 |
mixing with the free workers.
This would even have been practically impossible, as we, as prisoners, worked
side by side with the free workers. Through this treatment, we gained the inner
peace and certainty enabling us to hope without anxiety that we would survive
the term of our imprisonment.
"The cruelties charged against the
directorate of I.G. Farben in the indictment, and supposed to have taken place
in Monowitz, can, according to my experiences during my 3-year period of
imprisonment in Monowitz, be described as completely unfounded."
|
| As third and last example, certain statements should be mentioned in
the sworn declaration of a former prisoner who arrived in camp IV after having
already been a considerable time in the concentration camps Mauthausen and
Gusen, and various other camps. After a detailed description of the working
conditions in the Auschwitz works of I.G. Farben, he comes to the following
conclusion: |
| |
"* * * During the years of my
stay in Monowitz, I gained the conviction that the T.G. Farbenindustrie did not
regard the prisoner allocation as anything desirable, but considered it as an
unavoidable evil and a heavy burden; also that, within the limits to which they
were restricted, they constantly tried in every way to improve the living
conditions of the prisoners and to keep these in a humane and decent manner. In
conclusion, I wish to express my conviction that thousands of prisoners - and
Jews above all - owe their lives to the better housing and maintenance
conditions in Monowitz, compared to other working camps, and to the much better
working conditions in the IG works * * * " * |
| The contradiction between the statements of these witnesses and the
further evidence put forward by the defense on the one hand, and the statements
of various witnesses and the affidavits of the prosecution on the other hand,
is obvious and cannot be overlooked. The prosecution will not be surprised by
it — it has had opportunities through the testimony of many prisoners and
a large number of foremen and masters of I.G. Farben and the numerous building
and assembly firms, to form a fairly accurate picture of the real conditions in
the Auschwitz works of the I.G. Farben. The evaluation of the results of the
entire evidence |
__________
* Duerrfeld Document 884,
Duerrfeld Defense Exhibit 77 (not reproduced herein) is an affidavit by Franz
Fuerstenberg dated 10 February 1948. Fuerstenberg was later called as a witness
and appeared before the Commission on 10 and 11 May 1948. His complete
testimony is recorded in the official transcript (10 May 1048) pp. 14221-14245;
(11 May 1948) pp. 14177-14384.
363 |
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