The order transferring him to the WVHA is as follows:
"SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Hermann Pook, born on 1 May 1901, at present Panzer Grenadier Division 'Hohenstaufen' Division Staff, is transferred to the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office, Amtsgruppe D-III, Oranienburg, in the capacity as dentist in charge, as of September 3, 1943.
"He is to report to the Chief of the SS-Main Economic and Administrative Office, Oranienburg, SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Lolling." (Pros. Ex. 574).
Thus, from this order it is perfectly clear that he was directly subordinate in the WVHA to Dr. Lolling, chief physician of Amt D-III. In his field of tasks, he was subordinated under three channels. He was subordinated to Gruppenfuehrer Gluecks, Chief of Amtsgruppe D in military and disciplinary matters. He was subordinated to Office XIV of Amtsgruppe D of the FHA, one of the twelve main offices of the SS, not connected with the WVHA. The Medical Office of the Waffen-SS, upon its reorganization in the spring of 1943, became Amtsgruppe D of the FHA and was composed of various departments, one of which was Office XIV, the dental office. This office was charged with the administration of the dental services for the whole of the SS, and among other things, for the supplying of materials to dental stations and the staffing of the SS Divisions and Main Offices with dental personnel.
The position of Chief Dental Surgeon in Amtsgruppe D of FHA was first occupied by Sturmbannfuehrer Reutter until September 1943 when the defendant Pook succeeded him. The field of tasks in this position of the defendant Pook consisted largely in the following: the channeling of correspondence passing between the camp dentists and Office XIV, checking and considering for approval requisitions submitted by camp dentists, forwarding of monthly work, personnel, and gold reports from the camp dentists to Office XIV, Lolling's subordinate, and matters relating to dental affairs in concentration camps.
He was consulted on questions concerning the transfer and assignment of dental personnel within the concentration camps. He also worked in the Oranienburg Dental Clinic in dealing with the care of SS members and their dependents. He was also the supervisor of SS concentration camp dentists and camp inmate dentists. He exercised authority of command over the SS camp dentists as well. On page 4044 of the record, the defendant testified as follows:
"If it would have been necessary, and if I would have determined that the SS dentist in that camp had not really carried out his duty and if I had seen that on the occasion of an inspection, then certainly I would have told him if he was not going to try any harder then I would have to submit a report to my superior and he would be dismissed or punished."
As to the knowledge that the defendant had of conditions in concentration camps in which he had supervisory and administrative authority the evidence clearly discloses that he made frequent inspection tours of dental stations located in the various concentration camps and outside labor camps. The defendant vigorously contends and insists that he did not have knowledge of the manner in which the inmates were treated, nor did he have knowledge of conditions prevailing in such concentration camps. Despite his denials, the Tribunal is of the opinion, and so holds, that he was familiar with the atrocious conditions generally prevailing in the concentration camps. In January 1944, he visited Mauthausen concentration camp in company with Lolling, his superior, and spent the evening there. On at least one or more occasions he visited Buchenwald concentration camp, his last visit in this camp being in March 1945, just prior to the capitulation.
It is a matter of public knowledge from a report made by a U. S. Congressional Committee in April of the same year, and from motion pictures taken of this camp by the allied armies upon its capture, and other documentary evidence in the case, that this camp constituted an extermination factory of civilians of occupied territories, Jews, and prisoners of war, that these unfortunate people were exterminated by starvations, beatings, tortures, incredibly crowded sleeping conditions, and sickness following inhumane treatment. Quoting from the U. S. Congressional Committee Report, which was offered in evidence, the following appears:
"Pictures and descriptions of the conditions at the camp cannot adequately portray what we saw there, and it is only when the stench of the camp is smelled that anyone can have complete appreciation of the depths of degradation to which the German Nazi Government and these responsible for it and its agencies, organizations, and practices have dropped in their treatment of those who failed to embrace the doctrines of the master race." (Ex. 177) These terrible conditions were found the month following the last visit to this camp by the defendant, yet the defendant denies that he noticed anything unusual while there.
He further admits that he visited the Dora Labor Camps in March 1944 and that he inspected his dental station at Ohrdruff as late as March 1945, but still insisted that he saw nothing on these visits that would put him upon notice of the horrible conditions and inhumane measures that were being administered to the inmates.
The prosecution offered in evidence an affidavit of Dr. Werner Grueness (Prosecution Document Book 21, Exhibit 515), in regard to a visit of the defendant to Labor Camp No. 3, which was concerned with the construction of the Fuehrer's Headquarters at Ohrdruff. The Tribunal quotes the following portions of this affidavit:
"I remember a visit of Dr. Pook, the Chief Dental Surgeon for all the Concentration Camps, who came from Berlin to inspect the installation for dental surgery at S III. He said that the treatment as applied was much too humane, that anaesthetics would have to be dispensed with, and that, generally speaking, more rigorous dental work was to be carried out. Besides only really essential treatment should be given to these prisoners. Supply of material, which was under his control and for which he, as the highest instance, was responsible, were unsatisfactory in the camp at Ohrdruff, and I could only obtain this material with the greatest difficulty through channels from Buchenwald. Dr. Pook, to whom I presented my exact records, made fun of these civilian bureaucratic methods and told me that such a conscientious treatment of these people was out of the question. All my efforts to obtain dental treatment for the prisoners he termed ridiculous and he gave orders that only essential work was to be performed, which meant that only tooth extractions were to be undertaken and no other treatment at all. These tooth extractions were to be carried out without any local anaesthesia. Many of these prisoners had no more teeth and I was forbidden by Dr. Pook to have sets of artificial tooth made. Consequently many of these prisoners were not able to digest their food properly, and this resulted in serious disorders of the stomach and the intestines, which in many cases led to death.
"The gold fillings of deceased prisoners were removed by a prisoner dentist and then turned over to the SS dentist of the camp at Ohrdruff, who forwarded it to Barnewald."
The defendant emphatically denies the truth of this affidavit, contends that he had no such knowledge and that no such orders were given by him.
The Tribunal concludes that this affidavit portrays the true conditions prevailing in this camp and that the defendant's attitude towards these unfortunate people was as stated therein. Other evidence in the case corroborates the Grueness affidavit. The defendant admitted that he heard of the extermination program of the SS sometime during the summer of 1944. After hearing of this program, he visited the Concentration Camp Auschwitz and had the opportunity of seeing, and did see, the mortality charts kept by Lolling. However, he denies that he noticed from these charts the actual death rate. It should be noted that at the time of his visit to the Auschwitz Concentration camp the program of extermination was at its peak. In regard to the SS program of the final solution of the Jewish problem and the planned extermination of inferior races and political opponents of the Nazi regime, it would follow that thought was given as to what would be done with their personal property and valuables. The answer to this question was to confiscate and steal everything of value that could be obtained from their personal belongings and their bodies.
The International Military Tribunal in its Judgment against Goering and others, found the following:
"Evidence was given of the treatment of the inmates before and after their extermination. There was testimony that the hair of women victims was cut off before they were killed, and shipped to Germany to be used in the manufacture of mattresses. The clothes, money, and valuables of the inmates were also salvaged and sent to the appropriate agencies for disposition.
After the extermination, the gold teeth and fillings were taken from the heads of the corpses and sent to the Reichsbank." (I.M.T. 169214) By an order of Himmler, dated September 23, 1940, gold was to be removed from the teeth of deceased concentration camp inmates for the benefit of the Reich.
The defendant Pook admitted knowledge of this order, but denied that he participated in the carrying out of this order, saying:
"As a leading dentist, I had nothing to do with the removal of gold teeth as far as people were concerned who had died natural deaths. As far as removal of gold was concerned from people who had been killed in the extermination programs, there was no question about that. I had no knowledge of the extermination program, and these actions. Therefore, I couldn't know anything at all about the removal of gold teeth either." (R. 3917) The Tribunal concludes from all the evidence that the extermination program was at least in part an SS task.
This program required many agencies and many SS responsible persons to carry it out and to conclude it. From the time that the subjects for extermination were collected to the time of their final extermination in the gas chambers and crematoria, various individuals had specific tasks assigned to them as their duties in carrying out this program. One of the final stops was to take from the mouths of the gassed victims the remaining vestige of value to the Reich, the gold from their teeth. Thus, when the defendant and his subordinates had completed their task of removing this gold, the flaming mouths of the crematoria completed the program.
The Tribunal finds from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant Pook in his capacity as the Chief Dentist of the WVHA had constructive knowledge of the policy of extermination as carried out in the concentration camps by the SS, and, as his part therein he was charged with the confiscation of the gold from the mouths of the subjects and was directly responsible as one of the participants in such program.
The Tribunal will not deal with "Action Reinhardt" at this point as a separate and distinct action, but has made its findings as to this defendant from the over-all picture of the SS extermination program. The confiscation of the dental gold of deceased concentration camp inmates was directly tied into and made a part of the extermination program and "Action Reinhardt."
CONCLUSIONS The Tribunal finds beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence in this case that the defendant Pook was a principal in, accessory to, ordered, abetted, took a consenting part in, and was connected with plans and enterprises involving the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as charged in Counts II and III of the indictment.
The Tribunal further finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Pook was a member of the SS after September 1, 1939, an organization declared criminal by the International Military Tribunal, as charged in the indictment. Therefore, the Tribunal finds and adjudges that the defendant Hermann Pook is guilty as charged in Count IV of the indictment.
(A recess was taken)
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal is again in session.
THE PRESIDENT: Judge Musanno will continue the reading of the judgment.
JUDGE MUSMANNO: HANS HOHBERG
Hans Hohberg was not a member of the NSDAP and never joined the SS. Educated and trained as an auditor, he was employed under contract by the SS Administration in his professional capacity. He first came into contact with Pohl in 1940 when he was engaged to audit the accounts of the various SS-Enterprises, and "if possible, to bring order into his companies". Hohberg states that his only superior was the Institute of Public Auditors, and that against his will Pohl made him Chief of Staff W. He sought to deny that he was Chief of Staff W, but the defendants Volk and Baier, as well as defense witness Karoli from Staff W, all confirmed his (Hohberg's) official position.
The evidence shows that Hohberg's part in the SS-Industries went far beyond that of a simple auditor. The task of coordinating and directing W-Industries at the top level was the task of Staff W, whose chief, according to the business order of SS-WVHA, had many duties. He was economic advisor to Pohl, assisted Pohl in the discharge of his duties of management, and the chiefs of the 8 offices in Department W were to report to Pohl only after conferring with the Chief of Staff W on all financial, economic and other important matters concerning the management of the enterprises. The Chief of Staff W was to supervise the manner in which all funds and moneys furnished by or through DWB were to be used. He was to supervise business transactions of all SS-Industries, he was to examine the purchase and sale of all plots of land, and he employed and discharged all employees in Staff W. In his testimony Pohl declared that Staff W was the instrument which he used as the sole business manager of DWB in the supervision of the economic enterprises.
Hohberg is definitely associated with concentration camps. All W-Industries obviously were an essential part of the concentration camp system.
Himmler, in his Metz speech, declared: "We cannot exist without the business enterprises".
Because he was neither a member of the National Socialist Party nor the SS, Hohberg claims an immunity from responsibility for SS excesses. But he worked for the SS-Enterprises, he Planned for the SS-Enterprises, he knew the SS-Enterprises used concentration camp labor, he knew the inmates were unpaid, badly fed, badly treated, yet he continued to work with the SS. He did not wear the SS uniform, but he cooperated and collaborated with the SS as much as if he held high rank in that organization. Having visited many of the concentration camps he cannot plead ignorance as to what transpired within them.
Hohberg showed a great deal of initiative in the development of the SS-Industries. In fact on the stand he described himself as the godfather of DWB.
Although his aim in court was to demonstrate what an insignificant part he played in the WVHA set up, he could not resist the pride of pointing out how he completely reorganized the SS-Industries.
Karoli testified that Hohberg was the expert and economic brain of the enterprises.
When the workshops in the Dachau concentration camp were organized and incorporated into the DAW, it was Hohberg who handled the financial aspects of the transaction and advised Pohl as to what steps should be taken.
Testifying on the matter of remuneration for the use of concentration camp inmates, Hohberg stated:
"I saw the amount of daily wages paid for the inmates and as an auditor I had to give my opinion on what these enterprises should pay to the Reich."
As an auditor, Hohberg was not compelled, as he said here, to render an opinion on what the enterprises should pay to the Reich.
THE PRESIDENT: The Presiding Judge continues the reading.
Through Hohberg's efforts, the German Lebensmittel, the Textile and Leather Company, and the OSTI -- all using inmate labor -- were given the form of a company.
He was frequently consulted when these enterprises were being founded.
The commanders of the concentration camps functioned under Pohl's direction as Works Managers of the various economic enterprises. Thus Hohberg had direct contact with the concentration camps, since Staff W, of which he was the Chief, made the arrangements with concentration camp commanders in handling the various enterprises.
When the matter of transferring armament production to concentration camps was discussed, Hohberg accepted appointment as expert for the WVHA. People desiring to know the details of the transfer of armament enterprises to Neuengamme, Auschwitz, Lublin and Ravensbrueck, were referred to Hohberg as being the person WVHA competent to conduct negotiations.
When the Hermann Goering Works wanted inmate labor, Hohberg attended the conference which considered the ways and means of supplying these inmates. The memoranda written by Hohberg reveal an intimate knowledge of concentration camp labor problems.
Hohberg himself testified that he handled the financial, organizational and legal problems of the Economic Enterprises.
Hohberg inveighed against the SS, accused Pohl of crimes and expressed indignation at the concentration camp excesses. He testified that he left the WVHA because of his disapproval of its activities. But even after leaving, he accepted a contract from Pohl by which his family received 2,000 RM per month.
In 1944, after having left the WVHA, he carried out successful negotiations with Pohl and obtained the cooperation of the SS-Enterprises in the production of jet propelled planes.
Staff W played an important part in Action Reinhardt, in the supervision of OSTI, and in handling loans from the Reich funds. Pohl's report to Himmler, which was prepared by Hohberg, listed OSTI under Staff W. OSTI is listed as a part of Staff W on the chart of WVHA which was signed by Pohl.
The Tribunal has acquitted the defendant Vogt under the indictment and since he also was an auditor, a comparison between him and Hohberg is inevitable. The difference between them lies in the fact that at no time was anything but an auditor, whereas Hohberg, in addition to being an auditor, was an active participant in the economic enterprises of the SS in the several capacities of Chief of Staff W, financial director and economic advisor.
Hohberg testified at great length on his opposition to the Nazi regime and how he participated in the resistance movement. While actually working with the SS-Enterprises, it is not apparent that he did anything to slow up the Juggernaut of oppression over concentration camp inmates. However, after he left the WVHA it is not unlikely that he did lend himself to the underground movement working against the regime and organization with which he had at one time cooperated.
The Tribunal does not deny that Hohberg may have played an active part in that movement and will give that fact due weight.
The Tribunal finds Hohberg guilty under Counts II and III of the Indictment. He is not charged under Count IV of the indictment.
HANS BAIER Hans Baier joined the National Socialist Party on May 1, 1933.
In 1937 Pohl induced him to enter the SS and had him transferred from the Navy in which he was then serving. From April 1937 until August 1943 Baier conducted instruction courses on SS administration. He states that in these courses he never mentioned concentration camps, but one of his former students, Philipp Grimm, declared in an affidavit that at this school he was taught:
"Everything in connection with the administration of troops in a concentration camp."
Baier's work as instructor apparently so well satisfied the demands of Nazi and SS ideology that it brought from Pohl the compliment that Baier's students could be appointed immediately to the Deathhead Units as administrative leaders.
Baier may not have mentioned concentration camps in his lectures but he could not help knowing about them, since in 1941 he had inmates from the Dachau concentration camp at his very school, employed in enlarging and extending it. Inmates worked there daily.
In August 1943 Baier became Chief of Staff W of the WVHA, following Hohberg. His counsel states that it is open to discussion whether Baier could be called Dr. Hohberg's successor. But the minutes of the W-Chiefs of Amt meeting on September 29, 1943, written up by Dr. Volk, carries this item:
"He (POHL) recalled Standartenfuehrer Baier, Commander of the school in Dachau, and appointed him Chief of Staff W."
As successor to Hohberg, Baier is as much involved as Hohberg in crimes against humanity arising out of his activities as Chief of Staff W. It is unnecessary to relate again the functions of the Staff-W Chief, since that matter was sufficiently covered in the discussion of Hohberg's case. However, Article 8 of the WVHA Code of Procedure may be quoted to show the important role the office of Chief of Staff W was given in the organization set-up:
"The Chief W Article 8.The Chief W is the economic advisor of the Chief of the Main Office.
In this capacity he is especially responsible for the supervision as well as the economic and financial counseling of the companies and offices; he moreover assists the Chief of the Main Office in his leadership tasks."
It has been advanced in Baier's behalf that his work was confined to the spheres of auditing and taxation, but the references in the document books in this case are legion as to Baier's activities beyond that of auditor and tax expert.
On February 29, 1944, Baier received a long report from Weber on the expenditures for prisoners in comparison with the wages paid to free workers.
On March 3, 1944, Baier ordered that the various offices involved report to him on the industries employing prisoners.
On March 17, 1944, Maurer of Amtsgruppe D wrote Baier asking for a conference on the subject of wage scales for prisoners in the armament industries.
On March 27, 1944, Baier wrote a memorandum on the "effects of a pay raise for prisoners working with the Deutsche Ausruestungswerke" (German Equipment Plants). This constant reference to wages for the prisoners is not to be understood as meaning anything for the prisoners, but only increased revenue for the SS. In fact toward the end of the war, Baier had from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 RM in one account, sums which had been collected from individual enterprises. In an affidavit, made prior to the trial, he admitted that -- "the fact that the inmates themselves did not receive any compensation obviously was an exploitation."
One of the most amazing documents presented at the trial on the subject of prisoner labor is a letter sent by the Allach-Munich GmbH to Staff W, demanding reimbursement for losses incurred on account of the absence of prison labor. Part of the letter reads as follows:
"In consequence of the typhoid epidemic which broke out in the Dachau concentration camp in January 1943, no prisoners were available to us, as workers from 26 January 1943 up to and including 2 March 1943. On 4th, 5th and 6th March 1943 only 20 prisoners worked for us. For years our plant has been completely dependent on prison labor. A sudden withdrawal of these workers as it occurred in January this year, means the closing down of the whole plant.
"We are convinced that the losses incurred by us, through the withdrawal of prisoners in the period from 26 January to the beginning of the month of March, fall under Paragraph 2 of the business regulations for the Financial compensation office and should, therefore, be reimbursed.
"Without the typhoid epidemic in January and February 1943 we should have made a profit of about half the amount of the total for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 1943, that is to say, about 21,300 RM, because operating conditions, apart from these circumstances, were the same. Instead of this profit we suffered losses of about 10,500 RM. Thus our losses resulting from the shortage of prisoners amounts to about 31,800 RM."
In a letter written by Pohl under the date of February 18, 1944, he states that he charges Chief-W, SS Oberfuehrer Baier with certain duties:
"regarding the management and supervision of all enterprises which are under the supervision and administration of WVHA."
But it is argued that it was impossible for Baier to exercise any management or direction in business enterprises because commercial law did not permit it. It is not apparent from the evidence in this case that SS-Enterprises or SS officers were halted from a performance of any self-serving function or deed by commercial law or any other law.
Baier was aware of the long hours of employment to which concentration camp inmates were subjected, having received from Pohl on January 22, 1943, a communication which reads: "I should like to point out that the working time of prisoners, laid down by order, which amounts to 11 hours daily, has to be kept up also during the winter months."
Baier was involved with Volk in the matter of the acquisition of real estate for the proposed concentration camp at Stutthof, already discussed in the Volk opinion.
Baier also had full cognizance of the OSTI operation. On April 16, 1944, he received a report from Dr. Horn on the state of the liquidation of the Ostindustrie GmbH. In one of his reports, Dr. Horn in winding up the affairs of OSTI, declared:
"As the SS members are no longer needed they are sent back to the personnel office of the SS Economic and Administration Main Office if there are no other orders from the SS-WVHA."
This in itself demonstrates how completely the OSTI was a WVHA activity. The Tribunal does not find that Baier participated in any of the early phases of OSTI, but it does find that his office trafficked in the ill-gotten gains from OSTI.
Baier states that he never visited a concentration camp, even though the Dachau concentration camp was only a 15 minutes' walk from his school. In any event he can scarcely claim ignorance of concentration camps. On January 19, 1944, he signed a document with a notice of Pohl's order converting into concentration camps the forced labor camps at Cracow-Plaszow, Lvov, Lublin and Radom-Blizyn. He does admit having visited some of the DWB factories which employed concentration camp inmates, but declares that he never heard of any irregularities in the treatment of prisoners. He then qualifies this with the statement that he confined his visits to the office rooms of the factory. But even though he never set foot inside a concentration camp, he was satisfied that the inmates were all criminals, having been all duly adjudicated so by authority of the State.
The Tribunal rejects Baier's explanation that he believed all inmates were criminals confined by due process of law. It was a matter of common public knowledge that merely the expression of opinion, no matter how innocuous, which could be interpreted as adverse to the interests of the Reich or of the Nazi Party, would land one in a concentration camp. It was a matter of general information that populations were brought in from other countries and thrown into concentration camps. That one as close as Baier to concentration camp activities could not know the real state of affairs is simply incredible unless it can be shown that Baier is mentally deficient.
It was not necessary for Baier to visit concentration or labor camps to learn of the dreadful living conditions existing in many of those establishments. Reports were sent to Staff W on what was transpiring in the field. One report dated 4 December 1944, and directed to SS-Main Economic and Administrative Office Staff W, reveals the horrible state of affairs at Camp Bisingen:
"The camp was occupied in the first days of October by 1,500 mostly Polish prisoners. It is situated on an an extremely wet meadow; there are no pathways. The ground has become completely bogged; the wetness is almost beyond control. The hygienic installations, which are of the most primitive kind, such as toilets, dispensary and washrooms, are absolutely inadequate; further, they are too far apart, and hard to reach under these muddy conditions. Consequently, extreme filth and vermin are prevailing, and the health situation has become unjustifiable. On 1 December 1944 there were about 420 persons sick, mostly from diarrhea and a general debility and weakness of the heart. Since the camp has been in operation 233 deaths are on record (in 8 weeks); of these only 6 were shot whilst trying to escape, and 6 committed suicide."
With Volk, Baier also knew of the need for guards at the Erzingen labor camp.
Baier's deputy signed many letters for Baier regarding the setting up of camps for prisoners engaged in forced labor. Baier states he did not hate the Jews and never inveighed against them, all of which may be true. Nonetheless, he was an important part of an organization which exploited, oppressed, tortured, robbed and eventually exterminated the Jews.
On January 24, 1944, Dr. Horn wrote Pohl, making a report on the Ghetto plants at Litzmannstadt. A copy of this report was sent to Baier. On June 8, 1944, Mummenthey wrote Baier recommending that a diamond cutting factory be established in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to be run by Jews, because the diamond-industry of Amsterdam had come to a standstill as a result of the deportation and extermination of the Jewish workers there.
One document (NO-3839) revealed that Baier was called upon to obtain barracks at the Auschwitz concentration camp for the housing of suitable prisoners to be used by the Getwent, GmbH (Company for Technical and Economical Development, Ltd.).
It is not claimed by the Prosecution that Baier, or for that matter, any of the defendants in this case, physically manhandled Jews, or other detainees of the Reich. But it is maintained with reason that the systematic persecution, impoverishment, confinement and eventual slaying of these persecutes could not have been possible without the vast machinery of the SS, of which the WVHA was one of the most important parts.
The Tribunal finds that Baier, in his position as Chief of Staff W, took a consenting and active part in the exploitation of slave labor. In this he comes quite clearly within the purview of Control Council Law No. 10 defining war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Tribunal finds Baier guilty under Counts II and III of the indictment.
The Tribunal also finds him guilty under Count IV.
LEO VOLK Leo Volk joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1933, stating that this was required of him in order that he might finish his legal education.
Further, that on orders of the Young Lawyers' Organization he was compelled to join the Allgemeine SS. In December 1939 he was requested by the SS Main Office Administration and Economy as an expert on legal affairs. According to his statement, he refused to leave his work as information specialist with the Professional Trade Society of German Cities and Communities, and was therefore drafted into the Waffen SS and detailed to legal work in the Main Office III/A-4, of the Main Office Administration and Economy on January 3, 1940.
In the summer of 1941 he was assigned to legal work with the DWB which was part of Staff W. Later he became the head of the Legal Department in Staff W, and acquired, as time went on, the titles and functions of deputy chief of Staff W, Procurist for DWB and referent or private secretary and legal advisor to Pohl. For one month, in the absence of Hohberg, he acted as Chief of Staff W. Volk wwas undoubtedly a very busy man. There were so many facets to his unique position that at times he did not know himself in which capacity he was functioning.
Volk's attorney seeks to dim the lustre of his client's versatility and to cry down the importance of his work by stating that Volk merely prepared notarial documents, carried on law suits and generally gave legal advice. The evidence, however, overwhelms this modest appraisement of Volk's capacities. It has been demonstrated by the documents and by Volk's own testimony on the witness stand that he was a vital figure in Amtsgruppe W charged with the handling of vast SS-Enterprises employing unnumbered concentration camp inmates.
It has been argued in Volk's behalf that he cannot be convicted of war crimes or crimes against humanity because the prosecution has not established that he personally ever killed, maltreated or robbed a concentration camp inmate. The prosecution never attempted to prove that Volk directly and physically abused a human being. It has been further argued that in order to convict Volk of any crime it must be shown that, if he knew of maltreatment of concentration camp inmates, he had to have the power to prevent the maltreatment in order to be convicted of crime. The law does not require that the proof go so far. It is enough if the accused took a consenting part in the commission of a crime against humanity to be convicted under Control Council Law No. 10. If Volk waspart of an organization actively engaged in crimes against humanity, was aware of those crimes and yet voluntarily remained a part of that organization, lending his own professional efforts to the continuance and furtherance of those crimes, he is responsible under the law.
But it is submitted that he was not aware of any crimes and it is this which the prosecution must establish before it can ask for a conviction.
Volk's contract with the DWB provided:
"It is Herr Volk's duty to manage the business transactions of the DWB with the care as befits a proper business man."
In a letter to Pohl as early as September 1, 1941, Volk displayed his grasp of the entire SS-Enterprise set-up by making recommendations for various changes in business managers and recommending himself as successor to Mummenthey as manager of Cooperative Housing and Settlement Co., Ltd.
The DWB has been charged with exploiting concentration camp labor, but Volk argues that since the DWB was only a holding company, it could not use the services of physical labor. Academically this is correct, but the various subsidiary companies of DWB employed concentration camp labor on a vast scale and Volk could not avoid knowing this. Oh July 13, 1943, Gluecks, Chief of Department D, wrote Volk aTibut the allocation of prisoners from the labor camp in Neurohlau for the "Bohemia" firm. Paragraph 2 of this letter reads:
"I too considered it advisable that all questions connected with the allocation of prisoners should be settled by a concentration camp and at the beginning of June of this year, I therefore subordinated the detachment of female prisoners from Ravensbrueck to the official supervision of the concentration camp Flossenburg. 'Bohemia' is therefore being cared for, as desired, by Flossenburg only. The camp commanders both camps have been instructed accordingly and will receive a copy of this letter today."