Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 11 (British Edition), p. 359
		15.4.46 Q. I will omit the first paragraph and start with paragraph 2: "I have been constantly associated with the administration of concentration camps since 1934, serving at Dachau until 1938; then as Adjutant in Sachsenhausen from 1938 to May 1st, 1940, when I was appointed Commandant of Auschwitz. I commanded Auschwitz until 1st December, 1943, and estimate that at least 2,500,000 victims were executed and exterminated there by gassing and burning, and at least another half million succumbed to starvation and disease making a total dead of about 3,000,000. This figure represents about 70 per cent or 80 per cent of all persons sent to Auschwitz as prisoners, the remainder having been selected and used for slave labour in the concentration camp industries. Included among the executed and burnt were approximately 20,000 Russian prisoners of war (previously selected and taken out of prisoner-of-war cages by the Gestapo) who were delivered to Auschwitz in Wehrmacht transports operated by regular Wehrmacht officers and men. The remainder of the total number of victims included about 100,000 German Jews, and great numbers of citizens, mostly Jewish, from Holland, France, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, or other countries. We executed about 400,000 Hungarian Jews alone at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944." That is all true, witness? A. Yes, it is. Q. Now I omit the first few lines of paragraph 3 and start in the middle of paragraph 3: "Prior to establishment of the R.S.H.A., the Secret State Police Office (Gestapo) and the Reich Office of Criminal Police were responsible for arrests, commitments to concentration camps, punishments and executions therein. After organisation of the R.S.H.A., all of these functions were carried on as before but pursuant to orders signed by Heydrich as Chief of the R.S.H.A. While Kaltenbrunner was Chief of R.S.H.A. orders for protective custody, commitments, punishment and special executions were signed by Kaltenbrunner or by Müller, Chief of the Gestapo, as Kaltenbrunner's Deputy." THE PRESIDENT: Just for the sake of accuracy, the last date in paragraph 2, is that 1943 or 1944? COLONEL AMEN: 1944, I believe. Q. Is that date correct, witness, at the close of paragraph 2, namely, that the 400,000 Hungarian Jews alone at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944 were executed? Is that 1944 or 1943? A. 1944. Part of that figure also goes back to 1943; only a part. I cannot give the exact figure; the end was 1944, autumn of 1944. Q. Right. "Mass executions by gassing commenced during the summer of 1941 and continued until autumn, 1944. I personally supervised executions at Auschwitz until 1st December, 1943 and know by reason of my continued duties in the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps W.V.H.A. that these mass executions continued as stated above. All mass executions by gassing took place under the direct order, supervision, and responsibility of R.S.H.A. I received all orders for carrying out these mass executions directly from R.S.H.A." Are these statements true and correct, witness? A. Yes, they are. Q. "5. On 1st December, 1943 I became Chief of Amt I in Amt Group D of the W.V.H.A., and in that office was responsible for co-ordinating all matters arising between R.S.H.A. and concentration camps under the administration 359
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 11 (British Edition), p. 359     Last modified: January 2, 1999 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.