. NMT05-T0933
Volume V · Page 933
| prosecution as a trial tactical means. The
WVHA consisted of three heterogenous parts which had nothing to do with each
other. First, the WVHA as ministerial level for all matters of the
administration for troops, with the office groups A, B, and C, corresponding to
the army administrative department. Secondly, the economic enterprises which
were under my personal supervision which, according to their legal basis, were
not SS industries but industries of the Reich. They were contained in [office]
group W. Third, the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps, which after 3 March
1942 came under my personal, although temporary, supervision, the Staff
Gluecks, which was office group D. For practical reasons I gave the WVHA that external appearance which is customary for ministerial offices without consideration whether that corresponded to the nature of its individual sections. Thus, for the entirety of the economic enterprises I chose the fiscal description of Amtsgruppe or, for its chiefs, Amt chiefs, although these official designations are not customary in enterprises conducted on a business-like basis. When, in March 1942, I was given the task of directing the labor allocation of detainee, on a ministerial level, I came into close contact with the system. of concentration camps. For a long time it had the relentless face in every detail which it was given by its creator, Heydrich, and its organizer and drillmaster, Eicke, in the ten years of their activities. I faced a completely rigid organization. Only by removal of the entire personnel which had worked there for years and all its guards, and a radical reform of the state police method could it have been basically changed. The situation of the war unfortunately, made that impossible. As far as I was able, I fought against having to take over the direction of labor allocation because my time and my strength had been fully occupied through my proper and far reaching tasks. My resistance was taken notice of by Himmler in as far as he limited my activities and responsibilities until the end of the war. However, the military events of the summer of 1944 caused him further to give an order as early as 16 July 1944, instructing that the concentration camps in the "A" case — that is, in the event of an approaching enemy — were to be handed over to the regional Higher SS and Police Leaders. All evacuation measures and orders which finally led to the conditions which were found by the armies of the Allies and which was ascertained by the commission of the United States Congress, originated, therefore, from Hitler, Himmler, or the Higher SS and Police Leaders, and not from me. I had not given one single order to that effect. After 1942 there were one or two annual visits to the larger concentration camps where armament affairs took place. During these official duty journeys |
