Mummenthey had to know of Osti and its nefarious program. The final audit of OSTI was prepared by one Fischer who said in his statement of the audit: "I received through SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Mummenthey the order to audit the Ostindustrie."
Mummenthey also professed ignorance about the Reinhardt Action. Yet the Allach ceramic works under Mummenthey received a loan of over 500,000 marks in May 1943 from the Reinhardt fund through the DWB.
Mummenthey could see nothing illegal or improper in the whole concentration camp set-up. He even went so far as to say that at the time he could see nothing illegal or improper in all of Hitler's doings and in all of the Gestapo doings.
Mummenthey's assertions that he did not know what was happening in the labor camps and enterprises under his jurisdiction does not exonerate him. It was his duty to know.
In his defense Mummenthey takes two entirely contradictory positions. One, that the concentration camp inmates were well fed, clothed and housed, and decently treated; and the other that he was constantly engaged in conflict with the concentration camp commanders to improve their lot. The absurdity of the contradiction is obvious, but it goes further than is apparent, because the Camp Commanders were themselves plant directors of DEST, and therefore subordinated to WVHA.
In reaching the above findings the Tribunal disregarded entirely the testimony of the witness Krysiak.
The Tribunal finds Mummenthey guilty under Counts II and III of the indictment.
Because of his undisputed membership in the SS, with all the concomitant features outlined in the opinion of the IMT, the Tribunal also finds Mummenthey guilty under Count IV.
THE PRESIDENT: Judge Phillips will continue the reading of the judgment.
JUDGE PHILLIPS.
HANS BOBERMIN Hans Bobermin joined the NSDAP in May 1933 and the General SS in the latter part of that year.
In January 1940 he was "called" to the Waffen SS and placed in charge of the Main Department III/A-4, in the Main Office Budget and Building. His rank at that time was SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer. Bobermin, in addition to the duties of his office, served as Deputy to Dr. Sa;peter, Chief of Division III/A. From October 1, 1940 the Main Department III/A-4 was separated from Office III/A, and in the autumn of 1941 Bobermin's office was designated Amt W-2. In March 1942, when the WVHA came into existence, Bobermin's office became known as W-2.
Bobermin's first and main task in the Waffen SS was to take over, control, and operate some 400 brick works in Poland, confiscated by the Reich with the overrunning, defeat, and conquest of Poland. It was the contention of the defendant that since these properties were located in that territory allotted to Germany in the treaty signed between Germany and Russia, no illegality was involved in the confiscation, at least so far as he was concerned. If this had been out-and-out conquest by Germany of all properties, regardless of private ownership, it would still be clear that Bobermin would not be free of guilt. But here an attempt was made to distinguish between owners. Racial Germans were exempt from the seizure, whereas Poles and Jews lost their property absolutely. They lost it not because they had committed any crime or had received any compensation for it, but simply because they were Jews and Poles.
In a letter drafted for Pohl's signature, Bobermin states on 3 July 1941, the following:
"As a result of the confiscation-order of the Main-TrusteeshipOffice East, dated 29.11.1939, 313 brick works with an estimated annual output of 600 million bricks were seized at the beginning of 1940. As a result of the property-disputes between the communities and the MainTrusteeship Office East, the community-owned brick works were released from this seizure, but leased to the administration of the General Trustee to ensure an experienced management and a quick development.
Out of these originally seized brick works 4 were returned to their owners, who had meanwhile been recognized as racial Germans. Finally, some brick works were handed over to the Reichsworks Hermann Goering after negotiations, as these brick works are in close operation - and economical connection with the mines secured by the Hermann Goering Works. 4 works were given to German repatriates, who could prove to have owned and run brick-work before their resettlement."
Because Bobermin spent most of his time during the war out of Berlin, it may not be assumed that in some way he was disassociated from the WVHA. Many documents were introduced in evidence to demonstrate the close tie-up between him and Pohl. On June 28, 1941, Pohl appointed him as business manager of Ostdeutsche Baustoffwerke GmbH. On September 2, 1941, Pohl appointed Bobermin as his deputy to inspect the former Russian territories for plants producing building material and for places in which now factories might be built. On August 15, 1941; Bobermin, quite proud of his work in reactivating the factory at Krubin, invited Pohl to attend the opening ceremonies which Bobermin described as a "celebration".
Most of the confiscated factories were taken from Jews who either had to flee Poland or were taken into custody and sent to concentration camps or extermination centers. Bobermin denied all knowledge of this wholesale persecution. His witness, Winkler, who was Chief of the Main Trustee Department East, stated that he did not know until late 1944 that many of the Jews whose property he was administering had been killed by the SS and other German forces in the East. Even if we accept this statement at its face value, the fact remains that he did learn of the criminality of the entire confiscation program, and yet remained in the office engaged in the very criminal venture. Could Bobermin have known less?
The massacre of the Jews in Poland was certainly not a secret.
The International Military Tribunal found that "the murder and ill treatment of civilian populations reached its height in the treatment of the citizens of the Soviet Union and Poland", and that one-third of the population of Poland was killed off in the course of the occupation. How much Bobermin knew of these killings is not evident, although it clashes with human observation that he could have lived in Posen in the very heart of the territory where these excesses occurred, without having some awareness of what was taking place. Bobermin explains the phenomenon of the disappearance of the Jews with the observation that it was his impression that they had "fled", but did not know the reason for their flight. He did know, however, that the enterprises under his management would never be returned to their original owners. In the letter already referred to he stated that these properties would be given only to -
"those who are considered worthy by the Reich-commissioner for strengthening the German race in the East" and "those who deserve preferential treatment for service at the front in this or the World (War); original members of the Nazi movement; those who have done useful work in the reconstruction of the East."
It is not clear from the evidence that concentration camp labor generally was used in operating the confiscated brick works. The labor was allocated to the plants by the Labor Office which office also deported Poles to the Reich. These workers fell within the Reich classification of "free workers". That is to say, they came under Saukel's jurisdiction as Plenipotentiary for Labor, and the International Military Tribunal has already passed upon the freedom exercised by the average foreign laborer employed by the Reich under Saukel.
However, it is not disputed that Bobermin used concentration camp labor in his plant at Golleschau. As chairman of the Golleschau cement company and as Chief of Amt W-II, WVHA, within whose office the Golleschau plant fell, Bobermin's authority in the Company could not be questioned. Golleschau was located about 70 kilometers from Auschwitz and it was from this notorious concentration camp that the Golleschau workers were drawn.
Those who were unable to perform the work to which they were assigned in Golleschau were sent back to Auschwitz to whatever fate might await them. Bobermin attempts to deny responsibility for the employment of concentration camp inmates at Golleschau by stating that the proposal for this employment was made by Pohl. But Pohl was commander-in-chief of all WVHA activities. To here expect exoneration from the charge of criminality on the basis of Pohl's superior command is to demand a certificate of innocence because of Himmler's orders or even Hitler's. Where outright criminality is involved, superior orders are in themselves no excuse, although they may be argued in mitigation of punishment.
In the operation of his many enterprises Bobermin found it necessary to borrow money which came from the funds released through the Reinhardt Action. He, however, claims that he was ignorant at that time of the meaning of the Reinhardt operation. Much of the loot, which finally became the Reinhardt fund, was collected in the very area in which Bobermin's plants were operating. In view of his use of inmates from Auschwitz in the Golleschau plant, his high position in the SS, his close association with Pohl, his presence in Posen when Himmler delivered his famous speech (although Bobermin denies having heard it), it is incredible that he would not know at the time the meaning of the Reinhardt Action.
In April, 1944, Bobermin was transferred to Hungary as SS Wirtschafter, or Economic Administrator, bound to Pohl. In this capacity he supplied the SS and Police Units with money, clothes and incidentals. Here he learned of the transportation of Jews out of Hungary, but he states that he did not know they were being consigned to concentration camps or extermination centers. In any event, he affirms that he had no power to prevent the forced movement, even had he been aware of the destination of the Jews. The Tribunal accepts this explanation in the absence of any proof in the record to the contrary.
The Tribunal finds Bobermin guilty under Counts II and III of the indictment.
The Tribunal also finds Bobermin guilty under Count IV.
THE PRESIDENT: Judge Musmanno will continue the reading of the judgment.
JUDGE MUSMANNO: HORST KLEIN
Horst Klein studied law at the Universities of Lausanne, Freiburg and Bonn, and in February 1933 finished his studies and passed his final examination as probationer. He worked in various courts looking toward a judicial career, but abandoned this intention when, as he stated, he observed that under Nazi rule the judges were denied complete independence of judgment and decision. In 1937 he became an assessor and then obtained employment in the bookkeeping branch of the DUERKOPP-JERKE. In February 1938 he took up employment with the "Society Sponsoring and Maintaining German Cultural Monuments, Registered Corporation".
He joined the NSDAP in May 1933 but hold no honorary or functional office therein. In the same year he joined the Allgemeine SS. He never became a member of the Waffen SS. In February 1945 he was about to be inducted into this organization but the induction never materialized.
In 1939, the Society Sponsoring and Maintaining German Cultural Monuments was incorporated into the administration of the SS under the name of HS-1 (Main Department for Special Tasks). In 1940 Klein became Chief of this department. In 1942 when the WVHA came into being, Main Department HS-I was designated Amt W-VIII with Klein as its Chief.
Although Amt W-VIII was definitely an integral part of the WVHA and answerable to Pohl, it is not apparent that it was active in any aggressive way or that it forms part of the pattern of concentration camp inmate exploitation. This office had no connection with SS-industries. It work fell rather into the category of cultural and social welfare. In addition to directing the affairs of the society above-mentioned, Klein also managed the Society of Convalescent Homes for Natural Recovery and Standard of Life which operated convalescence homes for women and children and administered SS-hospitals.
Then there were two other organizations under his charge, the EXTERNSTEIN and the KING HENRY establishment, the former devoted to the preservation of an old Germanic early Christian relic and the latter to the maintenance of the Cathedral at Quedlingburg. All these activities could have been effectively pursued outside the WVHA, and they were not an indispensable part of the machinery of the WVHA. These organizations brought no monetary returns to the coffers of the Reich. The direct opposite is true, since they were subsidized by the State.
It has been charged by the Prosecution that Klein was responsible for excesses in the labor camp at Wewelsburg, but the proof before the Tribunal exonerates Klein from responsibility in that connection. He never managed or directed this camp. Several former inmates of Wewelsburg testified in court that they not only never saw Klein in the camp, but never heard his name mentioned. The evidence would further establish that the Wewelsburg camp was not controlled by Klein, but by SS Obergruppenfuehrer Taubert. Further, that in the construction job itself which was being done at Wewelsburg, the man in charge was the architect SS Standartenfuehrer Bartels. Bartels had immediate control over the 500 men employed here and Klein had no authority what soever over them. In addition, Bartels had a rank superior to Klein's.
The construction work at Wewelsburg, which had to do with the restoration of a castle, was ordered by Himmler and the chain of command from Himmler to Bartels did not even go through Pohl, Chief of the WVHA. The only objective part played by Klein in this entire project was the acquisition of the site, but there was nothing in the plan of taking over the real estate which indicated to Klein that a forced labor camp would go into operation here. On the contrary, his only information was that the land was to be used for enlargement of the castle area and future SS settlements.
The prosecution has charged Klein with obtaining credit on the Dresdner Bank for the financing of the Wewelsburg construction work. But when Klein entered this financial deal, the credit had already been obtained at the bank, the initiative having been taken in this respect by General Wolff on Himmler's orders. The sums which were then made available by Klein were used by Bartels who, on orders from Pohl, was not required to make any accounting for them to Klein.
The Tribunal also finds that Klein's participation in the matter of the acquisition of the Lakowicz property did not involve the commission of a war crime or crime against humanity. The little part which Klein had to do with this acquisition followed in point of time its confiscation by another Reichs Agency with which Klein was in no way connected.
Nor is there any connection between Klein and the pamphlet "The Subhuman", placed in evidence by the prosecution. Although this unsavory document was published by the Nordland Publishing Company of which Klein had at one time been legal advisor and Prokurist, his connection with this organization had been severed a year or two prior to the appearance of the pamphlet.
Although Klein was a member of the SS, his conduct and attitude as it has come to us through the evidence did not reveal any fanatic adherence to the Nazi ideology. In point of fact, he got into personal difficulties himself because of his failure to cooperate whole-heartedly with the Nazi program. On October 1, 1944 he was arrested because of a statement he had made criticizing certain practises of the Third Reich and the SS. An immediately ensuing illness which kept him confined to his home under guard and under observation saved him from trial and a possible severe penalty. His own sister, Frau Helga von Rouppert, was also arrested, denounced by the Gestapo and committed to the concentration camp at Ravensbrueck. Her crime also consisted of derogatory remarks against the Reich. One specific statement had to do with her criticism of the German generals for not having deposed Hitler as the Italians had ousted Mussolini, Frau von Rouppert testified in court and stated that her husband was also persecuted by the Gestapo, and, in order to avoid arrest, with attendant torture and degradtion, committed suicide. Klein states that his own father died as the result "of all this excitement".
From all the evidence in the case the Tribunal concludes that Klein is not guilty under Counts II and III of the indictment.
Under the interpretation of the IMT decision, pointing out the factors required to convict an SS member of criminality, the Tribunal concludes that Klein does not fall within the category specified and therefore finds him not guilty under Count IV.
JUDGE TOMS:
The Secretary General will file the three signed copies of this judgment.
Copies of the opinion and judgment of the Court may be obtained by defense counsel tomorrow morning from the defense information center. Mimeographed copies will be ready for you at that time.
The Tribunal will be in recess for ten minutes.
(The Tribunal adjourned for a short recess.)
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal is again in session
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now impose sentence upon those defendants who have been adjudged guilty in these proceedings.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Oswald Pohl.
Oswald Pohl, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging. The Marshal will remove this defendant from the Court.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant August Frank.
August Frank, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have thus been convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment for the remainder of your natural life, at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority. The Marshal will remove the defendant from the Courtroom.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Heinz Karl Fanslau.
Heinz Karl Fanslau, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus been convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of 25 years, at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority. Remove the defendant.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Hans Loerner.
Hans Loerner, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, the Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of ten years, at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
Remove the defendant.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Georg Loerner.
Georg Loerner, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III, and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been convicted, the Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging. Remove the defendant.
THE PRESIDENT: The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant, Erwin Tschentscher.
Erwin Tschentscher, the Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III, and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have thus been convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of ten years at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant, Max Kiefer.
Max Kiefer, the Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case, for the crimes of which you have thus been convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment for the remainder of your natural life, at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal, the defendant, Franz Eirenschmalz.
The Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant, Karl Sommer.
Karl Sommer, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.
Remove the defendant.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Herman Pook.
Herman Pook this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of ten years at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Hans Hohberg.
Hans Hohberg, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, and III of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment for a period of ten years at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
In view of the fact that you were not a member of the SS, or of the National Socialist Party, the Tribunal orders that your sentence begin as of October 22, 1945, the date of your first detention as a prisoner.
Remove the defendant.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant, Hans Baier.
Hans Baier, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of ten years at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant, Lee Volk.
Lee Volk, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II and III of the Indictment filed in this case. For the Crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of ten years at such place of confinement as shall he determined by competent authority.
The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Karl Mummenthey.
Karl Mummenthey, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the Indictment filed in this case. For the crimes of which you have been thus convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment for the remainder of your natural life as such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
THE PRESIDENT: The Marshal will bring before the Tribunal the defendant Hans Bobermin.
Hans Bobermin, this Tribunal has adjudged you guilty under Counts II, III and IV of the Indictment filed in this case.
For the crimes of which you have thus been convicted, this Tribunal sentences you to imprisonment from this date for a period of twenty years at such place of confinement as shall be determined by competent authority.
Military Tribunal II now stands adjourned without date.
(Military Tribunal II adjourned.)