Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume IIVarious
Philosophy
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume II
Various
Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946; War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
“With the settlement of Germans in all parts of the Gau, an
enormous danger has arisen for them * * *. What goes for the
Warthegau [* * *] also holds true for the other annexed
territories * * *.
“Therefore, something basic must be done soon. One must decide
the most efficient way in which this can be done. There are
three ways to be taken into consideration:
“1. Special treatment of the seriously ill persons,
“2. Most rigorous isolation of the seriously ill
persons,
“3. Creation of a reservation for all TB patients.
“For the planning, attention must be paid to different points of
view of a practical, political and psychological nature.
Considering it most soberly, the simplest way would be the
following: Aided by the X-ray battalion, we could reach the
entire population, German and Polish, of the Gau during the
first half of 1943. As to the Germans, the treatment and
isolation is to be prepared and carried out according to the
regulations of Tuberculosis Relief. The approximately 35,000
Poles who are incurable and infectious will be ‘specially
treated’. All other Polish consumptives will be subjected to an
appropriate cure in order to save them for work and to avoid
their causing contagion.”
Blome then proceeds, stating that he has made arrangements for
commencement of the “radical procedure”, but suggests that some
assurance should be procured that Hitler would agree to the project. The
letter then goes on to say—
“I could imagine that the Fuehrer, having some time ago stopped
the program in the insane asylums, might at this moment consider
a ‘special treatment’ of the incurably sick as unsuitable and
irresponsible from a political point of view. As regards the
Euthanasia Program it was a question of people of German
nationality afflicted with hereditary diseases. Now it is a
question of infected sick people of a subjugated nation.”
Blome then voices the opinion that if the program is put into execution,
it cannot be kept secret and will be made the basis for much adverse and
harmful propaganda both at home and abroad. He suggests accordingly that
before the program is commenced all points of view should again be
presented to Hitler.
Continuing, Blome writes that if Hitler should forbid the radical
proposal suggested by Greiser, three other solutions were open (1)
consumptives and incurables could be isolated with their relatives; (2)
all infectious consumptives might be strictly isolated in nursing
establishments; (3) the consumptives might be resettled in a particular
area. If the latter plan were adopted, the sick could reach the assigned
territory on foot, and thus save the costs of transportation.
Blome’s letter finally concludes—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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