14 Dec.
45
farther east for work. Explanations of
this sort were given by SS men who assisted at the unloading of the
transports, and further explanations could be read in notices stuck up
on the walls of the barracks. But later, when more transports had to
be dealt with, the Germans dropped all pretenses and only tried to
accelerate the procedure.
"All victims had to strip off their clothes and shoes, which
were collected afterwards, whereupon all victims, women and children
first, were driven into the death chambers. Those too slow or too weak
to move quickly were driven in by rifle butts, by whipping and
kicking, often by Sauer himself. Many slipped and fell; the next
victims pressed forward and stumbled over them. Small children were
simply thrown inside. After being filled up to capacity, the chambers
were hermetically closed and steam was let in. In a few minutes all
was over. The Jewish menial workers had to remove the bodies from the
platform and to bury them in mass graves. By and by, as new transports
arrived, the cemetery grew, extending in an easternly direction.
"From reports received it may be assumed that several hundred
thousands of Jews have been exterminated in Treblinka."
I now offer in evidence the document identified by Number L-22, Exhibit
USA-294. This is an official United States Government report issued by
the Executive Office of the President of the United States, War Refugee
Board, on the German camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau, dated 1944. On
Page 33 of this report is set forth the number of Jews gassed in
Birkenau in the 2-year period between April 1942 and April 1944. I have
been assured that the figure printed in this report is not a
typographical error. The number shown is 1,765,000.
I would now like to turn to the German bookkeeping and statistics for
enlightenment on the extermination of Jews in Poland. Referring again to
the diary of Hans Frank already in evidence, Document 2233-PS, Exhibit
USA-281, I read briefly from the beginning of the fourth paragraph on
Page 1:
"For us the Jews also represent
extraordinarily malignant gluttons.
"We have now approximately 2,500,000 of them in the Government
General ..."
THE PRESIDENT:
Major Walsh, you have read this already yourself.
MAJOR WALSH: Yes, Sir, that is true. I just want to make reference to
it again, Sir, for comparison with other figures.