. NMT05-T0993
Volume V · Page 993
| with the WVHA. In this case we are concerned with judging his conduct only between 1 September 1939, and 1 September 1943. Amtsgruppe A, of which Frank was the chief was the administrative branch of WVHA. It comprised five Aemter, as follows: |
Amt A I — office of budgets. |
| Only two specifications in counts two and
three of the indictment are involved in the consideration of Frank's case
— (1) the administration of concentration camps, and (2) Action Reinhardt.
At the outset it is best to dispel an illusion, which all defendants have tried to create, that the component Aernter and Amtsgruppen in the WVHA were dissociated, isolated, and operated with almost complete independence of each other. The contention of the defendants has been that each Amt occupied a secluded cubicle which was so insulated that it was practically impossible for the members of one Amt or Amtsgruppe to know what was going on in another. This concept runs counter to the whole idea behind the organization of the WVHA, which was to consolidate and unify all the administrative functions of the SS. Not only the underlying plan of the organization but the nature of its functions make this contention entirely incredible. The administration of the concentration camps was a complex and intricate task, which was made further involved by the operation of the industries under Amtsgruppe W. Correlation and coordination were indispensable. Food, clothing, wages, labor supply, raw materials, financing, auditing, personnel, and security — all these were integrated functions, each of which bore an intimate relation to every other. As a comprehensive undertaking, it was a unit. With a personnel at the peals of about 1,700, it was obviously impossible for each person to know exactly what the other was doing, but each person must have known that the entire group was taking some part, great or small, restricted or unlimited, in the main task of administering the fiscal affairs of the SS. For example, the work of Amtsgruppe C in concentration camp construction and maintenance necessarily impinged upon Amtsgruppe A, which provided the money, Amtsgruppe B, which provided the raw material, and Amtsgruppe D, which provided the labor. Again, Amtsgruppe D, which was directly in charge of concentration camps, was dependent upon Amtsgruppe A for money and personnel, upon Amtsgruppe B for food, clothing, and billets, and Amtsgruppe C for construction and maintenance needs. As early as November 1941, Pohl suggested that meetings of all the W office chiefs be held periodically, "to |
