14 Dec.
45
I now turn briefly to the conspirators' program of
spoliation and Germanization in the western occupied countries. Evidence
which will be presented at a later stage of this proceeding will show
how the conspirators sought to germanize the western occupied countries;
how they stripped the conquered countries in the West of food and raw
materials, leaving to them scarcely enough to maintain a bare existence;
how they compelled local industry and agriculture to satisfy the
insatiable wants of the German civilian population and the Wehrmacht;
and finally how the spoliation in the western occupied countries was
aided and abetted by excessive occupation charges, compulsory and
fraudulent clearing arrangements, and confiscation of their gold and
foreign exchange. The evidence concerning these matters which will be
presented in great detail by the Prosecutor for the Republic of France
is so overwhelming that the inference is inescapable that the
conspirators' acts were committed according to plan.
However, it will not be until after the Christmas recess that the
evidence concerning the execution of the conspirators' plans in the West
will be presented to this Tribunal. Accordingly, by way of illustration,
and for the purpose of showing in this presentation that the
conspirators' plans embraced the occupied Western countries as well as
the East, we now offer in evidence a single exhibit on this aspect of
the case, R-114, which is Exhibit Number USA-314. This document was
obtained from the U.S. Counter-Intelligence branch. This exhibit
consists of a memorandum dated 7 August 1942 and a memorandum dated 29
August 1942 from Himmler's personal files. The former memorandum deals
with a conference of SS officers and bears the title, "Directions
for the Treatment of Deported Alsatians." The latter memorandum is
marked secret and is entitled, "Shifting of Alsatians into the
Reich." The memoranda comprising this exhibit show that plans were
made and partially executed to remove all elements from Alsace which
were hostile to the conspirators and to germanize the province. I quote
from Page 1, lines 21 to 31, of the English text entitled, "Directions
for the Treatment of Deported Alsatians." These extracts contained
in the German text at Page 1, the last 8 lines, and Page 2, lines 1 to
5. I now quote:
"The first expulsion action was
carried out in Alsace in the period from July to December 1940; in the
course of it 105,000 persons were either expelled or prevented from
returning. They were in the main Jews, gypsies and other foreign
racial elements, criminals, asocial and incurably insane persons, and
in addition Frenchmen and Francophiles. The patois-speaking population
was combed out by this series of deportations in the same way as the
other Alsatians.