Rockler
MILITARY TRIBUNALS
Case No. 10
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
-against-
ALFRIED KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND HALBACH, Owner and
Directing Head, and EWALD LOESER, EDUARD
HOUDREMONT, ERICH MUELLER, FRIEDRICH JANSSEN,
KARL PFIRSCH, MAX IHN, KARL EBERHARDT, HEINRICH
KORSCHAN, FRIEDRICH VON BUELOW, HEINRICH LEHMANN,
and HANS KUPKE, officials, of the Krupp Firm
and Family Enterprise,
Defendants
OFFICE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT FOR GERMANY (US)
NUREMBERG 1947
Aug 16, 1947.
INDICTMENT
The United States of America, by the undersigned
Telford Taylor, Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, duly
appointed to represent said Government in the prosecution
of war criminals, charges that the defendants
herein committed Crimes against Peace, War Crimes
and Crimes against Humanity, and participated in a
common plan and conspiracy to commit Crimes against
Peace, all as defined in Control Council Law Number 10,
duly enacted by the Allied Control Council on
20 December 1945. These crimes included planning,
preparing, initiating and waging wars of aggression
and invasions of other countries, as a result of
which incalculable destruction was wrought throughout
the world, millions of people were killed, and
many millions more suffered and are still suffering;
deportation to slave labor of members of the civilian
population of the invaded countries and the enslavement,
mistreatment, torture and murder of millions
of persons, including German nationals as well as
foreign nationals; plunder and spoliation of public
and private property in the invaded countries pursuant
to deliberate plans and policies intended not
only to strengthen Germany in launching its invasions
and waging its aggressive wars and to secure the
permanent domination by Germany of the continent of
Europe, but also to expand the private empire of the
defendants; and other grave crimes as set forth in
this Indictment.
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The persons hereinafter named were all officials
of Fried. Krupp A.G., Essen (1903-1943) and its
successor, Fried. Krupp, Essen. The original enterprise
of Fried. Krupp was founded in 1812. It was
transformed into a corporation (A.G.) in 1903, which
was succeeded in December 1943 by an unincorporated
firm, Fried. Krupp, Essen, in accordance with a
special Hitler decree. These firms constituted successively
the Family Enterprise of the Krupp family
and, together with their subsidiaries and other
interests, are hereinafter referred to as "KRUPP."
The managing body of the Fried. Krupp A.G. is hereinafter
referred to as the "Vorstand," and that of the
succeeding unincorporated firm, as the "Direktorium."
The persons accused as guilty of these crimes and
accordingly named as defendants in this case are:
ALFRIED FELIX ALWYN KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND
HALBACH- Sole owner, proprietor, active and directing
head of Fried. Krupp, Essen, and Fuehrer and Betriebe
(Leader of the Plants), from December 1943; successor
to Gustav and Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach,
directing head and owner respectively of Fried. Krupp
A.G.; previously active head, Chairman of the Vorstand
and head of the War Material and Raw Materials
Departments of Fried. Krupp A.G., Essen; Wehrwirtschafts-fuehrer
(Military Economy Leader); Deputy Chairman
of the Reichsvereinigung Eisen (Reich Association
Iron) and member of the Presidium of the Reichsvereinigung
Kohle (Reich Association Coal) (hereinafter
referred to as the "RVE and "RVK"); member of the
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Verwaltungsrat of the Berg and Huettenwerksgesellschaft
Ost G.m.b.H. (hereinafter referred to as the "BHO");
member of the Armament Commission (Ruestungsrat) in
the office of the Reich Minister for Armament and War
Production (Reichsminister fuer Ruestung und KriegsProduktion);
member of the Nationalsozialistische
Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (Nazi Party, hereinafter
referred to as the "NSDAP"); sponsoring member of
Die Schutzstaffeln der Nationalsozialistischen
Deutschen Arbeiter Partel (hereinafter referred to as
the "SS"); Standartenfuehrer (Colonel) of the Nationalsocialistisches
Flieger Korps (National Socialist
Flying Corps, hereinafter referred to as the "NSFK").
EWALD OSKAR LUDWIG LOESER - Member of the
Vorstand and head of the Administrative and Finance
Departments of Fried. Krupp A.G. until March 1943;
Wehrwirtschaftsfuehrer: Krupp representative in the
Kleiner Kreis (Small Circle, a group which exercised
great influence over the coal, iron and steel industries);
Reich trustee for Phillips Radio, Eindhoven, Netherlands,
in 1944.
EDUARD HOUDREMONT - Member of KRUPP Direktorium
and deputy member of the Vorstand, head of
the Metallurgical, Steel and Machine Departments;
plant leader (Fuehrer des Betriebes), Gusstahlfabrik,
Essen; Wehrwirtschaftsfuehrer; Special Commissioner for
Metal Substitutes (Sonderbeauftragtor fuer Metallumstellung)
in Reich Ministry for Armament and War
Production and the Ministry of Economics (Reichswirtschaftsministerium);
advisor to the administrators of
the Four Year Plan; member of the NSDAP.
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ERICH MUELLER - Member of KRUPP Vorstand and
Direktorium, head of the Artillery Designing and
Machine Construction Departments and coordinator of
artillery construction; Wehrwirtschaftsfuehrer; armaments
advisor to Hitler; advisor to the War Ministry;
head of Armament Committee (Waffenausschuss) in the
office of Reich Minister for Arms and Munitions;
Chairman of the Weapons Development Committee
(Entwicklungskommission der Waffen) of the Ministry
for Armament and War Production; member of the NSDAP.
FRIEDRICH WILHELM JANSSEN - Member of KRUPP
Direktorium and deputy member of the Vorstand; successor
to Ewald Loeser as head of the Administrative and
Finance Departments; head of the Berlin office, 1937-43;
Wehrwirtschaftsfuehrer; member of the NSDAP: sponsoring
member of the SS.
KARL HEINRICH PFIRSCH - Deputy member of KRUPP
Direktorium and Vorstand, and head of the War Material
and Machine Sales Departments; head of the Berlin office,
1943-45; Wehrwirtschaftsfuehrer; member of the NSDAP.
MAX OTTO IHN - Deputy member of KRUPP Direktorium
and Vorstand, deputy to Ewald Loeser and
Friedrich Jansson, concerned particularly with personnel
and intelligence; deputy plant leader, Gasstahlfabrik,
Essen; member of the NSDAP.
KARL ADOLF FERDINAND EBERHARDT - Deputy member
of KRUPP Direktorium and Vorstand, and successor to
Karl Pfirsch as head of the War Material and Machine
Sales Departments; member of the NSDAP.
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HEINRICH LEO KORSCHAN - Deputy member of
KRUPP Vorstand; head of the Department of Steel Plants
and deputy head of the Metallurgical Department; trustee
and administrator of KRUPP wartime enterprises in
Eastern and Southeastern Europe; managing director of
Krupp Bertha Werk, Breslau; member of the NSDAP.
FRIEDRICH VON BUELOW - An official of KRUPP,
concerned particularly with confidential, intelligence,
and public relations matters; head of the Berlin office,
1932-36; military and political Chief of Counter-Intelligence
(Hauptabwehrbeauftragter) at KRUPP, Essen,
and direct representative of KRUPP with Nazi officials,
the Gestapo and SS; chief of the Works Police Werkschutz),
Gusstahlfabrik, Essen.
WERNER WILHELM HEINRICH LEHMANN - An official
of KRUPP, deputy to Max Ihn and in charge of Arbeitseinsatz
"A" (labor procurement); member of the NSDAP.
HANS ALBERT GUSTAV KUPKE - An official of
KRUPP, head of experimental firing ranges at Essen;
head of the foreign workers camps (Oberlagerfuehrer);
previously an official of the Army Ordnance Office
(Heoreswaffenamt); member of the "NSDAP.
Reference is hereby made to Appendix "A" of this
Indictment for a fuller statement of the positions and
activities of each of the defendants.
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Germany and to put into effect its announced program.
On 20 February 1933, immediately prior to the crucial
Reichstag election of 5 March 1933, Gustav Krupp von
Bohlen, together with other leading industrialists,
met Hitler at Goering's Berlin house. Hitler declared
his treasonable purpose to seize power by violence if
the Nazis failed in this election. Among other things
he stated that: private enterprise cannot be maintained
in the age of democracy; when the defense of the existing
order is left to a majority it will irretrievably go
under; it is the noblest task of a leader to find ideals
that are stronger than the factors that pull the people
apart; he found them in Nationalism, in the denial of
reconciliation between nations, in the strength and
power of individual personality; if one rejects pacifism,
one must offer a now idea in its place immediately; we
must not forget that all the benefits of culture must be
introduced more or less with an iron fist, just as once
upon a time the farmers were forced to plant potatoes;
we must first gain power if we want to crush the other
side completely; only when one knows that one has
reached the pinnacle of power, that there is no further
possible upward development, shall one strike; now we
stand before the last election; regardless of the outcome
there will be no retreat; if the election does not decide,
the decision must be brought about by other means; there
are only two possibilities, either to crowd back the
opponent on the basis of the constitution, and for this
purpose once more this election, or a struggle will be
conducted with other weapons, which may demand greater
sacrifices; the question of restoration of the Wehrmacht
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the auspices of the Four Year Plan and which was
attended by high ranking government officials and
representatives of the leading iron and steel firms,
including KRUPP, Goering emphasized that the "shortage
of ores must not endanger the program of munition production
or armaments in case of war." In the discussion
that followed he agreed that Roechling, a leading
industrialist, had correctly stated the problem as:
"What is the quantity that the German ore mining industry
must be prepared to supply the German nation in case of
war, and in how many years must this goal be attained?"
At a second meeting of that same group held three months
later, on 16 June 1937, to discuss the progress of the
program, Goering made even clearer that Germany was preparing
for war and that production and distribution,
including the export of iron and steel products, had to
be adjusted accordingly. Elsewhere he stated that the
purpose of the Four Year Plan was to create a foundation
upon which preparation for war might be accelerated and
the most urgent necessity was to increase iron production.
Iron was to be used first to increase iron production,
and then for the armed forces, for warships and
tanks, for the Four Year Plan and for export for foreign
exchange. The export of semi-finished products was to
be reduced and care was to be exercised that export did
not facilitate the arming of the enemy. Goering was
assured that only six per cent of Germany's export of
iron went to "so-called enemy countries such as England,
France, Belgium, Russia and Czechoslovakia." The iron
and steel industries gave their full cooperation to this
program. On 4 November 1938 at a conference in
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24. KRUPP export business, like its research,
production and foreign affiliations, was likewise
coordinated with the Nazi armament program. Exports
were controlled in the interest of securing foreign
exchange and to advance the military objectives of the
Third Reich. The foreign exchange secured through such
sales was used for the stock-piling of materials necessary
for the waging of aggressive war. Exports were
regulated so as to build up the military position of
friendly countries, while keeping those deemed "enemy
countries" weak or dependent upon Germany. War materials
were either entirely cut off from particular countries
upon their selection as victims of German aggression,
or doled out in the minimum quantities necessary to allay
suspicion. So, for example, on 17 May 1939, one week
before the conference at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin
at which Hitler announced to a group of leaders of the
Third Reich his intention to attack Poland, KRUPP was
advised to cease export of war materials to Poland. An
inquiry from Holland regarding anti-aircraft guns dated.
16 October 1939, nine days after the German Army had been
ordered to prepare for the immediate invasion of Dutch
and Belgian territory, was referred to the defendants
Mueller end Eberhardt, among others, and was marked by
KRUPP "Not to be answered." Two months before the actual
invasion of Holland KRUPP advised the Foreign Ministry not
to awaken the suspicion of the Netherlands government by
withholding visas and preventing inspection of guns
on order which KRUPP had no intention of delivering.
While KRUPP was denying material to the intended victims
of German aggression it was supplying European satellite
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countries were out of all proportion to their
resources and inflicted severe suffering upon their
civilian inhabitants. Agricultural products, raw
materials useful to German factories, machine tools,
transportation equipment, other finished products,
foreign securities, holdings of foreign exchange and
other property were requisitioned and sent to Germany.
Patent rights were seized. Property rights of Jews,
Slavs and of political opponents of the Nazi regime
were special targets of the despoilers. The management
and operation of, and the title to industrial,
mining, commercial and other enterprises were frequently
acquired or assumed by, or awarded to favored German
officials and firms. Production for the local
economy was drastically curtailed, and the production
of industries and mines was geared to support the German
war machine. In planning and organizing the
plunder of and offenses against property in occupied
territories and countries, the means adopted varied
from complete dispossession and outright confiscation,
which were cloaked by the enactment of various
sequestration decrees, to general control through
blanket enactments and negotiations under pressure
with the owners of such property for its acquisition.
This latter technique was used particularly in the
West. At times a pretense was made of paying for the
property seized. This pretense merely disguised the
fact that the goods, including raw materials, machinery
and equipment sent to Germany from, or employed for
German benefit in, these occupied countries were paid
for by the occupied countries themselves by various
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devises, including excessive occupation charges,
forced loans in return for a credit balance in an
alleged clearing account and currency manipulation.
The means adopted were intended to and did carry into
effect the plans of the Third Reich to strengthen
Germany in waging and in preparing and initiating
further aggressive wars, to insure the subservience
to Germany of the economies of the conquered countries,
and to secure German economic domination of the continent
of Europe. The German occupation policy in Poland
was clearly stated in a directive by Goering on 19
October 1939:
"On the other hand, there must be removed
from the territories of the Government-General
all raw materials, scrap materials, machines, etc.,
which are of use for the German war economy.
Enterprises which are not absolutely necessary
for the meager maintenance of the bare existence
of the population must be transferred to Germany,
unless such transfer would require an unreasonably
long period of time, and would make it more practicable
to exploit those enterprises by giving
them German orders, to be executed at their present
location."
Later in a speech made on 6 August 1942 to the various
German authorities in charge of Eastern occupied
territories, Goering said:
"God knows, you are not sent out there to
work for the welfare of the people in your charge,
but to get the utmost out of them, so that the
German people can live. That is what I expect
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laws and customs of war, of international treaties and
conventions, including Articles 46-56, inclusive, of
the Hague Regulations of 1907, of the general principles
of criminal law as derived from the criminal laws
of all civilized nations, of the internal penal laws
of the countries in which such crimes were committed,
and of Article II of Control Council Law Number 10.
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