13 Dec.
45
to reasonable compensation, stated work hours, medical
care and attention, and other social security measures, while the former
were granted none of these advantages, being in fact on a level below a
slave.
Defendant Rosenberg, as Reich Minister for the Eastern Occupied
Territories, set up within his organization a department which, among
other things, was to seek a solution for the Jewish problem by means of
forced labor. His plans are contained in another document, 1024-PS,
which I now offer in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-278.
I quote the first part of Paragraph 3 of Page 1 of the document
entitled, "General Organization and Tasks of Our Office for the
General Handling of Problems in the Eastern Territory." This is
dated 29 April 1941. This brief excerpt reads as follows:
"A general treatment is required for
the Jewish problem for which a temporary solution will have to be
determined (forced labor for the Jews, creation of ghettos, et
cetera)."
Thereafter he
issued instructions that Jewish forced labor should be effected and
utilized for every manual labor; and I refer to Document 212-PS, already
in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-272. From Page 3 of this document,
Paragraph 5 and Paragraph 7, 1 quote Paragraph 5:
"The standing rule for the Jewish
labor employment is the complete and unyielding use of Jewish manpower
regardless of age in the reconstruction of the Eastern Occupied
Territories."
And from
Paragraph 7 of the same page I read:
"Violations of German measures,
especially evasions of the forced labor regulations, are to be
punished by death in the case of the Jews."
From the ghettos Jewish labor was selected and sent to a concentration
area. Here the usable Jews were screened from those considered
worthless. For example, a contingent of 45,000 Jews would be expected to
yield 10,000 to 15,000 usable laborers. My authority for this statement
is contained in a RSHA telegram to Himmler, marked "urgent"
and "secret," dated 16 December 1942.
I offer this document, 1472-PS, in evidence, Exhibit Number USA-279;
and from the translation before the Court I read the last four lines:
"In the total of 45,000 are included
physically handicapped and others (old Jews and children). In making a
distribution for this purpose, at least 10,000 to 15,000 laborers will
be available when the Jews arriving at Auschwitz are assigned."
From Document L-18, a report from the Lieutenant General of the Police,
Katzmann, to General of the Police East, Krüger already