Attorney General: The following document is our No. 1108.
This is a letter sent from the central sorting office in
Vienna on 6 September 1943. Its contents – a summary of a
letter in Hebrew of the Jewish underground in which there is
an account of the extermination in Poland and means of
rescue. The letter was intercepted by the German censorship
and it appears in a German translation on the censorship
form. The sender was S. Mandelblatt, from Turkey who wrote
the letter to Dr. Pozner in Geneva, Switzerland.
Presiding Judge: This will be T/264.
Attorney General: Perhaps the Court would permit me to read
some extracts from this letter?
Judge Halevi: Where is this from? Is this a letter of the
Jews from Bendsburg?
Attorney General: This is from Bedzin. Here the connection
between the Jewish underground and other countries emerges.
Dr. Pozner was the Jewish Agency’s representative. They were
bringing to the attention of the world that “they had
established a network of agricultural training centres and
strong youth movements, much stronger and better than in
normal times. To our regret all possibility of regular work
was stopped a year and a half ago. After the period when the
ghettos were set up, the planned extermination began. It
commenced in the Warthegau, the districts of Lodz and Posen.
About 80,000 Jews were destroyed here by gas (officially
this was called Aussiedlung). In Lodz alone, a small and
hermetically sealed group of about 40,000 Jews has remained,
who will surely die of starvation and tuberculosis. At the
moment we do not have any news from this area. The place of
extermination is called Chelmno. In Lithuania they are
carrying out the extermination of Jews by shooting, at
Ponary; a total of 20,000 Jews are left in Vilna, Kovno and
Shavli. For some months we have had no news from there
also.”
Presiding Judge: This was the letter written in Hebrew?
Attorney General: This was the letter written in Hebrew,
translated into German and brought to the attention of the
censorship.
Presiding Judge: Despite that, some Hebrew words were
retained here, with a German glossary.
Attorney General: That is correct.
Presiding Judge: What was the reason?
Attorney General: We can only guess the reason, but I do not
know why. Either the German censorship did not know the
meaning of these words, or it wanted to bring the original
expression to the attention of those in charge. At the end
of the letter is says: “F.d.R.d.A.” (“fuer die Richtigkeit
der Ausfertigung” – (for the correctness of the rendering”),
signed Gross, Oberstlieutenant (Lieutenant Colonel) and Head
of Service.
Attached is a translation of the Hebrew terms “Als Anlage
eine Uebersetzung der Hebraeischen Ausdruecke.”
Judge Halevi: Was this intended for the censorship? Was
this an internal German matter?
Attorney General: Yes. The writer says that probably the
area is already clean of Jews.
“We made plans to resist, to our regret without
success. In the so-called “Government” (Warsaw, Lublin,
Czenstochau, Cracow and the surroundings) there are,
today, no more Jews. The extermination was carried out
by gas at Bremblinki near Malkinia. This is a well-
known place of extermination, not only for the Jews of
Poland, but also for the Jews of Holland, Belgium and
so on…The finest chapter of the struggle was in
Warsaw. We organized the defence (Zivia and Josef K.
with the children). In the ghetto terrible battles took
place. A pity that only several hundreds of our enemy
(about 800) fell. The outcome was the destruction of
all the Jews and the destruction of the ghetto. In the
Government not a single Jewish settlement exists except
for the three forced labour camps Trawniki, Poniatowa
near Warsaw and Prokochin near Crakow) with a total of
35,000 persons. Within a few weeks there will not be a
trace of these either. In Warsaw there have remained –
illegally amongst the non-Jews on the Aryan side –
several thousand Jews, amongst them Zivia, Yitzhak,
Geller, only one of the Yaari family (here follows a
list of names). Ukraine and Polesie are bereft of Jews.
In Bialystok there have remained about 20,000 Jews,
relatively under better conditions. In the district of
Lublin, the murder was carried out by means of gassing
in Belzec and Sobibor. The last Jewish community which
had been living under relatively good conditions was in
Eastern Upper Silesia. About three weeks ago 7,000 Jews
were removed from where they were and exterminated in
Oszwiecin (Auschwitz). They were put to death there by
shooting and incineration. In the next few weeks this
area too will be left without Jews. By the time you
receive this letter, none of us will still be alive.
Out of all the passports we received via Switzerland,
only a small number of people were imprisoned – none of
us was amongst them.”
And finally:
“Our hopes of meeting our homeland will not be
realized, to our regret. We are writing these lines in
great haste, since our messenger has no time. We no
longer have the energy and the patience to write to you
about everything which should be very important to do
and, indeed, would be our own wish…with this the
signatories acknowledge the receipt of 50,000
Reichsmarks.”
Amongst those signing is Frumka Plotnicka who was mentioned
in this morning’s evidence.
Judge Halevi: This letter, which comes from a German
source, was found after the War?
Attorney General: It passed through Germany. It went from
Turkey to Switzerland, passed through Germany, and the
German censorship seized it, and one may assume that it did
not forward it to its destination. At all events it made a
report about it internally, and in this way the letter has
been left to us.
Judge Halevi: That means the letter was discovered?
Attorney General: The letter was discovered amongst German
documents.
Judge Halevi: And it did not reach its destination?
Attorney General: According to our information it did not
reach its destination.
Presiding Judge: Perhaps this can be ascertained from Dr.
Pozner.
Attorney General: The next document is our No.1534. This
time they sent a translation of a Hebrew letter which was
intercepted, to SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann.
Presiding Judge: T/265.
Attorney General: The subject of the letter: The smuggling
of Jews from Poland to Rumania. This was evidently
Eichmann’s concern, for they bring to his attention the
translation of a Hebrew letter sent from Rumania to Dr.
Silberschein in Geneva. Again there is reference to the fact
that they managed to establish contact with their comrades
in Lvov, where 7,000 were Jews imprisoned. They mention the
names of the youth movements – Gordonia and Maccabi. There
is reference to underground activities, to executions.
Killinger of Bucharest writes the letter. He advises that he
has already taken steps against means of smuggling, and in
this matter he is collaborating with SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
Richter. Richter was Eichmann’s representative in Bucharest.
Judge Halevi: In connection with the previous letter, who
was Mandelblatt?
Attorney General: To the best of our knowledge, Mandelblatt
was the liaison who used to collect information in Turkey
and pass it on through various channels.
Judge Halevi: It follows from this that Mandelblatt
received the original letter from the area of Nazi
occupation and passed it on for further information. But it
is now clear that Mandelblatt had already received it from
the occupied area. Accordingly it is not important whether
it reached Geneva or not. The important thing is that it
reached Istanbul.
Attorney General: Yes, it reached Turkey.
The next document is our No. 1498. This is a notification
sent out by Department IVB4. The signature cannot be
identified exactly, it is apparently that of Mueller. The
date is 17 September 1942. But the content is important. The
Department informs the Chief of the Personal Staff of the
Reichfuehrer SS in Berlin concerning the solution of the
Jewish question in the Generalgouvernement, that “further to
our telephonic intimation regarding the evacuation of the
Jews presently employed as labourers in the Beskiden oil
company, I have given orders to instruct the commander of
the security police and the SD in Cracow to put into effect
the evacuation of these Jews only to such an extent that it
will be possible to find manpower to replace them.” We
attach importance to this document, which amongst other
things proves that instructions for evacuating or leaving
persons in the area of the Generalgouvernement came from
Department IVB4.
Presiding Judge: Who signed it?
Attorney General: Apparently Mueller, but as we shall prove
to the Court, this is not of decisive significance. The
question is: The signature is according to the addressee –
SS Obergruppenfuehrer – General of the Waffen SS Wolff,
Mueller had to sign. But the original document shows where
it was drawn up, and this is the Department which drafted it
and wrote it and placed it before Mueller for his signature,
as the Court has already heard from the Accused’s statement
and as will still be explained to us in the course of the
trial.
Presiding Judge: This will be T/266.
Attorney General: The following document deals with
Eichmann’s instructions concerning Jews possessing a foreign
nationality, our No. 940. Eichmann writes on 18 February
1942 to the German Foreign Ministry:” Re – Treatment of Jews
Possessing Foreign Nationality.” “As we have come to know,
there are still living in the Warsaw Ghetto various Jews
possessing foreign nationality. The order issued by the
officer in charge of the Jewish residential area in Warsaw,
which was addressed to them, to leave and take up residence
outside it in the city region of Warsaw, has been complied
with by only a few so far. Special circumstances render
essential the severest isolation of the residents of the
ghetto from the rest of the population. Accordingly the
question now arises how, in this respect, to deal with the
Jews having foreign nationality. Before I myself take
additional steps in this matter, I shall be glad to receive
your observations in the matter. At the same time the
following arrangement seems to me the most desirable from
the point of view of the Security Police: Jews possessing
neutral nationality should be dealt with from now on exactly
as Jews possessing the nationality of an enemy country, and
Jews possessing the nationality of a country which is an
ally of the German Reich – exactly as Jews who previously
held Polish nationality.”
Presiding Judge: T/267.
Attorney General: The concluding part: “I shall be
especially grateful for an early advice of your decision, in
view of the fact that the necessary steps must be taken
immediately.”
Judge Halevi: What was the fate of Jews of enemy countries?
Does he distinguish here between two categories?
Attorney General: We shall see this presently. There is a
whole literature on all this treatment, an entire
correspondence. The Accused was requested to comment on this
document on pages 3118-3129. A continuation of the
discussion on foreign nationals in the Warsaw Ghetto can be
found in our document No. 941. This is an internal minute of
the German Foreign Ministry which states as follows:
“In a discussion concerning the treatment of Jews
possessing foreign nationality (neutrals) who perhaps
are still to be found in the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw,
SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann as representative of
the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, asked us
to take note of the following state of affairs: At the
beginning of January 1942, approximately, Jews who were
nationals of one of the foreign countries (neutrals)
were ordered by means of notices to depart from the
ghetto and to cross over to reside in another zone of
the City of Warsaw.”
The next extract:
“Because of the large number of residents (roughly
500,000) it is very difficult or almost impossible to
determine whether Jews who possess nationality of
foreign countries (neutrals) are still today hiding in
the Warsaw Ghetto. Jews possessing the nationality of
foreign countries who have not so far made use of the
right to transfer from the ghetto, will accordingly be
included in future in the police and security measures
carried out for the defence and security and public
order, for example for the prevention of disease in the
Warsaw Ghetto.”
The date is 21 April 1942. We know today what were those
police and security measures that were carried out in the
interests of security and public order in the Warsaw Ghetto
in those days.
Presiding Judge: Mr. Hausner, despite the great importance
of this letter, I see that we are gradually returning to the
former situation of readings from the documents.
Attorney General: Yes, Your Honour. I would permit myself
to point out further that at the end of the letter Eichmann
wanted a declaration of agreement on the part of the Foreign
Minister regarding the purge operations of the Warsaw
Ghetto.
Presiding Judge: On what page?
Attorney General: On page 2 of the original. The Court will
find the Accused’s response on pages 3124-3129 of this
document. The Court will also obtain proof from the
statement that Eichmann was in the Warsaw Ghetto. He does
not deny it.
An additional order regarding foreign nationals, including
Warsaw, is in our document No. 942. I draw the Court’s
attention especially to this document.
Presiding Judge: This will be T/269.
Are these two letters?
Attorney General: Here we have internal memoranda.
Rademacher writes that the instructions must be formulated
because once Eichmann has signed the memoranda, the Foreign
Ministry would no longer be able to insert any amendments,
consequently they had to check the order before they got
Eichmann to sign.
Presiding Judge: What does this mean?
Attorney General: We are talking of orders. Eichmann himself
turns to the Foreign Ministry and says:
“Let us come to an arrangement concerning the foreign
nationals.” In Berlin discussions take place in the
Foreign Ministry, and they say: “We must adopt a stand
on these questions since this relates to foreign
countries, and let us do this speedily, for once
Eichmann publishes this order, the matter will be
finished and we shall not be able to intervene any
more.”
Presiding Judge: Was D3 the Foreign Ministry?
Attorney General: Yes. This was Rademacher. But not only
that – Rademacher requests that Eichmann should sign the
memorandum so that he should be bound by it. The Accused’s
response to the document is on pages 3129-3134 of the
statement.
A continuation of this matter of the Jews who were foreign
nationals appears in our document No. 1086.
Presiding Judge: This will be T/270.
Attorney General: The Foreign Ministry stipulates that in
regard to the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, relying on the
conversation with Eichmann, they presume that the ghetto has
already been purged of Jews possessing foreign nationality,
and that the necessary police and security measures in
regard to the ghetto could be extended to all residents of
the ghetto, that is to say it was possible to destroy the
last of the survivors.
Presiding Judge: Have we reached, with this, the end of some
chapter or subchapter?
Attorney General: Concerning the foreign nationals I would
like to submit one further document, and that is our
document No. 9. This was already 8 February 1943 – a draft
was prepared by Eichmann dealing with the question of the
treatment of Jews possessing foreign nationality in all
areas of German rule. The draft was sent to a number of
departments and branches for the sake of securing their
opinion.
The Court should please take note of the countries to whose
nationals reference was made, matters of property,
designating the Jews, appointment of trustees of property,
the deportation, the directives for the technical
implementation of the deportations to the East. And Eichmann
adds: “I reserve to myself the right to issue further
šinstructions at the appropriate time.” (“Weitere
Anweisungen zur gegebenen Zeit behalte ich mir vor.”)
Presiding Judge: Where does this appear?
Attorney General: It is at the end of the letter. That is
the end of this chapter.
Dr. Servatius: Where does it say so? This has been signed
by Mueller. I also do not find the original. And it says
there “i.V. in Vertretung” (on behalf of) and not “i. A. im
Auftrag” (per pro).
Presiding Judge: Does it bear a signature at all?
Attorney General: No.
Presiding Judge: Does the Accused mention this in his
statement?
Attorney General: To the best of my knowledge, no.
But the draft bears the mark IVB4b and above it says
Obersturmfuehrer Eichmann, Regierungsrat Hunsche. This was
passed on to the Foreign Ministry and bears the stamp of the
Foreign Ministry and was received there. And this was a
proposal for an overall final solution of the problems of
the Jews possessing foreign nationality in the Protectorate,
in the Generalgouvernement and the occupation area in the
West and the East.
Presiding Judge: It is not signed? This is a draft?
Attorney General: It reached the Foreign Ministry. But I do
not have a signature here.
Dr. Servatius: Your Honour, President of the Court – But in
three places it says “i.V.” (On behalf of…) while it
should have been “i.A.” (per pro), so that it should have
been signed by Mueller.
Presiding Judge: Perhaps written by Mueller and signed by
Eichmann? Would that be correct?
Dr. Servatius: No. The letter was from the Chief of the
Security Police and the SD and there Mueller, as head of the
branch, could sign only “i.V.” whereas Eichmann could sign
only “i.A.”
Attorney General: But documents signed by Eichmann were also
issued on paper on which was written “Chief of the Security
Police and the SD.” Whether he signed “i.V.” or “i.A. we
shall still elucidate. At any rate we maintain that this
letter went out from his Department and bore his name.
Presiding Judge: If this is a matter of controversy, we
shall still have an opportunity of clarifying it.
Judge Halevi: I should like to receive an explanation: how
do you, Dr. Servatius, account for the fact that at the head
of the letter it says “Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann, and
Regierungsrat Hunsche” – two names?
Dr. Servatius: I, too, will have to clarify this.
Presiding Judge: This will be T/271.
Attorney General: Our document No. 1584 is very short. The
Foreign Ministry brings to the notice of Eichmann the
circulation of atrocity stories about the Warsaw Ghetto, by
Jews of Switzerland.
Presiding Judge: his will be T/272.
We shall adjourn now. The Session will be resumed tomorrow
morning at 9 o’clock.
Last-Modified: 1999/05/31
