dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
M. DUBOST: In addition, this morning at 11 o'clock the German authorities informed me of the reprisal measures which they had decided to take against the population." These reprisal measures you will find set forth on Page "A" of the same document in a letter addressed by General Von Faber Du Faur, Chief of the Regional Administration of Bordeaux, to the Prefect of the Gironde. I quote: "Bordeaux, 23 October 1941. "To the Prefect of the Gironde, Bordeaux. "As expiation for the cowardly murder of the Councillor of War, Reimers, the Military Commander in France has ordered 50 hostages to be executed. The execution will take place tomorrow. "In case the murderers should not be arrested in the very near future, additional measures will be taken, as in the case of Nantes. "I have the honor of making this decision known to you. "Chief of the Military Regional Administration,"-signed" Von Faber Du Faur." And in execution of this order, 50 men were shot. There is a famous place in the suburbs of Paris which has become a place of pilgrimage for the French since our liberation. It is the Fort of Romainville. During the occupation the Germans converted this fort into a hostage depot from which they selected victims when they wanted to take revenge after some patriotic demonstration. It is from Romainville that Professors Jacques Solomon, Decourtemanche, Georges Politzer, Dr. Boer and six other Frenchmen departed. They had been arrested in March 1942, tortured by the Gestapo, then executed without trial in the month of May 1942, because they refused to renounce their faith. On 19 August 1942, 96 hostages left this fort, among them M. Le Gall, a municipal councillor of Paris. They left the fort of Romainville were transferred to Mont-Valerien and executed. In September 1942 an assault had been made against some German soldiers at the Rex cinema in Paris. General Von Stulpnagel issued a proclamation announcing that, because of this assault, he had caused 116 hostages to be shot and that extensive measures of deportation were to be taken.
M. DUBOST: You will find an extract from this newspaper in Document Number F-402(b) (Exhibit Number RF-287). The notice was worded as follows: "As a result of assaults committed by Communist agents and terrorists in the pay of England, German soldiers and French civilians have been killed or wounded. "As reprisal for these assaults I have had 116 Communist terrorists shot, whose participation or implication in terroristic acts has been proved by confessions. "In addition, severe measures of repression have been taken. In order to prevent incidents on the occasion of demonstrations planned by the Communists for 20 September 1942, 1 ordered the following: "1) From Saturday, 19 September 1942, from 3 o'clock in the afternoon, until Sunday, 20 September 1942, at midnight, all theaters, cinemas, cabarets, and other places of amusement reserved for the French population shall be closed in the Departments of the Seine, Seine-et-Oise, and Seine-et-Marne. All public demonstrations, including sports, are forbidden. "2) On Sunday, 20 September 1942, from 3 o'clock in the afternoon until midnight, non-German civilians are forbidden to walk about in the streets and public places in the Departments of the Seine, Seine-et-Oise, and Seine-et-Marne. The only exceptions are persons representing official services ...... In actual fact, it was only on the day of 20 September that 46 of these hostages were chosen from the list of 116. The Germans handed newspapers of 20 September to the prisoners of Romainville, announcing the decision of the Military High Command. It was, therefore, through the newspapers that the prisoners of Romainville learned that a certain number of them would be chosen at the end of the afternoon to be led before the firing squad. All lived through that day awaiting the call that would be made that evening. Those who were called knew their fate beforehand. All died innocent of the crimes for which they were being executed, for those who were responsible for the assault in the Rex cinema were arrested a few days later.
M. DUBOST: It was in Bordeaux that the 70 other hostages of the total of 116 announced by General Von Stulpnagel were executed. In reprisal for the murder of Ritter, the German official of the Labor Front, 50 other hostages were shot at the end of September 1943 in Paris. Here is a reprint of the newspaper article which announced these executions to the French people-Document Number F-402(c). "Reprisals - against terroristic acts. Assaults and acts of sabotage have increased in France recently. For this reason 50 terrorists, convicted of having participated in acts of sabotage and of terrorism, were shot on 2 October 1943 by order of the German authorities." All these facts concerning the hostages of Romainville have been related to us by one of the rare survivors, M. Rabate, a mechanic living at 69 Rue de la Tombe-Issiore, Paris, whose testimony was taken by one of our collaborators. In this testimony-Document Number F-402(a), which has already been submitted as Exhibit Number RF-287-we read the following: "There were 70 of us, including Professor Jacques Solomon, Decourtemanche and Georges Politzer, Dr. Boer, and Messrs. Engros, Dudach, Cadras, Dalidet, Golue, Pican who were shot in the month of May 1942, and an approximately equal number of women. "Some of us were transferred to the German quarter of the Sante (a prison in Paris), but the majority of us were taken to the military prison of Cherche-Midi (in Paris). We were questioned in turn by a Gestapo officer in the offices of the Rue des Saussaies. Some of us, especially Politzer and Solomon, were tortured to such an extent that their limbs were broken, according to the testimony of their wives. "Moreover, while questioning me, the Gestapo officer confirmed this to me: I repeat his words: 'Rabate, here you will have to speak. Professor Langevin's son-in-law, Jacques Solomon, came in here arrogant.
M. DUBOST: He went out crawling.' "After a short stay of 5 months in the prison of Cherche-Midi, in the course of which we learned of the execution as hostages of the 10 prisoners already mentioned, we were transferred on 24 August 1942 to the Fort of Romainville. "It is to be noted that from the day of our arrest we were forbidden to write, or to receive mail, or inform our families where we were. On the doors of our cells was written, 'Alles verboten' ('Everything is forbidden'). We received only the strict food ration of the prison, namely, 'three-fourths of a liter of vegetable soup and 200 grams of black bread per day. The biscuits sent to the prison for political prisoners by the Red Cross or by the Quakers' Association were not given to us because of this prohibition. "In the Fort of Romainville we were interned as 'isolated prisoners,' an expression corresponding to the 'NN' ( Nacht und Nebel ), which we knew about in Germany."
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, the Tribunal thinks that, unless there is anything very special that you wish to read in any of these documents, they have already heard the number of the hostages who were put to death and they think that it really does not add to it -  the actual details of these documents.
M. DUBOST: I thought, Mr. President, that I had not spoken to you of the regime to which men were subjected when they were prisoners of the German Army. I thought that it was my duty to enlighten the Tribunal on the condition of these men in the German prisons. I thought that it was also my duty to enlighten the Tribunal on the ill-treatment inflicted by the Gestapo, who left the son-in-law of Professor Langevin with his limbs broken. Moreover that is found in a testimony.
THE PRESIDENT: Certainly, if there are matters of that sort which you think it right to go into, you must do so; but the actual details of individual shooting of hostages we think you might, at any rate, summarize. But if there are particular atrocities which you wish to draw our attention to, by all means do so.
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, I have only given two examples of executions out of the multiple executions which caused 29,660 deaths in my country.
THE PRESIDENT: Go on, M. Dubost.
M. DUBOST: In the region of the North of France, which was administratively attached to Belgium and subjected to the authority of General Von Falkenhausen, the same policy of execution was practiced. You will find in Document Number F-133, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-289, copies of a great number of posters announcing either arrests, executions, or deportations. Certain of these posters include, moreover, an appeal to informers, and they are analogous to those which I read to you in connection with France. Perhaps it would be well, nevertheless, to point out the one that you will find on Page 3, which concerns the execution of 20 Frenchmen, ordered as the result of a theft; that on Page 4, which concerns the execution of 15 Frenchmen, ordered as a result of an attack against a railroad installation; and finally, especially the last, the one that you will find on Pages 8 and 9, which announces that executions will be carried out, and invites the civilian population to hand over the guilty ones, if they know them, to the German Army. As concerns especially the countries of the West other than France, we have a very great number of identical cases. You will find in your document book, under Document Number F-680, Exhibit Number RF-290, a copy of a poster by the Military Commander-in- Chief for Belgium and the North of France, which announces the arrest in Tournai, on 18 September 1941, of 25 inhabitants as hostages, and specifies the condition under which certain of them will be shot if the guilty are not discovered. But you will find especially, under the Number F-680(a) a remarkable document; it comes from the German authorities themselves. It is the secret report of the German Chief of Police in Belgium dated 13 December 1944, that is to say, when Belgium was totally liberated and this German official wished to give an account to his chiefs of his services during the occupation of Belgium.
M. DUBOST: From the first page of this document we take the following passage: "The increasing incitement of the population, by enemy radio and enemy press, to acts of terrorism and sabotage"-this is applied to Belgium-"the passive attitude of the population, particularly that of the Belgian administration, the complete failure of the public prosecutors, the examining judges, and of the police to disclose and prevent terrorist acts, have finally led to preventive and repressive measures of the most rigorous kind, that is to say, to the execution of persons closely related to the culprits. "Already on 19 October 1941, on the occasion of the murder of two police officials in Tournai, the Military Commander-in-Chief declared through an announcement appearing in the press that all the political prisoners in Belgium would be considered as hostages with immediate effect. In the provinces of the north of France, subject to the jurisdiction of the same Military Commander-in-Chief, this ordinance was already in force as from 26 August 1941. Through repeated notices appearing in the press the civilian population has been informed that political prisoners taken as hostages will be executed if the murders continue to be committed. "As a result of the assassination of Teughels, Rexist major of Charleroi, and other attempts at assassination of public officials, the Military Commander-in-Chief has been obliged to order, for the first time in Belgium, the execution of eight terrorists. The date of the execution is 27 November 1942." On the following page of this same document-Number F-680(b) you will find another order dated 22 April 1944, secret, and issued by the Military Commander in Belgium and the North of France, concerning measures of reprisal for the murder of two Walloon SS, who had fought at Tcherkassy; five hostages were shot on that day. On the following page nine hostages are added to these five, and still a tenth on the next page. Then five others on the following page.
M. DUBOST: You will find, finally, on the next to the last page of the document, a proposed list of persons to be shot in reprisal for the murder of SS men. Compare the dates, and judge the ferocity with which the assassination of these two Walloon traitors, SS volunteers, was revenged. Finally, you will see the names of the 20 Belgian patriots who were thus murdered. "Nouveau Journal, 25 April 1944. "Measures of reprisal for the murder of men who fought at Tcherkassy. "Announcement by the German authorities: "The perpetrators of the assassination on 6 April of the members of the SS Sturmbrigade Wallonie, Hubert Stassen and Francois Musch, who fought at Tcherkassy, have so far not been apprehended. Therefore, in accordance with the communication dated 10 April 1944, the 20 terrorists whose names follow have been executed: "Renatus Dierickx of Louvain; Francois Boets of Louvain; Antoine Smets of Louvain; Jacques Van Tilt of Holsbeeks; Emiliens Van Tilt of Holsbeek; Franciskus Aerts of Herent; Jan Van der Elst of Herent; Gustave Morren of Louvain; Eugene Hupin of Chapelle-lez- Herlaimont; Pierre Leroy of Boussois; Leon Hermann of Montigny-sur-Sambre; Felix Trousson of Chaudfontaine; Joseph Grab of Tirlemont; Octave Wintgens of Baelen-Hontem; Stanislaw Mrozowski of Grace Berleur; Marcel Boeur of Athus; Marcel Dehon of Ghlin; Andre Croquelois of Pont des Briques, near Boulogne; Gustave Hos of Mons; and the stateless Jew, Walter Kriss of Herent."
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now for 10 minutes. [A recess was taken.]
M. DUBOST: As far as the other western countries, Holland and Norway, are concerned, we have received documents which we submit as Document Number F-224(b), Exhibits RF-291, 292, and 293. In the French text you will find a long list of civilians who were executed. Also you will find a report of the Chief of the Criminal Police, Munt, in connection with these executions, and you win observe that Munt tries to prove his own innocence, in my opinion without success. This is in Document Number RF-277, already submitted. On Page 6 you will find the report of an investigation concerning mass executions carried out by the Germans in Holland. I do not think it is necessary to read this report. It brings no new factual element and simply illustrates the thesis that I have been presenting since-this morning: That in all the western countries the German military authorities systematically carried out executions of hostages as reprisals for acts of resistance. You will see that on 7 March 1945 an order was given to shoot 80 prisoners, and the authority who gave this order said, "I don't care where you get your prisoners"execution without any designation of age or profession or origin. The Tribunal will see that a total of 2,080 executions was reached. It will be noted that as a reprisal for the murder of an SS soldier, a house was destroyed and 10 Dutchmen. were executed; and in addition, two other houses were destroyed. In another case 10 Dutchmen were executed. Altogether, 3,000 Dutchmen were executed under these conditions, according to the testimony of this document, which was drawn up by the War Crimes Commission, signed by the Chief of the Dutch Delegation to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Colonel Baron Van Tuyll van Serooskerken. This document gives to the Tribunal the approximate number of victims, region by region.
M. DUBOST: I do not wish to conclude the statement as to hostages concerning Holland without drawing the attention of the Tribunal to Section (b) of Document Number F-224, which gives a long list of hostages, prisoners or dead, arrested by the Germans in Holland; for the Tribunal will observe that most of the hostages were intellectuals or very highly placed personages in Holland. We note, therein, the names of members of parliament, lawyers, senators, Protestant clergymen, judges, and amongst them we find a former Minister of Justice. The arrests were made systematically among the intellectual elite of the country. As far as Norway is concerned, the Tribunal will find in Document Number F-240, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-292, a short report of the executions which the Germans carried out in that country: "On 26 April 1942 two German policemen who tried to arrest two Norwegian patriots were killed on an island on the west coast of Norway. In order to avenge them, 4 days later 18 young men were shot without trial. All these 18 Norwegians had been in prison since the 22 February of the same year and therefore had nothing to do with this affair." In the first paragraph of the French translation in the French document book, which is Page 22 of the Norwegian original, it states that: "On 6 October 1942, 10 Norwegian citizens were executed in reprisal for attempts at sabotage. "On 20 July 1944 an indeterminate number of Norwegians were shot without trial. They had all been taken from a concentration camp. The reason for this arrest and execution is unknown. "Finally, after the German capitulation, the bodies of 44 Norwegian citizens were found in graves. All had been shot and we do not know the reason for their execution. It has never been published, and we do not believe they were tried. The executions were effected by a shot through the back of the neck or a revolver bullet through the ear, the hands of the victims being tied behind their backs." This information is given by the Norwegian Government for this Tribunal.
M. DUBOST: I draw the attention of the Tribunal to a final document, Number R-134 (Exhibit Number RF-293), signed by Terboven, which concerns the execution of 18 Norwegians who were taken prisoners for having made an illegal attempt to reach England. It is by thousands and tens of thousands that in all the western countries citizens were executed without trial in reprisal for acts in which they never participated. It does not seem necessary to me to multiply these examples. Each of these examples involves individual responsibility which is not within the competency of this Tribunal. The examples are only of interest in so far as they show that the orders of the defendants were carried out and notably the orders of Keitel. I believe that I have amply proved this. It is incontestable that in every case the German Army was concerned with these executions, which were not solely carried out by the police or the SS. Moreover, they did not achieve the results expected. Far from reducing the number of attacks, it increased them. Each attempt was followed by an execution of hostages, and every shooting of hostages occasioned more attacks in revenge. Generally the announcement of new executions of hostages plunged the countries into a stupor and forced every citizen to become conscious of the fate of his land, despite the efforts of German propaganda. Faced with the failure of this terroristic policy, one might have thought that the defendants would modify their methods. Far from modifying them, they intensified them. I shall endeavor to show the activity of the police and the law from the time when, the policy of hostages having failed, it was necessary to appeal to the German police in order to keep the occupied countries in a state of servitude.
M. DUBOST: The German authorities made arbitrary arrests at all times and from the very beginning of the occupation; but with the failure of the policy of executing hostages, which was-as you remember-commented upon by General Von Falkenhausen in the case of Belgium, arbitrary arrests increased to the point of becoming a constant practice substituted for that of killing hostages. We submit to the Tribunal Document Number 715-PS, Exhibit Number RF-294. This document concerns the arrest of high-ranking officers who were to be transferred to Germany in honorable custody: "Subject: Measures to be taken against French Officers. "In agreement with the German Embassy in Paris and with the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, the Supreme Commander in the West has made the following proposals: "1. The senior officers enumerated below will be arrested and transferred to Germany in honorable custody: "Generals of the Army: Frere"  -who died subsequently in Germany after his deportation-" Gerodias, Cartier, Revers, De Lattre de Tassigny, Fornel de la Laurencie, Robert de Saint-Vincent, Laure, Doyen, Pisquendar, Mittelhauser, Paquin; "Generals of the Air Force: Bouscat, Carayon, De Geffrier D'Harcourt, Mouchard, Mendigal, Rozoy; "Colonels: Loriot and Fonck. "It is a question of generals whose names have a propaganda value in France and abroad or whose attitude and abilities represent a danger. "3. Moreover, we have chosen from the index of officers kept by the 'Arbeitsstab' in France about 120 officers who have distinguished themselves by their anti-German attitude during the last two years. The SD has also given a list of about 130 officers previously accused. After the compilation of these two lists, the arrest of these officers is to be arranged at a later date, depending on the situation .... "6.
M. DUBOST: In the case of all officers of the French Army of the Armistice, the Chief of the Security Police, in collaboration with the Supreme Command West, will appoint a special day for the whole territory for a check to be made by the police of domiciles and occupations." And here are the most important passages: "As a measure of reprisal, families of suspected persons who have already shown themselves to be resistants or who might become so in the future, will be transferred as internees to Germany or to the territory of eastern France. For these the question of billeting and surveillance must first of all be solved. Afterwards we contemplate as a later measure the deprivation of their French nationality and the confiscation of property, already carried out in other cases by Laval." The police and the army were involved in all of these arrests. A telegram in cipher shows that the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself was concerned in the matter. Document Number 723-PS, which becomes Exhibit Number RF-295, will be read in this connection. It is the third document of the document book. It is addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and is dated Paris, 5 June 1943: "In the course of the conference which took place yesterday with the representatives of the High Command West and the SD, the following was agreed on concerning measures to be taken: "The aim of these measures must be to prevent, by precautionary measures, the escape from France of any more well-known soldiers and at the same time to prevent these personages from organizing a resistance movement in the event of an attempted landing in France by the Anglo-Saxon powers. "The circle of officers here concerned comprises all who, by their rank and experience or by their name, would considerably strengthen the military command or the political credit of the resistants, if they should decide to join them. In the event of military operations in France we must consider them as being of the same importance.