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Volume VI · Page 297
| 3. AFFIDAVIT OF OHLENDORF | |
| TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NI-3510 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 715 |
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| AFFIDAVIT OF OTTO
OHLENDORF, 28 JANUARY 1947, CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF THE CIRCLE
OF FRIENDS, ITS FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIMMLER, AND IT ACTIVITIES* |
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| I, Otto Ohlendorf, former
Ministerial Director in the Reich Ministry of Economics, SS Major General and
Chief of Department III in the Reich Security Main Office, having been made
aware that I am liable to punishment if I make a false statement, hereby
voluntarily and without being forced declare the following: 1. With regard to the history of the Circle of Friends, I know that Hitler charged Keppler with the formation of the Circle. The Circle was later sponsored by Himmler, especially at the Reich Party rallies. I probably participated for the first time in a meeting of the Circle of Friends in 1941 or 1942, at which time I was introduced to the Circle of Friends by Kranefuss against Himmler's will. Aside from Himmler's personal attitude toward me, he thought the mere fact that I was a member of the SD would arouse suspicion among the people, that is to say, they might presume that I would sound them out. 2. As to the financial contributions, I only know that they were used for expenses Himmler could not finance out of his own budget. Only about 1½-2 millions came out annually, whereas the members of the Circle in their official positions had a certain advantage in their reputation as Himmler's friends. To my knowledge some of the money went to the "Ahnenerbe" and to the debt clearance funds, most of all to the SS leaders. 3. Hayler and I thought that the means that were raised by the Circle of Friends also could be easily raised anonymously, that is, indirectly, which would have excluded moral obligations toward individual persons. 4. Hayler and I endeavored to eliminate the money contributions. We thought it unworthy that the Reich Leader SS accepted the money. I approved wholeheartedly of the Circle of Friends because I thought it right that the Reich Leader should have people with whom he could speak freely. 5. One of the advantages resulting from the membership in Himmler's Circle of Friends was that the members were somehow respected by the Party and the police. 6. I participated in the trip to Himmler's headquarters mainly because I wanted to meet the businessmen. I expected a closer |
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* Ohlendorf, commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, did not appear as a witness in the Flick case. He was a defendant in the Einsatzgruppen case, Case 9, Volume IV, this series.
