On 9 June, 1941, the order of the Fuehrer went out for final re-
ports on Barbarossa to be made in Berlin on 14 June, 1941, which was just 8 days before "D-Day". This order is signed by Hitler's Adjutant, Schmundt, and is C-78 in our numbered series of documents.
I read from page one the matter under the heading "Conference 'Barbarossa.'" "1. The fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces have ordered reports on 'Barbarossa' by the commanders "2. The reports will be made on Saturday, 14 June, 1941, at "3. Time Table.
a) 11.00 hrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Silver Fox"
b) 12.00 hrs - 14 hrs . . . . . . . . . . Army Group South
c) 14.00 hrs. - 15.30 hrs. . . . . . . . . Lunch party for
d) From 15.30 hrs. . . . . . . . . . . . . Baltic, Army Group "Center" in this order."
will report, which I shall not read. The list includes, however, a large number of the members of the Defendant High Command and General Staff Group, as of that date. Among those to participate were, of course, the Defendants, Goering, Keitel, Jodl and Raeder. more than sufficient to establish conclusively the premeditation and coldblooded calculation which marked the military preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Starting almost a full year before the commission of the crime, the Nazi conspirators planned and prepared every military detail of their aggression against the Soviet Union with all of that thoroughness and meticulousness which has come to be associated with the German character. Although several of these defendants played specific parts in this military phase of the planning and preparation for the attack, it is natural enough that the leading roles were performed, as we have seen, by the military figures - the Defendants Goering, Keitel, Jodl and Raeder. and spoliation of the Soviet Union. military standpoint, but equally elaborate and detailed planning and preparation was undertaken by the Nazi conspirators to insure that their aggression would prove economically profitable.
motives which led these conspirators to attack, with provocation, a neighboring power. I shall, at that time, show that the crime was motivated by both political and economic considerations. The economic basis, however, may be simply summarized at this point as the greed of the Nazi, conspirators for the raw material, food and other supplies which their neighbor possessed, and which they conceived of themselves as needing for the maintenance of their war machine. To these defendants, a need was translated as a right, and they early began planning and preparing with typical care and detail to insure that every bit of the plunder, which it would be possible to reap in the course of their aggression, would be exploited to their utmost benefit. August of 1940, General Thomas, the Chief of the B Group Army, received a hint from the Defendant Goering about a possible attack on the U.S.S.R. which prompted him to begin considering the Soviet war economy. I also said at that time that I would later introduce evidence that in November 1940 8 months before the attack - Thomas was categorically informed by Goering of the planned operation in the East, and preliminary preparations were commenced for the economic plundering of the territories to be occupied in the course of such operation. Goering, of course, played the overall leading role in this activity, by virtue of his position at the head of the Four Year Plan. at page 369 of his draft, which is our Document 2353-PS, introduced earlier as USA Exhibit No. 35; the part I will read is at pages 10 and 11 of the English translation.
"In November 1940, the Chief of Wi. Rue, together with Secretaries of State Korner, Neumann, Backe and General von Hanneken were informed by the Reichmarshal of the action planned in the East.
"By reason of these directives the preliminary preparations for the action in the East were commenced by the office of Wi. Rue at the end of 1940.
"The preliminary preparations for the action in the East included first of all the following tasks:
"1. Obtaining of a detailed survey of the Russian armament industry, its location, its capacity and its associate industries.
"2. Investigation of the capacity of the different big armament centers and their dependency one on the other.
"3. Determine the power and transport system for the industry of the Soviet Union.
"4. Investigation of sources of raw materials and petroleum (crude oil).
"5. Preparation of a survey of industries other than armament industries in the Soviet Union.
"These points were concentrated in one big compilation 'War Economy of the Soviet Union and illustrated with detailed maps, etc."
I am still quoting: "Furthermore a card index was made, containing all the important factories in Soviet Russia and a lexicon of economy in the German-Russian language for the use of the German war economy organization.
"For the processing of these problems a task staff, Russia, was created, first in charge of Lt. Col. Luther and later on in charge of Brigadier General Schuberth. The work was carried out according to the directives from the chief of the office, respectively" -- I suppose -- "the group of departments for foreign territories (Ausland) with the cooperation of all departments, economy offices and any other persons possessing information on Russia.
Through these intensive preparative activities an excellent collection of material was made, which proved of the utmost value later on for carrying out the operations and for administering the territories." That ends the quotation. proceeded to a point where a broader plan of organization was needed, and so General Thomas held a conference with his subordinates on 28 February 1941 to call for such a plan. A memorandum of this conference, classified "Top Secret" and dated 1 March 1941 was captured, and is our Document 1317-PS. I now offer it in evidence as US Exhibit 140. The text of this memorandum reads as follows:
"The general ordered that a broader plan of organization be drafted for the Reich Marshal.
"Essential Points:
"1. The whole organization to be subordinate to the Reich Marshal. Purpose: Support and extension of the measures of the four-year plan.
"2. The organization must include everything concerning war economy, excepting only food, which is said to be made already a special mission of State Secretary Backe.
"3. Clear statement that the organization is to be independent of the military or civil administration. Close coordination, but instructions direct from the central office in Berlin.
"4 Scope of activities to be divided in two steps:
a) Accompanying the advancing troops directly behind the front lines, in order to avoid the destruction of supplies and to secure the removal of important goods.
b) Administration of the occupied industrial districts and exploitation of economically complementary districts."
And then, on the bottom of page 1:
"5. In view of the extended field of activity, the term 'war economy inspection' is to be used preferably, instead of armament inspection.
"6. In view of the great field of activity, the organization must be generously equipped and personnel must be correspondingly numerous. The main mission of the organization will consist of seizing raw materials and taking over all important concerns. For the latter mission reliable persons from German concerns will be interposed suitably from the beginning, since successful operation from the beginning can only be performed by the aid of their expedience. (For example, lignite, are, chemistry, petroleum).
"After the discussion of further details, Lt. Col. Luther was instructed to make an initial draft of such an organization within a week.
"Close cooperation with the individual sections in the building is essential. An officer must still be appointed for the Wi. and Ro, with whom the operational staff can remain in constant contact. Wi is to give each section chief and Lt. Col. Luther a copy of the new plan regarding Russia.
"Major General Schubert is to be asked to be in Berlin the second half of next week. Also, the 4 officers who are ordered to draw up the individual armaments inspection are to report to the office Chief at the end of the week.
"Signed, "Hamann."
as a Captain and apparently the junior officer present, so presumably it fell naturally enough to Hamann to prepare the notes on the Conference. was organizing at the direction of Goering was clearly recognized by Keitel in his operational order of 13 March 1941. This order is No. 447-PS, and I have already offered it in evidence earlier as Exhibit USA 135.
At that time I quoted the paragraph in the order in which it was stated that the Fuehrer had entrusted the uniform direction of the administration of economy in the area of operation and political administration to the Reich Marshal who, in turn, had delegated his authority to the Chief of the Wi. Rue. Amt. meeting on 28 February apparently proceeded apace, and on 29 April 1941 a conference was held with various branches of the armed forces to explain the organizational setup of the economic staff Oldenburg. Oldenburg was the code name given to this economic counterpart of plan Barbarossa. A report of this conference is captured Document No. 1157-PS, and I now offer it in evidence as Exhibit USA 141. Section 1 of this memorandum deals with the general organization of Economic Staff Oldenburg as it had developed by this time, and I should like to read most of that section into the record. The report begins:
"Conference with the Branches of the Armed Forces at 1000 hours on 29th April 1941.
"Purpose of meeting: Introduction to the organizational structure of the economic sector of this action.
"As already known, the Fuehrer, contrary to previous procedure, has ordered for this drive the uniform concentration in one hand of all economic operations and has entrusted the Reich Marshal with the overall direction of the economic administration in the area of operations and in the areas under political administration.
"The Reich Marshal has delegated this function to an economic general staff working under the director of the industrial armament office (Chief Wi Rue Amt.)
"Under the Reich Marshal and the economic general staff, the supreme central authority in the area of the drive itself is the" -
and then a heading -
"Economic Staff Oldenburg for special duties under the command of Major General Schubert.
"His subordinate authorities, geographically subdivided, are:
"These offices are used in the military rear area. The idea is that in the territory of each army group an economic inspectorate is to be established at the seat of the commander of the military rear area, and that this inspectorate will supervise the economic exploitation of the territory.
"A distinction must be made between the military rear area on the one hand, and the battle area proper and the rear area of the army on the other hand. In the last economic matters are dealt with by the IV Econ (IV Wi) of the army headquarters command, that is, the laison officer of the industrial armament office within the supreme command of the armed forces at the army headquarters command. For the battle area, he has attached to him technical battalions, reconnaissance and recovery troops far raw materials, mineral oil, agricultural machinery, in particular tractors and means of production.
"In the territory between the battle and the military rear area, the rear area of the army, group IV Econs at the various field commands are placed at the disposal of the liaison officer of the industrial armaments office in order to support the army headquarters commands specialists responsible for supplying the troops from the country's resources and preparing the subsequent general economic exloitation.
"While these units move with the troops, economic inspectorates, economic commands and their sub-offices remain established in the locality.
"The new feature inherent in the organization under the command of the Economic Staff Oldenburg is that it does not only deal with military industry, but comprises the entire economic field. Consequently, all offices are no longer to be designated as offices of the military industries or armaments, but quite generally as economic inspectorates, economic commands, etc.
"This also corresponds with the internal organization of the individual offices which, from the Economic Staff Oldenburg down to the economic commands, requires a standard sub-division into three large groups, i.e.
"Group M, dealing with troop requirements, armaments, industrial transport organization;
"Group L, which concerns itself with all questions of feeding and agriculture, and "Group W, which is in charge of the entire field of trade and industry, including raw materials and supplies; further, questions of forestry, finance and banking, enemy property, commerce and exchange of commodities, and manpower allocation.
"Secretary of State Backe is appointed Commissioner for Food and Agriculture in the General Staff; the problems falling within the field of activities of Group W are dealt with by General von Hanneken."
personnel and planning problems, and similar details, which I think it unnecessary to put into the record. with which these Nazis prepared months in advance to rob and loot their intended victim. They show that the conspirators not only planned to stage a wanton attack on a neighbor they had pledged to security, but that they also intended to strip that neighbor of its food, its factories, and all its means of livelihood. question of motivation, these men made their plans for plunder being fully aware that to carry them out would necessarily involve ruin and starvation for millions of the inhabitants of the Soviet Union.
THE PRESIDENT: This would be a good time to adjourn.
(A recess was taken from 1120 to 1130 hours.)
DR. DIX: I beg your pardon. We ask the Court to be excused. Through some error, we couldn't come in here.
MR. ALDERMAN: May the Tribunal please, I have been informed by the interpreters that I have been speaking at a great speed this morning, so I shall try to temper the speed. political phase of the aggression. As I have already indicated and as I shall develop more fully later in this discussion, there were both economic and political reasons motivating the action of the conspirators in invading the Soviet Union. I have already discussed the extent of the planning and preparations for the economic side of the aggression. Equally elaborate planning and preparation was engaged in by the conspirators to ensure the effectuation of the political aims of their aggression. It is, I believe, sufficient at this point to describe that political aim as the elimination of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a powerful political factor in Europe and the acquisition of lebensraum.
as their agent the defendant Rosenberg. As early as the second of April 1941 Rosenberg or a member of his staff prepared a memorandum on the USSR. This memorandum considers what the political goal of such occupation should be and suggests ways for reaching such a goal.
The memorandum is No. 1017 PS in our series, and I offer it in evidence now as Exhibit No. 142 USA. subject, "The USSR":
"A military conflict with the USSR, will result in an extraordinarily rapid occupation of an important and large section of the USSR. It is very probable that military action on our part will very soon be followed by the military collapse of the USSR. The occupation of these areas would then present not so many military as administrative and economic difficulties. Thus arises the first question:
"Is the occupation to be determined by purely military and/or economic needs, or is the laying of political foundations for a future organization of the area also a factor in determining how far the occupation shall be extended? If so, it is a matter of urgency to fix the political goal which is to be attained, for it will, without doubt, also have an effect on military operations.
"If the political overthrow of the Eastern Empire, in the weak condition it would be at the time, is set as the goal of military operations, one may conclude that:
"1) The occupation must comprise areas of vast proportions;
"2) From the very beginning, the treatment of individual sections of territory should, as regards administration, as well as economics and ideology, be adapted to the political ends we are striving to attain.
"3) Again, extraordinary questions concerning these vast areas, such as, in particular, the ensuring of essential supplies for the continuation of the war against England, the maintenance of production which this necessitates and the great directives for the completely separate areas, should best be dealt with all together in one place.
"It should again be stressed here that, in addition, all the arguments which follow of course only hold good once the supplies from the area to be occupied, which are essential to Greater Germany for the continuance of the war, have been assured.
"Anyone who knows the East, sees in a map of Russia's population the following national or geographical units:
"(a) Greater Russia with Moscow as its center.
"(b) White Russia with Minsk or Smolensk as its capital.
"(c) Esthonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
"(d) The Ukraine, Latvia, and Lithuania.
"(e) The Don area with Rostov as its capital.
"(f) The area of the Caucasus.
"(g) Russian Central Asia or Russian Turkestan." geographical units lists in some detail, and I shall not read those pages. and briefly outlines his plan. I should like to read that portion into the record. It is at the bottom of Page 4 of the English translation under the heading "Summary":"The following systematic constructional plan is evolved from the points briefly outlined here:
"(1) the creation of a central department for the occupied areas of the USSR, to be fonfined more or less to war time.
"Working in agreement with the higher and supreme Reich authorities, it would be the task of this department-
"(a) to issue binding political instructions to the separate administration areas, having in mind the situation existing at the time and the goal which is to be achieved.
"(b) to secure for the Reich supplies essential to the war from all the occupied areas.
"(c) to make preparations for, and to supervise the carrying out, in main outline, of the primarily important questions for all areas, as for instance, those of finance and funds, transport, and the production of oil, coal and food:
"(2) the carrying out of sharply defined decentralization in the separate administration areas, grouped together by race or by reason of political economy, for the carrying out of the totally dissimilar tasks assigned to them.
"As against this, an administrative department, regulating matters in principle, and to be set up on a purely economic basis, as is at present envisaged, might very soon prove to be inadequate, and fail in its purpose. Such a central office would be compelled to carry out a common policy for all areas, dictated only by economic considerations, and this might impede the carrying out of the political task and, in view of its being run on purely bureaucratic lines, might possibly even prevent it.
"The question therefore arises, whether the opinions which have been set forth should not, purely for reasons of expediency, be taken into consideration from the very beginning when organizing the administration of the territory on a basis of war economy. In view of the vast spaces and the difficulties of administration which arise from that alone, and also in view of the living conditions created by Bolshevism, which are totally different from those of Western Europe, the whole question of the USSR would require different treatment from that which has been applied in the individual countries of Western Europe."
JUSTICE BIDDLE: Is that signed?
MR. ALDERMAN: No, sir, it is not signed.
JUSTICE BIDDLE: Is it in the defendant Rosenburg's handwriting?
MR ALDERMAN: It was in the Rosenberg file.
JUSTICE BIDDLE: Is there anything to indicate that he wrote it?
MR. ALDERMAN: No. I said it was evidently prepared by Rosenberg or under his authority. We captured the whole Rosenberg file, which constitutes really, a large library.
It is evident that the "presently envisaged administration operating ona purely economic basis" to which the memorandum objects was the Economic Staff Oldenburg, which I have already described as having been set up under Goering and General Thomas.
Rosenberg's statement, if this be his statement, of the political purpose of the invasion and his analysis of the achieving of it, apparently did not fall on deaf ears. By a Fuehrer order, dated 20 April 1941, Rosenburg was name Commissioner for the Central Control of Questions Connected with the East European Region. This order is part of the correspondence file regarding Rosenburg's appointment, which has been given the Number 865 PS in out series. I ask that this file, all relating to the same subject, and consisting of four letters, all of which I shall read or refer to, be admitted in evidence as Exhibit USA 143.
The order itself reads as follows: It is the first item on the English translation of 865 PS:
"I name Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenburg as my Commissioner for the central control of questions connected with the East - European Region.
"An office, which is to be established in accordance with his orders, is a the disposal of Reichsleiter Rosenburg for the carrying out of the duties there by entrusted to him.
"The necessary money for this office is to be taken out of the Reich Chancellory treasury in a lump sum.
"Fuehrer's Headquarters, 20th April 1941. The Fuehrer /signed/ Adolf Hitler. Reich Minister and Head of Reich Chancellory /signed/ Dr. Lammers."
This particular copy of the Fuehrer's order was enclosed in a letter which Dr. Lanmers wrote to the defendant Keitel requesting his cooperation for Rosenberg and asking that Keitel appoint a deputy to work with Rosenberg. This letter reads as follows: It is on the stationery of The Reich Minister and the Head of the Reich Chancellory, Berlin, 21 April, 1941. I omit the salutation.
"Herewith I am sending you a copy of the Fuehrer's Decree by which the Fuehrer appointed Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg as his Commissioner for the central control connected with the East European Region. In this capacity Reichsleiter Rosenberg is to make the necessary preparations for the probable emergency with all speed. The Fuehrer wishes that Rosenberg shall be authorized for this purpose to obtain the closest cooperation of the highest Reich authorities, receive information from them, and summon the representatives of the Highest Reich Authorities to conferences. In order to guarantee the necessary secrecy of the commission and the measures to be undertaken, for the time being only those of the highest Reich Authorities should be informed on whose cooperation Reichsleiter Rosenberg will primarily depend. These are: The Commissioner for the Four YearPlan"--that is Goering--"the Reichs Minister of Economies and you yourself--" that is Keitel.
"Therefore, may I ask you, in accordance with the Fuehrer's wishes, to place your cooperation at the disposal of the Reichsleiter Rosenberg in the carrying out of the task imposed upon him.
"It is recommended in the interests of secrecy that you name a representative in your office with whom the office of the Reichsleiter can communicate and who in addition to your usual deputy should be the only one to whom you should communicate the contents of this letter.
"I should be obliged if you would acknowledge the receipt of this letter.
"Heil Hitler, Yours very sincerely, /signed/ Dr. Lammers.
of his letter and telling of his compliance with the request. Keitel also writes Rosenberg telling him of the action he has taken. Now, the letter to Dr. Lammers I shall read the text of:
"Dear Reich Minister:
"I acknowledge receipt of the copy of the Fuehrer's Decree in which the Fuehrer appointed Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg as his Commissioner for the central control of questions connected with the East European Region. I have named General of the Artillery Jodl, Head of the Armed Forces Operational Staff, as my permanent deputy, and Major General Warlimont as his Deputy."
And the letter to Reichsleiter Rosenberg on the same date:
"Dear Reichsleiter:
"The Head of the Reich Chancellory has sent me a copy of the Fuehrer's Decree, by which he has appointed you his Commissioner for the central control of questions connected with the East European Region. I have charged General of the Artillery Jodl, Head of the Armed Forces Operational Staff and his Deputy, Major General Warlimont, with the solving of these questions, as far as they concern the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. Now I ask you, as far as your office is concerned, to deal with him only." building his organization, conferring with the various ministries, issuing his instructions and generally making the detailed plans and preparations necessary to carry out his assigned mission. Although Rosenberg's files, which were captured intact, were crowded with documents evidencing both the extent of the preparation and its purpose, I believe that the citation of a small number which are typical should be sufficient for the Tribunal and the record. All of those I shall now discuss were found in the Defendant Rosenberg's files.
entitled "General Instructions for all Reichkommissars in the occupied Eastern Territories." I offer that in evidence as Exhibit USA 144. outlines clearly the political aims and purposes of the attack. In the second two paragraphs of the English translation, which appear on Page 2 of the German, the following remarks appear:
"The only political goal of war can be the aim to free the German Reich from the 'grossrussisch' pressure for centuries to come. This does not only correspond with German interests, but also with historical justice, for Russian Imperialism was in a position to accomplish its policy of conquest and oppression almost unopposed, whilst it threatened Germany again and again. Therefore, the German Reich has to beware of starting a campaign against Russia with a historical injustice, meaning the reconstruction of a Great Russian Empire, no matter of what kind. On the contrary, all historical struggles of the various nationalities against Moscow and Petersburg have to be scrutinized for their bearing on the situation today. This has been done on the part of the National Socialist movement to correspond to the Leader's political testament as laid down in his book, that now the military and political threat from the East shall be eliminated forever.
'Therefore this huge area must be divided according to its historical and racial conditions into Reichskommissariats, each of which bears within itself a different political aim. The Reich Kommissariat Eastland (Ostland), including White Ruthenia, will have the task to prepare, by way of development into a Germanized Protectorate, a progressively closer cohesion with Germany. The Ukraine shall become an independent state in alliance with Germany and Caucasia with the contiguous Northern Territories a Federal State with a German plenipotentiary. Russia proper must put her own house in order for the future. These general viewpoints are explained in the following instructions for each Reich Kommissar.
Beyond that there are still a few general considerations which possess validity for all Reich Kommissars." German, presents a fascinating rationalization of a contemplated robbery. It reads:
"The German people has achieved, in the course of centuries, tremendous accomplishments in the Eastern European area. Nearly its entire real estate property was confiscated without indemnification; hundreds of thousands (in the South, on the Volga) starved or were deported, or, like in the Baltic territories, were cheated out of the fruits of their cultural work during the past 700 years. The German Reich will now have to proclaim the principle, that after the occupation of the Eastern Territories, the former German assets have become property of the people of Greater Germany, irrespective of the consent of the former individual proprietors where the German Reich may reserve the right (assuming that it has not already been done during resettlement) to arrange a just settlement. The manner be subject to different treatment by each Reich Kommissariat."
Document No. 1029-PS in our series is an "Instruction for a Reich Kommissar in the Baltic Countries and White Russia."
It is I offer this document in evidence as Exhibit USA 145.
I should It begins:
"All the regions between Narva and Tilsit have "The aim of a Reich Kommisar for Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania and White Russia"--last words added in pencil--"must be to strive banishing undesirable elements.
The Baltic Sea must become a "For certain cattle-raising products the Baltic region was a to increase it.
With regard to the process of germanizing or be considered as a kindred nation.
In Latvia the section capable of being assimilated is considerably smaller than in Esthonia.
In banishment on a larger scale will have to be envisaged.
A similar very intensive germanization (on the East Prussian border).""The task of a Reich Kommissar with his seat of office in Riga will therefore largely be an extraordinarily positive one.