"In numerous cases German police and their Danish assistants employed torture in order to force the prisoners to confess or to give information. This fact is supported by irrefutable evidence. In most cases the torture consisted in lashing or beating with sticks or with a rubber bludgeon."
It is on page 5 of the Document 666, under the title of "Torture", which will leave lasting infirmities. Bovensicpen has stated that the order to employ torture came in certain cases from the higher authorities, perhaps from Goering as Chief of theGeheime Staatspolizei, but, in any event, from Heydrich. The instructions had for their purpose that torture might be used in order to force those who were tortured to give information that might serve to uncover subversive organizations which were aimed at the German Reich, but not for the purpose of bringing the delinquent to confess his own acts."
A little further on: "The means prescribed were, among other things, a specified number of beatings with a stick. Bovensiepen doesn't remember whether the maximum limit was ten or twenty blows. An officer from the criminal police was there, and also when circumstances so required there was a medical officer presents." smaller details, and at regular intervals they were brought to the attention of all members of the criminal police. The Government of Denmark points out, in conclusion, two cases particularly repugnant of torture inflicted upon Danish patriots. They are thecases of Professor Mogens and the severities against Lt Col. Ejnar Thiemroth. Best states that his official prerogatives did not authorize him to prevent the resort to torture. In the case of Belgium it should be first recalled the tortures that were inflicted in the tragically famous camp of Breendonck where hundreds and thousands of Belgium patriots were incarcerated.
We shall come back to the case of Breendonck when we will dealwith the case of concentration camps.
We shall merely cite from the report of the Belgium Commission on War Crimes a few precise facts which support our original affirmation, to wit, that all acts involving ill-treatment which are impu ted to the Gestapo in France were reproduced in identical manner in all the countries of Western Europe. The documents which we shall present to you are found in the small book of Documents, RS-318 and 319. It is 942-b in your small document book. It is the second document, and would therefore be on page 5. contains identical, or at least analagous, testimonies to those that were collected in France. However, on page 1 and page 2 you will find the statement made by Mr. Rogust Lammes and a statement made by Mr. Paul Desumel, which show that the most extreme penalties were inflicted on these men, and that when they emerged from this place of the Gestapo, they were completely disfigured and unable to remain on their feet. F-641b, which now become, as a result, Documents 320 and 321. I shall not read them. They, too, contain minutes describing tortures analagous to those I have already described before you. If the Court will accept the cruelty of the procedures for tortures employed by the Gestapo as having been established, I will abstain from reading further testimonies which have been collected. the Norwegian Government in connection with the punishment of major war criminals The French translation of this document is on page 79. We place it before you under No. 243. On page 2 of this document you will find -- and it is also to be found in the small book of documents -- the statement that enumerates that Norwegian citizens died.
THE PRESIDENT: What is the number on the document?
M. DUBOST: UK-79. It is the first one. Norwegian Government according to which numerous Norwegian citizens died from the cruel treatments inflicted upon them during their interrogation. The number of known cases for the one district of Oslo is 52. The number in the various regions of Norway is undoubtedly much higher. The total number of Norwegian citizens who died during the occupation in consequence of tortures or ill-treat ment or execution or suicide or in concentration camps is approximately 2,100.
methods employed in the services of the Gestapo in Norway, which methods were identical to those I have already described before you. which, as a result, becomes French Document No. 324, which is extracted from the statement of the Netherlands Government for the prosectuion and punishment of the principal German war criminals. This document bears the date of 16 January, 1946. It has been distributed and should now be in your hands. The Tribunal will find in this document a great number of testimonies which were collected by the criminal investigation department, all of which are related uniformly to ill-treatment and similar tortures as those you already know, and which are imputable to the services of the Gestapo in Holland. In the Netherlands, as elsewhere, the accused were struck with sticks. When their backs were completely raw from the beating they were sent back to their cells, and sometimes they were exposed to electrical currents. A witness beheld with his own eyes at Norfolk a prisoner who was a priest and who was beaten to death with a rubber bludgeon. The systematic character of such torture has been definitely established, and the document of the Danish Government is the beginning of the proof in support of my thesis that this systematic character was deliberately willed by the higher authorities of the Reich, of the German Government, and so they are responsible for it. In any event, these systematic tortures were certainly known by the leaders of the German Government, since from all European countries there were protests against such procedures which plunged us back to the darkness of the Middle Ages. At no time did an order come to forbid such methods. At no time were those who executed them disavowed by their superiors. The methods of instructions were in themselves a factor which was destined to reinforce the terroristic nature of the policy pursued by Germany in the occupied countries -- a terroristic nature to which I have already referred and which I have described before you when I dealt with the problem of hostages. before you, those whom France considers, and other countries as well in the West, as the principal guilty men for the preparation and development of this criminal policy with respect to the deeds of the Gestapo. We say that Bormann and Kaltenbrunner, because of their function, more than others could not have ignored the acts of their subordinates charged with carrying out these policies.
Although we are not in possession of any document signed by their hand with respect to the Western countries, the unity of the facts we have presented before you, the fact that they are analagous and also of an identical character inspite of the diversity of the location, enables us to assert that all these orders were willed by a single human will, and among the accused who are before you Bormann and Kaltenbrunner are specifically designated. judgment. We know with what ferocity this procedure was applied. We know that this ferocity was Trilled. It was known by the populations of the invaded countries, and its purpose was to create a veritable atmosphere of terrorism around the Gestapo and all the police services of the Germans.
After the judicial interrogation came the judicial proceeding. Then the judgment. This judgment, was as we see, only a parody of justice. The prosecution was based on a legal concept which we set aside as being absolutely inhuman. That part will be dealt with by my colleague, M. Edgar Faure, in the second part of the expose of the atrocities in the West; that is, crimes against the spirit. It is sufficient for us to know that German jurisdictions before whom crimes were placed involving the citizens of the Western Countries did not believe in and never applied anything but one penalty, and that was death. an order which appeared in Document L-90, placed before you under No. USA 224.
THE PRESIDENT: What is the number of the document?
M. DUBOST: USA 224. It has already been placed before the Tribunal by my colleagues of the United States, under number USA 224. It is the penultimate in your document bock. That is, in the large document book. Line 5:
"For acts of this character, penalties involving deprivation of liberty can be considered, as one can not obtain an efficacious result except by the application of the penalty of death or by measures that will maintain the population in ignorance as to the fate of the guilty men. For this purpose, we shall develop deportation to Germany."
Is it necessary to present any comment? Can we be startled at seeing this war leader giving orders to justice? What we know of him since yesterday causes us to doubt the fact that he is merely a military leader.
We have cited to you his own very words: "You can not obtain efficacious results except through the penalty of death." Such orders given to justice--are these in conformity with military honor. In Document 90, "The Tribunal will decree the penalties of death. If you can not decree the penalty of death, send them to Germany on deportation." of justice. condemned to death and executed were deported to Germany, and we come, therefore, to the third part of our thesis, which falls upon me. We come now to the problem of deportations. carried out. If prior to that your Tribunal could suspend the audience for a very few minutes, I should be very grateful to you.
THE PRESIDENT: How long would you like us to suspend?
M. DUBOST: Perhaps five minutes.
THE PRESIDENT: Four minutes.
(Whereupon the Tribunal recessed from 1451 hours to 1500 hours.)
DR. NELTE (For the defendant Keitel): The French Prosecutor just now produced document 90, the so-called "Nacht und Nebel Decree." That means that he cited this document and cited the words that a deterrent example could only be reached through the death penalty or through other measures which would keep the population and family of the accused in darkness--that they would not know about it. The French Prosecutor mentioned that these are the words of Keitel. fact that it is not permissible to quote only a part or a portion of the document when through so doing a wrong impression might be created. in a specially clear way brings to expression that it was not in this case the Chief of the OKW speaking, but Hitler. In this brief citation, it is mentioned.
"It is the long-determined will of the Fuehrer that in occupied countries, as far as attacks on the Reich or against the occupying power are concerned, the people who are doing this are to be met with other measures than before.
The Fuehrer is of the opinion that for such acts, penalties against liberty and life-long house of correction will be put into effect, and in connection with this, an effective and confident deterrent is only to be created through the death penalty."
In conclusion, the Decree read:
"And the policies to be followed are to be in line with the opinion and the attitude of the Fuehrer." point to this fact, especially since this decree, which is called the notorious "Nacht und Nebel Decree", was in itself and in its execution, not recognized by Keitel and is denied by him.
M. DUBOST: I did not read the decree in extenso. I did know that the accused Keitel had signed it and that Hitler had conceived it. Therefore, I have made an allusion to military honor of this general, who was not afraid to become the lackey of Hitler.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal understood from your mentioning of the fact that the document had already been submitted to the Tribunal, and does not think that there was anything misleading in what you did.
M. DUBOST: If the Tribunal accepts this, we shall proceed to the hearing of the witness, a Frenchman.
THE PRESIDENT: This is your witness that you wish to call, is it?
M. DUBOST: Yes.
M. MAURICE LAMPE, a witness called by the French Prosecution,
THE PRESIDENT: what is your name?
THE WITNESS: Lampe, Maurice.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat this after me: Do you swear to speak without hate or fear, to say the truth, all the truth, only the truth.
(The witness repeats the oath in French.)
THE PRESIDENT: Raise the right hand and swear.
THE WITNESS: I swear.
THE PRESIDENT: Spell the name.
THE WITNESS: L-A-M-P-E.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
(The witness was examined as follows by M. Dubost.)
Q You were born in Rubais on the 23rd of August, 1900; you were deported by the Germans?
THE PRESIDENT: You can sit down if you wish.
Q You were interned in Mauthausen?
Q Will you testify as to what you know concerning this internment camp?
A I was arrested on the 8th of November, 1941. After two years and a half of internment in France, I was deported on the 22nd of March 1944 to Mauthausen in Germany. ticularly ignoble--104 deportees in a cattle car. I do not believe that it is necessary to go into details of this journey, but one can well imagine under what conditions we arrived on the morning of the 25th of March, 1944 at Mauthausen under twelve degrees of cold. in box cars. of about 1,200 Frenchmen informed us in the following words which I shall quote from memory almost textually, "Germany needs your arms. You are, therefore, going to work, but I want to tell you that never again will you see your families. When one enters this camp, one leaves it by the chimney of the crematorium." then designated to work in a commando in a stone quarry. The quarry at Mauthausen, located in a hollow, was situated about 800 metres from the camp proper. To reach it, there were 186 stops to go.
to the hollow were made of unequal steps and had been so conceived that to go up without burden was already extremely wearisome. all of them French, under the orders of a general commando, who was a common law criminal, and also under the command of an SS.
We started our work at seven o'clock in the morning. At eight o'clock, one hour later, two of my comrades were already murdered. They were an old man, M. Gregoir from Lyon and a very young man, Lefer from the city of Tours. They were murdered because they had not understood the order given in German which designated these men for a task. Inability to understand the German language caused us very frequently to be beaten.
told to go up with the burden of the two corpses, and the one that I carried with three of my comrades was that of Father Gregoir, a very heavy corpse, and we had to go up 136 steps with a corpse, and we were all beaten before we reached the top of the stairway. what I have myself known, what I have seen, was a long cycle of torture and of sufferings. Still, I would like to recall a few scenes that were particularly horrible and remain more fixed in my memory. there came to Mauthausen a small transport of 47 officers, British officers and American and some Dutchmen. They were fliers who had parachuted down. They had been arrested after they had sought to return to their country. Because of this they were condemned to death by a German tribunal. Their incarceration went back to about one year. They were brought to Mauthausen to be executed there. for the Allies. They were dressed only with undergarments and a shirt. They were barefooted.
The following morning they answered the rollcall at seven o'clock. The commandos of the camp went to their tasks. The 47 officers were gathered before the Schreibstube and were told by the commanding officer of the camp that the penalty of death was upon them. that the sentence be applied to him as on a soldier. The reply was the following: He was beaten with a whip. He was beaten everywhere, and the 47 were led barefooted to the quarry. vision. This is the manner in which they operated: At the bottom of the staircase they allotted on the shoulders of the unfortunate men stones. They hsd to go up to the very top. The first trip was made with stones weighing 25 to 30 kilos. Under the blows the first trip was made. Then they went down.
They had to run. The second trip the stones were heavier still, and as the burdens crushed the wrteched men, the blows would be redoubled. Stones were hurled at them. evening when I came back from the commando with the team with which I was then working, this road which led us to the camp was a path covered with blood. I almost stepped on a lower jaw of a man. Twenty-one bodies were there. Twenty-one had died on the first day. The twenty-six others died the following day.
I tried to sum up as much as I could this horrible episode. It was not possible, at least when we were in camp, to know the names of these officers, but I believe that since that time that has been accomplished.
In September 1944, again, we received a visit of Himmler. Nothing had been altered in the working of the camp. The commandos went to their tasks as usual, and I had occasion - and it was a sad occasion - to see Himmler from close by, and if I call this to your attention - this passing of Himmler through the camp - it was not, after all a great event; it was because that day they offered Himmler the execution of fifty Soviet officers. and was always there for the night shift. The blockhouse where I was lodged was just opposite the crematorium and opposite the execution room. We saw I have seen these Soviet Army officers brought together according to their size, faced to my block on this square. They were called one by one. The road that led to the execution hall was relatively short. One stairway led there. The execution room was under the crematorium. of it because it lasted throughout the afternoon - was another particularly horrible spectacle. I repeat Soviet Army officers were called one by one, and there was a sort oc hain created between the group which was waiting around and the man who in the stairway was hearing the shot which brought down his predecessor. They were all killed by a shot in the neck.
Q You were there personally? You witnessed this personally?
opposite the crematorium, and if we did not see the execution itself, every shot reached our ears, and we saw the men who were condemend face to face with us, kissing one another before taking leave, going up in the stairway.
Q Who were these men who were condemned? members of the Bolshevick party.
Q I beg your pardon, but there were officers among them?
Q Did you know where they came from? a general rule, they were locked up as they arrived in camp. Either they were taken directly to prison or else to Block No. 20.
Q How did you know they were officers?
Q Did all of them come from prisoner-of-war camps?
Q You din't really know?
A No, we really didn't know. It was a question of knowing the nationality of individuals by other details. officers, about whom you have just spoken to us who were executed in the stairway of the quarry, did you know where they came from?
A They were fliers, air corps officers. It is possible that their aircraft had been brought down. They might have parachuted and they sought clandestinely to rejoin their country. officers? That was a common occurrence? ated in Mauthausen?
Q Could you cite a few? the executions under a special method, of part of a convoy coming from Sachsahusen. This took place on the 17th of February 1945. taken back toward Austria. A convoy of 2,500 internees left Sachsahusen. They arrived on the morning of the 17th of February at Mauthausen. There were about 1700 approximately. 800 had died from cold or had been brought down in the course of the journey. really overcrowded. Therefore, from the very moment of arrival of these 1700 survivors of this convoy, Kommandant Dachmeier had 400 of them selected from among the group insisting that the sick and the old and the weak prisoners should come forward with the idea that they might be taken to the infirmary. These 400 men, who either were designated or were just simply selected were stripped entirely naked.
It was 18 degrees below zero.
Q You saw that thing yourself, did you not? You are citing this as a direct witness?
Q Where were you at that time?
A I was at Mauthausen. This scene lasted, as I said, 18 hours,
Q Very well. Will you please continue? You have spoken to and People's Kommissars.
Did you see German personalities frequently in the camp?
A Yes, but I can't give you the names.
Q You didn't know them. I must say that Himmler was somewhat special, but you did know they were eminent personalities?
were coming there?
A Indeed we did. First of all, the visit of these personages If you will allow me, I'd like to go on with my explanation of the murder of these 400 people who came from Sachshausen.
I was below zero.
Several of them were immediately struck by pulmonary infection, but it seemed to the SS that it wasn't going fast enough.
three times a half hour under freezing water. Then they had to come strewn over the area.
Let me add that the last of them were easily be verified.
Among the 400 men I have mentioned there was a Major in the French Ministry of War.
This man, this Captain, was among the 400.
He owed his escape to the fact that he hid amongst the corpses and thus escaped the blows of the axe.
When the corpses He was caught again.
He owed his salvation to the fact that running from a mass of corpses.
We took care of him. We helped
Q Do you know why these executions were carried out?
A Because there were too many people in the camp; because rapid to place them with working commandos.
The blocks were over populated.
That is the only explanation that was given.
condemned to death by German tribunals. Probably a few for many sentence might be carried out.
It is probable that we are here constructed?
Would you please tell us that?
Q So you are giving us indirect testimony?
A Yes, indirect testimony. But all of the internees knew of it, including the SS themselves.
The revier was constructed by the first Soviet prisoners who arrived in Mauthausen.
Four thousand blocks of the revier or hospital.
The memory of that massacre or hospital by any other name than by "Russian Camp."
The SS them selves called the revier the "Russian Camp."
Q How many Frenchmen were at Mauthausen?
Q How many of you came back?
of the year. When we left at the end of April, 1945, there were still about 1,600.
All the rest had been exterminated.
Q Where did these Spaniards come from?
Q Is this all you have to tell us?
This took place also during September, 1944. I am sorry if the date is not quite accurate in my memory.
What I do know is that it commandos had to answer evening roll call inside of the camp.
That ordinarily.
Someone was missing. After a long wait and searches who perhaps had fallen asleep, had forgotten to answer roll call;roll call.
Immediately the dogs and the SS went toward the let loose upon this unfortunate Soviet man.
He was torn to shreds
Q What kind of conditions weren't placed on all prisoners?
of the prisoner? Or perhaps their racial background--would that cause any distinction to be made amongst them?
blocks and the annex political blocks. The conditions under which we worked, the selection of the commandos to which we were assigned, sometimes permitted some of the guards to accentuate the harsh treatment. As to the things that we were able to obtain, those who worked in the kitchen or in the stores or other places where supplies were available naturally had more than others.
Q What about the Jews? How did they work? Under what conditions?
AAt Mauthausen the Jews had the hardest of the commandos. I must call attention to the fact that until December 1943 the Jews did not live more than three months in Mauthausen. There were very few of them at the end.
Q What happened in that camp after the murder of Heydrich?
A There is in this connection a particularly dramatic episode. Mauthausen included 3,000 Czechs, 600 of whom were intellectuals. After the murder of Heydrich the Czech colony in the camp was exterminated with the exception of 300 from the 3,000, and six intellectuals from the 600 that were in the camp.
Q Did anyone speak to you of scientific experiments?
A They were commonplace at Mauthausen, as they were in other camps. But we have testimony which I think has been recovered: the two craniums which were used as paper weights for the chief SS medical officer. These craniums came from two young Dutch Jews who had been taken from a convoy of 800 selected because they had fine teeth. these two young Dutch Jews would not be exposed to the fate of their comrades on the convoy. He had said to them "Here the Jews do not live. I need two healthy, solid, strong men to make surgical experiments. You have your choice; either you will accept that these experiments be performed on you or else you will have the fate of others." of them, the removal of his kidney, the other the removal of his stomach. Then they were inoculated in the heart with benzin. They were decapitated, and I have told you that the two craniums had fine sets of teeth, and they could be seen until the time of the liberation on the desk of the chief doctor of the SS.
Q At the time of Himmler's visit -- I'd like to come back to that -- you are certain that you recognized Himmler and you saw him presiding over the executions.
Do you think that what was taking place in Mauthausen could be ignored, could be unknown by members of the German Government? The visits that you knew about, were they visits by the SS, or were they simply other personalities?
A For the first of your questions, we all knew Himmler, and if we hadn't known him everyone knew in the camp, and the SS told us, that this visit was anticipated. We were told of that a few days earlier. He was present at the beginning of the executions of these Soviet individuals. I said a little while ago that this execution lasted throughout the whole afternoon so he didn't remain until the end.
With regard to -- will you tell me your second question again? camp visited by other personalities other than SS? Did you know the SS uniforms? The people you saw, the authorities whom you saw -- did they all wear the same identical uniform? speaking, soldiers, that is, officers. More recently, a few weeks before the liberation, we had a visit from the Gauleiter of the Oberdonau. We also had frequent visits from members of the Gestapo. But the people, that is, the Austrian population, were perfectly aware of what was going on at Mauthausen. The commandos were nearly all external commandos, commandos from the outside.
I said a little while age that I was working at Messerschmidt. The leaders were German civilians who were mobilized. In the evening they went back to their families. They knew quite well our sufferings and the conditions in which we were. They frequently saw in the shop individuals summoned from the shop to be executed, and they were witnesses of the most of the massacres that I mentioned a little while ago.
there arrived once in Mauthausen 30 firemen from Vienna. They were locked up for having participated in some sort of labor activity. The firemen from Vienna told us that in Vienna when one wanted to frighten children they were told "If you are not a good boy I will send you to Mauthausen."
Perhaps it is a detail, but this detail is more important. One-fourth of Mauthausen was situated in the village, and every night the chimneys of the crematorium could throw their light in the sky over the whole region, and everyone knew the use to which the crematorium was put. from the camp. The convoys of deportees were brought to the station of the town. The whole population could see the parade of these convoys. The whole population knew under what conditions these convoys were brought and taken to the camp.
THE PRESIDENT: Does the Soviet prosecutor wish to ask any questions?
GEN. RUDENKO: I should like to ask a few questions.
BY GEN. RUDENKO: officers? reasons for their condemnation or for their execution, but as a general rule, all the Soviet officers, all the Political commissars, or known members of the Bolshevist Party, were executed in Mauthausen. If a few among them succeeded in getting through it is because their identity was not known to the SS. Himmler was present. which you have mentioned?
assassinated in their job because probably the burden placed upon them, as far as requirements were concerned, the lack of food to which they were subjected did not permit them to carry out the tasks assigned to them. They were murdered on the spot with sticks - beatings from sticks, and sometimes just shot down by the SS or sometimes they were obliged to go to the wires, and they were brought down by the guards. I cannot give more details, since, as I said, I was not a witness, visual witness, of that scene.
Q It is quite clear. And one more question: Can you tell me in detail about the relation of the Czech colony?
A The same reservations must be made that I voiced a moment ago. I was not in the camp at the time of the extermination of the 3,000 Czechs, but the Czech survivors with whom I had relations in 1944 were unanimous in certifying to the accuracy of this fact, and probably as far as their own country is concerned have established a list of these murders. kill people and to shoot people without any jurisdiction?
A That is exactly a fact. The life of a man at Mauthausen counted for absolutely nothing.
GEN. RUDENKO: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Does any member of the Defendants Counsel wish to ask any questions of this witness? Then the witness may retire. Wait a minute: one moment. BY THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle):
Q Do you know how many guards there were at the camp? 1,200 SS and also soldiers of the Volkssturm. However, it should be stated that only 50 to 60 SS were authorized to come inside the camp.
Q Sixty SS men? Were they SS men that were authorized to go into the camp?
Q All SS men?