 |
| by interspersing occasionally the sinister word — Gestapo. Here
stands before his judges, a man of unblemished character whose tragedy, like
that of the other defendants sitting here with him, lies in the fact that they
were born into a time of immense disorders and confusions, whose floods and
countercurrents passed over them as objects, as over millions of others.
|
| |
| L. Opening Statement for the Defendant
Lehmann* |
| |
DR. WOLF: Your Honors. In count three, which in the indictment is
listed under the heading “deportation, exploitation and abuse of slave
labor” and which is contained in the opening statement of the prosecution
under the heading of “deportation, exploitation and ill treatment of slave
workers,” all 12 defendants are charged with war crimes and crimes against
humanity within the meaning of Article II of Control Council Law No. 10, of
which allegedly they made themselves guilty, among other things through
“murder or ill treatment of prisoners of war.” The prosecution
announced its argumentation to the count with the powerful words, I quote,
“the harsh bark of the oppressor and the sharp cry of pain of the
individual victim will be heard.”
Well, the defense was curious to
learn which facts the prosecution would introduce to prove the truth of this
mighty announcement, especially in connection with the assignment of prisoners
of war by the firm of Krupp. However, during the entire period, covering
approximately 3 months, neither harsh barks nor shrill cries of pain were to be
heard. The prosecution was satisfied to introduce a fair number of documents of
mainly general contents, partly consisting of laws and regulations of
government and Wehrmacht agencies, which in their turn have for their better
part nothing to do with the assignment of prisoners of war at Krupp’s and
which for the rest consisted of records concerning discussions within the firm
of Krupp or with other government or industrial agencies, furthermore of
circulars sent out by the firm and of the firm’s correspondence and
similar matters. Moreover, the prosecution introduced a number of witnesses,
mainly former prisoners of war, foreign workers or concentration camp prisoners
who gave witness about their various experiences at Krupp in a more or less
unbiased manner. According to the statement of the prosecution, this evidence
is to prove that the firm of Krupp endeavored to procure prisoners of war, that
prisoners of war at Krupp were engaged in work directly concerned with the war
effort, involving dangerous occupations, |
__________
* Opening statement is
recorded in mimeographed transcript, 23 March 1948, pp. 4838-4843.
218 |
. 
