part I

shall show how this criminal purpose of the Hitlerites to exterminate the Slav peoples was carried out. I shall quote data from the report of the Yugoslav Government, which is to be found on Page 56 of the Russian text or on Page 76, Paragraph 3, document book:

“Apart from the thousands of Yugoslavs who died in battle, the occupants exterminated at least one and a half to two million people, mostly women, children, and aged persons. Of the 15 million prewar Yugoslav population, in the relatively short period of 4 years, almost 14 percent of the entire population was exterminated.”

In the report of the Czechoslovak Government, on Pages 36 and 37 of the Russian text, there is proof of a plan conceived by the Hitlerite criminals for the forceful expulsion of all Czechs and the settling of German colonists in Czechoslovakia. The report quotes an excerpt from a statement of Karl Hermann Frank, who admitted the existence of this plan and declared that he, Frank, had compiled a memorandum in which he objected to a similar plan. I quote the excerpt from the statement of Karl Hermann Frank, which the Tribunal can find on Page 37 in the document book, fourth paragraph.

“I considered this plan senseless as, in my opinion, the vacuum created by these measures would have seriously upset the vital functioning of Bohemia and Moravia for various reasons of geopolitical, traffic, industrial, and other character; and the immediate filling of this vacuum with new German settlers was impossible.”

In Poland a regime of extermination of the Slav population was put into effect by diverse criminal methods, among which driving people to an extreme state of exhaustion by excessive labor and subsequent death from hunger, was most prevalent. The criminals quite consciously embarked upon the extermination of millions of people by hunger, which is attested by a number of documents already quoted by me and my colleagues in part, namely, the diary of Hans Frank.

I shall quote a few short extracts from this document. Here is an excerpt concerning the minutes of a conference held by the Governor General on 7 December 1942 in Kraków. The Tribunal will find the passage I wish to quote on Page 89 of the document book, in the first column of the text, last paragraph:

“Should the new food supply plan be put into effect, it means that for the city of Warsaw and its surroundings alone 500,000 people will no longer receive food relief.”

And here is another short excerpt from the minutes of a governmental conference held on 24 August 1942. The Tribunal will find it on Page 90 of the document book, first paragraph of the text. Dr. Frank states:

“With all the difficulties which arise from the illness of workers, or the breaking down of your co-operatives, you must always bear in mind that it is much better if a Pole collapses than if the Germans are defeated. The fact that we shall be condemning 1,200,000 Jews to death by starvation should be mentioned incidentally. Of course, if the Jews do not die from starvation, it is to be hoped that anti-Jewish measures will be expedited in the future.”

The third short quotation is an excerpt from the minutes of a labor conference held by the political leaders of the Labor Front of the NSDAP in the Government General, on 14 December 1942. The Tribunal will find it on the reverse of Page 89 of the document book, second column, second paragraph:

“. . . we are faced with the following problem: Shall we be able, as from February, to exclude from general food supply 2 million persons of non-German nationality or not?”

In his preliminary speech, the Chief Prosecutor of the U.S.S.R., while speaking of Crimes against Humanity, referred to the notes of Martin Bormann. The notes of Martin Bormann were presented to the Court under Exhibit Number USSR-172 (Document Number USSR-172) in particular. The Chief Prosecutor of the U.S.S.R. quoted the following lines, which the Tribunal can find on Page 97 of the document book, last paragraph:

“In summing up, the Führer once more stated: The least German workman and the least German peasant must always stand economically 10 percent higher than any Pole.”

How were things in reality? I should like to show that, with full approval, the Defendant Frank put these Hitler orders into effect in Polish territory. I beg the Tribunal to take for evidence an original German document.

Among the other fascist institutions carrying out various pseudo-scientific experiments, the German criminals created a special institute for economic research. This institute issued a document entitled, “What the Polish Problem Means for War Economy of Upper Silesia.”

The fascist “scientific” institute decided to make such investigations in order to clarify the reason why the output of Polish workers became considerably reduced.

Two short excerpts will testify to the aims of this investigation better than anything else. On Page 39 of this original document we read—the Tribunal will find the passage I wish to quote on Page 101, of the document book, second paragraph. I submit this document as Exhibit Number USSR-282 (Document Number USSR-282). I begin the quotation which is on Page 101 of the document book, second paragraph.

“This investigation is in no way to be construed as propaganda to arouse pity.”

On Page 149 of the quoted document—the Tribunal will find this on Page 101, third paragraph, of the document book—it is said:

“We raise our voices not to defend the Poles, but to protect the war production for the Armed Forces.”

Quoting these two short excerpts characterizing the aims and nature of this investigation, I further quote a few excerpts which show the status of the Polish worker and the practical realization by the Defendant Frank of the above-mentioned directives of Hitler. I quote on Page 38 of the original of the document, which corresponds to Page 101, Paragraph 7 of the document book:

“Information concerning the situation of the Polish population and considerations as to which measures would be the most suitable in this connection disagree on many points; but there is general agreement on one point, which can be summed up here in three words: The Poles are starving! Already some passing observations corroborate these conclusions. One of our investigators visited a war production plant during the lunch recess. The workers are standing or sitting apathetically, warming themselves in the sun, and here and there smoking. The investigator reports that of 80 persons, only one has a piece of bread for lunch. The others, although all working 10 to 12 hours a day, have nothing.”

I pass to Page 72 of the original, which corresponds to Page 102 of the document book; there is this quotation.

“Observations made in the factories prove that the present rations of the Polish workers do not allow them enough food to take with them to work. In many cases, the workers do not even have a piece of bread. When some do bring breakfast, it is only coffee and one or two pieces of dry bread or raw potatoes; at the worst time, they did not even have this, but raw carrots, which were then roasted on a stove during work.”

I continue my quotation on Page 150 of the same document:

“In this connection it could be stated that on visiting the mines, it appeared that nearly 10 percent of the Polish workers went to work underground with only dry bread, or raw potatoes cut in slices which they warmed afterwards on a stove.”

The institute began its “scientific calculations” with a comparison of the calories received by the Poles in Upper Silesia and the calories received by the German population.

I shall not quote large excerpts from the document, but will limit myself to short facts only. I start on Page 63 of this report, which corresponds to Page 102, last paragraph of the document book:

“Comparison of the number of calories received by the Poles in Upper Silesia with the number of calories allocated to the German population indicates that the Poles receive 24 percent less than the Germans. This difference reaches 26 percent on food ration cards of nonworking Poles. For youths from 14 to 20, the difference in rations allocated to Germans and to Poles reached almost 33 percent. However, it must be stressed that this only applies to working youths over 14.

“The difference between what Polish and German children from 10 to 14 receive is even more striking. The difference here is not less than 65 percent. The looks of these underfed youths already testify to this. In a similar way Polish children under 10 receive up to 60 percent less than German children.

“If on the other hand the doctors state that the food conditions of the babies are not so unfavorable, it is only an imaginary contradiction. As long as a mother nurses her child, the child gets everything from that source. The consequences of the underfeeding are felt in this period not by the child but by the mother. Her health and working capacity are impaired considerably from the undernourishment.”

I continue on Page 178 of the original which corresponds to Page 103, Paragraph 2 in the second document book:

“In all categories the Polish youth in comparison with the German is more wretched. The difference in rations of the Poles and Germans reaches 60 percent.”

Extracts from the report of the German Labor Front cited in this investigation also offer some interest. Particularly on Page 76 are quoted excerpts from the report of the German Labor Front, dated 10 October 1941, after a visit to one of the coal mines in Poland:

“It was established that daily in various villages Polish miners fall from exhaustion. . . . As the workers constantly complained of stomach pains, doctors were consulted, who answered that this was a symptom of undernourishment.”

I would conclude the description of the Polish workers’ physical condition drawn by the German criminals themselves, and, what is more, by the “learned” criminals, by a short quotation from the same report which the Tribunal will find on Page 106, Paragraph 6 of the document book:

“The management of the factories constantly stresses that it is no longer possible by threats of deportation to concentration camps to incite to work underfed people incapable of physical effort. Sooner or later there comes a day when the weakened body can no longer work.”

There is also in this document a descriptive sketch of the legal status of the Polish worker during the German occupation which bears no possibility of double interpretation. This descriptive sketch is all the more valuable because, as was already stressed above, the authors of the investigation report expressly emphasized that “all humanitarian tendencies whatsoever were alien to them.”

I begin the quotation of the produced document on Page 127 which corresponds to Page 110, second paragraph of the document book:

“The law does not recognize any legal claim of any member of the Polish nation in any sphere of life. Whatever is granted a Pole is done voluntarily by the German masters. This legal situation is perhaps most clearly mirrored in ‘the Pole’s lack of possession in the eyes of the law.’ In the administration of justice Poles are not permitted to conduct their cases before a court. In criminal procedure the viewpoint of obedience dominates. The execution of legal regulations is in the first place the task of the police, who can decide at their discretion or refer individual cases to the courts.”

According to an order, dated 26 August 1942 Polish as well as German workers were obliged to take out insurance against illness, accidents, and disability. The deductions from the wages for this purpose were larger for the Poles than for the German. However, the German workers profited by this insurance, whereas, in actuality, the Poles were deprived of it.

As proof of this I shall present to the Tribunal two short excerpts from the same investigation report which Your Honors will find on Page 111 in the document book, Paragraph 4. It corresponds to Page 134 of the original text of the investigation report quoted above:

“Insurance against accidents, which is incumbent on the trade unions, involved particularly stringent measures for the Poles. The recognition of disability caused by an accident is much more limited than in the case of Germans. Disability for the loss of an eye is 30 percent for a German and 25 percent for a Pole. The payment of a subvention depends on 33⅓ percent disability.”

I continue my quotation on Page 135 of the original document, that is to say, on Page 111, last paragraph of the document book:

“The most stringent measures are provided for the dependents of fatally injured persons. The maximum a widow can receive is half of that granted by the insurance to Germans—and this only in case she has to support four children under 15 years of age, or is herself an invalid.

“The restriction on the rights of Poles is illustrated by an example: A German widow with three children receives 80 percent of the yearly salary of her fatally injured husband; from an annual income of 2,000 marks she receives 1,600 marks per year, but a Pole in a similar situation would receive nothing.”

The major German fascist war criminals not only sent into the temporarily occupied Eastern territories soldiers and the SS, but specially appointed fascist “scientists,” “consultants in economic problems,” and all sorts of “investigators” followed after. Some of them were detached from Ribbentrop’s office; some others were sent by Rosenberg.

I beg the Tribunal to enter into the record as evidence one of these documents. I submit it under Document Number USSR-218. I mean the report of the representative attached by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the command of the 17th Army, Captain Pfleiderer, and addressed to his colleague Von Rantzau from the information service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These documents were discovered by units of the Red Army on the Dirksen estate in Upper Silesia.

On the basis of a reading of these documents, it can be concluded that in 1941-42 Pfleiderer made a trip covering the following route through the occupied territories on the route Yaroslavl in the Ukraine, Lvov, Tarnopol, Proskurov, Vinnitza, Uman, Kirovograd, Alexandria, and Krementshoug on the Dnieper.

The purpose of this trip was to study economic and political conditions in the occupied territories of the Ukraine. That the author of this document was also completely free of so-called humanitarian tendencies, can be seen from the short excerpt from his report dated 28 October 1941, where Pfleiderer writes—the Tribunal will find this quotation on Page 113, second paragraph of the document book. I quote only one line:

“. . . there is the urgent necessity to press out of the country everything to secure the food supply of Germany.”

But even with such proclivity to cruelty and rapacity, Pfleiderer evidently was abashed by the conduct of his compatriots to the extent that he deemed it necessary to bring it to the attention of the highest authorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I quote the report of Pfleiderer which is entitled:

“Conditions for the Guarantee of Supply and for Producing the Largest Possible Food Surplus in the Ukraine.

“. . . 3) Frame of mind and living conditions of the population by the end of October 1941.”

The Tribunal will find this part on Page 114, third paragraph of the document book:

“The frame of mind of the population generally became worse a few weeks after the occupation of the territory by our troops. The reason for it? We display . . . inner hostility and even hatred toward this country, and arrogance toward the people. . . . The third year of war and the necessity of wintering in an unfriendly country causes many difficulties, but they must be surmounted with courage and self-discipline. We must not work off our discontent over this country on the population. . . . How often it happened that, acting against the rules of psychology and committing mistakes that we could easily have avoided, we lost all sympathy of the population. The people cannot understand the shooting of exhausted prisoners of war in villages and larger localities and the leaving of their bodies there. As the troops are entrusted with a broad authority for self-provisioning, the _kolkhozes_ along the main roads and near the larger towns for the most part lack pedigree cattle, seeds, seed potatoes (Poltava). Evidently, the supplying of our own troops stands first; however, the system of supply in itself is not immaterial: Psychologically, requisitioning the last hen is as unreasonable as it is economically unreasonable to kill the last pig or the last calf.”

I continue my quotation, Paragraph 3, Page 115 of the document book:

“The population . . . is without leadership. It stands apart and feels that we look down on it, that we see sabotage in their tempo and methods of work, that we do not take any steps to find a way to an understanding.”

A similar document is the document submitted as Exhibit Number USSR-439, which was graciously given to us by our United States colleagues. It was registered by the American Prosecution as Document Number 303-PS, but was not filed. It is a political report of the German professor, Doctor Paul W. Thomsen, written on the forms of the State University of Posen Biological Paleontological Institute and was indexed by the author himself, “Not for publication.” Your Honors will find this document on Page 116 of the document book. This document also introduces us into this field of complete lawlessness and tyrannical arbitrariness toward the local population of the temporarily occupied districts of the Soviet Union. These observations were made by this fascist professor during his trip through the temporarily occupied territories of the Soviet Union “from Minsk to the Crimea.”

I refer to two short excerpts from this document. The quotation which I have read into the record testifies to the absence of any humanitarian tendencies on the part of that author and if Paul Thomsen brought back from his trip only “the most depressing impression” that is only further proof of the depths of cruelty and brutality to which the German fascists were willing to go. The Tribunal will find these excerpts on Page 116 of the document book. I begin the quotation. . .

THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 26 February 1946 at 1000 hours._]

SIXTY-EIGHTH DAY Tuesday, 26 February 1946

_Morning Session_

THE PRESIDENT: I wanted to explain the Tribunal’s decision with reference to General Halder and General Warlimont.

Would Dr. Nelte kindly come to the Tribunal?

I wanted to ask you, Dr. Nelte, whether you were the only one of the defendants’ counsel who wished to call General Halder and General Warlimont?

DR. NELTE: No, besides myself, so far as I know, my colleagues Dr. Laternser, Professor Dr. Kraus, and Professor Dr. Exner have called both General Halder and General Warlimont.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well, I understand.

Then the Tribunal’s decision is this: The Tribunal ordered, when the Soviet prosecutor wished to put in the affidavits of these two generals, that if they were put in, the witnesses must be produced for cross-examination. But in view of the fact that defendants’ counsel have asked to call these witnesses themselves, the Tribunal is willing that the defendants’ counsel should decide whether they prefer that those two generals should be produced now, during the Prosecution’s case, for cross-examination, or should be called thereafter during the defendants’ case for examination by the defendants, in which case, of course, they would be liable to cross-examination on behalf of the Prosecution.

But it must be clearly understood, in accordance with the order which the Tribunal made the other day—either yesterday or the previous day, I forgot which it was—that these witnesses, like other witnesses, can only be called once, and when they are called, each of the defendants’ counsel who wishes to put questions to them must do so at that time.

Now, if there were any difference of opinion among defendants’ counsel, one defendant’s counsel wishing to have these two generals produced now during the Prosecution’s case for cross-examination, and other defendants’ counsel wishing to have them called hereafter as witnesses on their behalf during the course of their case, then the Tribunal consider that in view of the order which they have already made, Generals Halder and Warlimont ought to be produced and called now. And the same rule would apply then. They could only be called once, and any questions which the other defendants’ counsel wish to be put to them should be put to them then. But the decision as to whether they should be called now or whether they should be called during the course of the defendants’ case is accorded to defendants’ counsel.

Is that clear?

DR. NELTE: I request to hear the decisions of the various Defense Counsel at the beginning of the afternoon session. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, certainly, certainly. You can let us know during the afternoon session, at the beginning of the afternoon session, what the decision of defendants’ counsel is.

DR. NELTE: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Colonel Smirnov.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I continue the quotation of the political report of Professor Paul Thomsen, which was already submitted at yesterday’s afternoon session to the Tribunal. Your Honors will find it on Page 116 of the document book. I start quoting—and quote only two short excerpts from this political report:

“I consider it is my duty, although I am only here in the East on a specific scientific mission, to add a general political outline to my actual reports. I must admit, openly and in all honesty, that I return home with the most grievous impressions.

“In this fateful hour of our nation every mistake we make may result in the most disastrous consequences. A Polish or a Czech problem can be crushed because the biological forces of our people are sufficient for that purpose.

“Remnants of people like Estonians, Lithuanians, and Letts have to adapt themselves to us or they will perish. Things are quite different in the immense Russian area, of vital necessity to us as a basis for raw materials.”

Here I interrupt my quotation and continue on Page 117 of the document book, Paragraphs 10 and 11—I quote:

“I do not dare to voice an opinion on the economic measures, such as, for instance, the abolition of the free market in Kiev, which has been taken as a heavy blow by the population, since I am in no position to observe the entire situation. The ‘sergeant major attitude,’ the beatings and shouting in the streets, the senseless destruction of scientific institutions which is still going on as strong as ever in Dniepropetrovsk, should cease immediately and be punished severely.

“Kiev, 19 October 1942; Professor Dr. Paul W. Thomsen.”

The German fascist theory of Germanization, already well known to the Tribunal, announced that not the people but the territories were to be germanized.

I shall submit evidence to the Tribunal that a similar Hitlerite crime was to have been committed in Yugoslavia. This crime could not be perpetrated because of the liberation movement which flared up all over Yugoslavia.

I quote a short excerpt from the statement of the Yugoslav Government, which is on Page 68, Paragraph 7 in the document book:

“Immediately after the entry of the German troops into Slovenia, the Germans began to put into effect their long premeditated plan for the Germanization of the annexed regions of Slovenia. It was perfectly clear to the leading Nazi circles that a successful Germanization of Slovenia could not be realized unless the greater part of the nationally and socially conscious elements had previously been removed; and in order to weaken the resistance of the mass of the people towards the Nazi authorities engaged in the task of Germanization, it would be essential to lessen them numerically and destroy them economically.

“The German plan foresaw the complete removal of all the Slovenes from certain regions of Slovenia, and their repopulation by Germans”—Germans from Bessarabia and so-called “Gottscheer” Germans.”

I omit a passage and continue:

“A few days after the seizure of Slovenia, central offices were organized for resettlement control. The headquarters staff was established in Maribor (Marburg on the Drava) and Bled (Veldes).

“At the same time, on 22 April 1941, a ‘Decree for the Strengthening of German Folkdom’ was published. The immediate aim of this decree was the confiscation of property of all persons and institutions antagonistically inclined towards the Reich. Naturally, all those, who in accordance with the aforesaid plan were to be deported from Slovenia, were included in this category.

“The Hitlerites proceeded to the practical realization of this plan. They arrested a large number of persons registered for deportation to Serbia and Croatia. The treatment of the arrested persons was extremely cruel. Their entire property was confiscated in the interest of the Reich. Numerous assembly points were organized and practically turned into concentration camps, in Maribor, Zelie, and other localities.”

As regards the treatment of arrested persons in these points, the statement of the Yugoslav Government reads as follows—the members of the Tribunal will find this passage on Page 69, Paragraph 4, of the document book:

“The internees were left without food; in unhygienic conditions; the personnel of the camp subjected them to bodily and mental torture. All the camp commanders and personnel belonged to the SS. Among them were Germans from Carinthia and Styria who hated anything connected with Slovenia in particular, and Yugoslavia in general.”

The following sentence is typical:

“The members of the so-called Kulturbund”—Cultural Union—“particularly distinguished themselves for their cruelty.”

In corroboration of this Hitlerite crime, I submit to the Tribunal, as Exhibit Number USSR-139 (Document Number USSR-139), a letter from the German Command in Smeredov, addressed to the Yugoslav quisling, Commissioner Stefanovitch, ordering him to report what the possibilities were for transferring to Serbia a large number of Slovenes. Your Honors will find this document on Page 119 of the document book.

In the report of the Yugoslav Government, Page 49 of the Russian text, which corresponds to Page 59, Paragraph 7, of the document book of the Tribunal, it is stated that the Germans primarily intended to transfer 260,000 Slovenes to Serbia. However, the realization of this plan met with a number of difficulties. In this connection I should like to quote a paragraph from the report of the Yugoslav Government:

“But in view of the fact that the transportation to Serbia of such a very large number of Slovenes has encountered a great many difficulties, negotiations were opened shortly afterwards between the German authorities and the quisling Oustachi administration in Zagreb concerning the transit of the expelled Slovenes through Croatian territory and the resettling of a certain number of these Slovenes in Croatia proper, while the Serbs in Croatia were deported from the country.”

I submit to the Tribunal, as Exhibit Number USSR-195 (Document Number USSR-195), the minutes of a conference held on 4 June 1941 at the German Legation in Zagreb and presided over by SA Obergruppenführer Siegfried Kasche, German Minister in Zagreb. These minutes, in the Serbian translation, were seized in the archives of the Refugee Commission of the so-called Government of Milan Neditch. They give the subject matter of the conference, that is, “The Expulsion of the Slovenes from Germany to Croatia and Serbia, as well as of the Serbs from Croatia to Serbia.” The Tribunal will find this document on Page 120 of the document book. The passage in question literally reads as follows:

“The conference was approved by the Reich Ministry for Foreign Affairs by Telegram Number 389, dated 31 May. The Führer’s approval for the deportation was received by Telegram Number 344, dated 25 May.”

We are thus able to prove that the direct responsibility for this crime against humanity rests on the Defendant Von Ribbentrop.

We gather, at the same time, from the report of the Yugoslav Government, that the deportation of a considerable number of Slovenes to Germany was put into effect. I quote a paragraph from the report of the Yugoslav Government, which Your Honors will find on Page 70, last paragraph of the document book. I begin the quotation:

“Shortly afterwards the deportation itself began. In the morning German trucks would arrive in the villages. Soldiers and Gestapo men, armed with machine guns and rifles, broke into the houses and ordered the inhabitants to leave, each man being allowed to take with him only as much as he could carry. The unfortunate people were given only a few minutes in which to quit and they were forced to leave all their property behind them. The trucks drove them to the Roman Catholic Trappist monastery of Reichenberg. The transports started from the monastery. Each transport consisted of 600 to 1,200 persons to be taken to Germany. The district of Bregiza was almost completely depopulated, the district of Krshko up to 90 percent; 56,000 inhabitants were deported from these two districts. Over and above this 4,000 were deported from the communities of Zirkovsky and Ptuya.”

I omit one paragraph and continue:

“They were forced to perform the very hardest tasks and to live under the most horrible conditions. The mortality rate assumed enormous proportions in consequence. The harshest penalties were applied for the slightest offense.”

I shall not enumerate other passages in the report of the Yugoslav Government in connection with the same subject. I do not quote this document; I merely ask the Tribunal to accept as evidence the supplementary official report of the Yugoslav Government which I am submitting as Document Number USSR-357.

Similar crimes were committed by the German criminals on the territory of occupied Poland. I quote a few excerpts from the official report of the Polish Republic. Your Honors will find the passage I wish to quote on Page 3, Paragraph 3 of the document book. The passage is in Subparagraph A and is entitled, “The Germanization of Poland”:

“Clear indications concerning the program are found in a publication distributed among members of the National Socialist Party in Germany in 1940. It contained the principles of German policy in the East. Here are some quotations from this document:

“‘In a military sense the Polish question has been settled, but from the point of view of national policy it is only now beginning for Germany. The national political conflict between the Germans and Poles must be carried forward to a degree never yet seen in history.

“‘The aim which confronts German policy in the territory of the former Polish State is twofold: Firstly, to see that a certain portion of space in this area is cleared of the alien population and colonized by German nationals; secondly, by imposing German leadership, in order to guarantee that in that area no fresh conflagrations should flare up against Germany. It is clear that this aim can never be achieved with, but only against, the Poles.’”

I interrupt this quotation and continue on Page 15 of the report of the Polish Republic, which corresponds to Page 5, Paragraph 5 of the document book. This part is entitled, “The Colonization of Poland by German Settlers.” I begin the quotation:

“The policy, in this respect, was clearly expressed by the official German authorities. In the _Ostdeutscher Beobachter_ of 7 May 1941 the following proclamation is printed:

“For the first time in German history we can exploit our military victories in a political sense. Never again will even a centimeter of the earth which we have conquered belong to the Pole.”

Such was the plan. The facts which were put into practice were the following:

“Locality after locality, village after village, hamlets and cities in the incorporated territories were cleared of the Polish inhabitants. This began in October 1939, when the locality of Orlov was cleared of all the Poles who lived and worked there. Then came the Polish port of Gdynia. In February 1940 about 40,000 persons were expelled from the city of Posen. They were replaced by 36,000 Baltic-Germans, families of soldiers and of German officials.

“The Polish population was expelled from the following towns: Gnesen, Kulm, Kostian, Neshkva, Inovrotzlav. . .”—and many other towns.

“The German newspaper _Grenzzeitung_ reported that in February 1940 the entire center of the city of Lodz was cleared of Poles and reserved for the use of future German settlers. By September 1940 the total number of Poles deported from Lodz was estimated at 150,000.

“But it was not only that the persons living in these places were ordered to leave—they were forbidden to take their property with them; everything was to be left behind. The German newcomers took the place of the Poles evicted from their homes, business shops, and farms. By January 1941 more than 450,000 Germans had been settled in this manner.”

I omit the next part of this report which I wished to quote and I would request the Tribunal only to pay attention to the part entitled, “Germanization of Polish Children.” This is a short quotation. Just two small paragraphs:

“Thousands of Polish children (between the ages of 7 and 14) were ruthlessly torn from their parents and families and carried off to Germany. The purpose of this most brutal measure was explained by the Germans themselves in the _Kölnische Zeitung_ Number 1584, 1940 issue. We read:

“‘They will be taught German. They will be inculcated with the German spirit so that later they can be brought up as model German boys and girls.’”

In order to explain the methods adopted by the German fascists in the execution of their cannibalistic plan for the extermination of the Soviet people—peaceful citizens of my motherland, women, children, and old people—I request the Tribunal to call and question witness Grigoriev, Jacob Grigorievitch, a peasant from the village of Pavlov, village soviet of Shkvertovsk, region of Porkhovsk, district of Pskov. He has arrived from the district of Pskov, a district near Leningrad and, according to my information, is now in the courtbuilding. I ask the permission of the Tribunal to examine this witness.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, certainly.

[_The witness Grigoriev took the stand._]

THE PRESIDENT: What is your name?

JACOB GRIGORIEV (Witness): Jacob Grigoriev.

THE PRESIDENT: Will you take this oath:

I—Jacob Grigoriev—citizen of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics—summoned as witness in this Trial—do promise and swear—in the presence of the Court—to tell the Court nothing but the truth—about everything I know in regard to this case.

[_The witness repeated the oath in Russian._]

THE PRESIDENT: You may sit down.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Please tell us, Witness, in which village did you live before the war?

GRIGORIEV: In the village of Kusnezovo, Porkhov region, district of Pskov.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: In which village were you overtaken by the outbreak of war?

GRIGORIEV: In the village of Kusnezovo.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Does this village currently exist?

GRIGORIEV: It does not exist.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Please tell the Tribunal what happened.

GRIGORIEV: On the memorable day of 28 October 1943, German soldiers suddenly raided our village and started murdering the peaceful citizens, shooting them, chasing them into the houses. On that day I was working on the threshing floor with my two sons, Alexei and Nikolai. Suddenly a German soldier came up to us and ordered us to follow him.

THE PRESIDENT: Wait a minute, wait a minute. When you see the light on that desk there or here, it means you are going too fast. You understand?

GRIGORIEV: I understand, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Please speak slowly, Witness. Continue, please.

THE PRESIDENT: You said you were working with your two sons in the field.

GRIGORIEV: Yes; my own two sons.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Continue.

GRIGORIEV: We were led through the village to the last house at the outskirts. There were 19 of us, all told, in that house. So there we sat in that house. I sat close to the window and looked out of it. I saw German soldiers herd together a great number of people. I noticed my wife and my 9-year-old boy. They were chased right up to the house and then led back again—where to, I did not know.

A little later three German machine gunners came in, accompanied by a fourth carrying a heavy revolver. We were ordered into another room. So we went, all 19 of us, and were lined up against a wall, including my two sons, and they began shooting at us from their machine guns. I stood right up to the wall, bending slightly.

After the first volley I fell to the floor, where I lay, too frightened to move. When they had shot all of us they left the house. When I came to, I looked round and saw my son Nikolai who had been shot and had fallen, face downwards. My second son I could not find anywhere.

Then, when some time had passed, I began to think how I could escape. I straightened my legs out from under the man who had fallen on me and began to think how I could get away. And instead of that, instead of planning my escape, I lost my head and called out, at the top of my voice, “Can I really go now?” At that moment my small son, who had remained alive, recognized me.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: That would be your second son?

GRIGORIEV: The second. The first had been killed and was lying by my side. My little son called out, “Daddy, are you still alive?”

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: He was wounded?

GRIGORIEV: He was wounded in the leg. I calmed him down: “Do not fear, my small son. I shall not leave you here. Somehow or other, we shall get away from here. I shall carry you out.”

A little later the house began to burn. Then I opened the window and threw myself out of it, carrying my little boy who had been wounded in the leg. We began to creep out of the house, hiding so that the Germans could not see us, but on our way from the house we suddenly saw a high fence.

We could not move the lattice apart so we began to break it up. At that moment we were noticed by the German soldiers and they began to shoot at us. Then I whispered to my little son to hide while I would run away. I was unable to carry him and he ran a short distance and hid in the undergrowth, while I ran off. I ran a short distance and then jumped into a building near the burning house.

There I sat for a while and then decided to run farther on. So I escaped into a nearby forest, not far from our village, where I spent the night. In the morning I met Alexei N. from the neighboring village, who told me, “Your son, Aljosha, is alive; he started to crawl to the neighboring village.”

Then on the second day, from the same village, Kuznetzov, I met the boy Vitya who had escaped from Leningrad and was living in our village during the time of the occupation. He had also been saved by a miracle. He escaped from the fire. He told me what had happened in the second hut where my wife and son had been taken.

There matters were carried out as follows: The German soldiers, having driven the people into the hut, opened the door into the passage and proceeded to shoot from their machine guns across the threshold.

According to Vitya’s words, people who were still half alive were burning, including my little boy, Petya, who was only 9 years old. When he ran out of the hut he saw that my Petya was still alive. He was sitting under a bench, having covered his ears with his little hands.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: How old was the oldest inhabitant of this village destroyed by the Germans?

GRIGORIEV: The oldest inhabitant, a woman aged 108 years, was Ustinia Artemieva.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Tell me, Witness, how old was the youngest victim murdered by the Germans?

GRIGORIEV: Four months.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: How many villagers were destroyed all told?

GRIGORIEV: Forty-seven, excluding those who were saved by a miracle.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Why did the Germans destroy the population of your village?

GRIGORIEV: The reason was not known.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: And what did the Germans themselves say?

GRIGORIEV: When a German soldier came to our threshing floor we asked him, “Why are you killing us?” He replied, “Do you know the village of Maximovo?” This is the village next to our village community. I said, “Yes.” Then he told me, “This village of Maximovo is kaput—the inhabitants are kaput, and you too will be kaput.”

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: And why kaput?

GRIGORIEV: “Because,” said he, “partisans were hiding in your village.” But his words were untruthful because we had no partisans in the village; nobody indulged in any partisan activities since there was nobody left. Only old people and small children were left in the village; the village had never seen any partisans and did not know who these partisans were.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Were there many adult men in your village?

GRIGORIEV: There was one man, 27 years old, but he was a sick man, half-witted and paralytic. We had only old men and small children. All the rest of the men were in the Army.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Please tell us, witness, were the inhabitants of your village alone in suffering this fate?

GRIGORIEV: No, they were not alone. The German soldiers shot 43 persons in Kurysheva, 47 in Vshivova, and in the village of Pavlovo, where I now live, they burned 23 persons. And in a number of villages where, according to our village community, there were some four hundred inhabitants, they shot all the peaceful citizens, both young and old.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Please repeat that figure. How many persons were destroyed in your village community?

GRIGORIEV: About four hundred people in our village community alone.

MR COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Please tell us, who remained alive in your family?

GRIGORIEV: In my family only I and my boy remained alive. In my family they shot my wife, in her sixth month of pregnancy, my son Nikolai, aged 16 years, my youngest boy, Petya, aged 9 years, and my sister-in-law—my brother’s wife—with her two infants, Sasha and Tonya.

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I have no further questions to ask this witness, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Do any of the other prosecutors wish to ask the witness any questions? Do any of the defendants’ counsel wish to ask the witness any questions? The witness may retire.

[_The witness left the stand._]

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Mr. President, I pass on to the next count of my statement, the discrimination against the Soviet people.

Discrimination against the Soviet population was the usual method of the Hitlerite criminals. It was carried out by the criminals continuously and everywhere.

In this part of my presentation I shall refer to the documents of the German criminals themselves, which have only now been obtained and placed at the disposal of the Soviet Prosecution. They were seized by the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union in the prisoner-of-war camp at Lamsdorf.

I submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-415 (Document Number USSR-415), a communication of the Extraordinary State Commission on the crimes committed by the German Government and the German Supreme Command against Soviet prisoners of war in the camp of Lamsdorf. A number of original documents of the German fascist criminals, discovered in the camp archives are attached to the report.

I shall be able to submit some of these documents to Your Honors. Their value consists in the fact that they prove that even in the murderous regime established in one of the largest and most cruel of the German concentration camps, the criminals, true to the cannibalistic principles of their theories, shamelessly discriminated against Soviet nationals.

I shall quote a few brief excerpts from the report of the Extraordinary State Commission. The passage, Your Honors, to which I refer, you will find on Page 123 of the document book, Paragraph 4. It sets forth the general characteristics of the camp. I quote:

“Subsequent to investigations made, the Extraordinary State Commission proved that in Lamsdorf, in the district of the town of Oppeln, there existed, from 1941 to May 1945, a German stationary camp, Number 344.

“In 1940-41 this camp contained Polish prisoners of war; from the end of 1941 Soviet, English, and French prisoners of war began to come in.”

I omit the next two sentences and continue the quotation:

“The prisoners of war were deprived of their outer clothing and boots. Even in winter they had to go barefoot. No fewer than 300,000 prisoners of war passed through the camp during the years of its existence, including 200,000 Soviet and 100,000 Polish, English, French, Belgian, and Greek prisoners.

“The prevalent method for the extermination of Soviet prisoners in Lamsdorf camp was the sale of the captives to German undertakings for work in various German firms where they were mercilessly exploited until, their strength completely lost, they died of exhaustion.

“In contrast to the numerous German labor exchanges, where Sauckel’s representatives sold enslaved Soviet citizens by retail to German housewives, a wholesale business in internees was organized in Lamsdorf camp where the captives were formed into labor commands. There were 1,011 such labor commands in the camp.”

When presenting the subsequent documents, I should like to ask the Tribunal to understand correctly the statements in corroboration of which I am submitting evidence.

I do not in the least wish to say that the regime established by the Germans for British, French, or other prisoners of war was at all distinguished for humanity or kindness and that, alone, the Soviet prisoners of war were exterminated by the camp administration by various criminal methods.

Not at all. Lamsdorf Camp factually pursued its object, which was the extermination of prisoners of war regardless of their nationality or citizenship. Nevertheless, even in this death camp, in these most grievous conditions created for prisoners of war of all nationalities, the German fascists, committing crimes against humanity and faithful to the principles of their theories, created particularly excruciating conditions for the people of the Soviet.

I shall submit to the Tribunal, in a few brief excerpts, a series of documents taken from the archives of this camp and presented to the Tribunal in the original version. All these documents point to the manifest discrimination against Soviet prisoners of war, carried out by the camp administration pursuant to orders of the Reich Government and of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces.

I submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-421 (Document Number USSR-421), a memorandum on the utilization of the labor of Soviet prisoners of war, addressed by the chief of the prisoner-of-war department for the 8th Military District for the administration of industrial concerns to which the prisoners of war were sent.

I request the Tribunal to accept this document as evidence. It is submitted in the original. I quote Point 10 of this memorandum. Your Honors will find the passage quoted in the last paragraph of Page 150 of the document book. I begin the quotation:

“The following directives have been issued for the treatment of Russian prisoners of war:

“The Russian prisoners of war have all passed through the school of Bolshevism, they must be looked upon as Bolsheviks and treated as such. According to their own instructions they must, even in captivity, struggle actively against the state which has captured them. Therefore, we must from the very beginning treat all Russian prisoners of war with ruthless severity, if they give us the slightest cause for so doing.

“Complete separation of prisoners of war from the civilian population must be carried out strictly, in work as well as during recreation.

“Civilians attempting, some way or another, to approach the Russian prisoners of war, to exchange ideas with them, to hand them money, food supplies, _et alia_, will be arrested without warning, questioned, and handed over to the police.”

I further quote the introduction to this memorandum. Your Honors will find it on Page 149 of the document book, Paragraph 2:

“The High Command of the Armed Forces has issued directives regulating the utilization of Soviet prisoner-of-war labor. According to these directives the utilization of Russian prisoners of war could be tolerated only if carried out under far harsher conditions than those applied to prisoners of war of other nationalities.”

Thus the instructions for a specially cruel regime, to be applied to Soviet prisoners of war merely because they were Soviet people, were not the result of any arbitrary action on the part of the Lamsdorf Camp administration. They were dictated by the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. In drafting this memorandum, the Lamsdorf Camp administration was only carrying out direct orders from the Supreme Command.

I quote two more, fairly characteristic points from the memorandum. I quote Point 4, which Your Honors will find on Page 149 of the document book, last paragraph. I begin the quotation—it is a very brief one:

“In contrast to the increased requirements for the safeguarding of the Russian billets, these—from the viewpoint of comfort—must be reduced to the most modest requirements.”

I shall endeavor to explain later on what this means. I shall next quote Point 7, which Your Honors will find on Page 150 of the document book, Paragraph 3. I begin the quotation:

“The food rations for Russian prisoners of war at work will differ from the rations allocated to prisoners of other nationalities. More detailed information on this subject will be given later.”

Such was the memorandum addressed to the industrialists to whose concerns the Soviet prisoners of war were sent to work as slaves.

I submit to the Tribunal Exhibit Number USSR-431 (Document Number USSR-431), which is another memorandum about guarding the Soviet prisoners of war. The document is submitted in the original and I request the Tribunal to accept it as evidence into the record.

I ask the permission of the Tribunal to quote a few brief excerpts from this document. First I quote that part of the document which proves its origin. The first page of the text indicates it is an appendix to a “Directive of the OKW—General Office, Armed Forces, POW Section.” Next follow number and document, which are not so important. I now read the introduction to this memorandum, which is on Page 150 of the document book:

“For the first time in this war the German soldier is faced with an adversary who is educated both in a military and in a political sense, whose ideal is communism and who sees in National Socialism his very worst enemy.”

I omit the next paragraph and continue:

“Even in captivity, the Soviet soldier—however harmless he may appear outwardly—will seize every occasion to show his hatred for all that is German. We must reckon with the fact that the prisoners will have received suitable instructions on their behavior if captured and imprisoned.”

My colleague, Colonel Pokrovsky, has already denounced the absurdity of these so-called special instructions and I therefore do not consider it necessary to dwell on this passage. I continue:

“It is therefore absolutely essential, when dealing with them, to exercise the greatest caution and prudence, and to nourish the deepest suspicions.”

The following directives were issued to the guard on watch over the Soviet prisoners:

Firstly—ruthless action at the slightest sign of resistance or disobedience. Merciless use of firearms to break any resistance. Escaping prisoners to be shot at immediately, without challenge, with firm intent to hit. “Without challenge” is characteristic.

I omit the two following paragraphs and quote the second part, Point 3 of the memorandum, which Your Honors will find on Page 153, Paragraph 2 of the document book. From this Subparagraph I quote three lines:

“Kindness is out of place, even when dealing with willing and obedient prisoners of war. They will ascribe it to weakness and draw their own conclusions from your kindness.”

I omit Point 4 and end my quotation from this document on Subparagraph 5 of the memorandum—Your Honors will find this passage on Page 153, last paragraph of the document book:

“5. Never must the apparent inoffensiveness of the Bolshevik prisoner of war tempt you to deviate from the above-mentioned instructions.”

I have, a very short time ago, quoted Point 4 of the memorandum for the industrial, regarding the utilization of the work of Soviet prisoners. It stated that the requirements respecting billets for the Soviet captives should, from the viewpoint of living facilities, be of a minimum nature.

The meaning of this will be clear to Your Honors from a report of the Chief of Army Equipment and Commander of the Reserve Army, dated 17 October 1941, addressed to the acting corps commanders and to the administrative authorities of military districts.

I submit this document as Exhibit Number USSR-422 (Document Number USSR-422). This too is presented in the original and I beg that it be entered as documentary evidence into the record. It was issued in Berlin and dated as far back as 17 October 1941. I quote one paragraph of the text. Your Honors will find this paragraph on Page 154 of the document book. I begin the quotation:

“Subject: Quarters for Soviet prisoners of war.

“At a conference held on 19 September 1941 at the office of the Chief of Army Equipment and Commander of the Reserve Army (V-6), it was decided that by the construction of several tiers of superimposed wooden bunks in lieu of bedsteads, a RAD”—Reich Labor Service—“barrack for 150 prisoners could be built according to specifications for Soviet prisoners’ permanent barracks to hold 840 prisoners in permanent billets.”

I shall not quote the remainder of this document since I consider this paragraph sufficiently clear in itself.

I request the Tribunal to accept two documents in evidence which are also presented in the original. They testify to the fact that the extermination, in the camp, of Soviet prisoners of war was practiced for political reasons. It was the practice of murder.

I shall first submit, as Exhibit Number USSR-432 (Document Number USSR-432), an order addressed to Camp Number 60. The document is in the original and I request that it be added to the record as evidence. Your Honors will find the paragraph which I wish to quote on Page 155 of the document book.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn now.

[_A recess was taken._]

MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I shall quote one passage only of the document already submitted. The passage which I ask the permission of the Tribunal to read is on Page 155. Point 4 of the order runs as follows:

“Behavior at the shooting or serious wounding of a prisoner of war. (Legal Officer)

“Every case of shooting or serious wounding of a prisoner of war should be reported as a special occurrence. If you are dealing with British, French, Belgian, or American prisoners of war you should also act in accordance with instructions of the OKW, Code Number F-24.”

This order was dated 2 August 1943.

But on 5 November 1943 another order followed, which changed even this arrangement where the Soviet prisoners of war were concerned. I request the Tribunal to accept in evidence the document which I am submitting as Number 433, pertaining to Camp Number 86. From this document I quote one paragraph only, that is, Paragraph 12:

“The shooting of Soviet prisoners of war. (Legal Officer)

“The shooting of Soviet prisoners of war and other fatal accidents need no longer be reported by phone to the Prisoner of War Commander as an ‘unusual occurrence.’”

In certain cases, the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces agreed to the payment of a miserably small sum for the work done by the prisoners of war, but here too the Soviet prisoners of war were placed in conditions which were twice as bad as those of the prisoners of other nationalities.

To confirm this, I request the Tribunal to accept in evidence a directive of the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces dated 1 March 1944. The document will be submitted as Exhibit Number USSR-427 (Document Number USSR-427).

I request that the Tribunal attach it as evidence to the documentation of the case. From this document I shall quote two sentences only. These sentences Your Honors will find on Page 274 of the document book:

“Prisoners of war working all day will receive for one full working day the following basic salary: Non-Soviet prisoners of war, RM 0.70; Soviet prisoners of war, RM 0.35.”

The second sentence is at the end of the document, on Page 275 of the document book, last paragraph:

“The minimum daily wage for non-Soviet prisoners will consist of 0.20 RM, and 0.10 for Soviet prisoners of war.”

Here I end my quotation from this document.

If other prisoners received from the German fascist murderers the right to a few breaths of fresh air a day, the Soviet people were deprived of even this privilege. I request the Tribunal to accept in evidence an original order, Exhibit Number USSR-424 (Document Number USSR-424), referring to Camp Number 44. I request the permission of the Tribunal to quote one sentence from Paragraph 7, entitled, “Walks for Prisoners of War.” I begin to quote:

“In special cases, when prisoners of war, engaged on work, have their living quarters at the same place where they work and therefore have no access to the open air, they should be allowed to be taken out into the fresh air in order to maintain their working strength.”

I further request the Tribunal to accept as evidence the original order addressed to Camp Number 46. This document is submitted as Exhibit Number USSR-425 (Document Number USSR-425). I would remind the Tribunal that the directive ruling the preceding order, “Walks for Prisoners of War,” was listed under Point 7.

I cite one sentence from Point 10 of Order Number 46. This Point 10 is also entitled, “Walks for Prisoners of War,” and the basis for this point is Order Number 1259,