. NMT05-T0763
Volume V · Page 763
| me, but not clear in
the sense that they would be worked to death, or killed there. Q. You did not know that the death rate was abnormal or alarmingly high in the concentration camps? A. I never formed any figures on the number of people killed there. Q. No. That is not an answer to my question. You did not know that the death rate in concentration camps prior to October 1943 was alarmingly high, abnormally high? A. No. Q. Were any of the other defendants in the dock at the speech at Poznan, so far as you know? A. I don't believe so. Q. You know that Pohl was there? You heard him say that? A. Yes, Pohl, yes, of course, that is quite clear. Of course I expected Pohl to be there. |
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| G. Membership in a Criminal Organization, the SS | |
| I. INTRODUCTION | |
| All the defendants except the defendant Hohberg were charged with membership after 1 September 1939, in the SS, an organization of the Nazi Party declared to be criminal by the International Military Tribunal and by Control Council Law No. 10 (par. 26 of the indictment). The principal issues arising from this charge, such as voluntary or involuntary membership and the extent of knowledge of the criminal character of the SS, were generally similar to those arising from like charges in other cases. The material reproduced in this section, appears on pages 764 to 785, and contains extracts from the testimony of only three witnesses: the defendant Vogt, who was acquitted under this charge even though a member of the SS; the defense witness Karl Wolff, a former SS general; and Helmut Bickel, a former concentration camp inmate. SS General Wolff held a number of important positions in the SS, including Adjutant and Chief of the Personal Staff of Himmler (1933-1939), Liaison Officer for the Waffen SS to Hitler (1939-1943) and Higher SS and Police Leader in Italy (after September 1943) | |
| Testimony | Page |
| Extract from testimony of defendant Vogt | 757 |
| Extracts from testimony of defense witness SS General Karl Wolff | 768 |
| Extract from testimony of defense witness Bickel | 784 |
