Mauthausen with Himmler and had his photograph taken during the course of the inspection. I offer Document 2641 as exhibit next in order, USA Exhibit 516.
THE PRESIDENT: 2641, you said?
LT. HARRIS: Yes, sir, 2641-PS. This exhibit consists of two affidavits and a series of photographs. Here are the original photographs in my hand. The original photographs are the small ones which have been enlarged, and those in the document book are not very good reproductions, but the Tribunal will see better reproductions which are being handed to it.
DR. KAUFMANN (Counsel for Defendant Kaltenbrunner): The whole accusation has been brought forward; all the same, I feel bound to make a motion on principle. I could have made this motion this morning just as well. It is in reference to the question whether affidavits may be read or not. I know that this question has already been the subject of consultation by the Tribunal and that the Tribunal has already decided this question in a certain manner, but if I might ask this question be decided once more, there is a special reason for it.
Every trial is something dynamic. What was correct at that time may at a later point be wrong. The most important trial in history rests in certain important points on the reading of evidence which from the side of the Prosecution is given to us according to their maxims.
The reading of affidavits is not satisfactory in the long run. The need is grave from hour to hour to see, if possible, the witness for the Prosecution and to hear him and to be able to investigate his credibility and his memory. There are many witnesses, so to speak, at the door of this Courtroom, and they need only be called in. To hear the witness at a later stage--that is not sufficient. It is not certain whether the Tribunal will admit the hearing of that particular witness on the same subject. I therefore oppose the further reading of the affidavit now. The meaning of Paragraph 19 of the Charter must not be killed by literal interpretation.
THE PRESIDENT: Is your application that you want to cross examine the witness or is your application that the affidavit should not be read?
DR. KAUFMANN: The latter.
THE PRESIDENT: That the affidavit should not be read?
DR. KAUFMANN: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you referring to the affidavit of Hoellriegl, 2753-PS?
DR. KAUFMANN: Yes.
(Off the record discussion by the Tribunal.)
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal is of the opinion that the affidavit, which is upon a relevant point, upon a material point, is evidence which ought to be admitted under Article 19 of the Charter, but they will consider any motion which Counsel for Kaltenbrunner may think fit to make for cross examination of the witness who made the affidavit if he is available and could be called.
You were dealing with these photographs, weren't you?
LT. HARRIS: Yes, sir. They had been offered in evidence as the exhibit next in order, and I wish to refer to the first affidavit accompanying them, which appears in the document book.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
LT. HARRIS: It being the affidavit of Alois Hoellriegl.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You had handed up the affidavit at the same time, hadn't you?
LT. HARRIS: Yes. That affidavit states, and I quote:
"I was a member of the Totenkopf SS and stationed at the Mauthausen concentration--"
THE PRESIDENT: Is the only copy in English this thing we can't read?
LT. HARRIS: Sir, it is the preceding affidavit.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, very well.
LT. HARRIS: (Reading) "I was a member of the Totenkopf SS and stationed at the Mauthausen concentration camp from January 1940 until the end of the War. I am thoroughly familiar with all of the buildings and grounds at Mauthausen concentration camp. I have been shown Document 2641-PS, which is a series of six photographs. I recognize all of these photographs as having been taken at Mauthausen concentration camp. With respect to the first photograph I positively identify Heinrich Himmler as the man on the left, Ziereis, the commandant of Mauthausen concentration camp in the center, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner as the man on the right."
THE PRESIDENT: He doesn't say, does he, at what date the photographs were taken?
LT. HARRIS: No, sir, I have no evidence as to what date the photographs were taken, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Just that Kaltenbrunner was there, yes?
LT. HARRIS: Just that Kaltenbrunner was there at some time in the company of Ziereis and Himmler.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
LT. HARRIS: With full knowledge of conditions in and the purposes of concentration camps, Kaltenbrunner ordered or permitted to be ordered in his name the commitment of persons to concentration camps. This is the affidavit of Hermann Pister, the former commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp, which was taken on 1 August 1945 at Freising, Germany, in the course of an official military investigation by the United States Army, and I quote from it as follows, beginning with the second paragraph:
"With exception of the mass delivery of prisoners from the concentration camps of the occupied territory all prisoners were sent to the concentration camp Buchenwald by order of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, Berlin. These orders for protective custody (red forms) were in most cases signed with the name 'Kaltenbrunner'. The few remaining protective custody orders were signed by 'Foerster'."
No. 518. This is the affidavit of Willy Litzenberg, former Chief of Department IV A 1 b of the RSHA. This document reads in cart as follows, and I quote, beginning with the second paragraph:
"The right of summary taking into protective custody belongs to the Directors of the State Police H.Q.'S or State Police Offices; previously for a period of 21 days, later, I think, for a period of 56 days. Custody exceeding this time had to be sanctioned by the competent Office for Protective Custody in the RSHA. The Regulations for protective Custody or the signing of the Protective Custody Order could only be issued through the Director of the RSHA as Chief of the SIPO and SD. All Regulations and Protective Custody Orders that I have seen bore a facsimile stamp of Heydrich or Kaltenbrunner. As far as I can remember I have never seen a document of this kind with another name as signature. How far and to whom the Chief of the SIPO and SD possibly gave authority for the use of his facsimile stamp, I do not know. Perhaps the Chief of Amt IV possesses a similar authority.
"The greater part of the Protective Custody Office was transferred to Prague. Only one staff remained in Berlin." 518. This is an affidavit of witness Willy Litzenberg, former Chief of the Department IV A. found at the former office of the section of the Gestapo which handled protective custody matters in Prague. It was an order to the Prague office to send a teletype message to the Gestapo office at Koeslin, ordering protective custody of one Ratzke and her commitment to the concentration camp at Ravensbruck for refusing to work. The order carries the facsimile signature of Kaltenbrunner. At the bottom of the page the Tribunal will note the facsimile stamp of Kaltenbrunner. as USA Exhibit 243, and which contains twenty-five orders for arrest issued out of the Prague office of the RSHA to the Einsatz.
THE PRESIDENT: Which number are you dealing with now?
LT. HARRIS: Dealing with Document L-215. I believe the Tribunal will recall this document, which has heretofore been received in evidence, and which contains twenty-five orders for arrest issued out of the Prague office of the RSHA to the Einsatz Commando of Luxembourg, all of which carry the typed signature of Kaltenbrunner. And the Court will remember, and I am holding up the original document, that these arrest orders were the red forms which the Commandant of Buchenwald referred to in his affidavit as being the forms which he saw coming from RSHA committing persons to Buchenwald. to Document L-215, by Kaltenbrunner, included Dachau, Natzweiler, Sachsenhausen, and Buchenwald.
THE PRESIDENT: What was the date of it?
LT. HARRIS: The most of these, sir, were in 1944. I believe they are all in 1944.
THE PRESIDENT: Does it appear on the document; does it or doesn't it?
LT. HARRIS: It does appear, sir, on the original document, yes. The first page of this translation is a summation of all of these. There is only one of the dossiers which has been translated in full, and the date on that one is 15-2-1944.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes; I see.
LT. HARRIS: Among the grounds specified on these orders carrying the typed signature of Kaltenbrunner were, quoting:
"Strongly suspected of working to the detriment of the Reich; spiteful statements inimical to Germany as well as aspersions and threats against persons active in the National Socialist Movement; strongly suspected of aiding desertion." 520; that is 2239-PS. This is a file of forty-two telegrams sent by the Prague office of the RSHA to the Gestapo office at Darmstadt, and they all carry the teletype signature of Kaltenbrunner. These commitment orders were issued during the period from 20 September 1944 to 2 February 1945.
The concentration camps to which Kaltenbrunner sent these people included Sachsenhausen, Ravensbruck, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen, Flossenburg, and Theresienstadt. Nationalities included Czech, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Corsican, Lithuanian, Greek, and Jews. Grounds included refusal to work, religious propaganda, sex relations with PW'S, communist statements, loafing on the job, working against the Reich, spreading of rumors detrimental to morale, action Gitter, breach of work contracts, statements against Germany, assault of foreman, defeatist statements, and theft and escape from jail. but he authorized executions in concentration camps. I now offer Document L-51 as Exhibit next in order, Exhibit USA 521. This is the affidavit of Adolf Zutter, the former adjutant of Mathausen concentration camp, in the course of an official military investigation of the United States Army, on 2 August 1945, at Linz, Austria. This affidavit states, and I am quoting from paragraph 3:
"Standartenfuehrer Ziereis, the commander of Camp Mauthausen, gave me a large number of execution orders after opening the secret mail, because I was the adjutant and I had to deliver these to Obersturmfuehrer Schulz. These orders of execution were written approximately in the following form." execution issued by the RSHA to the commander of the concentration camp Mathausen. I omit quoting that description and continue at the next paragraph:
"Orders for execution also came without the *ame of the court of justice. Until the assassination of Heydrich, these orders were signed by him or by his competent deputy. Later on the orders were signed by Kaltenbrunner, but mostly they were signed by his deputy, Gruppenfuehrer Mueller.
"Dr. Kaltenbrunner, who signed the above mentioned orders, had the rank of SS General (SS Obergruppenfuehrer) and was the Chief of the Reich Security Main Office.
"Dr. Kaltenbrunner is about 40 years old, height about 1.76 to 1.80 meters, and has deep fencing scars on his face.
"When Dr. Kaltenbrunner was only a Higher SS and Police Officer he visited the camp several times, later on as the Chief of Reich Security Main Office RSHA he visited the camp too, though this occurred much less frequently. During these visits, the commander usually received him outside the building of the camp headquarters and reported. Concerning the American military mission, which landed behind the German front in the Slovakian or Hungarian area in January, 1945, I remember when these officers were brought to Camp Mauthausen. I suppose the number of arrivals was about 12 to 15 men. They were in uniform, which was American or Canadian, brown-green color shirt and cloth cap. Eight or ten days after their arrival the execution order came in by telegraph or teletype. Standartenfuehrer Ziereis came to me into my office and told me: 'Now Kaltenbrunner has given the permission for the execution'. This letter was secret and had the signature 'signed Kaltenbrunner'. Then these people were shot according to marshal law and their belongings were given to me by Obersharfuehrer Niedermeier." the Security Police and SD was the deportation of citizens of occupied territories for forced labor and the disciplining of forced labor. 3012-PS, which has heretofore been received as USA Exhibit 190. That was the letter from the head of the Sonderkommando of the Gestapo and SD, which stated that the Ukraine would have to provide a million workers for the armament industry and that force should be used when necessary.
That letter was dated 19 March 1943.
Kaltenbrunner's responsibility for the disciplining of foreign labor is shown by Document 1063-B-PS, which has heretofore been received as USA Exhibit 492. No part of this letter has been read into the record. This letter dated 26 July 1943, that is, 1063-B, Sir, was addressed to Higher SS and Police Leaders, Kommanders and Inspectors, and the Gestapo and SD, and to the Chiefs of Einsatz Groups B and D. in the East, carried out the extermination of Jews and Communist leaders. This document proves Kaltenbrunner's control over Einsatz Groups B and D. This document is signed "Kaltenbrunner." The first paragraph provides as follows:
"The Reichsfuehrer SS has given his consent that besides concentration camps, which come under the jurisdiction of the SS Economic Administration Main Office, further labor reformatory camps may be created, for which the Security Police alone is competent. These labor reformatory camps are dependent on the authorization of the Reich Security Main Office, which can only be granted in case of emergency (great number of foreign workers, and so forth)." It should be right at the beginning of the Document Book. This letter signed "Kaltenbrunner" was sent by him under date of 4 December, 1944, to Regional Offices of the Criminal Police.
The Tribunal will recall that Kaltenbrunner's responsibility covered the Criminal Police as well as the Gestapo. It provides in part, and I quote, reading at the beginning of the letter:
"According to the Decree of 30 June 1943, crimes committed by Polish and Soviet-Russian civilian laborers are being prosecuted by the State Police (Head) Offices, and even in those cases, where for the time being the Criminal police had, within the sphere of its competence, carried on the inquiries. For the purpose of speeding up the process and in order to save manpower, the Decree of 30 June 1943 is altered, and the Criminal Police (Head) Offices are authorized as from now on to prosecute themselves the crimes they are inquiring into, within the sphere of their competence, in so far as they are cases of minor or medium crimes."
I begin with the second paragraph:
"The following are available to the Criminal Police as a means of prosecution:
"Police imprisonment.
"Admission into a concentration camp for preventive custody as being anti-social or dangerous to the community."
"Their stay in the concentration camp is normally to be for the duration of the war. Besides this, the Criminal Police (Head) Offices are authorized to hand over Polish and Soviet-Russian civilian labourers in suitable cases and with the agreement of the competent State Police (Head)Offices to the Gestapo's penal camps for the education of labour'. Where the possibilities of prosecuting an individual case are insufficient because of the peculiarity of the case, the incident is to be handed over to the competent State Police (Head) Office.
"Signed: Dr. Kaltenbrunner." brunner punished foreign workers by committing them to concentration camps. I offer Document 2582-PS as exhibit next in order, USA Exhibit 523.
to concentration camps. I invite the attention of the Tribunal to the second order dated 18 June 1943 under which the GESTAPO at Saarbruecken was ordered to deliver a Pole to the concentration camp Natzweiler as a skilled workman, and to the third teletype dated 12 December 1944 in which the GESTAPO at Darmstadt was ordered to commit a Greek to the concentration camp Buchenwald because he was drifting around without occupation, and to the fourth teletype dated 9 February 1945 in which the GESTAPO at Darmstadt in Bensheim was ordered to commit a French Citizen to Buchenwald for shirking work and insubordination. All of those orders are signed KALTENBRUNNER.
I offer Document 2680 PS as exhibit next in order (USA Exhibit 542). This Document contains three more of these red form orders for protective custody, all signed KALTENBRUNNER. The first one shows that a citizen of the Netherlands was taken into protective custody for work sabotage, and the second one shows that a French citizen was taken into protective custody for work sabotage and insubordination, both under date 2 December 1944. the Security Police and SD is the executing of capture commandos and paratroopers and the protecting of civilians who lynched allocated flyers. Hitler Order of 18 October, 1942, which was introduced this morning, Document 498-PS. USA Exhibit 501, to the effect that commandos, even in uniform, were to be exterminated to the last man, and that individual members captured by the Police in occupied territory were to be handed over to the SD. 525. This is an express top secret letter from the Chief of the Security Police and SD. signed "Mueller", by order to the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, in which the Chief of the Security Police and SD states, and I quote from the third paragraph of the second page of the English translation:
"I have instructed the Befehlshaber of the Security Police and the SD in Paris to treat such parachutists in English uniform as members of the commando operations in accordance with the Fuehrer's order of 10 October 1942 and to inform the military authorities in France that there must be corresponding reatment at the hands of the armed forces."
This letter was dated 17 June 1944. That executions were carried out by the SD pursuant to the said Hitler order of 18 October 1942, while Kaltenbrunner was Chief of the Security Police and SD is indicated by document 526-PS, heretofore received as USA Exhibit 502. That was the order introduced this morning, I'm sure the Tribunal recalls. The policy of the police to protect civilians who lynched allied flyers was effective during the period that Kaltenbrunner served as Chief of the Security Police and SD. 526. This is an affidavit of Walter Schellenberg, the former Chief of Amt VI of the RSHA, and provides in paragraph 7 -- this is all I'm going to read from the affidavit:
"In 1944, on another occasion but also in the course of an Amtschef conference, I heard fragments of conversation between Kaltenbrunner and Mueller. I remember distinctly the following remarks of Kaltenbrunner:
'All offices of the SD and the Security Police are to be informed that programs of the populace against English and American terror fliers are not to be interfered with. On the contrary, this hostile mood is to be fostered.'" of the Security Police and SD is the taking of civilians of occupied countries to Germany for secret trial and punishment and the punishment of civilians of occupied territories by family methods. The fact that this crime continued after 30 January 1943 is shown by document 835-PS, which is offered as exhibit next in order, USA Exhibit 527. This is a letter from the high command of the armed forces to the German Army's commission under date 2 September 1944. The document begins, and I quote:
"Conforming to the decrees, all non-German civilians in occupied territories who have endangered the security and readiness for action of the occupying power by acts of terror and sabotage or in other ways, are to be surrendered to the Security Police and SD.
Only those prisoners are accepted who were legally sentenced to death or were serving a sentence of confinement prior to the announcement of these decrees. Included in the punishable acts which endanger the security or readiness of action of the garrison power are those also of a political nature." of the Security Police and SD is the crime of executing and confining persons in concentration camps for crimes allegedly committed by their relatives. That this crime continued after 30 January 1943 is indicated by document L-37, heretfore received in evidence as USA Exhibit 506. That was received this morning. That is the letter of the Kommandeur of Sipo and SD at Radom, dated 19 July 1944, in which it was stated that the male relatives of assassins and saboteurs should be shot and the female relatives over 16 years of age sent to concentration camps.
I refer again to Document L-215, which has heretofore been received in evidence as USA Exhibit 243, and specifically to the case of Junker, who was ordered by Kaltenbrunner to be committed to Sachsenhausen concentration camp by the Gestapo "because as a relative of a deserter, he is expected to endanger the interest of the German Reich if allowed to go free." the Security Police and SD is the clearance of Sipo and SD prisons and concentration camps. I refer the Tribunal to Document L-53, which was received in evidence as USA Exhibit 291. This was the letter from the Kommandeur of the Sipo and SD, Radom, dated 21 July 1944 in which it is stated that the Kommandeur of the Sipo and SD of the General Government had ordered all Sipo and SD prisons to be cleared and, if necessary, the inmates to be liquidated. I now offer Document 3462-PS as exhibit next in order, USA Exhibit 528. This is the sworn interrogation of Bertus Gerdes, the former Gaustabsamtsleiter under the Gauleiter of Munich. This interrogation was taken in the course of an official military investigation of the U.S. Army. To this interrogation Gerdes was ordered to state all he knew about Kaltenbrunner. I'm only going to read a very small portion of his reply, beginning on the third paragraph of page 2.
"Giesler told me that Kaltenbrunner was in constant touch with him because he was greatly worried about the attitude of the foreign workers and especially inmates of concentration camps Dachau, Muehldorf and Landsberg, which were in the path of the approaching Allied armies. On a Tuesday in the middle of April 1945, I received a telephone call from Gauleiter Giesler asking me to be available for a conversation that night. Giesler that he had received a directive from Kaltenbrunner by order of the Fuehrer to work out a plan without delay for the liquidation of the concentration camp at Dachau and the two Jewish labor camps in Landsberg and Muehldorf. The Directive proposed to liquidate the two Jewish labor camps at Landsberg and Muehldorf by use of the German Luftwaffe, since the concentration area of these camps had previously been the targets of repeated enemy air attacks.
This action received the code name of 'Wolke Al'". this interrogation.
"I was certain that I would never let this directive be carried out. As the action Wolke Al should have become operational already for some time, I was literally swamped by couriers from Kaltenbrunner and moreover I was supposed to have discussed the details of the Muehldorf and Landsberg actions in detail with the two Kreisleiter concerned. The couriers who were in most cases SS officers usually SS lieutenants, gave me terse and strict orders to read and initial. The orders threatened me with the most terrible punishment including execution if I did not comply with them. However, I could always excuse my failure to execute the plan because of bad flying weather and lack of gasoline and bombs. Therefore, Kaltenbrunner ordered to have Jews in Landsberg marched to Dachau in order to include them in the Dachau exterminati operations, and that the Muehldorf action was to be carried out by the Gestapo "Kaltenbrunner also ordered an operation -Wolkenbrand - for the concentration camp Dachau which provided that the inmates of the concentration camp at Dachau were to be liquidated by poison with the exception of Aryan nationals of the Western Powers.
"Gauleiter Giesler received this order direct from Kaltenbrunner and discussed in my presence the procurement of the required amounts of poison with Dr. Harrfeld, the Gau Health Chief. Dr. Harrfeld promised to procure these quantities when ordered and was advised to await my further directions. As I was determined to prevent the execution of this plan in any event, I gave no further instructions to Dr. Harrfeld.
"The inmates of Landsberg had hardly been delivered at Dachau when Kaltenbrunner sent a courier declaring the action Wolkenbrand was operational.
"I prevented the execution of the Wolke Al and Wolkenbrand by giving Giesler the reason that the front was too close and asked him to transmit this on to Kaltenbrunner.
"Kaltenbrunner therefore issued directives in writing to Dachau to transport all Western European prisoners by truck to Switzerland and to march the remaining inmates into Tyrol, where the final liquidation of these prisoners was to take place without fail."
THE PRESIDENT: The Court will adjourn now.
(Whereupon at 1700 hours the hearing of the Tribunal adjourned to reconvene at 1000 hours on 3 January 1945).
Military Tribunal, in the matter of:
LT. HARRIS: If the Tribunal will recall, at the end of the last session, we had finished reading a portion of the sworn interrogation of the Gaustabsamtsleiter under the Gauleiter of Munich, and had touched on the point where he said that Kaltenbrunner issued directives to Dachau to transport Western European prisoners by truck to Switzerland and to march the remaining inmates into Tyrol. interrogation report of Gottlieb Berger, Chief of the Head Office of the SS, made under oath on 20 September 1945 in the course of these proceedings. You will find these pages at the end of the document book. This is offered as Exhibit U.S.A. 529. These pages have been translated into German and made available to the Defendant.
THE PRESIDENT: Does it have a number?
LT. HARRIS: It has no PS number sir. It is at the very end of the document book. I wish to read only one question and answer from these pages, and I refer to the last question and answer on page 3 of the exhibit:
"Q Assuming, only for the purposes of this discussion, that these atrocities that we hear about are true, who do you think is primarily responsible?
"A The first one, the Commandant; the second one Gluecks, because he was practically responsible for all the interior direction of the camps. service between the camp commandant and Gluecks actually operated. I want to give you the following example: during the night of the 22nd and 23rd of April, I was sent to Munich. As I entered the city, I met a group of perhaps 120 men dressed in the suits of the concentration camps. I asked the guard who was with them: 'What about these men.' He told me that these men were marching by foot to the Alps.
Firstly, I sent him back to Dachau. Then I wrote a letter to the Commandant, to send no more people by foot to any place, but whenever the Allies advanced further, to give over the camp completely. I did that on my own responsibility, and I told him that I came straight from Berlin, and that I can be found in my service post in Munich. The Commandant, or his deputy, telephoned at about twelve o'clock and told me that he had received this order from Kaltenbrunner after he had been asked by the Gauleiter of Munich, the Reichskommissar." the Security Police and SD is the persecution of the Jews. This crime, of course. continued after 30 January 1943 -- and evidence has heretofore been received that these persecutions continued until and were accelerated toward the end of the war. Kaltenbrunner took a personal interest in such matters as is indicated by Document 2519-PS which is offered as exhibit next in order, U.S. Exhibit 530. This exhibit consists of a memorandum and an affidavit, and I invite the attention of the Tribunal to the affidavit. Quoting from the affidavit:
"I, Henri Monneray, being first duly sworn, depose and say that since 12 September 1945 I have been, and I am the member of the French Staff for the prosecution of axis criminality, and have been pursuing my official duties in this connection in Nurnberg, Germany since 12 October 1945.
"In the course of my official duties, at the instruction of the French Chief Prosecutor, I examined the personal document of the Defendant --"
THE PRESIDENT: Is it necessary to read all of this? What is the object of this affidavit?
LT. HARRIS: To show that this document was derived from the personal effects of the Defendant Kaltenbrunner.
THE PRESIDENT: From the personal possessions?
LT. HARRIS: From the personal possessions, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: You can leave out the immaterial parts.
LT. HARRIS: Very good, sir.
Passing to the last sentence of the affidavit:
"Said Document 2519-PS is the document which I found in the envelope containing Kaltenbrunner's personal papers."
I now read the memorandum, quoting:
"Radio message to Gruppenfuehrer SS-Major General Fegelein Headquarters of the Fuehrer through Sturmbannfuehrer SS-Major Sansoni, Berlin.
"Please inform the Reichsfuehrer SS and report to the Fuehrer that all arrangements against Jews, political and concentration camp internees in the Protectorate have been token care of by me personally today. The situation there is one of calmness, fear of Soviet successes and hope of an occupation by the Western enemies.
Kaltenbrunner"
THE TRIBUNAL: (Mr. Biddle): That is not dated?
LT. HARRIS: This is not dated. persecution of the churches. It is unnecessary to present specific evidence that this crime continued after 30 January 1943, since this was one of the fundamental purposes of the Security Police and SD, as has already been shown. answer. As to his intent, there is no need to go outside the record before this Tribunal. On December 1, 1945, in these proceedings, the witness Lahousen was asked on cross-examination: "Do you know Mr. Kaltenbrunner?" After describing his meeting with Kaltenbrunner on a day in Munich when a university student and his sister were arrested and executed for distributing leaflets from the auditorium, Lahousen said -- and I wish to refer only to two sentences on page 724 of the transcript -- quoting:
"I can easily reconstruct that day. It was the first and last time I saw Kaltenbrunner, whose name has been known to me. Of course, Kaltenbrunner mentioned this subject to Canaris, and witnesses were there and everybody was under the terrible impression of what had happened, and Kaltenbrunner spoke about that to Canaris in a manner of which cynicism we would be a very mild description.
This is the only thing I can say to this question."
Kaltenbrunner was a life-long fanatical Nazi. He was the leader of the SS in Austria prior to the Anschluss and played a principal role in the betrayal of his native country to the Nazi conspirators. As higher SS and police leader in Austria after the Anschluss, he supervised and had knowledge of the activities of the Gestapo and the SD in Austria. he visited it several times. On at least one occasion he observed the gas chamber in action. With this knowledge and background he accepted in January 1943, appointment as Chief of the Security Police and SD, the very agencies which sent such victims to their deaths. He held that office to the end, rising to great prominence in the SS and the German Police and receiving high honors from Hitler. Like other leading Nazis, Kaltenbrunner sought power; to gain it, he made his covenant with crime.
COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, next will be some witnesses, and Col. Amen will handle the interrogation.
COL. JOHN H. AMEN: May it please the Tribunal, I wish to call, as a witness for the prosecution, Mr. Otto Ohlendorf. Your Lordship will note that his name appears under Amt III on the chart on the wall.
THE PRESIDENT: What did you say appeared?
COL. AMEN: The name of this witness appears under Amt III of the chart, RSHA, the large square, the third section down.
THE PRESIDENT: I see it.
Otto Ohlendorf, will you repeat this oath after me: I swear by God, the Almighty and Omniscient, that I will speak the pure truth and will withhold and add nothing.
THE WITNESS OHLENDORF: I swear by God, the Almighty and Omniscient, that I will speak the pure truth and will withhold and add nothing.
BY COL. AMEN:
Q Where were you born?
Q How old are you?
Q When, if ever, did you become a member of the Socialist Party?
Q When, if ever, did you become a member of the SA?
Q When, if ever, did you become a member of the SS?
A I must correct myself. I answered the first question as if I were speaking of my membership in the SS.
Q When did you become a member of the SA?
Q When, if ever, did you join the SD?
Q What was your last position in the SD?