We will only bring out the principal facts. Nevertheless, sometimes we must enter into details in order that the Tribunal can appreciate certain characteristic facts with which the defendants have been charged, facts which ordinarily we call "economic looting". permission to express all the gratitude of the prosecutors of the Economic Section of the French Delegation to their colleagues from the other Allied Delegations, and particularly the American section of the economic case, which has been kind enough to rut at our disposal a great number of German documents discovered by the United States Army, and considerable material means for their reproduction in a sufficient number of copies.
I shall have the honor of presenting in succession to the Tribunal, first, general remarks on economic looting of the occupied countries of Western Europe gium and the Grand Ducky of Luxembourg. I shall have the honor of presenting to you the sixth part, which relates to France, and also to conclude. Finally, Monsieur Delpech in a special presentation will give you specific information on the looting of works of art in the occupied countries of Western Europe. documents. We shall quote, only the passages which seem to us the most important. When the same document relates to several different questions, since it is impossible to give all the extracts at the same time because of the complexity of the facts, we shall ready extract concerning each of these questions In presenting them, we shall indicate each time the reference in the document book. Purposes of the aggression of which Germany was to become guilty. The theories of race and of living space increased the desire of the Germans at the same time that they stimulated their war-like intentions.
turned against Poland and prepared to attack the countries of Western Europe in which they hoped to find what they lacked in order to assure their dominatio. United States Army, which I submit to the Tribunal under Number 92. This is the transcript of a conference held in Goering's office January 30, 1940, with Lt. Colonel Conrath and Director Lange of the construction machines group of which this is the principal passage:
"Field Marshal Goering first told me that he had to inform me of the view of the Fuehrer on the economic measures which were necessary.
"He expressed himself as follows:
"The Fuehrer is convinced that it would be possible to bring the war to a decisive conclusion by making a great attack in 1940. He figured that Belgium, Holland and Northern France would fall into our possession and that he, the Fuehrer, based his opinion on the calculations that the industrial region of Douai and Lens, of Luxembourg, of Longwy and of Briery might furnish, as far as raw materials are concerned, replacement for the deliveries from Sweden. After this the Fuehrer decided, without worrying about the future, to utilize fully our reserves of raw materials, even if the final years of the war must be affected by this. The accurary of this decision has been strengthened by the view that the best stocks were not the stocks of raw materials but stocks of finished war products. Moreover, one must count, if the aerial war begins, that our factories which furnish the finished product may be destroyed.
The Fuehrer, moreover, has the view that the principal effort must take place in 1940 to obtain the maximum results, and from this fact we must put aside any long-range production program for the benefit of those which would not be terminated in 1940." surplus of products of every kind, but after four years of the prodigal looting and the enslavement of productivity, these countries are ruined, and the whole of their population is Weakened physically as the result of rigorouse restrictions. violence, ruthlessness and blackmail. spoliations ordered by the German leaders in the countries of Western Europe and to show that they constitute, as far as they are concerned, war crimes rightly within the scope of the International Military Tribunal for major war criminals. and the profit derived by them as the result of the enslavement of productivity in occupied countries. On one hand we do not have enough time. On the other hand, we find ourselves faced with material difficulties resulting from the secret nature of certain operations and the destruction of archives through acts of war or voluntarily at the time of the German rout. have, permit us to fix the order of the minimum greatness of the spoliations. Nevertheless, I shall ask the Tribunal permission to make three preliminary remarks. will not be referred to by this presentation since they belong to the competence of another jurisdiction. incalcuable, of German atrocities. For example, the prejudice experienced by the immediate relatives of murdered breadwinners, or the prejudice suffered by certain victims of ill treatment, who are totally or partially incapacitated, totally or partially, temporarily or permanently prevented from working, or the prejudice resulting from the destruction of localities or buildings for the purpose of vengeance or intimidation.
military operations, properly speaking, which would be the pecuiary results of war crimes. on the economic looting of Western Europe. By economic looting, one must understand the removal of wealth of every kind, as well as the enslavement of the productivity of the different invaded nations. there were numerous stocks of manufactured objects and abundant reserves of agricultural products, the German undertaking was faced with real difficulties. extent, requisitions were not actuate. In fact, they had to find the opportunities for ferretting out the most diverse thibgs, which were sometimes hidden by the inhabitants.
On the other hand, they had to maintain for their own profit the economic activity of these countries. ducts and their production was to possess almost the total sum of means of payment and to impose, if need be by force, their distribution in exchange for produets or levies while struggling against the rise of prices. naturally, forced to work directly or indirectly for the profit of Germany.
This first part will be divided into five chapters: Chapter 1, German seizure of the means of payment or purchasing power; secondly, enslavement of the productivity of the occupied countries,; thirdly individual purchases, which we must not confuse with the individual acts of looting; fourth, blackmarkets, organized for the benefit of Germany; fifth, we shall examine the question of economic looting from the point of view of international law and as a contravention of the Hague Convention.
First Chapter, German Seizure of Means of Payment or Purchasing Power: different occupied countries nearly the same procedure. First, they took two principal measures. First was the issuing of paper money. By an ordinance of 9 May 1940, published in the "Verordnungsblatt fur die besetzten franzosischen Gebiete", the official German gazette, which will be subsequently referred to under its abbreviation VOBIF, concerning Denmark and Norway, which I submit to the Tribunal under Number 93, concerning Denmark and Norway, and also applying on the 19th of May 1940 to the occupied territory of Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France, the Germans proceeded to issue bank notes of the Reichskredit Kasse which were valid only in each of the occupied countries. countries of existing means of payment; notably in France through the ordinances of June 24, August 7, August 16 and September 17, 1940, which will be submitted as documents 95, 96, and 97; ordinances in Belgium of June 17 and July 2, 1940, submitted under the numbers 99 and 100. the whim of the Germans, without any possible control on the part of the financial adminstrations of the occupied countries, were to serve, as we shall enormous war tributes under the pretense, of maintaining occupation troops and to impose alleged payment agreements through compensation called "clearing", functioning almost exclusively for the benefit of the occupying power.
sole benefit. of services, for which Germany paid regularly in appearances by means either of notes of the Reichskreditkasse or these alleged clearing agreements or through war tributes called indemnities for the maintenance of occupying troops were done knowingly without furnishing any compensating consideration. only fictitious and are a fraudulent procedure which was most often used to bring about the economic looting of the occupied countries of Western Europe. this presentation. I shall limit myself presently to pointing out to the Tribunal that to bring about the economic looting of the occupied countries with their own money, it would have been necessary that this money preserve an appreciable purchasing power. All the efforts of the Germans were to attempt a stabilization of prices. A severe regulation prohibiting rises in prices was subsequently promulgated by several decrees. VOBIF, pages 8, 60, and 535, submitted under No. 101, document No. 101. Nevertheless, the application of such measures could not prevent economic laws from acting. The countries and the massive purchases carried out in these countries by the occupying power, had as a principal result a continuous rise of prices. The leaders of the Reich were perfectly aware of the situation and followed with the greatest attention the rise in prices, which they sought to attenuate. of the Armistice Commission for German economic questions, which we will discuss when we examine the particular or special case of the economic looting of France.
Chapter 2, Enslavement of the Production of the Occupied Countries: disorder, as the result of this invasion, reigned there. The population fell back before the enemy advance. Industries were stopped. German troops guarded the factories and prevented anyone whatsoever from entering. which were affected by this situation, since almost all of them were affected by it. original of one of the numerous notices placed in industrial establishments of France. I submit this notice under the number 102.
Document 102 is dated Paris, June 28, 1940. One text is in German, and the other is in French. Here is the French text:
"By order of General Field Marshal Goering of 28 June 1940, the Generallufszeugmeister took possession from the fiduciary point of view of this factory. Entry is permitted only to those who have special authorization by the Generallufszeugmeister Verbindungsstelle, Paris." technicians, who came shortly after the troops, proceeded to a methodical removal of the best machines. dated December 1940 and emanating from the Economic Section of the OKW, page 77 and 78, that the removal of the best machines of the occupied territories was to be organized, in spite of the terms of Article 53 of the Hague Convention. sources - were grouped naturally around these factories in the hope of securing their subsistence. In all occupied countries the same problems existed in a painful fashion: to stop looting of the machinery, which continued at a very troubling rate, and to give work to the workers.
under the pretenze that they had to guarantee the supplying of the populations. The ordinance of May 20, 1940, published in the VOBIF, page 31, which we submit under Number 104, applying to the Low Countries, to Holland, to Belgium, to Luxembourg, and to France, prescribes that work should be resumed in all enterprises or industries for food supply or agriculture. The same text provided for the appointment of provisional administrators in the event of the absence of the directors or for any other reasons.
THE PRESIDENT: Would that be a convenient place to break off?
(WHEREUPON at 1300 hours the Tribunal adjourned, to reconvene at 1000 hours, 21 January, 1946). Military Tribunal, in the matter of:
The
M. GERTHOFER: Mr. President, Your Honors: At the end of the last session I had the honor of beginning the account of the French prosecution on the economic pillage; and in the first chapter I had indicated to you succinctly how the Germans had become roasters of the means of payment in the occupied countries by imposing war tributes under the pretext of maintaining their Army of Occupation and by imposing so-called clearing accords, functioning to their benefit almost exclusively.
In a second chapter, entitled "Subjection of Productivity in the Occupied Territories", I had the honor of expounding to you that after the invasion the factories were under military guard and that German technicians proceeded to transfer the best machinery to the Reich; that the working population grouped themselves around the factories to ask for subsidies; and, finally, that the Germans had ordered the resumption of work and had reserved for themselves the right to designate provisional administrators to direct the enterprises. of the occupied countries and over the industrialists to bring the factories back to productivity. trators in charge and insinuated that the factories would be utilized for the needs of the occupied populations. production, the industrialists little by little resumed their work, endeavoring to specialize in the manufacture of objects destined to the civilian populations. manufacture of defensive armaments and then progressively of offensive armaments. They requisitioned certain enterprises, shut down thosewhich they did not consider essential, themselves distributed raw materials, and placed controllers in the factories.
to secret directives given by the defendant Goering himself, as can be seen in a document dated 2 August 1940, discovered by the Army of the United States, which bears the number EC 137, which I place before the Tribunal under Number 105. This is the essential passage of the document:
"The extension of the German influence over foreign enterprises is an objective of German political economy. It is not yet possible to determine whether the Peace Treaty derives from the yielding of participation and to what extent, but from this point on it becomes essential to exploit every occasion to permit German economy in time of war to base itself upon economic objectives that involve the occupied territories and to prevent work that might make the realization of the above-mentioned objective more difficult." End of quotation. is possible as to the intentions of the German directors and rulers. The proof of the putting into execution of such a plan results from a German document which will be read when the particular case of France will be called upon in the course of this expose. Chief of the Administrative General Staff on Economic Questions, connected with the German military command in France, who brings out the extent of the dictatorship of the Reich over the occupied countries in economic matters. The control of the enterprises in occupied countries was assured by civil or military officials who were on the spot and also later by similar German enterprises who had become their Paten-Firma or home establishment. received by an important French society. This involves the ThomsonHouston house, and I present it to the Tribunal under Number 106 in the French documentation, a letter addressed to this establishment. It is dated Paris, 8 October 1943, to Thomson-Houston, 173 Boulevard Haussmann:
"You are fully responsible for the punctual execution and carrying out of the German orders which are passed to you, as well as towards the giver of orders who is competent for all the commands which are sent to France.
"To facilitate for you the execution of your obligations, the firm. Allgemeine Elektricitaets, Gesellschaft-Berlin, Friedrich Karl Ufer, is designated by me as the Paten-Firma. I attach the greatest importance to your working in a close comradeship on the technical level with the above-mentioned firm. The Paten-Firma will have the following functions.:
"First of all, to cooperate in the establishment of your production plan, to utilize your capacities. Second, to keep itself at your disposal for all technical advice which you might need, and to exchange experiences with you. Third, to serve as an intermediary when the case arises or negotiations with German services. Fourth, to keep me informed as to anything that might occur that might prevent or limit the accomplishment of your engagements.
"In view of assuring these steps, the Paten-Firma is authorized to delegate a Firmenbeauftragter to be a representative in your firm, and in case of need, engineers, technical engineers, from other German firms who may have handed you important orders.
"In order to permit the Paten-Firma to accomplish its task it will be necessary to give the firm or its Firmenbeauftragter the necessary documentation on everything that relates to the German orders and to their execution: First of all, by placing at its disposal your correspondence with your furnishers and with your subcontractors; second, by informing it of the manner in which the capacities of your factories are being utilized and permitting it to check on the production; third, by giving it knowledge of your connections and communicating to it your correspondence with the German services.
"It is your duty to inform the Paten-Firma or their Firmenbeauftragter of any orders which you may receive." of German firms in the occupied territories, with the double aim of favoring the Reich war effort and to achieve by progressive absorption an economic preponderance in Europe, even in case of a peace by compromise.
and made wholesale requisitions of produce, leaving the population only grossly insufficient quantities to assure their subsistence. German military or civilian forces in the occupied countries. the numerous acts committed in the occupied countries, it is important nevertheless to mention the individual purchases, these having been organized methodically by the German rulers to the benefit of their own nation. purchases by means of vouchers or tokens whose regularity and value was extremely doubtful and which had been handed them by their superiors; but presently the Germans had at their disposal a sufficient quantity of money which allowed them to purchase without any kind of rationing or by means of special vouchers considerable quantities of agricultural produce or of objects of all kinds, notably textiles, shoes, furs, leather goods, et cetera. It is thus, for instance, that certain shoe establishments were obliged every week to sell in exchange for special German vouchers 300 pairs of shoes for city use, men's, women's and children's shoes. which I will have occasion to refer to several times in the course of this presentation and which I submit to the Tribunal under Number 107. I repeat, not only authorized but organized by the German rulers. In fact, when the Germans returned to their country they were encumbered by voluminous baggage.
A service of package sending postal service had been created by the Germans for the benefit of Germans living in the occupied countries. The objects were wrapped in a special kind of paper and provided with seals, that enabled them to pass through the French customs stations on their entry into Germany. it is important to refer to the declaration of one Murdrel, ex-director of the Reichskreditkasse in Paris, Murdrel, who is at present held in Paris, specifies that on the 29th of October, 1945 - this is the declaration made by Murdrel on the subject of individual purchases. The Judge asked him the following questions:
"What were the needs of the Army of occupation? What purchases did you have to make on its account?"
This is Document 108. This is the testimony of Murdrel.
THE PRESIDENT: What are you doing about 107? Are you quoting from 107?
M. GERTHOFER: This is the report of the economic control
THE PRESIDENT: You are asking the Tribunal to take judicial notice of that, are you?
M. GERTHOFER: I submit it to the Tribunal, and I shall make readings from it from time to time in the course of my declaration.
THE PRESIDENT: And now you are going to read 108?
M. GERTHOFER: Yes, I shall make readings from 108, on Page 9.
The Judge asked Murdrel the following questions:
"What were the needs of the Army of occupation? What purchases did you have to make on its account?"
The answer: "It is impossible for me to answer the first part of the question. I had tried during the occupation to inform myself on this point, but it was objected that this was a military secret which I had no right to know. What I can tell you is that we settled the pay of the troops, and that a private earned from 50 to 60 Marks, a noncommissioned officer, 50 percent more, and an officer considerably more, naturally. I have no idea of the forces that the occupation Army may have included, as these forces were extremely variable," I skip a few lines to make this shorter.
Murdrel adds:
"Aside from this, every soldier on leave returning from Germany had the right to brine back with him a certain number of Harks, 50. The same was the case for any German soldier who was stationed for the first time in France. We made the exchange of Marks for Marks, that is, exchanged Francs for Marks. I evaluate the total of the sume that we paid over each month in this way to 5 billion Francs, 5 billion Francs" that spent individually in France by the Germans, of which the greater portion was employed for the purchase of products and objects sent to Germany and to the detriment of the French population. 60 billion Francs a year is greater than the budgetary receipts of the French budget in 1938, since this was only 54 billion Francs per year. a fourth chapter consecrated to the organization of the black market by the Germans in the occupied territories.
rationing of products of all kinds and they had left only grossly insufficient quantities for their own vital needs. This control and regulation left free a large quantity of the stock and of the production which the Germans seized, either by means of operations that were, to all appearances, regular requisitions, purchases by officials, offices and services, individual purchases, in exchange for vouchers of German priority. average of five billion francs per month. But such a regulation and control had, as its corollary, a rarefaction of merchandise and the concealment of products affected to the end of keeping them from the Germans. This state of things gave birth in the occupied countries to what was called the "black market", that is to say, secret purchases made in violation of regulations on rationing. extent, to purchases on the black market, usually through the intermediary of agents and of sub-agents, recruited amongst the most doubtful elements of the population, who were charged with finding where these products could be found. These agents, compromised by reason of violations of the legislation on rationing which they committed, benefited by a total immunity, but they Were constantly under the threat of denunciations on the part of their German employers in case they should slow up or stop their activity. Often these agents also fulfilled functions for the Gestapo and were paid for the services by commissions, which they obtained on the black market. habit of making secret purchases that became increasingly important in volume. Indeed, they began to compete amongst themselves for this merchandise, the chief result of which was to augment the price and they threatened to bring about an inflation. The Germans, while they continued to profit by the secret purchases, were anxious that the money which they utilized should maintain as high a value as possible. To obviate such a situation, the rulers of the Reich decided in June 1942 to organize purchases on the black market methodically. Thus Goering, the Plenipotentiary of the Four-Year Plan, gave on the 13 of June, 1942 to Col.
J. Veltjens the mission of centralizing the structure of the black market in the occupied countries.
This fact results from a document discovered by the Document Book.
This includes three documents which are signed by the Defen dant Goering, addressed to Col.
Veltjens. I do not want to take the time of
THE PRESIDENT: I am afraid we must adhere to our ruling that of which we
M. GERTHOFER: This is the letter of the 13 of June, 1942, signed by "The purchases of merchandise affected parallelly by the different any military or civilian administration.
This deplorable state of things can "I therefore charge you to regularize these commercial transactions in "In principle, commercial transactions in the occupied territories that "I approve your proposal regarding the utilization for the removal of the R.O.G.E.S. "I beg you to submit, at the earliest possible date, a plan of work concerning the putting into effect of your activity in Holland, in Belgium, in France and Serbia.
In Serbia it is Consul General Neuhausen who is to be in charge. This plan must involve, in addition to the seizure of port installations and the utilization of enterprises, whose closing may be envisaged in occupied territories.
"As to the results of your activity, I beg you to submit to me every month, through my representative, a report, the first of these to be submitted to me on July 1, 1942. If necessary, the Central Service of the Plan will make decisions concerning the distribution of merchandise thus purchased. (Signed) Goering." for the complete gathering together of all the merchandise that could be utilized, even if signs of inflation should result from this fact in the occupied territories. This is brought out by a report signed "Wiehl", relative to the utilization of funds derived from occupation expenses. I submit this to the Tribunal, under Number 110. the occasion of the Harvest Festival -- a speech that is reported in "Das Archiv" of October 1942, Number 103, page 645. In this speech the Defendant Goering implicitly brings out that he meant purchases on the black market in the occupied countries to continue for the benefit of the German population. I submit a copy of this article under Number 111 and I quote from the following passage:
"I have examined with very special attention the situation in the occupied countries. I have seen how the people in Holland, in Belgium, in France, in Norway, in Poland and everywhere, where we have become settled, how these people lived. I have noticed that although very often their propaganda spoke officially of the difficulty of their food situation, in point of fact this was far from being the case. No doubt everywhere, even in France, the system of ration cards has been introduced. But what one is able to obtain in exchange for these ration cards is but a supplement and people live normally on illegal commerce. This state of things has caused me to make a firm decision, a principle which I shall relinquish under no pretext.
"The first task which must come before all others is to assure the first place to the German people in the battle against hunger and in the problem of food supply. This is why I have decided that in territories which have been conquered and placed under our protection, the population shall no longer suffer from hunger. But if the enemy should get the idea of opposing our policy of food supply, it is then necessary that all should know that if there is to be famine anywhere it shall in no case be in Germany." of January, 1943 by Col. Veltjens, in which he gives an account of his activity over a period of six months, to the Defendant Goering. This is Document 1765 PS, which I submit now to the Tribunal under Number 112. It is not possible for me to give a complete reading of this report. I shall simply read certain passages of it.
reasons for the rise of the black market in these terms:
"(a) The reduction in merchandise as a result of the regulation and rationing.
"(b) The impossibility of making an effective blocking of our maintenance of prices.
"(c) The impossibility of making an adequate survey of prices on the German model by reason of the lack of personnel in the surveillance organizations.
"(d) The neglect in the appliance of counter-measures on the part of the local administrative authorities, especially in France.
"(e) The imperfect penal justice of the local judiciary authorities.
"(f) The lack of discipline amongst the civilian population."
Then under the same number (f), a little further, Voltjens indicates the activity of the German services on the black market.
"Assumes little by little such scope that it creates more and more unendurable situations. It was known that the black market operators offered at the same time their merchandise to several Bureaus and Offices and that it was the one which offered the highest price who obtained the merchandise. Thus, the different German formations not only vied with each other in obtaining the merchandise, but also they caused the prices to rise." leadership of the service created for the Four-Year-Plan Office in these terms:
"Finally, in June 1942, in accord with all the central services, the delegates for the Special Missions. B.F.S., was charged with taking in hand the seizure and the direction of the black market. Thus, for the first time was fulfilled the first necessary condition for effectively dealing with the problem of the black market." of the organization in charge of which he was placed and he writes, among other things:
"It hasbeen claimed that purchases on the black market in their present volume and at the price which actually prevails, would not in the long run become too burdensome for the budget of the Reich.