 |
A. I would have to describe to you the organization of the
concentration camp.
Q. Normally, one would assume that the stronger
people would be given the heavy work to do and the weaker people would be given
the sedentary work.
A. That is quite true, normally, but a
concentration camp is not normal. It would be necessary to describe the entire
structure and organization of a concentration and labor camp.
Q.
Witness —
A. I shall speak only of myself, of how I succeeded in
getting work there. I was a so-called old inmate. I had been imprisoned since
1939. My comrades and I, who shared the same fate, who were imprisoned in 1939,
were the first who came to Monowitz. I believe it was 405 men strong, the first
transport that arrived there. Those few of those 405 who did not succumb to the
harsh events of the first few weeks were given key positions in the camp, and
by virtue of these key positions the old inmates, in part, succeeded in being
given inside work.
Q. May I ask you, Witness, who was responsible for
this method? Did the SS determine the assignment?
A. In Farben, in the
SS, there was a labor commitment [office] that was directed by an SS
noncommissioned officer who had some inmates for manual labor at his disposal.
The labor commitment of the prisoners was only a small segment of the entire
labor commitment of Farben and, as far as I know, labor commitment reports were
submitted daily to the central office, the central office for labor commitment
of Farben.
Q. But, Witness, you cannot exclude the possibility that the
decision as to where each prisoner was to go was decided by IG?
A. I
can’t exclude it?
Q. Yes. You consider it possible. I mean, that
the SS determined where each prisoner was to go.
A. You said I. G.
before.
Q. That was a mistake.
A. I could give you a concrete
example. Let us say that a certain detail requested 20 plumbers in the camp.
There was a file index in the labor commitment office of the camp, in which the
professions of the inmates were entered. It was a function of the SS to find 20
plumbers in this card index and to assign them to a certain detail.
Q.
May I ask you, if the SS was to send 20 plumbers and had only 19, then they
declared some one quite at random, a quite unqualified person, a plumber and
put him in this detail?
A. Partly. Plumbers perhaps are not such a
special profession. Let us say that chemists were requested. If there was no
chemist, then none was sent. |
588 |
. 
