Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

“‘At this moment Germany commands the richest granaries that
ever existed in the European area, stretching from the Atlantic
to the Volga and the Caucasus, lands more highly developed and
fruitful than ever before, even if a few of them cannot be
described as granaries. I need only remind you of the fabulous
fertility of the Netherlands, the unique paradise that is
France. Belgium too is extraordinarily fruitful and so is the
province of Posen. Then, above all, the Government General has
to a great extent the rye and wheat granary of Europe, and along
with it the amazingly fertile districts of Lemberg (Lvov) and
Galicia, where the harvest is exceptionally good. Then there
comes Russia, the black earth of the Ukraine on both shores of
the Dnieper, the Don region, with its remarkably fertile
districts which have scarcely been destroyed. Our troops have
now occupied, or are in process of occupying, the excessively
fertile districts between the Don and the Caucasus.’”

Göring then goes on to say:

“‘God knows, you are not sent out there to work for the welfare
of the people in your charge but to squeeze the utmost out of
them, so that the German people may live. That is what I expect
of your exertions. This everlasting concern about foreign
peoples must cease now, once and for all.

“‘I have here before me reports on what you expect to be able to
deliver. It is nothing at all when I consider your territories.
It makes no difference to me if you say that your people are
starving.

“‘One thing I shall certainly do. I will make you deliver the
quantities asked of you; and if you cannot do so, I will set
forces to work that will force you to do so whether you want to
or not.

“‘The wealth of Holland lies close to the Ruhr. It could send a
much greater quantity of vegetables into this stricken area now
than it has done so far. What do I care what the Dutchmen think
of it.

“‘The only people in whom I am interested in the occupied
territories are those who work to provide armaments and food
supplies. They must receive just enough to enable them to
continue working. It is all one to me whether Dutchmen are
Germanic or not. They are only all the greater blockheads if
they are; and more important persons than they have shown in the
past how Germanic numskulls sometimes have to be treated. Even
if you receive abuses from every quarter, you will have acted
rightly, for it is the Reich alone that counts.’”

And now I come to the next excerpt:

“‘I am still discussing the western territories. Belgium has
taken care of herself extraordinarily well. That was very
sensible of Belgium. But there, too, gentlemen, rage incarnate
could seize me. If every plot of ground in Belgium is planted
with vegetables, then they must surely have had vegetable seed.
When Germany wanted to start a big campaign last year for
utilizing uncultivated land, we did not have nearly as much seed
as we needed. Neither Holland nor Belgium nor France have
delivered it, although I myself was able to count 170 sacks of
vegetable seed on a single street in Paris. It is all very well
for the French to plant vegetables for themselves. They are
accustomed to doing this. But, gentlemen, these people are all
our enemies and you will not win over any of them by humane
measures. The people are polite to us now because they have to
be polite. But let the English once force their way in and then
you will see the real face of the Frenchman. The same Frenchman
who dines with you and in turn invites you to dine with him will
at once make it plain to you that the Frenchman is a
German-hater. That is the situation, and we do not want to see
it any other way than it is.

“‘It is a matter of indifference to me how many courses are
served every day at the table of the Belgian king. The king is a
prisoner of war; and if he is not treated as such, I will see to
it that he is taken to some other place where this can be made
clear to him. I am really fed up with the business.

“‘I have forgotten one country because nothing is to be had
there except fish; that is Norway.

“‘With regard to France, I say that it is still not cultivated
to the greatest possible extent. France can be cultivated in a
very different way if the peasants there are forced to work in a
different manner. Secondly, inside France itself the population
is gorging itself to a scandalous degree. . . .

“‘Besides, Heaven help a German car parked outside a French
tavern in Paris! it is reported. But a whole row of French
gasoline-driven vehicles parked there doesn’t bother anyone.

“‘I would say nothing at all, on the contrary, I would not think
much of you if we didn’t have a marvelous restaurant in Paris
where we could get the best food obtainable. But I do not want
the French to be able to saunter into it. Maxim must have the
best food for us.’”

Mr. President, I see one of the German Defense Counsel wishes to take the floor. I shall, therefore, give him an opportunity to do so.

DR. ALFRED THOMA (Counsel for Defendant Rosenberg): Mr. President, I have only a short question.

The prosecutor has not told us where this document can be found, in which document book and what number it has. He mentioned only the page on which the Court can find that document.

MR. COUNSELLOR SHENIN: This document was presented to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-170. The photostatic copy was turned over to Defense Counsel.

May I continue, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: It comes from the archives of the Defendant Göring, does it not? You have so stated.

MR. COUNSELLOR SHENIN: Yes.

“‘For German officers and men three or four first-class
restaurants—excellent, but not for the French.’”

I quote the next excerpt:

“‘Furthermore, you should be like bloodhounds on the track of
anything the German people can use; that stuff should be brought
here out of the warehouses like lightning. Whenever I issued a
decree, I stated repeatedly that soldiers are entitled to buy as
much as they want and whatever they want, as much as they can
carry. . . .

“‘Now you will say—Laval’s foreign policy. Herr Laval calms
down Herr Abetz and as far as I am concerned, may go to Maxim’s,
although it is out of bounds. But the French will soon have to
learn. You have no idea of the impudence they have. When our
friends hear that a German is interested they charge fantastic
prices. They charge three times the normal price and if they
hear that the Reich Marshal is in the market, they charge five
times the normal price. I wanted to buy a tapestry. Two million
francs was asked. The woman was told that the buyer wanted to
see the tapestry. She said she did not wish to let it out of her
sight. Well, then she would have to go with it. She was told
that she was going to see the Reich Marshal. When she arrived
the tapestry was priced at 3 million francs. I reported it. Do
you think anything was done? I submitted the case to the French
court and they taught milady that it is inadvisable to profiteer
when dealing with me.

“‘All that interests me is what we can squeeze out of the
territory now under our control with the utmost application and
by straining every nerve; and how much of that can be diverted
to Germany. I don’t give a damn about import and export
statistics of former years.

“‘Now, regarding shipments to the Reich. Last year France
shipped 550,000 tons of grain, and now I demand 1.2 million
tons. Two weeks from now a plan will be submitted for handling
it. There will be no more discussion about it. What happens to
the Frenchmen is of no importance. One million two hundred
thousand tons will be delivered. Fodder—last year 550,000 tons,
now 1 million; meat—last year 135,000 tons, now 350,000;
fats—last year 23,000, this year 60,000.’”

And so on.

The next excerpt from this address concerns the quotas to be fixed for deliveries from countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and the Government General. In reply to Göring’s questions and instructions definite figures were quoted by those attending the meeting. I omit one page and continue:

“Reich Marshal Göring: ‘So much for the West. A special order
will be issued concerning purchasers who buy up all the clothes,
shoes, _et cetera_, that are to be had.

“‘Now comes the East. I have settled this point with the
Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht waives the demands it made on the home
country. How much hay was required?’

“Backe: ‘1.5 million tons. Over 1 million tons straw and 1½
million tons oats. We can’t manage that.(?)’

“Reich Marshal Göring: ‘Now, gentlemen, there is only one thing
more regarding Wehrmacht supplies. I want to hear nothing more
about you until further notice. No more requests. The
country—with its sour cream, apples, and white bread—will feed
us abundantly. The Don valley will take care of the rest.’”

Passing to the next quotation—Göring is speaking:

“‘The Wehrmacht in France will, of course, be supplied with food
by France. That is a matter of course, and I did not even
mention it before.

“‘Now about Russia: There is no doubt of her fertility. The
position there is almost incredibly good. . . .’”

The next quotation—Göring is still speaking:

“‘I was glad to hear that the Reich Commissioner in Ostland is
doing just as well, and the people are just as fat and chubby
and puff a little when they work. Nevertheless, I shall see to
it, no matter how carefully certain groups are treated, that
some contribution is made from the inexhaustible fertility of
this area.’”

After this Lohse, Reich Commissioner for Bielorussia, addressed the meeting:

“‘May I state my opinion in a few words? I should like to give
you more but certain conditions have to be observed. The harvest
is certainly excellent but in more than half of the area of
Bielorussia which is well cultivated, it is scarcely possible to
get in the crops, unless we can put a stop to the disturbances
caused by guerrillas and partisans. I have already been crying
out for help for 4 months.’”

Lohse goes on to describe the activities of the partisans in Bielorussia. In this connection Göring interrupts him and says:

“‘My dear Lohse, we have known each other for a long time. I
know well enough that you are a great poet.’”

And Lohse answered:

“‘I won’t stand for that; I have never written poetry.’”

In conclusion I quote the last three quotations from Göring’s speech. He said:

“‘We must have buyers from the Ministry of Economics, Funk, in
the Ukraine and elsewhere. We must send them to Venice to buy
odds and ends, those frightful alabaster things and cheap
jewelry, _et cetera_. I don’t think there is any other place
except Italy where one gets quite such junk.

“‘Now let us see what Russia can deliver. I think, Riecke, we
should be able to get 2 million tons of cereals and fodder out
of the whole of Russia.’

“Riecke: ‘That can be done.’

“Reich Marshal Göring: ‘That means that we must get 3 million,
apart from Wehrmacht supplies.’

“Riecke: ‘No, all that is in the front areas goes for the
Wehrmacht only.’

“Reich Marshal Göring: ‘Then we bring 2 million.’

“Riecke: ‘No.’

“Reich Marshal Göring: ‘A million and a half then.’

“Riecke: ‘Yes.’

“Reich Marshal Göring: ‘All right.’”

The discussion went on in the same way. Göring’s speech ends with the following sentence:

“‘Gentlemen, I would just like to say one thing more. I have a
very great deal to do and a very great deal of responsibility. I
have no time to read letters and memoranda informing me that you
cannot supply my requirements. I have only time to ascertain
from time to time through short reports from Backe whether the
commitments are being fulfilled. If not, then we shall have to
meet on a different level.’”

As Your Honors have heard, besides Göring this conference was attended by the Defendants Rosenberg, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Frank, Funk, and others. As you have heard, Göring finished his speech with a direct threat against the participants in this conference, by saying that “we shall have to meet on a different level.” This threat came true. The matter has, in every sense of the term, been met on a different level—from the level of the dock.

Thus the whole volume of evidence submitted establishes beyond all doubt:

1. That simultaneously with their well-laid preparations for the military invasion of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, and the U.S.S.R., the criminal Hitlerite Government and the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces worked out a plan for the mass plunder and spoliation of private, public, and state-owned property in the territories belonging to these countries.

2. That having worked out this criminal plan, the conspirators carried out all the preliminary measures necessary for its execution by training special bodies of officers and officials for the despoliation of the territories they meant to seize by preparing and issuing special instructions, reference books, and orders for this purpose, and by creating a special and very complicated organization of all sorts of “economic inspectorates,” “detachments,” “groups,” “joint stock companies,” “plenipotentiaries,” _et cetera_, and by calling in a large number of specialists in different branches, military experts on agriculture, agricultural leaders, economic spies, _et cetera_.

3. That in accordance with this long-prepared plan, they subsequently plundered and despoiled private, public, and State property in the occupied territories and also robbed the peaceful population of these territories, having recourse to atrocities, violence, and arbitrary practices of the most appalling nature.

4. That in order to make the soldiers and the officers of the German Army “economically interested” in the war, the conspirators not only failed to prosecute cases of marauding and robbery committed, by German soldiers and officers, but even encouraged these crimes and incited their men to commit wholesale looting.

5. That by the commission of all these crimes the conspirators caused enormous economic damage to the people of the occupied territories, exposing them to starvation and suffering, and that they profited by their criminal activities for the personal gain and enrichment of themselves and their adherents.

6. That having thus planned, prepared, and initiated wars of aggression against the freedom-loving nations, the conspirators aimed at the predatory despoliation of these nations and thereafter achieved these criminal ends by means of equally criminal and predatory methods.

On the strength of the above, the defendants have consciously and deliberately violated Article 50 of the Hague Convention of 1907, the laws and customs of war, the general principles of criminal law accepted by the penal codes of all civilized nations, as well as the national law of those countries in which these crimes were committed.

For these criminal acts, Your Honors, each and all of which are covered by Article 6(b) of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, all the defendants must be found guilty; all of them without exception must be held responsible both individually and as members of the conspiracy.

May it please Your Honors, the documents which I have presented to the Tribunal and which I have read into the record are silent witnesses to the crimes organized and committed by the defendants.

But the conscience of the Judges will hear the testimony of these silent witnesses, who relate truthfully the story of the arbitrary practices and crimes of the Hitlerite brigands and the boundless sufferings of their innumerable victims.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 21 February 1946 at 1000 hours._]

SIXTY-FOURTH DAY
Thursday, 21 February 1946

_Morning Session_

MARSHAL: The Defendant Hess will be absent from today’s session on account of illness.

GEN. RUDENKO: I would like to inform Your Honor that in accordance with the plan of the Soviet Prosecution presented to the Tribunal and with the permission of the Tribunal, we shall start presenting evidence on that section entitled, “The Destruction and Plunder of Cultural and Scientific Treasures, Cultural Institutions, Monasteries, Churches, and Other Religious Institutions, as well as the Destruction of Cities and Villages.”

The evidence on this section will be presented by State Counsellor of Justice of the Second Class, Raginsky.

STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M. Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): May it please Your Honors, among the numerous and grievous war crimes committed by the Hitlerite conspirators—crimes enumerated in detail in Count Three of the Indictment—crimes against culture occupy a definite place of their own. These crimes expressed all the abomination and vandalism of German fascism.

The Hitlerite conspirators considered culture of the mind and of humanity as an obstacle to the fulfillment of their monstrous designs against mankind, and they removed this obstacle with their own typical cruelty. In working out their insane plans for world domination, the Hitlerite conspirators, side by side with the initiation and prosecution of predatory wars, prepared a campaign against world culture. They dreamed of turning Europe back to the days of her domination by the Huns and Teutons. They tried to set mankind back.

It is unnecessary to quote the numerous pronouncements of the fascist ringleaders on this subject. I shall permit myself merely to refer to one pronouncement of Hitler’s quoted on Page 80 of Rauschning’s book, and already presented to the Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution. “We,” said Hitler, “are barbarians and we wish to be barbarians. It is an honorable calling.”

On behalf of the Soviet Prosecution, I shall present to the Tribunal evidence of how the defendants put into practice these orders of Hitler, which found concrete expression in the wrecking of cultural institutions, the looting and destruction of cultural treasures, and the suffocation of the national cultural life of the peoples in the territories temporarily occupied by the German armies, that is, the territories of the U.S.S.R., Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

I shall present to the Tribunal evidence of the Hitlerites’ preparations and planning for the looting of cultural treasures; how, long before the treacherous attack on the U.S.S.R., the so-called Einsatzstab Rosenberg prepared for pillage, how the predatory activity of the Defendant Rosenberg was co-ordinated with Göring, Heydrich, and the Supreme Command, and how this pillage was disguised.

It is now generally known to what monstrous lies and provocations the Hitlerites resorted in the camouflaging of their crimes. While annihilating millions of people in the extermination camps they had set up, they spoke, in their orders, of “filtration” and “cleansing.” While destroying and plundering cultural treasures, the fascist vandals sought shelter behind the terms “collection of materials” and the “study of problems,” and shamelessly referred to themselves as “bearers of culture.”

The Hitlerite conspirators endeavored to change into serfs, bereft of all their rights, the peoples of the territories seized; and, for this purpose, they destroyed the national culture of these peoples.

The destruction of the national culture of the Slav peoples and particularly of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Bielorussian cultures, the destruction of national monuments, schools, literature, and the compulsory Germanization of the population, followed the German occupation everywhere, in obedience to the same criminal principle which governed the ensuing pillage, rape, arson, and mass murders.

I omit, Mr. President, the end of Page 3 and Page 4 of my presentation, and I proceed to the presentation of Section 2, Page 5.

As I have already indicated, the destruction of the national culture of the peoples in the occupied territories was a fundamental part of the general plan for world domination established by Hitler’s conspirators. It is difficult to determine whether destruction or plunder was the prevalent factor in these plans. But there is no disputing the fact that both plunder and destruction were aimed at one goal only—extermination; and this extermination was carried out everywhere, in all the territories occupied by the Germans, and on an enormous scale.

Article 56 of the 1907 Hague Convention laid down, I quote:

“The property of municipalities, of Church institutions and
establishments dedicated to charity and education, arts and
sciences, even when belonging to the State, shall be considered
as private property. All premeditated seizure of, and
destruction or damage to, institutions of this character, to
historic monuments, works of art and science, is forbidden and
should be made the subject of legal proceedings.”

The Hitlerites consciously and systematically scoffed at the principles and demands laid down in Article 56. All the conspirators are guilty of this, and the Defendant Rosenberg in the first place.

Rosenberg had an organization with widespread ramifications for the plunder of cultural treasures and with numerous staffs and representatives. The Einsatzstab Rosenberg and Rosenberg’s chief of staff, Utikal, were the central point of the network co-ordinating the criminal activities of many predatory organizations inspired and directed by the Hitlerite Government together with the German Supreme Command. Rosenberg was officially placed in charge of plundering the cultural treasures in the occupied territories by a decree of Hitler of 1 March 1942.

I have in mind Document Number 149-PS presented to the Tribunal on 18 December of last year by the United States Prosecution and accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-369. With your permission, Mr. President, I shall quote only two paragraphs of this document. You will find this document on Page 3 of your document book. I quote:

“His”—Rosenberg’s—“Einsatzstab for the occupied territories
has the right to investigate libraries, archives, and every
other kind of cultural establishment for corresponding
materials, and to confiscate these materials for the realization
of the ideological aims of the National Socialist Party. . . .”

I omit one paragraph and quote the last paragraph of this document:

“The regulations for the co-operation with the Armed Forces are
issued by the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
in agreement with Reichsleiter Rosenberg.

“The necessary measures for the eastern territories under German
administration will be taken by Reichsleiter Rosenberg in his
capacity as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern
Territories.”

This decree of Hitler’s was issued, as is clear from the document quoted, to all departments of the Armed Forces, the Party, and the Government.

But it is not 1 March 1942 which should be considered as the beginning of Rosenberg’s predatory activities. I shall submit several excerpts from a letter of Rosenberg to Reichsleiter Bormann in confirmation. The letter is dated 23 April 1941. This document was presented to the Tribunal on 18 December 1945 by the United States Prosecution, and it was accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-371 (Document Number 071-PS).

This document—which Your Honors will find on Page 4 of your document book—is interesting also for the fact that the plunder, referred to as “confiscation” in the letter, was carried out by the Defendant Rosenberg in close collaboration and contact, based on a written agreement, between the departments of Rosenberg and Himmler. I cite extracts from Page 1 of the Russian translation of this letter:

“I have”—wrote Rosenberg—“transmitted to you a photostatic
copy of my agreement with the Security Police (SD), concluded
with the express approval of Gruppenführer Heydrich.”

And further—you will find this on Page 5 in your document book:

“Questions bearing on works of art”—as stated in this
letter—“were considered of secondary importance. Of primary
importance was the Führer’s directive regarding the twice-issued
order from the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces,
for the occupied territories of the West, to the effect that all
archives and all scientific property belonging to our
ideological opponents, be placed at my disposal. This, too, was
carried out on a wide scale and in close co-operation with the
SD and the military leaders.”

The importance attached by the Hitlerite conspirators to Rosenberg’s predatory staffs is shown in Göring’s special circular of 1 May 1941, addressed to all Party, Government, and military institutions, which had been ordered to co-operate with the Einsatzstab Rosenberg. This document was presented by our American colleagues on 18 December of last year and accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-384 (Document Number 1117-PS).

Even at that time the scale on which the pillage was conducted was already enormous. As Rosenberg stated in his letter of 23 April 1941, at that time, that is, in April 1941, 7,000 cases of looted works of art had already been dispatched to Germany.

To conclude with this document I shall, with your permission, read one further brief quotation into the record. It consists of one paragraph only. You will find this paragraph on Page 6 of the document book:

“And thus”—wrote Rosenberg—“these problems practically solved
themselves and the work has followed its own course. Here I
would like to ask for a confirmation that these decisions,
already adopted in the West, should, in the present
circumstances, be rendered valid in the other occupied
territories, or in those which are to be occupied.”

This document, in which pillage is referred to as “work,” proves that Rosenberg’s criminal activities were carried out in close contact with the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces; and, finally, that as early as April 1941 plans were being made for plundering the territories about to be occupied.

The speech of the Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R., General Rudenko, and the speech of the representative of the United States Prosecution, Mr. Alderman, defined what Rosenberg meant in his letter by “territories about to be occupied” at that time. That was the period of the practical realization of the evil Hitlerite schemes, planned in the so-called Plan Barbarossa, the period when the German fascist hordes were hurled against the frontiers of the Soviet Union, the period of the attack on the U.S.S.R.

Lastly, it is necessary to point out that, in April 1941, the Defendant Rosenberg placed Utikal at the head of all operational staffs, “the creation of which may become necessary during the course of this war.” In this connection Rosenberg referred to the “successful work” and to the “experience gained” by his operational staff in the western occupied territories and in the Netherlands.

This fact is confirmed by a certificate issued to Utikal, dated 1 April 1941, and signed by Rosenberg. The authenticity of this document—which bears Document Number 143-PS—was confirmed by Rosenberg at his interrogation on 26 September 1945. I present this document to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-371.

In reporting on the organization for the looting and destruction of cultural treasures, it is necessary to indicate yet another department which combined diplomacy with pillage. I have in mind the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R., General Rudenko, in his opening speech pointed out that the general pillage in the occupied regions of the U.S.S.R., carried out on the direct orders of the German Government, was directed not only by the Defendants Göring and Rosenberg and by the various “staffs” and “commands” subordinated to them; the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, headed by the Defendant Ribbentrop, also participated through a “special formation.”

The creation of such a formation—the so-called “Ribbentrop Battalion”—and its practical activities in the looting of cultural treasures in the territory of the U.S.S.R. are testified to in a written statement of 10 November 1942 by Obersturmführer Dr. Förster, who was captured by Red Army units in the region of Mosdok. In this statement Förster likewise indicated the task of Rosenberg’s staff in the plunder or, as he expressed it, in the “withdrawal” of museum treasures and antiques. A certified photostat of this statement I present to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-157 (Document Number USSR-157).

It is stated in Förster’s statement, I read:

“In August 1941 while in Berlin, I, with the assistance of my
old acquaintance from the University of Berlin, Dr. Focke, then
employed in the press section of the Foreign Office, was
transferred from the 87th Tank Destroyer Division to the special
purpose battalion attached to the Foreign Office. This battalion
had been created on the initiative of the Reich Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Ribbentrop, and was under his direction. The
officer commanding the battalion is Major of the Waffen-SS, Von
Künsberg.

“The task of the special purpose battalion was to seize and to
secure, immediately after the fall of large cities, their
cultural treasures and all objects of great historic value, to
select valuable books and films, and finally to dispatch them
all to Germany.

“The special purpose battalion consists of four companies. The
first company is attached to the German Expeditionary Corps in
Africa, the second company to Army Group North, the third to
Army Group Center, and the fourth to Army Group South. The first
company is located at present in Italy, in Naples, awaiting
possible deployment to Africa. Battalion staff headquarters are
in Berlin, Hermann Göring Strasse, Number 104. The confiscated
material is stored in the premises of the Adler firm, in the
Hardenbergstrasse.

“Prior to our departure for Russia, Major Von Künsberg
transmitted to us Ribbentrop’s order, thoroughly to ‘comb out’
all scientific establishments, institutions, libraries, and all
the palaces, to search all the archives, and to lay our hands on
anything of a definite value.

“I heard from my comrades that the second company of our
battalion had removed valuable objects from the palaces in the
Leningrad suburbs. I myself was not there at the time. At
Zarskoje Selo the company seized and secured the property
belonging to the palace-museum of the Empress Catherine. The
Chinese silk draperies and the carved gilt ornaments were torn
from the walls. The floor of artistic ornaments was dismantled
and taken away. From the palace of the Emperor Alexander antique
furniture and a large library containing some 6,000 to 7,000
volumes in French and over 5,000 volumes and manuscripts in
Russian, were removed.

“The fourth company, to which I was attached, confiscated the
Kiev laboratory of the Medical and Scientific Research
Institute. The entire equipment, as well as scientific material,
documents and books, was shipped to Germany.

“We reaped a rich harvest in the library of the Ukrainian
Academy of Science, treasuring the rarest manuscripts of
Persian, Abyssinian, and Chinese literature, Russian and
Ukrainian chronicles, the first edition books printed by the
first Russian printer, Ivan Fjodorov, and rare editions of the
works of Shevtchenko, Mickiewicz, and Ivan Franko.

“From the Kiev museums of Ukrainian art, Russian art, Western
and Eastern art and from the central Shevtchenko museum numerous
exhibits which still remained there, including paintings,
portraits by Repin, canvases by Vereschagin, Fedotoff, Goe,
sculptures by Antokolsky and other masterpieces of Russian and
Ukrainian painters and sculptors were dispatched to Berlin.

“In Kharkov several thousand valuable books in de luxe editions
were seized from the Korolenko library and sent to Berlin. The
remaining books were destroyed. From the Kharkov picture gallery
several hundred pictures were secured, including 14 pictures by
Aivasovsky, works by Repin and many paintings by Polienov,
Schischkin, and others. Antique sculptures and the entire
scientific archive of the museum were also taken away.
Embroideries, carpets, Gobelin tapestries, and other exhibits
were appropriated by the German soldiers.

“I also knew”—testified Dr. Förster in his statement—“that the
staff of Alfred Rosenberg used special kommandos for the
confiscation of valuable antique and museum pieces in the
occupied countries of Europe and in the territories of the East.
Civilian experts were in charge of these kommandos.

“After the occupation of any big city, the leaders of these
kommandos arrive, accompanied by various art experts. They
inspect museums, picture galleries, exhibitions, and
institutions of art and culture, they determine their condition
and confiscate everything of value.”

I omit the last paragraph of this statement.

With your permission, Your Honors, I shall read two more excerpts into the record from a letter of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Territories, dated 7 April 1942, and signed by order of the Minister, by Laibrandt, closest assistant of the Defendant Rosenberg. This letter, Your Honors, is in your document book, on Pages 12 and 13, and was submitted on 18 December last year by the United States Prosecution as Exhibit Number USSR-408 (Document Number USSR-408).

This document is very revealing in that it indicates the scale of the projected pillage and disguises this pillage which, in the document, is shamelessly referred to as “the preservation of objects of culture, research material, and of scientific institutions in the Occupied Eastern Territories.”

This document is also characteristic in that Rosenberg, fearing that he might miss some of the booty, established his own monopoly to plunder and only made concessions to the quartermaster general of the Army, in conjunction with whom—as the letter reveals—Operational Staff Rosenberg carried on its “work.”

I read the first excerpt of this letter. I quote:

“I have entrusted the Einsatzstab Rosenberg for the Occupied
Territories with the listing and detailed handling of all
cultural valuables, research materials, and scientific work in
libraries, archives, research institutions, museums, et cetera,
found in public and religious establishments, as well as in
private houses. The Einsatzstab, instructed once again by the
Führer’s order of 1 March 1942, begins its work jointly with the
quartermaster general of the Army immediately after the
occupation of the territories by combat troops and executes this
work after the establishment of civil government, in
co-operation with the competent Reich Commissioner, until such
time as the task is completed. I request all the authorities of
my department to support, as far as possible, the
representatives of the Einsatzstab in the execution of these
measures and to supply them with all essential information,
especially in connection with the registration of objects in the
occupied territories, whether or not they have been removed, and
if so, where this material is located at the present time.”

As you see, Your Honors, the looting of libraries, archives, scientific research institutes, museums—both public and private—and even of church treasures, was already being planned.

The fact that this is not a question of preserving cultural treasures, but of plunder, is revealed by the following excerpt from the letter mentioned. You will find it on Page 12 of your document book. I quote:

“Insofar as seizures or transports have already taken place
contrary to these provisions . . . Reichsleiter Rosenberg’s
Einsatzstab, Berlin-Charlottenburg (2), Bismarckstrasse 1, must
be informed without delay.”

I shall not burden you by enumerating the many addresses to whom copies of this letter were sent. I shall merely name some of them: OKH, the Reich Minister of Economics, the Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, the Reich Commissioners for the Baltic regions, the Ukraine, _et cetera_. Thus this document reconfirms that both Göring and Funk, as well as the representatives of the OKH, actively participated in this pillage.

The priceless works of art plundered in the occupied countries were removed to Germany, now transformed by the Hitlerites into a robber’s den.

The Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union established that, in January 1943, the Commander of the 1st Tank Army, Cavalry General Mackensen, in the presence of the head of the propaganda department of the 1st Tank Army, Müller, removed from the Rostov Museum of Pictorial and Plastic Art, which had been evacuated to the town of Piatigorsk and which was then on the premises of the Lermontov Museum, the most valuable canvases of Ribera, Rubens, Murillo, Jordaens, Vereshtshagin, Korovine, Kramskoy, Polenov, Repin, Lagorio, Aivasovsky, and Shishkin, sculptures by Donatello, and other exhibits.

This statement, Your Honors, has already been presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-37 (Document Number USSR-37). With your permission I should like to read into the record only one paragraph on Page 5 of this document. The quotation is on Page 18 of your document book. I quote:

“The Rostov Museum of Pictorial Art had been looted and its
contents carried off into Germany by the commander of the 1st
Tank Army, Cavalry General Mackensen, and by the chief of the
propaganda section of the 1st Tank Army, Müller.”

From the affidavit of the Plenipotentiary of the Polish Government, Stefan Kurovsky, it has been established that the Defendant Frank, in looting the cultural treasures of the Polish State, was also striving after his own personal gain. Pictures, porcelain, and other works of art from the plundered museums of Warsaw and Kraków, particularly from Vavel Castle, were transferred to the estate of the Defendant Frank.

The affidavit to which I referred is an appendix to the report of the Polish Government and is presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-302 (Document Number USSR-302). This document, Your Honors, is to be found on Pages 19-20 of your document book.

In this document registered under Document Number 055-PS, which is a letter from the head of the Political Leadership Group P4 of the Reich Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories, dated 14 September 1944, there are indications as to where the looted treasures were taken and stored. This letter, addressed to the “Reich Minister through the Chief of the Political Leadership Staff” is headed, “Objects of Art Evacuated from the Ukraine.” This letter is to be found in your document book on Page 21. I present this letter as documentary evidence and, submit it as Exhibit Number USSR-372 and I quote the text. I read:

“The Reich Commissioner for the Ukraine has stored the objects
of art and the pictures evacuated from Kiev and Kharkov, in the
following shelters in East Prussia: 1. The Richau family estate,
near Wehlau; 2. Wildenhoff Manor (owner, Count Schwerin).”

I read further from the text of this letter:

“There are 65 cases, the exact contents of which are enumerated
on the attached list. As to the other 20 cases, 57 portfolios,
and one roll of engravings, their inventory has not been taken
to date. Among the pictures there are a great number of very
ancient icons, works by famous masters of the German, Italian,
and Dutch schools of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, as well
as the works of the best Russian masters of the 18th and 19th
centuries. On the whole, this property consists of extremely
valuable works of art, which had been removed from public
Ukrainian museums and whose value, even at a rough estimate,
amounts to a sum of many millions. In addition, this is the sole
collection of such international value on German
territory. . . .”

I omit the last paragraph of this letter since it has no material bearing on the subject, and will continue by quoting an excerpt from Page 2 of Rosenberg’s letter, of which I have already read one quotation earlier in the day. You will, Your Honors, find it on Page 5 of the document book. I quote. Rosenberg wrote:

“In the process of these confiscations we have, of course, found
also many other works of art. Among them there are some of great
value and, in order to preserve them, the Chief of the High
Command of the Army, at my request and in accordance with the
Führer’s directives, ordered me to draw up a catalogue of these
works of art and to keep them for the Führer.”

You have heard, Your Honors, of Hitler’s attitude towards the property of the people and the works of art in the countries seized by the Germans.

This episode is to be found in the Czechoslovakian Government report, presented to the Tribunal; excerpts from this report were read yesterday into the record. Therefore, I consider there is no necessity for reading it into the record once more. However, it is necessary to note that not only Hitler but Göring was an ardent adherent of this policy of “acquisitions.” You also heard, Your Honors, yesterday how Göring acquired valuable Gobelin tapestries in France. However, Göring did not acquire Gobelin tapestries only. He wrote in one of his letters to Rosenberg—I refer to Document Number 1985-PS, which I submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-373, and which is in your document book on Pages 156 to 158—Göring wrote that he “by means of purchases, presents, bequests, and barter owns perhaps the most important private collection, at least in Germany, if not in Europe.” The document presented is a copy of a typewritten letter and includes a series of corrections and notes in ink, evidently in Göring’s own hand. This copy was captured, together with Göring’s other correspondence, by units of the American Army, a fact which was confirmed and in due time presented to the Tribunal by our American colleagues.

This document, Your Honors, reveals, to a remarkable extent, the nature of the “acquisitions” effected by Göring and also confirms Ribbentrop’s part in the “preservation” of cultural treasures in the occupied territories. For this reason, I shall, with your permission, read a few extracts from this document.

I read the extract from the first page of this letter. I quote:

“After prolonged search”—wrote Göring to Rosenberg—“I was much
gratified that an office was at last charged with the collection
of these things although I want to point out that other
departments are also claiming the authority of the Führer. First
of these was the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, who,
several months ago, sent a circular to all departments, in which
he, inter alia, stated that he had received full authority for
the preservation of cultural objects in occupied territories.”

I now read an extract from Page 2 of the letter, the last paragraph:

“In order to avoid misconceptions regarding these articles, part
of which I want to claim for myself, part of which I have
purchased, and part of which I wish to acquire, I want to inform
you as follows:

“1. I have now obtained by means of purchase, presents,
bequests, and barter, perhaps the greatest private collection in
Germany at least, if not in Europe.”

I omit one paragraph and I read Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of the next one. Subparagraph 2 enumerates the objects which Göring would like to acquire. It refers to a very extensive and highly valued collection of Dutch artists of the 17th century, while Subparagraph 3 mentions “a comparatively small though very good collection of French artists from the 18th century, and finally, a collection of Italian masters.”

You have heard, Your Honors, what was meant, in practice, by “the personal material interest of soldiers in the war.” All this established irrevocably that the Hitlerites engaged in pillage and brigandage and that everybody, from the privates to the criminal leaders of Hitlerite Germany, participated in the plunder. The same must be said regarding the destruction of cultural treasures. Decrees and directives concerning the destruction of cultural treasures came from the leaders of Hitlerite Germany and from the highest ranks of the Military Command.

I shall refer, as evidence, to the order of the Commander of the German 6th Army, signed by Field Marshal Von Reichenau, approved by Hitler and entitled, “On the Behavior of the Troops in the East.” This order was presented to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-12. This document, contrary to the usual Hitlerite custom, contains direct and entirely undisguised instructions for the destruction and suppression of culture in the occupied territories.

With your permission, I shall quote just one paragraph of this order. It is on Page 161 of your document book. I quote:

“The Army is interested in extinguishing fires only in such
buildings as may be used for Army billets. . . .”

All the rest to be destroyed; no historical or artistic buildings in the East to be of any value whatsoever.

I shall quote one more document which establishes that the destruction and pillage of cultural treasures, universally carried out by the Hitlerites in the territories occupied by them, was inspired and directed by the Hitlerite Government. I refer to the diary of the Defendant Frank, extracts of which have already been submitted to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-223. In the first volume of Frank’s diary, on Page 38—Page 169 in your document book—there appears an entry dated 4 October 1939 which reads as follows:

“Berlin. Conference with the Führer. The Führer discussed the
general situation with the Governor General and approved the
activity of the Governor General in Poland, particularly in the
demolition of the Warsaw Palace, the non-restoration of this
city, and the evacuation of the art treasures.”

I consider that the documents, now submitted and read into the record, are fully sufficient to enable us to draw the following conclusions:

(a) The pillage and destruction of the cultural treasures of the peoples in the German occupied territories were carried out in accordance with previously elaborated and carefully prepared plans.

(b) The fascist Government and German High Command directed the pillage and destruction of cultural treasures.

(c) The most active role in the organization of the pillage and destruction of cultural treasures was taken by the participants in the conspiracy, the Defendants Rosenberg, Ribbentrop, Frank, and Göring.

I pass on to the next section of my presentation, entitled, “Destruction and Pillage of Cultural Treasures in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia.”

I reported to the Tribunal on the general plans of the Hitlerite conspirators for strangling national cultural life in the countries occupied by them. I now pass on to report on the actual materialization of the criminal plans of the Hitlerite conspirators in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

I shall refer only to such irrefutable proofs as the official reports of the Governments of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia, already submitted to the Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution. I shall read into the record a few parts of the relevant sections of these reports directly concerning the theme expounded by me, which have not been quoted by my colleagues.

I begin by quoting extracts from the Czechoslovak Government reports. These excerpts, Your Honors, are to be found in your document book, on Pages 81 to 88. I quote from Page 81:

“K. H. Frank, who was appointed Secretary of State and Deputy to
Reich Protector Von Neurath in March 1939 and in August 1943
became Minister of State and head of the German Executive in the
Protectorate, said, ‘The Czechs are fit to be used only as
workers or farm laborers.’

“K. H. Frank replied to a Czech delegation which, in 1942,
requested the Czech universities and colleges to be reopened,
‘If the war is won by England, you will open your schools
yourselves; if Germany wins, an elementary school with five
grades will be enough for you.’”

The Germans seized all colleges and hostels for students.

I pass to a quotation on Page 83 of the report:

“They immediately seized the most valuable apparatus,
instruments, and scientific equipment in many of the occupied
institutions. The scientific libraries were systematically and
methodically damaged. Scientific books and films were separated
and taken away, the archives of the Academy Senate (the highest
university authority) were torn up or burned, the card indexes
destroyed and scattered.

“Suppression of Czech schools. . . .

“K. H. Frank, in November 1939, personally ordered the closing
of all Czech higher educational institutions.

“Such university students as were still at liberty were
forbidden to exercise any intellectual profession and were
invited to find manual occupation within 48 hours, failing which
they would be sent to labor camps in Germany.

“The closing of the universities was aggravated by the closing
of the great scientific libraries and of all institutions
capable of offering intellectual sustenance to the students
expelled from the universities. The library of the University of
Prague was henceforth accessible to Germans only.

“Suppression of all scientific activities:

“The closing down of Czech universities and colleges was merely
a preliminary step towards the complete suppression of the
entire Czech scientific life. The buildings of scientific
institutions were converted either into German universities and
colleges or placed at the disposal of the German military and
civil authorities. The Germans removed all scientific
instruments and books and even complete laboratories to Germany,
on the pretext that the Czechs would no longer need them. The
number of works of art, pictures, statues, and rare manuscripts
stolen from the library of the University of Prague and from
private collections cannot be calculated, nor can their value be
estimated. Scientific collections were also given to German
schools, provided they had not been stolen piecemeal.”

I pass on to the excerpts on Page 86 of the Czechoslovakian report:

“Hundreds of Czech elementary and secondary schools were closed
in 1939, and so rapid was the systematic closing of Czech
schools during the first year of the war that, by the end of
1940, 6,000 of the 20,000 Czech teachers were unemployed.

“By September 1942 some 60 percent of the Czech elementary
schools had been closed by the Germans.

“All Czech books published during the republican regime have
been confiscated, and the glorification of Greater Germany and
its Führer became the basis of all teaching at Czech elementary
schools. In 1939 the number of pupils permitted to enter Czech
secondary schools had diminished by 50 percent as compared with
1938. About 70 percent of the Czech secondary schools had been
closed by the end of 1942. Girls have been entirely excluded
from the secondary schools.

“Nursery schools for children between 3 and 6 were completely
germanized and employed only German teachers.

“Other crimes in cultural spheres.

“Monuments:

“In many towns the ‘Masaryk Houses,’ which for the most part
contain libraries, halls for the showing of educational films,
and for the performance of plays and concerts, have been
confiscated and transformed into barracks or offices for the
Gestapo. The statues they contained, sometimes of great artistic
value, were spoiled and broken. . . . A number of monuments in
Prague, among them Bilek’s ‘Moses’ and Mardjatka’s ‘Memorial to
the Fallen Legionaries,’ have been melted down. . . .

“A decree of the autumn of 1942 ordered all university libraries
to hand over all early printed Czech works and first editions to
the Germans. The collections in the National Museum were
pillaged; and the Modern Art Gallery, containing a unique
collection of Czech art of the 19th and 20th centuries with some
precious specimens of foreign (mainly French) art, was closed.

“The crown jewels of the ancient Czech kings had to be handed
over to Heydrich.

“Literature:

“Translations of works by English, French, and Russian authors,
both classic and modern, were withdrawn from circulation. The
severest censorship was applied to the works of modern Czech
authors. The Germans liquidated many leading publishing firms.”

THE PRESIDENT: This is a good opportunity to adjourn.

[_A recess was taken._]

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: “The entire political literature of the
free republic, as well as the works of the participants in the
Czech revival of the 18th and 19th centuries, were withdrawn.
The books of Jewish authors were prohibited, as well as those of
politically unreliable writers. The Germans withdrew the Czech
classics, as well as the works of the 15th century reformer John
Hus, of Alois Erassek, the author of historical novels, the poet
Victor Dieck, and others.”

Thus the Hitlerites destroyed the national culture of the peoples of Czechoslovakia, plundered and pillaged works of art, literature, and science.

In Poland, as in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, the German fascist invaders carried out a large-scale liquidation of national culture with exceptional cruelty. The Hitlerite conspirators destroyed the Polish intelligentsia, closed educational establishments, prohibited the publication of Polish books, looted works of art, blew up and burned national monuments.

I am reading into the record relevant extracts from the Polish Government report, which was submitted to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-93 (Document Number USSR-93). These excerpts, Your Honors, are on Pages 197-200 of the document book:

“Annihilation of the Polish intelligentsia:

“In the incorporated regions the intelligentsia were deprived of
all means of livelihood. Many of them, professors, teachers,
lawyers, and judges, were interned in concentration camps or
murdered.

“In the Government General about 80 percent of the
intelligentsia were deprived of all means of subsistence. Owing
to the liquidation of the press, journalists and writers were
unable to earn a living. The publication of new books was
prohibited.

“Four universities and twelve schools of the university type
ceased to exist. Their average attendance before September 1939
reached 45,000.

“Secondary schools:

“There were about 550 secondary schools in the German occupied
territory. Their closing was ordered. In the incorporated
territories they were completely closed down. In the Government
General they were allowed to continue their activity, but in
November 1939 an order was issued to cease teaching. The only
schools which were allowed to continue work were commercial or
trade schools. Educated Poles were not needed; the Poles were to
become artisans and workmen. Such was the official line of
policy.

“Elementary schools:

“In the incorporated territories Polish schools were completely
abolished. They were replaced by German schools. Polish children
were educated in the German tongue and German spirit.

“On the eve of war there were about 2,000 periodicals published
in Poland, among them 170 newspapers. By order of the Germans
the press was almost entirely eradicated.

“The publication, printing, and distributing of Polish books was
prohibited as early as October 1939.

“On 5 November 1940 the German _Verordnungsblatt_ published the
following decree:

“‘Until further notice, the publication, without exception, of
all books, pamphlets, periodicals, journals, calendars, and
music is prohibited, unless published by the authority of the
Government General.’

“Theaters, music, and radio:

“The principles of German policy in Poland were outlined in a
circular of a special branch of national education and
propaganda in the German Government General. It read as follows: