A. Austrian, German and Czech refugees, who were on their way to Israel via the Danube at the beginning of 1941, and who were stopped at the Yugoslav-Romanian border when war broke out between Germany and Yugoslavia, were taken to Sabac. In Sabac 900 of these refugees were shot.
Q. Mr. Arnon, do you remember an extradition request from the Zagreb authorities while you were in Ljubljana?
A. I was in hospital in Ljubljana after an operation when two Italian officials, one in uniform and one in civilian clothes, came and wanted to examine my status after an extradition request had been received from Zagreb. They asked me to report to the police station after leaving the hospital. When I appeared before the prefect, he told me that he had let my file disappear since, formally, the law had not been adhered to: The extradition request from Croatia was sent directly to the District Government in Ljubljana, without passing through the official channel via the Foreign Ministry.
Q. You were not extradited?
A. No.
Q. You told the Court how many Jews there were in Yugoslavia before the outbreak of the War in 1941. How many were left after the War?
A. As I said, there were 75,000 Jews in Yugoslavia, of whom 60,000 were killed. Thanks to the generous gesture of Marshall Tito, 8,000 Jews were able to come to Israel from Yugoslavia with all their movable property. 2,000 may now be in various parts of North and South America, Canada and Australia. 5,000-6,000 live in Yugoslavia today.
Q. I should like to remind you of an article. Tell the Court, please, whether you remember it. It is Prosecution document 1624. It is an article which was published by the Minister of the Interior, Dr. Artukovic, in the CroatianPeople's Journal No. 26, of 26 February 1942. It deals with the solution of the Jewish Question. Do you remember it?
A. Yes. I heard the speech by Andre [sic] Artukovic on the radio, and besides, I read it in the papers.
State Attorney Bar-Or: I should like to submit the text.
Presiding Judge: This will be Exhibit T/891.
State Attorney Bar-Or: I have completed my questioning.
Presiding Judge: Dr. Servatius, do you have any questions to the witness?
Dr. Servatius: Here, also, I have no questions.
Judge Raveh: You told us that you had to report many times to the Gestapo office in Zagreb. Was this the only Gestapo office in Croatia, or were there other offices in Croatia?
Witness Arnon: In Zagreb there was the central office of the Gestapo in the very well-known Nasicka building. In other parts of Yugoslavia we know only about Gestapo branch offices in Osijek and Sarajevo.
Q. Were there representatives of the Gestapo in the camps?
A. No.
Q. Did you remain in Ljubljana until the end of the War?
A. No. In August 1942 I was sent to the so-called Libero Confino, in Alba near Cuneo.
Q. Was this under Italian authority?
A. It was in Italy.
Q. And you remained there until the end of the War?
A. No. After the surrender of Italy I fled to a small village called Robbi near Alba and went into hiding with a peasant. On 20 September 1943 I escaped to Switzerland with my family.
Judge Halevi: Mr. Arnon, you mentioned Artukovic several times as a persecutor of the Jews. How did he escape from liberated Yugoslavia?
Witness Arnon: He fled like all other ministers of the Pavelic government, he reached Italy, obtained a passport under an assumed name and fled to South America.
Presiding Judge: Where are you [sic: is he] living now?
Witness Arnon: In New York or in California.
Judge Halevi: Did he carry out the measures against the Jews at the order of the Germans?
Witness Arnon: I cannot say definitely that it was at the order of Germans, because I have no proof. But this was generally known.
Q. You mentioned your activities on behalf of the Joint several times. You visited the Representative of the Joint in Budapest three times. What was his name?
A. Mr. Blum, who lives now in Israel.
Q. You said that both he and Dr. Joseph Schwartz in Portugal gave you, or sent you, money?
A. Yes.
Q. And at the request of the Joint you were released from detention?
A. Probably.
Q. How could the Joint make that a condition? You say they made it a condition, that they would not give money unless you were released. Did the Gestapo have an interest in these funds which were to be turned over to the Jews in Croatia?
A. Yes, it did, because it was a matter of dollars.
Q. One more question: I am not sure that I heard correctly when you said that in one camp hundreds of thousands of Serbs were exterminated?
A. Hundreds of thousands.
Q. In what year was that?
A. Beginning in 1941, and until the end.
Q. And who killed them?
A. The Ustashi.
Presiding Judge: Thank you, Mr. Arnon. You have completed your evidence.