12 Dec.
45
churches, as well as at night in homes,
has shaken the feeling of security of the inhabitants. Every man is
exposed to the danger of being seized suddenly and unexpectedly,
anywhere and at any time, by the police, and brought into an assembly
camp. None of his relatives knows what has happened to him, and only
weeks or months later one or another gives news of his fate by a
postcard."
I wish to turn to
Enclosure 5 on Page 8 of this document, which I quote:
"In November of last year an
inspection of all males of the age-classes born 1910 to 1920 was
ordered in the area of Zaleszczyti (district of Czortkow). After the
men had appeared for inspection, all those who were selected were
arrested at once, loaded into trains, and sent to the Reich. Similar
recruitment of laborers for the Reich also took place in other areas
of this district. Following some interventions, the action was then
stopped."
The resistance of
the Polish people to this enslavement program and the necessity for
increased force were described by the Defendant Sauckel's deputy, one
Timm, at a meeting of the Central Planning Board, which was, by the way,
Hitler's wartime planning agency. It was made up of the Defendant Speer,
Field Marshal Milch, and State Secretary Körner. The Central
Planning Board was the highest level economic planning agency,
exercising production controls by allocating raw materials and labor to
industrial users.
Now, Document R-124, Exhibit USA-179. This document consists of
excerpts from minutes of the meetings of this Central Planning Board and
minutes of conferences between the Defendant Speer and Hitler. Only the
excerpts, of course, from these minutes upon which we rely are being
offered in evidence. I would say to the Tribunal, however, that the
balance of the minutes are available — can be made available —
if the Tribunal so desires.
This deputy of Sauckel, his name being Timm, made a statement at the
36th conference of the Central Planning Board; and it appears on Page
14, Paragraph 2 of the English text of Document R-124, and on Page 10,
Paragraph 2 of the German text: "
Especially in Poland the situation at the
moment is extraordinarily serious. It is known that violent battles
have occurred just because of these actions. The resistance against
the administration established by us is very strong. Quite a number of
our men have been exposed to increased dangers; and just in the last 2
or 3 weeks some of them have been shot dead, for example, the head of
the Labor Office of Warsaw, who was shot in his office 14 days ago,
and yesterday another man again. This is how matters stand at present;
and