Slave labor in the Krupp industrial combine

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Slave labor in the Krupp industrial combine

#1

Post by David Thompson » 14 Nov 2004, 20:04

Document D-288, sworn statement of Dr. Wilhelm Jaeger, in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. Volume VII: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1947. pp. 2-7.
Essen. 15 October 1945

I, Dr. Wilhelm Jaeger, am a general practitioner in Essen, Germany, and its surroundings. I was born in Germany on 2 December 1888, and now live at Kettwig Sengenholz 6, Germany. I make the following statement of my own free will. I have not been threatened in any way and I have not been promised any sort of reward.

On 1 October 1942, I became senior camp doctor in Krupp's workers' camps, and was generally charged with the medical supervision of all of Krupp's workers camps in Essen. In the course of my duties it was my responsibility to report upon the sanitary and health conditions of the workers' camps to my superiors in the Krupp works. It was a part of my task to visit every Krupp camp which housed foreign civilian workers and I am therefore able to make this statement on the basis of my personal knowledge.

My first official act as senior camp doctor was to make a thorough inspection of the various camps. At that time, in October 1942, I found the following conditions:

The eastern workers and Poles who laboured in the Krupp works at Essen were kept at camps at Seumannstrasse, Spenlestrasse, Grieperstrasse, Heecstrasse, Germaniastrasse, Kapitan-Lehmannstrasse, Dechenschule, and Kramerplatz. (When the term eastern workers is hereinafter used, it is to be taken as including Poles). All of these camps were surrounded by barbed wire and were closely guarded.

Conditions in all of these camps were extremely bad. The camps were greatly overcrowded. In some camps there were twice as many people in a barrack as health conditions permitted. At Kramerplatz, the inhabitants slept in treble tiered bunks, and in the other camps they slept in double tiered bunks. The health authorities prescribed a minimum space between beds of 50 cm, but the bunks in these camps were separated by a maximum of 20-30 cm.

The diet prescribed for the eastern workers was altogether insufficient. They were given 1000 calories a day less than the minimum prescribed for any German. Moreover, while German workers engaged in the heaviest work received 5000 calories a day, the eastern workers in comparable jobs received only 2000 calories. The eastern workers were given only 2 meals a day and their bread ration. One of these two meals consisted of a thin, watery soup. I had no assurance that the eastern workers, in fact, received the minimum which was prescribed. Subsequently in 1943, when I undertook to inspect the food prepared by the cooks, I discovered a number of instances in which food was withheld from the workers.

The plan for food distribution called for a small quantity of meat per week. Only inferior meats, rejected by the veterinary such as horse meat or tuberculin infested was permitted for this purpose. This meat was usually cooked into a soup.

The clothing of the eastern workers was likewise completely inadequate. They worked and slept in the same clothing in which they had arrived from the east. Virtually all of them had no overcoats and were compelled, therefore, to use their blankets as coats in cold and rainy weather. In view of the shortage of shoes many workers were forced to go to work in their bare feet, even in the winter. Wooden shoes were given to some of the workers, but their quality was such as to give the workers sore feet. Many workers preferred to go to work in their bare feet rather than endure the suffering caused by the wooden shoes. Apart from the wooden shoes, no clothing of any kind was issued to the workers until the latter part of 1943, when a single blue suit was issued to some of them. To my knowledge, this represented the sole issue of clothing to the workers from the time of their arrival until the American forces entered Essen.

Sanitary conditions were exceedingly bad. At Kramerplatz, where approximately 1200 eastern workers were crowded into the rooms of an old school, the sanitary conditions were atrocious in the extreme. Only 10 children's toilets were available for the 1200 inhabitants. At Dechenschule, 15 children's toilets were available for the 400-500 eastern workers. Excretion contaminated the entire floors of these lavatories. There were also few facilities for washing. The supply of bandages, medicine, surgical instruments, and other medical supplies at these camps was likewise altogether insufficient. As a consequence, only the very worst cases were treated.

The percentage of eastern workers who were ill was twice as great as among the Germans. Tuberculosis was particularly widespread among the eastern workers. The T.B. rate among them was 4 times the normal rate (2% eastern workers, German .5%). At Dechenschule approximately 2.5% of the workers suffered from open T.B. These were all active T.B. cases. The Tarters and Kirghis suffered most; as soon as they were overcome by this disease they collapsed like flies. The cause was bad housing, the poor quality and insufficient quantity of food, overwork, and insufficient rest.

These workers were likewise afflicted with spotted fever. Lice, the carrier of the disease, together with countless fleas, bugs and other vermin, tortured the inhabitants of these camps. As a result of the filthy conditions of the camps nearly all eastern workers were afflicted with skin disease. The shortage of food also caused many cases of Hunher-Odem, Nephritis and Shighakruse.

It was the general rule that workers were compelled to go to work unless a camp doctor had prescribed that they were unfit for work. At Seumannstrasse, Grieperstrasse, Germanistrasse Kapitan-Lehmannstrasse, and Dechenschule, there was no daily sick call. At these camps, the doctors did not appear for two or three days. As a consequence, workers were forced to go to work despite illnesses.

I undertook to improve conditions as well as I could. I insisted upon the erection of some new barracks in order to relieve the overcrowded conditions of the camps. Despite this, the camps were still greatly overcrowded, but not as much as before. I tried to alleviate the poor sanitary conditions in Kramerplatz and Dechenschule by causing the installation of some emergency toilets, but the number was insufficient, and the situation was not materially altered.

With the onset of heavy air raids in 3 March 1943, conditions in the camps greatly deteriorated. The problem of housing, feeding, and medical attention became more acute than ever. The workers lived in the ruins of their former barracks. Medical supplies which were used up, lost, or destroyed, were difficult to replace. At times, the water supply at the camps was completely shut off for periods of 8-14 days. We installed a few emergency toilets in the camps, but there were far too few of them to cope with the situation.

During the period immediately following the March 1943 raids many foreign workers were made to sleep at the Krupp factories in the same rooms in which they worked. The day workers slept there at nights, and the night workers slept there during the day despite the noise which constantly prevailed. I believe that this condition continued until the entrance of American troops into Essen.

As the pace of air raids was stepped up, conditions became progressively worse. On 29 July 1944, I reported to my superiors that:

"The sick barrack in camp Rabenhorst is in such a bad condition one cannot speak of a sick barrack any more. The rain leaks through in every corner. The housing of ill is therefore impossible. The necessary labour for production is in danger because these persons who are ill cannot recover".

At the end of 1943, or the beginning of 1944, -- I am not completely sure of the exact date -- I obtained permission for the first time to visit the prisoner of war camps. My inspection revealed that conditions at these camps were worse than those I had found at the camps of the eastern workers in 1942. Medical supplies at such camps were virtually non-existent. In an effort to cure this intolerable situation, I contacted the Wehrmacht authorities whose duty it was to provide medical care for the prisoners of war. My persistent efforts came to nothing. After visiting and pressing them over a period of two weeks, I was given a total of 100 aspirin tablets for over 3000 prisoners of war.

The French P.O.W. camp in Nogerratstrasse had been destroyed in an air raid attack and its inhabitants were kept for nearly half a year in dog kennels, urinals, and in old baking houses. The dog kennels were three feet high, nine feet long, and six feet wide. Five men slept in each of them. The prisoners had to crawl into these kennels on all fours. The camp contained no tables, chairs or cupboards. The supply of blankets was inadequate. There was no water in the camp. What treatment was extended was given in the open. Many of these conditions were reported to me in a report by Dr. Stinnesbeck dated 12 June 1944, in which he said:

"315 prisoners are still accommodated in the camp. 170 of these are no longer in barracks but in the tunnel in Grunertstrasse under the Essen-Mulheim railway line. This tunnel is damp and is not suitable for continued accommodation of human beings. The rest of the prisoners are accommodated in 10 different factories in Krupps works. The first medical attention is given by a French Military Doctor who takes great pains with his fellow country men. Sick people from Krupp factories must be brought to the sick parade. This parade is held in the lavatory of a burned out public house outside the camp. The sleeping accommodation of the 4 French Orderlies is in what was the men's room.
In the sick bay there is a double tier wooden bed. In general, the treatment takes place in the open. In rainy weather it is held in the above mentioned small room. These are insufferable conditions: There are no chairs, tables, cupboards, or water. The keeping of a register of sick people is impossible. Bandages and medical supplies are very scarce, although badly hurt in the works are very often brought here for first aid and have to be bandaged here before being transported to hospital. There are many loud and lived complaints about food which the guard personnel confirms as being correct.

Illness and loss of man power must be reckoned with under these conditions.

In my report to my superiors at Krupps dated 2 September 1944, I stated:

Camp Humboldstrasse has been inhabited by Italian prisoners of war. After it had been destroyed by an air raid, the Italians were removed and 600 Jewish females from Buchenwald Concentration Camp were brought in to work at the Krupp factories. Upon my first visit at Camp Humboldstrasse, I found these females suffering from open festering wounds and other diseases.

I was the first doctor they had seen for as least a fortnight. There were no doctors in attendance at the camp. There were no medical supplies in the camp. They had no shoes and went about in their bare feet. The sole clothing of each consisted of a sack with holes for their arms and head. Their hair was shorn. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire and closely guarded by SS guards.

The amount of food in the camp was extremely meagre and of very poor quality. The houses in which they lived consisted of the ruins of former barracks and they afforded no shelter against rain and other weather conditions. I reported to my superiors that the guards lived and slept outside their barracks as one could not enter them without being attacked by 10, 20 and up to 50 fleas. One camp doctor employed by me refused to enter the camp again after he had been bitten very badly. I visited this camp with a Mr. Grene on two occasions and both times we left the camp badly bitten. We had great difficulty in getting rid of the fleas and insects which had attacked us. As a result of this attack by insects of this camp, I got large boils on my arms and the rest of my body. I asked my superiors at the Krupp works to undertake the necessary steps to de-louse the camp so as to put an end to this unbearable, vermin-infested condition. Despite this report, I did not find any improvement in sanitary conditions at the camp on my second visit a fortnight later.

When foreign workers finally became too sick to work or were completely disabled they were returned to the Labour Exchange in Essen and from there, they were sent to a camp at Friedrichsfeld. Among persons who were returned over to the Labour Exchange were aggravated cases of tuberculosis, malaria, neurosis, cancer which could not be treated by operation, old age, and general feebleness. I know nothing about conditions at this camp because I have never visited it. I only know that it was a place to which workers who no longer of any use to Krupp were sent.

My colleagues and I reported all of the foregoing matters to Mr. Ihn, Director of Friedrich Krupp A.G., Dr. Wiels, personal physician of Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Senior Camp Leader Kupke and at all times to the health department. Moreover, I know that these gentlemen personally visited the camps.

[signed] Dr. Wilhelm JAEGER.
Last edited by David Thompson on 14 Nov 2004, 20:11, edited 1 time in total.

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#2

Post by David Thompson » 14 Nov 2004, 20:09

Document D-313, sworn statement of Dr. Apolinary Gotowicki, in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. Volume VII: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1947. pp. 18-20.
Essen, 13 October 1946.

I, the undersigned, Dr. Apolinary Gotowicki, a doctor in the Polish Army, was taken prisoner by the Germans on 3 January 1941 and remained as such until the entry of the Americans. I gave medical attention to the Russian, Polish and French P.W.s., who were forced to work in various places of Krupps factories. I personally visited the Russian P.W. camp in the Raumastrasse in Essen, which contained about 1800 men. There was a big hall in the camp which could house about 200 men comfortably in which 300-400 men were thrown together in such a catastrophic manner that no medical treatment was possible. The floor was cement and the paillasses on which the people slept were full of lice and bugs. Even on cold days, the room was never heated and it seemed to me as a doctor, unworthy of human beings that people should find themselves in such a position. It was impossible to keep the place clean because of the overcrowding of these men who had hardly room to move about normally. Every day, at least 10 people were brought to me whose bodies were covered with bruises on account of the continual beatings with rubber tubes, steel switches or sticks. The people were often writhing with agony and it was impossible for me to give them even a little medical aid. In spite of the fact that I protested, made complaints and was often interviewed, it was impossible for me to protect the people or see that they got a day off from work. It was difficult for me to watch how such suffering people could be dragged to do heavy work. I visited personally, and myself in danger, gentlemen of the Krupp Administration as well as gentlemen from the Krupp Directorate to try to get help. It was strictly forbidden as the camp was under the direction of the SS and Gestapo, and according to the well known directives, I had to keep silent, otherwise I could have been sent to a concentration camp. I have brought my own bread innumerable times to the camp in order to give it to the prisoners as far as it was possible, although bread was scarce enough for me. From the beginning in 1941 conditions did not get better but worse. The food consisted of a watery soup which was dirty and sandy and often the P.W.s. had to eat cabbage which was bad and stank. I could notice people daily who on account of hunger or ill-treatment, were slowly dying. Dead people often lay for 2 or 3 days on the paillasses until their bodies stank so badly that fellow prisoners took them outside and buried them somewhere. The dishes out of which they ate were also used as toilets because they were too tired or too weak from hunger to get up and go outside. At 3 o'clock, they were awakened. The same dishes were then used to wash in and later for eating out of. This manner was generally known. In spite of this it was impossible for me to get even elementary help or facilities, in order to get rid of these epidemics, illnesses or cases of starvation. There can be no mention of medical aid for the prisoners; I never received any medical supplies myself. In 1941, I alone had to look after these people from a medical point of view but it is quite understandable that it was impossible for me as, the only one, to look after all these people and apart from that, I had scarcely any medical supplies. I could not think what to do with a number of 1800 people who came to me daily, crying and complaining. I myself often collapsed daily and in spite of this I had to take everything upon myself and watch how people perished and died. A report was never made as to how the P.Ws. died. I have seen with my own eyes, the prisoners coming back from Krupps and how they collapsed on the march and had to be wheeled back on barrows or carried by their comrades. It was in such a manner that the people came back to the camp. The work which they had to perform was very heavy and dangerous and many cases happened where people had cut their fingers, hands or legs. These accidents were very serious and the people came to me and asked me for medical help. But it wasn't even possible for me to keep them from work for a day or two, although I had been to the Krupp directorate and for permission to do so. At the end of 1941, 2 people died daily and in 1942 the deaths increased to 3 - 4 per day. I was under Dr. May and I was often successful in getting him to come to the camp to see the terrible conditions and listen to the complaints, but it was not even possible for him to get medical aid from the Medical Department of the Wehrmacht or Krupps, or to get better conditions, treatment or food. I was a witness during a conversation with some Russian women who told me personally that they were employed in Krupps factory and that they were beaten daily in a most bestial manner. The food consisted of a watery soup which was dirty and unedible and its terrible smell could be noticed from a distance. The clothing was ragged and torn and on their feet they had rags and wooden shoes. Their treatment, as far as I could make out, was the same as that of the P.Ws. Beating was the order of the day. The conditions lasted for years, from the very beginning until the day the American troops entered. The people lived in great anxiety and it was dangerous for them to describe to anyone anywhere these conditions which reigned in their camps. The directions were such that they could have been murdered by anyone of the guards, the SS or Gestapo if they noticed it. It was possible for me as a doctor to talk to these people; they trusted me and knew that I as a Pole, would never betray them to anyone.

[signed] Dr. APOLINARY GOTOWICKI
residing Essen - Steele, Bochumerstr. 55.


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#3

Post by David Thompson » 14 Nov 2004, 20:22

Document D-316: Employment of Russians, in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. Volume VII: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1947. p. 20.
14 March 1942. Machine Building Workshop 8 through Mr. KOCH

To: Mr. HUPE

During the last few days we have established that the food for the Russians employed here is so miserable that the people are getting weaker from day to day.

Investigations showed that single Russians are not able to place a piece of metal for turning into position, for instance, because of lack of physical strength. The same conditions exist at all places of work, where Russians are employed.

If it can not be seen to, that the feeding is changed in such a way that a normal output can be demanded from these people, then the employment of these people, with the necessary expense connected thereto, has been in vain; I do not think it is worth while employing any more Russians, from whom I cannot expect any results in production, although they are sent to me as productive workers.

I expect that the same conditions prevail inside all the other works. It would only be right if you via the firm take steps to clear up this matter.

[signature illegible]

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#4

Post by David Thompson » 14 Nov 2004, 20:26

Document D-321, sworn statement of Adam Schmidt, in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. Volume VII: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1947. pp. 25-26.
Essen, 12 October 1945

Sworn Statement.

I the undersigned, Adam Schmidt, employed as Betriebswart in the Essen-West Railway Station, and residing in Margarethenhoehe, Im Stillen Winkel 12, make the following statement voluntarily and on oath:

I have been employed by the Reichs Railway since 1918 and have been at Essen West Station since 1935. In the middle of 1941 the first workers arrived from Poland, Galicia and Polish Ukraine. They came to Essen in goods wagons in which potatoes, building materials and also cattle have been transported, were brought to perform work at Krupp. The trucks were jammed full with people. My personal view was that it was inhuman to transport people in such a manner. The people were squashed closely together and they had no room for free movement. The Krupp overseers laid special value on the speed the slave workers got in and out of the train. It was enraging to every decent German who had to watch this, to see how the people were beaten and kicked and generally maltreated in a brutal manner. In the very beginning as the first transports arrived, we could see how inhumanly these people were treated. Every wagon was so overfilled that it was incredible that such a number could be jammed into one wagon. I could see with my own eyes that sick people who could scarcely walk (they were most people with foot trouble, injured and also people with internal trouble) were taken to work. One could see that it was sometimes difficult for them to move themselves. The same can be said for the Eastern workers and P.Ws. who came to Essen in the middle of 1942.

The clothing of the P.Ws. and civilian workers was catastrophic in a few words it was humanly impossible. It was raggy and ripped and the foot wear was the same. In some cases they had to go to work with rag:3 round their feet. Even in the worst weather and bitterest cold, I have never seen that any of the wagons were heated. One could see from the very beginning that their treatment on their arrival in Essen was very brutal, although at that time, there were no catastrophic conditions in Germany as there were at the end of 1944/45.

Later I had the opportunity of learning through conversation with the people, what food they received. The people concerned were those who travelled to work every day. Their food was solely a watery soup with a few capers and on this bad and insufficient food they had to perform the work laid down by Krupps the whole day. At the beginning of 1941, approximately three trains a day arrived at Essen West Station at about 6 or 7 a.m. loaded with about 500 people, who had been ordered to work for Krupp. In 1943/44 the first air attacks began and it often happened that the people stood about for hours in the cold waiting for their transports to arrive. Through this they often arrived back in camp 2 or 3 hours late, frozen through and in an ailing condition.

[signed] ADAM SCHMIDT

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#5

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 01:34

Document D-297, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 9-10
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D—297

Fried. Krupp
Boiler Construction
26 March 1942.
Essen.
To Mr. HUPE via Mr. WINTERS.

Re: Employment of Russian Ps.W. and civilian workers.

Now that 6 weeks have passed since Russian Ps.W. have been employed in the Boiler Construction Shop, we can now form an opinion about their employment.

The Russian Ps.W. employed here are in a generally weak physical condition and can only partly be employed, on light fitting jobs, electric welding, and auxiliary jobs.

Ten to 12 of the 32 Russians here are absent daily on account of illness.

In March for instance, 7 appeared for work only for a few days, 14 are nearly always ill, or come here in such a condition that

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they are not capable of even the lightest work. Therefore only 18 of the 32 remained who could be used only for the lightest jobs.

The reason why the Russians are not capable of production is, in my opinion, that the food which they are given will never give them the strength for working which you hope for. The food one day, for instance, consisted of a watery soup with cabbage leaves and a few pieces of turnip. The punctual appearance of the food leaves a good deal to be desired too. This week for instance, the food arrived at 1400 hrs. one day, and 1315 hrs. another, so that the working time is cut by the long dinner break. Complaints about these unpunctual deliveries have been made more than once to Mr. Hahn of the Cooperative Store.

It can also be said about the employment of the Russian Ps.W., that it will mean a great disappointment for the works, in that much unpleasantness and increased work for the offices and works direction has been caused, but no increase in production has been achieved in the works.

It is well known in the departments concerned such as P.W. catering Dept. what the conditions are like at the moment and they have been asked more than once by the works management, as well as by Mr. Soehling personally, to have good food served punctually, all without success. The Arbeitsfront has pointed out to Mr. Soehling that it is definitely not his job to bother about food for the Russian Ps.W.

It is about time that either a change was made here, or the Russians incapable of light work be got rid of, since they only create extra costs for the works and in the coming warm season could bring diseases in.

About the 5 civilian Russian workers, it can be said that they too cannot do heavy work, partly on account of the aforementioned grounds.

The two boiler smiths by trade, can only be employed on the heavy boiler smith work for a few days, since their physical weakness does not allow any longer. The people employed as electric welders can be used.

Copy to Mr. WINTERS.
Signed: THEILE.

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#6

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 01:36

Document D-298, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 10-11:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-298

Essen. 15 October. 1945.

I, Dr. Georg. Wolff make the following statement, to the best of my knowledge and ability under oath :
My name is Dr. Georg. Wolff. My residence is in Essen, Auf

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dem Holleter 11. I am the head of the Economic Department of the firm of Fried Krupp.

The attached chart headed "Fried Krupp. Berthawerk Markstaedt/Breslau—Number of occupied foreigners, prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates," was prepared under my super-vision on the basis of a declaration made by the administration department of the Berthawerks and delivered to Essen. I certify that the chart agrees with the original report from the Berthawerk.

Dr. Georg Wolff.

Albert D. Friar. Capt.
Court President.
Mil. Gov. Stamp.

FRIED. KRUPP BERTHAWERK
Markstaedt/Breslau
Number of occupied foreigners, prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates
Foreigners Prisoners of war Concentration camp inmates
June 1st 1943 2 216 —
July 1st 1943 1 849 —
August 1st 1943 2 381 —
September 1st 1943 2 527 —
October 1st 1943 2 876 —
November 1st 1943 2 773 338
December 1st 1943 2 728 1 505
January 1st 1944 3 041 868
February 1st 1944 3 066 932
March 1st 1944 2 908 1 209 914
April 1st 1944 — — —
May 1st 1944 — — —
June 1st 1944 3 139 1 105 1 801
July 1st 1944 3 380 1 095 2 150
August 1st 1944 3 208 1 055 2 593
September 1st 1944 3 358 1 012 3 372
October 1st 1944 4 196 140 3 572
November 1st 1944 4 368 130 3 640
December 1st 1944 4 306 119 3 772
January 1st 1945 4 427 121 4 080


[Signed] Albert D. Friar, Capt.
Court President
[Seal: Military Government Summary Court Essen 130 DET]

11

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#7

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 01:38

Document D-305, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 13-14:
Translation of Document D-305

Essen, 5th Oct 1945

SWORN STATEMENT

I the undersigned, Heinrich Buschhauer, residing in Essen-Frillendorf, Banschenhoehe 23, make the following statement voluntarily and on oath.

Re :—Werner Theile, c/- Koenning, 6 Mainzerstr. Mishandling of Russian P.W.

In September the first Russian P.W. came. At first over 100 men came and were employed in boiler making. When these came the Works Manager Theile said to me that I should take over the control of these Russians. He said to me, "Go to the stores, draw an axe-shaft and then go to the Bottroperstr. Camp ready to receive the Russians. Use the axe-shaft if anybody becomes awkward in any way." I did not do it and went without the axe-shaft. I admit that I hit Russians PW's. The Russians were very willing and attentive. The clothing of the Russians was very bad and torn. Their feet were wrapped in rags. The appearance of the people was bad, they were thin and pale. Their cheeks had fallen in completely. In spite of this, I was forced to ill-treat the people on the orders of works manager Theile. I have boxed the people's ears and beaten them with a 3/4 Rubber tube and a wooden stick. Once I had to take a Russian who had stolen a piece of bread, to the camp in Hafenstr. (The Russians would let themselves be beaten half dead for a piece of bread and not even murmur). A corporal received us there and took us into the camp. After a few minutes, the corporal came out of the cellar again and said, "He's confessed to the theft already. Down there, there is one who knows how to deal with the Russians better than you." He also said, "Down there, we have a Russian who is specially well fed, who is only there to beat the prisoners and he treats the fellows inhumanly." I saw the prisoner the next day. He was completely washed out and his body was covered in bruises. He showed me. I promised myself never to take an-other prisoner there, but preferably punish them myself. I have complained innumerable times to the Works Manager, Theile, that I could no longer take part in these beatings as the whole of the works personnel was so much against the ill-treatment of the Russians. The Russians were so hungry that they were never satisfied. The Russians' food consisted of a dirty watery soup in which were a few foul potatoes and a bit of cabbage. When the food containers were opened the whole works stank. Our people often held their noses whenever they came near the food containers. Once, each of them received 5 medium sized potatoes in their

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jackets, of which half were bad. The Russians were so hungry that they ate potatoes skin and all without removing the bad parts. I distributed the food generally. Nearly every week I made complaints to the works manager about the food and treatment of the Russians and said I could no longer carry on. He always explained to me that I must carry on. I showed him samples of the food with the bad pieces of potato. The more energetic I went against these people, the more the Works Manager liked it. I was the "whipping boy" for the whole of the works and had to drive and beat the Russians in order to get increased production from them. At times, I had up to two thousand foreigners under me. The Russians could not possibly work more than they did, because the food was too bad and too little. The Works management, however, wanted to get still higher performance from them. It often happened that the Russians, so utterly weakened, collapsed. At least 6 or 7 times I have had to take prisoners back to the camp on an electric trolley because they could not walk any more.

I can remember one occurrence perfectly. It was in Summer 1942. The Nazi Obmann (Works liaison officer) Rogge and I took a prisoner in to the bathroom. There I had to hold him whilst the Nazi Obmann beat him with a rubber tube all over. That lasted about 10 minutes. The grounds for this ill treatment was as follows. The Russian had stolen 3 slices of bread because he had had nothing to eat and was mad with hunger.

The conditions which I have described above, continued the whole of the years I was in the boiler making dept. On 20th Feb. 1943, I was transferred from the boiler making shop to Widia.

[signed] H. Buschhauer.
J.W.L. Rathborne, Major
Mil Gov Stamp.
President

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#8

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 01:41

Document D-306, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 14-15:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-306

Essen, 11 October 1945.

SWORN STATEMENT.

I, the undersigned, August Kleinschmidt, residing in Essen, Curtiusstrasse 126, make the following statement voluntarily on oath:

At the end of 1942, and beginning of 1943, the first Eastern workers and Russian Ps.W. came to our works. I was master in the No. 3/4 Panzer Shop heat treatment department. I had 4 female Eastern workers under my command. From the very

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beginning I drove these Eastern workers to work. I admit that I caught hold of them at the back of the head and smacked their necks to make them work. In July 1944 I was present when Spettman beat a Russian woman with a rubber tube because she had a piece of white bread. Lewenkamp was put into No. 4 Panzer Shop by the firm Krupp to supervise the foreigners. He gave us instructions we had not to be frightened of hitting, kicking or doing other such brutal things. I can say that with a pure conscience that it was a pleasure for Lewenkamp, who controlled all the camps, to get Eastern workers into his hands and ill-treat them in a sadistic manner. In December 1944 it often happened that the women Eastern workers warmed themselves at the braziers which had been set up. If they stayed there too long, I drove them back to work with blows from my fist on their heads and shoulders. I know too, that Lewenkamp had a small room in the works to which he took the foreigners and ill-treated them. The Works Assistant Wellmann once made the remark : "If they won't work, bring them here and hit them in the neck !"

About the Russians food, I can say that it was not good. I have once been able to ascertain that it was a watery caper soup. The girls clothing was insufficient for the winter, and for that reason they stood against the fire to protect themselves a little from the cold.

Once, a girl who was pregnant, came to me and complained that she had been beaten by the Guard Schoenfeld. She was away from work for 8 days and as she told me later, she had been in bed the whole time because her whole body was covered with bruises.

I can remember one case when Professor Houdremont visited us in the works and saw the miserable condition in which the girls were and what heavy work they had to do. 2 female Eastern workers were employed in attaching chains to the body work of Tiger Tanks.

[Signed] AUGUST KLEINSCHMIDT
J. W. L. Rathbone Major.
Mil Gov President.
[Stamp]

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#9

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 01:44

Document D-310, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 15-16:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-310

Armoured Car Repair Shop
18 March 1942

Overseer Koelsch, I got the food this evening after Mr. Balz telephoned, but I

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had quite a struggle with the people responsible in the camp before I got anything at all. They always told me that the people had already received the day's rations and there wasn't any more. What the gentlemen understand under a Day's ration is a complete puzzle to me. The food as a whole was a puzzle too, because they ladled me out the thinnest of any already watery soup. It was literally water with a handful of turnips and it looked as if it were washing up water.

Please tell Mr. Balz again definitely so that the matter is finally cleared up, that it cannot continue having people perish here at work. The people have to work for us here. Good, but care must be taken to see that they get at least the bare necessities. I have seen a few figures in the camp and a colder shudder actually ran up and down my spine. I met one there and he looked as though he'd got Barber's rash. It is not to be wondered at when they get no soap and filth cannot be removed by water alone. If this continues we shall all be contaminated. It is a pity when just at the moment the motto is increased production. Something must be done to keep the people capable of production otherwise we shall experience a great disaster in this respect, not only in production but also in the matter of health and what that means especially today, we all know.

It is my firm conviction that if the people are more or less satisfied the production which is continually being asked for will be attained, because after all, it is for us and our dearly beloved Germany.

Heil Hitler !
[signed] August Grollius 17.1.42

P. S. Please tell Karl Schaefer to put a ladle out for me in the evenings so that I can distribute the food better to the people.

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#10

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 01:47

Document D-312, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 16-17:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-312

Essen 11 October 1945.

SWORN STATEMENT

Re: Maltreatment of Foreign Workers in No. 2 Repair Shop.

I, the undersigned Karl Sehnbruch born 25.1.1886, residing in Essen - West, Duesseldorferstrasse 3 make the following voluntary statement on oath.

I have been employed for years in No. 2 Repair Shop, Fried. Krupp factory, and know the Works conditions perfectly. At the end of 1942, the first Russian PWs. came to No. 2 Repair Work Shop and were employed as labourers. In course of time

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further Russian - P.Ws. and Eastern workers were put to work here. The number of Russians employed by us during the war varied between 60 and 100. All these Russian workers were badly clothed. Day in and day out they went around in their raggy clothing. They nearly all smelled so badly, owing to their being dirty and ungroomed that one could not stand it. I have never been able to ascertain whether the works management ever gave the Russians clean or additional clothing, although they had to work all weathers and then often shivered with the cold. On top of that, the food for the Russians was very bad and totally insufficient, and they had to perform heavy work on this food. I have often enough seen the food which the Russians received daily which was only a thin vegetable soup and I did not think it possible for a man to be able to exist on it for years without getting some sort of health trouble. Nothing was ever done on the part of the works direction to improve the food. It wasn't enough that these Russians worked under such unworthy and unfavourable conditions but at every opportunity they were punished by horrible physical ill-treatment. The Deputy Works Manager Greiff took part in these mishandlings. He thought nothing of hitting a Russian prisoner in the face with his hand. On another occasion Greiff hit an Eastern worker over the shoulder with an iron rod in such a manner that the man ran through the works crying. It was impossible for him to lift his arm and a few other P.Ws. had to do his work for him.

Repair fitter Peter Slamnik, stateless, was also well known throughout the works for his barbaric treatment of the Russians. In January 1945, Slamnik, who was an S.A. man, shot a Russian with his pistol in No. 2 Repair workshop yard.

Furthermore in November 1944 Slamnik attempted to hang a Russian who was supposed to have stolen a pair of shoes. The Russian had already been hoisted up and showed all the symptoms of choking when this bestial deed was stopped at the last moment. I have never been able to find out whether Slamnik was ever brought to justice by the works manager Engels, about this terrible murder, because Slamnik worked on quietly in the factory and showed no change in his manner. Since the entry of the American troops in April 1945, Slamnik has disappeared from the Factory.

[signed] KARL SEHNBRUCH
J. W. L. Rathbone, Major
Mil Gov. President.
Stamp

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#11

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 02:04

Document D-318, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, p. 24:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-318

Armoured Vehicle Shop
Essen
20 March 1942

To Mr. IHN. Main Administration Dept.

I am enclosing herewith a copy of a letter from our foreman August Grollius, who as SS Scharfuehrer supervises the Russian civilians working on the night shift.

The Deputy Works Manager Mr. Mustin, who also employs a number of such Russian workers and who is quite satisfied with their performance, went to the camp in Kramerplatz on my in ducement and had a talk with Mr. Weiberg, the Camp Commandant. Mr. Hassel from the Works Police who was present at the time, butted in and declared that one should not believe what the people said. Also that one was dealing with Bolsheviks and they ought to have beatings substituted for food.

I am free from any false sentimentality. This is a matter concerning people who have been given to me to work, or anyway to the Armoured Vehicle Shop, and from whom I demand work Already they have proved today that they can and will work Every creature from whom I demand work must be fed and I have ascertained on my many journeys to various factories, as President of the Special Committee for Zgkw motor tractors, that the Russians are good workers, providing they get sufficient to eat

1 Encl.

Signed. DIWKELAKER.

[Written by hand in purple pencil.]

Mr. Ba [ ?] informs me that the food for 9 Russian civilians on night shift on 19/20th March was forgotten. Foreman Grollius therefore refused to bring these people to work. Thereupon they received their food.

D.

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#12

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 02:09

Document D-321, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, p. 25-26:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-321

Essen, 12 October 1945

Sworn Statement.

I the undersigned, Adam Schmidt, employed as Betriebswart in the Essen-West Railway Station, and residing in Margarethenhoehe, Im Stillen Winkel 12, make the following statement voluntarily and on oath :

I have been employed by the Reichs Railway since 1918 and have been at Essen West Station since 1935. In the middle of 1941 the first workers arrived from Poland, Galicia and Polish Ukraine. They came to Essen in goods waggons in which potatoes, building materials and also cattle have been transported, were brought to perform work at Krupp. The trucks were jammed full with people. My personal view was that it was inhuman to transport people in such a manner. The people were squashed closely together and they had no room for free movement. The Krupp overseers laid special value on the speed the slave workers got in and out of the train. It was enraging to every decent German who had to watch this, to see how the people were beaten and kicked and generally maltreated in a brutal manner. In the very beginning as the first transports arrived, we could see how inhumanly these people were treated. Every waggon was so over-filled that it was incredible that such a number could be jammed into one waggon. I could see with my own eyes that sick people who could scarcely walk (they were most people with foot trouble, injured and also people with internal trouble) were taken to work. One could see that it was sometimes difficult for them to move themselves. The same can be said for the Eastern workers and P.Ws. who came to Essen in the middle of 1942.

The clothing of the P.Ws. and civilian workers was catastrophic in a few words it was humanly impossible. It was raggy and ripped and the foot wear was the same. In some cases they had to go to work with rags round their feet. Even in the worst weather and bitterest cold, I have never seen that any of the waggons were heated. One could see from the very beginning that their treatment on their arrival in Essen was very brutal, al-though at that time, there were no catastrophic conditions in Germany as there were at the end of 1944/45.

Later I had the opportunity of learning through conversation with the people, what food they received. The people concerned Were those who travelled to work every day. Their food was solely a watery soup with a few capers and on this bad and insufficient food they had to perform the work laid down by Krupps the whole day. At the beginning of 1941, approximately three

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trains a day arrived at Essen West Station at about 6 or 7 a.m., loaded with about 500 people, who had been ordered to work for Krupp. In 1943/44 the first air attacks began and it often happened that the people stood about for hours in the cold waiting for their transports to arrive. Through this they often arrived back in camp 2 or 3 hours late, frozen through and in an ailing condition.

[signed] ADAM SCHMIDT

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#13

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 02:13

Document D-335, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, p. 25-26:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-335

Essen. 12 June 1944.

To Gau Camp Dr. JAEGER.

In the middle of May I took over the medical supervision of the p.W. Camp 1420 in the Noeggerathstrasse. The camp contains 644 French PWs.

During the air attack on 27 April of this year the camp was largely destroyed and at the moment conditions are intolerable.

315 Prisoners are still accommodated in the camp. 170 of these are no longer in barracks but in the tunnel in Grunertstrasse under the Essen-Muelheim railway line. This tunnel is damp and is not suitable for continued accommodation of human beings. The rest of the prisoners are accommodated in 10 different factories in Krupp works.

The first medical attention is given by a French Military Doctor who takes great pains with his fellow country men. Sick people from Krupps factories must be brought to the sick parade. This parade is held in the lavatory of a burned out public house outside the camp. The sleeping accommodation of the 4 French Orderlies is in what was the men's room. In the sick bay there is a double tier wooden bed. In general, the treatment takes place in the open. In rainy weather it is held in the a/m small room. Those are insufferable conditions! There are no chairs, tables, cupboard or water. The keeping of a register of sick people is impossible. Bandages and medical supplies are very scarce although people badly hurt in the works are very often brought here for first aid and have to be bandaged here before being transported to hospital. There are many loud and lively complaints about food which the guards personnel confirm as being correct.

Illness and loss of manpower must be reckoned with under these circumstances.

The construction of barracks for the accommodation of the prisoners and the building of sick quarters for the proper treatment of the sick beings is vitally necessary.

Please take the necessary steps.

signed. STINNESBECK.

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#14

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 02:37

Document D-338, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, p. 27-28:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-338

M.I. Room, Camp Administration.
28. Jul.44.
Special Medical Report.

The sick barrack in Camp Rabenhorst is in such a bad condition, one cannot speak of a sick barrack anymore. The rain leaks through in every corner. The housing of the ill is therefore

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impossible. The necessary labour for production is in danger because those persons who are ill cannot recover. The barracks must be roofed over, if possible, quickly, or the sick must be transferred to the various hospitals. This must be avoided owing their being overburdened at the present.

(Signed) Dr. Jaeger.
Camp and Works Doctor.

Copies to K.V.D. Essen
Dr. Heinz, Mulheim-Ruhr.
Mr. Ihn.
Dr. Beusch.
Dr. Wiele.
Dr. Seynsche.
Mr. Kupke.

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#15

Post by David Thompson » 05 Feb 2005, 08:46

Document D-339, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VII, US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: 1946, pp. 28-29:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT D-339

M.I. Room, Camp administration.
Strictly confidential!
2 Sept. 1944.
Dr. Jaelfz
Special Medical Report!

The P.O.W. camp in the Noeggerathstrasse is in a frightful condition. The people live in ash bins, dog kennels, old baking ovens and in self made huts.

The food is barely sufficient. Krupp is responsible for housing and feeding. The supply of medicine and bandages is so extremely bad that proper medical treatment was not possible in many cases. This fact is detrimental to the P.W. camp. It astonishing that the number of sick is not higher than it is and it moves between 9 and 10%. It is also understandable that there is not much pleasure in work, when conditions are such are mentioned above. When complaints are made that many the PW's are absent from work for one or two days it can blamed on to the camp to a great extent for having insufficient organization.

I have ordered, with the consent of the Camp Doctor Dr. Stinnesbeck that from time to time the sick who need special medical treatment be gathered and brought to one special doctor on one day of the week with the exception, of course, of urgent cases. Eye, ear and dental treatment come into consideration. If happens that people who should go to the special doctor hang around the camp for 4 or 5 days on account of lack of accompanying personnel, and the camp commandant declares he has not got the accompanying personnel, that is lack of organization and can no longer be offered as an excuse. In the meantime, in order

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to get some sort of arrangement the camp commandant has to provide guards on Thursday of each week. For the time being I shall supervise the measures personally each Friday. In our camp the measures taken for special medical treatment on a certain day have proved themselves very well.

signed. Dr. Jaeger.
Camp and Works Doctor.

Copies to :—Mr. Ihn
Dr. Beusch
Dr. Wiele
Mr. Kupke.
Last edited by David Thompson on 06 Feb 2005, 03:37, edited 1 time in total.

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