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Archive/File: people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-031-01
Last-Modified: 1999/05/31

Session No.31
22 Iyar 5721 (8 May 1961)

Presiding Judge: I declare the thirty-first Session of the
trial open.

Attorney General: May it please the Court. We still have a
number of documents concerning the chapter of Poland and I
shall present them now. The first document is our No. 1535.
It is a report by Oberstleutnant Lahousen on the first stage
of the first actions of the Einsatzgruppen in 1939. He
describes his visit to Poland and on 20 September 1939 he
reports about his activities in the neighbourhood of
Lemberg. At that time the German troups also occupied the
area in Poland from which they later retreated when the
Soviets moved in. On 21 September the demarcation line was
decided on. Lahousen says that there was unrest and
dissatisfaction in the Army, particularly on account of the
fact that young people are carrying out mass murders -
especially of Jews - instead of proving their courage at the
front.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/358.

Attorney General: These were the first actions of the
Einsatzgruppen at that time, for which proof has already
been given in documents from the meeting of 21 September
1939.

And now, with the permission of the Court, a series of
documents concerning mainly the uprooting of Poles, but also
of Jews, from the area incorporated into the Reich.

Judge Halevi:  In connection with the previous document: To
whom was the report submitted?

Attorney General: This is an Army report, a military report
sent by an Army colonel together with Rittmeister (Cavalry
Captain) Jary to his superiors about this visit. We do not
know what his exact function was.

And now a number of documents concerning the role of the
Accused in the expulsion of the population and in that major
operation of transferring people from their homes and the
homes of their fathers to other areas, in order to make room
for German settlers. I shall more or less follow the
chronological order.

No. 1402 is a telegram from Poznan signed by
Hauptsturmfuehrer Mohr who refers to transports schedules
and asks for approval for re-routing the trains,* {*The
document refers to one transport.}  which should not go, as
envisaged at first, to a town called Checiny but to Kielce.
He asks that Hauptsturmfuehrer Eichmann who was, then in
Poznan, be informed of the change which became necessary.
Verification is to be found in Polish Bulletin No. 12, which
is already a document of the Court.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/359.

Attorney General: In pursuance of that action a report is
sent to the Head Office for Reich Security concerning a
labour force which Section IVD4 promises from the
incorporated Eastern areas. It says here that the papers of
the deported families must be stamped "Evakuiert"
(evacuated) and that arrangements have to be made so that
after the end of their period of work they will not be
returned to the Eastern areas but transferred to the
Generalgouvernement. After that reference is made to the
Labour Exchange in Litzmannstadt.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/360.

Attorney General: Here we have a report on this terrible
operation of expulsion. The document is our No. 149. In this
operation of transferring people and of searching for those
suitable to become German deportations were carried out in
two stages. In the first stage 261,517 persons were expelled
and here is a list of all the districts, tens of districts,
from which the Poles were deported by Section IVD4.

The next page refers already not only to "expelled Poles"
but of "expelled and dislodged Poles." And again there is a
list of all the districts from which, in the years 1939 till
the end of 1943, a total of 534,384 Poles were expelled from
their homes and transferred to other localities. All of this
by IVD4 headed by Adolf Eichmann.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/361.

Attorney General: We have a partial report compiled until 15
November 1940 on these evacuations, which was submitted by
the Chief of the Security Police. Until then the number of
deported Poles was 356,862.
Presiding Judge: This will be T/362.

Attorney General: May I be permitted, in this context, to
mention a document already submitted which touches on the
same matter, T/211. I presented it in connection with one of
the testimonies we heard about the 20 zlotys each deported
person was allowed to take with him. It was document No.
1403.

Presiding Judge: Where does T/362 come from? I see it is
page 117 of something.

Attorney General: It is No. 5150, Your Honour. That is to
say, authentication is to be found in the files of the
Prosecution of Nuremberg and this is how we obtained it.

Judge Raveh:   And the preceding document?

Attorney General: The preceding document is from the Polish
Bulletin No. 12, which has already been submitted to the
Court. The Court will find it on pages 136-165 F in Bulletin
No. 12 of the Polish Committee.

Presiding Judge: What is it?

Attorney General: It concerns an arrangement with
Hauptsturmfuehrer Eichmann about the Ciechanow district from
which 11,000-12,000 Poles were to be transferred until
completion of the necessary arrangements. The deported
persons would take food for three months with them.

Presiding Judge: On what authority did the Accused act in
these matters according to your argument?

Attorney General: He was Head of Section IVD4. If I may
remind the Court, Himmler received special authorization to
act in these matters and he in turn authorized Heydrich; and
Heydrich announced, at a meeting about which a document has
already been submitted and in a paper which has already been
mentioned and submitted, that in order to coordinate all
these activities, he appoints Eichmann to carry out the
deportation operations.

Presiding Judge: The document will be T/363.

Attorney General: Our next document is No. 1404. It is a
minute by Hauptsturmfuerer Hoeppner who worked in Poznan. It
is authenticated by Bulletin No. 12, Document 35 and it
contains the summary of a conversation between Eichmann and
Untersturmfuehrer Seidl in Poznan on 5 June 1940. In
paragraph 2 it says that difficulties which have arisen in
connection with the evacuation from the areas of the East
will be removed - as Eichmann promised,* {*In the original:
"Will be reported to Eichmann."} not later than 10 June
1940. Further on in the document there is mention of the
activities of Krumey as well as Schmied and Schwarzhuber. We
shall meet Schwarzhuber later in Auschwitz.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/364.

Attorney General: Our No. 1405 is again the summary of a
conversation, about a meeting, apparently the same meeting
between Eichmann and Seidl in Poznan. Again it was recorded
for Hauptsturmfuehrer Hoeppner. This also is to be found in
Bulletin No. 12 as document 34.

The question was asked what was to happen to Poles who
helped ethnic Germans in the occupied areas; were they also
to be condemned to deportation? And this is what is said in
paragraph 3:

     "Regarding Poles who saved the lives of ethnic Germans
     it was decided to treat each case in accordance with
     the circumstances. Poles who have demonstrably saved
     the lives of ethnic Germans will not leave immediately
     with the first evacuation but will be shifted to the
     end of the evacuation procedures."

This is the reward to those who saved Germans.

In paragraph 6 the question seems to have been asked: What
is to be the fate of families of Poles who are still in
prisoner of war camps. And the competent department in the
Head Office for Reich Security said that it had no
information concerning any special arrangement for families
of prisoners of war.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/365.

Attorney General: Prosecution Document No. 1406 is a note
from Section IVD4 signed by Eichmann and contains the report
of a meeting held on 7 August with Krumey, Jahnke and
Dreier. It was decided there that the deportation of 20,000
Poles was the task of the Security Police alone. That is in
paragraph 1. In paragraph 3 it was confirmed that the
transports of Poles would be implemented in accordance with
instructions from IVD4. And in paragraph III it is decided
that reports on the transports are to be transmitted to the
Commander of the Security Police in Poznan, the Commander of
the Security Police in Litzmannstadt, Krumey, and to the
Head Office for Reich Security, IVD4 to SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
Eichmann. All reports have to go there.

Presiding Judge: What is Saybusch? Do you know what district
this is. It seems to be the Germanization of some Polish
name.

Attorney General: No, I do not know. I also thought so. It
is apparently in the Kattowitz district, according to what
is said later on.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/366.

Attorney General: Prosecution Document No. 1407 is a
telegram contained in Bulletin No. 12 as Document No. 65. It
is a communication to Eichmann in accordance with standing
instructions concerning the departure of deportation
transports. It informs him of the departure of transports
from Litzmannstadt to Tarno64w, Zaklikow and Dabrowa. The
informant is Krumey.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/367.

Attorney General: The next document is Prosecution Document
No. 1408. It is a telegram from Eichmann to Hoeppner. The
Court will find it in Bulletin No. 12, Document No. 26.
Eichmann informs Hoeppner on 26 February 1941 that he has
made arrangements with the Reich Railways for the transports
mentioned, complete with numbers of the trains, dates of
departure and arrival. He asks him to take note and take
further action.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/368.

Attorney General: Your Honour, we have now a number of
documents contained in Polish Bulletin No. 2. They were
translated into Polish and I do not have them in the
original German. I ask that they be accepted. We shall
submit to the Court the re-translation from Polish into
Hebrew. The Poles did not publish the original document. I
herewith submit Bulletin No. 2.

Presiding Judge: Has this not yet been submitted?

Attorney General: This has not yet been submitted.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/369.

Attorney General: Document No. 284 is contained in the
Bulletin I have just submitted on pages 101-102. Guenther
writes to Krumey in Lodz on behalf of IVB4 about the
evacuation of Poles from the Lublin, Lvov and Radom district
(the Generalgouvernement). He orders the opening of
education camps for children up to the age of 10. In these
camps the children must be carefully examined. Children
proving themselves to be valuable from the racial point of
view will be sent to the Reich. There Brigadefuehrer
3Hilgenfeldt will deal with them. At the end there is also
mention of those Poles who are destined for deportation to
the Reich as labour force and of Poles who are to be sent to
concentration camps. I draw the attention of the Court to
the fact that the document refers to the area of the
Generalgouvernement.

Presiding Judge: Will you submit a Hebrew translation?

Attorney General: Yes, we shall submit translations into
Hebrew of all these documents.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/370.

Attorney General: Prosecution Document 285, again in Polish,
from the same Bulletin No. 2: Krumey writes to IVB4,
attention Guenther, about the overall number of 140,000
Poles intended for deportation. Of these, those up to the
age of 10, about 25 per cent are to be housed in children's
camps; 12 per cent in leaseholders' villages; 21 per cent in
concentration camps; 15 per cent to be sent to work without
families; 22 per cent to be sent to the East; 5 per cent
intended for "re-Germanization."  This is the answer to the
telegram of 10 October 1942 which we have submitted.

Presiding Judge: This is marked T/371.

Attorney General: Prosecution Document No. 289 deals with
the expulsion of Poles from Zamosc. In paragraph 2E the
subject is: Families and persons who will be sent to
Birkenau. Birkenau was part of Auschwitz. And further on
mention is made of an exact card index, which will divide
the population into those capable of being re-Germanized;
those who can be sent to work in the Reich; those who may be
sent to villages; children separated from their parents;
those to be sent to work in the Generalgouvernement; and
those who will be sent to Birkenau. Initials were designated
for marking each type of deportation. And in paragraph 5,
second passage, instructions are given as to how the
deportation to Birkenau is to be carried out. Every 1,000
persons shall be accompanied by an escort commando, 15
deportees to one escort. "These Poles are to be provided
with food for 5 days." And IVB4, Kurfuerstenstrasse 115/116
has to be notified* {*In the original: Trains have to be
ordered from RSHA,IVB4.} of each transport. Signed: Krumey.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/372.

Attorney General: Prosecution Document No. 1411 is a
telegram signed by Guenther on behalf of IVB4 to Krumey and
deals with the evacuation of Poles from the Lvov and Radom

Districts. Krumey was at the time in Cracow. Instructions
are given for carrying out the deportation from Zamosc to
Auschwitz. Will the Court please note that in the meantime
the function of IVB4 were transferred to IVD4 and IVB4 deals
mainly with population transfers.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/373.

Attorney General: The next document, our No. 1412, is a
letter from IVB4 to the Reichfuehrer-SS and deals with the
evacuation of the Poles from the Lublin district. It refers
to the families which were
separated and sent to Litzmannstadt. There is mention of the
deportation of children. The age of children is now fixed at
up to 14 because children under 14 cannot be sent to work -
above the age of 14 they are of course material for forced
labour in the Reich. In paragraph 5 it says that those
belonging to the fourth category, i.e. ages 14 to 60, will
be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The letter
comes from IVB4 and is signed by Mueller.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/374.

Attorney General: On 10 November 1942 an Order is issued in
connection with the Polish population. Krueger, the senior
police officer in Cracow, gives detailed instructions. But
he says himself at the beginning of the Order that they only
supplement the general directives of the Head Office for
Reich Security. In other words, Krueger acts in this matter
only in order to supplement instructions already given.

Presiding Judge: This document is marked T/375.

Attorney General: The next document is again in Polish. We
submit it herewith. It is to be found in Bulletin No. 2,
page 112. Krumey writes to Eichmann at IVB4 about the
evacuation of the Poles in the Lublin district and informs
him that the evacuation from Zamosc will take place at the
beginning of January - apparently January 1943, since the
document is dated 29 December 1942. The Ukrainians to be
deported from there will also be settled in the Hrubieszow
district. He asks for the question of transports to
Auschwitz as well as possible cancellation to be coordinated
with the Ministry of Transport. At the end Krumey
apologizes: "The operation was not possible until now
because the officials in charge were not at his disposition
until 20 December."

No. 293 is again in Polish.

Presiding Judge: Krumey's letter will be marked T/376.

Attorney General: On 26 February 1943 there is a report from
the Warsaw district on these same transports. It says that
fifteen people froze to death on the way, that many were
shot when trying to escape, that the guards were forced to
deter people from attempts to escape by frequent firing and
that, when the transport reached its destination, there were
on it many corpses of people who had frozen to death on the
way.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/377.

Attorney General: On 29 December 1942 Guenther writes to
Krumey - Re: Evacuation of Poles in the Lublin (Zamosc)
District. He orders the arrest of the priests in the
district during the evacuation and their transfer to
concentration camps. As regards special cases Section IVB4
has to be contacted and asked for the order of arrest.
Guenther asks how many priests, approximately, have already
been seized.

Presiding Judge: This will be marked T/378.

Attorney General: I have our Document No. 287 in German as
well as in Polish. I shall submit to the Court only the
German version. We shall supply the Court with additional
copies. The document concerns the transfer of Polish
landowners, farm owners. It says that these will only be
allowed one hour to put their affairs in order when they are
deported. Their homes must be locked and sealed. Police
forces have to be used for this purpose. Care has to be
taken that the proportion of deportees to members of the
deporting unit shall be one to one. In case of resistance
fire arms are to be used. It has to be kept in mind that the
deportees are sent to work in the Reich. Therefore they have
to be treated accordingly, but in case of need - with all
the necessary severity. These are the instructions issued by
the Commander of the Security Police in Zamosc.

Presiding Judge: This will be T/379.


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