14 Dec.
45
"Before 13 April 1943 this was not
done. Signed, Günther Prison Warden."
This letter was forwarded to the Defendant Rosenberg as Reich Minister
for the Occupied Eastern Territories on 1 June 1943. 1 will read the
covering letter, part of Document R-135, Page 4, to the Reich Minister
of the Occupied Eastern Territories, Berlin, through the Reich
Commissioner for the Ostland, Riga; Subject, "Actions against Jews
in the Prison of Minsk":
"The enclosed official report from
the warden of the prison in Minsk is submitted to the Reich Minister
and the Reich Commissioner for Information." — Signed —
" the General Commissioner in Minsk."
THE PRESIDENT: Does "respective action," as indicated in the
letter dated the 31st of May 1943, mean execution?
MAJOR WALSH: Yes, Sir; we so interpret it. The Court will recall that
the ridding of the Jews via gas vans ties in very closely with the
second letter of the transport of Jews arriving for that purpose.
THE PRESIDENT: Was this document found in Rosenberg's file?
MAJOR WALSH: I am so informed, Sir. A further complaint is contained in
a secret letter addressed to General of the Infantry Thomas, chief of
the industrial armament department, dated 2 December 1941. It might be
noted with interest that the apprehensive writer of this letter stated
that he did not forward the communication through official channels. I
offer in evidence captured Document 3257-PS; and I quote from the first
paragraph. This is Exhibit USA-290:
"For the personal information of the
chief of the industrial armament department, I am forwarding a total
account of the present situation in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine in
which the difficulties and tensions encountered so far and the
problems which give rise to serious anxiety are stated with
unmistakable clarity.
"Intentionally I have desisted from submitting such a report
through official channels or from making it known to other departments
interested in it because I do not expect any results that way, but on
the contrary am apprehensive that the difficulties and tensions and
also the divergent opinions might only be increased due to the
peculiarity of the situation."
"Jewish problem" — Paragraph c, Page 1:
"Regulation of the Jewish question in the Ukraine was a
difficult problem because the Jews constituted a large part of the
urban population. We therefore have to deal — just as in the