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some thirty important visitors, among whom was Dr. Ambros. On this
visit he saw no abuse of inmates and thought that the camp was well conducted.
He never visited the labor camp of Monowitz. The defendant Duerrfeld, as chief
engineer and later as manager of the construction work at Auschwitz, had
general supervision over the work. Numerous witnesses have testified as to his
presence on the site on different occasions. He made frequent inspection trips
during which lie observed the laborers at work. He also visited the adjoining
labor camp of Monowitz, over which the SS had supervision.
Duerrfeld
reported that Hoess, the camp commander of the concentration camp, was very
willing to support the construction management to the best of his ability and
that he would furnish for 1941 about 1,000 unskilled laborers. In 1942 this
number could be raised to 3,000 or 4,000. Farben was to assist in erecting
barracks by supplying wood and also some iron. The prisoners were to be
utilized in groups of about twenty, supervised by kapos.
On 4 March
1941, a circular was issued from the office of the Plenipotentiary for the Four
Year Plan in Berlin [NI-11086, Pros. Ex. 1422], directed to Ambros and
containing certain information regarding Auschwitz. This letter advised that
the Inspector of Concentration Camps and the Chief of the Main Economic and
Administration Office had been ordered to get in touch with the construction
manager of the buna works and to aid the construction project by means of
concentration-camp prisoners. The chief of Himmler’s personal staff,
Gruppenfuehrer Wolff, was to be appointed liaison officer between the SS and
the Auschwitz works. Copies of this letter were distributed to ter Meer,
Buetefisch, and Duerrfeld. Shortly thereafter, Duerrfeld and Buetefisch had a
conference with Wolff in Berlin, at which the utilization of concentration-camp
workers was discussed. The parties were in general accord on the assistance to
be rendered by the concentration camp. Wolff made no definite promises and left
matters of detail to be arranged by negotiations between Duerrfeld and Hoess,
who was the camp commander at Auschwitz.
The first building conference
with respect to Auschwitz construction was held on 24 March 1941 in
Ludwigshafen [NI-11115, Pros.
Ex. 1426]. Nine persons were present. They were officials and engineers of
Farben. The only two who have been made defendants in this case are Ambros and
Duerrfeld. At this meeting it was decided to hold building conferences at
weekly intervals for the present. The purpose of the conferences was to allot
fields of work to the individual conference members with a view to avoid
overlapping of activities. The members of the conference made reports on
performance of their respective duties. Ambros reported that the general
planning of the Auschwitz plant lay at present in the hands of engineers Santo,
Duerrfeld, and Mach. Duerrfeld reported on a discussion with Wolff of
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