 |
| sign, “Beschlagnahmt” — seized property — the
German personnel had done that — we at first had the idea that this meant
that the machine would be temporarily at the disposal of the German
authorities, but that it would remain in the factory. We confined ourselves to
going to the agent and telling him that under no circumstances could the
machine leave our factory, because it was absolutely essential for our
production. That is all we did at that time. I think — we have no written
proof for that, but I think — the agent transmitted our protest. I have to
add that at the moment when Eisfeld and his men came to dismantle and take away
the machine, the agent Dr. Schmidt, or his deputy informed us that a similar
machine could be placed at our disposal from Bordeaux; but it was a machine
which was in no way fitted for our production needs. The reason was that this
machine was only intended for rolling thin plate, and not the thick plate we
used for our boiler production. |
| |
| * * * * * |
| |
JUDGE WILKINS, Presiding: Now, if you don't mind an interruption, I
would like it if you would clarify the term “agent” that you have
used, Doctor. I don’t quite get the significance of that. That word has
been used two or three times.
WITNESS KOCH: Director Schmidt originally
was a representative of the AEG, of Germany, that is the “Allgemeine
Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft” [General Electric Company] in Berlin, and then
one day we received a notification from the Armament Inspectorate of the German
Army in Dijon, informing us that Director Schmidt had been appointed
“Bevollmaechtigter,” that is, the agent, for our factory, that is, he
controlled all our work, our production, and the special kind of production we
had to carry out for the benefit of Germany. He controlled the contracts of our
plants. He held all the executive powers. In other words, he controlled the
whole works. |
| |
| * * * * * |
| |
DR. BEHLING: Witness, you will concede that on 11 July 1941,* the
question of selling the machines to Krupp or letting them use them on loan was
still quite open?
A. What we wanted to know were the intentions of
Krupp. I think that this letter was written after Eisfeld’s visit, and
Eisfeld in his report had told me that he had no authority to make a decision;
so I was faced with a situation where I was in a position to decide and was
negotiating with somebody who had no powers to decide; and therefore I
approached the Krupp |
__________
* On 11 July 1941, ALSTHOM
wrote a letter to Krupp concerning the bending machines, which is reproduced
earlier in this section (Loeser 68, Def. Ex. 1).
651 |
. 
