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Volume IV · Page 516
| claim that he is responsible for executions
committed by Einsatzgruppe B in the month of November. One report, dated 19
December 1941, described various actions which resulted in the liquidation of
several thousands of people. Another report carrying the date of 22 December
1941 told of the execution of 324 Jewish prisoners of war and 680 civilian
Jews. Naumann contends that he cannot be held accountable for these executions, since the reports were published four to five weeks following the events described therein. This would date the indicated events as having occurred about the middle of November and, consequently, prior to the date he claims he took over the Einsatzgruppe command. It has not established as a fact that the operational and situation reports always appeared four to five weeks subsequent to the chronicled events. It was testified during the trial that this period of delay fluctuated and that sometimes the reports were published within two weeks after the happening of the events. However, this discussion is more interesting than practical. Even if Naumann were to prove irrefutably and conclusively that the reports were delayed and that he did not arrive in Smolensk until 30 November this would still not exonerate him from the charges under counts one and two, for there is existing the Operational Report of 21 April 1942, covering operations from 6 March to 30 March, a period during which indubitably Naumann commanded the area under consideration. This report shows, inter alia, that the Einsatzkommando 9 killed 273 persons made up of 85 Russians "belonging to partisan groups", 18 "because of Communistic, seditious acts, and criminal offenses" and 170 Jews. Sonderkommando 7a executed 1,657 persons, 27 of whom were partisans and former Communists, 45 were gypsies, and 1,585 were Jews. The same report shows that Einsatzkommando 8 killed 1,609 persons made up of 20 Russian Communists, 5 criminals, 33 gypsies, and 1,551 Jews. Defense counsel meets this report with the argument that the report was not "derived from the actual observation of the author of the document". This indeed is equivocation. The operational report was made up from accounts sent in by Einsatzgruppe B, accounts controlled by Naumann himself. In his affidavit of 27 June 1947, Naumann declared — |
"The Einsatzgruppe B reported regularly on the events within its scope to the Reich Main Security Office. Written reports were sent to Berlin every three weeks and only small matters such as changes of location, transfers, and the like were transmitted by radio. The reports were prepared by my staff and submitted to me as a matter of routine." |
