WAR CRIMES
TRIALS

By Carlos W. Porter

Revised: 3/1/98

In my book, Not Guilty at Nuremberg, I wrote: "Telford Taylor was incapable of repeating the simplest statement truthfully. (See XX 626, the statements of General Manstein, compared with Taylor's 'quotation' from Manstein, XXII 276."

The following are "quotations" from Taylor (Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials, Back Bay Books, Little Brown & Co., paperback, by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1992), compared with actual quotations from the Nuremberg Trial transcript (IMT). Bold-red type is used to indicate quotations out of context, and bold only occasionally for emphasis.

MANSTEIN ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"We are not concerned here with the ordinary German conscript who made up the bulk of the Wehrmacht. We are concerned entirely with professional soldiers, and with the most zealous, ambitious, and able German officers in the business. Most of them chose a military career because it was in their blood: as Manstein put it, 'they considered the glory of war as something great.' They slaved at it and were devoted to their profession, and if they reached the status commander-in-chief, they were, like Manstein, proud that an army had been entrusted to them."

(IMT XXII 276)

And again: "For some of the generals, war was ingrained. Manstein 'considered the glory of war as something great'"

(ANATOMY, p. 531)

 

WHAT MANSTEIN ACTUALLY SAID:

"I have been a soldier for forty years. I come from a family of soldiers and I have grown up with military conceptions. The example from amongst my nearest relatives which I had before me was the old Hindenburg. We young officers naturally considered the glory of war as something great, and I do not wish to deny that I was proud that during the war an army was entrusted to me. But our ideal, and that applies to my comrades too, did not lie in the conducting of war but in the education of our youth to be honourable citizens and decent soldiers. Under our orders that youth of ours went to death by the million. And if I may say something personal: my eldest son died as a lieutenant in the infantry, when he was 19; two of my sons-in-law, who grew up in my house, died as young officers; my best comrades in this war, my young adjutant and my young chauffeur, were killed. Nearly all the sons of my brothers and sisters were killed. That we, the old soldiers, should have led into war for a criminal purpose that youth of ours which was so dear to us, would far exceed any wickedness of which man could be thought capable. It is possible that man without a family and without tradition, who is obsessed with fanatical belief in a higher mission, may go beyond the limits of human law, but we, the old soldiers, purely from a human point of view, would not have been able to do so. We could not lead our youth into crime."

(IMT XX 626)

 

RIBBENTROP ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"Joachim von Ribbentrop's statement was angry and stupid, but it is hard to see what he could have said to better his position. "I am held responsible", said he, "for the conduct of a foreign policy which was determined by another". True, but not enough to mitigate the willing support of Hitler's policies from the annexation of Austria to the eventual collapse of the Thousand Year Reich. Ribbentrop purported to "deplore the atrocious crimes which became known to me here", but was silent about his full participation in the deportation of Jews from France and the other German occupied countries to the extermination camps in Eastern Europe. With a final snarl, Ribbentrop declared: "The only thing of which I consider myself guilty before my people -- and before this Tribunal -- is that my aspirations in foreign policy remained without success." To which the listener can only reply: "'Thank God!"

(ANATOMY, p. 537)

 

[Note: the quotation given three lines above is incorrect: it should read: "-- and not before this Tribunal --".]

WHAT RIBBENTROP ACTUALLY SAID:

"This trial was to be conducted for the purpose of discovering the historical truth. From the point of view of German policy I can only say:

"This trial will go down in history as a model example of how, while appealing to hitherto unknown legal formulas and the spirit of fairness, one can evade the cardinal problems of twenty-five years of the gravest human history.

"If the roots of our trouble lie in the Treaty of Versailles -- and they do lie there -- was it really to the purpose to prevent a discussion about a treaty which even the intelligent men among its authors had characterized as the source of future trouble, while some of the wisest men were predicting that a new world war would be caused by some of its faults.

"I have devoted more than twenty years of my life to the elimination of this evil, with the result that foreign statesmen who know about this today write in their affidavits that they did not believe me. They ought to have written that in the interests of their own country they could not believe me. I am held responsible for the conduct of a foreign policy which was determined by another. I know only this much of it, that it never concerned itself with plans for world domination, but rather, for example, with the elimination of the consequences of Versailles and with the food problems of the German people.

"If I deny that this German foreign policy planned and prepared for a war of aggression, that is not an exercise on my part. The truth of this is proved by the strength that we developed in the course of the Second World War and how weak we were at its beginning.

"History will believe us when I say that we would have prepared a war of aggression immeasurably better if we had actually intended one. What we intended was to look after our elementary necessities of life, in the same way that England looked after her own interests in order to make one-fifth of the world subject to her and in the same way that the United States brought an entire continent and Russia the largest inland territory of the world under their hegemony. The only difference between the policies of these countries and ours was that we demanded parcels of land such as Danzig and the Corridor, which were taken unjustly from us, whereas the other Powers were accustomed to thinking only in terms of continents.

"Before the establishment of the Charter of this Tribunal, even the signatory Powers of the London Agreement must have had different views about International Law and policy from what they have today. When I went to Marshal Stalin in Moscow in 1939, he did not discuss with me the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the German-Polish conflict within the framework of the Kellogg-Briand Pact: but rather he hinted that if, in addition to half of Poland and the Baltic countries, he did not receive Lithuania and the harbour of Libau, I might as well return home.

"In 1939 the waging of war was obviously not yet regarded as an international crime against peace, otherwise I could not explain Stalin's telegram at the conclusion of the Polish campaign, which read:

'The friendship of Germany and the Soviet Union, based on the blood which they have shed together, has every prospect of being a firm and lasting one.'

"Here I should like to emphasize and stress the fact that even I ardently desired this friendship at that time. Of this friendship there remains today only the primary problem for Europe and the world: Will Asia dominate Europe, or will the Western Powers be able to stem or even push back the influence of the Soviets at the Elbe, at the Adriatic coast and at the Dardanelles?

"In other words, Great Britain and the United States today face the same dilemma as Germany faced at the time when I was carrying out negotiations with Russia. For my country's sake I hope with all my heart that they may be more successful in achieving a satisfactory solution than we were.

"Now, what has already been proved in this Trial about the criminal character of German foreign policy? That out of more than 300 defence documents which were submitted, 150 were rejected without cogent reasons. That the files of the enemy and even of the Germans were inaccessible to the defence. That Churchill's friendly hint to me that if Germany became too strong she would be destroyed, is declared irrelevant in judging the motives of German foreign policy before this forum. A revolution does not become more comprehensible if it is to be considered from the point of a conspiracy.

"Fate made me one of the exponents of this revolution. I deplore the atrocious crimes which became known to me here and which besmirch this revolution. But I cannot measure all of them according to puritanical standards, and the less so since I have seen that even the enemy, in spite of total victory, were neither able nor willing to prevent atrocities of the most extensive kind.

"One can regard the theory of the conspiracy as one will, but from the point of view of the critical observer it is only a makeshift solution. Anybody who has held a decisive position in the Third Reich knows that it simply represents an historical falsehood, and the authors of the Charter of this Tribunal have only proved with their invention from what background they derived their line of thought.

"I might as well assert that the signatory Powers of this Charter had formed a conspiracy for the suppression of the primary needs of a highly developed, capable, and courageous nation. When I look back upon my actions and my desires, then I can conclude only this: The only thing of which I consider myself guilty before my people -- and not before this Tribunal -- is that my aspirations in foreign policy remained without success."

(IMT XXII 373-375)

 

HESS ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"But after reading for twenty minutes or more, Hess lapsed into incoherent repetition, for example:

'However, at that time the world was confronted with an insoluble riddle, the same riddle which confronts it today with regard to the happenings in the German concentration camps. At that time the English people were confronted with an incomprehensible riddle, the same riddle which today confronts the German people with regard to the happenings in the German concentration camps.'

That last sentence was then repeated, substituting 'South African' concentration camps, and then again, substituting 'Reich Cabinet' for 'English people.'"

(ANATOMY, p. 536)

 

WHAT HESS ACTUALLY SAID:

"It is a historical fact that a monument was erected to 26,370 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps, and who, for the most part, died of hunger. Many Englishmen at that time, among others Lloyd George, protested strongly against these happenings in British concentration camps, and likewise an English eyewitness, Miss Emily Hopfords. However, at that time the world was confronted with an insoluble riddle, the same riddle which confronts it today with regards to the happenings in the German concentration camps.

"Then the English people were confronted with an incomprehensible riddle, the same riddle which today confronts the German people with regard to the happenings in the German concentration camps. Indeed, at the time the British Government itself was confronted with a riddle regarding the happenings in the South African concentration camps, with the same riddle which today confronts the members of the late Reich Cabinet and the other defendants, here and in other trials, regarding the happenings in the German concentration camps."

(IMT XXII 371)

 

And finally, once again:

MANSTEIN ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"I then offered in evidence the new document of November 20, 1941, signed by Manstein, which reads in part:

'Since 22 June the German people have been engaged in a life-and-death struggle against the Bolshevist system.

'This struggle is not being carried on against the Soviet armed forces alone in the established form laid down by European rules of warfare...

[Note deletions]

'The Jewish-Bolshevist system must be exterminated once and for all. Never again must it encroach upon our European living space.

'The German soldier has therefore not only the task of crushing the military potential of this system. He comes also as the bearer of a racial concept and as the avenger of all the cruelties which have been perpetrated on him and on the German people...

[Note deletions]

'The soldier must appreciate the necessity for the harsh punishment of Jewry, the spiritual bearer of the Bolshevist terror. This is also necessary in order to nip in the bud all uprisings, which are mostly plotted by Jews.'

"Manstein feebly insisted that he could not remember the document, but admitted that he had signed it. His credibility was shattered..."

(ANATOMY, p. 520)

 

[Note: The passage continues with much bragging about Taylor's immense cleverness.]

WHAT MANSTEIN ACTUALLY SAID:

COL. TAYLOR: I will now ask that the witness be shown a new Document 4064-PS, USA-927.

[Note: the document is a mimeograph with a mimeographed signature. There was never the slightest pretense that it bore Manstein's original signature or that Manstein recognized it as such.]

Will you look at this order, witness, and tell us if this is not a document issued out of your headquarters and signed with your facsimile signature on 20th November, 1941? It is already on the record.

A: I must first read the document thoroughly. I do not recollect this order.

COL. TAYLOR: Is that your signature?

A: It looks like it, but I must first of all read the order to see whether I gave it or not.

COL. TAYLOR: The document, as indicated at the top of the page, states XXX Corps IC Ref. IC. That is the intelligence office, is it not?

A: Yes, that is the name of the office that dealt with enemy intelligence and countering enemy sabotage. It has nothing to do with Secret Service as such.

COL. TAYLOR: And just below there is a stamp of the 72nd Division, 27th November 1941, Diary no. Ic, and at the left it appears to have been signed by Army High Command at II at Army Headquarters, 20th November 1941. Secret. I quote:

"Since the 22nd June the German people have been engaged in a life-and-death struggle against the Bolshevist system.

"This struggle is not being carried on against the Soviet armed forces alone in the established form laid down by European rules of warfare.

"Behind the front, too, the fighting continues. Partisan snipers dressed as civilians attack single soldiers and small units, and try to disrupt our supplies by sabotage with mines and infernal machines. Bolshevists left behind keep the population, freed from Bolshevism, in a state of unrest by means of terror, and attempt thereby to sabotage the political and economic pacification of the country. Harvests and factories are destroyed and the city population in particular is thereby ruthlessly delivered to starvation.

"Jewry constitutes the middleman between the enemy in the rear and the remainder of the Red armed forces which is still fighting and the Red leadership. More strongly than in Europe, it holds all the key positions in the political leadership and administration, controls commerce and trade, and further forms the nucleus for all unrest and possible uprisings.

"The Jewish-Bolshevist system must be exterminated (ausgerottet werden) once and for all. Never again must it encroach upon our European living space.

"The German soldier has therefore not only the task of crushing the military potential of this system. He comes also as the bearer of a racial concept and as the avenger of all the cruelties which have been perpetrated on him and on the German people.

"The fight behind the lines is not yet being taken seriously enough. Active co-operation of all soldiers must be demanded in the disarming of the population, the control and arrest of all roving soldiers and civilians and the removal of Bolshevist symbols.

"Every instance of sabotage must be punished immediately with the severest measures, and all signs thereof must be reported.

"The food situation at home makes it essential that the troops should as far as possible be fed off the land, and that furthermore the largest possible stocks should be placed at the disposal of the homeland. Particularly in enemy cities a large part of the population will have to go hungry. Nevertheless nothing which the homeland had sacrificed itself to contribute may, out of a misguided sense of humanity, be given to soldiers or to the population unless they are in the service of the German Wehrmacht.

"The soldier must appreciate the necessity for the harsh punishment of Jewry, the spiritual bearer of the Bolshevist terror. This is also necessary in order to nip in the bud all uprisings, which are mostly attributable to Jews.

"It is the task of leaders at all levels to keep constantly alive the meaning of the present struggle. Support for the Bolshevist fight behind the front by way of thoughtlessness must be prevented.

"It is to be expected of the non-Bolshevist Ukrainians, Russians, and Tartars that they will be converted to the New Order. The non-participation of numerous alleged anti-Soviet elements must give place to a definite decision in favour of active co-operation against Bolshevism. Where it does not exist it must be forced by suitable measures.

"Voluntary co-operation in the reconstruction of occupied territory is an absolute necessity for the achievement of our economic and political aims.

"It has as its condition a just treatment of all non-Bolshevist sections of the population, some of whom have for years fought heroically against Bolshevism.

"The ruling of this country demands from us results, strictness with ourselves and submergence of the individual. The bearing of every soldier is constantly under supervision. It can make enemy propaganda ineffective or give it a springboard. If the soldier in the country takes from the peasant the last cow, the breeding sow, the last chicken or the seed, then no restoration of the economy can be achieved.

"In all measures it is not the momentary success which is decisive. All measures must, therefore, be judged by their effectiveness over a period of time.

"Respect for religious customs, particularly those of Mohammedan Tartars, must be demanded.

"In pursuance of these concepts there are other measures besides to be carried out by the later administration. The enlightenment of the population by propaganda, encouragement of personal initiative, e.g., by prizes, extensive detailing of the population towards fighting the partisans and expansion of the local auxiliary police must be given more significance.

"For the achievement of this object the following must be demanded:

"Active co-operation of soldiers in the fight against the enemy in the rear.
No soldier to go about alone at night.
All motor vehicles to be equipped with adequate armament.
A self-reassured but not overbearing attitude from all soldiers.
No waste of food
Severest action to be taken:
Against despotism and self-seeking.
Against lawlessness and lack of discipline.
Against every transgression of the honour of a soldier."

And it appears that it is to be distributed right down to the regiments and independent battalions.

Did you not issue that order as a result of the suggestion which came to you with the Reichenau order? The resemblance between the two is, to say the least, striking and the date is about the same.

A: I must say that this order escapes my memory entirely. According to the signature and particularly what is contained in the last part, I must assume that the order is genuine and was issued by me. Whether it was given on the strength of the Reichenau order or not I cannot possible tell you now. But I do want to point out to you that if it says here that the system must be exterminated ausgerottet werden, then that is the extermination Ausrottung of the Bolshevist system but not the extermination Ausrottung of human beings.

I must further point out to you that nowhere in there mention of collaboration with the SD, a collaboration which, because of the lack of knowledge we had of the doings of the SD, was out of the question in this area. I must point out to you the demands which I made of my soldiers -- namely, that they must not take the last cow away from the farmers, that they must respect religious customs, that they must respect the other sex and that, on the other hand, they naturally must not be careless of the danger of partisans, as unfortunately the German always was. I point out to you that any wilfulness and self-seeking is expressly prohibited, also any barbarism, any lack of discipline, and most of all any breach of the honour of a soldier.

COL. TAYLOR: You were asked about the Reichenau order before the Commissioner, were you not? You were asked, and I read on page... I will have to find the page, your Honour. I have a typed copy here, your Honour, without the page reference.

Were you questioned before the Commissioner as follows:

"You know the order of General Reichenau in which he stated that there should be no consideration shown to the civilian population? Did you see the order, and did it have any influence whatever on your attitude and that of your troops to the civilian population?"

And you answered:

"We were informed of this order upon the suggestion of the Fuehrer, but none of the other leaders were of the same opinion as Reichenau, and it was never carried out, especially in my area."

You had not forgotten the Reichenau order, had you?

A: I had quite forgotten the Reichenau order until it appeared amongst the other documents here, and I have no recollection of this order of mine. After all, that is not surprising, because that is a number of years ago, and during there years I have signed hundreds, if not thousands, of orders, and I cannot possible remember every detail.

COL. TAYLOR: Did you sign a lot of orders like this one? Is that why you have such difficulty remembering it?

A: No, I certainly have not signed a lot of orders like this one, but I have signed a lot of other orders. Particularly, I had to write and read a large number of reports and if I forgot this order, a fact which I admit, it is not surprising. I only know that this order, at any rate, as opposed to the Reichenau order, very strongly emphasizes the demands which I made for decent behaviour on the part of my soldiers. That, after all, is the important point.

COL. TAYLOR: You remember the Reichenau order, and you remember that it suggested that you pass it down, and the only thing you have forgotten is that you did?

A: No, I said that I only remembered the Reichenau order when I came here, when it was shown to me among other documents, and when I was before the Commission, also that, try as I might, I did not recollect giving that order. If I had done so, I would most certainly have mentioned it, because the first part of the order is absolutely contrary to my conceptions.

COL. TAYLOR: You think that you wrote the second part and not the first?

A: I did not write the order at all myself. Very probably the order was shown to me in draft and then I signed it. If the first part mentions the fight against the system and the extermination of the system as well as the fight against the Jews as the supporters of the Partisan movement, in the last analysis, it had its proper justification. But all that has nothing to do with the fact that Jews were to be exterminated. They were to be excluded, and the system was to be removed. That is the point that matters.

COL. TAYLOR: I think you told the Tribunal a few minutes ago that you did not even know that Jews were likely to be opposed to the new administration. It looks as if you very definitely wrote that for the attention of your soldiers, does it not?

A: No, I did not know that, and this order that Jews were to be exterminated cannot possibly recall it to my memory, because it does not mention a word about the Jews being exterminated. It merely says that the system is to be exterminated.

COL. TAYLOR: I call your attention to the paragraph:

"The soldier must appreciate the necessity for harsh punishment of Jewry, the spiritual bearer of the Bolshevist terror. This is also necessary in order to nip in the bud all uprisings, which are mostly attributable to Jews."

Now, I ask you, witness, the Einsatzkommandos could not have liquidated Jews without the soldiers knowing something about it, could they? Is that true?

A: It is perfectly possible, because as Ohlendorf has described it the shootings of the Jews were camouflaged as "resettlement". The Jews were taken to desolate places and were shot and buried there, so that it is quite certain that the commanding authorities had no knowledge of that. Naturally, it is possible that some soldier or other, quite by accident, may have seen such an execution, and there is fact evidence of it. I remember in the Russian Indictment the description by an engineer, who was present during such a shooting, I believe in the Ukraine in the vicinity of Schitomir or Rovno, and described it in the most horrible terms.

One can only ask why that man did not report it to the command post. The answer is that the fear of the SS was such that this man, instead of reporting this dirty business, kept it to himself and now comes out with it. At that time -- it was not in my zone, but somewhere else -- had he gone to some high military command post and described these events, then I am convinced that the commander in question would have intervened, and then, of course, we would have heard of it. But the fact is that we did not hear about it.

GENERAL TELFORD TAYLOR: One more question on this subject, your Honour.

BY GENERAL TELFORD TAYLOR:

COL. TAYLOR: Witness, is it not true that this order is very carefully drawn so that the troops would understand and, shall we say, sympathize with what the Einsatzkommandos were doing in the way of mass extermination of Jews?

A: You mean my order?

COL. TAYLOR: Yes.

A: No. There can be no question of my ever having urged my troops, even between the lines, to co-operate in such methods. How could I have concluded by stressing the soldier's honour?

GENERAL TELFORD TAYLOR: My Lord, the prosecution has no further questions of this witness.

THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now.

(The Tribunal adjourned until 1000 hours, 12th August, 1946.)

(IMT XX 641-646)

[Note: That Manstein got much the better of the prosecution is apparent when one reads the testimony as a whole, including the direct examination, not reproduced here.]

KALTENBRUNNER ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"Kaltenbrunner now testified that he had no correspondence with the burgomaster of Vienna... (Note: this is untrue. Kaltenbrunner admitted that they were close friends and corresponded frequently). Amen then read to him a letter signed by hand 'Yours Kaltenbrunner'... Amen abandoned all pretense of questioning: "Is it not a fact that you are simply lying about your signature on this letter in the same way that you are lying to the Tribunal about almost everything else you have given testimony about?" Kaltenbrunner lost control and shouted 'for a whole year I have been submitted to this insult of being called a liar.' He spoke incoherently, saying that his mother 'who died in 1943 was called a whore and many other things were hurled at me.' Lawrence told Kaltenbrunner to try to restrain himself..."

(ANATOMY, pp. 361-362)

WHAT KALTENBRUNNER ACTUALLY SAID:

KALTENBRUNNER: Mr Prosecutor, for a whole year I have had to submit to this insult of being called a liar. For a whole year I have been interrogated hundreds of times both here and in London, and I have been insulted in this way and even much worse. My mother, who died in 1943, was called a whore, and many similar things were hurled at me. This term is not new to me but I should like to state that in a matter of this kind I certainly would not tell an untruth when I claim to be believed by this Tribunal in far more important matters.

COL. AMEN: I am suggesting, Defendant, that when your testimony is so directly contrary to that of 20 or 30 other witnesses and even more documents, it is almost an incredible thing that you should be telling the truth and that every witness and every document should be false. Do you not agree to that proposition?

KALTENBRUNNER: No. I cannot admit that, because I have had the feeling that each time a document has been submitted to me today, that it could at first glance be immediately refuted by me in its most vital points. I ask, and I hope that the Tribunal will allow me, to refer to single points and to come into closer contact with individual witnesses, so that I may defend myself to the last. Throughout the preliminary interrogations your colleague has always adopted the attitude unjustly that I was refuting and opposing insignificant points. The conception of expeditious trial proceedings has been unknown to me in this form. Had he talked to me in broad lines about the ways to find out the real truth, I believe he would have sooner arrived at considerably larger and more important issues. I am perhaps the only defendant who, on receiving the Indictment and being asked "Are you ready to make any further statements to the Prosecution", stated "Immediately", and I signed it -- please produce the signature -- "from today on after receiving the Indictment I am at the disposal of the Prosecution for any information". Is it not so? Please confirm it. That gentleman <pointing to an interpreter> interrogated me. I have always been ready, that is, during the last 5 months, to give information on any question, but I have not been asked any more.

(IMT XI 348-349)

[Note: Is this incoherent? The document, 3803-PS, is Kaltenbrunner's "letter" to the Mayor of Vienna, SS. Brigadefuehrer Blaschke, dated 30 June 1944. The letter was then forwarded to the Tribunal accompanied by a "cover letter" from the succeeding Mayor, Koerner (no first name given), dated 11 March 1946. Typeset versions of both letters are reproduced in Volume XXXIII 167-169 of the IMT document volumes. Having examined photocopies of the originals of both letters very carefully with a magnifying glass, I am absolutely certain that they were both produced on the same typewriter. If this is so, Kaltenbrunner's "letter" would be one of the rare forgeries of an "original document" bearing an "original signature". Since Kaltenbrunner's "letter" purports to be an "original document", it seems strange that its credibility should have to be shored up by a "letter" from the person claiming to have "found" it, particularly when thousands of unsigned "copies" of other documents (such as the Einsatzgruppen reports) were accepted into evidence with nothing more than a rubber stamp and signature from a Soviet army officer or official. One gets the impression the prosecution felt very uneasy about this document for some reason best known to themselves. It should be noted that we do not even know for certain who "Koerner" was, or whether he actually wrote the cover letter involved.

In a real trial, Koerner would appear as a witness, identify the document, and then submit to cross-examination as to the circumstances under which he found the document. The cover letter was probably produced to evade the possibility that the defence might demand his appearance as a witness, a right to which they would theoretically have been entitled had he signed an affidavit.]

Kaltenbrunner's "letter" contains a false geographical term:

"I do not know of the correspondence between the co-defendant Kaltenbrunner and the mayor of Vienna. To my knowledge Camp Strasshof is not within Gau Vienna at all. It is in a different Gau. The designation "Vienna, Strasshof", is, therefore, an error. The borderline runs between."

(Baldur von Schirach, IMT XIV 416)

PAUL SCHMIDT ACCORDING TO TAYLOR

"[Ribbentrop] told Admiral Miklos Horthy, Regent of Hungary, that 'Jews must either be exterminated or taken to concentration camps.'

"... Far worse for his defence was his last witness, Paul Otto Schmidt, who had interpreted at many of Hitler's conferences with foreigners and was bright and well informed. His direct testimony gave Ribbentrop no real help..."

(ANATOMY, p. 352)

WHAT PAUL SCHMIDT ACTUALLY SAID:

SCHMIDT: During this conference there had been a certain difficulty, when Hitler insisted that Horthy should proceed more drastically in the Jewish question, and Horthy answered with some heat, "But what am I supposed to do? Shall I perhaps beat them to death?

[Note: The verb is "totschlagen", "to kill". "Totschlag" in law means "manslaughter" or "second-degree murder"..]

Whereupon there was rather a lull, and the Foreign Minister then turned to Horthy and said, "Yes. There are only two possibilities -- either that or to intern the Jews." Afterwards he said to me -- and this was rather exceptional -- that Hitler's demands in this connection might have gone a bit too far."

(IMT X 203-204)

[Note: In view of the fact that he considers Schmidt to be a credible witness, Taylor is indulging in something of a half-truth here.]

AUSCHWITZ ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"Reading de Menthon's <de Menthon was one of the French prosecutor> many passages on Nazi war crimes forty years later reveals a jarring omission of reference to Jews and the Holocaust. In part this is due to the division of evidence, on a West-East basis, between the French and Soviet delegations... Auschwitz is mentioned, but only to observe that many of its inmates were 'sterilized', and that 'the most beautiful women were set apart, artificially sterilized, and then gassed."

(ANATOMY, p. 296)

[Note: This bizarre hallucination is a perfect example of the atmosphere of lunacy which pervaded the entire Nuremberg Trial. What is the point of sterilizing people if you are going to gas them afterwards? But the original text is even stupider than Taylor's "quotation", as we shall soon see.]

WHAT THE NUREMBERG TRIAL TRANSCRIPT ACTUALLY SAYS:

"At Auschwitz the most beautiful women were set apart, artificially fertilized, and then gassed."

(IMT V 403)

[Note: This is not a misprint in English. The same passage in the German transcript reads, on page 454, "In Auschwitz wurden die schoensten Frauen abgesondert, kuenstlich befruchtet [fertilized] und sodann vergast."

[Apparently the original was a bit thick -- even for Taylor -- so he simply faked the quotation. The point is that Taylor cannot be trusted.]

SAUCKEL ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"Determined to make this jerry-built system work, on January 6, 1943, Sauckel summoned some 800 officials to a meeting in Weimar and told them:

'Where the voluntary method fails (and experience shows that it fails {es versagt} everywhere) compulsory service takes its place...

'We are going to discard the last remnant of our soft talk about humanitarian ideals. Every additional gun which we procure brings us a moment closer to victory. It is bitter to tear people from their homes, from their children. But we did not want the war. The German child who loses his father at the front, the German wife who mourns her husband killed in battle, suffers far more. Let us disclaim every sentiment now...

[Note deletion]

'This is the iron law for the Allocation of Labour for 1943. In a few weeks from now there must no longer be any occupied territory in which compulsory service for Germany is not the most natural thing in the world.'"

(ANATOMY, p. 430)

[Note: Not only is this quotation taken drastically out of context, but Taylor has even gotten the order of paragraphs mixed up! The third paragraph above is actually the second sentence! This is typical of Taylor's sloppiness.

The following is my translation of the entire document, deleting the introduction only.]

WHAT SAUCKEL ACTUALLY SAID:

"... 1. Where voluntary recruitment fails (and experience shows that it is failing everywhere), compulsory service takes its place. That is now the Iron Law of the year 1943 in the labour service: in a few weeks, there should be no occupied territory in which compulsory service for Germany is not the most natural thing in the world. We will slough off the last dregs of our humanitarian daydreaming. Every additional cannon which we manufacture brings us one minute closer to victory! It is bitter to tear people away from their homes, from their children. But we didn't want the war! The German child who loses his father at the front, the German woman who bewails her fallen husband, suffers much more deeply. Let us renounce all false sentimentality here.

"Even though I wish to do come to terms with the severity of the war, I nevertheless request that under no circumstances may the German nation, the name of the Fuehrer, my own name, or even your names, be exposed to shame. What we must do, will be done. But it will be done so that, with all severity -- and I will punish pitilessly where necessary -- account is taken of the principles of German correctness. We are not a perverse, bestially-inclined nation whose highest joy is to torment prisoners. With us, everything is done according to regulations, but with chivalry. This chivalry has been proven a thousand times by German soldiers. We are also guided by the recognition here that, in the long run, efficiency in production can only be demanded from foreign workers if they are satisfied with their lot. I will not tolerate men being mistreated. You must compel people to do their duty, you must cart them away under certain circumstances, but you must not commit a fault, you must not torment and play tricks; rather, I hereby make you responsible for providing recruited foreign workers with every amelioration in transport and accommodation, in order to bring healthy workers to Germany, who are ready to go to work immediately.

"3. As recruitment commissioners in foreign countries, you must under no circumstances whatsoever promise things which are not possible according to the applicable guidelines and regulations, or not practicable due to the war situation. It is much better to go up to persons liable for labour service and tell them "You must do this, and, in return, you will have the rights of workers working in Germany". Anyone who works in Germany has a right to life in Germany, even if he is Bolshevik. We will watch strictly to ensure that no shame falls upon the German name in so doing. You may demand every sort of protection from me in your service territory, but not for any crimes. The name of our nation is holy. For the first time in German history, you must represent the principles of German labour for the Reich. Be conscious of this at all times.

"4. For your part, you must tell the truth about the labour service in Germany at all times. You of the labour service are an advance troop of German National Socialist propaganda in foreign countries. You must learn to represent our German standpoint, the standpoint of our Fuehrer, our people, and the Reich, in foreign countries. I wish to make you responsible, in addition to your official and professional duties, for being propagandists of the National Socialist life and faith. You must create validity and respect for the true facts.

"5. You must also spread the word in foreign countries that anyone who works properly in Germany will enjoy the best protection for his life and health. This promise must make the rounds in the occupied territories. The sick rate in the camps of Soviet workers working in Germany is less than two percent. That is unequalled! The reason for this is that the Soviet workers are cleanly and hygienically housed, and decently nourished. Carry this out, regardless of all lies. You can and must represent the concept in foreign countries that there has never been a labour service like the one in Germany!

"6. We must also spread the word, as a further promise, that everyone who works in Germany is helping to bring Europe closer to peace, and to eliminate the misery caused by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin from the world. All soldiers and all offices must cooperate in keeping this promise. Anyone who works in Germany is protecting his life, and is working to eliminate mass misery misery from the world.

"7. Every recruiter is obliged to take care that the recruited workers bring as much food, clothing, and, possibly, bedding, along with them as possible in any way. All useful things must be packed and brought along. We do not have these things in abundance in Germany at the present time.

"8. In no case may sick people, or people who are unable to work, be taken along to work -- or children who are unable to work.

"9. The transports must be carefully prepared and cautiously carried out.

"The German labour service, I emphasize once again, must be the best life insurance for foreign peoples. This is how our propaganda should work. That which was not yet good enough, should be improved; that which was better, will be made more perfect by us. I demand this of you, not for ourselves, but for the Fuehrer, for his soldiers, and for our beloved German people."

(Defence document Sauckel-82, IMT XLI 226-228)

FIELD MARSHAL MILCH ACCORDING TO TAYLOR:

"Milch floundered from forgetting to lying and ended with a flat denial that he had ever had prisoners of war shot, in the face of his own report <Note: it is not his own report. It is a "quotation" from a "photocopy" of unsigned "minutes"> to the Central Planning Board that he had ordered the hanging of Russian officers who had tried to escape: 'I wanted them to be hanged in the factory for the others to see.' Milch left the witness chair utterly discredited."

(ANATOMY, p. 324)

WHAT MILCH ACTUALLY SAID:

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: ...Now, I am still quoting you and I want you to find the entry.

"In one case, two Russian officers took off with an airplane but crashed. I ordered that these two men be hanged at once. They were hanged, or shot yesterday. I left that to the SS. I wanted them to be hanged in the factory for the others to see."

Do you find that?

MILCH: I have found it, and I can only say I have never had anybody hanged nor have I ever given such an order. I could not possibly have said such a thing. I had nothing to so with this question. Neither do I know of any instance where two Russian officers tried to escape by plane.

(IMT IX 114)

[Note: Somehow the story rings a bit differently with the added ingredient of the stolen airplane.]

And again:

MR JUSTICE JACKSON:

"Milch: We have demanded that in the anti-aircraft artillery a certain percentage of personnel should consist of Russians. Fifty thousand in all should be brought in. Thirty thousand are already employed as gunners. This is an amusing thing <eine witzige Sache> that Russians must work the guns..."

What was amusing about making the Russian prisoners of war work the guns?

MILCH: The words "we have demanded" do not mean the Central Planning Board, but Hitler made this demand.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: "We" means Hitler?

MILCH: Yes, the German government. And I myself find it strange that prisoners of war should be made to shoot at planes of their allies. We did not like it because it meant that these men could no longer work for us. We were opposed to their being used in the anti-aircraft artillery.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: You said:

"This is an amusing thing that the Russians must work the guns."

What was amusing about it?

MILCH: What is meant by amusing <witzig>?... peculiar, strange. I cannot say, however, whether this word was actually used. I have not seen the minutes.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Now, I call your attention to the end of your contribution.

"... 20,000 are still needed. Yesterday I received a letter from the Army High Command, stating: We cannot release any more men, we have not enough ourselves. Thus there is no prospect for us."

Whom does "for us" refer to, if not to your industry requirements?

MILCH: I consider these minutes incorrect, it has never been discussed in this manner, it must be wrong. I cannot accept the minutes as they stand. To clarify the matter I may say that the proposal was to take people out of the armament industry and put them into anti-aircraft defence. We who were concerned with armament did not want to release these men and were opposed to it. That was the idea of the whole thing, and the OKH declared that they did not have enough people.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: I understand the sense of this to be that you applied for certain workmen for the armament industry and that the Army High Command refused to give you the men, saying that they are already employed making guns and other work. Now, is that the sense of that, or is it not?

MILCH: No, not quite.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Now, just tell us what the sense of it is.

MILCH: As far as I can remember, the armament industry was to release 50,000 Russian prisoners of war to the Air Force for anti-aircraft defence, and the armament industry could not spare these people.

(IMT IX 104-105)

[Note: The Germans were not bound by any treaty with the Russians. Using Russian prisoners to build emplacements or carry munitions would be entirely logical. But to imagine that they could possess the motivation or skills to man anti-aircraft guns and shoot down Allied aircraft is not just "peculiar", it is insane.

The document in question here, 124-R, is an unsigned "photocopy" of extracts of stenographic notes, almost certainly retyped and mimeographed by the prosecution, i.e., probably not photocopied from the originals. They are partially reproduced at XXXVIII 336-362 of the Nuremberg Trial document volumes.

This is a very well-known document, containing many sentences commonly quoted against Milch and Sauckel. To my knowledge, it has never been translated into English before, so the following is my translation. It contains many statements which I do not even pretend to understand. I will leave the reader to resolve its many mysteries.]

Translation of DOCUMENT 124-R, Nuremberg Trial

Page 1

Secret Reichs Matter

Stenographic Report of 21st Conference of Central Planning Committee on Labour Service on 30 October 1942, afternoon, in the Reichsministry for Weaponry and Munitions, Berlin, Pariser Platz 3

---Page 15

Milch: ....... We need to further increase production immediately by another three times as much. That means that we need to turn out 135 or 140 times as much production as during the <First> World War, just in aircraft motors alone. Dr. Werner, who is responsible for the motor industry, has made suggestions on how it can be done. He says we have to go over to assembly lines everywhere, otherwise we can't do it. He has very far-reaching ideas in this field. In motors, we can surely do it; we can manufacture the crankshafts, connecting rods, etc. on assembly lines. We are making 40,000 units of connecting rods today. But we still have no machine tools to turn the things out individually on the assembly line. The Americans have such machines. We need perhaps 10 builders and 5 fitters; we simply can't get them. We need to really put the pressure on for these people. I have always told them to wait until November and have told them Sauckel will get the people out of agriculture.

Sauckel: Wouldn't it be possible to stem the enormous fluctuation if the companies made more of an effort, and the foremen worked their people harder? The fluctuation is really abnormal.

Speer: The problem of absenteeism is another thing we need to deal with. Ley has proven that where there are company doctors, and the people are examined by company doctors, the number of people reporting sick falls to a quarter or a fifth as much. The SS or police can easily strike hard here and put people who are known shirkers in concentration camps. That's the only way to do it. You only need to do it to a couple of them, the word will get around..........

[Note: The document is supposed to be "photocopy", and yet there are deletions from within the page itself! Normally, a "photocopy" should reproduce the entire page. There are no signatures anywhere on the document.]

Page 2

Secret! Secret Reichs Matter

Stenographic Report of 33rd Conference of Central Planning Committee on Labour Service on 16 February 1943, 16 hours, in the Reichsministry for Weaponry and Munitions, Berlin, Pariser Platz 3

Page 8

..........

All in all, we believe that with the approach of the warmer season, the big problems of the winter are coming to an end, just like last year, and that 1 to 1 1/2 million workers will be available to us. It's got to the point where, due to pressure from us, and the introduction of the compulsory labour service in France, which was put together in difficult negotiations with Laval and my people, the law has been expanded, so that three age groups were called up in France yesterday. So now we have workers out of three age groups to recruit from, legally, and with the support of the French government. They can be used in French factories in the future, or we can seek them out to work in the Reich and send them to Germany. I think we've broken the ice in France now. According to the news I've got, people are starting to get a bit worried about the danger of a break-through by the Bolsheviks, the threat they pose to Europe. The resistance shown by the French government so far has now lessened. I'll be travelling to France in the next few days, so that the deficiencies in the East can be somewhat compensated for through reinforced recruiting and compulsory labour service.

If we get the complete lists on time, I believe we can still meet the needs of all manufacturers for 800,000 men in March.

..........

Page 21

Vo/Dr.Ko/Grs.

Milch: That's another matter. If women signals assistants are put into service, it shouldn't be done as auxiliaries, but only if it releases soldiers for duty. There are more than 100,000 signals troops in the Army and the Air Force. With us, it used to be 250 to 300,000. Whether it's that many today, I don't know. They are all fighting-fit young men. I have always fought against this, and said: if it's done now, a whole load will be released for service; it doesn't matter whether it's for the factories or for the front.

Of course, there's a front somewhere in the East, too. This front will hold for a certain time. The only thing the Russians will get of any use to them in the territories evacuated by us for the time being, is the people. I wonder whether it might not be a better idea to move the people back, to 100 km behind the front. The entire civilian population can move 100 km behind the front. Nobody is engaged in entrenchment work now.

Timm: We tried to evacuate the population of Kharkov to the rear. 90 to 100,000 people were needed for entrenchment work in Kharkov by the fortifications commander, so we had to put together whole trains for some of them.

Weger: Accurate blasting work was done, too.

Milch: But that's being done by Army miners. Soon there won't be any hope of getting any more prisoners of war from the East.

Sauckel: The prisoners captured there are needed there.

Milch: We have made the request that a certain percentage of the people with us in the anti-aircraft artillery should be Russians. 50,000 are said to be coming in all; 30,000 are already there as gunners. It's a clever matter that Russians should serve the guns <eine witzige Sache, dass Russen die Kanonen bedienen mussen>. We still need the last 20,000. I got a letter from the Supreme Commander of the Army yesterday, that said: we can't give you a single one, we don't have enough ourselves. So this matter will not be very successful for us.

Speer: It would be good to make it a bit clearer in the press about the use of women in offices.

Milch: That should be stressed in the foreground, as a basic thing. Here, it's a question of whether I get the reckoning from our industries on time. The matter has got to be got in order sometime. There's no cheating. The people who want to cheat, still cheat today, whether they have these people or not, whether they have their reckoning up to date or not. The other people are decent. Most of them have not cheated. Whether we relax a bit on the price inspection will not be very important. The most important thing is that the work gets done. We know what's being produced abroad. We got the figures today. The Russians in particular are making 2000 airplanes a month for the front. That figure is much higher than ours. We shouldn't forget that. We must get on the assembly line and really produce whole loads.

Sauckel: There are always repeated disputes in the economy about whether the German workers are working at full production yet. Minister Funk just recently declared that the German worker is putting out at full production. I am .....

Page 3:

Dr. Janicke:

Secret! Secret Reichs Matter

Stenographic Report of 21st Conference of Central Planning Committee on the Economic Plan for Coal, 1943/44, Thursday, 22 April 1943, afternoon, 15:30 hours, in the Fortified Barracks by the Zoo, Jebenstr.

Page 7

... can't be taken out of the reserve in Germany, but must be really strong foreigners.

Timm: We have a request for 69,000 men in the coal industry. We want to cover it through the Reichs apportionment of 23,000 -- these are healthy prisoners of war, etc. who are especially suitable for coal -- and through 50,000 Poles from the General Gouvernement. Of these, approximately 30,000 had been placed by 20 April, so that we still need the remainder, of approximately 35,700 for January to April. The May requirements have been set at 35,700. The difficulties lay especially in the recruiting in the General Gouvernement, since there is extraordinary resistance there, as in all the areas around Germany, from the recruited people. In all states, we are going over more or less to calling people up according to age groups, and conscripting them on that basis. They appear for the actual reporting, but as soon as the transport question gets acute, they don't show up any more, so that producing the personnel has become more or a less a police matter.

Especially in Poland, the situation is extraordinarily serious at the moment. It is known that serious struggles have been carried on precisely because of these things. In the administration which we created over there, resistance is very strong. A whole load of our men are exposed to increased dangers, and several of them were shot just in the last 14 days or 3 weeks, so that the leader of the Labour Office in Warsaw was shot in his office 14 days ago, and yesterday yet another. That's how it's going in the moment, and recruiting is extraordinarily difficult at the moment, even with the best will in the world, without police reinforcement.

Page 8

It was planned to have 50,000 men here from the General Gouvernement by the end of the month. That unfortunately could not be carried out. Of them, only 3 to 4,000 of them are here so far, and another 8,000 are on their way, so that the gap is really considerable.

Reichsminister Speer: We can only handle some of these people on a monthly basis.

Sogemeier: We have provided for the following plan in stages: April 26,000, May 30,000, June 30,000, July 50,000, and September 56,000. If the people arrive in this order of instalments, we will be able to reach the target of 290 million tons, as long as there are no special levies out of the coal industry.

Reichsminister Speer: Are those additional reportings for duty? Are those figures that you want to increase?

Timm: Yes, including the deficiencies that we must reckon with!

(Milch: Including the 70,000!)

Reichsminister Speer: So the deficiencies aren't included in the figures?

Timm: Yes, it's not an increase, but allocations, if I understand correctly. As I said, we hope to get approximately 50,000 men from the General Gouvernement next month. It will amount to 73,000 with the transfers, and then the first two months would be covered. For us, it is very difficult.......

Page 11

Sogemeier: The need for labour doesn't just apply to anthracite. We'll need an additional 25,000 over the next few months in lignite.

Reichsminister Speer: The other mining sectors, including iron ore, are said to be in the same situation.

Kehrl: 85% are needed in coal mining. We ought to make a corresponding increase for the other mining sectors.

Reichsminister Speer: You should summarize the figures. We can't go to the Reichsmarschall with individual figures.

Timm: It's 70,000 for coal, and 14,000 for the other mining sectors, including potash.

Reichsminister Speer: We would do it so that Kehrl collects the requirements of the individual sectors, which are necessary to carry out the coal and iron plan, then transmit the figures to Sauckel. The conference with the Reichsmarschall over this whole problem will probably take place over the next few weeks, and the results have to be presented to Sauckel by then. The question of inclusion in the armaments industry will be agreed with Weger.

Kehrl: I would urgently like to request that the allocations to the mining sector not be based on the possibility of recruiting men in foreign countries. We have been completely dependent on them over the past three months. We've carried a deficit of 25,000 forward from December, and no replacements have been delivered. We've got to get them from Germany.

Reichsminister Speer: No, that's impossible!

Kehrl: We're coming to a standstill. I remember that we we've been feeding the coal industry with nothing but promises for a year now, and we've got nothing but problems where coal is concerned. They've received half the nominal requirements which were promised to them last year.

Reichsminister Speer: It isn't true they've only received promises from us. They got something from us since then. We don't want to push our industry into the background!

Kehrl: After all, we're in a very precarious position which must lead to disturbances, in view of the constantly increasing demands of the armaments industry. We've just drawn up the plan for May. The plan can no longer be balanced in practice because of the first of May holiday. We've just discovered that we don't know how we're going to do it. The May 1st holiday will cost us 800,000 tons of coal. That can't be covered by a gradual increase in output. What the mining industry can raise, it has to raise in passing.

Reichsminister Speer: That's out of the question! If Sauckel can promise to get the numbers he wants -- --Timm: He has stated quite expressly that he can't promise to get 50,000 out of the General Gouvernement.

Reichsminister Speer: There's also Russia!

Timm: Military events have caused a dramatic drop in the flow that we got until December. We used to get 10 to 12,000 men a day; in the last 3 months, we've got 60,000 in all. That's how the numbers have fallen off.....

Page 14

Kehrl: What we delay or lose in manufacturing can always be made up. But what we lose in coal, is lost for forever for this war. That's why we can't put enough pressure on for service in the mining industry.

Reichsminister Speer: But not through violent actions, which would destroy what we've tediously built up.

(Kehrl: We don't need that either!)

The conscriptions are in addition to that.

Timm: We must try to get German men for German underground mining:

Kehrl: We're living off foreigners who just happen to be in Germany.

Timm: They're very strongly concentrated. Otherwise we'll cause unrest in this sector.

Reichsminister Speer: There's an allotment as to which sectors the Russian prisoners of war are assigned to, and this allocation is very interesting. According to this, only a relatively low percentage of them, 30%, are in armaments. I've often complained of this.

Timm: The greatest percentage of prisoners of war are French, and we shouldn't forget that these are hard to place underground. The number of Russians in the Reich is in itself very small.

Rohland: We should try to take only Easterners, no Westerners, in mining.

Reichsminister Speer: The Westerners are slackers!

Sogemeier: I must mention what a slippery road we're on. Compared to the end of February, before the SE action got acute, we got 4,000 tons daily......

Page 22

Reichsminister Speer: We'll get over that one way or another.

Meinberg: What Ganzenmueller meant to say is, it will be difficult to meet the added consumer demand in the autumn. In coal, we can stockpile a big proportion. We did that last winter, but didn't need to so much this winter.

Kehrl: We can't get much relief for the autumn, due to lack of coal, particularly for domestic heating. We can't even do it normally with a twelfth, since the low output would lead to severe drops in industry. We're well below the previous year there, according to the forecast figures for May. That's also the source we use for stockpiling.

Sogemeier: Last year, we had a stockpile of over 4 million tons, this year it's about 3/4 million tons.

Reichsminister Speer: We've got to put pressure on coal production with all our power, no matter how.

I have a report here on how the Soviet prisoners are allocated. A total of 368,000 are available. Of them, there are 101,000 in agriculture, 94,000 in mining -- they can no longer be considered for this purpose anyway -- and 15,000 in the building materials industry. In iron and steel production, that is, iron ore and the steel-producing industry, 26,000 -- none of them should be taken away here either -- iron, steel, and metalware manufactures, 29,000; machinery and boiler-making, and vehicle parts manufacture, that is, the armaments industry, 63,000; in the chemicals industry 10,000. Agriculture therefore has by far the most, and they could be exchanged for women over the course of time. The 90,000 Russian prisoners of war in the armaments industry as a whole are mostly technicians. If you can take 8 to 10,000 out, it will be a lot.

Kehrl: Can't you take Serbs, etc?

Sogemeier: We shouldn't mix them too much.

Rohland: For God's sake, no Serbs! We have had very bad experiences with mixing.

Reichsminister Speer: We assume 290 million tons in allocating the bulk yield. If the conditions can't be fulfilled for it, it will have very serious consequences on the whole domestic heating supply. Sauckel must be made aware in this regard that if the manpower can't be placed, the psychological effect on the population will be very serious in itself.

Meinberg: In particular, when the worker transports always arrive 1 1/2 months later than announced, that means a loss of 10% for the overtime workers. Then we won't get anywhere near the 290 million tons, but 280 million tons at most. The delay in reporting for duty amounts to that.

Reichsminister Speer: How should we go on producing according to your proposal, Kehrl?

Kehrl: If sufficient measures are ensured due to the labour service, we won't have any problem with the allocation. The allocation problem will, however, be insoluble if we allocate less than 290 million tons, that is, with an output of less than 282 million tons. According to what Timm has just said and what was just discussed, we won't make it with these measures. He wants to take 22,000 out of the interior, in addition to 10,000 Russian prisoners of war, a total of 32,000. For the others, we're depending on God and the General Gouvernement. But so far, after the......

 

Secret!

Stenographic Report of 53rd Conference of Central Planning Committee on Labour Service on 16 February 1944, 10 hours, in the Reichs Ministry for Air Transport

Page 12

..........

When the tillage and harvest work begins, the women will all be fully occupied on the land. The painted women, by the way, have been back in Berlin for a long time. Since May 1943, for the rest, another 90,000 men have been called up for the army from the agricultural sector from the younger age groups, and still more are being constantly called in.

Milch: The armaments industry is working to a very great extent with foreigners, according to the latest effective figures, it's 40%. The latest allocations from the GBA are mostly foreigners, and we have lost a lot of German personnel to the call-up. Air armaments in particular, which is a young industry, employs many young people who must also become soldiers; how difficult it is becomes clear when we lose the ones working in the testing offices. In real mass production, the number of foreigners is by far the majority, and reaches about 95% and more in places. Our most valuable new motor is 88% made by Russian prisoners of war, and the other 12% are German men and women. There are only 6 to 8 German men working on the Ju 52, which is only used as a transport machine now, producing 50 to 60 machines a month; the rest are mostly Ukrainian women, who have depressed all the production records for technical workers.

I now wish to present the manufacturers's wishes in detail.

Backe: I already mentioned the figures, as far as that is concerned, during the meeting with the Fuehrer. Even if the 100,000 men in forestry and 100,000 men in industry go back into agriculture, we'll still need 400,000 men. For potato cultivation overall, a great deal will depend on the spring tillage. We've seriously cut all demands. We can't stand it for long, because........

Page 22

-- That can't be proven statistically.

Milch: We ought to give Himmler a list of loafers and put them in loyal hands who'll make them work. That's very important in terms of educating the population, and also has a deterrent effect on others who'd like to loaf, too.

Berk: The point is also made clear by the statistics, which are already in effect by the way, and which have been drawn up with the Central Committee and the office responsible for them.

Kehrl: The improvement in documentation is only restricted to deficiencies. We must choose a corresponding method for the allocations. I imagine that we could get some figures and concepts where everybody spoke the same language.

Milch: It's important to create clear concepts, not only for us, but also for the men on top. I'd like to tear out [ausrotten] the fluctuation -- which is largely determined by nature, and which is part of the problem -- by the roots. But we can only do that if we have clear conditions and figures. That's the reason for my request the consider the loafer problem as well, like we do with illness, etc.. Gauleiter Sauckel is rightly proud that his district of Thueringen has a very low sick rate. Sauckel worked on it even in peacetime, and educated the population there correspondingly. In other districts, people don't pay as much attention to this matter. A distinction must be made between Germans and foreigners, between men and women. We've also got to investigate the causes for the higher percentage of sick people. Maybe the food problem has something to do with it in an unfavourable way. In other regions, maybe the doctors are too soft. They need clear instructions. At another office, there is a......

Page 63

Berk: I raised no objection, but only indicated the problem.

Waeger: You expressed the opinion that labour reserves are still available to us which are not being used.

Milch: We really want to say that this is the case everywhere, because it is quite impossible to exploit people to the maximum. In addition, we don't have the leadership personnel in industry, since the best personnel we had has mostly been called up for the army. As a result, it is quite impossible to use every foreigner fully, unless the agreement forces him to, and unless we are able to take action against foreigners who don't do their job right. If the foreman takes a prisoner of war and gives him a box on the ear, there's the biggest fuss right away; the man goes to prison, etc. There are enough authorities in Germany which consider it their chief duty not to work for war production, but for the human rights of others. I'm for human rights, too, but when a Frenchman says, "You guys are all going to get hanged, the foreman will be the first to get his throat cut", and the foreman says, "I'm going to thump that guy", then he gets in trouble. There's no protection for him, only protection for the "poor guy" who said that.

I've told my engineers, "If you don't thump a man like that, then I'll punish you; the more you do to him in this respect the more praise you'll get from me; nothing will happen to you, I'll stand up for you". The word hasn't gotten around yet. Of course, I can't talk with every foreman. But I'd like to see the guy that will keep from doing what I say, because I'm ready to confront everyone who wants to stop me.

If a little foreman does that, then he goes to a concentration camp, and at the same time, they threaten to take his prisoners of war away. In one case, two Russian officers took an airplane and started it. But they crash landed. I ordered them hanged immediately. They were hanged or shot yesterday. I left that to the SS. I intended to hang them in the factory, so that the others could see it. Of course there was a big fuss afterwards. There will naturally be somebody who wants to stand up for the prisoners of war. We would be able to do better work immediately in any case if we had better leadership personnel and a better agreement, above all, if the provisions against bad people could be made stricter.

Berk: First, one should theoretically divide the 4 million up over the 4 quarters of the year. Then, one million would fall under the first quarter. Of course, that can't be done. The programme was only decided on in January. We need a whole series of measures to get it started. The 1st quarter will be the hardest. Nevertheless, I believe that I can state, with reservations, that we can count on approximately 500,000 for February and March combined.

Kehrl: For January, the effective allocations would come in addition, which have taken place in amounts of 145,000. Those are allocations under the terms of the GBA, unreal fluctuations.

Berk: They are therefore included in this number, taking account of what we said about the concepts of real and unreal fluctuation. Labour is anticipated from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, out of the East, the South, and other European countries; furthermore, we plan to examine the duty to report, and the use of bombing refugees; 40,000 are expected for the two months. Furthermore we have plans for a.......

Page 5

Secret!

Stenographic report of 54th Conference of Central Planning Committee on Labour Service, on Wednesday, 1 March 1944, 10 hours, in the Reichs Ministry for Air Transport

Page 5

.....

...Sauckel: Mr. Field Marshal! Gentlemen! It is obvious that we will fulfil the demands of the Central Planning Committee agreed upon by us insofar as possible. At the same time, I would like to give an assurance that I understand "possible" to mean that which can be produced using the greatest efforts of the GBA apparatus. I already had to tell the Fuehrer on 4 January, to my personal misfortune for the first time, that I could no longer guarantee the total quota agreed on by us for 1944 in the Fuehrer's headquarters, in the amount of 4,050,000. I repeatedly emphasized this in the presence of the Fuehrer.

Page 6

In past years, it was, of course, fulfilled, at least in part; but this year it is no longer possible to guarantee it in advance. I would therefore like to ask in this regard for the numbers to be allocated as a percentage, falling within the framework of this programme. I agree, without further ado, that when somebody in Central Planning tells me, we must change that now, then such and such is urgent now! It is obvious that we can fulfil it with a clear conscience in each case, with the best will, depending on the war situation. So much for the figures.

We don't need to argue about the figures in detail; since we do nothing for ourselves. We cannot even do anything with the workers ourselves; rather, we make them available to the economy. I would only like to make a few basic remarks and I am asking you for your patience.

The labour service was almost completely destroyed in the autumn of last year, insofar as it applies to foreign labour conscription. I don't want to talk about the reasons for it here now; they have been talked about enough. But I must tell you: it has been destroyed. In all of France, Belgium, and Holland, they were of the opinion that, due to the transfers within these countries, service in Germany was no longer necessary for these countries. People called me a fool for months. I sometimes go over there twice a month, they called me a fool for wanting to travel around and recruit people in these countries, even when it seemed impossible. This went so far -- I can assure you -- that all the prefectures in France had instructions not to fulfil my programmes, since it was quite uncertain, even in the German offices, whether Sauckel was a fool or not. What has been destroyed in this manner, can only be rebuilt with very, very, great difficulty......

Page 8

..........

We only got 7,000 civilian workers from Italy. At the same time, I haven't given myself one hour, one Sunday, not one night off, in the period since 1.12. I have been in these countries, also everywhere in the Reich. It is endlessly difficult, not because there are no more people over there. I would like to state expressly: Italy is a real European scandal, and so is most of France. Gentlemen, the French work badly, and live at the expense of the German soldiers and German payments, also at the cost of German food; and it's the same in Italy. The situation there, as I was able to observe during my last visit, is that the Northern Italians, in terms of food, can in no way be compared with the Southern Italians. The Northern Italians, that is, down to Rome, are so well fed that they really don't need to work. In contrast to the German people, they are fed by their heavenly father without any particular output in terms of work. The reserves are there, but the means to get them, have been destroyed.

The most fearful moment I've have to struggle against, is when they say that there isn't any German executive in these areas to compel the French, the Italians, or Belgians to work purposefully. I've have even gone so far as to recruit a staff of French men and women, Italian men and women, who go out and stupefy people with liquor and promises, for good pay, like Shanghaiing in the old days, to get them to come to Germany. I have also appointed a couple of good strong men to build up a labour service executive; I have trained and armed a number of domestic crews, of course, under the aegis of the higher SS and police leaders, and must now ask the Ministry of Munitions for weapons for these people. Because in the last year alone, several dozen higher labour officials of great ability were shot. All these paths, as grotesque as they may seem, must be trodden today, to get past the difficulties of the moment; there's no executive in these countries to bring labour forces to Germany.

I must tell you, Mr. Field Marshal, and after repeated scrutiny: there is no longer any real German labour service. With the Fuehrer's approval, I have now issued the well-known decree, which the Fuehrer himself inspired, corrected, and prepared, for voluntary honorary service. What the results will be, I don't know; it will be very little. I will continue to build up this voluntary honorary service. The Fuehrer wants it to be recruited from the women's organization only. I met with the women's organization and the German district women's organization leaders to implement the most complete recruitment of 45 and 50 year-old women. Something will come from that. In individual districts, some really good beginnings are already being made. But recruitment needs to be carried on effectively and without interruption, and that needs a while to get going. Almost 60,000 new people have been newly put into service from the German people in just the first two months of this year, and the total yield is not as hopeless as I had thought. It now amounts to 262,000. At the same time, only 112,000 are from the East. We therefore have the pleasing result that, in the remaining areas that we still have over there, it has now been recognized that the people are more valuable here than over there. Just this service of 112,000 new Eastern workers, preferably men, has made it possible.........

Page 13

I am speaking here quite openly and ruthlessly: in my view, the exaggerated notion of protected industries in France is a serious danger to the labour service in Germany. If we cannot agree here that in France every possible company must be examined by my men, together with men from the armaments office, then the source for Germany will be blocked in the future too, and that will mean that the programme I was assigned by the Fuehrer will be jeopardized to a considerable extent. It's similar in Italy. There are enough workers in both countries, even enough technicians; we must only have the courage to intervene in these French companies. What happens in France, I don't know. That the enemy does less work with operational measures, precisely in the occupied territories, than in Germany appears absolutely certain to me. So in order to be able to fill my programme, the programme that you presented me with here, in distribution, it must be agreed with me, and with my men, that the concept of "protected industry" in France must be reduced to that which is really necessary and can be reasonably defended; and that the protected companies in France do not become a protection against labour service in Germany, as it is considered to be by the French. It is very difficult for me, as a German in France, to stand before a situation which means nothing else in the eyes of the French people than: the only thing being protected here, is Sauckel, against getting his own armaments. The protected industries in France mean nothing other than protection from intervention by Sauckel! This is how the French see it, and they cannot be expected to see it any other way; since they are French, and they must show a clear divergence in attitude and execution. To what extent the protected industries are purposeful and necessary is not a matter for me to criticize. This is the only way it looks to me. But I hope on the one hand to succeed anyway, through my agent organizations and my bodyguard corps and, secondly, through the measures which I have fortunately been able to press through. I succeeded, in 5 to 6 hour negotiations with Mr. Laval, in obtaining the possibility that death sentences may be passed on officials who sabotage the labour service and other measures. Believe me, that was very difficult. That was a very bitter fight for me to get that through. But it has now happened, and I request really categorical intervention in France by the Germans, particularly by the Army, if the French government doesn't intervene. Don't take offence at the remark: I have sometimes faced situations with my men in France in which I had to say: doesn't the German lieutenant and 10 men in France mean anything at all? For months, they paralysed my every word with the answer: What do you expect, Mr. Gauleiter, we have no executive here; we can do nothing in France! That claim was made over and over again. How can I implement the labour service in France? The German offices must work together in the labour service, and if the French, despite all promises, do not intervene, we must make an example on the German side; and on the basis of this law, under certain circumstances, put a prefect or mayor up against the wall if he doesn't play along: otherwise no more Frenchmen will go to France. In the last quarter, belief in German victory and everything that we could produce in our favour in the area of propaganda has fallen to less than nothing, and that is still the case today; that the new French ministers, especially Henriot, have already intervened; they are very willing, and I have a good impression of them. It is only a question of how far they can succeed with their subordinate authorities. That is the situation in France.

..........

Milch: How great is the percentage of protected industries in Italy in comparison with the total work force?

Schieber: It is, I believe, 14%. I don't have the figures here.

Milch: Wouldn't it be better, to protect the protected industries, to take over the entire distribution in Italy, put it in German hands, and say: you only get to eat if you work in a protected industry or come to Germany?

Sauckel: The fact of the matter is that French workers in France live better than German workers in Germany; even Italian workers in the parts of Italy occupied by us, live better, even when they don't work, than when they work in Germany. That's the reason for my repeated request to the German food authorities to improve the nutrition of German workers as well, with a factory lunch. When I'm in Paris, of course, I go to Maxime's. They do wonders with their cuisine there. I have often spoken with the Fuehrer about it. He still thinks that in these countries there's only a small number of rich people who can go to Maxime's, and get good food. Now, I've sent my men into the suburbs of Paris, into the little cafes and lunchrooms, and I've seen that the French there don't even feel the burden of the war in comparison to our people at all. Even the average Frenchman can get everything he wants.

(Interjection: In the small towns, it's even better.)

It sure is. The French can also pay for what they get. So it's not the case that there's any incentive to come to Germany to eat better. That is unfortunately not so.

Milch: Can't you create it? The retail distribution, of course, can't be taken over, but we can still take over the wholesale distribution.

Koerner: We have made gigantic demands on France in food deliveries. They have always been fulfilled. Very often, of course, with a bit of pressure, but they were fulfilled.

Milch: But there's a simple way: we send no more food to the troops, but get it from the countryside. They'll consume everything in a few weeks, and then we can take over the distribution.

Page 66

..........

Kehrl: May I once again present the point of view of the Minister? The impression could otherwise arise that Minister Speer's measures were incomprehensible or nonsensical, and I would not like the impression to arise. For us, the matter looks as follows: the labour service for German purposes in France were of rather modest proportions until the beginning of 1943, since the scope of the transfer was confined to a few things in which German capacity was not sufficient, and in addition, to a few basic industries. During this whole time, a great number of Frenchmen came to the Reich through voluntary recruitment.

(Sauckel: Also through compulsory recruitment.)

Compulsory recruitment began when voluntary recruitment no longer sufficed.

Sauckel: Of the 5 million foreign workers who came to Germany, not 200,000 came voluntarily.

Kehrl: I'll leave the question of the degree to which some slight pressure was exerted, open for the moment. It was formally voluntary in any case. When voluntary recruitment no longer produced results, we went over to conscription by age-groups, and that was largely successful for the first age-group. A good 80% of the age-group was called up and sent to Germany. That started about June of the year. In harmony with the military developments in Russia, and the resulting feelings about the course of the war among Western peoples, the callup by age-groups fell off considerably; there are concrete figures available in this regard, that is, people tried to evade callup to Germany by age-group, partly by simply not registering, and partly by not showing up for transport, or getting off along the way.

[Note: Telford Taylor inserts an apparently non-existent sentence at this point on p. 429 of his ANATOMY book, incidating that there may be 2 or more versions of the same document.]

When they noticed during the first attempts at this type of evasion in the months of July/August, that the German Executive was either unable or unwilling..............

Page 6

Secret!

Stenographic report of 58th Conference of Central Planning Committee on Coal, on Thursday, 25 March 1944, 16 hours, Berlin, Pariser Platz 4

---Page 29

...............

Dorsch: We've got to get a man who participated in the advance of the OT in the West in 1940. These people have a lot of experience. The locks in France and Belgium are really a bit different from in Germany; they have a special type of construction.

Speer: You take care of it.

Steinbrink: On Friday eight days ago, a bridge near Hasselt was attacked by low altitude bombers at a distance of 30 metres. Three direct hits. For three days, we had nobody who knew what to do about it. Everything was in confusion. At the same time, it was important to repair it quickly. It's like the U-boat war here.

Speer: You often need eight days head-start for it.

Now, about the labour problem in Germany. I believe that it is still possible to get something over from the Western territories. The Fuehrer just said a while ago that he wants to get over these problems, because he had the impression that the Army groups carried a big burden around with them. We must, therefore, if we don't succeed by ourselves, get a meeting with the Fuehrer, in which to clarify the whole coal situation. Keitel and Zeitzler will also be invited, to establish what has to be transported to us in Russians out of the army territories to the rear. I see of course the possibility of making an action by taking more people from Russian prisoners of war in the Reich for the mining industry. But this possibility is not very great.

Pleiger: Those from agriculture don't stay with us. We can't get them to stay with us.

[Note: "eine Aktion machen"; in my video, MADE IN RUSSIA, I speculated that "Aktion" could mean moving workers from one workplace and assigning them to another workplace. That is exactly what it means here: taking prisoners from agriculture and assigning them to coal mining. "Aktion" is, of course, always translated as "extermination" when it suits the Exterminationists]

Page 31

...... the only possibility which promises success, is to really take in Russian prisoners. They've given their best service in mining, just like in the <First> World War. All other measures lead nowhere. I am completely convinced that if we assign labour forces from other countries, like Italians or Hungarians, here, we'll suffer a complete breakdown. These people are only good for earthworks at most.

Kehrl: But there are Italian miners in Italy, even if it's mostly lignite in Italy.

Pleiger: That's OK, certainly. But lignite isn't such a big problem for us. The big problem we have, is anthracite. We can take care of the lignite sector without any other help.

Speer: I don't believe the we'll get Russians for this purpose without further steps. We need a decision of the Fuehrer for that.

Kehrl: The problem is not only to do it with a big jolt, all at once; but the continual deficiency, leading to an exhaustion of stocks. We must have a durable source, and the source is not available.

Speer: We must come to an agreement with the Reichsfuehrer SS as soon as possible, so that prisoners of war who are captured by him can be diverted to our purposes. 30 to 40,000 men flow to the Reichsfuehrer SS every month. They must first of all be allocated. What sector do these people come from after all? There must be a certain percentage of miners among these men that get captured. A couple of thousand of these men must be automatically assigned to coal mining. Certainly, there is some educational work to be done there. The people were placed in industry like criminal prisoners. But they have to go back into the industries where they were before. In addition, we could perhaps arrange to bring people out of agriculture into coal. A whole load of them are staying away, and the people don't like to go coal-mining, they go home.

Kehrl: I should suggest that I should first speak of the entire matter with Obergruppenfuehrer Kohl. For this purpose, the Reichsfuehrer SS could also appear at the conference with the Fuehrer, so that we could settle the whole matter.

Speer: At any rate, the matter of armaments must be discussed in this direction.

Klagge: In the Protectorate, foreigners are not permitted. No prisoners of war, no Eastern workers, no Italians. The only possibility that we have here, is to allocate workers from the coal areas, somewhere in the Reich; that makes about 4 1/2 to 5 thousand men who can be sent back into coal mining. These people are, at least we may assume they are, not active in mining, but in other industries, as auxiliary workers. There's no other way to help mining in the Protectorate. After thorough scrutiny, we must reckon with a supply deficiency in the Protectorate of 20%.

Speer: That may well be, because there are growing programmes in the Protectorate.

Kehrl: That's another reason why not, because that's just where we're shifting things.

Speer: Herr Waeger, you must take the matter in hand.

Kehrl: The people must in particular, be appointed by name from over there.

Page 7

15 August 1942

Minutes of the Meeting with the Fuehrer on 10, 11 and 12.8.1942

---Page 16

42) Sauckel will assure the necessary availability of Russian manpower in the necessary numbers for the iron and coal programme, and states that he -- if necessary -- will make one million Russian workers available for the German armaments industry by October 1942 inclusive, after which more than 700,000 workers can be made available by him for agriculture and 1 million workers for the economy.

The Fuehrer stated at the same time that the question of labour procurement can be solved in any case and to that extent, and he will give Gauleiter Sauckel full powers to take the necessary steps to that purpose.

He would be agreed to any measures of compulsion if the question cannot be carried through on a voluntary basis, and, of course, not only for the East but rather, for the occupied Western territories as well.

The Fuehrer demanded, despite the remarks and concerns of Herr Pleiger, an unconditional assurance from him of the necessary basic circumstances and conditions to carry out the planned iron production.

In all recognition of the especially great and difficult demands which have been made on the German coal industry and in consideration and recognition of cases of force majeure, binding and compulsory promises of delivery of the necessary additional quantities of coal are necessary to protect the armaments programme.

................

Page 8

Berlin, 29 Sept. 1942

Points of discussion

of the Fuehrer conference of 20, 21, and 22 Sept. 42.

...............

Page 13

36) called the attention of the Fuehrer to the fact that -- apart from a small number of workers -- it will not be possible to draw upon armaments manufacture in the concentration camps, since

1) the necessary machine tools are lacking for this purpose

2) the necessary construction facilities are lacking for this purpose,while both are still available in the armaments industry through exploitation of the second shift.

The Fuehrer agreed with my proposal, according to which the widest variety of enterprises which have been located outside the cities for air raid protection should offer their available labour forces to companies in the cities, to fill the second shift, and get the necessary labour supply -- at any rate for two shifts -- from the concentration camps for this purpose. I drew the Fuehrer's attention to the difficulties that I see in the demand of Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler to exert a decisive influence on these companies. The Fuehrer also believes that such an influence is not necessary.

On the other hand, the Fuehrer agrees that an advantage for the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler arises from the procurement of prisoners to outfit his division.

I propose to distribute his prisoners on a percentage basis of the expenditure in working hours, by means of the issuance of military equipment. There was talk of a participation of approximately 3 to 5 %; the Fuehrer would agree with this, in which case the equipment would be calculated according to the expenditure in working hours.

The Fuehrer is prepared to issue the necessary instructions to the SS upon presentation of a list of the equipment and weapons.

Page 9

1st copy

Berlin, 9 April 1994

The Chief of the Technical Office TA Ch S/KR

Draft

Points from the discussion with the Fuehrer on 6 and 7 April 1994

Page 6

17) General Field Marshal Milch reported on the results of the construction meeting of the Central Planning Committee, according to which the necessary construction volumes, due to the seriousness of the total situation, can only be realized for the most important construction projects. The Fuehrer nevertheless demands that both the large works of at least 600,000 sq. m ordered by him must be built with all energy. He is agreed that one of these works should be built, not as a concrete structure but, according to our proposal, in extension of, and in immediate vicinity of, the present intermediate work, that is, as a so-called intermediate structure, and that this work should be carried out under the leadership of the Junkers-Werke.

As the immediate task, in addition to ensuring the train by train bottleneck production of the Junkers-Werke, the production of the Me 262 should be planned and carried out with 1000 units per month, and another fighter with 2,000 units per month.

It was proposed to the Fuehrer that, due to a lack of construction workers and structures, the second large construction project should not be built on German territory, but in the immediate vicinity of the border on suitable terrain (particularly, gravel deposits and transport possibilities) on French, Belgian, or Dutch territory. The Fuehrer agreed with this proposal if the work can be carried on behind a fortified zone. The fact, in particular, that it will be considerably easier to make the necessary workers available, speaks in favour of the proposed construction on French soil. The Fuehrer nevertheless asks us to attempt to erect this second structure in a considerably safer area, namely the Protectorate. Should it be impossible to place the labour force there, the Fuehrer wishes to get in personal contact with the Reichsfuehrer SS and request him to obtain the approximately 100,000 men in Hungary, by calling up corresponding contingents of Jews. The Fuehrer expressly demands, with the sharpest, most emphatic mention of the failure of the construction organization in the industrial community of Silesia, that this work must be built exclusively by the OT, and that the assignment of personnel should take place through the Reichsfuehrer SS. He demands that short term a meeting with him should take place to discuss the details in the presence of the participating men.

...............

20) Gave the Fuehrer the letter from Reichsminister Speer regarding the maintenance of the protected industries in France. The Fuehrer summarized his opinion of the letter after reading it through with the words "That is quite my opinion". The Fuehrer demanded, that to dissipate Gauleiter Sauckel's concerns, it was necessary to introduce extensive scrutiny by Reichsminister Speer's offices, to see that the labour forces working in the protected industries are actually used for armaments, and work with corresponding success on armaments assignments.

To the request, expressed to the Fuehrer the next day, to issue a corresponding communication through Reichsleiter Bormann to Gauleiter Sauckel, the Fuehrer agreed, but remarked that under no circumstances should anything be done in this area without his permission.

.................

<End of Document R-124.>

[Note: This is a typical Nuremberg trial document on several points: it is an unsigned "photocopy" the authenticity and accuracy of which cannot be verified; it contains many statements which appear plausible, and others which appear to make little or no