. NMT04-T0817
Volume IV · Page 817
| B. Forced Evacuation and Resettlement |
| I. INTRODUCTION |
| The defendants Greifelt, Creutz,
Meyer-Hetling, Schwarzenberger, Huebner, Lorenz, Brueckner, Hofmann,
Hildebrandt, and Schwalm were charged with special responsibility for and
participation in criminal conduct involving forced evacuation and resettlement
of populations of occupied countries (indictment, count one, par. 16; count
two, pars. 24 and 25). On this charge the defendants Greifelt, Creutz,
Huebner, Lorenz, Brueckner, Hofmann, Hildebrandt, and Schwalm were convicted,
and the defendants Meyer-Hetling and Schwarzenberger were acquitted.
The evidence and the arguments of the prosecution and defense have been divided into the following subsections: resettlement of ethnic Germans (pp. 816 to 850) ; cooperation of the Office for Repatriation of Ethnic Germans (VoMi) with Einsatzgruppen (pp. 850 to 854); forced evacuation from Poland (pp. 854 to 891); deportation and forced Germanization of Slovenes (pp. 891 to 910); forced evacuation from Alsace-Lorraine and Luxembourg (pp. 910 to 936). These sections are followed by some general aspects of forced evacuation and the resettlement program (pp. 936 to 954). |
| 2. RESETTLEMENT OF ETHNIC GERMANS |
| a. Introduction |
| The argument of the prosecution concerning
the resettlement of ethnic Germans is to be found in the prosecution's opening
statement in pp. 622 to 694. On 24 November 1947, the prosecution made a
statement in open court that defendants were not charged with criminal conduct
in connection with the resettlement of ethnic Germans resulting from valid
international treaties or agreements. The prosecution further declared that the
evidence it presented on the evacuation of ethnic Germans should be considered
immaterial "provided that this evacuation of ethnic Germans from their native
countries was carried out as a result of a valid treaty or agreement between
the German Government and the foreign government" (Tr. p. 1418).
A selection from the arguments of the defense was taken from the final pleas for the defendants Lorenz and Schwalm, which appear on pp. 824 to 828. This is followed by a selection of the evidence of the prosecution on pp. 850 to 852, and evidence of the defense concerning various aspects of the resettlement program on pages 829 to 850. |
