. NMT05-T0980
Volume V · Page 980
| The Tribunal is convinced that
the ignorance professed by many of the defendants is the ignorance of
convenience. At the outset of the testimony, the Tribunal realized the necessity of guarding against assuming criminality, or even culpable responsibility, solely from the official titles which the several defendants held. It became apparent that, in conformity with the ancient German passion for high-sounding titles, many purely ministerial officers, performing perfunctory or even menial tasks, were designated by sonorous names which did not necessarily connote substantial power or authority. In some instances minor officers, engaged in purely routine tasks, were designated on the elaborate tables of organization by lengthy and awe-inspiring titles, which upon closer inspection were found to cover nothing more than a few desks in a remote corner. The Tribunal has been especially careful to discover and analyze the actual power and authority of the several defendants, and the manner and extent to which they were exercised, without permitting itself to be unduly impressed by the official designations on letterheads or office doors. |
| OSWALD POHL |
| Prior to 1934, defendant Pohl was chief
disbursing officer of the German Navy. On a visit by Himmler to the naval base
at Kiel in 1934, he met Pohl and persuaded him to sever his connection with the
navy and assume an administrative position with the SS Main Office. Pohl had
been a member of the National Socialist Party since 1926 and of the SA since
1929. At Himmler's insistence he became chief of the administrative department
of the SS Central Office in February 1934. In 1939 that office was organized
into two Main Offices under the names "Main Office Budget and Buildings," and,
"Main Office Administration and Economy." These offices were in complete charge
of all administrative matters affecting the fast growing SS. On 1 February
1942, these two Main Offices were united and renamed, "SS [Economic]
Administrative Main Office," known as, "WVHA," to which was also added the Main
Office of Inspector of Concentration Camps, which became Amtsgruppe D.
For 11 years Pohl was continuously the administrative head of the entire SS organization. His only superior within his field was Himmler. At the beginning of the war he became a member of the "Freundeskreis" or, "Circle of Himmler's Friends," a small select group of intimates who enjoyed Himmler's confidence. As chief of the WVHA he was in absolute control of an organization composed of 5 Amtsgruppen and 28 Aemter, with a personnel at |
