Archive/File: imt/nca/nca-02/nca-02-16-responsibility-08-03
Last-Modified: 1997/03/27

   Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume Two, Chapter XVI

                                                  [Page 636]

F. FRANK IMPOSED UPON THE POPULATION OF THE GENERAL
GOVERNMENT A REIGN OF TERROR, OPPRESSION, IMPOVERISHMENT,
AND STARVATION.

What had happened in the General Government in the first
three and a half years of Frank's administration was
summarized by Frank in a report to Hitler on the situation
in Poland, dated 19 June 1943:

     "In the course of time, a series of measures or of
     consequences of the German rule have led to a
     substantial deterioration of the attitude of the entire
     Polish people in the German Government. These measures
     have affected either individual professions or the
     entire population and frequently also -- often with
     crushing severity -- the fate of individuals. "Among
     these are in particular:

     "1. The entirely insufficient nourishment of the
     population, mainly of the working classes in the
     cities, whose majority is working for German interests.
     
     "Until the war of 1939, its food supplies, though not
     varied, were sufficient and generally secure, due to
     the agrarian surplus of the former Polish state and in
     spite of the negligence on the part of their former
     political leadership.
     
     "2 -- The confiscation of a great part of the Polish
     estates and the expropriation without compensation and
     resettlement of Polish peasants from manoeuvre areas
     and from German settlements.
     
     "3 --  Encroachments and confiscations in the
     industries, in commerce and trade and in the field of
     private property.
     
                                                  [Page 637]
                                                            
     "4 -- Mass arrests and mass shootings by the German
     police who applied the system of collective
     responsibility.
     
     "5 -- The rigorous methods of recruiting workers.
     
     "6 -- The extensive paralyzation of cultural life.
     
     "7 -- The closing of high schools, junior colleges, and
     universities.
     
     "8 -- The limitation, indeed the complete elimination
     of Polish influence from all spheres of State
     administration.
     
     "9 -- Curtailment of the influence of the Catholic
     Church, limiting its extensive influence -- an
     undoubtedly necessary move -- and, in addition, until
     quite recently, the closing and confiscation of
     monasteries, schools and charitable institutions." (437-
     PS)

In order to illustrate how completely Frank as Governor
General is identified with the criminal policies whose
execution is re-ported in the foregoing document, and the
extent to which they were the official policies of his
administration, it is proposed to annotate several of the
items with passages from Frank's own diary.

(1) Undernourishment of Polish population. The extent of the
undernourishment of the Polish population was reported to
Frank in September 1941 by Obermedizinalrat Dr. Walbaum:

     "Obermedizinalrat Dr. Walbaum expresses his opinion of
     the health condition of the Polish population.
     Investigations which were carried out by his department
     proved that the majority of Poles eat only about 600
     calories, whereas the normal requirement for a human
     being is 2,200 calories. The Polish population was
     enfeebled to such an extent that it would fall an easy
     prey to spotted fever. The number of diseased Poles
     amounted today already to 40. During the last week
     alone 1000 new spotted fever cases have been officially
     recorded. *** If the food rations were to be diminished
     again, an enormous increase of the number of illnesses
     could be predicted." (2233-P-PS)

It was clear from this report that starvation was prevalent
in the General Government. Nevertheless, in August 1942,
Frank approved a new plan which called for much larger
contributions of foodstuffs to Germany at the expense of the
non-German population of the General Government. Methods of
meeting the new quotas out of the already grossly inadequate
rations of the General Government, and the impact of the new
quotas on the economy of the country were discussed at a
Cabinet meeting of the General Government on 18 August 1942
in terms which leave no

                                                  [Page 638]
                                                            
doubt that not only was the proposed requisition far beyond
the resources of the country, but its impact was to be
distributed on a discriminatory basis.

Frank's opening remarks at this meeting defined the scope of
the problem and its solution:

     "Before the German people are to experience starvation,
     the occupied territories and their people shall be
     exposed to starvation. In this moment therefore we here
     in the General Government must also have the iron
     determination to help the Great German people, our
     Fatherland.... The General Government therefore must do
     the-following: The General Government has taken on the
     obligation to send 500,000 tons bread grains to the
     Fatherland in addition to the foodstuffs already being
     delivered for the relief of Germany or consumed here by
     troops of the armed forces, Police or SS. If you
     compare this with our contributions of last year you
     can see that this means a six fold increase over that
     of last year's contribution of the General Government.
     The new demand will be fulfilled exclusively at the
     expense of the foreign population. It must be done cold-
     bloodedly and without pity; *** "

President of the Main Department for Food and Agriculture
Naumann (apparently an official of the General Government)
then described how the reduced quantity of food available
for feeding the population of the General Government should
be distributed:

     "The feeding of a Jewish population, estimated
     heretofore at 1.5 million, drops off to an estimated
     total of 300,000 Jews, who still work for German
     interests as craftsmen or otherwise. For these the
     Jewish rations, including certain special allotments
     which have proved necessary for the maintenance of
     working capacity, will be retained. The other Jews, a
     total of 1.2 million, will no longer be provided with
     foodstuffs.
     
     "Non-German normal consumers will receive, from 1
     January 1943 to 1 March 1943, instead of 4.2 kg. bread
     per month, 2.8 kg; from 1 March 1943 to 30 July 1943
     the total bread ration for these non-German normal
     consumers will be cancelled.

     "Those entitled to be supplied
     [Versorgungsberechtigten] are composed as follows. We
     estimate that 3 million persons come into consideration
     as war workers, the A- and B-card holders and their
     kin, and that somewhat more than 3 million persons are
     non-German normal consumers, who do not work directly
     or indirectly in the interests of Germany. The war
     workers, A- and B-card holders and their families,
     about 3 mil-
     
                                                  [Page 639]
                                                            
     lion persons, will however continue to be supplied, up
     to the harvest of 1943, at the prevailing rates." (2233-
     E-PS)

Naumann goes on to discuss the difficulties that may be
encountered in the process of requisition:

     "The securing of all depots and food processing plants,
     as well as their transport facilities must be assured,
     as otherwise irreplaceable losses result which mean a
     further burdening of the food budget. I have had maps
     made of all districts [Kreise] on which the depots have
     all been drawn in. I request that the necessary
     measures be taken on the part of the police and these
     depots, which are in the eye of the hungering masses,
     above all at times when the restrictions are carried
     out, should be strictly guarded, so that the meager
     supplies which we have until the new harvest should not
     be destroyed by sabotage or arson.... Finally it must
     be determined at the beginning of November whether the
     martial law for the harvest period, which has been
     proclaimed up to 30 November, must be extended to 30
     December. Martial law for the harvest period has been
     extended to all products which are to be seized. The
     planned quota increase and reduction of ration
     quantities must be kept secret under all circumstances
     and may be published only at that time which the Main
     Department for Food and Agriculture considers proper.
     Should the reduction of ration quantities and the
     increase of quotas become known earlier, extremely
     noticeable disturbances in the seizure would take
     place. The mass of the Polish population would then go
     to the land and would become a supplementary competitor
     of our requisitioning agencies." (2233-E-PS)

Frank's concluding remarks summarized the position as
follows:

     "I must point out that some sectors of the
     administration will feel this very keenly. In the first
     place the police will feel this, for it will have to
     deal, if I may say so, with an increased activity of
     the black market and a neglect of food customs. I will
     gladly give the police extraordinary powers so that
     they can overcome these difficulties.
     
     "The economy will feel it. The decrease of work
     rendered will become felt in all sectors, branches and
     regions. I also assume that our transport system will
     feel it too. In view of the worsening living conditions
     an extraordinary hardship
     
                                                  [Page 640]
                                                            
     will set in for railroad workers and other categories;
     as the previous quantities of food were already not
     enough. The monopolies will feel it through a decrease
     of their incomes, as the amounts of potatoes available
     for the production of vodka will be less.
     
     "The Germans in this area shall not feel it. We wish in
     spite of this new plan to see to it that the supplies
     for Germans will be maintained. Also the Wehrmacht and
     other encamped units in this area shall not feel it. We
     hope that it will be possible for us to keep up the
     whole quotas here.
     
     "To help in this necessity there is a corresponding
     measure, namely that the supervision of persons
     traveling from the General Government to the Reich,
     above all of military personnel, in order to see
     whether they are taking food out of the General
     Government, should be suspended. This means that in
     addition to all that which we must now extract from the
     land economically, there must take place a complete
     removal of control over that which is dragged out of
     the land by thousands upon thousands -- doubtless
     illegally and against our government measures." (2233-E-
     PS)
     
The extent of the General Government's food contribution to
the Reich, and its significance in terms of rations within
Germany were described by Frank at a meeting of political
leaders of the NSDAP in December 1942 at Cracow:

     "I will endeavor to get out of the reservoir of this
     territory everything that is yet to be got out of it.
     When you consider that it was possible for me to
     deliver to the Reich 600,000 tons of bread grain, and
     in addition 180,000 tons to the Armed Forces stationed
     here; further an abundance amounting to many thousands
     of tons of other commodities such as seed, fats,
     vegetables, besides the delivery to the Reich of 300
     million eggs, etc. -- you can estimate the significance
     of the consignment from the General Government of
     600,000 tons of bread grain; you are referred to the
     fact that the General Government by this achievement
     alone covers the raising of the bread ration in the
     Greater German Reich by two-thirds during the present
     rationing period. This enormous achievement can
     rightfully be claimed by us." (2233-Z-PS)

(2) Resettlement projects. Although Himmler was given
general authority in connection with the conspirators'
program to resettle various districts in the conquered
Eastern territories with racial Germans, projects relating
to resettling districts in the

                                                  [Page 641]
                                                            
General Government were submitted to and approved by Frank.
On 4 August 1942, for example, the plan to resettle Zamosc
and Lublin was reported to him by State Secretary Krueger:

"State Secretary Krueger then continues, saying that the
Reichsfuehrers next immediate plan until the end of the
following year would be to settle the following German
racial groups in the two districts (Zamosc and Lublin):1000
peasant settlements (1 settlement per family of about 6) for
Bosnian Germans; 1200 other kinds of settlements; 1000
settlements for Bessarabian Germans; 200 for Serbian
Germans; 2000 for Leningrad Germans; 4000 for Baltic
Germans; 500 for Wolhynia Germans; and 200 settlements for
Flemish, Danish and Dutch Germans: in all 10,000 settlements
for 50,000 persons" (2233-T-PS).

Frank directed that:

     "*** the resettlement plan is to be discussed
     cooperatively by the competent authorities and declared
     his willingness to approve the final plan by the end of
     September after satisfactory arrangements had been made
     concerning all the questions appertaining thereto (in
     particular the guaranteeing of peace and order) so that
     by the middle of November, as the most favorable time,
     the resettlement can begin."

The way in which the resettlement at Zamosc was carried out
was described to Frank at a meeting at Warsaw on 25 January
1943 by State Secretary Krueger:

     "When we settled about the first 4000 in Kreis Zamosc
     shortly before Christmas I had an opportunity to speak
     to these people. *** It is understandable that in
     resettling this area . . . we did not make friends of
     the Poles. *** In colonizing this territory with racial
     Germans, we are forced to chase out the Poles. *** We
     are removing those who constitute a burden in this new
     colonization territory. Actually, they are the asocial
     and inferior elements. They are being deported, first
     brought to a concentration camp, and then sent as labor
     to the Reich. From a Polish propaganda standpoint this
     entire first action has had an unfavorable effect. For
     the Poles say: After the Jews have been destroyed then
     they will employ the same -methods to get the Poles out
     of this territory and liquidate them just like the
     Jews." (2233-AA-PS)

Although the illegality of this dispossession of Poles to
make room for German settlers was clear, and although the
fact that the Poles were not only being dispossessed but
taken off to con-

                                                  [Page 642]
                                                            
centration camps was drawn to Frank's attention at this
time, he merely directed that individual cases of
resettlement should in future be discussed in the same
manner as in the case of Zamosc. (2233-AA-PS)

(3) Encroachments and confiscations n the industries and in
the field of private property.

Frank explained his policy in respect to Polish property to
his Department Heads in the following terms in December
1939:

     "Principally it can be said regarding the
     administration of the General Government: This
     territory in its entirety is booty of the German Reich,
     and it thus cannot be permitted that this territory
     shall be exploited in its individual parts but that the
     territory in its entirety shall be economically used
     and its entire economic worth redound to the benefit of
     the German people." (2233-K-PS)

                                                            

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