dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
COL. POKROVSKY: I think the Defense Counsel wishes to submit another request to the Tribunal. I therefore cede my place. '
DR. NELTE: Mr. President! Regarding General Warlimont, we have the same reasons which I just mentioned regarding Generaloberst Halder. General Warlimont is also present in Nuremberg and is at your disposal for examination in the court. Concerning the importance...
THE PRESIDENT: What do you want to request now?
DR.NELTE: My application consists in the request to disallow the use of the document which the Soviet Prosecutor has just wished to read out loud, and to direct that the witness, Warlimont, now present in Nuremberg, be called as a witness.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal has just ruled that the interrogation of General Halder may be used, but if it is used-and it is being used-he must be submitted for cross-examination by counsel for the defendants. What more do you want?
DR. NELTE: I am not speaking about Generaloberst Halder but about General Warlimont.
THE PRESIDENT: I thought we had already ruled upon General Warlimont; that he had to be called-that is, only yesterday or the day before.
DR. NELTE: I believe that this ruling has escaped the memory of the Soviet Prosecutor, otherwise he would not be reading this document out loud but would be introducing General Warlimont to the Court in person.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the ruling of the Tribunal was that the Prosecutor should be entitled to use the interrogation, but if he did so, he must submit the witness for cross-examination. Therefore, the Soviet Prosecutor is entitled to read the interrogation and General Warlimont wilt then be produced for the purpose of cross-examination.
DR.NELTE: Is he obliged to do this or may he use his own discretion?
THE PRESIDENT: I suppose he might use his own discretion and call the witness if he wanted to and not put in the interrogation. You see, Dr. Nelte, the position of the Tribunal is this. If the prosecuting counsel chooses to call the witness and not to use the interrogation, of course, he calls the witness, examines the witness, and the witness is liable to cross-examination by Defense Counsel. If, on the other hand, the prosecuting counsel wishes to use the interrogation, which he already has, he can do so; but if the witness is available in or near Nuremberg, he must still be produced for cross-examination. The discretion which Counsel for the Prosecution has is as to whether they use an interrogation which they already have or call the witness. But in either case, the witness, if he is here, must be produced for cross-examination.
DR. NELTE: The witnesses, Generaloberst Halder and General Warlimont, are both in Nuremberg and at our disposal. I merely wish to know whether the date when he is to be presented depends on the discretion of the Chief Prosecutor. We are interested in the possibility of holding the cross-examination when the Prosecution has read out the written statement.
THE PRESIDENT: I thought that was a matter you might settle with the prosecuting counsel as to whether you wish to cross-examine him directly after the interrogation has been presented or after a short delay. If I were to say that he is to be cross-examined immediately after the interrogation has been put in probably Defense Counsel would say he wanted time to consider the interrogation. But you can surely settle that with Colonel Pokrovsky.
DR.NELTE: Then I will deal with Colonel Pokrovsky on this matter. Thank you.
COL. POKROVSKY: I take the liberty of starting from the point where I broke off. We now present to the Tribunal Exhibit Number USSR-263(a), consisting of the minutes of the interrogation, under oath; of the witness, Warlimont, given to Lieutenant Colonel Hinkel of the American Army. I do not intend to read this document into 13 Feb. 46 the record in fur. Warlimont, in many cases, repeats Halder. The important thing is that he confirms two facts in their entirety: (1) That it was Hitler who conducted the meeting of which we were informed by Halder's testimony. (2) That, even before the war, Hitler had issued a directive to shoot prisoners of war; pointing out that special units were to be created for this purpose and that the SD would follow the Army. Warlimont further testified-I quote, and Your Honors will find the excerpt which I quote on Page 26: "He"-that is Hitler-"further said that he did not expect the officer corps to understand his orders, but he demanded that they obey his orders unconditionally." We have some more testimonies, those of Lieutenant General of the German Army, Kurt von Osterreich. He was the former Commander of the Prisoner of War Section of the Danzig Military District. He personally handed his testimonies to the representatives of the Red Army on 29 December 1945. His testimonies, registered as Exhibit Number USSR-151 (Document Number USSR-151), are contained in your document book. I shall read certain excerpts into the record: '`I began my work as Commander of the Prisoner of War Section at the headquarters of Military District XX (Danzig) on 1 February 1941. "Prior to that I was the commanding officer of the 207th Infantry Division, located in France. "It was towards March 1941 that I was summoned to Berlin to attend a secret meeting at the headquarters of the OKW. This conference was conducted by Lieutenant General Reinecke, then Chief of Headquarters' Prisoner of War Section. "Over 20 chiefs of the district prisoner of war sections from various regions attended this conference, as well as several staff officers of the headquarters.
COL. POKROVSKY: I cannot, at present remember the names of these officers. "General Reinecke told us, as a great secret, that a tentative invasion of the Soviet territory had been planned for the beginning of summer 1941 and that in this connection the OKW had elaborated essential measures, including the preparation of camps for Russian prisoners of war expected after the beginning of operations on the Eastern front." I omit 3 paragraphs and shall go on to several details of greater importance: "On this occasion he ordered us to construct open air camps surrounded only by barbed wire in such cases where there . would be no time to construct roofed-in barracks for the Russian prisoners. "Moreover, Reinecke gave us instructions as to the treatment of Russian prisoners of war, directing us to shoot without any warning those prisoners who might attempt to escape." In my opinion, the next two long paragraphs can be omitted in order to save time. "After some time"-I pass on to Page 28 of your document book-"I received a directive from the headquarters of the OKW confirming Reinecke's instructions to shoot without any warning all Russian prisoners attempting to escape. I do not now remember who signed this directive." The witness further testifies how he was called, either towards the end of 1941 or the beginning of 1942 to a conference in Berlin of the military district chiefs on prisoner-of-war affairs. The conference was conducted by Major General Von Graevenitz. The question under discussion was what to do with those Russian prisoners of war who were unable to work as the result of wounds or exhaustion. I think it might be useful to quote a few lines. They are on Page 29 in your document book: "On the proposal of General Von Graevenitz this question was discussed by several officers present, including doctors, who stated that such prisoners of war unable to work should be concentrated in one place-either in camp or in hospital- and killed by poisoning.
COL. POKROVSKY: As a result of this discussion General Von Graevenitz ordered us to murder war prisoners incapable of work, using for this purpose the camp medical personnel." The witness asserts that when he arrived on duty in the Ukraine in the summer of 1942, he learned there, as he says-you will find these two lines on Page 29, "A method of murdering Russian prisoners of war by poisoning is already adopted there." The witness quotes actual figures, actual facts connected with this crime. I think it important to note a reference to this fact quoted on the fourth page of the Russian text, third paragraph from the top, on Page 29 of your document book: "When I was in the Ukraine I received from headquarters a top-secret order signed by Himmler, directing that, as from August 1942, Russian war prisoners must be branded with a special mark. "Russian war prisoners were kept in concentration camps under severe conditions, were poorly fed, subjected to moral outrages, and died of hunger and disease." Osterreich names facts which confirm this testimony. The following episode is revealingly characteristic. I quote the second paragraph of the fifth page; it is on Page 31 in your document book: "In the beginning of 1942 when an echelon of Russian war prisoners was being moved from the Ukraine to the city of Torun, approximately 75 people died there, the corpses of whom were not taken away but left in the railway car together with the living.... About 100 prisoners of war who could not bear these conditions and tried to escape were shot." These and similar cases are known to the witness. He enumerates them, but I do not think it is necessary to cite all of them to the Tribunal. They are all alike.
THE PRESIDENT: Please, proceed.
COL. POKROVSKY: Thank you. I thought the members of the Tribunal were deliberating. I, therefore, interrupted my report. Thank you. Osterreich also speaks about directives which provide for the shooting of all political commissars of the Red Army, Communists, and Jews. Such an arrangement practically opened the way for the extermination of any Soviet prisoner of war under the pretext that he was suspected of belonging to the Communist Party or if he looked like a Jew. In rounding up General Osterreich's testimony it is necessary to quote a sentence mentioned, as I believe, by the Commander-in-Chief, General Field Marshal Von Reichenau, in "The Conduct of the Army in the East." I submit this document to the Tribunal as our Exhibit Number USSR-12 (Document Number USSR-12). This quotation is on Page 33 in your document book, "Supplying the civilian population and the prisoners of war with food is a misunderstood humanitarian act as well as . . ." I submit to the Military Tribunal this despicable directive of Hitler's Field Marshal and request it be accepted as evidence. This document is registered under Number USSR-12. Three of Hitler's high-ranking officers confirmed that even at the beginning of the war, at a special conference. . .
THE PRESIDENT: Could you tell us if this order was issued by Field Marshal Von Reichenau? By the general himself?
COL. POKROVSKY: The order is signed by General Field Marshal Von Reichenau.
THE PRESIDENT: Was it captured or what?
COL. POKROVSKY: This document was one of the trophies captured by the Russian Army.
THE PRESIDENT: By the Russian Army?
COL. POKROVSKY: By the Russian Army.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
COL. POKROVSKY: Three of Hitler's high-ranking officers have confirmed that already at the beginning of the war the question of Exterminating Soviet prisoners of war was settled during a special conference. They-the witnesses-differ slightly in detail, but the fact itself has been quite definitely established. The sentence which I quoted from the directive of Field Marshal Reichenau also confirms that even the supply of food to the soldiers of the Red Army taken prisoner by the Germans was considered as "unnecessary humanity." It is useful perhaps to submit to you Document Number 884-PS (Exhibit USSR-351). It bears the signature of Warlimont and a postscript by the Defendant Jodl. The document was drawn up at the Fuehrer's headquarters on 12 May 1941. It said, "OKH had submitted the draft of a directive dealing with the treatment of responsible political workers and similar persons." You have this quotation on Page 35 in the document book, as well as the two following excerpts which I am going to quote. The draft foresaw the "removal" of persons of this category. The decision whether a prisoner of war falls into the group "to be removed" is up to the officer. The document states; "By an officer with authority to impose punishment for breach of discipline." Thus, any junior officer was endowed with powers of life and death over any captured Red Army soldier, regardless of his rank or service. Paragraph 3 of this document states: "Political commissars of the army are not recognized as prisoners of war and are to be liquidated, at the latest, in the transient prisoner-of-war camps. No evacuation to the rear areas." The Defendant Jodl added the, for him, characteristic postscript- you will find it on Page 37 of the document book: "We must reckon with possible reprisals against German airmen. It would, therefore, be better to consider all these measures in the nature of reprisals." General Osterreich~s testimony concerning the existence of the order to brand Soviet prisoners of war is fully confirmed.
COL. POKROVSKY: I submit to the Tribunal, as Exhibit Number USSR-15 (Document Number USSR-15), Order Number 14-802/42, given by the Chief of Gendarmerie of the Vice Governor in the Region of Styria. It is stated in the order that it is a question of disclosing the order of the Chief of Police. The first paragraph of the order of the chief of the regular police states-the paragraph quoted is on Page 38 of the document book: "1. Soviet prisoners of war are to be branded with a special and lasting mark. "2. The brand is to consist of an acute angle of about 45 degrees with a 1-centimeter length of side, pointing downwards on the left buttock, at about a hand's width from the rectum. This brand is to be made with the lancets available in all military units. Indian ink is to be used as coloring matter." The third paragraph underlines that, "Branding is not a sanitary precaution." It is stated in Paragraph 5 that, together with all Soviet prisoners of war now entering the regions of the Baltic States, the Ukraine, and the province of the Governor General commanded by the German Armed Forces, all the remaining prisoners of war in the area of the Supreme Army Command (OKW) up to September 1942 are to be subjected to branding. The same directive was issued to the presidents of the regional labor offices and the Reich Inspectors for Allocation of Labor. In this Document Number 1191-PS, Page 40 of the document book, it is stated that the order of the OKW, dated 10 July 1942, was brought to the attention of the presidents of regional labor offices and to the Reich Inspectors for Allocation of Labor. Our documents numbered USSR-121, 122, and 123 are excerpts taken from orders issued by the German military authorities, such as regimental and divisional commanders, and confirm that the prisoners of war, in order to "spare German blood," were forced to clear mine fields and carry on work which endangered their lives.
COL. POKROVSKY: Order Number 16641 of the 60th German Infantry Division states, in explanation of the bestial treatment of the Soviet warriors: "Russian soldiers and noncommissioned officers are very brave in battle. Even a small isolated unit will always attack. In this connection a humane attitude towards the prisoners is not permissible." This quotation is on Page 44 in the document book.
THE PRESIDENT: We have had that already, have we not, or an almost identical one?
COL. POKROVSKY: You are right, Sir, I quoted this excerpt as a part of the note of the Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Molotov; and now I quote it as part of a special German document. I consider that it is an unprecedented event in history when, instead of respecting an enemy for his military valor, the senior officers of HiMer's army, in reply to such military valor, ordered their subordinates to treat this same enemy ruthlessly and inhumanly. In the document submitted to you as Number 3257-PS (Exhibit Number USSR-352), there is a sentence directly relating to my theme. It has been read into the record. Document 3257-PS is a secret report of the Armament Inspector in the Ukraine, dated 2 December 1941, and addressed to the Chief of Armament Section of the OKW. It states-the excerpt quoted is at the end of Page 45 and the beginning of Page 45 of your document book: "Living conditions, food, clothing conditions, and the health of the prisoners of war are bad; mortality is very high. We may reckon on the fact that during this winter people will perish at the rate of tens and even hundreds of thousands." I submit a document under Document Number D-339 (Exhibit USSR-350). The chief camp and factory physician, Jager, having inspected the camp in Naeggerath Street, informed the medical department of the Central Administration of Camps, in a top-secret medical report on 2 September 1944-you will find the excerpt quoted on Page 47 of your document book-as follows: '`The prisoner-of-war camp in Naeggerath Street is in an atrocious condition. The men live in dustbins, in kennels, in ovens no longer used, and in huts made by themselves. Food is barely sufficient. Krupp is responsible for shelter and the food supply. Medicine and bandages were so scarce that in many cases medical treatment was completely impossible. The blame for this appalling state of affairs rests on the permanent camp." ' In the files of the Defendant Rosenberg was found, among other documents, one numbered Document 081-PS (Exhibit USSR-353). As far as we.
COL. POKROVSKY: can understand, it is a letter from Rosenberg to Keitel, dated 28 February 1942, on the subject of the prisoners of war. A copy found in Rosenberg's files is unsigned, but there is no doubt that such a letter was either addressed to Keitel or prepared for dispatch to the chief of the Armed Forces. The letter states that the fate of the Soviet prisoners of war in Germany is a tragedy on an enormous scale. I will now read into the record the second sentence of the fifth paragraph of the Russian text-you will find it on Page 48 of the document book: "Out of 3,600,000..."
THE PRESIDENT: I think the United States read this letter, did they not?
COL. POKROVSKY: The document has been partially read, but I would ask permission to read part of a short excerpt a second time, since it is of importance to my further report. It will, quite literally, only take a minute and a half of our time. THE PRESIDENT': Colonel Pokrovsky, we have been preventing other prosecuting counsel from reading documents which have already been read and we are directed by the Charter to conduct an expeditious trial; and I do not really see how it can be expeditious if documents are read more than once.
COL.POKROVSKY: This document, which is already known to the Tribunal, presents a very clear picture of what happened in the camp. The author of this letter states that attempts had been made by the population to supply the prisoners with food but that in most cases the attempts were foiled by the energetic opposition of the camp commanders. There is no reason to suspect the author of that letter of piling on the agony, or of having any liking for the Soviet people. On the contrary, there is every reason to state that the question has not yet been fully elucidated. This document, addressed by one defendant to another, enables us to imagine the acts that took place in the camps for Soviet prisoners of war. I began by presenting to you documents of German origin, and this with a definite aim in view. After you have been informed of the attitude of the Hitlerites themselves towards the Soviet prisoners of war and as soon as you have learned however briefly, what the camps for the Soviet prisoners looked like from the words of the Hitlerites themselves, it will be easier for you to estimate the probative value of the documents of non-German origin. I stop, because it seems to me the Tribunal wants to adjourn.
THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps that would be a convenient time to adjourn. [The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours.]
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel, the Tribunal proposes to adjourn at half past four this afternoon, as they have some administrative work to do.
COL. POKROVSKY: I return to the report of the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union for the investigation of atrocities committed by the German fascist invaders in Smolensk and in the region of Smolensk. The greater part of this report is dedicated to the mass annihilation of prisoners of war by the Germans. I should like to read into the Record excerpts from this document, submitted to you as Exhibit Number USSR-56 (Document Number USSR-56), Page 6, Paragraph 4 from the top; you will find it on Page 58 of our document book. It reads as follows: "The German fascist invaders systematically exterminated the wounded and captured Soviet citizens. Physicians A. N. Smirnov, A. N. Glasunov, A. M. Demidov, A. S. Pogrebnov, and others, formerly interned in the war prisoners' camp, stated that on the road from Vyasma to Smolensk the Hitlerites shot several thousand people. "In the autumn of 1941 the German occupational forces drove a party of prisoners of war from Vyasma to Smolensk. Many of the prisoners were unable to stand, as a result of continuous beating and exhaustion. Whenever the citizens attempted to give any of the prisoners a piece of bread, the German soldiers drove the Soviet citizens off, beat them with sticks and rifle butts, and fatally shot them. ON the Bolshaya Sovetskaya Street, on the Roslavskoye and Kievskaye high roads, the fascist blackguards opened a disorderly fire on a column of prisoners of war. The prisoners attempted to escape, but the soldiers overtook and shot them. In that way nearly 5,000 Soviet people were fatally shot. The corpses were left lying about the streets for several days." It is not difficult to see that this extract fully coincides with the statement in Document Number 081-PS, which has already been read into the Record, the contents of which I once before related to the Tribunal very briefly and in my own words. We are completing the document only by factual evidence.
COL. POKROVSKY: On the same Page 6-which corresponds to Page 58 of the Document Book-two lines lower down, it is said: "The German military authorities tortured the prisoners of war. On the way to Smolensk and especially at the camp, the prisoners were killed by tens and hundreds. In Prisoner-of-War Camp Number 126, the Soviet people were subjected to torture; sick people were sent to heavy labor; no medical assistance was rendered. The prisoners in the camp were tortured, forced to do work beyond their strength, shot. About 150 to 200 people died every day of torture, by starvation, typhus and dysentery epidemics, freezing to death, exhausting work, and bloody terror. Over 60,000 peaceful citizens and prisoners of war were exterminated in the camp by the German fascist invaders. The facts of the extermination of the imprisoned officers and men of the Red Army and of the peaceful citizens were confirmed by the testimony of physicians imprisoned in the camp; Smirnov, Shmouroff, Pogrebnov, Erpoulov, Demidov, hospital nurses Shubina and Lenkovskya, and also by Red Army soldiers and inhabitants of the city of Smolensk. "Thousands of prisoners of war were shot in the camp under the directions of Sonderfuehrer Eduard Gyss. "Sergeant Gatlyn brutally avenged himself on the prisoners. Being aware of the fact, they tried to keep out of his way. So Gatlyn dressed in the uniform of a Red Army soldier, mixed with the crowd, and, having picked himself a victim, would beat him half dead. "Private Rudolf Radtke, a former wrestler from the German circuses, prepared a special lash made of aluminum wire, with which he beat the prisoners black and blue. On Sundays he would come to the camp drunk, throw himself on the first prisoner he met, torture and kill him. "Emaciated and exhausted Soviet invalids were forced by the fascists to work at the Smolensk power plant.