. NMT04-T0365
Volume IV · Page 365
| When he was told of his duties,
on the spot his predecessor told him, in Bryansk, of the Fuehrer Order which
had been issued "for security", as he was told. Ott did not understand that
defenseless women and children and the aged were to be shot "for security", but
his chief also acknowledged to him that the Supreme War Commander had ordered
this. With the sound instinct of a plain man, Ott led his Kommando like a military police unit to secure the rear and the lines of communication of the most advanced troops. Because Ott saw the duties of his Kommando exclusively from the viewpoint of military necessity, he was brought back to Russia by General Schmidt, the commander in chief of the 2d Panzer Army, after he had already been transferred back to his job at home. (Tr. p. 3714.) Sonderkommando 7b only killed proved partisans under his leadership. And approximately 20 Jews were also members of partisan groups. Their execution was permitted by the rules of warfare and did not have to be based on the Fuehrer Order. The limits of the security of his own combat troops necessitated by the war were not overstepped. Naturally, he could not deny the fact towards the leaders of this subkommando that the Fuehrer Order remained formally in effect (Tr. pp. 3752-53), but in practice the Fuehrer Order no longer had any meaning in his territory while Ott was in command of the Kommando. (Tr. p. 3782.) The territory of the army could be considered as free of Jews since long before (Steimle 21, Steimle Ex. 20; Steimle 34, Steimle Ex. 33; Steimle 39, Steimle Ex. 38), and the security tasks had to be carried out where the danger threatened, that is, in the territory of the partisans and against them. The security police functions of Ott and his Kommando were exhausted in the defense against the partisans and their sabotage activities. |
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| TRANSLATION OF OHLENDORF DOCUMENT 39 OHLENDORF DEFENSE EXHIBIT 2 |
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| EXTRACT FROM J.
STALIN, "ON THE GREAT NATIONAL WAR OF THE SOVIET UNION", RADIO SPEECH ON 3 JULY 1941 |
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| In the areas occupied by the enemy, cavalry and infantry partisan detachments must be formed and diversion groups created for fighting the units of the enemy army, for kindling partisan warfare everywhere and every place, for blowing up bridges and highways, for destroying telephone and telegraph | |
