13 Dec.
45
Next, after the name "Junker":
"Charge: . . . because as a relative
of a deserter he is expected to endanger the interests of the Greater
German Reich if allowed to go free; place of confinement —
Sachsenhausen."
"Jaeger"
is the next name and the charge against Jaeger, quoting:
" . . . because as a relative of a
deserter he is expected to take advantage of every occasion to harm
the Greater German Reich if allowed to go free; place of confinement —
Sachsenhausen."
And down to
the name "Ludwig" and the charge against Ludwig:
". . . for being strongly suspected
of aiding desertion; place of confinement — Dachau."
Not only civilians of the occupied countries but also prisoners of war
were subjected to the horrors and the brutality of the concentration
camps; and we refer to Document Number 1165-PS, which bears Exhibit
Number USA-244. This document is a memorandum to all officers of the
State Police signed by Müller, the Chief of the Gestapo, dated the
9th of November 1941. The memorandum has the revealing title of —
and I quote — " Transportation of Russian Prisoners of War,
destined for Execution, into the Concentration Camps."
I wish to quote also from the body of this memorandum, which is found
on Page 2 of the English translation, and I quote directly:
"The commandants of the concentration
camps are complaining that 5 to 10 percent of the Soviet Russians
destined for execution are arriving in the camps dead or half dead.
Therefore the impression has arisen that the Stalags are getting rid
of such prisoners in this way.
"It was particularly noted that when marching, for example, from
the railroad station to the camp a rather large number of PW's
collapsed on the way from exhaustion, either dead or half dead, and
had to be picked up by a truck following the convoy.
"It cannot be prevented that the German people take notice of
these occurrences.
"Even if the transportation to the camps is generally taken care
of by the Wehrmacht, the population will attribute this situation to
the SS.
"In order to prevent, if possible, similar occurrences in the
future, I therefore order that, effective from today on, Soviet
Russians declared definitely suspect and obviously marked by death
(for example with hunger-typhus) and therefore not able to withstand
the exertions of even a short march on foot shall in the future, as a
matter of basic principle, be excluded