. NMT05-T1000
Volume V · Page 1000
| number, rank, and salaries of personnel. In
September 1942 Loerner rendered a report to the Reich Court of Accounts,
stating that seven collecting camps for "undesirable Polish elements," near
Danzig had already been established. He further reports that construction of a
much larger camp, Stutthof, was begun at the end of 1939. In October 1942, Loerner wrote that Himmler had ordered the Ahnenerbe to establish an Institute for Scientific Military Research, the expenses of which were to be met from funds of the Waffen SS, and instructed that "bills due were to be handed in to this office for payment." In November 1942, Sievers, who was one of the principals in the Ahnenerbe program, notes that he had discussed in detail with Loerner the plan to have the expenses of the Institute for Scientific Military Research met by the SS. The institute referred to was a part of the over-all plan for using concentration camp inmates for medical experiments, but there is no evidence that, either through Sievers or otherwise, Loerner became aware of the criminal purposes of the institute. During 1942 and 1943 Loerner was greatly concerned with the fixing of wage scales for the Waffen SS. In connection with the concentration camps, Kaindl, and later Burger of Amt D IV, concentration camp administration, assembled the budget items for the concentration camps and passed them on as part of the entire budget of the Waffen SS to Loerner in Amtsgruppe A, who reviewed it and put it in shape to be transmitted to the Main Department of Finance in Berlin. After Loerner took over the control of Amt A II, his connection with the administration of the concentration camps became even more intimate, for here he was confronted by problems of financing and meeting payrolls. Eichele, who was paymaster of the Waffen SS, with an office in Dachau, states (NO-2325, Pros. Ex. 514): "In my work in the pay office, I was subordinate to Aemter A I and A II of the WVHA, of which Hans Loerner was the head." Requisitions for wages for SS personnel were made to Loerner in office A I. In the establishment of wage scales for concentration camps, Pohl ordered that Loerner be consulted. From this proof it becomes quite apparent that the defendant Hans Loerner was anything but a figurehead in the WVHA. In spite of the diminishing importance of his office, he continued until the end to exercise vital and important functions within the structure of the WVHA in connection with its administration of the concentration camps. He was more than a mere bookkeeper. He exercised discretion and judgment and made important decisions, many of which related directly to the procurement and operation of concentration camps. To say the least, he took a |
