13 Dec.
45
June 1943, an action throughout the whole
of the District of Galicia with the intent to use strongest measures
to destroy the Jewish gangsterdom. Special measures were found
necessary during the action to dissolve the living quarters in Lvov
where the dug-out mentioned above had been established. Here we had to
act brutally from the beginning in order to avoid losses on our side;
we had to blow up or to burn down several houses. On this occasion the
surprising fact arose that we were able to catch about 20,000 Jews
instead of 12,000 Jews who had registered. We had to pull at least
3,000 Jewish corpses out of every kind of hiding place; they had
committed suicide by taking poison."
On Page 20 of this document, the third paragraph I read:
"Despite the extraordinary burden
heaped upon every single SS and Police member during these actions,
the mood and spirit of the men were extraordinarily good and
praiseworthy from the first to the last day."
These acts and actions of removal and slaughter were not entirely
without profit. The author of this report, on the ninth page of this
translated copy stated, and I quote the last paragraph:
"Together with the evacuation action
we executed the confiscation of Jewish property. Very high values were
confiscated and handed over to the Special Staff 'Reinhard.' Apart
from furniture and many textile goods, the following amounts were
confiscated and turned over to Special Staff 'Reinhard.'"
I would like to read a few of the many and assorted items listed under
this confiscation:
"20.952 kilograms of golden wedding
rings; 7 stamp collections, complete; 1 suitcase with pocket knives; 1
basket of fountain pens and propelling pencils; 3 bags filled with
rings — not genuine; 35 wagons of furs."
I will not burden the Court with the detailed lists of objects of value
and of the money confiscated; but the foregoing is cited to illustrate
the thoroughness of the looting of a defenseless people, even to the
11.73 kilograms of gold teeth and inlays.
By the end of 1942 Jews in the Government General of Poland had been
crowded into 55 localities whereas before the German invasion there had
been approximately 1,000 Jewish settlements within this same area. This
is reported in the 1942 official gazette for the Government General,
Number 94, Page 665, 1 November 1942.
The Jews having been registered and confined within the ghettos, they
now furnished a reservoir for slave labor. It is believed pertinent at
this time to point out the difference between the slave labor and labor
duty. The latter group were entitled