20 Dec. 45
treatment". Finally, the entire control of
prisoners of war was turned over to the Reichsführer SS. I have
read in evidence this morning our Document 058-PS which provided for the
direction of all prisoner-of-war camps by Himmler.
The final but vital phase of the conspiracy in which the SS played a
leading role must be mentioned. The permanent colonization of conquered
territories, the destruction of their national existence, and the
permanent extension of the German frontier were fundamental objects of
the conspirators' plans.
The Tribunal received evidence, a day or so ago, of the manner in which
these objectives were carried out through the forcible evacuation and
resettlement of inhabitants of conquered territories, confiscation of
their properties, denationalization and re-education of persons of
German blood, and the colonization of the conquered territories by
Germans.
The SS was the logical agency to formulate and carry out the program. I
have read into the record already the numerous statements made by
Himmler as to SS training to play the role of the aristocracy of the new
Europe. He put those theories into practice when he was appointed, on
October 7, 1939, as Reich Commissioner for the consolidation of German
folkdom. The decree by which he was appointed to that office, our
Document 686-PS, has already been introduced into evidence as Exhibit
Number USA-305. I shall not, therefore, read it.
To make and carry out plans for the program of evacuation and
resettlement, a new department of the SS Supreme Command was created:
Staff Headquarters of the Reich Commissioner for the consolidation of
German nationality. That is indicated on the chart by the fourth box
from the top, on the extreme right-hand side.
The functions of this office are described in the Organization Book
of the NSDAP for 1943, our Document 2640-PS, which has already been
introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-323. I shall read the
description of the functions of that department appearing on Page 3 of
the translation, the last paragraph, and Page 421 of the original. I
quote:
"The main office of the staff of the
Reich Commissioner for the Preservation of German Nationality is
entrusted with the whole settlement and constructive planning, for
inclusion within the Reich of all those territories under the
authority of the Reich, including all administrative and economic
questions in connection with the settlement, especially the
deployment, of manpower for this purpose."
The colonization program had two principal objectives: First, the
destruction of the conquered peoples by exterminating them,