Military Tribunal, in the matter of: The Socialist Republics against Herman.
Wilhelm
THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Meltzer, are you intending to call any witnesses this afternoon?
LT. MELTZER: No, sir. There is another member of the Prosecution, sir, who I believe is intending to call a witness, Mr. Dodd.
THE PRESIDENT: In connection with the case against Funk?
LT. MELTZER: No, your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Or in connection with the case against someone else?
LT. MELTZER: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Who is it in connection with, Raeder?
LT. MELTZER: I believe Mr. Dodd might offer -
THE PRESIDENT: Raeder, is it?
LT. MELTZER: No, sir. Mr. Dodd might offer a better explanation than I on the purpose of calling the witness.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd?
MR. DODD: Yes, sir. Your Honor, the witness is offered in connection with the Defendants Rosenberg, Funk, Frick, Sauckel, and Kaltenbrunner.
THE PRESIDENT: I see. The evidence relates to concentration camps, does it?
MR. DODD: It does, your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: I see.
MR. DODD: This witness would have been called at the time that we presented the other proof, excepting for the fact that he was before the Military court at Dachau at that time and was not available.
THE PRESIDENT: I see, Thank you.
LT. MELTZER: May it please the Tribunal: Before we adjourned we were dealing with Defendant Funk's role in the economic persecution of the Jews.
As your Honors will recall, in November of 1938 the death of von Rath in Paris was exploited by the Nazis as a pretext for intensifying the persecution of the Jews. The new policy was directed at the complete elimination of the Jews from the economic life of Germany. The evidence we will offer will show that Defendant Funk took a significant part in both the formulation and execution of that policy. In this connection, I would refer the Tribunal to Document No. 1816-PS, which is already in the record. This document is a report of the meeting on the Jewish question. It will be found your Honor, on page 52 of the Document Book, This Document is a report of the meeting, on the Jewish question held under Goering's chairmanship on 12 November, 1938. In opening the meeting Defendant Goering stated, and I quote now from page 1, paragraph 1, of the translation. The corresponding page of the German document is also page 1:
"To-day's meeting is of a decisive nature. I have received a letter written on the Fuehrer's orders, requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, coordinated and solved one way or another."
Defendant Funk came to this meeting well prepared. He had a law already drafted which he submitted with the following explanation. I quote again from Document 1816-PS, page 15.
THE PRESIDENT: Page what?
LT. MELTZER: Fifteen of the Document, your Honor; page 66 of the Document Book.
"I have prepared a law eloborating that, effective 1 January 1939, Jews shall be prohibited to operate retail stores and wholesale establishments as well as independent artisan shops. They shall be further prohibted from keeping employees or offering any ready products on the market. Whereve a Jewish shop is operated, the police shall shut it down. From 1 January 1939, a Jew can no longer be employed as an enterpriser as stipulated in the law for the Organization of National Labor of 20 January 1934."
I believe we may omit the rest. It is all in the same tenor.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
LT. MELTZER: The substance of Defendant Funk's draft law promply found its way into the Reichsgesstzblatt. On 12 November 1938, Defendant Goering signed a decree entitled, and I quote, "For the Elimination of Jews from the German Economic Life", and in section 4 he authorized Defendant Funk to implement the provisions of the decree by issuing the necessary rules and regulations. An examination of the provisions of this decree, which is set forth in the Reichsgesetzblatt 1938, Part I, page 1580, will reveal how well it deserved its title "For the Elimination of the Jews from the German Economic Life." delivered a speech on the Jewish question. He made it clear that the program of economic persecution was part of the larger program of extermination, and he boasted of the fact that the new program insured the complete elimination of the Jews from the German economy. I offer into evidence document Number 3545-PS as USA Exhibit 659. This document, which is found on page 76 of the Document Book, is a certified photostatic copy of page 2 of the Frankfurter Zeitung of 17 November 1938. I quote a very brief portion of that speech:
"The state and the economy constitute a unit. They must be directed according to the same principles. The best proof thereof has been rendered by the most recent development of the Jewish problem in Germany. On cannot exclude the Jews from the political life and yet let them live and work in the economic sphere." notice of this reprint from the German newspaper, the Frankfurter Zeitung. Funk himself. On the 3rd of December, 1938, he signed a decree which imposed additional and drastic economic disabilities upon the Jews and subjected their property to confiscation and forced liquidation.
This decree is set forth in the Reichsgesetzblatt 1938, Part I, page 1709. Defendant Funk himself admitted and deplored his responsibility for the economic persecution of the Jews. I offer into evidence Document No. 3544-PS, as USA Exhibit 660. This document, which is the last document in connection with this phase of the case, is an interrogation of Defendant Funk dated 22 October 1945. Your Honors will find it on pages 102 and 103 of the Document Book. I wish to quote from pages 26 to 27 of the interrogation. The corresponding page of the German translation is page 21. Although I propose to quote enough to place Defendant Funk's statements in their proper context, I do not, of course, intend to give any credence to his attempts at selfjustification:
"Q. All the decrees excluding the Jews from industry were yours, were they not?"
Now, omitting the first nine lines of the reply;
"A. So far as my participation in this Jewish affair is concerned, that was my responsibility, and I have regretted it later on that I ever did participate. The Party had always brought pressure to bear on me previously to make me agree to the confiscation of Jewish property, and I had refused repeatedly. But later on, when the anti-Jewish measures and the force against Jews came into effect, something legal had to be done to prevent the looting and confiscation of all Jewish property.
"Q. You knew that the looting and all that was done at the instigation of the Party, don't you?"
Here Defendant Funk w ept and answered:
"Yes, most certainly. That is when I should have left in 1938. Of that I am guilty; I am guilty; I admit that I am a guilty party here." solidfy the German people in favor of war. When he moved on to his position as Minister of Economics, and to other positions which will appear, he used his talents even more directly for the conspirators' main task--preparation for war. Immediately before Defendant Funk took over the Ministry of Economics from Defendant Schacht in 1938, there was a major reorganization of that Ministry's functions which integrated it with the Four-Year Plan as the supreme command of the German military economy.
This reorganization was effected by a decree dated 4 February 1938, signed by Goering as Commissioner of the FourYear Plan, This decree is set forth in an official monthly bulletin issued by Goering and entitled, in the English translation "The Four Year Plan", Volume II, 1938, page 105. It is requested that the Tribunal take judicial notice of this publication. Defendant Funk assumed a critical role in the task of economic mobilization during a decisive period. Indeed, in 1938 he was directly charged with the task of preparing the German economy for war. By a secret decree he was made Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics, and assumed the duties which once had been discharged by Defendant Schacht. In this connection, I refer to Document 2194-PS, which has already been placed in evidence. This document, which is found on page 111 of your Honors' document books, consists of a letter dated 6 September 1939, and that letter transmitted a copy of the Reich Defense Law of 4 September 1938. It is this enclosure that we wish to deal with now. I wish to quote from page 4 of the translation, from paragraphs 2 to 4:
"It is the task of the GBW" -- that is the Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics -- "to put all economic forces into the service of the Reich defense, and to safeguard economically the life of the German nation. To him are subordinate:
"the Reich minister of economics "the Reich minister of nutrition and agriculture "the Reich minister of work", and so on.
"He is furthermore responsible for directing the financing of the Reich defense within the realm of the Reich finance ministry and the Reich Bank."
To quote one more paragraph:
"The GBW must carry out the demands of the OKW which are of considerable importance for the armed forces; and he must insure the economic conditions for the production of the armament industry directed immediately by OKW according to its demands."
Reich Defense Law of 1935, and I will not trouble the Tribunal with further reading. I do wish to note, however, that the law was at the specific direction of Hitler kept secret, and that it was signed by Defendant Funk, among others, as Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics. Your Honors will find Defendant Funk's signature on next to the last page of the document, and I invite your attention to the names of his co-signers. explained how, as Chief Plenipotentiary for Economies, he had for a year and a half prior to the launching of the aggression against Poland, advanced Germany's economic preparations for war. I offer into evidence Document No. 3324-PS, as USA Exhibit 661. This document is a German book by Borndt and von Wodel, entitled, in the English translation, "Germany in the Fight." That book reprings the Defendant's speech. I quote now from page 2 of the translation of Document No. 3324-PS, which is found on page 116 of the Document Book. The translation of this speech is somewhat awkward, and with the Tribunal's permission I would rephrase it somewhat without changing its substance in the slightest:
"Although all economic and financial departments were harnessed to the task of the Four Year Plan under the leadership of General Field Marshal Goering, Germany's economic preparation for war was also secretly advanced in another sector for well over a year, namely, through the formation of a national guiding apparatus for special war economy tasks which would have to be accomplished the moment that war became a fact. For this work all economic departments were combined into one administrative authority, the General Plenipotentiary for Economy, to which position the Fuehrer appointed me one and a half years ago."
THE PRESIDENT: What was the date of that?
LT. MELTZER: The date of that speech, sir, is October.
THE PRESIDENT: 14th of October?
LT. MELTZER: 14th of October, 1939.
In his dual capacity as Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics and. Minister of Economics, defendant Funk was naturally advised of the requirements which the conspirators' program of aggression imposed on the German economy. In this connection, I would invite the Tribunal's attention to Document No. 1301-PS, which is already in evidence. As your Honors will recall, this document is a top secret report of the conference held in Defendant Goering's office on 14 October 1938. Your Honors will find it on page lit 142 of the Document Book. I shall simply summarize the relevant portions of this document. Hitler's directive to organize a gigantic armament program. He thereupon directed the Ministry of Economics to increase exports in order to obtain the foreign exchange necessary for stepping up armament. He added, as your Honors will recall, that the Luftwaffe must be increased fivefold; that the Navy should arm more quickly; and that the Army should accelerate the production of weapons for attack. Defendant Goering's words directed at Funk, among others, were the words of a man already at war, and his emphasis on quintupling the air force and on weapons for attack was that of a man waging aggressive war.
After Schacht's departure, Funk was a key figure in the preparation of plans to finance the war. This was natural, since Defendant Funk, after 1939, occupied three positions crucial to war finance. Two we have already named-the Minister of Economics and the Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics. In addition, he was President of the Reichsbank.
Funk's role in war financing is illustrated by Document No. 3562-PS, which I now offer In evidence as USA Exhibit 662. This document was found in the captured files of the Reich Ministry of Economics. It consists in part of a letter from the Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics, signed on his behalf by Dr. Fosse. The letter is dated 1 June 1939, and encloses the minutes of a conference concerning the financing of the war which was held under the chairmanship of Funk's under secretary in the Ministry of Economics, Dr. Landfried. A copy of the document which I have offered into evidence bears a marginal note on page 1 in the bottom left-hand corner, dated 5 June, and stating, and I quote: "To be shown to the Minister (that is, Funk) for his information."
five of whom were directly responsible to Defendant Funk in various capacities, the conferees discussed a memorandum regarding war finance which had been prepared by the Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics on May 9, 1939. I wish to quote briefly from page 2 of the English translation, which is found on page 153 of your Honors' document book:
"Then a report was made of the contents of the notes on the question of internal financing of war of 9 May of this year, in which the figures given to me by the Reichs Minister of Finance are also discussed. It was pointed out that the General Plenipotentiary for the Economy is primarily interested to introduce into the legislation for war finance the idea of financing war expenditures by anticipating future revenues, to be expected after the war." whichis found on page 2 of the English translation, page 153 of your document bocks:
"Undersecretary Newman, first, submitted for discussion the question of whether the production would be able to meet, to the assumed extent, the demands of the army, especially if the demands of the army, as stated in the above report, would increase to approximately 14 billions in the first three months of war. He stated that, if the production potential of the present Reich territory is taken as a basis, he doubts the possibility of such an increase."
It is plain, then, that Defendant Funk exercised comprehensive authority over large areas of the German economy whose proper organization and direction were critical to effective war preparation.
The once powerful German military machine which rested on the foundation of thorough economic preparation was a tribute to the contribution which Defendant Funk had made to Nazi aggression. military aggression. A compelling inference of such knowledge would arise from the combination of several factors: from Funk's long and intimate association with the Nazi Inner circle, from the very nature of his official functions, from the war-dominated setting of Nazi Germany, from the fact that force and the threat of force had become the primary and the open instruments of German foreign policy. And the final element in weighing the question of Funk's knowledge, is, of course, the fact that at the same time that Funk was making economic preparation, specific plans for aggression was being formulated, plans which were later carried out, and plans which could be effectively carried out only if they were synchronized with the complementary economic measures.
The inference concerning Defendant Funk's knowledge is reinforced beyond any question, by considering, in the light of the factors decribed above, the more specific and direct evidence which has already been placed into the record. We have seen from Document No. 1760-PS that Defendant Funk had told Mr.Messersmith that the absorption of Austria by Germany was a political and economic necessity, and that it would be achieved by whatever means were necessary. We have already referred to Document No. 1301-PS, in which Defendant Goering laid down directives which could be understood only as directives to prepare the economic basis for aggression. And Document Number 3562-PS has revealed that Defendant Funk was making detailed plans for financing the war, that is, of course, a particular war, the war against bland. In this connection, I wish to refer to another vital piece of evidence which has already been introduced in the record. It is the letter dated 25 August 1939, which Defendant Funk wrote too Hitler. In that letter, as your Honors will recall, Defendant Funk expressed his gratitude at being able to experience those world-shaking.
times and to contribute to these tremendous events. And he thanked Hitler for approving his proposals, designed to prepare the German economy for the war.
personally and through his representatives, participated in the economic planning which preceded the military aggression against the Soviet Union. I would refer the Tribunal to Document 1039-PS, which revealed that in April of 1941, Defendant Rosenberg, who had been appointed deputy for the centralized treatment of problems related to the occupation of the eastern territories, that is, the Soviet Union, discussed with Defendant Funk the economic problems which would arise when the plans for aggression in the East matured. Document 1039-PS also reveals that Defendant Funk appointed one, Dr. Schletterer, as deputy to collaborate with Rosenberg in connection with exploitation of the Eastern territories and that Schletterer met with Rosenberg almost daily. conspirators' program, from their seizure of power to their final defeat. Throughout, he worked effectively, if sometimes more quietly than others, on behalf of the Nazi program, a program which, from the very beginning, he knew contemplated the use of ruthless terror and force within Germany, and if necessary outside of Germany. He bears, we submit, a special, a direct and a heavy responsibility for the commission of crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes. The record makes it clear, if we may summarize the evidence, that by virtue of his activities in the Ministry of Propaganda and in the Ministry of Economics, he is responsible for stimulating and engaging in the unrelenting persecution of the Jews and other minorities, for psychologically mobilizing the German people for aggressive war and for weakening the willingness and capacity of the conspirators' intended victims to resist aggression. It is also clear, we submit, that Defendant Funk, with full knowledge of the conspirators' purposes, in his capacity as Minister of Economics, President of the Reichsbank and Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics, actively participated in the mobilization of the German economy for aggression. In these capacities, and as a member of the Ministerial Council for Defense and the Central Planning Board, he also participated in the waging of aggressive war. Moreover, by virtue of his membership in the Central Planning Board which, as your Honors will recall from Mr. Dodd's presentation, formulated and directed and directed the program for the enslavement, the exploitation and degradation of millions of foreign workers.
Defendant Funk also shares special responsibility for the Nazi Slave Labor program. greater detail. Moreover, the French and Soviet Prosecution will submit evidence, showing that Defendant Funk actively participated in the program for the criminal looting of the resources of occupied territories.
MR. THOMAS DODD: May it please the Tribunal, we would like to call as a witness at this time Dr. Franz Blaha.
THE PRESIDENT (To the witness): Is your name Franz Blaha?
THE WITNESS (in Czech): Dr. Franz Blaha
THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat this oath: I swear by God
THE WITNESS: Is swear by God
THE PRESIDENT: The Almighty and Omniscent
THE WITNESS: The Almighty and Omniscent
THE PRESIDENT: That I will speak the truth, the clear truth
THE WITNESS: That I will speak the truth, the clear truth
THE PRESIDENT: And will withhold
THE WITNESS: And will withhold
THE PRESIDENT: And add nothing.
THE WITNESS: And add nothing.
THE PRESIDENT: You can sit dorm if you wish. QUESTIONS BY MR. DODD:
Q You are Dr. Franz Blaha, a native and a citizen of Czecho Slavakia; are you not?
A (In Czech) Yes reasons I suggest that we conduct this examination in German, although I know your native tongue is Czech; is that right?
A (In Czech) In the interest of the case I am willing to testify in German for the following reasons:
1) For the past seven years, which are the subject of my
2) A large number of special and technical expressions relating
Q Dr. Blaha, by education, training and profession, you are a Doctor of Medicine.
(In German) they occupied Czecho-Slovakia?
Q Were you confined in various prisons between 1939 and 1941? Concentration Camp. January of this year; did you not?
MR. DODD: This affidavit, if it please the Tribunal, bear the Document No. 3249-PS, and I wish to offer it at this time. It is USA Exhibit 663. I feel that we can reduce the extent of this interrogation by approximately three-fourths through the submission of this affidavit, and I should like to read it. It would take much less time to read this affidavit than it would to go through it in question and answer form, for to that extent at least, it covers a large part of what we expect to elicit from this witness.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MR. DODD: I wouldn't have asked to read it if we had had time to have a Russian and French translation, but unfortunately that wasn't possible in the few days we had.
I, FRANZ BLAHA, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:
"I studied medicine in Prague, Vienna, Strassburg and Paris and received my diploma in 1920. From 1920 to 1926 I was a clinical assistant. In 1926 I became chief physician of the Iglau Hospital in Moravia, Czechoslovakia. I held this position until 1939 when the Germans entered Czechoslovakia and I was seized as a hostage and held a prisoner for cooperating with the Czech government. I was sent as a prisoner to the Dachau Concentration Camp in April 1941 and remained there until the liberation of the camp in April 1945. Until July 1941 I worked in a Punishment Company. After that I was sent to the hospital and subjected to the experiments in typhoid being conducted by Dr. Muermelstadt. After that I was to be made the subject of an experimental operation and only succeeded in avoiding this by admitting that I was a physician. If this had been known before I would have suffered because intellectuals were treated very harshly in the Punishment Company. In October 1941 I was sent to work in the herb plantation and later in the laboratory for processing herbs. In June 1942 I was taken into the hospital as a surgeon. Shortly afterwards I was directed to conduct a stomach operation on 20 healthy prisoners. Because I would not do this I was put in the autopsy room where I stayed until April 1945. while there I performed approximately 7,000 autopsies. In all 12,000 autopsies were performed under my direction. prisoners were performed. These were for the instruction of the SS medical students and doctors and included operations on the stomach, gall bladder, spleen and throat. These were performed by students and doctors of only two years training although they were very dangerous and difficult. Ordinarily they would not have been done except by surgeons with at least four years surgical practice. Many prisoners died on the operating table and many others from later complications.
I autopsied all of these bodies. The doctors who supervised these . operations were Lang, Muermelstadt, Wolter, Ramsauer and Nahr. Standartenfuehrer Dr. Lolling frequently witnessed these operations. experiments carried on there with human victims.. These persons were never volunteers but were forced to submit to such acts. Malaria experiments on about 1,200 people were conducted by Dr. Klaus Schilling between 1941 and 1945. Schilling was personally asked by Himmler to conduct these experiments. The victims were either bitten by mosquitoes or given injections of malaria sporozoits taken from mosquitoes. Different kinds of treatment were applied including Quinine, pyrifer, neosalvarsan, antipyrin, pyramidon and a drug called 2516 Bohring. I autopsied bodies of people who died from these malaria experiments. 30 to 40 died from the malaria itself. 300 to 400 died later from diseases which were fatal because of the physical condition resulting from the malaria attacks. In addition there were deaths resulting from poisoning due to overdoses of neosalvarsen and pyramidon. Dr. Schilling was present at the time of my autopsies on the bodies of his patients. Dr. Sigismund Rascher to determine the effects of changing air pressure. As many as 25 persons were put at one time Into a specially constructed van in which pressure could be increased or decreased as required. The purpose was to find out the effects of high altitude and of rapid descents by parachutists. I have seen the people lying unconscious on the floor of the van through a window in the van.
Most of the prisoners used died from these experiments from internal hemmorrhages of the lungs or brain. The rest coughed blood when taken out. It was my job to take the bodies out and to send the internal organs to Munich for study as soon as they were found to be dead. About 400 to 500 prisoners were experimented on. Those not dead were sent to invalid blocks and liquidated shortly afterwards. Only a few escaped.
"Rescher also conducted experiments on the effect of cold water on humans. This was done to find a way for reviving aviators who had failed into the ocean. The subject was placed in ice cold water and kept there until he was unconscious. Blood was taken from his neck and tested each time his body temperature dropped one degree. This drop was determined by a rectal thermometer. Urine was also periodically tested. Some men lasted as long as 24 to 38 hours. The lowest body temperature reached was 19 degrees C, but most men died at 25 degrees C, or 26 degree C. When the men were removed from the ice water attempts were made to revive them by artificial warmth from the sun, from hot water, from electro-therapy or by animal warmth. For this last experiment prostitutes were used and the body of the unconscious man was placed between the bodies of two women. Himmler was present at one such experiment. I could see him from one of the windows in the street between the blocks. I have personally been present at some of these cold water experiments when Rascher was absent and I have seen notes and diagrams on them in Rascher's laboratory. About 300 persons wereused in these experiments. The majority died. Of those who lived, many were mentally deranged. Those not killed were sent to invalid blocks and were killed just as were the victims of the air pressure experiments. I only know two who survived - a Jogoslav and a Pole, both of whom are mental cases.
"Liver puncture experiments were performed by Dr. Brachtl on healthy people and on people who had diseases of the stomach and gall bladder. For this purpose a needle was jabbed into the liver of a person and a small piece of the liver was extracted. No anaesthetic was used. The experiment is very painful and often had serious results as the stomach or large blood vessels were often punctured resulting in hemmorrage.
Many persons died of these tests for which Polish, Russian, Czech and German prisoners were employed.
Altogether these experiments were conducted on about 175 people.
"Phlegmone experiments were conducted by Dr. Schuetz, Dr. Babor, Dr. Wieselwetter and Professor Lauer. 40 healthy men were used at a time of which 20 were given intra-muscular and 20 intravenous injections of pus from diseased persons. All treatment was forbidden for three days by which time serious inflammation and in many cases general blood poisoning had occurred. Then each group was divided again into groups of 10. Half were given chemical treatment with liquid and special pills every 10 minutes for 24 hours. The rest were treated with sulfamamide and surgery. In some cases all of the limbs were amputated. My autopsy also showed that the chemical treatment had been harmful and had even caused perforations of the stomach wall. For these experiments, Polish, Czech and Dutch priests were ordinarily used. Fain was intense in such experiments. Most of the 600 to 800 persons who were used finally died. Most of the others became permanent invalids and were later killed.
"In the fall of 1944 there were 60 to 80 persons who were subjected to salt water experiments. They were locked in a room and for five days given nothing to eat but salt water. During this time their urine, blood and excrement were tested. None of these prisoners died, possibly because they received smuggled food from other prisoners. Hungarians and Gypsies were used for these experiments.
"It was common practice to remove the skin from dead prisoners. I was commanded to do this on many occasions. Dr. Rascher and Dr. Wolter in particular asked for this human skin from human backs and chests. It was chemically treated and placed in the sun to dry. After that it was cut into various sizes for use as saddles, riding breeches, gloves, house slippers and ladies' handbags. Tattoed skin was especially valued by SS men. Russians, Poles and other inmates were used in this way, but it was forbidden to cut out the skin of a German. This skin had to be from healthy prisoners and free from defects. Sometimes we did not have enough bodies with good skin and Rascher would say, "All right, you will get the bodies."
The next day we would receive 20 to 30 bodies of young people.
They would have been shot in the back or struck on the head so that the skin would be uninjured. Also we frequently got requests for the skulls or skeletons of prisoners. In those cases we boiled the skull or the body. Then the soft parts were removed and the bones were bleached and dried and reassambled. In the case of skulls it was important to have a good set of teeth. When we got an order for skulls from Oranienburg the SS men would say, "We will try to ret you some with good teeth." So it was dangerous to have a rood skin or good teeth.
"Transports arrived frequently in Dachau from Studthof, Belsen, Auschwitz; Mauthausen another camps. Many of these were 10 to 14 days on the way without water or food. On one transport which arrived in November, 1942, I found evidence of cannibalism. The living persons had eaten the flesh from the dead bodies. Another transport arrived from Compiegne in France. Professor Limousin of Clermont Ferrand who was later my assistant toldme that there had been 2,000 persons on this transport when it started. There was food available but no water. 800 died on the way and were thrown out.
were dead on the train. Of the remainder most died shortly after arrival. I investigated this transport because the International Red Cross complained, and the SS men wanted a report that the deaths had been caused by fighting and rioting on the way; I dissected a number of bodies and found that they had died from suffocation, and lack of water. It was mid-summer and one-hundred and twenty people had been packed into each car. These were made up of people who were sick, or for some reason incapable of working. We called them Himmelfahrt Commandos. About one-hundred or one-hundred and twenty were ordered each week to go to the shower baths. There four people gave injections of phenol evipan, or benzine, which soon caused death. After 1943 these invalids were sent to other camps for liquidation. I know that they were killed because I saw the records, and they were marked with a cross, and the date that they left, which was the way that deaths were ordinarily recorded. This was shown on both the card index and the records in the town of Dachau. One thousand to three thousand went away every three months so there were about five thousand sent to death in 1945, and the same in 1945. In April 1945 a Jewish transport was loaded at Dachau, and was left standing on the railroad siding The station was destroyed by bombing, and they could not leave. So they were just left there to die from starvation. They were not allowed to get off. When the camp was liberated they were all dead. in the camp. The gas chamber was completed in 1944, and I was called by Dr. Rascher to examine the first victims. Of the eight or nine persons in the chamber, there were three still alive, and the remainder appeared to be dead. Their eyes were red and their faces were swollen. Many prisoners were later killed in this way. Afterwards they were removed to the crematorium where I had to examine their teeth for gold. Teeth containing gold were extracted. Many prisoners who were sick were killed by injections while in hospital. Some prisoners killed in the hospital came through to the autopsy room with no name, or number on the tag, which was usually tied to their big toe.
Instead the tag said "Do not dissect." healthy, but had died from injections. Sometimes prisoners were killed only because they had dysentery, or vomited, and gave the nurses too much trouble. Mental patients were liquidated by being led to the gas chamber, and injected there, or shot. Shooting was a common method of execution. Prisoners could be shot just outside the crematorium and carried in. I have seen people pushed into the ovens while they were still breathing, and making sounds, although if they were too much alive they were usually hit on the head first. the victims, or supervised such examinations are as follows: In 1942 there were five thousand to six thousand Russians held in a separate camp inside Dachau. They were taken on foot to the Military Rifle Range near the camp in groups of five hundred or six hundred, and shot. These groups left the camp about three times a week. At night they would bring them back in carts drawn by prisoners, and we would examine them. Moosburg. I knew a few of the boys in the hospital. I examined them after they were shot outside the crematory. In September 1944 a group of ninety four high ranking Russians were shot, including two military doctors who had been working with me in the hospital. I examined their bodies. In April 1945, a number of prominent people were shot who had been kept in the bunker. They included two French Generals, whose names I cannot remember, but I recognized them from their uniform. I examined them after they were shot. In 1944 and 1945 a number of women were killed by hanging, shooting, and injections. I examined them and found that in certain cases they were pregnant. In 1945 just before the camp was liberated all "Nacht and Nebel" prisoners were executed. These were prisoners who were forbidden to have any contact with the outside world. They were kept in a special enclosure, and were allowed no mail. There were thirty or forty, many of whom were sick. These were carried to the crematory on stretchers. I examined them and found they had all been shot in the neck.
From 1941 on the camp was more and more overcrowded. In 1943 the hospital for prisoners was already overcrowded, and in 1944 and in 1945 it was impossible to maintain any sort of sanitary condition. Rooms that held three hundred or four hundred persons in 1942 were filled with one thousand in 1943, and in the first quarter of 1945, already two thousand or more of the rooms could not be cleaned because they were too crowded, and there were no cleaning materials. No baths were available for months at a time. Latrine facilities were completely inadequate. Medicine was almost non-existent. But I found after the camp was liberated that there was plenty of medicine in the SS hospital for all the camp, if it had been given to us for use. hours at a time. Sometimes they stood there from morning until night. It did not matter whether this was in the winter, or in the summer. This occurred all through 1943 , 1944 and the first quarter of 1945. I could see these formations from the window of the autopsy room. Many of the people who had to stand in the cold in this way became ill from pneumonia and died. I had several acquaintances who were killed in this manner during 1944 and 1945. In October 1944 --"
THE PRESIDENT: Too fast, sir. Yes.
MR. DODD: "In October 1944, a transport of Hungarians brought spotted fever into the camp, and an epidemic began. I examined many of the corpses from this transport, and reported the situation to Dr. Hintermayer, but was forbidden on penalty of being shot to mention that there was an epidemic in the camp. No preventive measures were taken at all. New healthy arrivals were put into blocks where an epidemic was already present. Also infected persons were put into these blocks. So the thirtieth Block, for instance, died out completely three times. Only at Christmas when the epidemic spread into the SS camp was a quarantine established. Nevertheless, transports continued to arrive.