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Volume V · Page 996
| come to the inescapable conclusion that if he
was not a confederate in murder he certainly was in larceny. By what process of
law or reason did the Reich become entitled to one hundred million Reichsmarks'
worth of personal property owned by persons whom they had enslaved and who
died, even from natural causes, in their servitude? Robbing the dead, even
without the added offense of killing, is and always has been a crime. And when
it is organized, planned, and carried out on a hundred-million-mark scale, it
becomes an aggravated crime, and anyone who takes part in it is a criminal.
It is Frank's contention that he did not know and had no means of knowing of the Jewish extermination program or that the vast amount of property accruing from Action Reinhardt resulted from the violent killing of Jews in concentration camps. He states that he believed that the property came from Jews who had died from natural causes, the number of whom was greatly increased by epidemics, or from stock piles of merchandise seized during the invasion of the Eastern countries. Both the amount and the nature of the goods seized make the acceptance of such a contention impossible. In a top secret communication to the chiefs of administration at Lublin and Auschwitz, dated 26 September 1942 (NO-72 , Pros. Ex. 472), a year before Frank left the WVHA, he speaks of the utilization of the property "of the evacuated Jews," and as has been noted, refers to the goods as "originating from thefts, receiving of stolen goods and hoarded goods." He proceeds to specify the manner of distribution of the confiscated property, referring to the various articles by name. These are some of the articles which he claims to have assumed were seized from Jews who died from natural causes in concentration camps: alarm clocks, fountain pens and mechanical pencils, electric razors, flashlights, feather beds, quilts, umbrellas, walking sticks, thermos jugs, baby carriages, table silver, bed and table linen, and furs. It is difficult to imagine a convoy of Jews from the East, packed so tightly into freight cars that many died, carrying with them for their comfort and convenience such items as electric razors, feather beds, umbrellas, thermos jugs, and baby carriages. It is equally incredible that they would be able to keep such articles in the concentration camps until they died of natural causes. It is fair to assume that the prisoners who froze to death or who died from exhaustion and exposure were not equipped with feather beds, quilts, and woolen blankets. Nor can it be believed that before being herded off to Auschwitz or Lublin they were given an opportunity to gather up their collections of old coins and stamps with which to amuse themselves during their idle time. The fundamental question now arises as to Frank's criminal |
