A. Yes, I myself almost underwent something of the sort. .... When friends saw that I was still alive, they managed somehow to get me into the infirmary. Afterwards I was not fit to work, and they came to get me. It was a Dr. Rascher who carried out these experiments. Dr. Rascher, who received me with the usual greeting, told me that his grandfather had also been a clergyman.

Q. Just a moment, please. What do you mean by "the usual greeting"?

A. The collective term for us was "pig." It was the form of address which was usually our lot. When he said to me that his grandfather had been a clergyman, I said to him that I am, of course, prepared for anything, that according to my religious beliefs his grandfather in eternity knows what his grandson is doing, and that according to my religious beliefs his grandfather in eternity may well not be able to have a single second of rest, because he knows what his grandson is up to. I was prepared for anything - except that he should suddenly address me with the polite, formal "Sie" form and dismiss me. The next day he summoned me, ordered an ambulance, had me examined, ascertained that I was suffering from all sorts of things and said that I was no longer able to be in prison, which I already knew. He then said that he would try to have me released.

Q. And shortly afterwards you were actually released, were you not?

A. A little later, but the truth is that I do not ascribe it to him alone; I think that the main credit is due to my courageous wife, who fought for my release right from the beginning. She went to the Accused as well, to his deputy, to all the SS departments. There was also something else of which I was informed later. There was a lawyer called Langbehn, a deputy, at the time a representative of Himmler, who attempted to make peace with America. So perhaps it was meant as a gesture to America, something like "you see, we are not so bad after all, we even let people like Grueber out."

Q. In June 1943 you were already in Berlin, were you not?

A. I came to Berlin in June 1943. On the 23rd of June, on the eve of my birthday.

Q. Your office was locked up. Where were your people?

A. My office...my family was living in Karlsdorf, an eastern suburb of Berlin. In March 1943 there was a direct hit on my house, my wife and my son, who was still at home, were miraculously saved, and of course they were not provided with substitute housing or clothing, since I was a treasonous criminal, but then they found emergency housing in Berlin.

Q. Did you continue with your relief activities after you returned to Berlin as well?

A. I was the parson of a large parish of 8,000 souls. Before I was arrested, I was also on the board of the Bekenntniskirche, as well as being involved part-time with the Dutch, and I managed all the work, but only because I really did work day and night. When I returned from the camp, I was a broken man who could not even go down the stairs without assistance.

I should like to add that, after my arrest, my work did not come to a halt but continued illegally. There were many hundreds of people who were prepared to work illegally, in order to procure food coupons and counterfeit identity papers, to provide housing, and what was called "going underground" (untertauchen); the driving force was Oberregierungsrat Kaufmann, who was shot shortly afterwards at the Wohlheide.

As far as I could, I reestablished contacts with these people who were working illegally, and of course they came to me with all sorts of questions, without the work actually becoming public.

Q. Dr. Grueber, do you remember two young Jews who lived with you after 1943?

A. Yes, if you mean the Neumann brother and sister, because there were many young people whom I helped, but I published the story of these two young people, not to relate anything about myself, of course. I should like to ask the Court to understand that I am of no importance; what is of importance is a Higher Being, on whose behalf I was acting, and if I put anything in writing, then this was simply to show that there was yet somebody else in control at that time, and there were not only the godless who desecrated human beings, but that there was also One who was taking care of people....

Q. Finally, Dr. Grueber, you have referred to the fact that you hold office in Berlin today. Is your congregation in the western part of Berlin, or the east, or in both parts?

A. I am the dean for Berlin; neither the Protestant nor the Catholic churches of Berlin are split. The only divided community in Berlin is the Jewish community. The church of my congregation is the Great Mary's Cathedral, and the deanship is a resident post, but being a community of persons, my congregation covers both parts of Berlin.

State Attorney Bar-Or: Thank you.

Presiding Judge: Dr. Servatius, do you have any questions to the witness?

Dr. Servatius: I do have a few questions.

.... It is the sort of person who wants to represent something towards the outside world. There is a German expression for people like that, we call them "bicyclists" because they are always treading downwards, while upwards they bend their backs. I never saw him bend down, but I often saw him treading downwards.

Q. That was a most interesting psychological observation, but you have not replied to my question. I do not believe you are capable of replying to it, and therefore I shall not insist but shall ask another question.

A. Perhaps the Counsel for the Defence could ask the question in a clearer form. After all, you must bear in mind the fact that I am only an old man, and I do not grasp things as fast as young people, so perhaps you could ask the question in a rather more precise form? I shall be glad to answer any questions.

[Laughter in the room]

Presiding Judge: We will have no demonstration of feelings.

Dr. Servatius: I note that the witness has not answered my question. I have another question. You said that the Accused behaved like a block of marble and that it was impossible to get through to him. Did you try to influence him as a cleric, ... and that everything that was going on was extremely immoral and sinful?

Witness Grueber: On this, I would like to say that my attitude has always been that actions speak louder than words, and if the Accused realized from the way I behaved ....words will run off like water off a duck's back, you do not even try. On the contrary, you are concerned that words might even widen the gap between people. But I would now like to relate something which I really did not wish to tell, from a personal encounter with the Accused.

.........When you remonstrate with someone, that is not something which you do by means of orders. A pastor who uses nothing but imperatives is not a good spiritual adviser. One evening I arrived at the Kurfuerstenstrasse absolutely worn out, and I had the impression that the Accused, if I can put it this way, had had a good day. Perhaps he also felt somewhat sorry for me. ... He said: "Why do you care about the Jews at all? No one is going to thank you for your efforts." I replied, because I believed that he, as a former Templar, had known this country: "You know the road from Jerusalem to Jericho." Then I said: "Once on that road there lay a Jew who had fallen amongst thieves. Then a man passed by, who was not a Jew, and helped him. The Lord whom alone I obey tells me, 'Go thou and do likewise,' and that is my answer."

Q. I am satisfied with this reply.

..... you must not forget that I dealt with agencies abroad; there is scarcely a single country to which I did not turn in order to open doors, and I think I can say now, that if in those days there had been just a fraction of the responsible attitude now shown towards refugees and emigrants, millions would have been saved - ....

Presiding Judge: Very well - quiet please, we will have quiet until the Court retires. We shall break off now until this afternoon, at half past three.

Session 42, Part 2 of 6 1 Sivan 5721 (16 May 1961)

.... We noticed that already at the time of the November operation. I was a pastor in a working-class parish in the east of Berlin. ...When my friend, Leo Baeck, was in the United States for the first time, the Americans asked him: "What would you do if you came to Germany now?" I have no prejudice against the American Jews, but they were very distant from the whole thing. Leo Baeck said the following: "When I get to Germany, I shall thank firstly those to whom I owe thanks, foremost the workers in the north and east of Berlin. Then pastors of the Confessional Church - he mentioned names - then also farmers and landowners, hundreds of whom hid people at the risk of their lives." This man, too, recognized that the strongest will to help was to be found in the working class, because these people did not have the inhibitions which were often to be found among university graduates....

Q. On your journeys to Switzerland, did you find a willingness to let Jews immigrate to Switzerland?

A. I regret having to say that the willingness was very small in all countries, also in Switzerland, where we had to intervene again and again. It was the same in all other countries. We tried to exhaust all possibilities, we even had trouble later on with the transport, because the Swiss were no more willing than all the other nations in Europe. I can only say that after November 1938 I once told a highly placed official, a Christian, because there were then so many people who sought suicide or voluntary death, I told him: "The people who now of their own free will go to their death will be claimed from you, from me, on the Day of Judgment." You see, it was like this, we found so little comprehension of these questions, particularly amongst those holding official positions; this was true even for the ambassadors and envoys accredited to Berlin, that we were not only sad but very often angry and exasperated.........

Q. Dr. Grueber, you said that as a man of religion, a clergyman, you are, and always were, interested in the motivation of the people who were involved, and therefore you took notice of the character of the Accused, Eichmann. You said that you encountered the glacial manner of a man who is like a block of ice or marble and with a deep hatred. You said that, at first, you could not understand such a man at all - that is until you experienced the concentration camp. Is this behaviour not like the behaviour of Hitler and his henchmen which he used as an example?

A. I should like to correct this, if I may. I did not talk of the Accused's abysmal or bottomless hatred, but of rejection, a cold rejection. This is something different from hatred. These things just slid off him, according to my perception. I believed that I was able to determine a deeper motive, of course. [Rachel 2014: Why wasn't he asked, what 'the deeper motive' was according to his guessing?] But again and again I asked myself, not only in relation to him but also regarding others, how something like this was possible in an age that was preceded by humanism ... You will understand that one is confronted by these problems and that I could only cope with them after I had my experiences with these people day in, day out. I should add that at first it was something of a theoretical exercise, and only later a practical perception. [Again: why didn't they ask what he perceived or understood?] See my own "coping with Evil", and in many more contexts
....................

Witness Grueber: I wanted to ask for permission to make a personal statement, being, as I am, the first German to stand before this high court, and one who found it hard to come here. I should only like to ask that if these words seem perhaps excited and hard, this has to be understood as an expression of inner agitation. May I also ask, it is my desire, that these proceedings also contribute not only to clearing up the relations between Israel and Germany, but to help humanity, humaneness. I may say to my many friends in Israel that on the day that I lay next to the dead bodies, I found in the Bible a maxim, the words of Ephraim: "Gott hat mich wachsen lassen im Lande meines Elends", "And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." Genesis 41:52 This is my heart-felt entreaty to all those who experienced new sorrows these days, and to those whose sorrows came alive again, that they may affirm those words. ...

Ramon Crater Luxury Tours, operating out of Mitzpe Ramon, was created to provide something that was missing in Israeli desert tourism: luxurious activities outside of the hotel such as farm-touring, jeeping, outdoor catering, and other open-air enjoyments.

All of our activities take place very close to nature - either at local farms and vineyards, or out in the desert - in the Ramon Crater or the Tzin Valley.

Our services include:
- Jeep tours of the Ramon Crater and the surrounding Negev, in closed, spacious, air-conditioned Land Rovers, with pick-up and drop-off at the place of accommodation.

-Culinary tours of local Negev vineyards, wineries and goat cheese farms.

-Outdoor gourmet meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner), elegant picnic lunches, romantic dinners,and relaxing sunset & drink excursions.

-Outdoor treatments such as massage, shiatsu, and reflexology, as well as private yoga instruction.

-Night activities: dinners by the campfire, concerts, storytellers and astronomy star-tours.

To achieve our vision, we keep the following objectives in mind at all times:

To assist more people in finding their connection to nature and the desert by giving them what they need to feel comfortable.

To present flawless service to all our customers.

To facilitate unforgettable memories of the desert and the Ramon Crater region.

To reinvent the art of wilderness touring
3. Real Bedouin hospitality (from "tastes" )

We'll ... introduce you to our Bedouin friends and neighbors, to sit in
their tent, listen to some stories, and stay for dinner with their family.

"My good mother,
"Be proud: I am carrying the flag,
"Be without worry. I am carrying the flag.
"Love me: I am carrying the flag-"

Then he puts the letter under his uniform,
in the most secret place, next to the rose petal.
And thinks: it will soon be fragrant with it.
And thinks: perhaps someone will find it one day...
And thinks - ~~~ because the enemy is near.

First PRIDE, then worry, then love! And again my new little song:
" Once humans know who they are - vibrate and womb what they feel ,
there'll be zest~full-fill-ment - --------------no need for war!"