13 Dec.
45
urgent in Kovno because there were 30,000
Jews in a total population of 152,400."
And from the last paragraph on Page 9 continuing to page 10 I quote:
"In Riga the so-called 'Moscow
suburb' was designated as a ghetto. This is the worst dwelling
district of Riga, already now mostly inhabited by Jews. The transfer
of the Jews into the ghetto district proved rather difficult because
the Latvian dwellings in that district had to be evacuated and
residential space in Riga is very crowded. Of the 28,000 Jews living
in Riga 24,000 have been transferred into the ghetto so far. In
creating the ghetto the Security Police restricted themselves to mere
policing duties, while the establishment and administration of the
ghetto as well as the regulation of the food supply for the inmates of
the ghetto was left to civil administration; the Labor Offices were
left in charge of labor allocation. In the other towns with a larger
Jewish population ghettos shall be established likewise."
Jews
were also forced into ghettos in the Polish Province of Galicia. No
words in my vocabulary could describe quite so adequately the conditions
as those contained in the report from Katzmann, Lieutenant General of
Police, to Krüger General of the Police East, dated 3 June 1943,
entitled "Solution of Jewish Question in Galicia." I offer
Document L-18 in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-277. From the
translation, if the Court please, we will begin with the last three
sentences on Page 11, that is, the last three sentences prior to the
word "nothing" which is there on that page: "Nothing but
catastrophical conditions were found in the ghettos of Rawa-Ruska and
Rohatyn."
"The Jews of Rawa-Ruska, fearing the
evacuation, had concealed those who suffered from spotted fever in
underground holes. When evacuation was to start it was found that
3,000 Jews suffering from spotted fever lay about in this ghetto. In
order to destroy this center of pestilence at once, every police
officer inoculated against spotted fever was called into action. Thus
we succeeded in destroying this plague-boil, losing thereby only one
officer. Almost the same conditions were found in Rohatyn."
On Page 19 of this same document, L-18, the last paragraph, I wish to
quote further. THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MAJOR WALSH: "Since we received more and more alarming reports on
the Jews becoming armed in an ever-increasing manner, we started, during
the last fortnight in