dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Reich Minister Rosenberg, the Reich Commissioner for the Baltic regions, Lose, and the Commissioner General of Estonia, Litzmann, completely deprived the Estonian people of all political rights. On the basis of Hitler's decree of 17 July 1941, Reich Minister Rosenberg promulgated, on 17 February 1942, a special law for people of non-Germanic nationality, providing capital punishment for the slightest resistance against Germanization and for any act of violence against people of German nationality. "For workers and employees of Estonian origin the occupants introduced corporal punishment. On 20 February 1942 an official of the railroad administration in Riga, Walk, sent the following telegram to the administration of the Estonian railroads: " 'Every violation of discipline on the part of a native employee, especially absenteeism, being late for work, coming drunk to work, disobeying orders, and so forth, shall from now on be punished with the utmost severity: (a) For the first offense, 15 strokes with a lash on they're body; (b) if the offense is repeated, 20 strokes with a lash on the bare body.' "On 12 January 1942 Reich Minister Rosenberg established 'special courts,' consisting of a police officer, as president, and two subordinate policemen. The procedural rules were determined by this court at its own discretion. These 'courts' pronounced death sentences with confiscation of property. No other penalty was ever decreed. No appeal against the sentences was admitted. In addition to the 'courts' established by Rosenberg, death sentences were pronounced by the German political police, and these sentences were carried out on the very same day. "For the examination of criminal and civilian cases, Commissioner General Litzmann introduced local courts. Judges, prosecutors, investigating magistrates, notary publics, and lawyers-all, without exception, were personally appointed by Litzmann." I end the quotation.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I further submit to the Tribunal, as our Exhibit Number USSR-18 (Document Number USSR-18), a photostat of a plain-spoken terroristic order of the German military authorities, and I beg Your Honors to accept this document as a relevant part of the evidence. This is an order of the German town commander of the city of Pskov. The Tribunal will find the text of this order on Page 235 of the document book. It is evident from this document that the peaceful civilian population was even forbidden to appear on the highways of their own locality. Any peaceful citizens seen there by the German soldiers were to be shot. I quote the text of the document, beginning with Paragraph 3: "Therefore, I order: "1. All members of the civilian population, regardless of age or sex, seen on or in the vicinity of railroad tracks are to be considered as bandits and shot as such. Excepted, of course, are the labor units under guard. "2. All people mentioned in the first paragraph who cross the fields are to be shot. "3. All persons mentioned in Paragraph 1 who are found on the roads at night or at dawn are to be shot. "4. Persons mentioned in Paragraph 1, if found on the roads during the daytime, are subject to arrest and the most detailed examination." Such were the terroristic decrees and orders based upon the so-called Leadership Principle that were issued by high-ranking officials and representatives of the military authorities of the fascist German Government. But the right of relentless reprisals against the peaceful populations was not confined to them only; any local Kommandantur, any commander of a small unit, and, finally, any soldier of Hitler's army acquired the right of reprisal against the peaceful population of the occupied regions. I shall now submit to the Tribunal several documents which will reveal how the Hitlerite criminals invariably made the most of this right, introducing into the crimes perpetrated against the Soviet people the cruel devices of base and evil creatures who had been granted the right of mocking and murdering with impunity.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I submit to the Tribunal, as Exhibit Number USSR-9 (Document Number USSR-9), a report of the Extraordinary State Commission on the atrocities perpetrated by the German fascist occupiers in the city of Kiev. The Tribunal will find the passage in question on Page 238 of the document file, Paragraph 5 of Column 1 of the text. I quote: "The German executioners, from the very first days of their occupation of Kiev, carried out a wholesale slaughter of the population by torture, shooting, hanging, and poisoning by gas in the murder vans. People were seized in the streets and shot either in large batches or singly. Announcements of the shootings were posted in order to intimidate the population." I shall interrupt my quotation at this point, and I ask the Tribunal to accept in evidence photostats of several of these posters. Partial mention has already been made of them in the report of the Extraordinary State Commission. From among their number, I would request the Tribunal to accept in evidence the photostat of one such poster, which I submit as Exhibit Number USSR-290 (Document Number USSR-290). The text reads as follows-I ask the Tribunal to excuse me if the translation is, perhaps, slightly incorrect, since the original text is in Ukrainian. I am a Russian, I understand the meaning of the Ukrainian text, but the translation might possibly not be quite correct in every detail. A translation will be made. Here is the text: "As a reprisal for an act of sabotage, 100 inhabitants of the city of Kiev were shot this day. Let this be a warning. "Every inhabitant of Kiev is co-responsible for every act of sabotage. "Kiev, 22 October 1941; The Town Commandant." UnderExhibitNumberUSSR-291 (Document Number USSR-291)- the Tribunal will find the text on Page 243 of the document book- I submit a photostat of the following poster, signed by the commandant of the city of Kiev. I quote the text: "Means of communication-telephone and telegraph wires- have been damaged in Kiev. Since the saboteurs could not be found, 400 men have been shot in the city.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: "This should serve as a warning to the population, and once again I demand that all suspects be immediately reported to the German troops or the German police in order that the criminals may be adequately punished. "Signed: Eberhard, Major General and City Commandant, Kiev; 29 November 1941." IS Feb. 46 As Exhibit Number USSR-333 (Document Number USSR-333), I submit a photostat of the third and last poster in Kiev. The Tribunal will find the text of this poster on Page 242 of the document book at the disposal of the Tribunal. I quote: "Repeated cases of arson and sabotage in Kiev force me to resort to extreme measures. Consequently, 300 inhabitants of Kiev will be shot today. For every new case of arson or sabotage, several times this number will be shot. Every inhabitant of Kiev is obliged to report any suspects to the German police. I shall maintain order and calm in Kiev by all measures at my disposal and under any circumstances. "Kiev, 2 November 1941; Eberhard, Major General and City Commandant." I refer to another document which has not even been partially read into the record. I refer to Exhibit Number USSR-63 (Document Number USSR-63) of the Commissar of the Djerjinski District Council of the city of Stalingrad. I invite the Tribunal's attention to the fact that this official act, which was drawn up by the members of the local Soviet authorities and the community of the Djerjinski District of Stalingrad, was approved by the Extraordinary State Commission under the signature of a member of the commission, Academician Trainin, and of other persons. The members of the Tribunal will find the act in question on Page 222 of the document book, Column 1 of the text. I shall begin the quotation of the report of the commission, which investigated the territory of the Djerjinski District of Stalingrad after the rout of the Germans at Stalingrad. This report contains information regarding the announcements posted in the streets of Stalingrad by the German Kommandantur and concerning the results of these posters.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I begin my quotation on Page 222 of the document book in the possession of the members of the Tribunal, in Column 1 of the text, last paragraph: " . . . the military Kommandantur sowed death everywhere. It posted announcements in the streets, threatening death by shooting at every step. For instance, the following announcement was posted up in Aral Street: 'Death to him who passes here.' On the corner of- Nevskaya and Medveditzkaya Streets: 'Right of way forbidden to Russians; for violation of this order-death.' "As a matter of fact, the Germans shot the citizens at every step: Hundreds of graves along the streets of the Djerjinski District of the city of Stalingrad bear witness to the shooting. The bodies of those who were tortured, shot, or hanged in the Kommandantur proper were at first thrown into a pit near the building of the Kommandantur. After the invaders had been thrown out. there were found 31 corpses in this pit. When the pit was full, the corpses were brought to the cemetery 2 kilometers away from the Kommandantur. At the cemetery there was another pit, 6 meters deep, 40 meters long, and 12 meters wide. "After the invaders had been thrown out, 516 corpses of Soviet citizens were found in this grave, including the bodies of 50 children who had been tortured to death, shot, or hanged in the building of the Kommandantur and in other places. An examination of the bodies on 25 March 1943 established that the Hitlerites had savagely tortured the Soviet people before murdering them. In addition to the bodies of the children, the corpses of 323 women, 69 old men, and 74 younger men were discovered. One hundred and forty-one corpses bore traces of wounds inflicted by firearms in the head and on the chests; 92 corpses had marks on their necks which showed that they had been hanged. All the other bodies were mutilated and bore traces of torture.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: One hundred and thirty victims, women and girls, had their arms twisted behind their backs and tied with wire, and 18 of the corpses had their breasts cut off, some had their ears, fingers, and toes chopped off, and the majority showed traces of burns on their bodies. "An examination of these. corpses revealed that 21 women died of torture and wounds and that the remainder had been first tortured and then shot. "Even the corpses of children were mutilated. Some had their small fingers cut off, their buttocks chopped up, their eyes gouged out." I now cease to quote from this document, and, in compliance with the wishes of the Tribunal to the effect that not details but instances testifying to some new data in the system of the Hitler terror be reported, I omit three pages of the report and turn to the following section on the presentation of evidence: "On Tortures Inflicted by the Hitlerites in the Course of Interrogation." In general, tortures were officially provided for and sanctioned by the Hitlerites. I present to the Tribunal, as Exhibit Number USSR-MM (Document Number USSR-MM), one of the documents testifying to the fact that tortures were sanctioned officially. This document is an official guide for concentration camps, "The Concentration Camp Statutes," published in Berlin in 1941. You will find the excerpt I am quoting on Page 244 of the document book in your possession. Section 3 of the instructions, for instance, entitled, "Corporal Punishment," states: "Between 5 and 25 strokes are permitted on the loins and buttocks. The number of strokes is to be determined by the camp commandant and is to be entered in the corresponding space in the directives governing punishment." I should have liked to refer to one more document, but, as it already has been presented to the Tribunal, in compliance with the Tribunal's instructions, I will omit this document-it was presented as Document L-89-and continue.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Official formulas to be used in ''especially severe interrogations" or, rather, interrogations with application of torture, were issued by the corresponding German police departments. I submit it to the Tribunal and would request them to accept in evidence an original formula of such an "especially severe interrogation." I submit it as Exhibit Number USSR-254 (Document Number USSR-254). It represents an appendix to the report of the Yugoslav Government. This form, as is evident from the certificate attached to it, was seized from the German archives by units of the Yugoslav Army. I shall not describe this form in my own words but shall quote the report of the Yugoslav Government on Page 21 of the document, from the last paragraph at the bottom of the page. The Tribunal will find this passage on Page 256 of the document book, in the last paragraph. I begin the quotation: "In order to give a clearer description of the savage cruelty in carrying out this plan of extermination, we submit to the Tribunal another original document which was seized in the German archives in Yugoslavia. It is a blank form for the so-called 'especially severe interrogations' of the victims of the Nazi criminals. Such interrogations were conducted in Slovenia by the Security Police and the SD. "On the first page of the form the police office suggests submitting one particular person to an 'especially severe interrogation.' On the second page the competent officer of the SS agrees to such an interrogation. The answer to the question-what this special 'severe interrogation' consisted of-is found in the following instructions of this form: "The especially severe interrogation should consist of.... Minutes of the interrogation should be kept. A doctor may (or may not) be asked to be present. "The mention of the doctor and of his presence at the interrogation leaves no doubt at all that the person interrogated was to be physically tortured.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: The fact that printed instructions existed for these interrogations obviously suggests a wholesale resort to such criminal methods." The Reichsfuehrer SS clearly foresaw cases of attempted suicide by persons under suspicion. The SS leader therefore not only permitted but even ordered the prisoners to be tied hand and foot or shackled in chains. I submit to the Tribunal, as Exhibit Number USSR-298 (Document Number USSR-298), a photostat of a directive of the Chief of the German Police, Number 202/43, of 1 June 1943. The document is certified by the Extraordinary State Commission, and I quote the text of the document. The document is dated 1 June 1943. I quote only the text: "Subject: Prevention of Escape during Interrogations. "In order to prevent escape during interrogations in all cases where, owing to circumstances or the importance of the prisoner, there exists an increased possibility of escape or of an attempt to commit suicide, I order the hands and feet of the arrested person to be bound in such a way that escape is impossible. Rings and chains should be used if available." I have not submitted the official directives of the German central police authorities to the Tribunal merely to prove that the German officials provided for the application of torture and torment during interrogations. This fact is well known and calls for no special evidence. But I am submitting a document, in the possession of the Soviet Prosecution, which will show how far tortures to which arrested persons were subjected in the police cells exceeded even the instructions issued by the criminals and the officially sanctioned forms of torture. I submit to the Tribunal Exhibit Number USSR-1 (Document Number USSR-1), which is a report of the Extraordinary State Commission on the crimes of the German fascist aggressors in the region of Stavropol. The investigation of these crimes was conducted under the leadership of the eminent academician and Russian author, the late Alexei Nikolaievitch Tolstoy. The Tribunal will find this document on Page 272 of the document book.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I begin my quotation from the first paragraph. Academician A. N. Tolstoy, as the Tribunal will doubtless remember, was a member of the Extraordinary State Commission. I begin the quotation: "Tortures and torments, exceptional in their cruelty, were applied to the Soviet citizens on the premises of the Gestapo. Thus, for instance, Citizen Phillip Akimovitch Kovalchuk, born in 1891 and an inhabitant of the town of Pyatigorsk, was arrested on 27 October 1942 in his own apartment, beaten unconscious, taken to the Gestapo, and thrown into one of the cells. Twenty-four hours later the Gestapo began to torture him; he was interrogated and beaten at night only. For the interrogation he was put in a separate torture chamber equipped with special devices for torture, such as chains with handcuffs for shackling both hands and feet. These chains were fastened to the cement floor of the chamber. To begin with, the prisoners were stripped to the skin and laid on the floor. Then their hands and feet were shackled. Citizen Kovalchuk was subjected to this form to torture. When in chains, he was completely unable to move. He lay on his stomach and in this position was lashed with rubber truncheons for 16 days. "Apart from these inhuman forms of torture, the Gestapo also resorted to the following: A wide board was placed on the back of the shackled prisoner, and blows were struck on this board with heavy dumbbells. As a result of these blows, the prisoner bled from the nose, mouth, and ears and lost consciousness. "The torture chamber of the Gestapo was so constructed that while one prisoner was being tortured the prisoners awaiting their turn in the neighboring cell could watch the torture and ill-treatment. "After the torture, the unconscious prisoner would be thrown on one side, while the next victim of the Gestapo would be forcibly dragged in from the neighboring cell, shackled, and tortured in the same fashion. "The torture chambers were always covered with blood. The board 'placed on the back of the prisoners was also soaked in it.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: The rubber cudgels used for beating the prisoners were red with blood. "The arrested Soviet people, doomed to be shot after unspeakable torture and beatings, were dragged into trucks, driven out of town, and there shot." I omit two paragraphs and continue my quotation: "Witness Barbara Ivanovna Tchaika, born in 1912, domiciled in Number 31, Djerjinskaya Street (Apartment Number 3), states that during her incarceration in the prison of the Gestapo she had been subjected to incredible torture by the Chief of the Gestapo, Captain Wintz. Witness B.I. Tchaika said on this subject: " 'I was subjected to ill-treatment and torture by the Chief of the Gestapo, the German, Captain Wintz. He summoned me to the torture chamber once for an interrogation. There were four tables in the cell, wooden grills on the floor, and two basins of water in which leather thongs had been placed. Two rings were attached to the ceiling, with ropes drawn through them, from which the prisoners were suspended during the time of their torment. By order of Captain Wintz I was laid on the table by the Gestapo men, stripped, and beaten severely with leather thongs. I was beaten twice. In all I received 75 strokes of the lash; my kidneys were almost torn out and I lost eight of my teeth.' " What occurred in the torture chambers of Stavropol was no exception at all. The same misdeeds were perpetrated everywhere. In confirmation I will refer to the report of the Extraordinary State Commission regarding the depredations and atrocities committed by the German fascist aggressors in the city of Kiev. That is Exhibit USSR-9 (Document Number USSR-9). The Tribunal will find this document on Page 238 of the document book, Paragraph 2 from the top, Column 2. I begin the quotation: "Murders were often preceded by sadistic torture.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: The Archimandrite Valerian testified that the fascists beat sick and feeble people till they were half-dead, poured wafer over them when the temperature was below zero, and finally shot them in the torture chamber of the German police, established in the Kievo-Petchersk Abbey." I invite the attention of the Tribunal to the fact that the Kievo-Petchersk Abbey is one of the most ancient architectural monuments in the Soviet Union. It is a specially cherished cultural treasure, very dear to the heart of the Soviet citizens as a tangible memory of the far distant past. The torture chamber of the police had been purposely established in the Abbey. The Tribunal will learn of its eventual fate from the subsequent reports of my colleagues. When the city of Odessa was under the rule of the fascist invaders, interrogations were accompanied by tortures of an exceptionally cruel nature. I refer to a testimony contained in the report of the Extraordinary State Commission, entitled, "On the Atrocities Committed by the German and Romanian Invaders in the City of Odessa and in the Territory of the Odessa Regions." I submit this document to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-47 (Document Number USSR-47) and request that it be accepted as irrefutable evidence in accordance with Article 21 of the Charter. I shall quote this document, which is on Page 282 of your document book, Paragraph 4, Line 10. It contains the testimony of Paul Krapyvny, producer of news reels. I quote this passage from the report of the Extraordinary State Commission, Page 282: "The interrogator had a voltage control switch on the table, and whenever the person interrogated did not answer the question as the examiner wished, the dial-of the voltage control would be mercilessly turned to increase the voltage; the body of the person interrogated would begin to tremble and his eyes to protrude from their sockets. "The person interrogated, with his hands tied behind his back, would be hoisted up to the ceiling . . . where he would be spun round and round.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: After having been rotated 200 times in one direction, the victim, still suspended on the cord, would begin to turn at an insane speed in the opposite direction. At that particular moment the executioners would beat him on both sides with rubber truncheons. The man became unconscious both from the insane speed of the rotation and from the beating." I refer to the document already presented by my colleague, Colonel Pokrovsky, Exhibit Number USSR-41 (Document Number USSR-41), which is a communication of the Extraordinary State Commission on the crimes committed by the German fascist invaders in the territory of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. I shall quote from this document, beginning on Page 286 on the reverse side of the document book, Paragraph 2, Column 2 of the text. I begin the quotation: "In the camps and prisons the German executioners subjected prisoners to ill-treatment, torture, and shooting. In the central prison the internees were beaten and tortured. Day and night shrieks and groans were heard in the torture chambers. Every day from 30 to 35 people died as a result of the tortures. Whoever survived the ill-treatment and torture would return to his cell absolutely unrecognizable, burned to the bone, with parts of his body torn to pieces. No medical aid was given to the tortured." The Hitlerites subjected Soviet citizens to ill-treatment and torture in every town of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. Your Honors will find analogous statements in the text of every communication of the Extraordinary State Commission. I shall not delay the Tribunal by quoting any further excerpts, I consider the evidence already presented as sufficient. I shall now proceed to the next section of my report: murder of hostages. I shall make a few introductory remarks. One of the most shameful crimes perpetrated by the Hitlerites in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia was the use everywhere by the German fascists of the bestial system of taking hostages.