1947-01-13, #4: Doctors' Trial (late afternoon)
THE PRESIDENT: At this time I desire to announce that Tribunal No. 1 will not convene for the further trial of this case until eleven o'clock tomorrow morning.
MR. ROBBINS: May it please the Tribunal, Document 3896-PS reads as follows "I, Dr. Ludwig Sprauer, born 19 October 1884, now living at Konstanz, Baden, Salmannsweilergasse 2, swear to the following statement:
I passed my state examination as a doctor in 1907 at Freiburg. From 1919 on I worked as a civil servant. During the next 14 years I worked as a district physician at Stockack, Oberkirch, Konstanz. I joined the N.S. D.A.P. in 1933. From 1934 to 1944 I was the highest ranking medical officer in Baden. I had the title of a Ministerial Councillor. My top superior was the Reich Minister of the Interior, Dr. Frick. As Frick's subordinate I frequently - about once in every 2 or 3 months- went to Berlin to take part in conferences, meetings, etc. in the Reich Ministry of the Interior. There conferences took place in the Reich Ministry of the Interior, Unter den Linden 72-74, later in the Reich Ministry of the Interior, Voss-Strasse. At the occasion of such a stay in Berlin, Ministerial Director Dr. Linden of the Reich Ministry of the Interior told me that the introduction of a law on Euthanasia was intended. For reasons pertaining to defense policy the incurably mentally ill were to be liquidated in order to make room for healthy people. The institutions thus freed would be required by the SS to accommodate national political educational homes.
For the carrying out of all these measures, a transport company was founded which worked together with the so-called Reich committee for Research on Hereditary Susceptibility to Severe Diseases. This Reich company was headed by Ministerial Director Dr. Linden.
In the course of these measures, from about 1941 to 1944, thousands of persons were brought from institutions in Baden to institutions such as Hadamar, Grafeneck, etc. and liquidated there. These deaths were not only confined to the mentally ill. Under the same program, at the instigation of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, old people especially and also young ones, who were ill, began to be set aside.
Among the people who were killed in the course of this program were not only mentally ill, but also people who suffered from arteriosclerosis, tuberculosis, cancer, and other illnesses. It had to do mainly with older people who were put in public institutions and, it is true, at the cost of the state, and who were further cared for in suitable company, naturally at general cost. Those people were brought from public institutions in Baden to Hadamor, Grafeneck and other institutions and there put to death. In what manner they were killed. I do not know. In this way, room was made in the institutions, and especially for the Wehrmacht and for the national socialist educational institutions.
The whole program was camouflaged from inside to out and false death certificates made out.
In the year 1941 to 1942 I protested energetically twice against the murders. And, it is true, I turned to Frick's deputy, Dr. Conti, who was right in Strassbourg, Conti explained to me at that time that, these were matters concerning the Reich Ministry of the Interior, which had nothing to do with me. I considered this as an order, which I could not counteract. The second time I was rejected by Professor Nitzche in Heidelberg, who was also participating in this program.
The members of the Reich committee who were acting as art of the program, were frequently composed of SS people. Incidentally, archbishop Groeber also protested against the acts of murder in the institutions, naturally without success, I myself did not get to see this communication, the personal consultant of the Ministry of the Interior of Baden made the reply. Read, approved and signed, Dr. Ludwig Sprauer.
I should next like to offer into evidence Document NO-818 as Prosecution Exhibit Number 373 on page 265 of document book III, which is a supplementary affidavit to the one just read.
I, Dr. Ludwig Sprauer, being duly sworn, depose and state:
1. I was born on 19 October 1884, and live at the present time at Constance/Baden, Salmannweilergasse 2.
This affidavit is an addition to the sworn statement which I made in Nuremberg on 23 April 1946, which statement is known under Document No. 3896PS.
2. I heard the name of Prof, Dr. Karl Brandt for the first time at a conference in the middle of 1941 in Berlin. At this conference I learned that Karl Brandt and Phillip Bouhler are the leading figures in the Euthanasia Program. The conference was called by Dr. Linden on behalf of the Department of the Interior and problems of institutions and asylums were submitted. Dr. Linden directed the proceedings.
3. To the best of my knowledge and belief, Phillip Bouhler as well as Prof, Dr. Karl Brandt were the leading figures in this so-called Euthanasia Program from 1941 to the collapse of Germany.
4. The connection between the Department of the Interior and Prof. Karl Brandt, in the framework of the Euthanasia Program, was that Karl Brandt gave orders to Conti and Linden, which were passed on by these persons on behalf of the Department of the Interior. Brandt was the dominating figure without doubt.
5. I am not familiar with any directives whatever which exclude foreigners from the Euthanasia Program.
The next paragraph merely states that the affiant has read the statement and understands it to be true, and that he has made it voluntarily. Signed, Constance, 19 November 1946, Dr. Sprauer.
I should next like to offer in evidence Document Number NO-520 as Prosecution Exhibit 374 on page 267 of the English document book. It is a letter signed by Schlaich and addressed to the Reich Minister of Justice, Dr. Frank, dated Berlin, 6 September 1940 -- excuse me, dated Stetten, 6 September, 1940.
Dear Reich Minister: The measures, which at present are taken on mental patients of all kinds have caused a feeling of a complete lack of confidence in justice among large groups of the people. Without asking their relatives or guardians consent, such patients are being transferred from these to other institutions, from where then after a short while they receive intimation, that the person concerned had died of some disease. Considering the abundance of death notices, the people are convinced, that these ill people are being done away with.
Since on 10 and 13 September also from the institution under my direction 75 each time of the patients entrusted to me are to be transferred to such an institution, I take the privilege to ask the question: Is it possible that such a measure is carried out, although no pertinent law has been promulgated? Isn't it the duty of every citizen to resist under all circumstances any act not justified by law, even forbidden by law, even if they are carried out by state agencies?
On account of the complete secrecy and camouflage under which the measures are carried out, not only the wildest rumors are created amongst the people, (for example that also people unable to work on account of age or injuries received during the world war have been done away with or are to be done away with) but also the impression, as if a totally arbitrary manner prevailed at the selection of the persons concerned.
If the state really wants to carry out the extermination of these or at least of some mental patients, shouldn't a law be promulgated, which can be justified before the people, which would give everyone the assurance of careful examination whether he is due to die or entitled to live, and would also give the relatives a chance to be heard, in a similar way as provided by the law for the prevention of Hereditarily Affected Progeny?
With regard to the patients entrusted to the care of our institutions in the future I urgently pray to do everything possible to suspend the carrying out of this measure, until a clear legal situation has been established. Heil Hitler, signed Schlaich.
And on the letterhead of "L. Schlaich, Chief of the Institution for Feeble Minded and Epileptics." On the bottom of the letter is a note: "A copy of this letter I forwarded with the same mail to the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Reichminister Dr. Lammers."
I now offer in evidence Document Number NO-827 as Prosecution Exhibit Number 375 on page 269 of the English document book.
This is a letter on the letterhead of the Oberpraesident of Brandenburg Province, Administration of Provincial Association, Potsdam, 25 April 1940, signed by v. Armin, Governor, and addressed to the Home for Girls, attention Head of Institution or Deputy in Office, Personal.
Subject: Transfer of Inmates of Mental Institutions.
With reference to the circular O.P.I-RV.Pol.80/40 of the Reich Commissioner for Defense for the Corps A??a III, dated 20 January 1940, which is already known to you but a copy of which is a gain attached hereto, I instruct you, by the order of the Reich Commissioner for Defense, to move from your institution the patients enumerated in attached list with two copies which are enclosed likewise. The patients will be fetched on 4 May 1940 noon by busses of the Patient Transport Corporation who will get in touch with you.
The transport is to be prepared by the institution moving the patients: restless patients are to be treated preliminarily with proper drugs for a transport extending over several hours. The patients are to be handled over as far as possible, in their own underwear and clothing and are to be properly marked so that their identification will be guaranteed. The entire private funds and possibly, the patients' own money is to be handed over, well packed. if there is no private clothing, the institution moving the patients will have to lend underwear and clothing. The patient Transport Corporation will be responsible for the return of the clothing and underwear which have been put at the disposal as a loan; its list has to be submitted. The personal files and case histories of the patients are to be handed over to the transport leader.
I should next like to offer into evidence Document D-906 as Prosecution Exhibit Number 376, This is a long document continuing from page 271 to page 294.
It was admitted in evidence before the International Military Tribunal, having been presented by the British Prosecutor. The first part of the document. and I should mention that the Document Number D-906 contains several separate letters and memoranda, is a letter from Linden to Heinrich Sellmer, dated Berlin, 31 December 1940, and reads as follows:
Dear Party Comrade Sellmer: Enclosed herewith I submit to you an incident concerning the affair about which you have been informed by Party Comrade Blandenburg." Parenthetically I might note that Blandenburg, as the evidence has already shown, was assistant to Brack, and later his successor..." about which you have been informed by Party Comrade Blandenburg from the Chancellery of the Fuehrer. As you may see from the presentation of Frau Marie Kehr, she would like to know whether it is possible by virtue of a Reich law to deliver human beings from their incurable sufferings, I ask you to examine if there are any political objections against Kehr, and especially if ecclesiastical ties exist in her case. Should this not be the case, I, for my part, would not raise any objections against your verbal furnishing of the desired disclosures to Kehr, Heil Hitler, Linden.
There is an handwritten note at the bottom:
Ortsgruppenleiter Party Comrade Popp is of the opinion that Frau Kehr can be informed; she is quiet and reasonable.
As seen on the face of this letter, that if a person made inquiries to the Reich Minister and if it were determined that there were no political objections against a person, it might be explained to them verbally in case they were quiet and reasonable, just what was taking place.
Turning to page 272, still a part of Document Number D-906, is a file note, signed by Sellmer, dated 1.10.40, and reads as follows:
Visit from party member Blankenberg, Berlin. Action begins in the near future. So far hardly any mishaps have occurred. 30,000 dispatched. Further 100,000-120,000 are waiting. The circle of those who are initiated is to be kept very small. If necessary the Kreisleiter is to be notified in good time. Initiate?r. Hummel when possible, supply a statement from the Gau. 1) Institutions; 2) Doctor's attitude; 3) Where is the institution situated? 4) Who is the Kreisleiter? The Fuehrer gave the order. The decree is ready. At present only clear cases, that is, 100% ones, are being settled. Later an expansion will take place. From now on notification will be given in more scholastic form. Informed are: [Two names follow which are illegible]. /s/ Sellmer.
The next part of Document Number D-906 is found on Page 273 and is a letter from Martin Bormann addressed to the Gauleitung Franconia, dated Berlin, 24.9.40, on the letterhead of the National Socialist German Workers Party, The Fuehrer's Deputy Chief of Staff:
Your letter of 13 September 1940 was given to me by Party member Hoffmann. The Commission which was working at Neuendettelsau, is under the control of Reichsleiter Bouhler or is acting on his orders.
The text of the notifications of relatives varies in its composition, as I was once more assured yesterday; it can, however, naturally happen sometimes that two families living close to each other receive similarly worded letters.
It is natural that the representatives of Christian ideology speak against the Commission's measures; it must be equally natural that all Party Offices should, as much as necessary, support the work of the Commission.
'Heil Hitler.'
M. Bormann.
On the following page, Page 274, still part of Document Number D-906, is an extract from a report by the Kreisleitung of Erlangen, as can be seen from the original document. It reads as follows:
2. Elimination of mentally deranged:
On orders from the Ministry of the Interior, signed Schultz or Schultze, a commission, consisting, among others, of a North German doctor and a number of students, appeared some time ago at the local sanatorium and nursing home. It examined the charts of the patients of the institution. Some time later the director of the institution was informed that a certain number of patients were to be transferred to another institution on orders from the Reich Defence Commissar, that a Berlin Transport Company was to carry out the transfer and that the head of the institution was to follow the directives of this company which was in possession of a list of names. In this way three transports with a total of 370 patients have been transferred in the meantime to Sonnenstein near Pirna and to the Linz district.
A further transport is to leave in January of next year. In the beginning the head of the institution did not know at all where the transports went and he ignores it even now officially. He received no information on the subject from anybody. He merely had instructions to reply to the inquiries of the patients' relatives that the new institution would get in touch with them and inform them of their admission. Strangely enough, various relatives received notification after the transfer that their patients had died. In some cases pneumonia and in others an infectious disease were given as the cause of death. At the same time, the relatives were further informed that it had been necessary to cremate the body and that, if they were interested, they could have the clothing of the deceased sent to them. The registry office of Erlangen was also informed by the institution of the various cases of death, and again either pneumonia or an infectious disease was given as the cause of death--illnesses which had no connection with the previous medical history, so that it is to be assumed that we are confronted with false statements. The population is terribly disturbed about the transfer of patients, because they connect it with the cases of death which are becoming known in rapid succession. They speak, partly openly, partly in secret, about an elimination of patients for which there is no legal foundation. In these war times such unrest among the population has a doubly unfavorable effect. Moreover, the events described above give the church and religious circles cause to revive their attitude against National Socialism.
A: handwritten note at the bottom of the report reads as follows:
Original extract from the situation report of the Kreisleitung of Erlangen of the 26.11.40. A copy was not made.....
The next part of Document Number D-906 is found in the middle of Page 275 and is an extract of a report of the Kreisleiter of Ansbach, as is shown from the original, and reads as follows:
30. Miscellaneous....
Then follows a paragraph on price policy, which I shall not read. Then follows the paragraph on mental institutions, reading as follows:
Mental Institutions:
The removal of patients of mental institutions to other districts could naturally not remain hidden from the public.
It also appears that the established commissions work too hastily, are not always licky, and that several mistakes occurred. Nor can one prevent individual cases from becoming known and spoken about.
The following cases should naturally not have occurred:
1. Through an oversight one family received two urns.
2. One notification of death indicated appendicitis as the cause of death. The appendix, however, had already been removed ten years previously.
Still reading from the report of the Kreisleiter at Ansbach, saying the following cases should not have occurred, he lists as:
3. Another cause of death quoted was a disease of the spinal cord. Relatives of the family had visited the patient, then in perfect physical health, only eight days before.
One family received a notification of death, although the woman still lives in the institution today and enjoys perfect physical health. Some time ago, an obituary notice was inserted in the local 'Frankische Zeitung' by the relatives: '__________ has been taken away from us by a tragic fate.' Those are the things that the Kreisleiter of Ansbach says should never have happened in the Euthanasia, program.
With these highly delicate measures,
-- the report continues --
it is difficult to make suggestions as to how to counter a further spreading of facts or rumors arising from them as well as completely invested rumors.
It would be necessary, at least for the Kreisleiters, to receive confidential information about the measures themsel ves.
In addition, the competent Kreisleiter should also be notified at the same time as the relatives, in order to enable him to observe the effect on the relatives, to watch their behavior, and, if necessary, intervene in a suitable manner.
Heil Hitler!
"(signature illegible)" The following is an excerpt from the second page of a letter, as shown by the original document, from E. Walz, Kreisleiter.
The translation unfortunately, starts in the middle of a sentence. However, the original document is complete:
families were refusing to send their sick to institutions as they did not know whether they would get them back alive. The district physician in Nurnberg had informed him that in the city of Nurnberg, 2 charges for murder had been preferred by the relatives of such sick persons.
The Party has not received any complaints or accusations of this sort, up to now.
Heil Hitler!
/s/ E. Walz, Kreisleiter.
The next part of the Document D-906 which I should like to refer to, is that contained on Page 277, which is a, letter dated 5 March 1941, which I will not read and at the bottom of Page 277 is a file note which I shall not take time to read. Turning to Page 278 I should like to read the letter appearing on that page, still a part of Document D-906, from Sellmer, Chief of the Gau Staff Office, addressed to Sturmbannfuehrer Freidrich, Nurnberg;
Subject: Unrest of the population of Absberg owing to the conspicuous evacuation of the inmates of the Ottilienheim.
As I have already informed you by telephone, the evacuation of further inmates of the Ottilienheim has caused much unpleasantness. I enclose herewith for your information the comprehensive report of the Kreisleiter, party member Geistner, and I will inform you in due course of further inquiries to take place.
I have just received a telephone message from the Ortsgruppenleiter of the NSDAP in Absbert, Party member Kirchhof, who is employed as foreman in the Muna Langlan and also lives there, about an incident which has disturbed the population in Absberg to an exceptional degree. In Absberg, which is part of the area of the former Kreisleitung of Gunzenhausen, the Abbey of Ottilienheim is situated in the middle of the market place. In this Ottilienheim were housed a few hundred mentally defective people who, as far as they were fit for any work, were employed on the farm of the Ottilienheim. These mentally defective persons were originally sent there by the various Country Welfare Organizations. Already last year 25 inmates were removed in the course of the well known measures. Of these, 24 died while 1 inmate was again brought back to the Ottilienheim. This was allegedly a case of inmates for whom the Country Welfare Organization of Swabia had to provide..
And then comes the interesting part of the letter:
Last Friday the inmates of the Ottilienheim for whose cost the Country Welfare Organization of Upper Franconia and Middle Franconia had assumed the responsibility, were taken away in two large cars. The removal was carried out under the direction of a professor from Erlangen by the personnel of that institution. The people were taken away in the most conspicuous manner imaginable. Instead of the buses entering the courtyard to pick up the inmates who were to be removed, the vehicles were stationed outside the Ottilienheim in the middle of the market place. The inmates of the Ottilienheim to be removed who had been thoroughly stirred up, had to be taken to the vehicles one by one and by the use of force. The whole population of Absberg, which is strongly Catholic, had congregated and watched the incident, crying loudly. That certain circles made appropriate psychological use of this incident cannot be regarded as a surprise. Party member Kirchhof reported that there were even party members among these weeping onlookers and that, in the general excitement of the people, certain remarks were made which must be regarded as irresponsible. It goes without saying that the pastor of the Ottilienheim himself helped to create the appropriate atmosphere by having the people who were to be removed brought to the Abbey church for confession and communion in the morning and having them practically carried to the altar with the help of the nuns.
I shall now made detailed inquires about the incident through the Landrat. I consider it necessary, however, to advise the competent authorities to use somewhat more tact in the removal of these persons who just have to be eliminated as a Reich defense measure, as it is not necessary to create unnecessary difficulties and play into the hands of our opponents. As soon as I receive the report, I shall pass it to the Gaustabsamt (Gau Staff Office).
Heil Hitler, /s/ Sellmer
The next letter, on page 280, still a part of the same document, D-906, is a letter with the subject heading:
"Incidents on the occasion of the latest removal of mentally defective persons from the Ottilienheim Absberg" signed by Kirchhof, referred to in the previous letter, and dated 23 February 1941, reading as follows:
To the Kreisleitung of the NSDAP, Weissenburg.
With reference to the telephone conversation mentioned above, the desired report about the recent incidents in Absberg a few days ago is enclosed herewith for your information.
We would like to request you not to pass on the original of this report to the Gendarmerie Officer Pfister in Absberg for eventual examination of the participating spectators, as the Ortsgruppe fears that Pfister, who is judged and regarded as strongly Catholic by us, may not take effective steps against his own fellow believers in this matter.
The local Ortsgruppe itself, however, is of the opinion that the Ottilienheim will serve a much more useful purpose if it is cleared of its present inmates and placed at the disposal of the State as a military hospital or some other institution of military use.
Heil Hitler!
/s/ Kirchhof
The next following document is the report contained in Kirchhof's letter and is one of the most remarkable documents that I have seen.
It is a confidential report on the removal from Erlangen of the inmates of the asylum and it shows between the lines more eloquently than words the subjugation and the terror and the fear in which people lived under the Nazi regime. Obviously, Kirchhoff, the writer of this letter, lived in such mortal fear. The report contained in the previous letter reads as follows:
In the course of last Friday, 21 February 1941, a bus from Erlangen took 57 inmates of the Ottilienheim Absberg away in two parties, allegedly for an examination at the clinic at Erlangen. In the bus itself there were a doctor and three nurses who loaded these people on to the bus and supervised each transport.
A great number of spectators congregated each time these people were put on the bus and it is reported that the loading did not take place in the courtyard but in front of the gate. The wildest scenes imaginable are reported to have taken place then, as some of these people did not board the bus voluntarily and were therefore forced to do so by the accompanying personnel.
There were people who ...
-- Parenthetically, these people who fought not to be taken on the bus to the Euthanasia Station --
... were imbeciles and feeble minded and were said to have other epileptic illnesses as well, and whose upkeep the state and other Public Bodies have so far had to provide for either completely, or at least for the greater part.
I was able to learn in this connection that the Country Organization of Swabia fetched eight such persons back last autumn, and that seven of these were said to have died very shortly afterwards of influenza and low blood pressure, which set in. Only one person returned to the Ottilienheim in Absberg.
This matter gradually became known to Absberg, and as a result a great crowd of people gathered also on the occasion of that last action who, I have heard, allowed themselves to pass remarks against the National Socialist State. I was unfortunately unable to find out the names of the spectators concerned, as all spectators who had taken part showed great reticence towards me about this matter during my investigation.
These incidents during this action, which is, after all, necessary, are to be considered all the mere because even Party members themselves did not shrink from joining in the lamentations of the other weeping spectators. The fact that a certain group of the spectators concerned gave expression to their former convictions and did not refrain from minimizing and criticizing the great necessity of the measures taken and introduced in the course of Reich defense, was only to be expected from these people.
It is said that a section of those people even went so far as to formulate and disseminate more or less the following assertion. 'The State must be in a bad way now, or it could not happen that these poor people should simply be sent to their death solely in order that the means which until now have been used for the upkeep of those people are made available for the prosecution of the War'. This view originates predominantly from the Catholic population of Abensberg.
It is even said that those poor victims - as they are regarded by the clergy and the religious inhabitants of Absberg - were taken to the Catholic church for confession and communion shortly before their departure. It seems absolutely ridiculous to attempt to absolve by an oral confession the possible sins of people, some of whom completely lack all mental powers.
Although of the 57 people that were fetched away, there were some that had been employed by the Ottilien-heim in the kitchen and in agriculture and, as it happens, could only carry out these asks under supervision, the measures taken can, for that reason too, not be understood by the population. As this measure is gradually becoming known now, yesterday already 7 such people were taken back by relatives into their households, so that they allegedly could no longer be included in the action. To be added to this is the fact that about 14 days age strangers thoroughly inspected the Ottilienheim and made notes as to the size of the rooms, etc. Because of all these reasons, the population of Abensberg now fears that the Ottilienheim may possibly be evacuated and made available for other purposes. Dated 24th February, 1941, /s/ Kirchhof.
On the following page appears another report on the same incident, which I will not read. The same is true of page 285 and the same is also true of the report on page 286, still a part of the British Document D-906, also page 287. On page 288 appears a letter, signed by the Kreisleiter of Gauleitung Franconia dated March 7, 1941, which reads as follows:
Regarding: Removal of inmates of the Bruckberg institution.
The Ortsgruppenleiter of the Bruckberg Ortsgruppe, Party member Reuschel. makes the following report:
The news of the removal of some of the inmates of the Bruckberg Institution has caused the greatest unrest among the population of Bruckberg, unrest which was further increased by the fact that some of the inmates to be removed, namely, these who in the opinion of the inhabitants are still 'in their right minds', came into nearly every house to say good-bye. One could almost be led to believe that it is a question here of a farewell carried out on orders, but I am informed from reliable sources that the inmates felt of their own accord that it was their duty to say goodbye, and that probably one imitated the others. Apart from the fact that one recognizes clearly in these case how far the ordinary German is receptive to the solution of this question to hereditary disease, I asked before for my own opinion for weeks from all sides and what attitude the Party takes in this matter.
Ortsgruppenleiter Reuschel is furthermore of the opinion that he should speak about the removal of the inmates, if possible at the next meeting of Party members, in order to give the facts and above all to squash, the rumors that have arisen to the effect that the inmates would very seen be put out of the way, done away with or poisoned.
I, however, am of the opinion that it is better now as before not to talk about his matter at all and I ask you to notify me accordingly if you held different views.
As I evaluate the situation, a certain amount of unrest will naturally continue to arise, which will be especially fostered by attacks, the sooner will calm be restored here too. Heil Hitler, /s/ the Kreisleiter.
The next part of Document906, appearing on pages 290 and 291, I will omit reading. On page 292 appears a latter signed by Dr. Schumann and addressed to the attention of Professor Heyde, reading as follows:
Dear Professor Heyde: Enclosed I submit to you a letter of a relative whose two sisters have died at our place.
I ask for information, whether in this case the writer is to be brought here for a discussion, or whether as usually the necessary precaution is to be used especially in explaining that the death of the two sisters secured in a natural way.
We have sent a copy of this letter to Dr. Hefelmann because he is interested in such letters and since he considered particularly to give reasonable hints in the letters to the relatives. Heil Hitler, /s/ Dr. Schumann.
Page 294 is near the end of Document D-906, however, since it is a repetition of what was given before, I will omit reading it.
On page 295, I offer as evidence Document660, as prosecution Exhibit 377. This document is a secret letter signed by Sellmer, regarding mental institutions. The nature of the letter is of such a secret nature that even the names of the addresses does not appear on the letter.
The following is for your personal information. Please destroy this sheet afterwards.
For sometime, the inmates of mental institutions are visited by a commission which functions upon the order of some very high office. The commission has the order to find out which inmates should be selected for a transport to certain other institutions, The commission bases its decision on the records of the institution. The patients who are then transferred are examined again in the institution designated by the commission and then the decision is made whether they should be freed from their sufferings.
The dead body itself is to be cremated and the ashes are placed at the disposal of the relatives. Small mistakes in notifying are naturally always liable to occur, and in the future it will not be possible to avoid them either The commission itself is anxious to avoid all mistakes. I could give you further information but I would like to abstain from it and beg you to lock me up when you visit the Gauleitung.
I believe that we as National-Socialists can welcome this action, which is for the affected individual extraordinarly serious.
I beg you therefore, to oppose all rumors and grumblings with the necessary emphasis by presenting our point of view in regard to these matters.
The next document, which I should like to offer into evidence, is No.665, Prosecution Exhibit 378 and it appears on page 296 of the document Book No. 3. I will not read the entire document, but only the last paragraph. It is signed by Kreisleiter Gerstner and dated February 24, 1941. On the letterhead is the NSDAP, Nuremberg. The last paragraph reads as follows:
I shall now have detailed investigations made by the Landrat with regard to this incident," the incident being the removal of the inmates from the Ottilien home, "but it also seems necessary to me to draw the attention of the responsible authorities to the fact that somehow more that should be used in the removal of such people who are to be done away with in the course of the Reich defense, as it is not necessary to create unnecessary difficulties and to play into the hands of our opponents. As soon as I shall have the report, I shall transmit it to the Gau staff office.
The next Document, which I should like to offer, is No.781 as Prosecution Exhibit 379, appearing on page 299. I will omit reading this Document as it describes generally the Euthanasia program and is a repetition of what already has been read.
The same is true of Document No.781, which I would like to offer as Prosecution Exhibit No.379, appearing on page 302.
The last document in the Document Book No. 3 is No, 781. I should only like to read the last page in the document book, which is page 303. It is a letter signed by Blankenburg, marked "confidential", to the Gauleitung Franconia of the NSDAP, dated 8 March 1941. The reads as follows:
For special reasons I request you to submit a complete list of all workhouses and other institutions within your Gau which serve as shelters for social and anti-social elements.
At the same time I request information as to who is in charge of operating the institution in question and how many inmates are sheltered there.
Since the composition of the groups of inmates varies quite extensively, according to previous experience, I should also like to receive information on that subject, if possible. I place special emphasis on learning whether, due to the lack of other housing facilities - which I know to be the case in individual institutions - incurable cases of insanity as well as idiocy are also kept there.
Please send me the list within 4 weeks.
Heil Hitler!
/s/ Blankenburg"
This completes the presentation of Document Book No. 14, and if the Tribunal please, we have a witness to put on, and since it is nearly time to adjourn, I suggest we wait until morning to examine the witness.
DR. FROESCHMAN: Mr. President, Mr. Froeschman for the defendant Brack. At the concluding of the reading of Document D-906, the Prosecution his read a letter from Dr. Schumann to Heyde, which was not contained in the Document Book. This appears of importance for the defense, and I request the prosecution see that we be given this document. I would also be grateful to the Prosecution if in presenting the individual document, they would also state the page in the German Document Book, because the series in the German Document Book vary considerably from the page numbers in the English Document Book.
MR. ROBBINS: We will obtain the Schumann letter for defense counsel, and I am sorry it was omitted from the book. We will also see if it is not possible at the same time to see that the English pages referred to are referred to in the German Document Book.
THE PRESIDENT: The suggestion by the Defense seems most reasonable. I hope the prosecution will comply with the request if possible.
When did you expect to call your witness?
MR. ROBBINS: We would prefer to wait until the first thing in the morning.
THE PRESIDENT: You are advised that Tribunal No. 1 will recess until 11 o'clock tomorrow morning. The tribunal will recess until that hour.