Archive/File: imt/nca/nca-02/nca-02-16-responsibility-13-08 Last-Modified: 1997/05/12 Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume Two, Chapter XIV [Page 793] H. CONTRARY TO ARTICLES 4, 6, 7, AND 46 OF THE HAGUE REGULATIONS, 1907, ARTICLES 2 AND OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR CONVENTION (GENEVA 1929), THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR, AND ARTICLES 6(b) AND 6(c) OF THE CHARTER, KRUPP, AS HEAD OF THE KRUPP CONCERN, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR DENYING ADEQUATE FOOD, SHELTER, CLOTHING, AND MEDICAL CARE AND ATTENTION TO PRISONERS OF WAR AND WORKERS FORCIBLY DEPORTED FROM OCCUPIED COUNTRIES, FOR FORCING THEM TO WORK UNDER INHUMANE CONDITIONS, AND FOR TORTURING THEM AND SUBJECTING THEM TO INDIGNITIES. (1) The prisoners of war and foreign laborers at the Krupp works were undernourished and forced to work on a virtual starvation diet. (a) In a memorandum upon Krupp stationery to Mr. Hupe, Director of the Krupp locomotive factory in Essen, dated 14 March 1942 and entitled "Employment of Russians", it was said: "During the last few days we have established that the food for the Russians employed here is so miserable, that the people are getting weaker from day to day. "Investigations showed that single Russians are not able [Page 794] to place a piece of metal for turning into position for instance, because of lack of physical strength. The same conditions exist at all places of work where Russians are employed." (D-316) (b) In a memorandum dated 18 March 1942, the following was reported from the Krupp armoured car repair shop: "I got the food this evening after Mr. Balz telephoned, but I had quite a struggle with the people responsible in the camp before I got anything at all. They always told me that the people had already received the day's rations and there wasn't any more. What the gentlemen understand under a day's ration is a complete puzzle to me. The food as a whole was a puzzle too, because they ladled me out the thinnest of any already watery soup. It was literally water with a handful of turnips and it looked as if it were washing up "Please tell Mr. Balz again definitely so that the matter is finally cleared up, that it cannot continue having people perish here at work." (D-310) (c) In a memorandum dated 20 March 1942 to Mr. Ihn, one of the Krupp Directors, Dinkelacker, a Krupp official, wrote: [Page 795] "The Deputy Works Manager Mr. Mustin, who also employs a number of such Russian workers and who is quite satisfied with their performance, went to the camp in Kramerplatz on my inducement and had a talk with Mr. Welberg, the Camp Commandant. Mr. Hassel from the Works Police who was present at the time, butted in and declared that one should not believe what the people said. Also that one was dealing with Bolsheviks and they ought to have beatings substituted for food." (D- 318) (d) In a memorandum dated 26 March 1942, to Mr. Hupe concerning the use of Russian prisoners of war and civilian workers, it was reported: "The reason why the Russians are not capable of production is, in my opinion, that the food which they are given will never give them the strength for working which you hope for. The food one day, for instance, consisted of a watery soup with cabbage leaves and a few pieces of turnip. The punctual appearance of the food leaves a good deal to be desired too." (D-297) (e) In a memorandum dated 8 December 1942, Haller, a Krupp official, wrote: [Page 795] "The complaints from our foreign workers about insufficient food have increased lately. ***" "We experienced a very forcible confirmation of these complaints the other day when we drew the food for the Eastern workers from the kitchen in Kramerplatz. On 5 December 1942 the midday meal contained unpeeled, whole potatoes which were not even properly cooked; on 7 December 1942, there was soup on which cabbage leaves floated, the sight of which made me feel sick." (D-366) (f) Dr. Jaeger, senior camp doctor in the Krupps' workers' camps, has stated under oath that not only did the plan for food distribution to foreign workers call for a very small quantity of meat every week, but also that they received only contaminated meats rejected by the health authorities, such as horse or tuberculin infested meat (D-288). (2) The prisoners of war and foreign workers at the Krupp factories were forced to live in grossly overcrowded hutted camps and otherwise were denied adequate shelter. (a) In a sworn statement, Dr. Jaeger, senior camp doctor of the Krupp workers' camps, has stated with respect to the Krupp camps at which the eastern workers and Poles were kept: "Conditions in all these camps were extremely bad. The camps were greatly overcrowded. In some camps there were over twice as many people in a barrack as health conditions permitted-'' ******* "Sanitary conditions were exceedingly bad. At Kramerplatz, where approximately 1,200 eastern workers were crowded into the rooms of an old school, the sanitary conditions were atrocious in the extreme. Only 10 children's toilets were available for the 1,200 inhabitants. At Dechenschule, 15 children's toilets were available for the 400-500 eastern workers. Excretion contaminated the entire floors of these lavatories. There were also very few facilities for washing." (b) Statistics upon the Krupp camps compiled by Krupp officials in 1942 for the Essen health authorities show that in the Krupp Seumannstrasse camp 1784 beds were compressed into a ! surface area of 7844 square meters; in the Krupp Bottropertrasse camp 874 beds were crowded into a surface area of 3585 square meters; and that in other Krupp camps the congestion was even greater (D-143). [Page 796] (c) In a memorandum dated 12 June 1944, Dr. Stinnesbeck, a doctor retained by the Krupp works, reported, with respect to the Krupp prisoner of war camp at Noggerathstrasse that: "315 prisoners are still accommodated in the camp. 170 of these are no longer in barracks but in the tunnel in Grunerstrasse under the Essen-Mulheim railway line. This tunnel is damp and is not suitable for continued accommodation of human beings. The rest of the prisoners are accommodated in 10 different factories in Krupps works." (D-335) (d) In a special medical report marked "strictly confidential", dated 2 September 1944, concerning the same prisoner of war camp, Dr. Jaeger "The P. O. W. camp in the Noggerathstrasse is in a frightful condition. The people live in ash bins, dog kennels, old baking ovens and in self-made huts." (D-339). (3) The prisoners of war and foreign workers at the Krupp factories were denied adequate clothing. (a) Dr. Jaeger, senior camp doctor in Krupps' workers' camps, has stated under oath: "The clothing of the eastern workers was likewise completely inadequate. They worked and slept in the same clothing in which they had arrived from the east. Virtually all of them had no overcoats and were compelled, therefore, to use their blankets as coats in cold and rainy weather. In view of the shortage of shoes, many workers were forced to go to work in their bare feet, even in the winter. Wooden shoes were given to some of the workers, but their quality was such as to give the workers sore feet. Many workers preferred to go to work in their bare feet rather than endure the suffering caused by the wooden shoes. Apart from the wooden shoes, no clothing of any kind was issued to the workers until the latter part of 1943, when a single blue work suit was issued to some of them. To my knowledge, this represented the sole issue of clothing to the workers from the time of their arrival until the American forces entered Essen." (D-288) (b) In a memorandum to Mr. Ihn, a Krupp director, dated 20 October 1942, Dr. Wiehle, head of the Krupp hospital in Essen, wrote: "It has already been pointed out several times at conferences that the clothing for Eastern workers, men and women, is not sufficient. With regard to the cold weather, the camp [Page 797] physician today called our attention to the fact that the number of colds is going up because of the question of insufficient clothing. "Many of the men and women still have to go barefooted. They have no underwear and it often happens that people who wear foot bandages because of injuries walk barefooted on these bandages." (D-271; see also D-355, D-312) (4) Prisoners of war and foreign laborers at the Krupp works were denied adequate medical care and treatment, and as a consequence, suffered severely from a multitude of diseases and ailments. (a) In the above mentioned affidavit, Dr. Jaeger has stated: "The percentage of eastern workers who were ill was twice as great as among the Germans. Tuberculosis was particularly widespread among the eastern workers. The T.B. rate among them was 4 times the normal rate (2% eastern workers, Germans .5%). At Dechenschule approximately 2 l/2% of the workers suffered from open T.B. These were all active T.B. cases. The Tartars and Kirghiz suffered most; as soon as they were overcome by this disease they collapsed like flies. The cause was bad housing, the poor quality and insufficient quantity of food, overwork, and insufficient rest. "These workers were likewise afflicted with spotted fever. Lice, the carrier of this disease, together with countless fleas, bugs and other vermin, tortured the inhabitants of these camps. As a result of the filthy conditions of the camps nearly all eastern workers were afflicted with skin disease. The shortage of food also caused many cases of Hunger-Odem, Nephritis and Shighakruse. "It was the general rule that workers were compelled to go to work unless a camp doctor had prescribed that they were unfit for work. At Seumannstrasse, Grieperstrasse, Germaniastrasse, Kapitan-Lehmanstrasse, and Dechenschule, there was no daily sick call. At these camps, the doctors did not appear for two or three days. As a consequence, workers were forced to go to work despite illnesses." ******* "At the end of 1943, or the beginning of 1944,I am not completely sure of the exact date -- I obtained permission for the first time to visit the prisoner of war camps. My inspection revealed that conditions at these camps were even [Page 798] worse than those I had found at the camps of the eastern workers in 1942. Medical supplies at such camps were virtually non-existent. In an effort to cure this intolerable situation, I contacted the Wehrmacht authorities whose duty it was to provide medical care for the prisoners of war. My persistent efforts came to nothing. After visiting and pressing them over a period of two weeks, I was given a total of 100 aspirin tablets for over 3,000 prisoners of war." (D-288) (b) In a memorandum dated 7 May 1943, prepared at the Krupp hospital, entitled "Deaths of Eastern Workers," report was made of the death of 54 "eastern workers." Of this number, 38 died of tuberculosis, 2 of undernourishment, and 2 of intestinal disease. (D-283) (c) In his "strictly confidential" report concerning the prisoner of war camp at Noggerathstrasse, Dr. Jaeger reported: "The food is barely sufficient. Krupp is responsible for housing and feeding. The supply of medicine and bandages is so extremely bad that proper medical treatment was not possible in many cases. This fact is detrimental to the P. W. camp. It is astonishing that the number of sick is not higher than it is and it moves between 9 and 10 percent." (D-339; also D-313). (d) In a special medical report dated 28 July 1944, Dr. Jaeger wrote: "The sick barrack in Camp Rabenhorst is in such bad condition, one cannot speak of a sick barrack anymore. The rain leaks through in every corner. The housing of the ill is therefore impossible. The necessary labour for production is in danger because those persons who are ill cannot recover. ***" (D-338). (5) Russian juveniles were compelled to work at the Krupp factories, and prisoners of war and foreign workers were generally forced to work long hours, to and beyond the point of exhaustion. (a) In a memorandum marked "secret", dated 14 August 1942, Reiff, a Krupp official, wrote: "*** I am under the impression that the better Russian workers are first of all chosen for the works in Central and Eastern Germany. We really get the bad remainders only. Just now 600 Russians, consisting of 450 women and 150 juveniles, 14 years of age, arrived." (D-348; similar proof is contained in D-281). [Page 799] (b) In a memorandum from the Chief of the Krupp Camp Catering Department, it is stated: *** It is to be considered that foreigners must work 12 hours on principle out of which, 1 hour counts as a break and consequently will not be paid." (D-233; for evidence concerning complete exhaustion of foreign workers and prisoners of war, see D-313). (6) The prisoners of war and foreign laborers used at the Krupp works were beaten, tortured, and subjected to inhuman indignities. (a) In a sworn statement, Heinrich Buschhauer has stated: "*** I admit that I hit Russians. The Russians were very willing and attentive. The clothing of the Russians was very bad and torn. Their feet were wrapped in rags. The appearance of the people was bad, they were thin and pale. Their cheeks had fallen in completely. In spite of this, I was forced to ill-treat the people on the orders of works manager Theile. I have boxed the people's ears and beaten them with a 3/4 rubber tube and a wooden stick. *** The more energetic I went against these people, the more the Works Manager liked it. I *** had to drive and beat the Russians in order to get increased production from them. At times, I had up to two thousand foreigners under me. The Russians could not possibly work more than they did, because the food was too bad and too little. The Works management, however, wanted to get still higher performance from them. It often happened that the Russians, so utterly weakened, collapsed. ***" ******* "The conditions which I have described above continued the whole of the years I was in the boiler making department. On 20 February 1943, I was transferred from the boiler making shop to Nidia." (D-105). (b) Walter Thoene, a Krupp employee, likewise admitted in a sworn statement that he constantly beat foreign workers. He stated: "I admit that I punched and beat Hungarian Jewesses who I had to supervise in No. 3 Steel Moulding Shop. I did not do this of my own free will but was ordered to do so by my works manager Reif, who was a Party Member like I was. Almost every day this unscrupulous man held me to it in no mistakable manner to driving on these Jewesses and getting [Page 800] better performances from them. He also always emphasized that I should not be trivial in the choice of means, and if necessary, hit them like hitting a piece of cold iron. As soon as I saw that these women were standing near the ovens, I had to drive them back to their work." (D-355) Comparable admission were made by August Kleinschmidt, another Krupp employee. (D-306) (c) Dr. Apolinary Gotowicki, a doctor in the Polish Army, who was taken a prisoner of war and in that capacity attended some Russian, Polish and French prisoners of war at the Krupp factories, has stated under oath: "*** Every day, at least 10 people were brought to me whose bodies were covered with bruises on account of the continual beatings with rubber tubes, steel switches or sticks. The people were often writhing with agony and it was impossible for me to give them even a little medical aid. *** I could notice people daily who on account of hunger or ill-treatment, were slowly dying. Dead people often lay for 2 or 3 days on the pailliases until their bodies stank so badly that fellow prisoners took them outside and buried them somewhere. *** I have seen with my own eyes the prisoners coming back from Krupps and how they collapsed on the march and had to be wheeled back on barrows or carried by their comrades. *** The work which they had to perform was very heavy and dangerous and many cases happened where people had cut their fingers, hands or legs. These accidents were very serious and the people came to me and asked me for medical help. But it wasn't even possible for me to keep them from work for a day or two, although I had been to the Krupp directorate and asked for permission to do so. At the end of 1941, 2 people died daily and in 1942 the deaths increased to 3-4 per day." (D-313) (d) A particular form of torture which was inflicted upon Russian workers was a steel cabinet specially manufactured by Krupp, into which workers were thrown after beatings. The cabinets are shown in photographs attached to a sworn statement wherein it is stated: "Photograph 'A' shows an iron cupboard which was specially manufactured by the Firm of Krupp to torture Russian civilian workers to such an extent that it is impossible to describe. Men and women were often locked in one compartment of the cupboard, in which a man could scarcely stand, [Page 801] for long periods. The measurements of this compartment are height 1.52 meters, breadth and depth 40 to 50 cm. each. In fact, people were often kicked and pressed into one compartment in pairs. At the top of the cupboard, there were sieve-like air holes through which cold water was poured on the unfortunate victims during the ice-cold winter." (D-82; for further evidence of constant beatings of foreign workers, see D-253, D-312, D-354, and D-267). (e) Records found in the Krupp files plainly indicate that the practice of beating and torturing prisoners of war and foreign workers was deliberately prescribed by Krupp officials. Steel switches which were used to beat the workers were distributed pursuant to the instructions of Kupke, head of the Krupp camps for foreign workers (D-230). In a memorandum dated 19 March 1942, from the Krupp Works Catering Department, it was said: *** With regards to the times ahead it seems desirable to us, to draw attention to the authorities concerned, with the necessary pressure, to the fact that only severest treatment of the French prisoners of war will ensure that they maintain their performance even with the present food position, which is the same for German workers." As previously shown, Hassel, an official in the Krupp works police, stated that the Russians "ought to have beatings substituted for food" (D-318). (7) The Krupp companies specifically requested and actively sought out the employment of prisoners of war and foreign laborers. (a) In a memorandum dated 13 July 1942 by Weinhold, a Krupp official, complaint was registered over the fact that "the reign laborers are only available two to three months after they have been asked for by us." (D-281). b) In a letter to the Krupp firm dated 27 August 1942, Colonel Zimmerman of the Oberkommando des Heeres, said: "According to our estimate, there ought to be enough workers in your ignitor workshops to reach the demanded production figure. This especially, as the 105 Russians, demanded by your firm at the Conference of the special committee M 111 on the 24 April 1942, were assigned to your works at the beginning of June re- letter from Wa J Ru (Mun. 2). *** "Unfortunately, I found out at the sitting of the special committee M 111 on the 26 August 1942 that the firm of Krupp asks for another 55 workers, including 25 skilled labourers, with- [Page 802] out having a corresponding raise in the production figures. I cannot judge from here, what the reasons for this are." (D-345) (c) In a memorandum dated 21 December 1942 concerning the possibility of the Krupp works obtaining additional conscripted French workers, Dr. Lehmann, a Krupp official, stated: "*** We discussed how far it would be possible for complete shifts of workers conscripted from French factories to be transferred to Essen. We are to collaborate as far as practicable in the splitting up of our requirements amongst individual military government offices and military police posts. So far as possible one of our representatives is to assist in the selection from amongst the conscripts." (D-196; see also D-280). (8) Concentration camp laborers, who were brought to the Krupp works at the request of Krupp officials, were subjected to persecution, degradation, despoilment, and torture in a manner similar to that of prisoners of war and slave laborers. (a) Mr. Ihn, a director of the Krupp firm, has stated in a signed but unsworn statement, that the Krupp firm first asked for concentration camp labor on 22 September 1942, and that the first group of them arrived "in the summer or autumn of 1944" (D-274). (b) The fact that concentration camp labor was requested by the Krupp works; that such persons were to be confined behind barbed wire enclosures; and that they were to be closely guarded by SS personnel is further shown in a memorandum entitled "Visit of the Director of Distribution of Workers of the Weimar-Buchenwald Concentration Camp; SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Schwarz on 26-74", written by Trockel, a Krupp official. In the course of this memorandum, Trockel stated: "Herr Schwarz came on behalf of his Commandant SS Standartenfuehrer Pister to talk over with us, the question of employment of Kl detainees. He pointed out that the employment of men could not be reckoned with for a considerable period. Our last request was for 700 women." "As not less than 500 women would be assigned, we agreed that the figure should remain at 500 women. in order that the assignment should not be endangered. ***" ******* "*** The main things are the erection of a barbed [Page 803] wire fence in front of the hall which allows a small exit and the erection of a small barracks for the Commander of the guard and his duty office and for the German female guard personnel. ***" "The SS are providing a guard consisting of guard commander and 10 men. For 520 women we have to name approx. 45 German women who will be sworn in to the SS, given 3 weeks training in the women's camp at Ravensbruck and then given full official supervision duties by the SS. ***" (D-238) (c) Dr. Jaeger, senior camp doctor in the Krupp camps, has described conditions at the camp which the Krupp works maintained for concentration camp labor as follows: "Camp Humboldstrasse had been inhabitated by Italian prisoners of war. After it had been destroyed by an air raid, the Italians were removed and 600 Jewish females from Buchenwald Concentration Camp were brought in to work at the Krupp factories. Upon my first visit at Camp Humboldstrasse, I found these females suffering from open festering wounds and other diseases. "I was the first doctor they had seen for at least a fortnight. There was no doctor in attendance at the camp. There were no medical supplies in the camp. They had no shoes and went about in their bare feet. The sole clothing of each consisted of a sack with holes for their arms and head. Their hair was shorn. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire and closely guarded by SS guards. "The amount of food in the camp was extremely meagre and of very poor quality. The houses in which they lived consisted of the ruins of former barracks and they afforded no shelter against rain and other weather conditions. I reported to my superiors that the guards lived and slept outside their barracks as one could not enter them without being attacked by 10, 20 and up to 30 fleas. One camp doctor employed by me refused to enter the camp again after he had been bitten very badly. I visited this camp with a Mr. Grono on two occasions and both times we left the camp badly bitten. We had great difficulty in getting rid of the fleas and insects which had attacked us. As a result of this attack by insects of this camp, I got large boils on my arms and the rest of my body. I asked my superiors at the Krupp works [Page 804] to undertake the necessary steps to delouse the camp so as to put an end to this unbearable, vermin-infested condition. Despite this report, I did not find any improvement in sanitary conditions at the camp on my second visit a fortnight later." (D-288) (d) The conditions under which the concentration camp workers existed at the Krupp camps and factories and the indignities and barbarities to which they were subjected are vividly described in affidavits by such workers (D-256; D- 277; D-272). In general, the affidavits disclose that these concentration camp laborers slept on bare floors of damp, windowless and lightless cellars; that they had no water for drinking or cleansing purposes; that they were compelled to do work far beyond their strength; that they were mercilessly beaten; that they were given one wretched meal a day, consisting of a dirty watery soup with a thin slice of black bread; and that many of them died from starvation, tuberculosis and overexertion. A chart entitled "Fried. Krupp Berthawerk, Markstaedt Breslau, Number of Occupied Foreigners, Prisoners of War and Concentration Camp Inmates" shows the use of concentration camp labor at that factory, as well as at the above-mentioned Krupp company in Essen (D- 298). (9) Charts prepared by Krupp officials show that in September 1943, the Krupp concerns employed 39,245 foreign workers and 11,224 prisoners of war, and that the number mounted steadily until September 1944, when 54,990 foreign workers and 18,902 prisoners of war were used (Chart entitled "Foreigners and Prisoners of War of the Krupp Concern"; chart entitled "Cast Steel Works, Number of Prisoners of War and Foreigners", not here reproduced.) The majority of the foreign laborers consisted of Russians, French, Poles, and Dutch.
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