. NMT05-T1013
Volume V · Page 1013
| camp for the purpose of obtaining a storage
room for food. He saw some inmates marching past, but saw nothing that would
attract attention. (Tr. p. 3179.) In November 1943, in company with Kammler, chief of Amtsgruppe C, he made an inspection of concentration camp Dora, where two construction places were visited. Two large tunnels about 3 kilometers long had been built into the mountain. During these inspections, Pister, commander of Buchenwald, Foerschner, the commander of Dora, Barnewald, the administrative officer, and Dr. Schiedlausky, the camp physician of Buchenwald, were present. Tschentscher described the conditions as follows: clothing was insufficient, especially for cold weather; barracks were inadequate; the air was very bad from lack of ventilation. The inmates, approximately 1,500 to 2,000, were housed in the shafts of tunnels which were 8 to twelve meters high. The inmates slept on bunks, four on top of each other, and had insufficient covers. The lighting system was extremely bad and caused the inmates to appear to have dust from the stones covering their faces. The food was insufficient for the work to be performed. Medical care was also insufficient, as the camp did not have its own physician and the personnel consisted of inmates who were only medical assistants. A great many of the inmates were reported sick, and on that day sick call amounted to forty inmates. He further stated that deaths did not occur in the beginning, but later he heard that inmates had died probably as a result of exhaustion and colds. He stated that he did not need any confirmation of this fact when he saw the people, because when he saw them it was rather unnerving. He further concluded that when an epidemic occurred a catastrophe might follow because of the low resistance of the inmates. The defendant stated that when he saw these conditions his only thought was to help them as quickly as possible. On the following morning he made another short inspection, and what he observed only confirmed his conclusions. He returned to Berlin and gave immediate instructions to the various depots to turn over food from the storage warehouses. He stated that he also contacted office B II for clothing, and the Reich physician SS for medical supplies. He urgently requested that a physician be assigned and that medical personnel of the SS be furnished. He telephoned the main medical depot at Berlin, asking them to allocate medicine and disinfectants for the camp. He stated that he received the cooperation which he desired from all of these agencies, and that from his depots he furnished twenty to thirty tons of food — flour, peas, beans, canned meat, oils, fats, dehydrated fruits, and rice supplementing regular rations. In addition, he furnished post exchange items, rum and tea, as well as |
