I, Paul Blobel, swear, declare and state in evidence:
1. I was born in Potsdam on August 13, 1894.
From June 1941 to January 1942 I was the commander of
Sonderkommando 4A.
2. After I had been released from this command,
I was to report to Berlin to SS Obergruppenfuhrer
Heydrich and Gruppenfuhrer Muller, and
in June 1942 I was entrusted by Gruppenfuhrer Muller with
the task of obliterating traces of executions
carried out by the Einsatzgruppen in the East. My orders
were that I should report in person to
the commanders of the Security Police and SD, pass on Muller's
orders verbally and supervise their implementation.
This order was top secret and Gruppenfuhrer
Muller had given orders that owing to the
need for strictest secrecy there was to be no correspondence
in connection with this task. In September
1942 I reported to Dr. Thomas in Kiev and passed the order
to him. The order could not be carried
out immediately partly because Dr. Thomas was disinclined to
carry it out, and also because the materials
required for the burning of the bodies was not available. In
May and June 1943 I made additional trips
to Kiev in this matter and then, after conversations with Dr.
Thomas and with SS and Police Leader Hennecke,
the order was carried out.
3. During my visits in August I myself observed
the burning of bodies in a mass grave near Kiev. This
grave was about 55 m. long, 3 m. wide and
2-1/2 m. deep. After the top had been removed the bodies
were covered with inflammable material
and ignited. It took about two days until the grave burned
down to the bottom. I myself observed that
the fire had glowed down to the bottom. After that the grave
was filled in and the traces practically
obliterated.
4. Owing to the moving up of the front line
it was not possible to destroy the mass graves farther south
and east which had resulted from executions
by the Einsatzgruppen. I traveled to Berlin in connection
to this report, and was sent to Estonia
by Gruppenfuhrer Muller. I passed the same orders to
Oberfuhrer Achammer-Pierader in Riga, and
also to Obergruppenfuhrer Jeckeln. I returned to Berlin
in order to obtain fuel. The burning of
the bodies began only in May or June 1944. I remember that
incinerations took place in the area of
Riga and Reval. I was present at such incinerations near Reval,
but the graves were smaller here and contained
only about twenty to thirty bodies. The graves in the
area of Reval were 20 or 30 kms. east of
the city in a marshy district and I think that four or five such
graves were opened and the bodies burned.
5. According to my orders I should have
extended my duties over the entire area occupied by the
Einsatzgruppen, but owing to the retreat
from Russia I could not carry out my orders completely....
Nuremberg, June 18, 1947
//signed// Paul Blobel