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| 4. DEFENSE TESTIMONY AND AFFIDAVIT |
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TRANSLATION OF
VON BUELOW DOCUMENT 642
DEFENSE EXHIBIT 1362
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| AFFIDAVIT OF PETER NOHLES,* GESTAPO CHIEF AT ESSEN, 29 APRIL 1948,
CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF CAMP
DECHENSCHULE |
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I, Kriminalrat Peter Nohles, born on 17 July 1897 in Duesseldorf,
residing in Essen, Flemmingweg 5, at present Justice Prison Nuernberg, am aware
that I render myself liable to punishment by giving a false affidavit. I hereby
depose that my following statement is true and was made to be submitted as
evidence to the American Military Tribunal in Nuernberg, or to other Allied or
German courts or authorities.
I am able to supply the following details
about events leading up to the establishment of the special camp Dechenschule:
The Duesseldorf Stapo headquarters maintained a labor discipline camp
in Hunswinkel near Luedenscheid. I was never there, but I remember that the
Stapo offices and regional offices (not the branch offices) had received
instructions from the Reich Security Main Office to establish such camps. The
regular police provided the guards. The Duesseldorf Regional Office constantly
sent shirkers, contract breakers, etc., from its entire area to this camp, and
these included Germans as well as foreigners of every nationality. If a German
or western worker was to be sent there, the Reich Labor Trustee, or his deputy
at the labor office, had to file an application, but in the case of eastern
workers the Duesseldorf Regional Office itself would decide. Applications could
only be submitted if corrective action at the factory (warnings, money fines,
and finally threat of report to the deputy trustee at the labor office or to
the Stepo) had first been taken and had proved ineffective.
Upon
receipt of such applications from the labor office or the factories, the
correctness of each case was investigated through examination of the person
concerned. If it was revealed that he had meanwhile resumed work, or if he
could justify himself by giving good reasons (e.g., illness, urgent family
affairs), he was not sent to a labor discipline camp, but merely received a
lecture or reprimand, even although this frequently met with the disapproval of
the factories or labor office. Besides the firm Krupp, there were other
factories employing eastern workers who occasionally filed such
applications. |
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* Extracts from the
testimony of Nohles are reproduced immediately following this affidavit.
1078 |
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