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the latter arranged with the Essen street railway company for open
“summer” cars for transportation between the camp and the plants.
This transportation was furnished until 23 October 1944 when the particular
line used was destroyed in an air raid. After that, the inmates marched to work
under guard through the streets of Essen. The largest number of girls were
employed in Rolling Mill II. This was at least a mile and a half from the camp.
The girls were awakened at 4 o’clock in the morning. A roll call was had
at 4:30 a.m. They started work at 6:00 a.m. and the working hours were long for
both the day shift and the night shift. On Sunday the working hours were
shorter.
After production in many of the Krupp plants at Essen was
prevented because of air raids, the concentration camp inmates were put to work
in moving rubble and carrying building material for the reconstruction of the
plant. The principle task was the carrying of bricks and iron roofing sheets.
The women SS “supervisors” slapped and kicked the girls if they
slowed down in their work. They were deprived of food as punishment, and their
hair was closely cropped or shaved in the form of a cross. The selection of
work, the amount of work and the supervision of it was decided by the Krupp
firm. The plant leaders and foremen fixed the work tasks. Work discipline was
enforced by Krupp supervisors and by their giving instruction for punishment to
the SS “supervisors.” The mistreatment of these girls was a matter of
common knowledge in the firm.
At Rolling Mill II, where many of them
were employed, a room was made available to them as an air raid shelter. They
were not permitted to use the shelter to which all German personnel went during
air raids, except on a few occasions at night when the size of the staff was
reduced.
In February 1945, a subordinate of the defendant Lehmann in
Labor Allocation A learned that the SS did not plan to permit the concentration
camp inmates to remain alive and thus be liberated by the advancing American
troops. He advised his superior, the defendant Lehmann of this plan, and also
the members of the Direktorium. After a discussion of this matter by the
Direktorium, defendant Janssen advised defendants Ihn and Lehmann of the
decision of the members of that body to have these concentration camp prisoners
removed from Essen. Defendant Ihn then directed defendant Lehmann to arrange
for their shipment back to Buchenwald. Lehmann ordered a member of his staff to
assist in providing a train for the shipment of these girls back to Buchenwald.
On 17 March 1945, the girls were marched to Bochum. There a train was made up
for them and 1,500 male concentration camp inmates. They were shipped eastward
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