent; interpreters,
51, 5.1 percent; telautograph operators, 3, 0.3 percent,
wireless operators, 8, 0.8 percent.”

The Tribunal will observe that in that list there appear the Waffen-SS, the SD, Criminal Police, the Gestapo, and the ordinary police, all of which were part of the SS or under SS jurisdiction.

One final report of anti-partisan activity may be referred to. It is a report from the General Commissar for White Ruthenia to the Reich Minister for Occupied Eastern Territories. It is our Document R-135, which I think is in the document book under 1475-PS—two document numbers have been combined. That document was introduced into evidence by Major Walsh as Exhibit Number USA-289, and he read into the record the letter from the Reich Commissar of the Eastern Territories transmitting the report in question. The letter he read appears on Page 1 of the translation. I desire to read a paragraph or two from the report itself, which is found on Page 3 of the translation. It deals with the results of the police operation “Cottbus.” I quote the first paragraph:

“SS Brigadeführer, Major General of Police Von Gottberg reports
that the operation ‘Cottbus’ had the following result during the
period mentioned: Enemy dead, 4,500; dead suspected of belonging
to bands, 5,000; German dead, 59.”

I think it is unnecessary to continue further with the list. I skip to the fourth paragraph of the report:

“The figures mentioned above indicate that again a heavy
destruction of the population must be expected. If only 492
rifles are taken from 4,500 enemy dead, this discrepancy shows
that among these enemy dead were numerous peasants from the
country. The Battalion Dirlewanger especially has a reputation
for destroying many human lives. Among the 5,000 people
suspected of belonging to bands, there were numerous women and
children.