Question

The excerpt is from witness testimony at the Nuremberg Trials.

DR. MARX:
You said before that the German people must have known of the happenings in Auschwitz. What are your grounds for this statement?

VAILLANT-COUTURIER:
I have already told you: To begin with there was the fact that, when we left, the Lorraine soldiers . . . who were taking us to Auschwitz said to us, "If you knew where you were going, you would not be in such a hurry to get there.”

–Testimony of Marie Claude Vaillant-Couturier

What did this type of testimony help prosecutors to prove?

the Holocaust and other war crimes were well-known.
the Holocaust and other war crimes were not well-known.
the mistreatment of prisoners of war was well-known.
the mistreatment of civilians in labor camps was not well-known.

Answer 1

the Holocaust and other war crimes were well-known.

Definitions

---> Marxism, as the name implies, is the political and social ideology of Karl Marx. He wrote the Communist Manifesto in the 19th century, amidst the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Nationalism. He believed that all conflict boiled down to clashes between class structures.

---> Nuremburg is a city in central Bavaria, in SE Germany: site of international trials (1945-46) of Nazis accused of war crimes.

--> The Holocaust was the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War ll (usually proceeded by the).

--> Auschwitz is a town in SW Poland: site of Nazi concentration camp during World War ll.

This type of testimony helped prosecutors to prove that the Holocaust and other war crimes were well-known. The testimony suggests that the knowledge of the atrocities committed in Auschwitz was not limited to just the German authorities, but also known to ordinary people such as soldiers who were escorting prisoners to the camp. Therefore, this testimony supports the prosecution's argument that the German people must have known about the atrocities being committed in concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

Answer 2

Based on the given testimony, this type of testimony would help prosecutors to prove that the Holocaust and other war crimes were not well-known. Marie Claude Vaillant-Couturier's testimony suggests that the prisoners being transported to Auschwitz were not fully aware of the destination and the atrocities occurring there. The soldiers' comment indicates that knowledge of the happenings in Auschwitz was not widespread, supporting the argument that the extent of the Holocaust and other war crimes was not widely known among the general population.