Tapping Hitler's Generals

WILDERMUTH: I meant to warn you against that. The Allies are much fussier in some matters than we were. I remember that from the last war. They shot many more men for refusing to obey orders and deserting than we did.

HEIM: Don’t you think that during the Boer War many a British officer received an order which he didn’t consider fair.

Document 134

CSDIC (UK), GRGG 278

Report on information obtained from Senior Officers (PW) on 30 Mar.–2 Apr. 45 [TNA, WO 208/4177]

BROICH: I visited DACHAU once in 1937. We were taken round everywhere. At that time there were 5,000 people there, 35,000 had passed through.[334] They said enormous buildings were going to be put up. Things were to be such that about 30,000 could pass through each year. They said ‘Some come here with a ticket “Never to be released”. Some remain three months, they are harmless birds of passage, who are simply to be sand-papered down a bit, and with some it’s a question of! Well, if they’re all right in a year or two and have been properly broken, they can come out. The ‘Oberst’ told us all that.’[335]

BRUHN: Was that a conducted tour for Army officers?

BROICH: No, it was quite private. I was in MUNICH for the ‘Brauner Ball’ festivities and… said to me: ‘WALDECK’–that’s the ‘Obergruppenführer’, the old fellow, the hereditary prince, an utter fool–‘asked me today if I wouldn’t like to go along there. It’s too gruesome going alone and I don’t like that kind of thing.’ He said: ‘It’s quite amusing.’ I said: ‘It doesn’t attract me very much, on the other hand, it’s quite interesting to go once.’ So we went, there was HASSE…, myself and WALDECK.[336] In civilian clothes. WALDECK was in SS uniform.

REIMANN: LEX[337] said recently that ULLERSPERGER had made the following remark: ‘What do I care about Good Friday? Because a filthy old Jew was hanged umpteen years ago?’

Document 135

CSDIC (UK), GG REPORT, SRGG 1158(C) [TNA, WO 208/4170]

Generalmajor BRUNS (Heeres-Waffenmeisterschule 1, Berlin)–Captured 8 Apr. 45 in Göttingen–and other Senior Officers (PW) whose voices could not be identified.

Information received: 25 Apr. 45

BRUNS: As soon as I heard those Jews were to be shot on Friday I went to a 21-year-old boy and said that they had made themselves very useful in the area under my command, besides which the Army MT park had employed 1,500 and the ‘Heeresgruppe’ 800 women to make underclothes of the stores we captured in RIGA; besides which about 1,200 women in the neighbourhood of RIGA were turning millions of captured sheepskins into articles we urgently required: ear-protectors, fur caps, fur waistcoat, etc. Nothing had been provided, as of course the Russian campaign was known to have come to a victorious end in October 1941! In short, all those women were employed in a useful capacity. I tried to save them. I told that fellow ALTENMEYER(?)[338] whose name I shall always remember and who will be added to the list of war criminals: ‘Listen to me, they represent valuable man-power!’ ‘Do you call Jews valuable human beings, Sir?’ I said: ‘Listen to me properly, I said “valuable man-power”. I didn’t mention their value as human beings.’ He said: ‘Well, they’re to be shot in accordance with the FÜHRER’s orders!’ I said ‘FÜHRER’s orders?’ ‘Yes’, whereupon he showed me his orders. This happened at SKIOTAWA(?),[339] 8 km from RIGA, between SIAULAI and JELGAVA, where 5,000 BERLIN Jews were suddenly taken off the train and shot. I didn’t see that myself, but what happened at SKIOTAWA(?)[340]–to cut a long story short, I argued with the fellow and telephoned to the General at HQ, to JAKOBS[341] and ABERGER(?),[342] and to a Dr SCHULTZ[343] who was attached to the Engineer General, on behalf of these people; I told him: ‘Granting that the Jews have committed a crime against the other peoples of the world, at least let them do the drudgery; send them to throw earth on the roads to prevent our heavy lorries skidding.’ ‘Then I’d have to feed them!’ I said: ‘The little amount of food they receive, let’s assume 2 million Jews–they got 125 gr of bread a day–if we can’t manage that, the sooner we end the war the better.’ Then I telephoned, thinking it would take some time. At any rate on Sunday morning I heard that they had already started on it. The Ghetto was cleared and they were told: ‘You’re being transferred; take along your most essential things.’ Incidentally it was a happy release for those people, as their life in the Ghetto was a martyrdom. I wouldn’t believe it and drove there, to have a look.

?: Everyone abroad knew about it; only we Germans were kept in ignorance.