12 Dec.
45
the English text starting with the third paragraph. In
the German text it appears at Page 2, Paragraph 3. It says, and I quote
it:
"The activity of the labor offices,
that is, of recruiting commissions, is to be supported to the greatest
extent possible. It will not be possible always to refrain from using
force. During a conference with the chief of the labor allocation
staffs, it was agreed that whatever prisoners could be released should
be put at the disposal of the commissioner of the labor office. When
searching villages or when it becomes necessary to burn down villages,
the whole population will be put at the disposal of the commissioner
by force."
THE PRESIDENT:
Shouldn't you read Number 4 which follows it?
MR. DODD: Number 4 says:
"As a rule, no more children will be
shot."
I might say to Your
Honor that parts of these documents are going to be relied on for other
purposes later and it sometimes may appear to the Tribunal that we are
overlooking some of these excerpts, but nevertheless I am grateful to
have them called to our attention because they are most pertinent to
these allegations as well.
From the community of Zhitomir where the Defendant Sauckel appealed for
more workers for the Reich, the Commissioner General reported on the
brutality of the conspirator's program, which he described as a program
of coercion and slavery. And I now refer to Document Number 265-PS,
which is Exhibit USA-191. This document is a secret report of a
conference between the Commissioner General of Zhitomir and the
Defendant Rosenberg in the community of Vinnitza on the 17th of June
1943. The report itself is dated the 30th of June 1943 and is signed by
Leyser. I wish to quote from Page 1 of the English text, beginning with
the last paragraph; and in the German text it appears at Page 2,
Paragraph 3. Quoting it directly:
"The symptoms created by the
recruiting of workers are, no doubt, well known to the Reich Minister
through reports and his own observations. Therefore I shall not repeat
them. It is certain that a recruitment of labor in the true sense of
the word can hardly be spoken of. In most cases it is nowadays a
matter of actual conscription by force."
Passing now to Page 2 of that same document, and to Paragraph 1, line 11
— in the German text it appears at Page 3, Paragraph 2 — it
says; and I quote it directly:
"But as the Plenipotentiary General
for the Allocation of Labor explained to us the gravity of the
situation, we had