. ©MAZAL LIBRARY

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. NUERNBERG MILITARY TRIBUNAL
Volume IV · Page 3
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[Note: There is no Page 2 in this volume.]
 
   
INTRODUCTION
 
The "Einsatzgruppen Case" was officially designated United States of America vs. Otto Ohlendorf, et al. (Case No. 9). This trial has become known as the "Einsatzgruppen Case" because all of the defendants were charged with criminal conduct arising out of their functions as members of the Einsatzgruppen. The German term "Einsatzgruppen" may be roughly translated "Special Task Forces". Four such special units were formed in May 1941 just before the German attack on Russia, at the direction of Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, the Reich Leader SS, and Chief of the German Police.

The units were organized by Reinhardt Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police and SD (Sicherheitsdienst or Security Service) and operated under the direct control of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). The personnel of the Einsatzgruppen came from the SS, the SD, the Gestapo (Secret State Police), and other police units. The prosecution alleged that the primary purpose of the Einsatzgruppen was to accompany the German Army into the occupied East and to exterminate Jews, gypsies, Soviet officials, and other elements of the civilian population regarded as "racially" inferior or "politically undesirable". It was charged that approximately one million human beings were victims of this program.

The Einsatzgruppen Case was tried at the Palace of Justice in Nuernberg before Military Tribunal II-A. The Tribunal convened 78 times, and the trial lasted approximately eight months, as shown by the following schedule: 
 
  Indictment filed  3 July 1947   
  Amended indictment filed  29 July 1947   
  Arraignment  15-22 September 1947   
  Prosecution opening statement  29 September 1947   
  Defense opening statement   6 October 1947   
  Prosecution closing statement  13 February 1948   
  Defense closing statement  4-12 February 1948   
  Judgment  8, 9 April 1948    
  Sentence   10 April 1948   
  Affirmation of sentences by Military Governor of the United States Zone of Occupation  4 and 25 March 1949   
  
The English transcript of the Court proceedings runs to 6,895 mimeographed pages. The prosecution introduced into evidence 253 written exhibits (some of which contained several documents), and the defense 731 written exhibits. The Tribunal heard oral testimony of one prosecution witness (Francois Bayle, Commander, Medical Corps of the French Navy) who was called as a handwriting expert during the prosecution's rebuttal case. The Tribunal heard oral testimony of 18 witnesses, not including the
 
 
   
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