einsatzgruppen




"The Einsatzgruppen Case"

MILITARY TRIBUNAL II

Case No. 9



VI. Authenticity of the Einsatzgruppen Reports

a. Introduction




The case-in-chief of the prosecution consisted entirely of contemporaneous documents with the exception of 48 affidavits, 34 of which were affidavits sworn to by the defendants before the indictment was filed. The principal proof offered by the prosecution in support of counts one and two of the indictment were more than ninety Einsatzgruppen reports. These reports were consolidated reports prepared by a special office of the RSHA in Berlin from the reports of the individual Einsatzgruppen. These top secret reports were distributed to a number of state and Party offices in Germany. Between July 1941 and April 1942 approximately 195 consolidated Einsatzgruppen reports were prepared in Berlin and distributed.

The defense alleged that the consolidated reports contained many inaccuracies and even willful exaggeration concerning the number of exterminated people. The defense also claimed that the author of the reports had no first-hand knowledge of the observations contained therein, that his identity was unknown, and therefore the documents constituted inadmissible hearsay evidence.

Selections from the evidence of the prosecution concerning the authenticity of the reports in describing the form in which they were compiled are set forth in pp. 97 to 102. Objections of the defense against the introduction of Einsatzgruppen reports as documentary evidence and extracts from the closing brief on behalf of the defendant Blobel, the closing statement on behalf of defendant Naumann, and from the testimony of the defendant Nosske follow in pp. 102 to 117.


Trials of War Criminals Before the Nurenberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, Volume IV, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 96

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Electric Zen
Ken Lewis
October 23, 1998
Rev. 1.0