. NMT04-T0511
Volume IV · Page 511
| would be to dwell on this possible dual
nature, the Tribunal can only make its adjudication on the Ohlendorf who, by
his own word, headed an organization which, according to its own reports,
killed 90,000 people. The Tribunal finds as a fact from the reports, records, documents, and testimony in this case that Einsatzgruppe D did kill 90,000 persons in violation of the laws and customs of war, of general international law, and of Control Council Law No. 10. Whatever offense Ohlendorf may have to answer for, he will never need to plead guilty to evasiveness on the witness stand, which indeed cannot be said of all the defendants. With a forthrightness which one could well wish were in another field of activity, Otto Ohlendorf related how he received the Fuehrer Order and how he executed it. He never denied the facts of the killings and only seeks exculpation on the basis of the legal argument that he was acting under superior orders. Further, that, as he saw the situation, Germany was compelled to attack Russia as a defensive measure and that the security of the army, to which his group was attached, called for the operations which he unhesitatingly admits. All these defenses have been treated in the general opinion and need not be repeated here. In addition to Ohlendorf's direct testimony in this present trial, he voluntarily appeared as a witness in the International Military Tribunal trial and there described under oath the entire Einsatz program of extermination. With but a minor exception, he confirmed in this trial the testimony presented before the IMT. Thus, that testimony, by reference, is incorporated into the record of the instant trial and forms further evidence in support of the findings reached in this judgment. Even outside the courtroom Ohlendorf admitted untrammeledly the activities of the Einsatzgruppe under his charge. In at least four affidavits he related how his command functioned. He told of the area covered by his Einsatzgruppe, the division of his group into smaller units, the manner and methods of execution, the collection of the valuables of the victims, and the writing and submitting of reports to Berlin. The record of Otto Ohlendorf, the chief of department III of the RSHA and the Chief of the Einsatzgruppe D, is complete. The record and analysis of the Otto Ohlendorf who was born in the country and showed great promise in the field of learning, purposeful living, and sociological advancement will need to be made elsewhere. Unfortunately, it cannot form part of this judgment which can only dispose of the charges of criminality presented in the indictment. Those charges against Otto Ohlendorf have been proved before this Tribunal beyond a reasonable doubt. |
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