dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
GEN. RUDENKO: In sacred memory of millions of innocent victims of the fascist terror, for the sake of the consolidation of peace throughout the world, for the sake of the future security of nations, we are presenting the defendants with a just and complete account which must b' settled. This is an account on behalf of all mankind, an account backed by the will and the conscience of all freedom loving nations May justice be done!
THE PRESIDENT: We shall now adjourn. General Rudenko, your delegation will be prepared to go on after the adjournment, will you not?
GEN.RUDENKO: Yes. I would also prefer that there should now be an adjournment.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you mean an adjournment altogether for the day or what the Tribunal proposed, to adjourn now for 10 or 15 minutes, then continue until 5 o'clock? Would that not be convenient to you?
GEN.RUDENKO: All right; yes, Sir. [A recess was taken.]
GEN.RUDENKO: If it please Your Honors, Colonel Karev will report on the order of submitting the documents to the Tribunal.
COLONEL D. S. KAREV (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The Soviet Prosecution begins its presentation of evidence on all counts of the Indictment . The Tribunal is already familiar with the large number of important documents presented on behalf of the Prosecution by our honorable colleagues. On its own part the Soviet Prosecution has at its disposal numerous documents relating to the criminal activities of the fascist conspirators. In connection with Count One , dealing with the Crimes against Peace, we shall submit the following types of documents: Administrative regulations by the German authorities, orders and plans by the German military command, diaries and personal archives of several of the leaders of the fascist party and the German Government, as well as other documents. These documents were in part found by units of the Red Army on German soldiers and officers, or were discovered in concentration camps and in offices of German authorities. In connection with Counts Two and Three , that is, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, we shall offer in evidence, in the first place, the reports and files of the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union for the determination and investigation of crimes committed by the German fascist invaders and their accomplices. This commission was set up by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., dated 2 November 1942. For local work there were set up state, regional, district, and municipal commissions to assist in the work of the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union for the determination and investigation of the misdeeds committed by the Germano-fascist invaders. Both the central office, as well as the local offices of the Extraordinary State Commission, were composed of prominent statesmen and representatives of different public scientific and cultural organizations, as well as of religious denominations.
COLONEL D. S. KAREV (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The Extraordinary State Commission, through its representatives and with the assistance of representatives of local groups and local state authorities has collected and checked data and drawn up protocols on the atrocities of the German invaders and on the damage caused to the Soviet Union and its citizens. Counting only the crimes committed by the Germano-fascist monsters against the peaceful citizens of the Soviet Union, 54,784 files were drawn up. In accordance with Article 21 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, these files represent unquestionable evidence. Of all these files of the Extraordinary State Commission, only an insignificant number will at present be submitted to the Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution. In the possession of the Soviet Prosecution are also photographs showing the atrocities and destruction committed by the German invaders in the temporarily occupied territories of the U.S.S.R. Part of these photographs will be submitted to the Tribunal. Several documentary films will be offered to the Tribunal in evidence by the Soviet Prosecution. In submitting evidence relating to War Crimes committed by the conspirators, the Soviet Prosecution will also use several German documents, photographs, and films which were captured from the Germans. The Soviet Prosecution will also submit evidence relative to crimes committed by the defendants and their accomplices against Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia. Out of this evidence special mention must be made of the official report by the Czechoslovakian Government entitled "German Crimes against Czechoslovakia." This report was prepared on the direction of the Czechoslovakian Government by the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dr. Boguslav Ecer, the representative of Czechoslovakia in the United Nations Commission for Investigation of War Crimes. There are documents appended to the official report on German crimes against Czechoslovakia.
COLONEL D. S. KAREV (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Among these documents there are laws, decrees, orders, et cetera, issued and officially published by the Germano-fascist authorities; documents from the archives of the Czechoslovak Government; and affidavits by persons who held prominent positions in Czechoslovakia during the occupation., There will be shown a special film concerning the destruction of Lidice. It was, in its time, prepared by official German agencies. The film was found by officials of the Czechoslovakian Ministry of the Interior. The official report on the German crimes against Czechoslovakia, as well as the documents appended thereto, on the strength of Articled of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, represent unquestionable evidence and will be presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit USSR-60 (Document Number USSR-60). The Soviet Prosecution will likewise present evidence regarding the crimes perpetrated by the conspirators in Poland. The basic document to be presented on this subject by the Soviet Prosecution will be the report of the Polish Government dated 22 January 1946. The official documents of the Polish Government were the primary source of the report of the Polish Government on the German crimes committed in Poland. Both the official report of the Polish Government and the documents appended thereto, on the strength of Article 21 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, represent unquestionable evidence. And finally, the Soviet Delegation will present to the Tribunal documents concerning the crimes of German invaders committed on Yugoslav territory. The investigation of the criminal activity of the German Command and of the German occupational authorities in Yugoslavia was carried out by the Yugoslav State Commission for the investigation of crimes committed by the German occupants. The commission was created on 29 November 1943 by a decision of the Yugoslav Anti-Fascist Committee for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia. This commission, which from the beginning has always been presided over by Dr.
COLONEL D. S. KAREV (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Doushan Nedelkovitsch, professor at Belgrade University, started its work when a part of Yugoslavia was still under the domination of the German, Italian, Hungarian, and other occupants. Besides the Yugoslav State Commission, the investigation of the crimes committed by the Germano-fascist invaders was carried out by eight specially created federal commissions, as well as by district and regional commissions. On the strength of the material collected, the Yugoslav State Commission has issued 53 communiqués describing the atrocities committed by the German occupants and submits its report dated 26 December 1945. This report represents unquestionable evidence, and is submitted by us as Exhibit USSR-36 (Document Number USSR-36). It is my duty to mention that documentary evidence which has been already presented by our honorable American, British, and French colleagues will, to some extent, be used by the representatives of the Soviet Prosecution. May it please Your Honors, in conclusion I would like to make known to the Tribunal the order in which the prosecutors from the U.S.S.R. will present their case. The Count dealing with the Crimes against Peace (aggression against Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia) will be presented by Colonel Pokrovsky, the U.S.S.R. Deputy Chief Prosecutor. The Count dealing with the aggression against the U.S.S.R. will be presented by State Counsellor of Justice, Third Class, Zorya. Thereupon, Colonel Pokrovsky will present to the Tribunal the crimes committed in violation of the laws and customs of war relating to the treatment of prisoners of war. The Count on crimes against the peaceful population of the U.S.S.R., Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia will be presented by Chief Counsellor of Justice Smirnov. Report on the subject of the plunder of private, public, and state property will be made by General Shenin, State Counsellor of Justice of the Second Class.
COLONEL D. S. KAREV (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Report on the plunder and destruction of cultural treasures and wanton destruction and annihilation of towns and villages will be presented by Raginsky, State Counsellor of Justice of the Second Class. State Counsellor of Justice of the Third Class Zorya will speak on the subject of forced labor and deportation into German slavery. Finally, Chief Counsellor of Justice Smirnov will present the report on the last subject, Crimes against Humanity. I now end my statement.
COLONEL Y. V. POKROVSKY (Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Your Honors, Mr. President, the opening statements of the Chief Prosecutor have dealt with the question of how fascist Germany pursued the ideological preparation for aggressive war. The connection between Hitlerite propaganda and acts of aggression against peace was also revealed in the statement of the U.S.S.R. Chief Prosecutor. Therefore may I be allowed to quote just one short extract from Horst von Metzsch's book entitled Krieg als Saat (U7ar as Seed), which was published in Breslau in 1934. I quote: "It is impossible to conceive of the National Socialist movement without war. German soldier glory is its father; its finest musketeer is its leader; and war's hardy spirit is its soul." That is not just a phrase dropped by a garrulous fascist penman; that is a program which is blurted out. War, and only war, was considered by the Hitlerite conspirators as the most effective means of attaining the objectives of their foreign policy. It is, therefore, only natural that Germany was turned into an armed camp and became a constant menace to her neighbors after the fascists had seized power in the country. The East was the first objective of the fascist conspirators. In his book Mein Kampf-it is already at the disposal of the Tribunal-Hitler wrote, as far back as 1930-in that document book which is now being handed to each member of the Tribunal, you will find the passage I am quoting from Mein Kampf in Volume I, Page 1-I consider it advisable to inform the Tribunal that for its convenience all the passages which I shall quote are marked in red pencil. I quote: "The movement eastwards is continuing, even though Russia must be erased from the list of European powers'" (Page 732, of Mein Kampf, 1930 edition). Hypocritically proclaiming her love of peace and giving all her neighbors assurances of her intention to live in peace with them, Hitlerite Germany merely strove to conceal her real, her ever-present aggressive intentions. The conspirators gladly concluded any agreement on arbitration, non-aggression, et cetera.
COLONEL Y. V. POKROVSKY (Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): They did it not because they were really striving for peace, but with the sole intention of waiting for a suitable moment to strike the next treacherous blow and of lulling to sleep the vigilance of the nations. Having committed one of their scheduled aggressive acts, they strove with still greater energy to convince everybody that from now on they had no further aggressive plans. A combination of hypocrisy and fraud, of treason and aggression, ruled the entire system of German foreign policy. With incredible insolence the fascist conspirators violated all their international obligations, all their international agreements, including those which directly prohibited the use of war as a solution of international disputes. Not one of the wars provided by the Hitlerites can be classified under the concept of defensive wars. In every instance the Germano-fascists acted as aggressors. They admitted, themselves, that they did not hesitate to resort to provocation in order to have an excuse for attacking their next victim at the most propitious moment. Count Two of the Indictment contains a complete list of the wars which were provoked, prepared, initiated, and waged by the fascist conspirators. The insane imagination of the Hitlerites visualized the East as a paradise for the fascist invaders, a paradise built on the bones and blood of the millions of people who inhabited these lands. Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe has informed the Tribunal that the Soviet Delegation would submit some new evidence regarding the criminal conspiracy against peace, and also warned you that certain repetitions could not be avoided. While striving to reduce these repetitions to a minimum, I wish to draw the attention of the Tribunal to some of the documents relating to the criminal aggression of the fascist conspirators. As documentary evidence I submit to the Tribunal Exhibit USSR-60 (Document Number USSR-60), an official Czechoslovak report.
COLONEL Y. V. POKROVSKY (Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): It begins with the following significant phrase-and this phrase will be found on Page 10 of the document book, Volume I, Part 1, and is marked in red pencil: "Czechoslovakia was an obstacle to the German 'Drang nach Osten' (Drive to the East) or to the domination of Europe." That is followed by an analysis of the strategic and political aspects of the aggression against Czechoslovakia.
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Pokrovsky, when you want to put in a document in evidence, you will produce the original document, will you not, and hand it to the Secretary of the Tribunal?
COL. POKROVSKY: As I stated, this (Document Number USSR-60) is followed by an analysis of the strategic and political aspects of the aggression against Czechoslovakia. I quote, beginning with the second sentence of Subparagraph (a), which for convenience is marked with a red pencil. I quote: "Czechoslovakia was indeed of foremost strategic importance as a natural obstacle and a fortress against a military drive towards the Danube basin, and from there eastwards, across the eastern Carpathians and along the valley of the Danube, towards the Balkans." The gist of Subparagraph (b) is that Czechoslovakia was a democratic country; and finally Subparagraph (c) gives an analysis of Czechoslovakia from the national point of view. I shall quote this subparagraph as it is formulated in the report. You will find this in Volume I, Part 1, end of Page 11 and beginning of Page 12: "c. From the national point of view, Czechoslovakia, as far as the vast majority of its population is concerned, was a Slav country, intensely conscious of the unity of all Slavs." The Tribunal will remember that the annihilation of Slavism and the destruction of democratic principles was one of the basic aims of the fascist conspiracy. The Tribunal may have noticed that the methods of execution of aggression by the Hitlerite conspirators nearly always followed the same pattern. In all cases, lightning speed and suddenness of military attack were considered indispensable. They endeavored to attain the element of surprise by giving the prospective enemy treacherous and hypocritical assurances of their sincerely peaceful intentions. Simultaneously, wide use was made of the foul system of bribery, blackmail, provocation, financing of various kinds of pro-fascist organizations, and using as paid agents unprincipled politicians and downright traitors to their respective countries. Mr. Alderman began his presentation of documents by giving several examples of this nature.
COL. POKROVSKY: He told the Tribunal in detail and proved by documentary evidence that the representatives of the so-called Slovak autonomous movement were bought with German money-that is, one Hans Karmazin, and the same also applies to Deputy Prime Minister Durcanski, to the notorious Tuka, and many other leaders of the Hlinka Party. It was presented to you that at the beginning of March 1939, that is, immediately prior to the day planned for the final entry of the Nazis into Czechoslovakia, the activity of the Fifth Column reached its climax. I believe I should present to the Tribunal certain facts about the Hitlerite organizations established for the purpose of subversive activity, and also about the part played by the SS official, Lorenz, whose name I shall mention later on in connection with the action against Czechoslovakia. Himmler, the holder of several offices, combined in his person the position of Reichsleiter of the security units (SS) and of Reich Commissioner for the Preservation of German Nationality (Reichskommissar fur die Festigung des deutschen Volkstums). As such, he was charged with the leadership of all State and Party organs within Germany, which, in turn, controlled the German settlements, the work among the Germano-fascist minorities in other countries and the remigration of Germans into Germany In this field his executive apparatus was the so-called Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle. The leader of this organization, and therefore the actual deputy of Himmler, in this special sphere, was SS Obergruppenfuehrer Lorenz, who will be discussed later. There was also another criminal organization. I have in mind the foreign organization of the NSDAP (Auslands-Organisation der NSDAP), abbreviated to AO. It played an important part in creating the Fifth Column in countries which were later subjected to Hitlerite aggression. AO united such Germans who were members of the Nazi Party living outside Germany. Apart from the wide propaganda of fascism, AO was engaged in political and other kinds of espionage.
COL. POKROVSKY: Germans living in other countries received material help through AO and maintained contact with various pro-German and espionage groups of the country in which they lived. The sub-branches of the Hitlerite party abroad were under the guidance of German diplomatic missions. For this purpose the leader of AO, Gauleiter Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, was installed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the rank of State Secretary., There are several appendices to the official Czechoslovak report. One of them is registered under Document Number 3061-PS. It contains excerpts from the testimony of Karl Hermann Frank, former deputy of the Reich Protector. I submit this document to the Tribunal and, without reading it in its entirety, I wish to refer briefly to those parts of the document which deal with question of the Fifth Column. At the interrogation of 9 October 1945-the Tribunal will find the passage quoted in Volume I, Part 1, Page 185 of the document book-Frank declared that in his opinion the Henlein Party received money from Germany from 1936 onwards. In 1938 it received funds from the so-called Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle in Berlin, through the German Minister in Prague. Frank confirmed that, together with Henlein, he several times visited the German Minister in Prague, who handed him and Henlein money for the Party. Frank admits that the acceptance of this money was incompatible with the duties of a Czechoslovak citizen. Frank further admitted that he visited the German Legation in Prague several times, alone, informed the German Minister of the inner political situation in Czechoslovakia and thus, considering the character of the information communicated, committed high treason.
COL. POKROVSKY: Frank testifies-what I am now quoting will be found in Volume I, Part 1, Page 187: "All negotiations in the summer of 1938 between Henlein and myself on the one hand, and the Reich authorities, in particular Adolf Hitler, Hess, and Ribbentrop on the other hand, were conducted for the purpose of providing the Reich authorities with information on the development of the political situation in Czechoslovakia., These discussions took place on the initiative of the Reich authorities." I have quoted this excerpt from Page 5 of the Russian translation, Document Number 3061-PS. On Page 188 of your document book you will find another excerpt which I shall now submit to you. Frank confesses that he was aware of "the treason committed by the Party and its central leadership corps by receiving money from abroad for effecting measures inimical to the State." The so-called Henlein Free Corps (Sudeten Freikorps) was established in Bohemia and Moravia. During the interrogation of 15 August 1945, Karl Hermann Frank testified that Henlein and his staff were in Tandorf Castle near Reuc'n. Henlein himself was the chief of staff of the corps, which bore the title "Freikorps Fuehrers." According to Frank the Free Corps was established by Hitler's order. Part of that corps which was in the territory of the German Reich was equipped with small arms in small quantities, as stated by Frank. According to him, the Free Corps consisted of about fifteen thousand people, chiefly Sudeten Germans We find this information on Page 3 of the Russian translation of Document Number 3061-PS. In your book it is Page 185 of Volume I, Part 1. Among the trophies collected by our heroic Red Army are the archives of the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Soviet Delegation has at its disposal new documents which I consider advisable to read in part in order to supplement the data previously submitted to the Tribunal.
COL. POKROVSKY: They are particularly interesting, if we bear in mind that one of the favorite pretexts for aggression of the Hitlerite conspirators was their intention to protect the interests of the German minorities. I shall read an excerpt from the top-secret minutes of the meeting held in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at noon, 29 March 1938 in Berlin especially on the subject of the Sudeten Germans. I shall refer to our Document Number USSR-271. You will find this passage on Page 196, Volume I, Part 1. I quote: "The conference was attended by the gentlemen mentioned in the attached list: In his opening address the Reich Minister emphasized the importance of keeping this conference strictly secret and later, referring to the Fuehrer's instruction which he had personally given to Konrad Henlein yesterday afternoon, he stated that there were primarily two questions of importance to the political guidance of the Sudeten German Party. "1) The Sudeten Germans must know that they are backed by a German nation of 75 million inhabitants who will not tolerate any further oppression of the Sudeten Germans by the Government of Czechoslovakia. "2) It is the responsibility of the Sudeten German Party to submit to the Czechoslovak Government those demands the fulfillment of which it considered necessary to achieve the liberties it desired."