Transcripts For CSPAN3 Nazi Concentration And Prison Camps 20151115

With our student cam contest, giving students the opportunity to discuss what important issues they want to hear the most. Contesthe student cam and road to the white house coverage on tv, on the radio, and online at cspan. Org. 70 years ago, an International Military tribunal began trials of 22 leading nazi officials in germany. Your charge with dilating trees, waging aggressive war and crimes against manatee. Andfilm nazi concentration prison cramps and prison camps was shown in the courtroom. In a moment, we will show that hourlong film. But first, a film historian with the u. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum describes the documentary. We will see the original introduction of the film in the nuremberg courtroom. The film nazi concentration , what was that . It was used as proof against the high command tried at the nuremberg military tribunal in 1945 and 1946. It was a film shot by the allies, the soviets also, as they entered several of the larger concentration camps. Corpses,corp. This it shows the state in which they found many of the survivors. Footage many people will have seen today in different contexts. How important was it as evidence at the time . Very important, not only because of the shocking and visceral nature of what you see on the screen, but i believe it was the first or one of the first examples of film being used as evidence alongside of all the documents they used to try these men. Inis there still value viewing it today . Theres a great deal of value in viewing it today. If you are a world war ii buff, you will have seen these images before, but it is interesting to see the narration, how it was edited together, you can read a lot about what the allies were trying to communicate in the courtroom and two people back home who were just then learning about these horrible crimes. The prosecution for the United States will at this time aesent to the commission documentary film on concentration camps. Means, entire proof the prosecution will offer with respect to the subject of concentration camps. Offer,is film, we represents a brief and call, anable explanation of what the words concentration camp imply. I, george p stevens, colonel, army of the united dates, hereby oftify that on the first march, 1945, two the eighth of may, 1945, i was on active duty with the United States army on the exodus of army forces. Among my duties was the direction of the photographing of nazi concentration camps and prison camps as liberated by allied forces. The Motion Pictures that will be shown following this affidavit were taken by official United States Army Photographic teams in the course of their military duties under my command. Team being composed of military personnel under the direction of a commissioned officer. To the best of my knowledge and belief, these Motion Pictures constitute a true representation and things of and things photographs. They have not been altered in any respect since the exposures were made. Ae accompanying narration is true interpretation of the facts under which these pictures were made. George p stevens, colonel, army of the United States, sworn before me this 27th day of august, 1945, edward c betz, brigadier general, United States army. Judge advocate general, european theater of operations. I, er kellogg, euclid tenet of the United States navy hereby certify from 1929 to 1941, i was employed at 20th Century Fox Studios in hollywood, california , as a director of photographic effects and am familiar with all photographic techniques. Since the sixth of september, 1941, to the present day, the 27th of august, 1945, i have been on active duty with the United States navy. I have carefully examined the Motion Picture film to follow this affidavit and i certify that the images of these excerpts from the original negatives have not been retouched, distorted, or otherwise altered in any respect and are true copies of the originals held in the vaults of the United States army signal corps. These expert these excerpts comprise 6000 feet of film excerpted from 80,000 feet, all of which is similar in character. Lieutenant, United States navy, sworn before me, john ford, captain, United States navy. Are the locations of the largest concentration and prison camps maintained throughout germany under the nazi regime. This film covers a Representative Group of such camps and illustrates the general conditions which prevail. More than 200 Political Prisoners were burned to death at this concentration camp. Others among the original total were shot down by german elite guards as they to celebrate the arrival of american troops outside the city. The atrocity story is told by the few who managed to survive. They relate how 12 ss troopers and the gestapo agent leeward starving prisoners into a big wooden building and sprayed the structure with that inflammable lick wood and applied the torch. Machine guns that of a various vantage points moved to various victims. Some escaped but were electrocuted by the large wires of the fence, which was the final hurdle for those fleeing the flames. The victims were russians, checks, polls and french. Dead are russian women liberated from slave labor. A concentration camp was overrun by the sixth armored vision containing mainly on gary and the steam in their native country. Among the more young girls in only 16 years of age. The women show the scars of miserable existence. American doctors examined the victims. Some have gangrenous wounds. Others suffer from fever, tuberculosis and additional communicable diseases. All existed under appalling conditions in vermin infested quarters with little or nothing to eat. As soon as our troops arrived, arrangements were made to remove these people from their miserable surroundings. Under supervision of the american red cross, the stricken inmates are removed to a hospital belonging to the german air force, nazis who formally maltreated them are forced to now look after the patients. The staff of german nurses is forced to attend the victims. The women are able to smile for the first time in years. At this concentration camp, the germans starved, club, and burned to death more than 4000 Political Prisoners. If you captives survived by hiding in the woods. The camp is chosen for a high command inspection led by general eisenhower. The Fourth Armored Division liberated this camp early in april. The view of the rack used by the nazis to whip the inmates. They see the woodshed where bodies are stacked in layers and the stench is overpowering. Former inmates demonstrate how they were tortured by the nazis. American congressman invited to view the atrocities were told by general eisenhower that nothing is covered up, we have nothing to conceal. The barbarous treatment these people received is almost unbelievable. I want you to see for yourselves and be the spokesman for the United States. The general and his party next see the crew of woodland crematory, a grill made of railway tracks. Here, the bodies were cremated. Charted remained still remain atop the griddle. Another group to visit the camp is composed of local townspeople, including prominent nazi party members. They will be taken on a forced tour of the camp by the commander of the Fourth Armored Divisions camp a. The german medical major is compelled to accompany the townspeople. Colonel sears stands by as the nazis are informed they must see all the horrors of the camp. First, the visitors view some 30 freshly killed bodies lying in the courtyard, where they were shot on the evening of american tanks entering. These two are identified as slave labor bosses who maltreated, tortured, and killed their workers. Next, to the woodshed, which the nazis are reluctant to enter. Ae kernel demands they get closeup look at the most gruesome of sites. The labor bosses enter. According to reports, the local nazis continued their tour of the camp without apparent emotion. All denied knowledge of what had taken place. They are taken to the crematory two miles out the camp where the list of the atrocities is read for all to hear. Includetims are said to polls, frenchmen, german jews and german Political Prisoners. A day before the nazis is it the camp some of the Burger Meister was forced to view the horrors. He and his wife were later found dead in their home, apparently suicides. American officers arrive at a nazi institution under the guise of an insane asylum, this has been the headquarters or the systematic order of 35,000 poles, russians and jews sent for clinical considerations. Townspeople called this place the house of shutters. Meanwhile, at the graveyard attached to the institution, bodies are exhumed for autopsy. 20,000 are buried here. 15,000 have died in the gas chamber or cremated and their ashes interred. Death looks found hidden in the wine cellar revealed part of the story of the mass killings. The volumes contain thousands of death certificates. Profession unknown, nationality unknown was written after each frame. After each name. The corpses are lined up pending the arrival of wc i. T. Officers. Major voelker performs the autopsy and a detailed listing is made of all clinical data. Interrogating the Institution Heads, the taller man was the top nazis in charge of the place. The other is the chief male nurse. He admits to killing inmates with overdoses of morphine. Corroborates that it was stunned without attempt at making a record. As many as 17 and a time died from the morphine injections. They never bothered to check if they survived the overdoses. Instead, all were hustled off to the graveyards and buried him piles of 20 or 24. The prisoners are removed to await trial. A judge told investigators that when the 10,000 victims died, the Institution Heads and nazi officials staged a celebration. Stella six c was eliminated in the rapid advance of the fourth canadian division. The inmates are the loudest. Day andl was held every all prisoners were compelled to line up regardless of their physical condition. Camp,nacting wife at the the men show how they searched the garbage for food. This was considered a privilege. Approximately 2500 russians died at this camp in one month. One bit of sporting out the commandant indulgent was turning loose police dogs to attack the physically handicapped that were unable to report promptly to the daily inspection. The dead are removed for burial. 6s the mentala can leave anytime they wish, but they must have a path to get again. They are fed the russians and potatoes. Most foods are to rich and cannot eat the rations unless a small portion is mixed with potatoes or eighth to may to grasp. Most of the inmates seem to have forgotten how to take care of themselves. All living quarters were crowded and filthy with trash and refuse in every corner. Electricity and water supply were nonexistent at the camp when the americans took over. These conveniences are rapidly restored for the hapless victims. This is a prison in belgium. It offers evidence of nazi brutality to belgians during the occupation. Many of the exhibits remain untouched, such as the bloodstained coffins. Demonstrating how the victims were tied up for administering vicious beatings. A barbed wire stick was used on the backs of the men. Another method for rendering a patriot helpless while he was attacked by the gestapo guards. The nazis would also tire man in andns in this manner tighten the turn a get. The berlin made thumbscrew and how it was used. A victim shows scars caused by repeated beatings. Others show what happened as a result of both beatings and cigarette burns. A belgian demonstrate the manner in which his crotch was split by the nazis. A woman discloses the results of a beating. The slave labor cap liberated by the third Armored Division, first army. At least 3000 medical prisoners died here at the brutal hands of ss troops and camp guards. It had been a depository for slaves found unfit for work in the underground plans and other german camps and factories. American medical crews lined 2000 still alive at the camp. They are discovered inside the filthy barracks where survival and death were contingent on how long human said human existence was possible. The dead quickly outnumbered living. Amid the corpses are human skeletons too weak to move. None of our medical battalions events casesd for of starvation and tuberculosis for which there are often no cures. The survivors are shown being evacuated for treatment in allied hospitals. The victims are mainly poles and russians with considerable numbers of french and other nationalities included. The Burger Meister is ordered to provide 600 german male civilians who will inter the unburied bodies at the camp. A priest administers last rites for the dead while the corpses are being carried to the hillside for burial. All day long, german civilians carry the gruesome corpses, some of which are already green and future five. , the actual burial in common graves of the 2500 bit sums. 2500 victims. The concentration camp near hanover out of 10,000 men brought here prior to april, 1945, only 200 remain. Prisoners who could walk were removed. The others were left to starve and die. Immediate relief is provided with a Red Cross Club mobile. The men broke into tears when they were given hot soup and clothing. When questioned, most of these men could not remember when they had last eaten a decent meal. Many had been beaten and tortured beaten and tortured so long, their minds had failed. Some of the inmates are too weak to leave their bunks or even eat. Others bunked together to keep their frail bodies with warm. Continue even after liberation of the camp. Some were too far gone when the americans took over. And amg sergeant checks the list of inmates. The victims relate the atrocity story and photographs are made for further documentation of the horrors committed at the camp. This concentration camp was overrun by american troops in april. The prisoners were mainly poles and russians. Tentsere housed in containing only 100 bunks. While our forces were nearing, the nazis removed most of the captives and shop those two week to get away fast enough. Savage watchdogs were used to help guard the camp. Forced toilians are dig up the bodies. This is the second Burial Ground for the victims, the spot where they were originally buried was apparently too close to the town. Tolerategers cannot the stench of the dead and they themselves move the bodies to the site. Now they must exhume the corpses, this time under armed persuasion. Victims bear the marks of violent deaths. American troops you the evidence of nazi barbarism. Walked from the neighboring city to get a forced tour of the camp. According to observers, the germans acted as if this was something being staged for their benefit. One of the first things they see as they reach the interior of the camp is the parchment display. On the table for all to gauge upon is a lampshade made of human skin, made at the request of an ss officers wife. Used pieces of skin were for painting pictures, many of ab seen nature. There are two heads which have been shrunk to 1 5 or normal size. These and other exhibits are shown to the townspeople. The camera records the changes in facial expressions as the citizens leave the display. The tour continues with a forced inspection of the camps living quarters, where the stench, filth, and misery defy description. They see the result of lack of care and a bad case of trench foot. Other evidence of horror brutality and human indecency are shown and these people are compelled to see what their own government had perpetrated. Correspondence assigned to the story have given notice to the wealth that appearance of the german civilian population of the area. Im from hollywood, california. Believe it or not, this is the first time ive ever been in the movies. I have been working overseas in occupied countries for 18 months. October, 44, i was the first allied officer to go to austria. I was captured on december 1 i beaten,apo, severely and even though i was in uniform, severely beaten and considered a nonprisoner of war. Prism,aken to vienna where i was held for four months. When the russians neared vienna, i was taken to a concentration camp, and extermination camp. Where we have been starving and. Eaten and killed fortunately, my turn hadnt come. Two american officers at least have an executor here. The insignia of one, u. S. Naval officer. Here are his dog tags and here is the army officer executed by gas. How many ways did they execute them . Five or six ways. By gas, shooting, eating with exposure, that is standing out in the snow naked for 48 hours and having cold water thrown on them in the middle of winter, starvation, dogs, and pushing over 100 foot cliffs. Is all true, has been seen and is being recorded. Where did you get that uniform . I came here in uniform, but it was taken away from me. This is a substitute with my number and usa. , have been condemned to death as another american in this camp. Fortunately, the Armored Division came through. Pictorial evidence of unprecedented crimes at the buchenwald concentration camp. The story in written form is contained in the displaced Person Division of the United States Group Control council which has been forwarded from supreme allied headquarters to the War Department in washington. It states 1000 boys are included among the 20,000 still alive at the camp and the survivors or males only and the recent death rate was about 200 per day. Nationalities and risen numbers are tattooed on the stomachs of the inmates. The report lists surviving inmates as representing every nationality. It says the camp was founded when the nazi power not nazi party first came to power and has been in Continuous Operation ever since. Its largest operations are from the war. The largest number in the camp was 80,000. In the official report, the buchenwald camp is termed and extermination factory. The means of extermination, starvation complemented by abuse, beatings and torture, crowded sleeping conditions and sicknesses of all types. By these means, the work continues, many tens of thousands of the best leadership personal of europe have then exterminated. Bodies stacked one on the other were found outside the crematory. Nazis maintained a building for experiments and to the sections with prisoners as guinea pigs. Medical scientists came from berlin to enforce the experimental staff. In particular, new toxins and antitoxins were tried out on prisoners. Few who entered the experimental buildings ever emerged alive. One of the weapons used by ss guards. The body disposal plant. Inside are the ovens that gave the crematorium at Maximum Capacity of about 400 bodies for 10 hour day. Old filled teeth were extracted before incineration. The ovens are of extremely modern design and were made by a company that manufactures baking ovens. The firms name is clearly inscribed. All bodies were finally reduced to own. Doc al, factory of horrors. Dacne of the oldest hau, one of the oldest of the nazi concentration camps. Up to 30,000 people were entombed here at one time. When there present allies reached dachau. Not the said it was a prison for political dissenters and religious enthusiasts. When these scenes were filmed, priests representing many denominations remained alive. They came from germany, poland, czechoslovakia, france and holland. Incoming prison trains arrived, carrying more dead than living. Those Strong Enough to travel achau fromht to d points threatened by allied advance. This is how they looked when they arrived. In many instances, prisoners were loaded into open Railroad Cars and crated across the country in winter weather. They died of exposure, starvation, dysentery, typhus. Some survived, and when the rescuers arrived, they administered what a day could. Others died after the liberation. They were buried by their fellow prisoners. As in the case of other camps, local townspeople were brought in to view the dead. This is what the liberators found inside the building. Hanging in orderly rows were the close of visitors who had been suffocated in a lethal gas chamber. They had been persuaded to remove their clothing under the pretext of taking a shower, where towels and soap were provided. This is the shower bed. Inside, the gas vents. Ceiling, the dummy showerheads. In the engineers room, the intake and outlet pipes. Control theans inflow and outtake of gas, a hand valve to regulate pressure. Used towder was generate a lethal smoke. Chamber, the bodies were removed to the crematory. Here is what the camera crew found inside. These are the survivors. I am the officer commanding the regiment of artillery guarding this camp. A most unpleasant task has been of which there are about 50, bury the dead. Up to press, we have buried weut 17,000 people and expect to bury about half as much again. Here, conditions were indescribable. The people had had no food for six days and were eating turnips. The cook houses have been although they have to be guarded so that everyone gets a fair share of the mood, things are now going fairly well. The officers and men regard this job as a duty that has to be performed, and none of us are likely to forget what the german people have done here. [speaking german] this is a german doctor at the concentration camp on the 24th of april, 19 45. This is a doctor in charge of the female section of the concentration camp. She was a prisoner at this camp. [speaking german] she says there were no covers, straw sacks or bed of any kind. Persons had to lie directly on the ground. Of a localiven 112 bread and watery soup. Almost 75 of the people were bloated from hunger. An epidemic of typhus broke out. 250 women and thousands of men died daily. Outhe mens camp, they cut livers, hearts and other parts of the dead and eight m. And h them. Em. And ate th no medicines were available because the ss men had collected everything. Two days before the british army came, the first red cross food was distributed. Two months before, 150 kilograms of chocolate had been sent to the children of the camp. 10 kilograms were distributed. The rest, the commandant cap for himself and used to barter for his personal advantage. She adds that various medical experiments were made on the prisoners. Doctors gave some of them intravenous injections of 20 cubit Senate Leaders of benzene, which caused the victims to die. By sayingdes sterilization and other gynecological experiments were performed on 19yearold girls. Cramer, camp commandant is taken into custody. With this deed of the allied advance, the guards were taken before they had time to flee. Inside, the same story. Starvation and sickness. Liberated prisoners could not control their emotions. Despite german attempts to cover up, we found these in the open field. Clearcut evidence of beatings and outright murder was on every hand. Nameless victims were numbered, records which the germans destroyed. Ss guards were made to clean up the camp area. German woman guards were ordered to bury the dead. Sanitary conditions were so calling the heavy equipment had to be wrought in just be the work of cleaning up. This was argan bilson. In november 1945 or crimes began in nuremberg. The trials lasted until 19 the six. Americananniversary history tv is erring in history interview with the former chief prosecutor for the united state