When It's Confession Time at Dachau,
or, I Saw the Light
While I Was Seeing Stars
By Carlos Porter
In war crimes trials, confessions
are usually typewritten by the interrogator, often entirely
in English. Paragraphs in the prisoner's handwriting have usually
been dictated by the interrogator. The First Dachau Trial
(Trial of Martin Gottfried Weiss and Thirty Nine Others), offers
an insight into the manner in which these confessions were obtained.
(TESTIMONY OF KICK, microfilm pages 000145-9).
Q: Are either of these two statements 96 or 97 in your handwriting?
A: The post-script on page 4 of 96 is in my handwriting.
Q: The rest of it is written in what manner?
A: The other part of it is typed.
Q: Did you dictate
the typing?
A: No.
Q: Who did?
A: The
interrogating officer.
Q: Who was the interrogating
officer?
A: Lt. Guth.
Q: Is the language contained
in either of those statements your language or the language
of Lt. Guth?
A: Those are the expressions of Lt. Guth.
Q: And at the end of your statements you signed them,
and swore to them as being the truth, did you not?
A:
Yes.
Q: ... will you describe to the court the treatment
that you received prior to your first interrogation anyplace?
(Prosecution objection as to whether beating received
on the 6th of May could be relevant to confession signed on
the 5th of November).
Q: ... Kick, did the treatment
you received immediately following your arrest have any influence
whatever on the statements that you made on the 5th of November?
A: ... The treatment at that time influenced this testimony
to that extent, that I did not dare to refuse to sign, in spite
of the fact that it did not contain the testimony which I gave.
Q: Now, Kick, for the court, will you describe the treatment
which you received immediately following your arrest?
A: I ask to refuse to answer this question here in public.
President: The court desires to have the defendant answer the
question.
A: I was here in Dachau from the 6th to the
15th of May, under arrest; during this time I was beaten all
during the day and night... kicked... I had to stand to attention
for hours; I had to kneel down on sharp objects or square objects;
I had to stand under the lamp for hours and look into the light,
at which time I was also beaten and kicked; as a result of this
treatment my arm was paralysed for about 8 to 10 weeks; only
beginning with my transfer to Augsberg, this treatment stopped.
Q: What were you beaten with?
A: With all kinds
of objects.
Q: Describe them, please.
A: With
whips, with lashing whips, with rifle butts, pistol butts, and
pistol barrels, and with hands and fists.
Q: And that
continued daily over a period of what time?
A: From
the morning of the 7th of May until the morning of the 15th
of May.
Q: Kick, why did you hesitate to give that testimony?
A: If the court hadn't decided I should talk about it,
I wouldn't have said anything about it today.
Q: Would
you describe the people who administered these beatings to you?
A: I can only say that they were persons who were wearing
the United States uniform and I can't describe them any better.
Q: And as a result of those beatings when Lt. Guth called
you in, what was your frame of mind?
A: I had to presume
that if I were to refuse to sign I would be subjected to a similar
treatment.
(TESTIMONY OF KRAMER, microfilm pages 000298-9).
Q: Kramer, were you interrogated after your arrest anywhere
except Dachau?
A: Yes, in Fuerstenfeldbruck.
Q: Did that interrogation have any effect on the statement
that you made here?
Prosecution: I object to that question
as being immaterial and irrelevant.
President: Explain
exactly what happened.
Q: Will you explain exactly what
happened at that interrogation? A: I do not want to talk about
it.
Q: The court desires you to explain what happened.
A: I was beaten by an interrogation officer. Several
prisoners were also present. I was supposed to tell how many
people I shot or hanged. I can say with a conscience that I
never killed a person. Thereupon, I was beaten over the head
with sticks and rubber hoses until I broke down.
Q:
Anything else to say about that?
A: No ...
(TESTIMONY
OF DR. WITTELER, microfilm pages 000327-331).
A: During
my interrogation I had to sit in front of the desk of Lt. Guth.
A spotlight was turned on me which stood on the desk. Lt. Guth
stood behind the spotlight and the interrogation started. "We
know you, we have the necessary records about you..." I started
to make an explanation. I was immediately stopped. I was yelled
at. He called me a swine, criminal, liar, murderer, and that
is the way the interrogation continued. I couldn't give any
explanations. I was only told to answer "yes" or "no"... I was
interrupted immediately and told that all I had to do was answer
"yes" and "no". I couldn't even explain it. I was told to shut
up and to answer "yes" or "no"... since it was not like he thought
it was, I had to get up and stand. So I stood up until 1:30
in the morning - seven hours.
Q: ... at the conclusion
of the drafting of this statement you signed it?
A:
No, I answered that it is not correct... this statement was
not written in my presence. It was written in another room.
The reporter was with me in the room all the time, but the statement
was written in another room. After I couldn't stand up any more
this statement was put in front of me at 1:30. And then when
I said that this testimony... is not by me, that is the testimony
of Dr. Blaha -- who was present for several hours that night...
so that I didn't want to sign it. Lt. Guth said he would interrogate
me until tomorrow morning, that he had other methods...
(DR. BLAHA WAS A CZECH COMMUNIST WHO CLAIMED THE GERMANS
FORCED HIM TO SKIN PEOPLE AND MAKE SLIPPERS, SADDLES, PURSES,
HANDBAGS, GLOVES, AND TROUSERS OUT OF HUMAN SKIN. HE ALSO WAS
THE ONLY WITNESS AT THE DACHAU TRIAL WHO CLAIMED THERE WAS A
GAS CHAMBER AT DACHAU. HIS TESTIMONY WAS INTRODUCED INTO EVIDENCE
AT NUREMBERG AS "PROVEN FACT").
Q: How many people were
present at the time you were interrogated?
A: Altogether,
three: Lt. Guth, Dr. Leiss, and I, and, for a short time, Dr.
Blaha.
Q: This writing in your own handwriting. Was
that dictated or did you make it up?
A: When I found
that the interrogation would end that way, I wrote down this
last part and signed my name to it.
Q: Was it your own
words or was it dictated to you?
A: Lt. Guth dictated
those words...
Q: Prior to the time that you signed
that statement, have you been served with any papers in this
particular case?
A: No, I didn't know why I was in Dachau.
I had no idea I was one of the accused. After the interrogation
at 1:30 I was sent to the colonel and the colonel then read
the charge to me. The first time I heard I was supposed to be
a murderer, was then.
Q: You mean Col. Denson read the
charges to you?
A: Yes.
(Col. Denson acted
as prosecutor in this trial and delivered the prosecution summation.
Lt. Guth appeared as a witness and denied all accusations of
improper conduct. Guth was a Viennese who came to the United
States in 1941).
(TESTIMONY OF GRETSCH, microfilm
pages 000701-3).
Q: Gretsch, is this statement in your
handwriting?
A: No, that isn't my handwriting.
Q: What part of this paper is in your handwriting?
A: This is my handwriting here.
Q: And what is this?
What part of the paper is this?
A: That is, "I have
made the above statements without compulsion, and I have read
and corrected it and understand it fully. I swear before God
that it is the pure truth".
Q: That is the oath, is
it not?
A: Yes, that is the oath.
Q: And is
the oath the only part of this statement that is in your handwriting?
A: Yes...
Q: ... Gretsch, you signed each page...
did you not?
A: Yes, I signed it on the bottom, but
I didn't read it. It was in a hurry...
Q: ...Were you
told to sign your name to each sheet of paper? A: Yes...
(PROSECUTION REBUTTAL - TESTIMONY OF COL. CHAVEZ, microfilm
pages 000712-4).
Q: Kick testified that he was beaten
daily from the 7th of May until the 15th of May... did you have
occasion to examine Kick? A: Yes.
Q: ... did you have
occasion to observe his physical condition? A: I did.
Q: Did he have any black eyes?
A: He did not.
Q: Did he show any evidence of violence having been
used upon him?
A: He did not.
Q: Was any one
or both of his arms paralysed?
A: Not that I observed.
He was just as natural as he is now. In fact, he looked better
at that time than he does now. I observed nothing. He was very
cooperative, and the record will so indicate. He was sworn and
he gave his testimony in a very gently manner.
Q: Did
he at any time state to you, Colonel, that he had been beaten
or in any manner mistreated?
A: He did not.
Q: ... how often did you see him?
A: Just during the
time that he was interrogated.
Q: ... of course he was
fully clothed?
A: Yes.
Q: But there is no question
about it - at the time you talked with him he was quite cooperative?
A: He was...
(COL. CHAVEZ WAS THE AUTHOR OF
THE "CHAVEZ REPORT", WHICH WAS TO HAVE "PROVEN" THAT A GAS CHAMBER
EXISTED AT DACHAU. THE REPORT WAS NEVER INTRODUCED INTO EVIDENCE,
AND THIS ACCUSATION WAS DROPPED BEFORE TRIAL. COL. CHAVEZ APPEARED
AS AN EXPERT WITNESS AT DACHAU ON NOV. 15, 1945, BUT MADE NO
MENTION OF A GAS CHAMBER. THE CHAVEZ REPORT WAS THEN RE-WRITTEN
AND INTRODUCED INTO EVIDENCE AT NUREMBERG AS DOCUMENTS 2430
PS AND 159 L, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS KNOWN TO BE UNTRUE).
(TESTIMONY OF LT. LAURENCE, microfilm pages 000714-5).
Q: Did you have occasion to examine Albin Gretsch?
A: Yes, Sir.
Q: ... and did he complain of any
mis-statements?...
A: Not at all, sir... they are mostly
his own words, sir. And I may add, sir, that I wasn't in a hurry
at all. He took many hours and as he was rather slow in answering,
I gave him all the time he wanted...
Q: The statement,
with the exception of the oath, is in your handwriting, is it
not, Lt. Laurence?
A: Yes.
(Of course, while
German allegations of mistreatment are always dismissed as baseless,
similar accusations from prosecution witnesses are accepted
as "proven facts".Among the offenses for which KICK was hanged
was knocking 15 teeth out of the lower jaw of Llewellyn Edwards
of 12, Nora St. Cardiff, Wales, who claimed to have lost 15
upper teeth at some other time[!]):
Q: At the time
you went in Kick's office, how many teeth did you have in your
head?
A: Fifteen, sir. On the bottom, sir. Fifteen of
my own, sir. On the top I had artificial teeth.
(microfilm
page 000722).
|