QWell, the fact remains -- Just a moment now,
AIn Russia there was no one to whom I could turn.
QSuppose that you were confronted with this situation of the 500 innocent men, women and children, and you have the order to kill them, and you go to your chief, Ohlendorf, privately, and you say to him, "Chief, I really can't do this. I am a good soldier; I want to follow Hitler; I want to obey orders, but can't you help me in some way to evade this? I just don't have the conscience and the heart to do it." Now do you want to tell us that Ohlendorf wouldn't have lent a sympathetic ear and wouldn't have tried to assist you in some way? Now, answer that.
AI think that he, Ohlendorf could not have freed me from obeying the Fuehrer Order.
QNow, that is what y u think, but would he have lent a sympathetic ear, and would he have considered your case? Do you recognize him as that kind of a man, as a deliberating person, intelligent, comprehensive, and sympathetic to his comrades in the field?
AI am but convinced that in view of the necessity which he recognized for this order he would not have hesitated to draw the necessary conclusions from it as he saw them.
QWell, that does not mean anything. You mean he would, have shot you right then and there?
AHe himself explained, that he who refused this order, and it would have been in the field, that is at the place, then he would have had to give the order to put me before court martial.
QOh, before a court martial, but he wouldn't have ordered you shot right then and there, would be?
AI cannot judge this.
QNo.
AHe said he would have done it.
DR. HOFFMANN:Then I have a few more question, Witness.
RE_DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued) BY DR. HOFFMANN:
QWhat was your relationship to Ohlendorf?
AMy relationship with Mr. Ohlendorf was colorless, we didn't know one another at all.....
QDid you have any special liking for him?
AI admired his abilities, his knowledge, and if it was a matter of conversation, his description and the way he was able to dramatize matters.
QWould you have dared to give such confidentail information as the President assumed it here, to bring this matter to him and to talk to him in this way, yes or no?
ANo.
QWhy not?
ABecause the unconditi nality of the concept of carrying out the Hitler Order was known to me on his part.
QWas Ohlendorf, therefore, uncomppromising?
AIn this connection and in hisattitude he was absolutely so.
QWould he have had any understanding for any different opinion, yes or no?
ANo, I don't think so.
EXAMINATION BY THE PRESIDENT:
QWitness, it was Ohlendorf who asked you to escort 6,000 people across the river, wasn't it, to save these poor Jews, because otherwise he would have had to shoot them? He was considerate enough there, wasn't he? He didn't kill these 6,000, did he?
AIf an order represents or admits an easing of a Hitler order, that is if he comes to such a decision, then I, of course, welcome such a decision very much, but this, in my opinion, has nothing to do with it because this was a special case, according to his attitude.....
QBut here he is confronted with 6,000 Jews, the very object of his mission in Russia, and he doesn't kill them.
He tells you to make some arrangement to take them across the river, not to shoot them. Well, he was certainly considerate there, wasn't he, and if he would be considerate with 6,000 he would be considerate with 500, under some special circumstance, of course?
ANo, your Honor, this was a very special case. Certainly Herr Ohlendorf did not seek to do things which went beyond the Hitler Order, that is to say, to give himself over to measures for others.
THEPRESIDENT; Do you have a question?
DR. KRUASE:Dr. Kruase as a representative for Dr. Riediger for the Defendant Haensch, your Honor. I take the liberty to ask a few more questions if you permit me to.
THE PRESIDENT:Yes, certainly.
EXAMINATION BY DR. KRUASE:
QThose are questions which are connected with the disciplinary measures of which the witness spoke on the occasion of the escape of the Rumanian Logion Leader, Horia Sima. Witness, you stated yesterday that at the time you were threatened with disciplinary measures and that they threatened you even with execution. Who expressed this threat?
AFirst of all I want to correct this. They did not threaten me with disciplinary measures, but they threatened me with execution, and this was a spontaneous fit of rage on the part of the Reichsfuehrer which evolved from this circumstance.
QWas this threat expressed, to you personally?
AYes, the danger in which I found myself, the danger in which I was, was expressed to me by the chief of Office N.
QI understand you then to mean that this was a conference between Reichsfuehrer Himmler and the Chief of Office IV in which this threat was expressed?
AOne can say it that way, but I want to complete it. The Reichsfuehrer had already given instructions to Mueller.
THE PRESIDENT:Just a moment. As a matter of information what has this got to do with the Defendant Haensch?
DR. KRAUSE:The defendant Haensch at that time was the disciplinary expert in Office I, and I want to try to find out whether Office I, that is disciplinary agency, had anything to do with this case that might interest interest Herr-Haensch, or conclusions might be drawn against Herr Haensch, against whcih we want to defend ourselves.
THE PRESIDENT:Well, but you say with this case. It isn't clear just what--the escape of Horia Sima proceedings were initiated or at least threatened against Herr Nosske, which according to my information he described yesterday as disciplinary measures. If they were disciplinary measures these would have had to come before the disciplinary agency of Office I. I am curious to hoar information about this, whether such a proceeding was pending before Office I, namely the disciplinary agency of Office I.
THE PRESIDENT:Well, if you think that is going to help you we want to hear it. It isn't too obvious just what you are driving at, but you may put a question.
DR. KRAUSE:I just have a few questions. We will find out immediately.
Q (By Dr. Krause) You say then, Witness, that thiswas a conservation between Himmler and Mueller, orat least you assume so. Did a formal disciplinary proceeding pend against you?
ANo, not in this connection. Office I and the investigating officer had nothing at all to do with this. The reaction of the Reichfuehrer because of these consequences of this escape were directed against the allegedly guilty people, and it was ordered that Mueller in view of my person, or rather no directives had yet been received as far as my person was concerned. Still Mueller feared seriously that a similar fate threatened me and Geissler.
Court No. II, Case No. IX.
QI understand you to say that these ware official reactions on the part of your superiors in Office IV, but no punitive proceeding?
ANo, the item was too short, and the reaction of the Reichsfuehrer too spontaneous.
DR. KRAUSE:Thank You. No further questions.
PRESIDENT:Any redirect, Dr. Hoffmann?
DR. HOFFMANN:No.
PRESIDENT:Any recross, Mr. Walton?
MR. WALTON:No.
PRESIDENT:Do I understand there is a witness available? Now, the witness, Nosske, will be returned to a defendants' box, and the witness will be brought in. Well, I thought that there was a witness waiting. Well, Nosske can be returned to the witness' dock, I understood that there was a witness waiting, and Dr. Gawlik had been sent for. Well, I am mistaken, Well, the defendant, Ott, will be taken to the witness stand. Didn't you say something, Mr. Walton, about a witness, and you wanted Dr. Gawlik to be here?
MR. WALTON:No, Your Honor, I said, there was a matter that I wanted to bring to the attention of the court, I would appreciate that he be here since this matter originated at a prior session of this court, and a decision was made, and I would like to present a matter to the court for ruling at this particular time. Now, if you think it will interfere with the process of the court, I shall be glad to come with Dr. Gawlik in your chambers.
PRESIDENT:I think it would be better.
JUDGE SPEIGHT:Witness, raise your right hand. Repeat the oath, "I swear by God, the Almighty and Omniscient, that I will speak the pure truth, and will withhold and add nothing".
(The witness repeated the oath).
JUDGE SPEIGHT:You may be seated.
DR. KOESSL:Koessl for Ott. Before starting the direct Court No. II, Case No. IX.
examination of Ott, I would like to ask the Tribunal one question which bothers several other defense counsel and myself. It is a matter of what time is given the defense on Christmas. We have several witnesses to visit, and some work to do, so it would be very nice if in some form we could make our arrangements and find out what the sessions will be for the court, therefore, I would kindly ask the Tribunal to make known how long the Christmas recess will last.
PRESIDENT:Do I understand, Dr. Koessl, that you would avail yourself of some of that time in connection with work having to do with the trial?
DR. KOESSL:Yes.
PRESIDENT:Yes. We will confer an that matter this evening and make an announcement tomorrow morning.
DR. KOESSL:Thank you. I ask that I may be permitted to start the direct examination of the defendant, Ott.
PRESIDENT:I wish you would, Dr. Koessl DIRECT EXAMINATION BY DR. KOESSL:
QPlease give your full name and your birthdate and where you were born.
AMy name is Adolf Hermann ott; and I was born on the 29th of December 1904 in Waidhaus in the Oberpfalz province.
QWhat profession did your father have?
AMy father was a customs official.
QFrom what conditions did your parents come?
MR. FERENCZ:May it please the Tribunal, in the case of almost every defendant we have begun with the history of his father. In order to save time, solely in order to save time, and because of the history of his father is completely irrelevant in this case, I request that the defense counsel submit an affidavit on anything concerned with the father of the defendant and immediately get down to the charges in this case.
Court No. II, Case No. IX.
PRESIDENT:The Tribunal is interested in having a little background on each defendant. The great trouble is though occasionally we go into a great deal of detail which really doesn't help us too much. Now, a few questions about his family life are in order, but if you are going to go into it too thoroughly, Dr. Koessl, or more than that is required, we would be very glad to have you make up an affidavit and submit it, and, of course, it will have the full consideration of the Tribunal.
DR. KOESSL:I just have a few questions, Your Honor, of a personal nature, and as fast as possible I shall come to speak about the activity of the defendant in the organization.
PRESIDENT:Very well. BY DR. KOESSL:
QJust tell me briefly from what background your family comes.
AMy father comes from a business in the Rheinpfalz; my mother from an old farmer's family in the Oberpfalz.
QDid you have any brothers or sisters?
AYes, two. I had a brother twelve years older than myself who after being active 23 years abroad died in Mexico; and I have a sister who is married to an engineer.
QDo you have a wife or children?
AAt the end of the war when our small town was taken, my wife was killed by an American grenade. My child is with my mother-in-law.
QThere is your home town?
ADuring the last four years of this war I lived in Lorraine, and I remained there.
QWhat schools did you attend and where?
AI attended elementary and high school in Lindau on Lake Constance.
QWhere did you pass your childhood?
AIn Lindau on Lake Constance.
QWhat professional training did you have?
Court No. II, Case No. IX.
AIt was my desire to become a farmer or a forester. My parents lived in modest circumstances, and my father demanded of me that, like my brother, I should become a merchant, and in the very difficult time that I should go abroad. My brother had already been in Mexico for 12 years where my uncle was commercial consul, and all my relatives on my father's side were for decades in the United States.
QWhere were you apprenticed?
AI was apprenticed in the same merchant business where my brother was studying 12 years before. I learned for two and a half years and remained as a correspondent and a bookkeeper in the same company.
QThat positions did you hold in your professional development before coming to the SD?
AFor five and a half years I was in another big business of the same branch, and even though it became a victim to the bad economic situation or had to be reduced so much that the personnel almost all of it had to be dismissed, I was with one of my sport friends in a sporting goods house. On the first of January 1993, approximately, I became office manager of a barrel factory. Before that I was unemployed for about one year, but I refused to take any unemployment compensation, and in order not to be a burden to my parents, I managed to make a living on odd jobs.
QDid you mention all your positions?
ANo. In 1933 in the fall or in the spring of 1934 the German labor front put me in charge of an administrative office. During that time it was my duty to work for the Security Service-SD-Reichsfuehrer SS in an honorary capacity and I did so for one year. Then it was suggested by the sector in Munich as well as by the then SD Main Office that I go into the SD in full capacity.
QWhat positions did you have in the SD from 1935 to 1945?
AIn July or August, I received a second offer to join the SD in full capacity--full time, and then I negotiated with my gauleiter Court No. II, Case No. IX.
in Augsburg about my dismissal. It was approved and on the first of October 1935 I was taken into the SD on a full-time basis.
QWhat positions did you hold in the SD?
AMy first full-time job in the SD was the border position Lindau, Lake Constance, that is, in my home town. It included six other agencies in the Allgaeu Region which were honorary positions.
QWhat positions did you hold after that?
AAfter a year, about, that is, on the first of November 1936, I was transferred to the sector Munich and there I was put in charge of Department III.
QAnd after that--just name all your jobs until 1945 systematically.
AOn the 15th of September 1937, I came to the sector South Hanover-Brunswick as a staff leader.
QThat was again in the SD?
AYes. On the first of January 1938, that is, three and a half months later, I was transferred to Koenigsberg in Prussia as a staff leader of the SD Main sector Northeast.
QNext position?
AThe next transfer occurred on the 15th of July 1939 when I took over the than SD sector Neustadt, on the Weinstrasse, that is, in the Rheinpfalz. Shortly after, I assumed this job, the former sector Saarbruecken was incorporated into this sector. From the year 1941 on
PRESIDENT:Well, Dr. Koessl, suppose we begin with 1941 tomorrow morning?
DR. KOESSL:It is almost finished, Your Honor, and then tomorrow we can begin with something else.
PRESIDENT:Very well. All right.
DR. KOESSL:Thus you held this position until the end of the war?
THE WITNESS:Yes.
THE PRESIDENT:That was very simple. (Laughter in the dock).
Court No. II, Case No. IX.
DR. GICK:Dr. Gick for Strauch. Your Honor, after Nosske, the turn would be the defendant, Strauch. The defendant, Strauch, is still in the hospital and is tied down to his bed--is confined to his bed-therefore, I cannot call him to the witness stand. My application for separate trial has not yet been ruled on. I ask that the defendant, Strauch, be put at the bottom of the list for the time being.
PRESIDENT:Dr. Gick, we have now ordered a medical examination, and it is in the process of being accomplished at the present time. we expect by the end of the week to have a report on your client's condition. Naturally, we will not take him up until we get this report so that if the Tribunal does not dispose of your motion for a severence prior to the time that the defendant, Ott, has completed his case, we will then take up the case of Klingelhoefer.
DR. GICK:Thank you.
PRESIDENT:The Tribunal will be in recess until tomorrow at 9:30.
(The Tribunal adjourned until 10 December 1947, at 0930 hours.)
Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal in the matter of the United States of America against Otto Ohlendorf, et al, defendants, sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 10 December 1947, 0930-1630, Justice Michael A. Musmanno, presiding.
THE MARSHAL:Persons in the courtroom will please find their seats.
The Honorable, the Judges of Military Tribunal II.
Military Tribunal II is now in session. God save the United States of America, and this Honorable Tribunal.
There will be order in the Court.
THE PRESIDENT:Dr. Koessl, yesterday you addressed an inquiry to the Tribunal regarding the Christmas holiday season. The question arose during our deliberation on the subject whether the Tribunal should be in session on the Monday and Tuesday preceding Christmas, and we have come to this conclusion, that is if counsel desire to use the complete fortnight, the two-week period between December 22 and January 3 of the new year, that perhaps time would be gained, rather than lost by letting them have that fortnight complete and uninterrupted in their work of research and preparation for the final briefs and arguments, and so forth.
In order to make up for the two days, the 22nd and 23rd, because all the Tribunals will recess on the 24th anyway, it has been thought reasonable to hold court on the preceding two Saturdays which would be December 13th and December 20th. Will it be agreeable to defense counsel generally to hold court these two Saturdays so that you can have the two days, Monday and Tuesday?
DR. KOESSL:Yes, I am convinced that the defense counsels would prefer that, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT:Yes. Very well, the Tribunal will announce that we will be in session all of this week, including Saturday, the 13th, and all of next week, including Saturday, Dec. 20th, and then the Tribunal will adjourn for the Christmas and New Year holidays and reconvene on 5 January 1948.
DR. KOESSL: I thank you.
THE PRESIDENT:And I trust that all defense counsel will really make use of that time in the preparation of document books, briefs, and even final argument. There is no reason why they should wait until the very completion of the testimony in order to prepare their summations, because we always have before us that barrier of the translation section, and we must get through that barrier, and the only way to get through is to have the documents ready in plenty of time so that there will not be any undue congestion at the termination of the case. Very well.
ADOLF OTT - Resumed DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued)
DR. KOESSL:May I now continue with my direct examination?
THE PRESIDENT:Yes.
DR. KOESSL:My attention was drawn to the fact yesterday that in the translation one place was not quite correctly translated. The witness testified that on the 1st of October 1935, he became director of the SD sector Lindau, that in this capacity six people were under his direction, who, at various places, worked for the SD in an honorary capacity outside of their own jobs. These were not six big offices, but these were six people at various localities who worked for the SD outside of their own jobs.
THE PRESIDENT:Your statement will appear in the transcript and in that way bring about the necessary correction.
DR. KOESSL:Thank you. BY DR. KOESSL:
QWitness, yesterday afternoon we passed over rather quickly about your activity during the war. Will you please state once more where you were active during the war?
AOn the 15th of July, 1939, I was assigned as SD director of a sector in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, that is in the Rhine Palatinate. Shortly after taking over this office the former SD sector of Saar bruecken was dissolved as such and was incorporated into my sector.
In July, 1941, I moved my headquarters from Neustadt to Saarbruecken. At the some time I took up quarters in Lorraine because there were no apartments in Saarbruecken.
QDid you ever get any police training?
ANo.
QWere you everractive in the Gestapo?
ANo.
QWere you ever active in the criminal police?
ANo.
QWhat foreign assignments did you have?
AI was in the Sudetenland in the fall of 1938; in the spring of 1939 I was in Bohemia; in the spring of 1940 I was in Norway; and in 1942 I was in Russia.
QIn what capacity were you in Bohemia and Norway, and to whom were you subordinate there?
AIn Bohemia and in Norway I was active as chief 3, that is to say, as director of the SD work with the commander of the Security Police and SD, in Kolin in Bohemia and in Bergen, which is in Norway.
QWhen were you in Bergen in Norway?
AIn 1940, from April to October.
QDid you have anything to do with police activity in Bohemia and Norway?
ANo.
QDid you in Bohemia and Norway have anything to do with police measures against Jews or members of other races?
ANo,
QDid you start any measures against the church in Bohemia, and in Norway, and against the religious activity of peoples of other faith?
ANo, there was no occasion to do so.
QDid you, in Bohemia and Norway, help to deport people into the Reich by force?
ANo, there was no such thing in Bohemia and Norway at that time.
QDid you, in Bohemia and Norway, participate in destroying the country and exploiting it?
ANo, I know of no such destruction.
QWhat missions did you have as chief of the SD sector Neustadt or Saarbruecken?
AMy mission as the director of this sector was to take care of the reports to the Office III of the RSHA in all domestic spheres and to concern myself with these problems in an informational capacity.
QDid your mission as director of the SD sector in Neustadt and Saarbruecken, after the 1st of September, 1939, remain the same as the ones before the war?
AYes, as such, but it must be added that in the fall of 1939 with the foundation of the Office III the informational service in the so-called enemy spheres was dropped, that is, it was transferred to the State Police.
QDid your competence during the war extend to areas which before the war did not belong to Germany?
AYes, insofar as in the year 1943 I was charged with representing the SD matters for Lorraine in the staff of the command of the Security Police and SD in Metz, Lorraine. In the fall of 1944 the former French Department Lorraine came under my sector.
QDid you have any jobs to do in Lorraine which you did not have in the old Reich area?
ANo, the information job was the same there as before.
QDid you participate in the resettlement of the indigenous population?
ANo. That was purely a policematter with which the SD was not concerned.
QDid you take any measures against the civilian population in Lorraine?
AYes, not only in my reports which I sent to the main office, but actually on my own responsibility.
QDid you have any proof about this, how your activity was judged by the population of Lorraine?
AYes, the French mayor of Gross-Biederstroff, that is in the Province of Moselle, without my request declared himself ready and prepared to certify my conduct in Lorraine during my three years stay there. He got in touch with my relatives on his own, and he sent off a certificate. In an accompanying letter to my mother of the 10th of April, 1947, he writes expressly that he is sending off the certificate without it being requested and that it concerns my conduct during the four years of work in Lorraine, and that it relates about my conduct. He is asking that this certificate be given to the British authorities. I was then in a British internment camp. After I heard from my mother about the certificate, a few weeks later I confirmed to him the receipt of this paper, and dated the 21st of June, 1947, he wrote me a letter to Nurnberg. May I quote two sentences from this lengthy letter? At one place he says: "Even I always said to my wife how Ott must be pretty well off as far as his conduct is concerned, because he helped wherever he could." At the end of his letter he says: "I hope that we will see you again with us. You are welcome and you don't have to fear anything." I am reading this in this bad German because he is writing in French. "All right, if you can go where you have spent four years within the National Socialist State. This is surely not permitted to all your colleagues."
QI have the affidavit of this mayor and shall submit it in Document Book II. BY THE PRESIDENT:
QWas this letter written in July of 1947?
AThe letter was written on the 21st of June 1947.
QI didn't quite understand the reference to the national socialist state.
AYour Honor, he, on his own, wrote to my mother on the 10th of April 1947.
QWell, in your reading of the letter of June 1947, the phrase, "national socialist state" appeared?
AYes.
QI didn't quite grasp the connection between that phrase and the rest of the sentence. Just in which way was that phrase used - he said something about the four years, and then he used the "national socialist state".
AHe writes as follows, "It is nice if you can go back to a place where you have spent four years in the national socialist state."
PRESIDENT:I see. He is referring to the past. Very well. Thank you.
THE WITNESS:He means the four years of the German occupation. This is the former French province Lorraine. BY DR. KOESSL:
QHow long were you director of the SD sector, Sarbruecken?
AFrom the 15th of July 1939 until the 23rd of March 1945.
QHow did your transfer to Russia come about?
AThe beginning or the middle of January 1942, I was in the RSHA in Berlin on duty. When I was there I went to see the chief of Office I, that was Gruppenfuehrer Streckenbach at that time, who used to be my superior, and I asked him to release me for the Waffen SS or the Army since I did not want to remain at home any longer. I didn't want to stay at home, while others were engaged in hard fights.
12 Dec 1947_M_MSD_3_2_Spears (Lea) In addition, because of my SD reporting, I had repeated severe disputes with Gauleiter and Reichcommissioner Buerckel. Streckenbach told me when I saw him that there was no prospect of releasing me for the Waffen SS or the army, but perhpas I might be employed in the Einsatz. He could make no promises, but he would speak about it to the other office chiefs and would notify me later on.
QWhen and how did you hear that you were to be used as commanding officer of Sonder-Commando 7B?
AOn the 30th of January 1942, I received a special delivery letter from the RSHA by mail. This special delivery letter was dated, Berlin, 24th of January 1942.
QMay I add here that we are referring to this special delivery letter, and this is the same letter which is referred to in Book IIIB, No. 4747, Exhibit 123, page 6. What did you know at that time about the missions of the Einsatzgruppe and the Einsatz and Sondercommandos and of the security police and SD in Russia?
AAt that time I merely knew that in Russia two Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos and Sondercommandos were in existence. At that time I had not met any comrade who was in Russia.
DR. KOESSL:One moment, this is on page 6 of this document.
THE PRESIDENT:Well, that does not correspond with our 6--do you know what page it is in the English Document Book?
DR. KOESSL:Unfortunately, I could not tell you.
THE PRESIDENT:What is the document number?
DR. KOESSL:Page 70 of the English Document Book.
PRESIDENT:Yes. Thank you very much. Proceed. BY IR. KOESSL:
QYou can proceed, Witness.
AI said that at that time I had not met any comrade who was in Russia, and the agencies at home did not get any reports from the Einsatz area through the RSHA. First of all, I thought of a similar activity as it existed in Norway or in other areas.
QWhen and to whom did you report in Berlin before going to Russia? BY THE PRESIDENT:
QPardon me, Dr. Koessl, did they have Einsatzgruppen in Norway?
AIn Norway there was a commander of the security police and SD were subordinate.
QI asked yet whether in Norway they had Einsatzgruppen?
AI think they weren't called "Einsatzgruppe" at that time.
QSo that when you were informed that you were going to participate in an operation in an organization called Einsatzgruppen you knew that it was something different from that they had in Norway because a different terminology was used?
AYour Honor, the term, Einsatzgruppe did not mean anything at the time to me.
QBut it placed you on notice that it was something different, did it not?
ANo.
THEPRESIDENT? Very well. Proceed. BY DR. KOESSL:
QWhere did you report in Berlin before leaving?
AOn the 8th of February 1942 I left Sarbruecken, and on the morning of the 5th of February 1942 I arrived at the RSHA. I wanted to report to Streckenbach before leaving. I had waited about threequarters of an hour in the ante-room, and finally got to see Streckenbach. I had spoken to him about two minutes when the telephone rang. He was speaking in the telephone and asked me once more to wait in the anteroom. After a very short time, after two minutes, I was called back into Streckenbach's office and he told me that he would have to go to a Ministry immediately, it was a long distance, and I would not have to wait for him, and I should go to the next house. Prinz Albrecht Streot 9, where I was to see a Mr. Schrefeld who had the travel orders for Russia and the railroad ticket.
QDid they tell you anything in Berlin about the fuchrerorder according to which all Jews were to be killed?
AIn Berlin not only was nothing told me about the fuehrerorder either officially or privately, nor did I get any instructions about my activity in Russia.
QWhen and where and to whom did you report in Russia when you arrived there?
AI left Berlin by train for Warsaw, reported to the replacement depot at Warsaw, received a vehicle there, and left for Smolensk by vehicle. I arrived in Smolensk on the 15th of February 1942, and there I reported to the chief Einsatzgruppe B, the then SS Oberfuehrer Naumann, for duty.
QHow long did you stay in Smolensk, and for what purpose?
AI remained in Smolensk two or three days, I think it was two days for my information. I was with the then SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Hennicke, who was the chief III there, and he acquainted me with the SD informational material in order to got a picture of the political, economic, and cultural structure of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, I reported to Chiefs I and II, where I acquainted myself with the headquarters of the commandoo its strength, its leader and the army to which the commando was attached. I also found out about accomodation, about signal equipment, et cetera.
QWhat instructions did the chief of Einsatzgruppe B give you?
A SSOberfuehrer Naumann on the basis of the situation map, explained to me the area and acquainted me with the second armored army, commanded by General Schmidt, to which the commando was attached. As my primary mission, Herr Neumann designated to me the roar security of this army together with an intensive partisan reconnaisance. He told me that the trouble the partisans were causing was increasing more and more lately and had become a vital danger in the army area. He also told me that a close corporation and exchange of the information was necessary with the army and the Ko-Rueck, that is short for commanding general of the rear army area.
Furthermore, he told me that I should got my instructions from Hennicke about Hennicle's special mission. That war an SD job entitled. "Research about the actual life in the Soviet Union". Finally, Oberfuehrer Neumann told me that the commissars and officers who had been with the commando thus far were to remain with me in the future because it is my first independent commando leadership and my first police job. Rausch, the commando fuehrer until then was to acquaint me with the job for about three weeks and then Oberfuehrer Naumann would then come to Bryansk to the headquarters of the commando in order to bid farewell to Rausch and to instal me as the commanding officer.