13 Dec.
45
This, if the Tribunal please, is not the planning and
scheming of an individual, but is the expression of the official of the
German State, the appointed Governor General of occupied Poland. The
methods used to accomplish the annihilation of the Jewish people were
varied and, although not subtle, were highly successful.
I have from time to time made reference to certain utterances and
actions of the Defendant Rosenberg as one of the leaders and policy
makers of the Nazi Party and German State. It is perhaps reasonable to
assume that the Defendant Rosenberg will claim for many of his actions
that he pursued them pursuant to superior orders. I have before me,
however, a captured document, Number 001-PS, marked "secret,"
dated 18 December 1941, entitled "Documentary Memorandum for the Führer
— Concerning Jewish Possessions in France," Exhibit Number
USA-282. I dare say that no document before this Tribunal will more
clearly evidence the Defendant Rosenberg's personal attitude, his
temperament, and convictions toward the Jews more strongly than this
memorandum, wherein he, in his own initiative, urges plundering and
death. I offer in evidence Document Number 001-PS. The body of the
memorandum reads as follows:
"In compliance with the order of the
Führer for protection of Jewish cultural possessions, a great
number of Jewish dwellings remained unguarded. Consequently, many
furnishings have disappeared because a guard could, naturally, not be
posted. In the whole East the administration has found terrible
conditions of living quarters, and the chances of procurement are so
limited that it is not possible to procure any more. Therefore, I beg
the Führer to permit the seizure of all Jewish home furnishings
of Jews in Paris who have fled or will leave shortly and those of Jews
living in all parts of the occupied West to relieve the shortage of
furnishings in the administration in the East.
"2. A great number of leading Jews were, after a short
examination in Paris, again released. The attempts on the lives of
members of the Forces have not stopped; on the contrary they continue.
This reveals an unmistakable plan to disrupt the German-French
co-operation, to force Germany to retaliate and, with this, evoke a
new defense on the part of the French against Germany. I suggest to
the Führer that, instead of executing 100 Frenchmen, we shoot in
their place 100 Jewish bankers, lawyers, et cetera. It is the Jews in
London and New York who incite the French Communists to commit acts of
violence, and it seems only fair that the members of this race should
pay for this. It is not the little Jews but the leading Jews in France
who should be held