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Partly-printed DS, in German, signed “A. Rosenberg,” one page, 8 x 12, November 4, 1945. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Rosenberg and his defense lawyer request testimony from "Beil, Ministerial counselor, concerned with social and labor policy in the Ministry for the Eastern Territories," citing his knowledge of these facts: "1) Attitude of the Ministry for the Eastern Territories to the output by Eastern workers. 2) On the collaboration with the German Labor Front. 3) On the general treatment of Eastern workers." Signed at the conclusion in pencil by Alfred Rosenberg. Backed by archival paper and fine condition, with a repaired tear toward the top center.
Albert Beil, a ministerial counselor in Rosenberg’s Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, was sought as a defense witness to testify about the ministry’s labor policies and treatment of Eastern workers. Rosenberg’s request reflects an effort to recast the exploitation of millions of Soviet civilians as a matter of labor administration and welfare. As head of the ministry, he presided over a system in which so-called Ostarbeiter were forcibly deported to Germany, subjected to brutal working conditions, and treated as an expendable source of labor under policies his office helped shape and administer.
By seeking Beil’s testimony on “the general treatment of Eastern workers” and measures supposedly taken “to improve” their situation, Rosenberg attempted to distance himself from the coercive reality of the program. The Tribunal initially approved the request, but Beil became seriously ill and never testified. Rosenberg was ultimately convicted on all four counts, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, and was executed by hanging on October 16, 1946.
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