In the volume entitled “Diary, From 1 January to 28 February 1944” there is the following statement by Frank made at the conference of the leaders of German agriculture on 12 January 1944. The Tribunal will find this excerpt on Page 30 of the document book.
“Once we have won the war, the Poles, Ukrainians, and all other people living around can be made into mincemeat, or anything else, as far as I am concerned.”
I believe, Your Honors, that after this quotation there is no need for me, as a representative of the Soviet Prosecution, to add anything more to that section of my statement which deals with the crimes committed by the Hitlerite criminals on the territory of the Polish State. Indeed, any one of the sentences quoted is more than sufficient to give us an exact picture of the regime in Poland created by Frank, and of Frank himself, who created this regime.
Turning now to the plunder and pillage of private and public property by the Hitlerites in Yugoslavia, I must, Your Honors, read the appropriate extracts of the official report of the Yugoslav Government, submitted to the International Military Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution as Exhibit USSR-36 (Document Number USSR-36). This report, in accordance with Article 21 of the Charter, is submitted as irrefutable evidence.
Count 6 of this report, entitled “Plunder of Public and Private Property,” reads as follows—this count is on Page 32 of the document book:
“6. Plunder of public and private property.
“Along with the exploitation of manpower the plundering of public and private property was systematically carried out in Yugoslavia. This plunder was carried out in various ways and within the scope of the different measures taken. In this way, too, Germany succeeded in completely exhausting the economic and financial forces in occupied Yugoslavia and in destroying her almost completely from the economic point of view.
“We shall cite here only a few examples of this systematic plunder:
“A. Currency and credit measures.
“Just as in other occupied countries, the Germans, immediately after their entry into Yugoslavia, carried out a series of currency measures which enabled them to take out of Yugoslavia in great quantities goods and other valuables at an insignificant price. As early as 14 April 1941”—that is to say, even before the occupation of Yugoslavia was actually completed—“the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, ‘on the basis of the authority received from the Führer and Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces,’ issued the ‘Proclamation Concerning Occupied Yugoslav Territory.’
“Article 9 of this proclamation fixes an obligatory rate of exchange of 20 Yugoslav dinars for 1 German mark. Thus the value of the dinar in relation to the Reichsmark was artificially and by force lowered. The real rate of exchange before the war was much more favorable to the Yugoslav currency.
“This proves clearly the violation of the appropriate regulations of the Hague Convention, as well as the existence of a plan prepared in advance for the depreciation of Yugoslav currency.”
I submit to the Tribunal a certified photographic copy of the aforementioned proclamation as Exhibit Number USSR-140 (Document Number USSR-140).
“The second predatory measure in the field of currency policy was the introduction of German bonds (Reichskreditkassenschein) as an obligatory means of payment in the occupied territory of Yugoslavia. This measure was also mentioned in Paragraph IX of the proclamation submitted to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-140. These so-called occupation marks, which were without any economic foundation and without any value whatsoever in Germany itself, were printed in Yugoslavia in accordance with the needs of the German forces of occupation and authorities and in this way served as a means for enabling them to make purchases at a very low price.
“On 30 June 1942”—that is to say, more than a year later—“these Reich bonds were withdrawn. This took place after the Germans had already bought up almost everything that could be purchased in Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav State Bank had been liquidated and all its properties plundered. In its stead the Germans created the so-called Serbian National Bank.
“However, so that the Germans would suffer no loss through this measure, the Serbian National Bank was forced to exchange the so-called occupation marks for new dinars. The marks thus exchanged were simply withdrawn from the Serbian National Bank by the Germans against receipt. In this way one of the most shameless plunders was carried out, which cost Yugoslavia many thousands of millions of dinars.”
I submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-194 (Document Number USSR-194), “the German decree of 30 June 1942 concerning the withdrawal of notes issued by the Reichskreditkasse and also a certified copy of the decree concerning the Serbian National Bank, of 29 May 1941,” as Exhibit Number USSR-135 (Document Number USSR-135).
“It can be seen from these documents that the German occupation authorities carried out by force the illegal liquidation of the Yugoslav State Bank, under the pretext that Yugoslavia no longer existed, and that they took advantage of this liquidation in order to plunder the country on an enormous scale.
“The Germans established the so-called Serbian National Bank exclusively for the purpose of creating an instrument for their predatory economic and currency policy in Serbia. The bank was administered by officials whom they themselves appointed.
“The measures taken with regard to Yugoslav metal coins are also very characteristic. The Yugoslav coinage, which contained a certain percent of silver and brass, was withdrawn, and replaced by coins of very poor metal alloy. Naturally, the Germans carried to Germany a large quantity of the most valuable Yugoslav coins.
“B. Requisitions and fines.”
The Tribunal will find this excerpt on Page 40 of the document book:
“Reich Minister Speer, head of the Armament and War Production Ministry, declared that fixed prices were the Magna Carta of the Armament Program.”
The Defendant Göring, on 26 March 1943, issued a decree demanding a further decrease in the prices of all goods imported from the occupied countries.
“This lowering of prices was attained by means of currency measures as well as by means of requisitioning, confiscation, fines, and in particular, through a special price policy.
“By means of requisitioning, a policy of fixed low prices, and compulsory sales, the Government of the Reich was enabled to plunder thoroughly the Yugoslav people. This went so far that even the quisling institutions collaborating with the Germans frequently had to declare that the quotas of goods demanded by the Germans could not be filled.
“Thus, a report made by the district chief, for the Moravski District”—quisling administration of Milan Nedic—“on 12 February 1942, stated:
“1. If they are deprived of so many cattle, the peasants will not be able to cultivate their fields. On the one hand, they are ordered to cultivate every inch of ground, on the other hand, their cattle are ruthlessly confiscated.
“2. The cattle are purchased at such a low price that the peasants feel that they are hardly compensated at all for the loss of their cattle.
“Similar examples from other regions or districts of Yugoslavia are very numerous.
“In order to plunder the country, the Germans often reverted to the systematic imposition of money fines. For instance the cash fines imposed by the ‘Feldkommandantur’ in Belgrade during 1943 alone amounted to 48,818,068 dinars. In Nish, during the first 3½ months of 1943, the cash fines amounted to 5,065,000 dinars.
“Finally, we should like to give here a few details regarding the clearing accounts through which the export of Yugoslav goods to Germany was carried out. As early as 1 March 1943 the clearing balance in favor of Serbia amounted to 219 million Reichsmark, or 4,380 million dinars. By the end of the occupation Germany owed Serbia 10,000 million dinars.