Now, regarding the discussion in detail. Herr Prior, 2 other gentlemen of the D.A.F. and Frl. Block, head of the Weidkamp Kitchen, were present in the room. Herr Prior commenced and accused me, gesticulating in a very insulting manner, saying that I had taken the part of the Bolsheviks in too apparent a way. He referred to the Law paragraphs of the Reich government which spoke against it. I was unfortunately not clear about the legal position, otherwise I would have left the conference room immediately. I then tried to make it clear to Herr Prior, with special emphasis, that the Russian Ps.W. were assigned to us as workers and not as Bolsheviks. The people were starved and were not in a position to perform the heavy work with us in boiler making which they were supposed to do. Sick people are a liability to us and not a help to production. To this remark, Herr Prior stated that if one was worth nothing then another was, that the Bolsheviks were soulless people and if 100,000 of them died another 100,000 would replace them. On my remarking that with such a coming and going we would not attain our goal, namely the delivery of locomotives to the Reich railways which were continually cutting down the time limit, Herr Prior said "Deliveries are only of secondary importance here."

My attempts to get Herr Prior to understand our economic needs were not successful. In closing, I can only say that, as a German, I know our relations to the Russian Ps.W. exactly and in the a/m case I dealt only on behalf of my superiors and in the sense of the increase in production which is demanded from us. [signed] SOEHLING.

Office chief, Locomotive Construction Works.

I have the following to add to the above letter: After the Russian Ps.W. had been assigned to us on the 16th of this month by Labour Supply, I got in touch with Dr. Lehmann immediately about their food. I learned from him that the prisoners received 300 gr. of bread each between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. I pointed out that it was impossible to last until 1800 hrs. on this ration of bread, whereupon Dr. Lehmann said that the Russians must not be allowed to get used to the Western Europe feeding: I replied that the Ps.W. could not do the work required of them in the Boiler Construction Shop on that food and that it was not practical for us to have these people in the works any longer under such conditions. At the same time I demanded that if the Russians continued to be employed, they should be given a hot midday meal and that if possible the bread ration should be split so that one half was distributed early in the morning and the second half during

our breakfast break. My suggestion has already been carried out by us with the French Ps.W. and has proved to be very practical and good.

Unfortunately, however, Dr. Lehmann took no notice of my suggestion and on this account I naturally had to take matters into my own hands and therefore told Herr Soehling to get the feeding of the Russian Ps.W. organized on exactly the same lines as French Ps.W. so that the Russians could as soon as possible carry out the work they were supposed to do. For the whole thing concerns an increase in production such as is demanded from us by the Minister of Munitions and Armaments and by the D.A.F. [signed] THEILE.

I, Alors HOEFER, living in Essen Borbeck Heckelsberg 15, born 28.9.06, make the following statement voluntarily:

I worked with Lowenkamp in armor building shop No. 4 since April 1943. Lowenkamp was very brutal to the foreigners. He confiscated food which belonged to the PsW. and took it home. Every day he mishandled Eastern workers, Russian Ps.W., French, Italian, and other foreign civilian persons. He had a steel box built which was so small that one could hardly stand in it. He locked foreigners in the box, also females up to 48 hours without giving the people food. They were not released in order to relieve nature. It was forbidden for other people either to give any help to the persons locked in, or release them. Whilst clearing an unofficial camp, he fired on fleeing Russian civilians without hitting any of them.

One day whilst distributing food, I saw how he hit a French civilian in the face with a ladle and made his face bleed. Further, he delivered Russian girls without bothering about the children afterwards. There was never any milk for them so the Russians had to nourish the children with sugar water. When Lowenkamp was arrested he wrote 2 letters and sent them to me via his wife. He tried to make out that he had never hit people.

As a punishment for small things the rations of the male and

female persons were withheld. There are a lot of single cases which for the moment do not occur to me.

Lowenkamp's deputy Camp Comdt. who was also the deputy shop steward, Willi Gerlach (known to the foreigners as "Long Willy") was also a brutal person. He did not lock one and two people but four in the above mentioned steel boxes. When on night watch and we appeared in the camp, he opened the steel cupboard and four people came into view whose faces were bleeding from wounds. At night he often used to fire in the camp compound without having any special reason.

One morning I was ordered to distribute work to the girls when one of them came to me and excused herself saying that she could not travel to the kitchen as she had broken shoes. I told the girl that she could go with us another time. At this moment Gerlach appeared, caught hold of the girl and locked her in the steel cupboard saying "Have you Bolsheviks anything to say now?" This was Saturday morning; the girl had to stay in the cupboard until Monday evening. When I stood up for this case I was threatened with a firearm.

The whole gang fled 3 or 4 days before the Americans arrived. Then Gerlach came to me and ordered that the foreigners must be evacuated and therefore got ready to march. Suddenly Gerlach saw a Russian P.W. in civilian clothing who immediately made himself scarce. Gerlach yelled to Gettler to help him search for the Russian immediately and shoot him. Anyway the Russian was not found. Gerlach also had Russian food rations brought round to his house which he had withheld from the foreigners.

He also has many single cases on his conscience which do not occur to me at the moment.

All this was carried out by Lowenkamp as Camp Comdt. and Gerlach as deputy Camp Comdt. and the works management, who today don't want to know anything about the whole matter, allowed it. (Works Manager Anhenn.)

J.W.L. Rathborne. Major President

[Stamp

Mil Gov

Essen]

[signed] Alors Hoefer

Secret

Army General Staff

Abt. 2. b.V. (o Qu IV)

No. 6/12/39 secret

[Stamped:]

CiC Army

C in C Army 1457/39

secret 5/12

[green pencil note:]

5/12

2nd Dec. 1939.

O.Qu IV. wanted to make a complete report on that.

Subject: Internal situation in the Warthegau [Western Poland

incorporated into the Reich]

Enclosed we send a copy of a report of the District Military Command XXI with the request that you note and observe it. Signature [illegible]

I enclosure (bound)

Distribution:

Adjutant of the Army High Command.

Adjutant of the Chief of Army General Staff.

High Command of the Army

Chief of Army armaments and

Commander in Chief of the Reserve Army

Ah A/Group C in C Reserve Army (II) No. 66/39 secret.

Reference: District Military Command XXI.

Intelligence officer 86/39 secret of the 23/11/39

Subject: Internal situation in Warthegau.

To the OKW for information Army General Staff (Abt .Z.bV. 0 QuIV).

Enclosed please find a copy of a report of the District Military Command XXI. Clear administrative conditions and a treatment of the population which, while deliberately severe, should however be exercised in a way which is bearable for and within the comprehension of the German part of the population and the troops, are preliminary conditions for a genuine state authority. If that does not happen, there is a danger that, to guarantee order, military forces will be tied up to an extent which does not accord with our general situation.

By order

1 enclosure.

[signed] signature

Copy of Copy

Army District Command XXI.

Intelligence Officer 86/39 secret.

Secret

To the C in C of the Reserve Army.

The Warthegau can be regarded as pacified. Repeated rumors of rebellion have not been confined in any instance. The reason for this is not a change of heart of the Polish population but the realization of the hopelessness of a rebellion. That the large numbers of discharged prisoners and other returned Polish soldiers represent a danger which requires continuous supervision is not overlooked, particularly as numerous offices have not yet been seized. The keeping down of this danger is only possible through the military occupation of the country in its present form; the civil administration authorities with the available police forces are totally unable to do this.

The great work of construction in all spheres is not furthered by the intervention of SS formations who are given special racial political tasks and are not subordinate to Reich Governor in this. Here the tendency makes itself felt of interfering decisively in all spheres of administration beyond the framework of these tasks, and of forming a "state within the state." This phenomenon does not fail to have its effect on the troops, who are indignant about the