Jakob Schmid’s statement

II A-So./Schm. [Schmauβ] – Munich, February 18, 1943

Interrogation.

/Stamp: Reg/

Jakob Schmied [Note 1],

born on July 25, 1886 in Traunstein, residing at Türkeen [sic] Str. 33/I HB, married, [employed as] maintenance man at the university, was summoned, did appear [this day], and made the following statement:

“As I made my usual rounds throughout the university buildings today, February 18, 1943 around 11:15 am, and in so doing went down the stairs of the Lichthof [Note 2], I saw that a large amount of paper had been thrown from the Lichthof platform on the third floor [Note 3]. From where I stood, I could not see the place the paper was thrown from. But it was equally impossible for whoever was in the third floor hallway to see me without further ado. I did not think about this very long and did not ponder it any further. Rather, I took the stairs I was already on up to the middle level, so I could then run upstairs on the other stairwell. In about one minute, I was on the third floor. There I saw an unknown male student and an unknown female student going down the hall. There was no one else there. I immediately went up to the two of them and told them bluntly that they had to come with me. And they did as I demanded. Then I told them that they had just thrown this paper [over the balcony]. The male student made the following observation: ‘Something like that is absurd, it is an effrontery to take someone into custody here in the university!’ But I did not let him confuse me with this statement. I told both of them that they were under arrest.

“When I met the two of them in the hallway on the third floor, the female student was carrying a reddish suitcase. This was the same female student who admitted to me without further ado that she threw the stack of papers down into the Lichthof. Everyone who visits the university has access to that particular hallway. In addition it is not noticeable when strangers go there, because there are 2 lecture halls and 2 classrooms on the third floor. According to these circumstances, the paper can only have been thrown down by these two. I took them [Note 4] to the property management office. Together with the supervisor, Secr. Scheidhammer, I led the detainees to the legal representative/trustee, RR Hefner, who informed the police. The detectives frisked the students whom I had detained. In so doing, they found several leaflets (folded) in the pockets of the male student. They secured these. In addition, I had observed that the male student had dropped several scraps of paper on the floor, or rather that he tried to drop the paper so it mingled with other papers in the room.

“I do not believe that the leaflets that were collected from the floor following the arrest of these two could have lain in the hallway of the third floor for very long. Since the female student in question had an empty suitcase with her, and since the leaflets that were thrown [over the balcony] fit exactly inside that suitcase, there can hardly be any doubt that these two brought the leaflets in question into the university and then threw them over the balcony into the Lichthof.

“I will maintain my silence in public about my observations.”

Recorded by: /Signature: Schmauβ/

As per signature: /Signature: Schmid Jak./

/Typed: KS. [Kriminalsekretär]/

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Note 1: He signed his name “Schmid” without an e.

Note 2: A Lichthof is similar to an atrium. It’s the “well of a courtyard” that is lit with natural light, generally with large skylights in the roof.

Note 3: In document, “second” floor – German second floor equates to American third floor. Hereinafter, only the American equivalent shall be stated and this footnote will not be repeated.

Note 4: He actually used the grammatical phrase “damit” so that the sentence would be better translated “I took it…”

Note 5: Time (1:00 p.m.) is approximate.

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Source: ZC13267 (11 – 12)