. NMT05-T0983
Volume V · Page 983
| longer hours, more intense effort, more
production, selection of specialized skills, less loafing, and more strict
supervision. As of July 1944 there were 20 concentration camps and 165 labor
camps supervised by his Main Office. There was no phase of the administration
of these camps in which he was not intensely interested, and this interest
manifested itself at times in the smallest details. In some instances he
recommended appointments and transfers of camp commanders, who were the slave
drivers in the camps. In January 1943, in a letter to all camp commanders, he
directed that the working hours of prisoners be kept at 11 hours per day during
the winter, 6 clays per week, and a half day on Sunday. In May 1941, when he
found that half of a shipment of Jews from Hungary were women, he asked
Himmler's approval for putting them to work on construction projects. Needless
to say, Himmler consented. In December 1943, Pohl wrote to all camp commanders,
complaining that SS guards were not urging prisoners to work sufficiently,
stating, "Please instruct detachment leaders every Monday on this obvious duty
of the guards." In 1942, Gluecks, chief of Amtsgruppe D, in writing to the camp commanders, stated that Pohl had ordered that punishment by beating was to be executed by prisoners in concentration camps for men, but that it was forbidden to have foreign prisoners execute the punishment on German prisoners. This letter is significant because it recognizes Pohl's superior authority to issue such an order. If Gluecks enjoyed the degree of independence which Pohl attributes to him, he would have issued this order in person without attributing it to Pohl. On several occasions Pohl's interest led him to inspect concentration camps in person. He visited Ravensbrueck, Auschwitz, Dachau, and Oranienburg. During his visit to Auschwitz in 1943, Pohl was shown the plans for the enlargement of the camp, including the construction of four new crematories with modern gas chambers. His solicitude for the inmates led him to order that specially hardworking prisoners be granted additional rations of food and tobacco and permission to patronize the camp brothel. For this last service Pohl fixed the charge and prescribed the method of dividing the income between the female inmates, the woman manager, and the WVHA. He also held periodic conferences with concentration camp commanders in Berlin. It was part of his duty to select new sites for concentration camps and to determine their economic potentialities. When a new camp was proposed, he determined its size, capacity, and the number of inmates which would be utilized in it. There is no need to further elaborate upon the proof on this point although much more could be adduced. From all the evidence, it becomes clear to the Tribunal that Pohl at all times had an |
