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Volume VI · Page 838
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discussed, from Buskuehl to Dr. Flick, dated 18 February 1942, wherein he
mentions typhus and says that the result of the use of Russians was a complete
mistake in the mining industry, and there is a marginal penciled note by Dr.
Flick "The contrary in Breslau," According to Document
NI-5236, Prosecution Exhibit 159, 1 on page 94 of
the English, you replied to this letter. What do you remember about these
events which you obviously dealt with yourself in Berlin? DEFENDANT WEISS: Perhaps, first of all, I might mention that I noted that the prosecution, when submitting this document, said that they were unable to find the enclosure to it, that is the enclosure to Buskuehl's letter. I think I can help here. It seems to me that the enclosure must have been Document NI-5222, Prosecution Exhibit 126, 2 which appears as the first exhibit in this document book. MR. ERVIN: I think that is probably true, Your Honor. When I stated we could not find it I meant that the files we found did not indicate which was an enclosure and which was not. Independently we found this other letter which I think, from its context, very probably is the enclosure. I believe that was pointed out in defendant Burkart's testimony too. By comparing the two letters I think it is very probably so. DEFENDANT WEISS: In itself, this confidential letter from the president of the Regional Labor Office Westphalia, addressed to the District Group Ruhr, was not intended for us and its contents concerned neither Flick nor myself directly. Buskuehl, as head of the District Group Ruhr, however, I suppose, felt that he was justified in sending a copy of it on to Mr. Flick in confidence, for his information, because of its importance and terrible contents. The report shows that deaths among Russian prisoners of war who, during the first month of the campaign against Russia fell into the hands of the Wehrmacht in hundreds of thousands and millions, had taken on a catastrophic figure. The cause of these many deaths was typhus, which, as we know, is caused by lice, and which had hardly been known in Germany before this time. To what extent the responsible Wehrmacht offices were guilty of negligence, I, of course, am not in a position to judge, but I suppose the sudden streaming in of such large numbers of prisoners must have caused very difficult problems. At any rate it is certain that industry was in no way responsible for these events. Buskuehl, in sending this copy to Mr. Flick, obviously wanted to point out the reasons to the responsible men in the Ruhr mining industry at the time, in order to say that the |
¹ Letter of 18 February 1942, reproduced in B above.
² Report of 3 February 1942, reproduced in B above.
