19 Dec. 45
shown in Document Number 3221-PS, Exhibit Number
USA-422; and that is an original affidavit made in the State of
Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, by William F. Sollman,
which we now quote in its entirety:
"William F. Sollman, Pendle Hill
School, Wallingford, Pennsylvania, being duly sworn according to law,
deposes and says: From 1919 until 1933 1 was a Social Democrat and a
member of the German Reichstag. Prior to March 11th, 1933, 1 was
editor-in-chief of a chain of daily newspapers with my office in
Cologne, Germany, which led the fight against the Nazi Party.
"On March 9th, 1933, members of the SS and SA came to my home in
Cologne and destroyed the furniture and my personal records. At that
time I was taken to the Brown House in Cologne, where I was tortured,
being beaten and kicked for several hours. I was then taken to the
regular government prison in Cologne, where I was treated by two
medical doctors and released the next day. On March 11th, 1933, 1 left
Germany. (Signed and sworn to)."
Prior to the organization of the Gestapo on a national scale, local SA
meeting-places were designated as arrest points; and the SA members were
employed in the taking into custody of Communists and other persons who
were actually or supposedly hostile to the Nazi Party. This activity is
described in Document Number 1759-PS, Exhibit Number USA-420, which is
an original affidavit made by Raymond H. Geist. Mr. Geist was formerly
United States Consul in Berlin. He is now in Mexico City. I should like
to quote from a portion of his affidavit, the first being on Page 5 of
the English translation, about the middle of the page, starting:
"At the beginning of the Hitler
regime, the only organization which had meeting-places throughout the
country was the SA (Storm Trooper). Until the Gestapo could be
organized on a national scale, the thousands of local SA
meeting-places became the arrest points. There were at least 50 of
these in Berlin. Communists, Jews, and other known enemies of the Nazi
Party were taken to these points, and if they were enemies of
sufficient importance they were immediately transferred to the Gestapo
headquarters. During 1933 and 1934, when the Gestapo became
universally organized, the SA were gradually eliminated as arresting
agents, and the SS were incorporated as administrative and executive
officials into the Gestapo. By the end of 1934, the SA had been fairly
well eliminated and the SS, the members of which wore elegant black
suits and were therefore called Elite Guards, became almost identical
as functionaries with the Gestapo."