. NMT05-T1030
Volume V · Page 1030
| see any inmates working while there. He denied any knowledge of foreigners or prisoners of war being confined in concentration camps, but assumed that Jews were confined therein. He testified: |
"Q. You knew, did you not, that the construction that was carried out by Amtsgruppe C in the concentration camps used inmate labor? |
| The defendant denied any knowledge of the
fact that Amtsgruppe W used inmate labor, but said that he could reach that
assumption, although he did not know anything about the allocation of inmate
labor. He emphatically denied having heard at any time during the war that
anyone was mistreated or killed in a concentration camp, and stated that at no
time was he informed that inmates were being underfed and undernourished in any
concentration camp. From all of the evidence in the case the Tribunal concludes the following: the defendant Franz Eirenschmalz was a member of the SS from an early date, and attained the rank of colonel in the Waffen SS. Over a long period of time, prior to the war, and prior to the organization of the WVHA and all during the war, he was occupied directly with construction matters of the SS, including the concentration camps. Throughout the entire trial he has endeavored to hide in every way possible his responsibility and participation in concentration camp construction-maintenance affairs. The evidence clearly discloses his active participation in matters pertaining to the operation, construction, and maintenance of concentration camps located in the German Reich and in the occupied territories. His chief, the defendant Pohl, recognized his worth in the fields of task assigned to him in the WVHA, and when recommending his promotion gave a glowing account of his achievements and his loyalty to his tasks. The evidence clearly discloses that at all times, as chief of Amt C VI, he bore a full measure of responsibility for concentration camp construction matters, including the construction and maintenance of crematories and gas chambers. From his own testimony, it is clear that he visited a great number of the concentration camps at various times; that he saw and had an opportunity of seeing the inmates as they worked, the conditions under which they worked, and the housing conditions of the various camps. The Tribunal concludes that the knowledge of the defendant concerning the erection and maintenance of the gas chambers and crematories in the various concentration camps put him upon actual notice of the intended use of these installations. Owing to the high position he held in the WVHA, we are forced to conclude that defendant Eirenschmalz had actual knowledge of |
