31 Oct 1947_A_MSD_16_4_Hoxsie (Juelich) every shooting, after every volley, you have the men sit down, you would talk to them and reason with them and tell them they were executing the Fuehrer order, etc. We recall that, but what did you do for them physically and recreationally to help them?
A I believe I had no other possibilities, your Honor. In any case, my assistance extended only to those things which I mentioned. about their clothing?
A That is natural, your Honor. I considered that the normal duties of any kommando leader. nerves? There was nothing that you did outside of what you told us, these little lectures that gave right on the field of execution?
Q There was nothing else that you did?
A No. On the whole I merely tried to establish a good spirit of comradeship in order to avoid any other differences. BY DR. LUMMERT: Welisch and Smolensk you separated from your Sonderkommando 7a and you yourself traveled on to Smolensk with your driver. What did you do there and where did you go to after you got to Smolensk?
A In Smolensk I reported to Nebe that I was leaving. He treated me in a reserved manner without stating anything about the reasons of my recall. I remained in Smolensk overnight and was mostly together with Regierungsrat Ehlers whom I know very well, who, as far as I remember, was the Chief of Department IV in the staff of Nebe, and he told me that he did not like Nebe at all. He asked me to mention in Berlin that Nebe made fantastic reports of imagination, adding zeros to the numbers of executions, etc. He, Ehlers, had disagreed very strongly with Nebe about this. The following day I left Smolensk and went to Witebask. I 31 Oct 1947_A_MSD_16_5_Hoxsie (Juelich) stayed there overnight.
The following day I traveled towards Wilna. The distance to Wilna I covered in two days, and from there I traveled to Kowno. There we had to repair my car, and on the second day of our stay we travelled on to Koenigsberg. I stayed there overnight for the last time before going to Berlin, and thus reached Berlin on the 9th day after my departure from Baklanowa. This was approximately on 25 or 26 August. Security Serbice in the East? fuehrer Streckenbach. He did not tell me in a very clear manner why I had been recalled so suddenly.
31 Oct 1947_A_MSD_17_1_Biolsi (Juelich) He first talked a great deal about work but then indicated that Nebe had not been satisfied with me. I told him about my work in Russia, and, most of all, talked with great concern about the disadvantageous effect of this shooting order, and about the moral results which the executions had caused among the men in the kommandos. I also reported to him about the things Sturmbannfuehrer Ehlers had told me about the untruthfulness and incorrectness of Nebe's reports. Streckenbach did not say much, but seemed very depressed. In Berlin I took up again my work as personal referent in Office I of the RSHA. which the prosecution charges you and Sonderkommando 7-a. On the other hand, you sometimes did not mention executions with which the Prosecution has charged you. I now ask you... Can you assure us expressly that concerning the executions by your Sonderkommando 7-a, you have said the full truth, and did not leave anything out?
A Yes. On oath I assure you that during my time with my Sonderkommando 7-a I did not command any executions apart from those I mentioned.
DR. LUMMERT: address a few questions to you which concern documents which the prosecution has used as evidence, not numbered, the socalled Situation Reports. Before I do this I would like to introduce two documents and evidence. They are Documents 5 and 6. I would like to give some explanations about these documents. The Prosecution has charged thedefendant Blume according to a number of Situation Reports numbered USSR, of the Chief of the Security Police and SD, and has introduced those documents. It is difficult to get an impression, and you can only get a survey if all the situation reports of that time are used and lo ked at; and concerning the defendant Blume the Situation Reports from the end of June until the beginning of September 1941, that is, the Situation Reports Nos. 8 31 Oct 1947_A_MSD_17_2_Biolsi (Juelich) to 73 - at least 20 of them have been used as exhibits by the Prosecution against various defendants here.
The other 40 reports I offered as exhibits myself. A small technical difficulty had to be overcome here, because those Situation Reports which the Prosecution did not introduce have only come to the Defense in one copy to look at, in Room 219 of the Palace of Justice. For that reason, in order to simplify matters, in Document Blume No. 5, I give excerpts of these more than 40 Situation Reports. All these parts which might be of importance in judging the Sonderkommando and its leader at the time, the defendant Blume, might be of importance here. When discussing the matter with Mr. Ferencz I assured myself that the Prosecution has no objections against this. Of course, we agree on it that when introducing the Document Blume No. 5, the Situation Reports mentioned in there be used in their full extent, and for that reason that every party concerned may refer to any part of the Situation Reports, not only to those parts and excerpts which I have mentioned as excerpts in the Document Blume No. 5.
I now ask the Tribunal to look at Document Blume No. 5 in the manner as I have offered it, and to accept it. The document is in Document Book I, pages 30 to 60.
The next Document, Blume No. 6, is the one of real interest. In it all the Situation Reports Nos. 8 to 73,-- everything is complied with in a clear manner which, on the one hand, the Prosecution and on the other hand the Defense - wants to prove concerning the defendant Blume. I ask the Tribunal to note the notes on page 61 of Document Book I. It will not be necessary, I presume, that I read these preliminary remarks into the record. It is particularly important to mention No. 4 of the preliminary remarks. This preliminary remark says that those parts of the reports of events which the Prosecution quoted as incriminating evidence against defendant Blume, in the Document Blume No. 6, are indicated with a blue line, and are numbered, 31 Oct 1947_A_MSD_17_3_Biolsi (Juelich) in blue, 0 to 6. The evidence of the Prosecution concerning these points is indicated with red figures, 1 to 6. I now ask the Tribunal to accept, Document Blume No. 6. It is in Document Book I, pages 61 to 86.
Q (By Dr. Lummert) Witness, I now come to my next question. The Prosecution has put it to you, that Sonde kommando 7-a killed Jewish and Communist party functionaries on 3 July in Vilna. This is Document No. No-4537, Exhibit 116, mentioned by the Prosecution in the English record pages 154 to 155, in the German page 160. The Quotation mentioned can be found by the Tribunal in the Document Blume No. 6 on page 3 at the bottom, Document Book page 63. It is indicated with a blue figure "1". Book in front of you?
Q Witness, what can you state about this charge? Minsk. My Sonderkommando 7-a could have carried out these shootings only on 1 or 2 July, but I can only testify again under oath that I did not order or carry out any such shootings in Vilna at the time. Only two explanations can be made to this report: Either there is a mixup with a report of Einsatzgruppe 9 which was in Vilna at the time -- the mixup may have happened through Nebe, who was in Berlin when the Situation Report can be explained in the following manner, and I think it is more probable: his superior, Heydrich, the Chief of the RSHA, and tried very hard to follow all his orders and to comply with them. For that reason he made these reports to Heydrich himself, and altered the reports of the subkommandos insofar as he thought it necessary in order to make a good impression in Berlin. Regierungsrat Ehlers told me about this. When I 31 Oct 1947_A_MSD_17_4_Biolsi (Juelich) returned to Germany in the middle of August via Smolensk, as I have already stated, at the time I had reported to Nebe from Vilna that Lithuanian national units already before the arrival of the German troops had shot Communists and Jews with Communist views.
Nebe probably wanted to report something positive about Vilna concerning executions by Sonderkommando 7-a, and for that reason simply said that my kommando had carried out the shootings in Lithuania --shootings of Communists and Jewish Communist functionaries. This was all imaginary. In any case, such an exception of party functionaries in Vilna I would certainly remember. They would have been the first functionaries of that kind whom we came across. We would have indicated them in detail, and I would have made a report about it. All this did not happen. Apart from that Vilna was a large city which was not destroyed. It had normal life so that shooting of people and getting rid of corpses would have been a difficult problem, the solution of which I certainly would still remember. I can only repeat, and certify again, that I and my Sonderkommando 7-a did not carry out any such shootings in Vilna.
Tribunal the figures in red, figure No. 1 in document Book Blume No. 6 on page 3, notes 3 and 5, document pages 62, 63 and 65. On page 62, it says:
"That attempts of anti-communists and anti-Jewish circles to clear themselves had been intensified." intensifying? shootings which the Lithuanians had carried out already before the arrival of the Germans, also about other police measures taken by us. The expression "intensify" is a typical Nebe expression.
Q May I return to document book No. 6, on page 63, the points indicated in I in red show that Einsatz Commando 9 was already in Vilna at the time and that Sonderkommando 7 a became free owing to the arrival of Einsatz Commando 9 in Minsk. Finally page 65 shows that the Einsatz Commando 9 already on the 29 of June moved on to Vilna, that is at the end of page 65. Einsatz Commando 9 at the latest must have arrived on the 30 of June or 31 July, that is about the same time when Sonderkommando 7a arrived. Therefore, one could only draw the conclusion that Einsatz Kommando 9 carried out executions of communists for this area in so far as Nebe has invented them. I now refer to document No. 2937, Exhibit 57 of the Prosecution, as mentioned in the English record on page 155 to 157 and in the German record on page 160-162. The Tribunal will find the quotation concerning the document Blume No. 6 on page 9, document No. page 69. It is indicated with a blue "two". Since the quotation concerns two different points I have noted 2a and 2b.
I first deal with point 2b because this point still concerns Vilna and I quote from the bottom of page 69:
"In Vilna the Einsatz Commando there liquidated 321 Jews up to the 8th of July." Witness, what do you say to this charge of the Prosecution? kommando 7a had nothing to do with these 321 shootings. I had left on the 3rd of July very early in the morning. I left Vilna on the 8th of July. I was already on my way between Minsk and Polosk. However, during those days and already since the end of June or since the first of July the Einsatz kommando 9 bad been in Vilna as the local Einsatz Commando there. This execution can, therefore, only have been carried out by Einsatz Commando 9. Tribunal's attention to the red figure "2b" in document Book Blume No. 6, on the pages 262-263-264-265-266-267 and also 71, 73, and 77. This shows that from the end of June until the end of July Einsatz Commando 9 was the local Einsatz Commando in Vilna. The case is so obvious that I believe the record will not have to contain any further details on this. I now come to point 2a and ask the Tribunal to open page 9 in document book Blume No. 6 again, that is document book 69.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Lummert, before we enter into this other discussion which I presume might take up some time I think it might be well to announce the recess. morning at nine-thirty o'clock.
(The Tribunal adjourned until 0930 hours November 4, 1947)
THE MARSHAL: Persons in the courtroom will please find their seats.
Military Tribunal II is now in session. God save the United States of America and this Honorable Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: For the information of all concerned, this Tribunal which has heretofore been known as Military Tribunal II-A is now Military Tribunal II, this designation, resulting from General Order No. 100, dated 12 September, 1947. The original Tribunal II having yesterday completed Case No. 4 and being dissolved, this heretofore Military Tribunal II-A will be and is now Military Tribunal II. All records and all reports will now carry the designation Military Tribunal II. You may proceed.
DIRECT EXAMINATION - (Continued)
DR. LUMMERT: Your Honor, last Friday I had asked the Witness Blume about his education and his professional training and about his professional career in addition, and after that I asked him about the activities during the seven weeks of his assignment in the East. At the end of this session on Friday I had arrived at a number of questions in accordance with the situation reports which the prosecution used as evidence material against the Defendant Blume.
May I make a short remark here? The interpreter interpreted the word "Ereignismeldung" with "situation report", whereas it should have been "operation report". This is what I would like to say. In my opinion, it is the only correct translation. It should report events.
The translation which is used in the document books themselves "operational situation report" is not quite correct. There is a mix-up between activity, "Tatigkeit zum Lagebericht" which is activity, and situation reports, which also are contained in some reports. These activity and situation reports were issued monthly, but the reports of events were issued daily. I would suggest that the word, "Ereignismeldung" or the term "Ereignismeldung" should be translated "reports of events".
On Friday I had arrived at Count II-A of the indictment. I would ask the Tribunal to look at Page 9 of Blume document, No. 6, which is in Document Book I, page 69. If the Tribunal will be so kind as to read a few lines which indicated in blue, II-A, then I will not read this into the record. This particular sentence is on Page 69 of Blume Document Book I, It is marked in blue II-A. It is a report of events of 13 July, and the prosecution has charged the Defendant Blume with having participated in the shooting of 1050 Jews in Minsk.
THE PRESIDENT: What do you attempt to establish by this explanation of II-A?
DR. LUMMERT: Your Honor, I intend to put a question to the Defendant Blume immediately in connection with this II-A, and I only want to explain this. I want to give a preliminary explanation. The charge of the prosecution is to the effect that the Defendant Blume had taken part in this shooting of 1050 Jews in Minsk, as well as in other daily executions. These executees had been taken from a civilian internment camp, which the Einsatzgruppe, so it says in this report, interrogated, together with the regular police. BY DR. LUMMERT:
Q Witness, what have you to say to this? by saying that Nebe talked to me on the 6th of July, in the afternoon, and that until that day I had never executed Jews, and that he gave the direct order to Obersturmfuehrer Foltes to carry out an execution the next morning as a retaliation measure against the burning of houses by Jews, and that he ordered me to report to him the carrying out of the execution.
It is not necessary that I repeat my previous testimony to that effect. In any case I certify and I confirm that I had nothing to do with this civilian internment camp and with other executions, that, as I say, I had nothing to do with them. On the 7th of July, after this execution, I proceeded from Minsk in the direction of Polosk. which are in Blume Document No. 6 on Pages 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, and 72 of the document book. I particularly want to draw the Tribunal's attention to the following points. On the bottom of Page 4, it is 64, Nebe reports about his arrival in Minsk on the 5th of July. On Page 66 in the center it shows that the staff of Einsatzgruppe B, which was at that time still called "C", had been in Minsk from the 6th of July. The other reports of events of the following pages show that the Einsatzgruppe B remained in Minsk. The reports of events of the 13th of July which were quoted and cited by the Prosecution on Page 69, blue II-A, speak expressly of the Einsatzgruppe. The Special Kommando 7-A, according to the wording of this report, is not concerned. Finally the execution, which was carried out by Foltes on the order of Nebe, is also mentioned. In the preceding report of the 12th of July, the sentences I mean are red II-A on Page 68. On Page 68 the burning of houses is mentioned, and it says there, I quote, "a number of Jews were liquidated". According to the last reports of the Einsatzgruppe B, wooden houses in the western part of Minsk were set afire. It is at the bottom of Page 68 until the top of Page 69. As the Defendant Blume left Minsk after the execution, in which, as he says himself, 50 to 60 people were shot, he has nothing to do with the further executions which took place. These executions were ordered by the Staff of Einsatzgruppe B, and Einsatzgruppe B made use of the Secret Police for the carrying out of the executions.
ed there a number of weeks. It also took over the carrying out of executions in Minsk. I shall come hack to this Blue 5b later on. This point also concerns the town of Minsk. The points 2a and 5b belong together. 117, which was mentioned by the prosecution. It is in the Bullish Book on page 175, in the German Book on page 162. The sentences that are concerned here are in Blume Document No. 6, page 13. This is no. 78. It is marked blue and it is marked 3. There it says that 27 Jews who had not appeared nor turned up for work were shot in the streets of Witebsk in order to deter other people, and than an extensive execution would be carried out. It is on page 78, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q. Witness, can you comment on this?
A. In my former testimony I have already declared that I ordered an execution at Witebsk by order of Nebe and I also gave details about this; especially, that I ordered Foltes to carry out the execution and that before the execution ever took place, he had, without my knowledge, shot a number of Jews in the streets of Witebsk, because they had not turned up for work. This operation on the part of Foltes is meant in this report when it says here that 27 Jews were shot who had not reported for work.
DR. LUMMERT: I would like to draw the attention of the Tribunal to the fact that the executions which were ordered by the Defendant Blume in Witebsk on the higher order of Nebe are not contained in the reports of events. Only the execution of the 27 Jews is mentioned, which Foltes carried out independently.
I now come to Document NO-2949. It is Exhibit No. 118. It is cited by the prosecution in the English Book, page 157, in the German, page 162. The quotation I am referring to is in Blume Document No. 6 on page 19. It is Document 79. It is marked in blue 4. There are thirty names of localities and villages, and it is said that executions were carried out in these villages.
Q. Witness, may I ask you, have you the Quotation here in front of you?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you participate in executions in these mentioned villages or localities?
A. I did not take part in any executions in any of the mentioned localities, with the exception of Witebsk. I have already given testimony referring to this.
Q. At the end of this page 79, it says that Einsatzgruppe D until the 31st of July, 1941, had carried out liquidations of 11,084 people. That is at the bottom of page 79. Witness, what have you to say as to the participation of Sonderkommando 7a and your own participation in the execution of this number of people?
A. The execution carried out by Foltes on orders of Nebe in Minsk concerns 50 to 60 persons; in Witebsk Foltes had these 27 people shot who had not reported for work. The execution ordered by myself on higher orders by Nebe concerned 80 people, about 80 people. I have already said this. If we add these numbers, there about 160. If I add a number of people, a few others which were shot in individual cases, as determined partisans or for sabotage acts, we arrive at the number for the Sonderkommando 7a, that is from July 1941, of about 156 to 170 executed people and I only participated myself in about half of these.
DR. LUMMERT: AS for this point Blue 4, I would like the Tribunal to note that in former reports of events, I have marked red 4 those villages which have been mentioned before these. This red 4 concerns only villages which were not on the record of Sonderkommando 7a. A part of these 30 villages do not appear in former reports of events.
I now come to Document NO-3847, Exhibit No. 58, in Prosecution Document Book, of the English, 157 to 158; in the German book -- I beg your pardon, in the German transcript 163.
This is the report of events of 29 of August. The Quotation is Blume Document No. 6. It is on page 22. It is Document 82. It is marked 5a and 5b, blue. I start with 5b. There it says that in Minsk another 650 people were liquidated in the course of the combine-out action in the civilian prisoners camp.
A. Witness, what can you comment on this?
A. I had nothing to do with this execution. I left Minsk on the 7th of July. This report is dated the 29th of August.
DR. LUMMERT: I think I only have to mention a few more details here. I refer to Red numbers 5b, Document Blume No. 6, page 73, 77, 80, 83 and 84 of the Document Book. Furthermore, I refer to the testimony of the witness and what I said myself concerning this point 2a which also concerns the town of Minsk. I have already mentioned that Einsatzkommando 8 arrived in Minsk in the middle of July and remained there for a number of weeks, as the red numbers indicate, the red numbers 5b, at least, to the end of August, that also in Witebsk the executions of the Jewish intelligentsia were continued.
Q. Witness, what have you to say to this?
A. I have already given testimony as to the executions of Special Kommando 7a in Witebsk. It was the only execution which was ordered by myself on order of Nebe. It took place on the 19th or 20th of July. At the same time I moved and left Witebsk and proceeded in the direction of Smolensk. I had nothing to do with the further executions in Witebsk.
Q. I may refer again to Red Numbers 5a on page 22 and 24 of Blume Document No. 6. It is on page 82 and 84 of the Document Book. They show quite clearly that at that time the Einsatzkommando 9 was stationed in Witebsk. Sonderkommando 7a, however, had left Witebsk five or six weeks before. Finally, I come to Document 2844, which is Exhibit No. 61. It is cited by the prosecution in the English records, page 159 and in German 164.
The quotation I refer to is in Blume Document No. 6 on pages 24 and 25, document book 84 and 85. It is marked Blume 6. Here the total figures are mentioned for Einsatzgruppe D from 20 August 1941, the total executions, that is. The Vorkommando 7a has a figure of 996. Witness, what is your explanation of this figure?
A. For the period until the end of July 1941, I estimate the number of executions carried out by Sonderkommando 7a, according to my best knowledge, at from 156 or 170, as I have already said.
Q. 156 up to 165 --- to 170?
A. If I add for the first event of August until I left Baklanova and went back to Germany, if I add, as I say 10 to 15 people which were executed as determined partisans or arrested saboteurs, and, if furthermore, I include the shooting of 50 to 60 people which Foltes carried out without my knowledge in the first part of August in Welisch, I arrive at a figure of about 230 to 240 people. There are no more. The number 996 I can only explain by the fact that Nebe intentionally gave a wrong and excessive figure, because he did not dare to report that low number to the office in Berlin. I refer to what I have already said about the incorrect way of reporting on the part of Nebe.
DR. LUMMERT: I would like to draw the Tribunal's attention to the fact that the Special Kommando 7a in this report for the first and only time has been called Vorkommando, that is Advance Kommando 7a, or Van Kommando. The figure 996, apparently, even was too low for Nebe and he wanted to invent an execution and he called therefore the Sonderkommando 7a, he called that a Vorkaommando, an advance Kommando. He did the same, as a matter of fact, concerning the Special Kommando 7b. the fact, although it is not a very important point, that the figure 996 covers the period until the 20th of August. Of course, while the Defendant Blume had already given up the command of the Sonderkommando 7a on the 16th or 17th ofAugust and had already left. He had turned it over to Foltes; as the witness has already said, Foltes was very active , and very ruthless, and very brutal; and it is very possible that after the Defendant Blume had been transferred, he added to the figures of executions.
Before I leave the Blume Document No. 6 I would like to draw the Tribunal's attention to the following points. On page 10 of the Blume Document No. 6, it is page 70 of the Document Book, first just underneath the actual center of the page, Nebe reports in the report of the 13th of July, that is NO-2937, I quote:
"In Grodno and Lida, first of all, during the first days only 96 Jews were executed. I gave orders that considerable intensification was to take place there. The activity of all kommandos developed in a satisfactory manner. Above all , liquidations were brought into smooth running order and are being carried out daily at an increased rate. Anyway, the carrying out of the necessary liquidations is guaranteed under any circumstances. " Here we find the favorite word of Nebe, which is "intensification" and he says that in the carrying out of the necessary liquidations, he can guarantee it under any circumstances.
This corresponds to the fact that a few days before this report he forced an execution in Minsk, which Foltes carried out according to the order and which furthermore corresponds to the fact that a few days after the report of the 13th of July, this teletype message to the Defendant Blume forced this execution at Witebsk, which the Defendant Blume has already mentioned.
I now ask the Tribunal to go to the next-to-the-last page. It is page 72 of the Document Book below the center of the page, and it says in the report of the 23rd of July, Iquote: "The town Polosk had been systematically set on fire; all Party and administration buildings are completely destroyed; hardly any population is left. The Einsatzkommando therefore proceeded to Witebsk." That is the end of my quotation. one day in Polosk and left for Witebsk immediately, in order not to be put in the position of having to carry out an execution in Polosk, and that he signed a corresponding report to Nebe from Witebsk, which was slightly exaggerated. The Tribunal will remember that the witness stated that he believed he could justify this small exaggeration and that he could reconcile it completely with his soldier's attitude.
This report of events of the 23rd of July, which I have here is mirrored in the report of the Defendant Blume. again. That is page 74 of the Document Book. There it says that it quotes the same report of the 23rd of July. It is about the center of the page. That is 74. I quote; "The solution of the Jewish problem during the war would, apparently, be impracticable, as , in view of the huge number of Jews, it could only be achieved by a large-scale expatriation. However, measures have been taken by Einsatzgruppe B, whereever it has taken up its work so far. " That is the end of my quotation. temporary measures on assigning Jews to labor, or at least measures which were recommended. The defendant Blume has stated that from Witebsk he sent a report to Nebe concerning the Jewish question in White Ruthenia, in which he tried to effect a change in the actual Fuehrer Order. Nebe compiled his report from this, and it was contained in his reports to Berlin. This becomes evident from the report of events of the 23rd of July, which I just quoted and which I have just summarized. The report of events of the following day, that is, the 24th of July, presents this report again as a special supplement. Book and I quote from the lower part of the page. "In the appendix please find the report of Einsatzgruppe B concerning the Jewish question in the White Ruthenia Settlement Area. " That is the end of my quotation. interesting. I quote from the center of page 76: "From the District of Witebsk Sonderkommando 7b reports in addition that most of the farmers on the collective farms are not working , as they are fighting for directives and instructions. If the peasants are not ruled and if no further directives are issued I think there is a danger of a large part of the harvest being lost.
The Army Group has been urgently requested that the Commissioner for the camp economics issue a directive at this time and approve the dissemination of leaflets by airplanes ." This statement again is based on a report by the Defendant Blume. Last friday, the Defendant Blume talked about his administrative activities at the Loswitha Lake, which was not far from Witebsk and Smolensk, and he mentioned that he had leaflets distributed by air and had other measures taken for sake of the harvest.
If this report speaks of Sonderkommando 7-b it is a mistake. It should read 7a. Special Kommando 7-b never operated in the region beyond Witebsk, but only south of the Dniepr River. It becomes evident from the report of events. This obvious mistake is an example that the reports of events are not always reliable.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Lummert, you say the witness testified to leaflet bombing. I confess to not recalling any such statement by the witness.
DR. LUMMERT: Your Honor, I remember that the witness mentioned this on Friday.
THE PRESIDENT: That he used airplanes to drop leaflets on the population?
DR. LUMMERT: Yes, your Honor. The witness stated that he caused the Army Group to throw leaflet bombs by which the population was requested to continue with harvesting work.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well. I think we do now recall it.
DR. LUMMERT: We can now leave Blume document No. 6, and in addition, and as a supplement, I offer Blume Document No. 7 excerpts from the German Army reports of the summer of 1941. They come from the newspaper Voelkischer Beobachter. The purpose of this document is merely to show when the three towns, Wilan, Witebsk and Smolensk fell into German hands: Wila, on the 24th of June; Witebsk on the 11th of July; and Smolensk on the 16th of July 1941. Furthermore, the excerpts show, as far as the town Polosk is concerned, that the fighting in this area took place on the 10th and 11th of July. This shows, and confirms, the statement of the defendant Blume. I would like to have the witness Blume testify to two documents which have been submitted by the Prosecution as evidence against him.
The first is an affidavit of the defendant Steimle. It is in Document B ook III-D of the Prosecution, in the English page 39, in the German 64. Document NO-3842, Exhibit No. 119. The Prosecution has the document in the English record, page 158, in the German 163.