MARSHAL: May it please the Court, I desire to announce that the Defendants Kaltenbrunner and Seyss-Inquart will be absent from this morning's session on account of illness.
M. DUBOST: Before finishing, Gentlemen, I must read you a few more documents concerning war prisoners.
First of all, it will be Document Number L-166, which we present as Exhibit Number RF-377, Page 65 in your document book. It concerns a note which summarizes an interview with the Reich Marshal, on 15 and 16 May 1944, on the subject of pursuit planes. Page 8, Paragraph Number 20:
"The Reich Marshal will propose to the Fuehrer that American and English crews who fire indiscriminately on towns, on civilian trains in motion, or on soldiers dropping by parachute, shall be shot immediately on the spot."
The importance of this document need not be emphasized. It shows the guilt of the Defendant Goering in reprisals against Allied airmen brought down in Germany.
We shall now read Document R-117, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-378. Two Liberators, brought down on 21 June 1944 in the District of Mecklenburg, came to earth with their crews intact, 15 men all told. All were shot on the pretext of attempting to escape. The document was found in the files of the headquarters of the 11th Luftgaukommando, and states that nine members of one crew were handed over to the local police. In the next to the last paragraph, third line, we read that they were made prisoners and handed over to the police in Waren. Lieutenants Helton and Ludka were handed over on 21 June 1944 by the protective police to SS UntersturmFuehrer Stempel, of the Security Police, and former Commissioner of the Criminal Police, at Furstenberg:
"These seven prisoners were shot en route while attempting to escape. "Lieutenants Helton and Ludka were also shot on the same day while attempting to escape."
Regarding the second Liberator, at Page 91 we read:
"Subject: Crash of a Liberator on 21 June 1944, at 11:30 a.m. ... six members of the crew shot while attempting to escape;
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one, seriously wounded, brought to the garrison hospital at Schwerin."
We now submit as Exhibit Number RF-379, Document F-553, which the Tribunal will find on Page 101 of the document book. This document concerns the internment in concentration camps and extermination camps of prisoners of war. Among the escaped prisoners a discrimination was made. If they were privates and noncommissioned officers who had agreed to work, they were generally sent back to the camp and punished in conformity with Articles 47, and following, of the Geneva Convention. If it was a question of officers or noncommissioned officers-this is a comment I am making on the document which I shall read to the Tribunal-if it was a question of officers or noncommissioned officers who had refused to work, they were handed over to the police and generally murdered without trial.
One can understand the aim of this discrimination. Those French noncommissioned officers who, in spite of the pressure of the German authorities, refused to work in the German war industry had a very high conception of their patriotic duty, Their attempt to escape, therefore, created against them a kind of presumption of inadaptability to the Nazi order, and they had to be eliminated. Extermination of these elite assumed a systematic character from the beginning of 1944; and the responsibility of Keitel is unquestionably involved in this extermination, which he approved if he did not specifically order.
The document which the Tribunal has before it is a letter of protest by General Berard, head of the French Delegation to the German Armistice Commission, addressed to the German General Vogl, the president of the said commission. It deals specifically with information reaching France concerning the extermination of escaped prisoners.
First paragraph, fourth line:
"This note reveals the existence of a German organization, independent of the Army, under whose authority escaped prisoners would come."
This note was addressed on 29 April 1944 by the commandant of Oflag X-C. I read from Page 102:
"Captain Lussus"-declares General Berard to the German Armistice Commission-"of Oflag X-C, and Lieutenant Girot, of the same Oflag, who had made an attempt to escape on 27 April 1944, were recaptured in the immediate vicinity by the camp guard.
"On 23 June 1944 the French senior officer of Oflag X-C received two funeral urns containing the ashes of these two' officers...."
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No particulars could be given to this French officer as to the cause of the deaths of Captain Lussus and Lieutenant Girot. General Berard pointed out at the same time to the German Armistice Commission that the note-which the Tribunal will find on Page 104 had been communicated by the commandant of Oflag X-C to the French senior officer at that Oflag:
"You will bring to the attention of your comrades the fact that there exists, for the control of people moving about unlawfully, a German organization whose field of action extends over regions in a state of war from Poland to the Spanish frontier. Each escaped prisoner who is recaptured and found in possession of civilian clothes, false papers and identification cards, and false photographs, falls under the authority of this organization. What becomes of him then, I cannot tell you. Warn your comrades that this matter is particularly serious."
The last two lines of this note assumed their full significance when the urns containing the ashes of the two escaped French officers were handed to the senior officer of the camp.
Our Soviet colleagues of the Prosecution will present the conditions under which the escapes of the officers from the Sagan Camp were repressed.
THE PRESIDENT: Was there any answer to this complaint? What you have just been reading, as I understand it, is a complaint made by the French general, Berard to the German head of the Armistice -Commission, is that right?
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, I do not know if there was an answer. I know only that the archives in Vichy at the time of the liberation were partly pillaged and partly destroyed through military action. If there was an answer we would have had it in the Vichy archives, for the documents we present now are the documents from the German archives of the German Armistice Commission. As to the French archives, I do not know what has become of them. In any case it is possible they may have disappeared as a result of military action.
I was about to inform the Tribunal that my Soviet colleagues would set forth the conditions und which repressive measures were carried out at the camp of Sagan for attempts to escape.
We submit as Exhibit Number RF-380, Document Number F-672, which the Tribunal will find on Page 115 of its document book. This is a report from the Service for War Prisoners and Deportees, dated 9 January 1946, which relates to the deportation to Buchenwald of 20 French prisoners of war. This report must be considered as an authentic document, as well as the reports of war prisoners which
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are annexed thereto. On Page 116 is the report of Claude Petit, former prisoners' representative in Stalag VI-G.
"In September 1943 the French civilian workers in Germany and the French prisoners of war who had been converted"that means converted into workers-"were deprived of all spiritual help, there being no priest among them. Lieutenant Piard, head chaplain of Stalag VI-G, after having spoken with the prisoners of war chaplain, Abbe Rodhain, decided to turn into workers six prisoner-of- war priests who volunteered to exercise their ministerial functions among the French civilians.
"This change in classification of priests was difficult to accomplish, as the Gestapo did not authorize the presence of chaplains among civilian workers...."
These priests and a few scouts organized a scout group, and a group of Catholic Action.
On Page 117:
"From the beginning of 1944 the priests felt themselves being watched by the Gestapo in their various activities. . . "At the end of July 1944, the six priests were arrested almost simultaneously and taken to the prison of Brauweiler, near Cologne ......
Page 118, the same happened to the scouts. I quote:
"Against this flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention I took numerous steps and made several protests; for the prisoners of war arrested by the Gestapo I even asked the reason for their arrest....
"Owing to the rapid advance of the allies, who were approaching Aachen, all the prisoners of Brauweiler were taken to Cologne. . . ."
[Dr. Stahmer approached the lectern.]
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, before allowing the Defense Counsel to interrupt, permit me to finish reading this document.
THE PRESIDENT: Continue.
M. DUBOST: Thank you, Mr. President. With the end of this paragraph the Tribunal learns that the German military authorities themselves took steps in order to learn the fate of these prisoners:
"The military authorities having no knowledge thereof, immediately undertook correspondence with Buchenwald, correspondence which remained without answer."
And again:
"At the beginning of March, Major Bramkamp, chief of the Abwehr group, had to go personally to Buchenwald ......
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On Pages 120-121 the Tribunal will find the list of the prisoners who thus disappeared.
On Page 122 there is a confirmation of this testimony by M. Souche, prisoners' representative at Kommando 624, who writes:
"Certain war prisoners, converted into workers, and French civilian workers had organized in Cologne a Catholic Action group under the direction of the re-classified war-prisoner priests, Pannier and Cleton...."
Finally, Page 123:
". . . the arrests began with members of the Catholic Action!'and the accusations were-"anti-German maneuvers...."
THE PRESIDENT: I do not know what Dr. Stahmer's objection is.
DR. OTTO STAHMER (Counsel for Defendant Goering): We are not in a position to follow the expose of the French Prosecutor. First of all, the translation is not very good. Some sentences are left out. Especially, wrong numbers are mentioned. For instance, 612 has been mentioned. I have it here. It is quite a different document. We have not the document books and therefore we cannot follow the page citations. Also my colleagues complain that they are not in a position to follow the proceedings under this manner of presentation.
THE PRESIDENT: May I see your document?
[The document was handed to the President.]
DR. STAHMER: This number was just mentioned, as can be confirmed by the other gentlemen.
THE PRESIDENT: The document which M. Dubost was reading was 672. The Document you have got there is a different number.
DR. STAHMER: But this was the number that came through to us, 612, and not only I, but the other gentlemen heard the same number. And not only this number, but all the numbers have been given incorrectly.
Another difficulty is that we have not the document book. Page 118 had been referred to, but the number of the page does not mean anything to us. We cannot follow at this rate.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, I think the trouble really arises from the fact that you give the numbers too fast and the numbers are very often wrongly translated, not only into German, but sometimes into English. It is very difficult for the interpreters to pick up all these numbers. First of all, you are giving the number of the document, then the number of the exhibit, then the page of the document book-and that means that the interpreters have got to translate many numbers spoken very quickly.
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It is essential that the defendants should be able to follow the document; and as I understand it, they have not got the document books in the same shape we have. It is the only way we can follow. But we have them now in this particular document book by page, and therefore it is absolutely essential that you go slowly.
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, the document books, all the documents, have been handed to the Defense.,
THE PRESIDENT: Are you telling us that document books have been handed to the Defense in the same shape they are handed to us, let us say, with pages on them? Speaking for myself, that is the only way I am able to follow the document. You mentioned Page 115 and that does show me where the document is. If I have not got that page, I should not be able to find the document.
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, I announced at the same time RF-380, which is the number of the exhibit. F-672 is the classification number. All our documents bear a classification number. It was not possible to hand to the Defense a document book paginated like the one the Tribunal has, for it is not submitted in the same language. It is submitted in German and the pages are not in the same place. There is not an absolute identity of pagination between the German document book and yours.
THE PRESIDENT: I am telling you the difficulties under which the defendants' counsel are working, and if we had simply a number of documents without the pagination we should be under a similar difficulty. And it is a very great difficulty. Therefore you must go very slowly in giving the identification of the document.
M. DUBOST: I shall conform to the wishes of the Tribunal, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Stahmer, the document being read was Document F-672.
DR. STAHMER: We cannot find Document 672. We have 673. We have nothing but loose sheets, and we have to hunt through them first to find the number. We have Number 673, but we have not yet found Number 672 among our documents. It is very difficult for us to follow a citation, because it takes us so much time to find the numbers even if they have been mentioned correctly.
THE PRESIDENT: I can understand the difficulty. Will you continue, M. Dubost, and do as I say, going very slowly so as to give the defendants' counsel, el, as far as possible, the opportunity to find the document. And I think that you ought to do something satisfactory, if possible, to make it possible for them to find that document-by pagination or some other letters. An index, for instance, giving the order in which the documents are set out.
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M. DUBOST: Three days ago, two document books in French, paginated like the books which the Tribunal has before it, were handed to the Defense. We were able to hand only two to them, for reasons of a technical nature. But at the same time we handed to the Defense a sufficient number of documents in German to enable each Defense Counsel to have his Me in German. Does the Tribunal ask me to collate the pages of the French document book which we submit to the Defense with the pages of a document book which we set up, when the Defense can do it and has the time to do it? Three days ago the two French document books were handed to the Defense. They had the possibility of comparing the French texts with the German texts to make sure that our translations were correct, and to prepare themselves for the sessions.
THE PRESIDENT: Go on, M. Dubost. As I say, do it slowly.
DR. STAHMER: It is not correct that we received it 3 days ago. We found this pile in our compartment yesterday evening. We simply have not had time to number these pages. As I say, this was in our compartment yesterday evening or this morning.
THE PRESIDENT: Let's go on now, M. Dubost, and go slowly in describing the identification of the document.
M. DUBOST: We shall pass to Document F-357, which will be submitted as Exhibit Number RF-381. This document deals with the carrying out of general orders concerning the execution of prisoners of war. It contains the testimony of a German gendarme who was made prisoner on 25 May 1945, and who, declares (Page 127):
"All prisoners of war, who had fallen into our hands in whatever circumstances, were to be slain by us instead of being handed over to the Wehrmacht as had been done hitherto."
This concerned an order which was given in the middle of August 1944. The witness continues:
"This execution was to be carried out in a deserted spot."
On Page 128, the same witness gives the names of Germans who had executed prisoners of war.
We shall now submit Document 1634-PS, which will become Exhibit Number RF-382. The Tribunal will find it on Page 129 in their document book. It is a document which has not yet been read. It relates to the murder of 129 American prisoners of war which was perpetrated by the German Army in a field in the southwest, and west of Baignes in Belgium, on 17 December 1944 during the German offensive.
The author of this report summarizes the facts. The American prisoners were brought together near the crossroad. A few soldiers,
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whose names are indicated, rushed across the field toward the west, hid among the trees in the high grass, in thickets, and ditches, and thus escaped the massacre of their companions. A few others who, at the moment when this massacre began, were in the proximity of a barn, were able to hide in it. They also are survivors.
Page 129:
"...the artillery and machine gun fire on the column of American vehicles continued for about 10 to 15 minutes, and then two German tanks and some armored cars came down the road from the direction of Weismes. Upon reaching the intersection, these vehicles turned south on the road toward St. Vith. The tanks directed machine gun fire into the ditch along the side of the road in which the American soldiers were crouching; and upon seeing this, the other American soldiers dropped their weapons and raised their hands over their heads. The surrendered American soldiers were then made to march back to the crossroad, and as they passed by some of the German vehicles on highway N-23, German soldiers on these vehicles took from the American prisoners of war such personal belongings as wrist watches, rings, and gloves. The American soldiers were then assembled on the St. Vith road in front of a house standing on the southwest corner of the crossroad. Other German soldiers, in tanks and armored cars, halted at the crossroad and also searched some of the captured Americans and took valuables from them ......
Top of Page 131:
". . . an American prisoner was questioned and taken with his other comrades to the crossroads just referred to.
. . . at about this same time a German light tank attempted to maneuver itself into position on the road so that its cannon would be directed at the group of American prisoners gathered in the field approximately 20 to 25 yards from the road ......
I again skip four lines.
" . . . some of these tanks stopped when they came opposite the field in which the unarmed American prisoners were standing in a group, with their hands up or clasped behind their heads. A German soldier, either an officer or a noncommissioned officer, in one of these vehicles which had stopped, got up, drew his revolver, took deliberate aim and fired into the group of American prisoners. One of the American soldiers fell. This was repeated a second time and another American soldier in the group fell to the ground. At about the same time, from two of the vehicles on the road, fire was opened
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on the group of American prisoners in the field. All, or most, of the American soldiers dropped to the ground and stayed there while the firing continued, for 2 or 3 minutes. Most of the soldiers in the field were hit by this machine gun fire. The German vehicles then moved off toward the south and were followed by more vehicles which also came from the direction of Weismes. As these latter vehicles came opposite the field in which the American soldiers were lying, they also fired with small arms from the moving vehicles at the prostrate bodies in the field ......
Page 132:
" . . . some German soldiers, evidently from the group of those who were on guard at the crossroad, then walked to the group of the wounded American prisoners who were still lying on the ground in the field ... and shot with pistol or rifle, or clubbed with a rifle butt or other heavy object, any of the American soldiers who still showed any sign of life. In some instances, American prisoners were evidently shot at close range, squarely between the eyes, in the temple, or the back of the head ......
This deed constitutes an act of pure terrorism, the shame of which will remain on the German Army, for nothing justified this. These prisoners were unarmed and had surrendered.
The Tribunal authorized me yesterday to present the documents on which the French accusation is based for establishing the guilt of Goering): Keitel, Jodl, Bormann, Frank, Rosenberg, Streicher, Schirach, Hess, Frick, the OKW, OKH, OKL, the Reich Cabinet, and the Nazi Leadership Corps, as well as of the SS and the Gestapo, for atrocities committed in the camps. I shall be very brief. I have very few new documents to present.
The first concerns Kaltenbrunner. It is the American Document L-35 which the Tribunal will find on Page 246 of the document book concerning concentration camps, that is the second book. This document has not been submitted. It is the testimony of Rudolf Mildner, Doctor of Law, Colonel of the Police, who declares:
"The internment orders were signed by the Chief of the Sipo and SD, Dr. Kaltenbrunner, or, as deputy by the head of Amt IV, SS GruppenFuehrer Muller."
In submitting this it becomes Exhibit Number PY-383 (bis).
Concerning Goering): we submit the American Document 343-PS, Exhibit Number RF-384. This is a letter from Meld Marshal Milch to Wolff. This letter concludes with this phrase:
"I express to the SS the special thanks of the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe for the aid they have rendered."
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Now, from what precedes, one can conclude that these thanks refer to the biological experiments of Dr. Rascher. Thus, Goering is involved in these.
The German SS Medical Corps is implicated. This one can gather from Document 1635-PS, which has not yet been handed to the Tribunal, which becomes Exhibit Number RF-385, and which the Tribunal will find in the annex of the second document book. These are extracts from reviews of microscopic and anatomical research. They deal with experiments made on persons who died suddenly, although in good health. The circumstances of their death are stated by the experimenters in such a way that no reader can be in any doubt as to the conditions under which they were put to death.
With the permission of the Tribunal, I shall read a few brief extracts. Page 132 of the document which we submit to the Tribunal:
"The thyroid glands of 21 persons between 20 and 40 years of age, who were in supposedly good health and who suddenly died, were examined.
"The persons in question, 19 men and 2 women, until their death lived for several months under identical conditions, also with regard to food. The last food taken consisted chiefly of carbohydrates.
"Replacement products and examination methods:" That is the title.
"Over a considerable period, substance for experiments was taken from the livers of 24 adults in good health, who suddenly died between 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning."
On examining these documents, as well as the originals, the Tribunal will see that German medical literature is very rich in experiments carried out on "adults in good health who died suddenly between 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning."
No one in Germany could be deceived as to the conditions under which these deaths occurred, since the accounts of the SS doctors' experiments in the camps were printed and published.
One of the last documents is F-185(b), and (a), relative to an experiment with poisoned bullets carried out on 11 August 1944, in the presence of SS SturmbannFuehrer Dr. Ding and Dr. Widmann-Page 187 of the second document book concerning concentration camps. These two documents are submitted as Exhibit Numbers RF-386 and RF-387. The Tribunal will find the description of this experiment, in which the victims are described as persons sentenced to death.
THE PRESIDENT: The document has been read already, I think.
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M. DUBOST: It is a document from the French archives. However, Mr. President, I doubt whether the Tribunal has heard Document F-185(b), Exhibit RF-386, which is the opinion of the French professor, M. May, Fellow of Surgery, to whom the pseudoscientific documents to which I alluded just now were submitted the reports from scientific reviews of experiments. He wrote, Page 222:
"The wickedness and the stupidity of the experimenters amazed us. The symptoms of aconitine nitrate poisoning have been known from time immemorial. This poison is sometimes employed by certain savage tribes to poison their war arrows. But one has never heard of them writing observations in a pretentious style, on the anticipated result of their experiments-observations which are completely inadequate and puerile-nor that they would have them signed by a 'Doz,' that is to say, a professor."
We now submit Document F-278(a) as Exhibit Number RF-388. It involves Keitel. It is a letter signed: "By order of the High Command of the Wehrmacht, Dr. Lehmann." It is dated 17 February 1942 and is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and it implicates him. It concerns the regime in the internment camps:
"Delinquents brought to Germany in application of the decree of the Fuehrer are to have no communication of any kind with the outside world. They must, therefore, neither write themselves, nor receive letters, packages, or visits. The letters, packages, and visits are to be refused with the remark that all communication with the outside world is forbidden."
The High Command gives its point, of view in a letter of 31 January 1942, according to which there can be no question of Belgian lawyers being permitted for Belgian prisoners.
We now submit Document 682-PS, which becomes Exhibit Number RF-389, Page 134 of the second document book. This document implicates the German Government and the Reich Cabinet. It is a record of a conversation between Dr. Goebbels and Thierack, Minister of Justice, in Berlin, on 14 September 1942, from 1300 hours to 1415 hours.
"With regard to the destruction of asocial life, Dr. Goebbels is of the opinion that the following should be exterminated: All Jews and Gypsies, Poles having to serve 3-4 years of penal servitude, and Czechs and Germans sentenced to death, to penal servitude for life, or to security custody (Sicherungsverwahrung). The idea of exterminating -them by work is the best ......
We stress this last phrase which shows, even in the heart of the German Government itself, the will to "exterminate by work."
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The last document that we shall submit with regard to the concentration camps is Document F-662, which becomes Exhibit Number RF-390, Pages 77 and 78, second document book. This document is the testimony of M. Poutiers, living in Paris, Place de Breteuil, who points out that the internees in the detachments of Mauthausen Ebens worked under the direct control of civilians, the SS dealing only with the guarding of the prisoners. This witness, who was in numerous work units, states that all were ordered and controlled by civilians and only supervised by the SS and that the inhabitants of the country, as the internees went to and from their work and while at work, could therefore observe their misery; which confirms the testimony which has already been given before the Tribunal during these last few days.
We shall summarize the increasing advance of the German criminal policy in the West: At the beginning of the occupation, violation of Article 50 of the Hague Convention; execution of hostages, but creation of a pseudo "law of hostages" to legalize these executions in the eyes of the occupied countries.
In the years that follow, contempt for the rights of the human individual increases, until it becomes complete in the last months of the occupation. By that time arbitrary imprisonment, parodies of trials, or executions without trial have become daily practice.
The sentences, the Tribunal will remember, were not put into effect in cases of acquittal or pardon; people acquitted by German tribunals, who should have been set at liberty, were deported and died in concentration camps.
At the same time there developed and grew in strength the organization of Frenchmen who remained on the soil of France and refused to let their country die. At this stage German terrorism was intensified against them ever increasingly. What follows is the description of the terrorist repression carried out by the Germans against the patriots of the west of Europe, against what was called the "Resistance," without giving this word any other meaning than its generic sense.
From the time Germany understood that her policy of collaboration was doomed to defeat, that her policy of hostages only exasperated the fury of the people whom she was trying to subdue, instead of modifying her policy with regard to the citizens of the occupied countries, she reinforced the terror which already reigned there and tried to justify it by saying it was an anti-Communist campaign.
The Tribunal will recall Keitel's order and will understand what was thought of this pretext. All the French, all the citizens of Europe without distinction, without any distinction of party, profession, religion, or race, were involved in the resistance against
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Germany and their heroes were mingled in the graves and in the collective charnel houses into which the Germans threw them after their extermination.
But this confusion was voluntary; it was calculated; it justified to a certain degree the arbitrary measures of repression of which we already had evidence in Document F-278, which we submit under Number RF-391. It is dated 12 January 1943, and is signed "Von Falkenhausen."
"Persons who are found, without valid authorization, in possession of explosives and military firearms, pistols of all kinds, sub- machine guns, rifles, et cetera, with ammunition, are liable in future to be shot immediately without trial."
This order and others analogous to it continued to be executed even after the allied landing in the west of Europe. These orders were even carried out against organized forces in Belgium as well as in France, although the Germans themselves considered these forces as troops to a certain extent. This can be verified by reference to Document F-673, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-392, entitled "Terrorist action against patriots."
THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps this would be a convenient time to break off.
[A recess was taken.]
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, M. Dubost.
M. DUBOST: The document I have just submitted under Exhibit Number RF-392 is a memorandum to the Wiesbaden Commission. We read the following:
"The action of the German troops, even if we admit the truth of the facts presented by the French, is taking place in the form of combat by far exceeding in scope any purely police action against isolated outlaws. On the enemy side we have organizations which absolutely refuse to accept the sovereignty of the French Government of Vichy and which from the point of view of numbers as well as of armament and command should almost be designated as troops. It has been reiterated that these revolutionary units consider themselves as being a part of the forces fighting against Germany.
"General Eisenhower has described the terrorists who are fighting in France as troops under his command. It is against such troops"-on the original is written in red pencil "unfortunately not only"-"that repressive measures are directed."
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This document shows us that when in action the French Forces of the Interior, as well as all French forces in the western occupied countries, were considered as troops by the German Army.
THE PRESIDENT: I see that it may be useful for the record. It is in the document book on the extermination of innocent populations, on Page 167.
M. DUBOST: I thank you, Mr. President. Are then these patriots, who were consequently considered by the German Army as constituting regular troops, treated as soldiers? No.
The order of Falkenhausen is proof thereof. They were either to be killed on the spot-and, after all, that is the fate of a combatant-or else delivered to the Sipo, to the SD, and tortured to death by these organisms, who dispensed with any legal formalities, as is shown by Document 835-PS, which has already been submitted under Number USA-527, and also by Document F-673, Page 6 in your document book, which we submit under Exhibit Number RF-392.
Document Number P-673 is a considerable bundle of papers which comes from the archives of the German Commission at Wiesbaden, and we are submitting it in its entirety under Exhibit Number RF-392. Whenever we refer to Document F-673, it will be one of the documents in this big German book.
"Letter from the Fuehrer's headquarters, 18 August 1944, 30 copies; copy 26; top secret.
"Subject: Combatting terrorists and saboteurs in occupied territories .... 2. Jurisdiction over non-German civilians in occupied territories.
"1) Enclosed herewith" - says the writer of this letter - "we are transmitting a copy of the order of the Fuehrer of 30 July 1944 ...... This order of the Fuehrer will be found, on Page 9 of your document book. Paragraph 3.
"I therefore order the troops and every individual member of the Wehrmacht, the SS, and the police to shoot immediately on the spot terrorists and saboteurs who are caught in the act ....
"2) Whoever is captured later is to be transferred to the nearest local office of the Security Police and of the SD.
"3) Sympathizers, particularly women, who do not take an actual part in hostilities, are to be assigned to work."
We know what that means. We know the regime of labor in concentration camps. But I shall proceed with reading the text of the covering letter of this order of the Fuehrer, Paragraph 4. This paragraph is a commentary on the order itself:
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"Present legal proceedings relating to any act of terror or sabotage or any other crime committed by non-German civilians in the occupied territories, which endanger the security or the readiness for battle of the occupying power, are to be suspended. Indictments are to be withdrawn. The carrying out of sentences is not to be imposed. The accused and the records are to be turned over to the nearest local office of the Security Police and SD."
This order, to be transmitted to all commanding officers, as indicated on Page 7, is accompanied by one last comment, Page 8, the penultimate paragraph:
"Non-German civilians in the occupied territories who endanger the security or readiness for battle of the occupying power in a manner other than through acts of terrorism and sabotage are to be turned over to the SD."
This order is signed by Keitel.
By this comment, Keitel has associated himself in spirit with the order of his Fuehrer, He has brought about the execution of numerous individuals, for an order to kill without control any one suspected of being a terrorist affects not only the terrorists but the innocent and affects the innocent more than the terrorists. Moreover, Keitel's comment exceeds even Hitler's own orders. Keitel applied Hitler's stipulation-on Page 9 of your document book-to a hypothetical case which had not been foreseen, to wit:
"Acts committed by non-German civilians in occupied territories which endanger the security or readiness for battle of the occupying power."
This is on the general's own initiative. It is a political act which has nothing to do with the conduct of war. It is a political act which compromises and involves him. It makes him participate in the development and extension of the Hitlerian policy; for it is the interpretation of an order from Hitler, within the spirit of the order perhaps, but beyond its scope.
Instructions were given to the Sipo and the SD to execute without judgment, These instructions were carried out. Document P-574 on Page 10 of your document book, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-393, is the testimony of a certain Goldberg, an adjutant to the Sicherheitspolizei in Chalon-sur-Saone before the liberation of that city. He was captured by the patriots and interrogated by the divisional commissioner, who was head of the regional judicial police officials at Dijon. The Defense will certainly not accuse us of having had him examined by a subordinate police officer. It was the chief himself of the judicial police officials for the Dijon region who interrogated this witness. The witness declared, Page 12:
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"At the end of May 1944, without my having seen any written order on this subject, the Sicherheitspolizei of Chalon were given the right to pronounce capital punishment and to have the sentence executed without those concerned having appeared before a tribunal and without the case having been submitted for approval to the commander at Dijon. The chief of the SD in -Chalon, that is Kruger, had all necessary authority to make such decisions. There was no opposition, so far as I know, on the part of the SD of Dijon. I therefore conclude that this procedure was regular and was the consequence of instructions which were not officially communicated to me but which emanated from higher authorities."
Execution was carried out by members of the SD. Their names are given by the witness, but they are not of particular interest to. this Tribunal, which is only concerned with the punishment of the principal criminals-those who gave the orders and from whom the orders emanated.
How were these orders applied in the various countries of the West? In Holland, according to the testimony found in the report given by the Dutch Government, Page 15, 1 quote:
"About 3 days after the attempt against Rauter-about 10 March 1945-1 witnessed the execution of several Dutch patriots by the German 'green' police while I was working in the fields in Waltrop."
This Dutch document is classified in the French file as Number F-224 (Document F-224 (a), Exhibit RF-277) and has been submitted to you in its entirety, but the specific passage to which I refer has not been read. The witness continues, on Page 16 of your document book:
"I spoke to an Oberwachtmeister of the 'green' police whose name is unknown to me, and he told me that this execution was in revenge for the attempt against Rauter. He told me also that hundreds of Dutch 'terrorists' had been executed for similar reasons."
Another witness stated:
"About 6 o'clock in the evening"-this is the German who gave the orders to execute the Dutch patriots-"when I went to my office, I received the order to have 40 prisoners shot."
On Page 19, the investigators, who are Canadian officers, state the conditions under which the corpses were discovered. I do not believe that the Tribunal will want me to read this passage.
On Page 21 the Tribunal will find the report of Munt, completing and rectifying his report of 4 June on the execution of Dutchmen after the attempt against Rauter.
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The execution was carried out on the order of Kolitz; 198 prisoners were transported. Munt denies having sanctioned the execution of these Dutch patriots, but says that it was nevertheless impossible for him to prevent it, in view of the orders from higher sources which he had received.
On Page 22, next to the last paragraph, the same Munt states: "After an attack against two members of the Wehrmacht on two consecutive days, in which both were wounded and their rifles taken away, my chief insisted that 15 Dutch citizens be shot; 12 were shot."
An important document is to be found on Page 30 in your document book. It is included in F-224, which comprises the documents relative to inquiries made by the Dutch Government. This is a decree concerning the proclamation of summary police justice for the occupied Netherlands territory. It is signed by the Defendant Seyss-Inquart. Therefore one has to go to him when seeking for the chief responsibility for these summary executions of patriots in Holland.
From this decree we take Paragraph 1:
". . . I proclaim, for the occupied Netherlands territory in its entirety, summary police justice which shall enter into force immediately.
"Simultaneously, I order that everyone abstain from any kind of agitation which might disturb public order and the security of public life."
I skip a paragraph.
"The senior SS and Police Leader will take every step deemed necessary by him for the maintenance or restoration of public order or the security of public life.
"In the execution-of his task the senior SS and Police Leader may deviate from the law in force."
Summary police justice! These words do not deceive us. This is purely and simply a matter of murder, in that the police is authorized in executing its functions to deviate from the law in force. This sentence, which Seyss-Inquart signed and which protected his subordinates who assassinated Dutch patriots as far as German law was concerned, is in itself the condemnation of Seyss-Inquart.
In execution of this decree the Tribunal will see that on 2 May -and this is Page 32 of your document book-a summary police tribunal pronounced the death sentence against ten Dutch patriots. On Page 34, another summary police tribunal pronounced the death sentence on ten other Dutch patriots. All of them were executed. On the next page, still in application of the same decree, a summary
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police court pronounced the death sentence on a patriot, and he was executed.
This document, Document F-224(a), Exhibit RF-277, comprises a very long list of similar texts which seems to me superfluous to cite. The Tribunal may refer to the last only, which is especially interesting. We will consider it for a moment; it is on Page 46 of your document book. This is the report of the Identification and Investigation Service of the Netherlands, according to which, while it was not possible to make known at that time the number of Dutch citizens who were shot by the military units of the occupying power, we can state now that a total of more than 4,000 of them were executed. The details of the executions, with the places where the corpses were discovered, follow.
This constitutes only a very fragmentary aspect of the sufferings and the sacrifices in human life endured by Holland. That needs to be stated because it is the consequence of the criminal orders of the Defendant Seyss-Inquart.
In the case of Belgium, the basic document is the French Document F-685, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-394; and you will find it on Page 48 of your document book. It is a report drawn up by the Belgian War Crimes Commission, which deals only with the crimes committed by the German troops at the time of the liberation of Belgian territory, September 1944. These crimes were all committed against Belgian patriots who were fighting against the German Army. It is not merely a question of executions but of ill- treatment and torture as well. Page 50:
"At Graide a camp of the secret army was attacked. 15 corpses were discovered to have been frightfully mutilated. The Germans had used bullets with sawn off tips. Some of the bodies had been pierced with bayonets. Two of the prisoners had been beaten with cudgels before being finished off with a pistol shot."
The prisoners were soldiers, taken with weapons in hand and in battle, belonging to those units which officially, according to the testimony in documents previously cited to you, were considered by the German General Staff from that time on as being combatants.
"At Foret, on 6 September, several hundred men of the resistance were billeted in the Chateau de Foret. The Germans, having been warned of their going into action, decided to carry out a repressive operation. A certain number of unarmed members of the resistance tried to flee. Some were killed; others succeeded in getting back to the castle, not having been able to break through the cordon of German troops; others were finally made prisoner.
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"The Germans advanced with the resistance prisoners in front of them. After 2 hours the fighting stopped for lack of ammunition. The Germans promised to spare the lives of those who surrendered. Some of the prisoners were loaded on a lorry; others, in spite of the promise given, were massacred after having been tortured. The castle and the corpses were sprinkled with gasoline and set on fire: 20 men perished in this massacre; 15 others had been killed during combat."
The examples are numerous. This testimony to heroic Belgium was necessary. It was necessary that we should be reminded of what we owe her, of what we owe to her combatants of the secret army, and how great their sacrifice has been.
With regard to Luxembourg, we have a document from the Ministry of Justice of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which is Document Number UK-77, already submitted under Exhibit Number RF-322, which the Tribunal will find on Page 53 of the document book.
The Tribunal will note that a special summary tribunal, similar to those which functioned in Holland, was set up in Luxembourg; that it functioned in that country and pronounced a certain number of death sentences, 21-all of them equally arbitrary, in view of the arbitrary character of the tribunal which pronounced them.
The document contains the official indictment of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg against all the members of the Reich Cabinet, specifically against the Ministers of the Interior, of Justice, and the Party Chancellery, and against the leaders of the SS and Police, and especially against the Reich Commissioner for the Preservation of German Nationality.
In the case of Norway, Document UK-79 already submitted under Exhibit Number RF-323, Page 55 of the document book, shows that tribunals similar to the special tribunal set up in Holland by the police were in operation in Norway. They were called the SS tribunals. More than 150 Norwegians were condemned to death. Besides, the Tribunal will remember the testimony of M. Cappelen, who gave an account of what his country and his compatriots had endured.
Regarding Denmark, on Page 57 of your document book, Document Number F-666, already submitted as Exhibit Number RF-338, the Tribunal will note that according to this official report of the Danish Government police courts-martial similar to those which functioned in Luxembourg, in Norway, and in Holland, functioned against Danish patriots. These summary police tribunals, composed of SS or police, in reality disguised the arbitrary measures of the police and of the SS; measures not only tolerated, but willed by
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the government, as can be shown by documents which we placed before you at the beginning of this statement.
We, therefore, can assert that the victims of those tribunals were murdered without having been able to justify or defend themselves.
In the case of France the question should be carefully examined. The Tribunal knows that from the moment of the landing, answering the call of the General Staff, the French Secret Army rose and began battle. Undoubtedly, in spite of the warning given by the Allied General Staff, these combatants, who a few weeks later were officially recognized by the German side as being combatants, at the beginning found themselves in a rather irregular situation. We do not contest that in many instances they were francs-tireurs; we admit that they could be condemned to death; but we protest because they were not condemned to death, but were murdered after having been brutally tortured. We are going to give you proof thereof.
Document F-577, which is submitted under Exhibit Number RF-395, to be found on Page 62 of your document book, states that on 17 August, the day before the liberation of Rodez, the Germans shot 30 patriots with a submachine gun. Then, to finish them off, they tore large stones from the wall of the trench in which they were and hurled them on the bodies with some earth. The chests and the skulls were crushed.
Document F-580, Page 79 of your document book, which is submitted to you as Exhibit Number RF-396, shows that five oblates from the order of Marie-as far as I know these lay brothers were not communists-were murdered after having been tortured, because they belonged to a group of the Secret Army. In all, 36 corpses were discovered after this execution, a "punitive measure" carried out by the German Army
On Page 85 the Tribunal will read the result of the inquiry and will see under what conditions these 5 monks were killed after having been tortured and under what conditions the Staff of a resistance group, which had been betrayed, was arrested and deported, together with a few members of the same religious order.
Evidence is produced that men from the Maquis in the forest of Acheres were arrested and tortured after having been incarcerated in the prison of Fontainebleau. We even know the name of the German member of the Gestapo who tortured these patriots. His name is unimportant-this German, Korf, carried out orders that were given by Keitel and by the other defendants whose names I mentioned just now.
Document F-584, submitted under Exhibit Number RF-397, Pages 87 and 88, shows the Tribunal that when the bodies were found it was discovered that 10 of them had been blindfolded
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before being shot, that 8 had had their arms broken by injury or torture, and many had wounds in the lower parts of their legs as the result of being very tightly bound. That is the report of the commissioner of the police at Pau, drawn up on 28 August 1944, on the day following the liberation of Pau.
We now submit Document F-585 as Exhibit Number RF-398. The Tribunal will find it on Page 96 of the document book. I will give a summary:
The day following the liberation, 38 corpses were found in two graves near Signes in the mountain of Var. One of the leaders of the Resistance of the Cote d'Azur, Valmy, and with him two parachutists, Pageot and Manuel, were identified. Of this massacre a witness was found-his name is Tuirot-whose statements are copied on Pages 105, 106, and 107 of your document book.
Tuirot was tortured, with his comrades, without having been given the opportunity of help from a counsel or a chaplain. The 38 men were taken to the woods. They appeared before a parody of a tribunal composed of SS. They were condemned to death and the sentence was executed.
We place now before the Tribunal Document F-586 as Exhibit Number RF-399. The Tribunal will find it on Page 110 of the document book. It deals with the execution at Saint Nazaire and Royans of 37 patriots, members of the French Secret Army, who were tortured before being executed. Here is the statement of facts by an eyewitness:
"I came through the ruins and arrived at the Chateau of Madame Laurent, a widow. There a frightful spectacle confronted me. The castle, which the Gestapo had used as a place of torture for the young Maquis, had been set on fire. In a cellar there was the calcinated skeleton which prior to death had had its forearms and a foot pulled off and which had perhaps been burned while still alive."
But I proceed. Wherever the Gestapo was in operation there were the same methods.
Now we place before the Tribunal Document F-699, which relates to the murder at Grenoble of 48 members of the Secret Army all of whom were tortured. This document is submitted as Exhibit Number RF-400.
I now come to Document F-587, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-401. The Tribunal will find this document on Page 115 of the document book. It concerns the execution by hanging of 12 patriots at Nimes, 2 of whom were dragged from the hospital Where they were under care for wounds received in battle. These young men had all been captured in combat at St. Hippolyte-du-Fort. The
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bodies of these wretched men had been defiled. On their chests was a placard saying: "Thus are French terrorists punished." When the French authorities wished to perform funeral rites for these unfortunate men, the bodies had disappeared. The German Army had removed them. They have never been discovered. It is a fact that two of these victims were dragged from the hospital. Document F-587 contains particularly the report of a witness who saw the men taken from the hospital ward where they were being cared for.
I now submit Document F-561 as Exhibit Number RF-402 Page 118 of your book. It deals with the execution at Lyons of 109 patriots who were shot under inhuman conditions. They were killed at the end of a day's toil. On 14 August Allied planes had bombed the Bron airfield. From 16 to 22 August the German authorities had employed requisitioned civilians and prisoners from the Fort of Montluc at Lyons to fill the bomb craters. At the end of the day, when the work was finished, the civilian laborers went away; but the prisoners were shot on the spot after having been more or less ill-treated. Their bodies were stacked in half-filled craters.
Document F-591, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-403, Page 119 of the document book, is a report of atrocities committed by the German Army on 30 August 1944 at Tavaux (Aisne):
"During the afternoon of that day soldiers of the Adolf Hitler Division arrived at Tavaux. They appeared at the home of M. Maujean, who was leader of the resistance. His wife opened the door. Without explanation they shot at her, wounding her in the thigh and also in the lower jaw. They dragged her to the kitchen and broke one arm and one leg in the presence of her children, aged 9, 8, 7, and 6 years, and 8 months. They poured inflammable liquid over Madame Maujean and set fire to her in front of the children. The elder son held his little sister, 8 months old, in his arms. Then they told the children that they would shoot them if they did not tell them where their father was. The children said nothing, although they knew the whereabouts of their father. Before leaving they took the children to the cellar and locked them in. Then the Germans poured gasoline on the house and set it on fire. The fire was put out and the children were saved. These facts were told to M. Maujean by his eldest child.
No other person was a witness to these facts because the inhabitants, frightened by the first houses set on fire, had sought refuge either in trenches or in the neighboring fields and woods.
"During the same evening 21 persons were killed at Tavaux and 83 houses were set on fire."
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Next comes a report by the gendarme, Carlier, on the events of the following day.
Document F-589, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-404, shows the number of murders of patriots committed in the region of Lyons. It is dated 29 September 1944: 713 victims were found in 8 departments; 217 only have been identified. This figure is approximate; it is definitely less than the number of people who are missing in the 8 departments of Ain, Ardeche, Drome, Isere, Loire, Rhone, Savoie, and Haute Savoie.
A German general, General Von Brodowski, confessed in his diary, which fell into our hands, that he had caused the murder of numerous patriots, and that the Wehrmacht, Police, and SS operated together and were responsible for these murders. These troops murdered wounded men in the hospital camps of the French forces of the interior. This document, which is under Number F-257, is submitted as Exhibit Number RF-405 and is to be found on Page 123 of your document book. In the last four paragraphs the police and the army combine:
"I have been charged with restoring the authority of the Army of Occupation in the Department of Cantal and neighboring regions."
Dated 6 June 1944:
"General Jesser had been charged with the tactical direction of the undertaking. All troops available for the operation will be subordinate to him, as well as all other forces.
"The Commander of the Sipo and of the SD, HauptsturmFuehrer Geissler, remains at my immediate disposal; he will submit to me proposals for a possible utilization"-and so forth.
"The staff and two battalions of the SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' are, in addition, to remain available for the operation in Cantal."
General Brodowski turned over to the SD (which is equivalent to execution without trial) the French prisoners who were wounded on 15 June 1944. The Prefect of Le Puy asked the liaison staff whether the men wounded in the battle of Montmouchet and taken into safety by the Red Cross of Puy could be delivered to Puy as prisoners of war. This German general, executing the orders of the German High Command-particularly of Keitel and Jodl-said that those wounded men were to be treated as francs-tireurs and to be delivered to the SD or to the Abwehr. Those wounded men were turned over to the German Police and tortured and killed without trial.
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According to the statement of Goldberg, which I have submitted, any man turned over to the SD was executed. Events took place on 21 June 1944 as indicated by Goldberg, "Twelve suspects were arrested and turned over to the SD."
Under the date of 16 August 1944, Page 133, this general of the German Army had 40 men murdered after the battles at Bourglastic and at Cosnat:
"In the course of operation Jesser, on 15 July 1944 in the Bourg-Lastic region, 23 persons were executed. Martial law. Attack on Cosnat; 3 kilometers east of St. Hilaire, during the night of 17 July, 40 terrorists were shot."
On Page 136, this German general admits in his own diary that our comrades were fighting as soldiers and not as assassins. This general of the German Army acknowledges that the French Forces of the Interior took prisoners:
"Southeast of d'Argenton, 30 kilometers southwest of Chateauroux, the 'Jako' discovered a center of terrorists; 16 German soldiers were liberated; arms and ammunition were captured; 7 terrorists were killed, 2 of them being captains. One German soldier was seriously wounded."
Another similar incident is also related further on:
"Discovery of two camps of terrorists in the region of d'Argenton. Nine enemies were killed, two of whom were officers; 16 German soldiers were liberated."
At the bottom of the page he states, "We liberated two SS men."
These French soldiers were entitled to the respect of their adversaries. They conducted themselves. as soldiers; they were assassinated.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now until two o'clock.
[The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours.]
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MARSHAL: May it please the Court, I desire to announce that the Defendants Kaltenbrunner and Seyss-Inquart will be absent from this afternoon's session on account of illness.
M. DUBOST: We had arrived, gentlemen, at the presentation of the terrorist policy carried out by the German Army, Police, and SS, indistinguishably united in their evil task against the French patriots. Not only the militant pat-riots were to be the victims of this terrorist policy. There were threats of reprisals against their relatives, and these threats were carried into effect.
We submit Document 719-PS as Exhibit Number RF-406, which you will find on Page 147 of the document book. It is the copy of a teletype from the German Embassy in Paris to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. The German Ambassador reports a conversation which the Vichy unit had had with Laval.
The author of this message, who is probably Abetz, explains that Bousquet, who was with Laval at the time of this conversation, stated that he was completely ignorant of the recent Right of Giraud's brother:
"Madame Giraud, three of her daughters, her mother, another brother and the daughter-in-law of Giraud, were in Vals-lesBains. I replied that such measures, were insufficient and that he must not be surprised if the German police some day reverted to sterner measures, in view of the obvious incompetence of the French police in numerous cases."
The threat was put into execution. We have already stated that the family of General Giraud were deported.
We submit Document F-717 under Exhibit Number RF-407, Page 149 of your document book: "Paris, 1030 hours, 101, Official Government Telegram, Paris, to the French Delegation of the IMT Nuremberg.7p
From this telegram it is evident that 17 persons, members of the family of General Giraud, were deported to Germany. Madame Granger, daughter of General Giraud, aged 32, was arrested without cause in Tunis in April 1943, as well as her four children, aged 2 to 11 years, with their young nurse, and her brother-in-law, M. Granger. The family of General Giraud was also arrested, on 9 October 1943. They were first deported to Berlin, then to Thuringia.
May I ask the forbearance of the Tribunal; the telegraphic style does not lend itself to interpretation, "Sent first to Berlin and then to Thuringia; women and children of M. Granger to Dachau." (I suppose that we must understand this to mean the wife of M. Granger and the nurse who accompanied her.)
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THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, what is the document?
M. DUBOST: This is a French official telegram, You have the original before you, Mr. President, "-101-Official State Telegram Paris," typed on the text of the telegram itself.
THE PRESIDENT: Can we receive a telegram from anybody addressed to the Tribunal?
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, it is not addressed to the Tribunal; it is addressed to the French Delegation. It is an official telegram from the French Government in Paris, "Official State Paris," and it was transmitted as an official telegram.
THE PRESIDENT: What does "IMT Paris" mean?
M. DUBOST: The International Military Tribunal in Paris. It is our office in Paris at Place Vendome-it is an office of the French Ministry of Justice. The telegram begins, "General Giraud." It is a telegraphic declaration. The letters "OFF" at the beginning of the telegram mean "Official." Please forgive me for insisting that the three letters "OFF" at the beginning of the telegram mean "Government, official" from Paris. No French telegraph office could transmit such a telegram if it did not come from an official authority. This official authority is the French Delegation of the IMT in Paris, which received the statement made by General Giraud and transmitted it to us: "By General Giraud, French Delegation of the IMT."
THE PRESIDENT: Very well, the Tribunal will receive the document under Article 21 of the Charter.
M. DUBOST: I am grateful to the Tribunal. I read further on, at Page 150:
"On the other hand, the death of Madame Granger on 24 September 1943 is undoubtedly due to lack of care and medicine, in spite of her reiterated requests for both. After an autopsy of her body, which took place in the presence of a French doctor, specially summoned from Paris after her death, authorization was given to this doctor, Dr. Claque to bring the four children back to France, and then to Spain, where they would be handed over to their father. This was refused by the Gestapo in Paris, and the children were sent back to Germany as hostages, where their grandmother found them only 6 months later." The last four lines: "The health of Madame Giraud, her daughter Marie Theresa, and two of her grandchildren has been gravely impaired by the physical, and particularly by the moral, hardships of their deportation."
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As a reprisal for the escape of General Giraud, 17 persons were arrested, all innocent of his escape.
I have frequently shown that in their determination to impose their reign of terror the Germans resorted to means which revolt the conscience of decent people. Of these means one of the most repugnant is the call for informers.
Document F-278(b), Page 152, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-408, is a reproduction of an ordinance of 20 December 1941, which is so obviously contrary to international law that the Foreign Ministry of the Reich itself took cognizance of it. The ordinance of 27 December 1941 prescribes the following:
"Whosoever may have knowledge that arms are in the possession or keeping of an unauthorized person or persons is obliged to declare that at the nearest police headquarters."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, on 29 June 1942, objected to the draft of a reply to the French note, which we do not have here but which must have been a protest against this ordinance of 27 December 1941. The Tribunal knows that in the military operations which accompanied the liberation of our land many archives disappeared, and therefore we cannot make known to the Tribunal the protest to which the note of 29 June 1942, from the German Foreign Ministry refers.
Paragraph 2 summarizes the arguments of the French protest. The French evidently had written: If German territory were occupied by the French, we would certainly consider as a man without honor any German who denounced to the occupying power an infraction of their laws, and this point of view was taken up and adopted by the German Foreign Ministry. The note continues:
"As a result of consideration of this matter, the Foreign Office considers it questionable whether punishment should be inflicted on whomsoever fails to denounce a person possessing or known to possess arms. Such a prescription of penalty under this general form is, in the opinion of the Foreign Office, the more impracticable in that it would offer the French the possibility of calling attention to the fact that the German Army is demanding of them acts which would be considered criminal if committed by German citizens."
This German note, I repeat, comes from the Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is signed "Strack." There is no more severe condemnation of the German Army than that expressed by the Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself. The reply of the German Army will be found by the Tribunal on Page 155, "Berlin. 8 December 1942. High Command of the Wehrmacht." The High Command of the Wehrmacht concludes:
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" ... since it does not seem desirable to enter into discussion with the French Government on the questions of law evoked by them, we too consider it appropriate not to reply to the French note."
This note begins, moreover, by asserting that any relaxing of the orders given would be considered as a sign of weakness in France and in Belgium.
These are not the signs of weakness that the German Army gave in our occupied countries of the West. The weakness manifested itself in terror; it brought terror to reign throughout our countries, and that in order to permit the development of the policy of extermination of the vanquished nations which, in the minds of all Nazi leaders, remained the principal purpose, if not the sole purpose, of this war.
This terrorist policy, of which the Tribunal has just seen examples in connection with the repression of attacks by our French Forces of the Interior on the enemy, developed without any military necessity for it in all the countries of the West. The devastations committed by the enemy are extremely numerous. We shall limit our presentation to the destruction of Rotterdam at a time when the city had already capitulated and when only the question of the form of capitulation had to be settled; and secondly, to a description of the inundations which the German Army caused, without any military necessity of any sort, in 1945 on the eve of its destruction when that Army already knew that it had lost the game.
We have chosen the example of Rotterdam because it is the first act of terrorism of the German Army in the West. We have taken the inundations because, without her dykes, without fresh water, Holland ceases to exist. The day her dykes are destroyed, Holland disappears. One sees here the fulfillment of the enemy's aim of destruction, formulated long ago by Germany as already shown by the citation from Hitler with which I opened my speech, an aim which was pursued to the very last minute of Germany's existence as is proved by those unnecessary inundations.
We submit to the Tribunal Document P-719 as Exhibit Number RF-409, which comprises Dutch reports on the bombing of Rotterdam and the capitulation of the Dutch Army., On Pages 38 and 39 of the second document book are copies of the translations of documents exchanged between the commander of the German troops before Rotterdam and the colonel who was in command of the Dutch troops defending the city.
Captain Backer relates the incidents of that evening which ended with the burning of the city. At 1030 hours a German representative appeared with an ultimatum, unsigned and without
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any indication of the sender, demanding that the Dutch capitulate before 1230 hours. This document was returned by the Dutch colonel, who asked to be told the name and the military rank of the officer who had called upon him to surrender.
At 1215 hours Captain Backer appeared before the German lines and was received by a German officer. At 1235 hours he had an interview with German officers in a dairy shop. A German general wrote his terms for capitulation on the letter of reply, which the representative of the Dutch General Staff had just brought to him.
At 1320 hours Captain Backer left the place, this dairy shop where the negotiations had taken place, with the terms to which a reply had to be given. Two German officers escorted him. These escorting officers were protected by the flight of German aircraft, and red rockets were fired by them at 1322 and 1325 hours. At 1330 hours the first bomb fell upon Rotterdam, which was to be completely set on fire. The entry of the German troops was to take place at 1850 hours, but it was put forward at 1820 hours. Later the Germans said to Captain Backer that the purpose of the red rockets was to prevent the bombing. However, there had been excellent wireless communication from the ground to the aircraft. Captain Backer expressed his surprise that this should have been done by means of rockets.
The work on the inundation of the "Wieringermeer" polder began on 9 and 10 April 1945. 1 quote a Dutch document. That day German soldiers appeared on the polder, gave orders, and placed a guard for the dyke.
"On 17 April 1945 at 1215 hours the dyke was dynamited so that two parts of it were destroyed up to a height somewhat lower than the surface of the water of the Ijesselmeer....
"As for the population, they were warned during the night of 16 to 17 April"-that is, at the time when the water was about to flood the polder-"In Wieringerwerf the news received by the mayor was passed from house to house that at noon the dyke would be destroyed. Altogether for this great polder, with an area of 20,000 hectares, not more than 81/2 to 9 hours were granted for evacuation.... Telephone communications had been completely interrupted', and it was impossible to use automobiles, which meant that some individuals did not receive any warning until 8 o'clock in the morning ....
"The time given to the population was, therefore, too short for the evacuation....
"The looting in the flooded polder has already been mentioned. During the morning of 17 April, on the day of the disaster,
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groups of German soldiers begin to loot ... These soldiers came from Wieringen ... Moreover, they broke everything that they did not want to take..."
This polder by itself covers half of all the flooded lands in Northern Holland. The polder was flooded on 17 April, when defeat was already a fact as far as the German Army was concerned. The Dutch people are seeking to recover the land which they have lost. Their courage, industry and energy arouse our admiration, but it is an immense loss which the German Army inflicted upon those people on 17 April.
Terrorism and extermination are intimately interwoven in all countries in the West.
Document C-45, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-410 and which is the first in the document book, is an order of 10 February 1944 showing that repression, in the minds of the leaders of the German Army, was to be carried out without consideration of any kind:
"Fire must be immediately returned. If, as a result, innocent people are struck, it is to be regretted but it is entirely the fault of the terrorists."
These lines were written over the signature of an officer of the general staff of the German Military Command in Belgium and Northern France. This officer was never denounced by his superiors as can be seen by the document.
Document F-665, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-411, Page 2 of your document book:
"The search of suspected villages requires experience. SD or GFP (Secret Field Police) personnel should be called upon. The real accomplices of the guerillas must be disclosed, and apprehended with all severity. Collective measures against the inhabitants of entire villages (this includes the burning of villages) are to be taken only in exceptional cases and may be ordered only by divisional commands or by chiefs of the SS and Police."
This document is dated 6 May 1944. It comes from the High Command of the Wehrmacht; and it, or at least the covering letter, is signed by Jodl.
This document involves not only the Army General Staff, but the Labor Service-that is to say, Sauckel-and the Todt Organization- that is to say, Speer. Indeed, in the next to the last paragraph we may read:
"The directive ... is applicable to all branches of the Wehrmacht and to all organizations which exercise their activities
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in occupied territories (the Reich Labor Service, the Todt Organization, et cetera."
These orders, aimed at the extermination of innocent civilian populations, were to be carried out vigorously but at the price of a constant collusion of the German Army, the SS, the SD, and the Sipo, which the people of all countries of the West place together in the same horror and in the same reprobation.
In the war diary of General Von Brodowski submitted this morning under Exhibit Number RF-405, an excerpt of which is to be found on Pages 3, 4, and 5 of the document book, it -is stated that repressive operations were carried out:
"An action against terrorists was undertaken in the southwestern area of the Department of Dordogne near Lalinde, in which a company of Georgians of Field Police, and members of the SD took part..."
Dated 14 June 1944 is a statement on the destruction of Oradoursur-Glane. I shall come back to the destruction of this village: "600 persons are said to have been killed," writes General Von Brodowski. It is underscored in the text.
"The whole male population of Oradour has been shot. Women and children took refuge in the church. The church caught fire. Explosives had been stored in the church. Even women and children perished."
We shall let you know the results of the French inquiry. The Tribunal will see to what degree General Von Brodowski lied when he described the annihilation of Oradour in these terms.
Concerning Tulle:
"On 8 July 1944 in the evening the barracks occupied by the 13th Company of the 95th Security Regiment were attacked by terrorists. The struggle was terminated by the arrival of the Panzer division, 'Das Reich.' 120 male inhabitants 'of Tulle were hanged, and 1,000 sent to the SD at Limoges for investigation."
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, could we see the original of this document?
M. DUBOST: I showed it to you this morning, Mr. President, when I submitted it. It is rather a large document, if you will remember, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. We would like to see it.
DR. ROBERT SERVATIUS (Counsel for Defendant Sauckel): I should like briefly to rectify an error now, before it is carried any further.
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The French Prosecutor mentioned that certain people were put at the disposal of the Arbeitsdienst. I should like to point out that Arbeitsdienst is not to be confused with the Arbeitseinsatz. The Arbeitseinsatz was ultimately directed by Sauckel, whereas the Arbeitsdienst had nothing whatsoever to do with Sauckel. I should like to ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of that distinction.
THE PRESIDENT: On account of a technical incident, the Tribunal will adjourn.
[A recess was taken.]
THE PRESIDENT: The attorney for Sauckel, I think, was addressing the Tribunal.
DR. SERVATIUS: I had pointed out the difference between the Arbeitsdienst and the Arbeitseinsatz. The French prosecuting attorney apparently confused the Arbeitsdienst with the Arbeitseinsatz, for he said that the Arbeitsdienst was connected with Sauckel. That is not so. The Arbeitsdienst was an organization for pre-military training which existed before the war and in which young people had to render labor service. These young people were to some extent used for military purposes. The Arbeitseinsatz; was concerned solely with the recruiting of labor to be used in factories or other places of work. It follows, therefore, that Sauckel cannot be associated with the accusations that were made in this connection. That is what I wanted to say.
M. DUBOST: The two German words were translated in an identical manner in French. A verification having been made, the remarks of the defense are correct and Sauckel is not involved, but only the Army.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
M. DUBOST: Here are a few examples of terrorist extermination in Holland, in Belgium, and in other occupied countries of the West.
In Holland, as one example out of a thousand, there were the massacres of Putten of 30 September 1944. They are included in Document Number F-224, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-324 and which is to be found on Page 46 of the document book. On 30 September 1944 an attack was made at Putten by members of the Dutch resistance against a German automobile. The Germans concluded that the village was a refuge for partisans. They searched the houses and assembled the population in the church.
A wounded German officer had been taken prisoner by the Dutch resistance. The Germans declared that if this officer was released within 24 hours no reprisals would be made. The officer
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was released, after having received medical care from the soldiers of the Dutch resistance who had captured him. However, in spite of the pledge given, reprisals were made upon the village of Putten, whose inhabitants were all innocent.
I now cite Paragraph 2 of the Dutch report:
"The population gathered in the church was informed that the men would be deported and the women had to leave the village because it would be destroyed.
"150 houses were burned down (the total amount of houses in the built-up area being about 2,000).
"Eight people, amongst whom a woman who tried to escape, were shot.
"The men were taken to the concentration camp at Amersfoort. Amongst them were many accidental passers-by who had been admitted into the closed village but who had been prevented from leaving the place.
"At Amersfoort about 50 people were selected; and during the transport, 12 jumped out of the train. 622 men were eventually deported to Auschwitz. The majority of those died after two months.
"From the 622 deported men, only 32 inhabitants of the village of Putten and 10 outsiders returned after the liberation."
In Belgium, we will cite only a few facts which are related in Document Number F-685, already submitted under Exhibit Number RF-394. This document is to be found on Page 48 in your document book. It describes the murder of a young man who had sought refuge in a dug-out. He was killed by the Germans who were looking for soldiers of the Belgian secret army.
At Herve the Germans fired on a lorry filled with young men and killed two of them. The same day some civilians were killed by a tank.
On Page 49, the summary executions of members of the secret army are described. I quote:
"At Anhee, shots having been fired upon them, the Germans crossed the river Meuse. They set fire -to 58 houses and killed 13 men. At Annevoie, on the 4th, the Germans came across the river and burned 58 houses."
Then follows a report on destruction, useless from the military point of view:
". . . At Arendonck, on the 3rd, 80 men were killed, five houses were burned. At St. Hubert, on the 6th, three men killed and
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four houses burned. At Hody, on the 6th, systematic destruction of the village, 40 houses destroyed, 16 people killed. At Marcourt, 10 people were shot, 35 houses were burned. At Neroeteren, on the 9th, 9 people were killed. At Oost-Ham, on the 10th, 5 persons were killed. At Balen-Neet, on the 11th, 10 persons were shot."
Page 50 contains the description of German extortions at the time of the temporary stabilization of the front.
"At Hechtel, the Germans having withdrawn before the British vanguard, the inhabitants hung out flags. But fresh German troops came to drive out the British vanguard and reprisals were taken; 31 people were shot; 80 houses were burned, and general looting took place. At Helchteren 34 houses were set on fire and 10 people were killed under similar circumstances. The same thing took place at Herenthout....
"The circumstances in which these men were executed are always identical. The Germans search the cellars, bring the men out, line them along the highway, and shoot them, after having given them the order to run. In the meantime, grenades are thrown into the cellars, wounding women and children."
Another example:
"At Lommel, the unexpected return of the German soldiers found the village with flags out. Seventeen persons who had sought refuge in a shelter were noticed by a German. He motioned to a tank which ran against the shelter crushing it and killing 12 people."
In the case of Norway we shall take an example from a document already submitted under Exhibit Number *RF-323, Pages 51 and 52 of your book:
"... on 13 April 1940, two women 30 years of age were shot at. Ringerike. On 15 April, four civilians, of whom two were boys of 15 and 16 years of age, were shot in Aadal. One of those murdered was shot through the head, and had also been bayonetted in the stomach. On 19 April four civilians, of whom two were women and one a little boy 3 years of age, were shot at Ringsaker.
"To avenge the death of the two German policemen, who were shot on the 26th of April 1942 at Televaag, the entire place was laid waste. More than 90 properties with 334 buildings were totally destroyed, causing damage to buildings and chattels (furniture and fishing outfits) amounting to a total of 4,200,000 Kroner."
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In this document the Tribunal will find the continuation of the descriptions of German atrocities committed in Norway, without any necessity of a military character, simply to maintain the reign of terror.
In France massacres and destructions without military purpose were extremely numerous, and all of them were closely associated. We submit Document F-243 as Exhibit Number RF-412. The Tribunal will find this document on Pages 178 to 193 of. the document book. It is a long list, drawn up by the French Office for Inquiry into War Crimes, of the towns that were destroyed and looted without any military necessity. The Tribunal will undoubtedly be enlightened by the reading of this document. We shall give but a few examples. In submitting this Document F-909 as Exhibit Number RF-413, we intend to relate the conditions under which a whole section of Marseilles was destroyed-Pages 56, 57, and 58, of your document book.
It is estimated that about 20,000 people were evacuated. This evacuation was ordered on 23 January. It was carried out without warning during the night of the 23rd to the 24th. I quote:
"It is estimated that 20,000 persons were evacuated. From Frejus some of them were shipped by the Germans to the concentration camp of Compiegne. . . .
"The demolition operations began on 1 February at about 9 o'clock in the morning. They were carried out by troops of the German engineer corps...,
"The area destroyed is equivalent to 14 hectares: that is approximately 1,200 buildings."
Inquiry was made to find those who were responsible for this destruction. After the liberation of Marseilles the German consul in Marseilles, Von Spiegel, was interrogated. His testimony is in Document F-908, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-414, Page 53 of your document book. Spiegel stated:
"I know that a very short time after the evacuation of the old port the rumor spread that this measure had been brought about by financial interests, but I can assure you that in my opinion such a hypothesis is erroneous. The order came from the higher authorities of the Reich Government and had only two motives-the security of troops and the danger of epidemics."
We do not intend to give you a complete description of the attacks committed by the Germans but merely a few examples. We submit Document F-600 as Exhibit Number RF-415, Page 59:
"At Ohis (Aisne) a civilian wanted to give an American soldier some cider to drink. The Germans returned. The American
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soldier was taken prisoner, and M. Hennebert was also taken away by the Germans to a spot known as the 'Black Mountain' in the village of Origny en Thierache where his body was later discovered partly hidden under a stack of wood. The body bore the trace of two bayonet wounds in the back."
I submit Document F-604 as Exhibit Number RF-416, Page 61 of the document book. A civilian was killed in his vineyard. Young men and girls walking along the. road were killed. The motive was given as "presence of Maquis in the region." All these victims, were completely innocent.
Document F-904, which I submit as Exhibit Number RF-417, Page 62 of your document book. At Culoz ". . . young boys were arrested because they had run away at the sight of the Germans...." They were reported. ". . . not one of them belonged to the resistance."
At St. Jean-de-Maurienne-Document F-906, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-418, Page 63 of your document book:
"On 23 August the gendarmes, Chavanne and Empereur, dressed in civilian clothes, and M. Albert Taravel were arrested by German soldiers without legitimate reason. The lieutenant who was in charge of the Kommandantur promised the officer of the gendarmes to release these three men. This German later surreptitiously ordered his men to shoot these prisoners.
"Mademoiselle Lucie Perraud, 21 years of age, who was a maid at the Caf‚ Dentroux, was raped by a German soldier, of Russian origin, under threat of a pistol."
I will not mention any more of the atrocities described in this document.
I now come to the Vercors. This region was undeniably an important assembly center for French Forces of the Interior. Document F-611, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-419, describes the atrocities committed against the innocent population of this region in reprisal for the presence of men of the Maquis. This document appears in your book on Page 69 and following. In Paragraph 3 is an enumeration of police operations in the Vercors area.
On 15 June, in the region of St. Donat: rape and looting. Execution at Portes-les-Valence on 8 July 1944 of 30 hostages taken from among the political prisoners interned at Fort Montluc at Lyons. Police raids carried out against the Maquis of the Vercors region of Crest, Saillans, and Die. Bombing by aircraft of numerous villages in the Vercors area and in particular at La Chapelle and Vassieux-en-Vercors; summary execution of inhabitants of these places; looting. Execution, after summary judgment, of about a
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hundred young men at St. Nazaire-en-Royans; deportation to Germany of 300 others from this region. Murder of 50 gravely wounded persons in the Grotto of La Luire. On 15 June 1944, attack by German troops at St. Donat. I quote, "The Maquis had evacuated the town several days earlier... 54 women or young girls from 13 to 50 years of age were raped by the maddened soldiers."
The Tribunal will forgive me if I avoid citing the atrocious details which follow. Bombing of the villages of Combovin, La Baume- Cornillanne, Ourches, etcetera:
"The losses caused by these bombings among the civilian population are rather high, for in most cases the inhabitants, caught by surprise, had no time to seek shelter... 2 women were raped at Crest ... 3 women were raped at Saillans....
"A young girl of twelve, who was wounded and pinned down between beams, awaited death for 6 long days unable either to sit down or sleep, and without receiving any food, and that under the eyes of the Germans who were occupying the village."-A medical certificate from Doctor Nicolaides, who examined the women who were raped in this region.
I will pass on.
I submit Document F-612 under Exhibit Number RF-420. To terrorize the inhabitants at Trebeurden in Brittany they hanged innocent people, and slashed the corpses to make the blood flow.
I proceed. Document F-912 is submitted as Exhibit Number RF-421, Page 82 of your book. It is the report of the massacre of 35 Jews at St. Amand-Montrond. These men were arrested and killed with pistol shots in the back by members of the Gestapo and of the German Army. They were innocent of any crime.
I submit Document F-913 as Exhibit Number RF-422-Page 96, I am quoting:
"On 8 April 1944 German soldiers of the Gestapo arrested young Andre Bezillon, 18 years of age, dwelling at Oyonnax (Ain), whose brother war, in the Maquis. The body of this young man was discovered on 11 April 1944 at Siege (Jura) frightfully mutilated. His nose and tongue had been cut off, There were traces of blows over his whole body and of slashes on his legs. Four other young men were also found at Siege at the same time as Bezillon. All of them had been mutilated in such a manner that they could not be identified. They bore no trace of bullets, which clearly indicates that they died from the consequences of ill-treatment."
I submit Document F-614 as Exhibit Number RF-423, at Page 98 of your document book. It describes the destruction of the village of Cerizay, (Deux-Sevres). I quote:
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"The fire did not cause any accident to persons, but the bodies of two persons killed by German convoys and those of two victims of the bombardment were burned."
This village was destroyed by artillery fire; 172 buildings were destroyed and 559 were damaged. We now submit another document, Document F-919 as Exhibit Number RF-424, Page 103. It concerns the murder of a young man of Tourc'h in Finistere. The murderers compelled the mother to prepare a meal for them. Having been fed, they had the victim disinterred. They searched and found that the body bore a card of identity bearing the same name and address as his mother, brothers, and sisters, who were present and in tears. One of the soldiers, finding no excuse to explain this crime, said dryly before going away: "He was not a terrorist! What a pity!" and the body was buried again. Document F-616 submitted as Exhibit Number RF-425, Page 104, concerns the report of the operations of the German Army in the region of Nice, about 20 July 1944. I quote:
"...having been attacked at Presles by several groups of Maquis in the region, by way of reprisal, this Mongolian detachment, as usual commanded by the SS, went to a farm where two French members of the resistance had been hidden. Being unable to take them prisoners, these soldiers then arrested the proprietors of that farm (the husband and wife), and after subjecting them to numerous atrocities, rape, et cetera, they shot them with submachine guns. Then they took the son of these victims, who was only 3 years of age; and, after having tortured him frightfully, they crucified him on the gate of the farmhouse."
We submit Document F-914 as Exhibit Number RF-426, Page 107 of your document book. This is a long recital of murders committed without any cause whatever by the German Army in Rue Tronchet at Lyons. I now read:
"Without preliminary warning, without any effort having been made to verify the exact character of the situation and, if necessary, to seize those responsible for the act, the soldiers opened fire. A certain number of civilians, men, women, and children fell. Others who were untouched or only slightly wounded fled in haste."
The Tribunal will find the official report that was drawn up on the occasion of these murders.
We submit without quoting, asking the Tribunal to take judicial notice of it only, the report relating to the crimes of the German Army committed in the region of Loches (Indre-et-Loire), Document F-617, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-427, Page 115 of your document book.
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Document F-607, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-428, which is on Page 119 of your document book, describes the looting, rape, and burnings at Saillans during the months of July and of August 1944. I quote, "During their sojourn in the region"-referring to German soldiers-"rapes were committed against three women in that area." I pass on. Document F-608, Page 120 of your document book, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-429: A person was burned alive at Puisots by a punitive expedition. This person was innocent.
I submit Document F-610 as Exhibit Number RF-430, Page 122 of your document book. The whole region of Vassieux in the Vercors was devastated. This document, Number F-610, is a report by the Red Cross prepared prior to the liberation. I am quoting:
"We found on a farm a wounded man, who had been hit by 8 bullets in the following circumstances. The Germans forced him to set fire to his own house, and tried to prevent him from escaping the flames by shooting at him with their pistols. In spite of his wounds, he was able miraculously to escape."
We submit Document F-618 as Exhibit Number RF-431, Page 124 of the document book. I quote, concerning people who were executed:
"Before being shot these people were tortured. One of them, M. Francis Duperrier, had a broken arm and his face was completely mutilated. Another, M. Feroud-Plattet, had been completely disembowelled with a piece of sharp wood. His jaw bone was also crushed."
We submit Document 605 as Exhibit Number RF-432, Page 126. This document describes the burning of the hamlet of des Plaines near Moutiers, in Savoy: "Two women, Madame Romanet, a widow, 72 years old, and her daughter, age 41, were burned to death in a small room of their dwelling, where they had sought refuge. In the same place a man, M. Charvaz, who had had his thigh shattered by a bullet, was also found burned."
We now submit as Exhibit Number RF-433 the French Document F-298, Page 127 and following in your document book, which describes the destruction of Maille in the department of Indre-et-Loire. That area was entirely destroyed on 25 August 1944, and a large number of its inhabitants were killed or seriously wounded. This destruction and these crimes had no terrorist action, no action by the French Forces of the Interior as a motive.
Document P-907 submitted as Exhibit Number RF-434-Page 132 and following in your document book-relates the incidents leading to German crimes at Montpezat-de-Quercy. This is a letter written to the French Delegation by the Bishop of Montauban, Monseigneur
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Theas, on 11 December 1945. This document really explains Document F-673, already submitted as Exhibit Number RF-392, from which I will read. The first part consists of a letter by the French Armistice Commission, and has been taken from the archives of the Armistice Commission in Wiesbaden:
"On the night of 6 to 7 June last, in the course of an operation in the region of Montpezat-de-Quercy, German troops set fire to four farmhouses which formed the hamlet called 'Perches.' Three men, two women, and two children, 14 and 4 years old, were burned alive. Two women and a child of ten who disappeared probably suffered the same fate.
"On Saturday, 10 June, having been fired at by two recalcitrants at the village of Marsoulas, German troops killed these two men. Moreover, they massacred without any explanation all the other inhabitants of the village that they could lay their hands on.
"Thus 7 men, 6 women, and 14 children were killed, most of them still in their beds at the early hour when this happened.
"On 10 June, at about 1900 hours, five Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the town of Tarbes for half an hour with bombs and machine guns. Several buildings were destroyed, among them the Hotel des Ponts et Chaussees, and the Academic Inspectorate. There were 7 dead and about 10 wounded who were hit by chance among the population of the town. 'On this occasion the general in command of the VS-659 at Tarbes immediately informed the Prefect of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees that the operation had been neither caused nor ordered by him.
"Following each of these events the Regional Prefect of Toulouse addressed to the general ~ commanding the I-IVS-564 letters in which in dignified and measured terms he protested against the acts in question, through which innocent women and children were deliberately killed. He asserted very rightly that under no circumstances could children in the cradle be considered as accomplices of the terrorists. He requested finally that instructions be given to avoid the recurrence of such painful events.
"Replying on 19 June to the three letters of the Regional Prefect of Toulouse, the chief of -staff of the general commanding the head liaison staff 564 announced the principles which determined the position taken by his chief, which justified the acts of reprisal quoted on the following grounds:
"The duty of the French population is not only to flee from terrorists but also to, render their operations impossible, which
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will avoid any reprisals being taken against innocent -people. In the struggle against terrorism the German Army must and will employ all means at its disposal, even methods' of combat new to Western Europe.
"The terror raids of the Anglo-Americans also massacre thousands and thousands of German children. There, too, innocent blood is being shed through the action of the enemy, whose support of terrorism is forcing the German soldier to use his arms in the South of France.
"I beg to ask you"--concluded General- Bridoux, writing to the German Commission-"whether the French Government is to consider the arguments cited above as reflecting accurately the position taken by the German High Command, in view of the facts disclosed in the first part of the present letter."
We now submit Document E-190 as Exhibit Number RF-435, Page 141 of the document book, which describes the crimes committed at Ascq by a German unit which, in reprisal for the destruction of the railway, massacred 77 men of all categories and all ages, among whom were 22 employees of the French State railway, some industrialists, business men, and workmen. I quote:
"The oldest of these victims, M. Briet, retired, was 74 years old; he was born, on 3 October 1869 at Ascq. The youngest, Jean Roques, student and son of the postmaster, was 15 years old, born on 4 January 1929 at Saint Quentin. Father Gilleron, a priest at Ascq, and his two protegees, M. Averlon and his son, who had fled from the coast, were also shot."
This massacre was the cause of a protest made by the French Government at that time, to which Commander-in-Chief Von Rundstedt replied on 3 May 1944 (Document F-673, already submitted as Exhibit Number RF-392, Page 154):
"The population of Ascq bears the responsibility for the consequences of its treacherous conduct, which I can only severely condemn."
General Berard, president of the French delegation attached to the German Armistice Commission, was not satisfied with the reply given by Rundstedt; and on 21 June 1944 he reiterated the French protest, addressing it this time to General Vogl, president of the German Armistice Commission. This is still Document F-673, Exhibit Number RF-392. I quote:
"In all, from 10 October 1943 to 1st May 1944, more than 1,200 persons were made the victims of these measures of repression....
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"These measures of repression strike the innocent and cause terror to reign among the French population..
"A great number of the acts that have been mentioned took place in the course of repressive operations directed against population accused of having relations with the Maquis. In these operations there was never any care taken to discover whether the people suspected of having served the Maquis were really guilty; and still less in this case, to ascertain whether these people had acted voluntarily or under duress. The number of innocent people executed is therefore considerable....
"The repressive operation in Dordogne, from 26 March to 3 April 1944, and particularly the tragic affair of Ascq, which have already brought about the intervention of the head of the French Government, are grievous examples. At Ascq, especially, 86 innocent people paid with their lives for an attempted attack which, according to my information, did not cause the death of a single German soldier...
"Such acts can only stimulate the spirit of revolt in the adversaries of Germany, who finally are the only ones to benefit."
The reply of the Armistice Commission, Document F-707, submitted as Exhibit Number RF-436, is the rejection of General Berard's request. The document is before you. I do not think it is necessary for me to read it.
The general, on 3 August 1944, reiterated his protest. This is Document F-673, Exhibit Number RF-392, already submitted. At the end of his protest he writes:
"An enemy who surrenders must not be killed even though he is a franc-tireur or a spy. The latter will receive just punishment through the courts."
But this is only the text of stipulations to be applied within Germany.
We submit Document F-706, Exhibit Number RF-437, which is a note from the French Secretary of State for Defense to the German general protesting against the measures of destruction taken by the German troops in Chaudebonne and Chaveroche. We shall not read this document. The Tribunal may take judicial notice of it, if it deems it necessary.
We now come to the statement of the events of Tulle, in which 120 Frenchmen were hanged, Page 169 (Document F-673, Exhibit RF-392). I am quoting:
"On 7 June a large group of francs-tireurs attacked the French forces employed in the maintenance of order and succeeded
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in seizing the greater part of the town of Tune after a struggle which lasted until dawn....
"The same day, at about 2000 hours important German armored forces came to the assistance of the garrison and penetrated into the city from which the terrorists withdrew in haste...."
These troops, which re-took Tulle, decided to carry out reprisals. The French Forces of the Interior that had taken the town had withdrawn. The Germans had taken no prisoners. The reprisals were carried out upon civilians. Without discrimination they were arrested.
"The victims were selected without any inquiry, without even any questioning, haphazardly; workmen, students, professors, industrialists. There were even among them some militia sympathizers and candidates for the Waffen SS. The 120 corpses which were hanged from the balconies and lamp-posts of the Avenue de la Gare, along a distance of 500 meters, were a horrible spectacle that will remain in the memory of the unfortunate population of Tulle for a long time."
We now come to the crowning event in these German atrocities: the destruction of Oradour-sur-Glane, in the month of June 1944. The Tribunal will accept, we hope, the presentation of Document F-236, which now becomes Exhibit Number RF-438. This is an official book, published by the French Government, which gives a full description of the-events. I will give you a brief analysis of the report which the de facto government of the time sent to the German general who was Commander-in-Chief for the regions of the West:
"On Saturday, 10 June, a detachment of SS belonging very likely to the 'Das Reich' division which was present in the area, burst into the village, after having surrounded it entirely, and ordered the population to gather in the central square. It was then announced that it had been reported that explosives had been hidden in the village and that a search and the checking of identity were about to take place. The men were asked to make four or five groups, each of which was locked into a barn. The women and children were taken to the church and locked in,. It was about 1400 hours. A little later machine-gunning began and the whole village was set on fire, as well as the surrounding farms. The houses were set on fire one by one. The operation lasted undoubtedly several hours, in view of the extent of the locality.
"In the meantime the women and the children were in anguish as they heard the sound of the fires and of the shootings. At 1700 hours, German soldiers entered the church and placed
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upon the communion table an asphyxiating apparatus which comprised a sort of box from which lighted fuses emerged. Shortly after the atmosphere became unbreathable. However someone was able to break open the vestry door which enabled the women and children to regain consciousness. The German soldiers then started to shoot through the windows of the church, and they came inside to finish off the last survivors with machine guns. Then they spread upon the soil some inflammable material. One woman alone was able to escape, having climbed on the window to run away. The cries of a mother who tried to give her child to her, drew the attention of one of the guards who fired on the would-be fugitive and wounded her seriously. She saved her life by simulating death and she was later cared for in a hospital at Limoges.
"At about 1800 hours the German soldiers stopped the local train which was passing in the vicinity. They told passengers going to Oradour to get off, and, having machine-gunned them, threw their bodies into the flames. At the end of the evening, as well as the following day, a Sunday morning, the inhabitants of the surrounding hamlets, alarmed by the fire or made anxious because of the absence of their children who had been going to school at Oradour, attempted to approach, but they were either machine-gunned or driven away by force by German sentinels who were guarding the exits of the village. However, on the afternoon of Sunday some were able to get into the ruins, and they stated that the church was filled with the corpses of women and children, all shrivelled up and calcinated.
"An absolutely reliable witness was able to see the body of a mother holding her child in her arras at the entrance of the church, and in front of the altar the body of a little child kneeling, and near the confessional the bodies of two children in each other's arms.
"During the night from Sunday to Monday the German troops returned and attempted to remove traces by proceeding with the summary burial of the women and children outside the church.
"The news of this drama began to spread through Limoges on the 11th of June.
"In the evening, the general commanding the Verbindungsstab refused to grant the pass, which was personally requested by the Regional Prefect, for him and the Deputy Prefect to move about in the area. Only the Subprefect of Rodhechouart was able to go to Oradour and report to his chief on the following day that the village, which comprised 85 houses, was
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only a mass of ruins and that the greater part of the population, women and children included, had perished.
"On Tuesday, 13 June, the Regional Prefect finally obtained authorization to go there and was able to proceed to the town, accompanied by the Deputy Prefect and the Bishop of Limoges. In the church, which was partly in ruins, there were still the calcinated remains of children. Bones were mixed with the ashes of the woodwork. The ground was strewn with shells with 'STKAM' marked upon them, and on the walls there were numerous traces of bullets at a mail's height.
"Outside the church the soil was freshly dug; children's garments were piled up, half burned. Where the barns had stood, completely calcinated human skeletons, heaped one on the other, partially covered with various materials, made a horrible charnel- house.
"... although it is impossible to give the exact number of these victims, it can be estimated that there were 800 to 1,000 dead, among them many 'children who had been evacuated from regions threatened by bombardment. There do not seem to have been more than ten survivors among the persons who were present in the village of Oradour at the beginning of the afternoon of 10 June."
Such are the facts.
"I have the honor, General, to ask you"-concluded General Bridoux addressing his enemy-"to be good enough to communicate these facts to the German High Command in France. I greatly hope that they will be brought to the knowledge of the Government of the Reich, because of the political importance which they will assume from their repercussion on the mind of the French population."
An inquiry has been conducted since; it is summed up in the book which has just been placed before you. This inquiry has shown that no member of the French Forces of the Interior was in the village, that there was none within several kilometers. It -seems even proved that the causes of the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane are remote. The unit which perpetrated this crime apparently did so as an act of vengeance, because of an attempt against it about 50 kilometers further away.
The German Army ordered a judicial inquiry. Document F-673, already submitted as RF-392, so indicates; Pages 175 and 176. This document is dated 4 January 1945. There were no Germans in France at that time, at least not in Oradour-sur-Glane. The version given by the German authority is that the reprisals appear to be absolutely justified for military reasons. The German military commander who was responsible for it fell in combat in Normandy.
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We shall remember the phrase "The reprisals appear to be absolutely justified for military reasons." Therefore, in the eyes of the German Army, the crime of Oradour-sur-Glane which I have described to you plainly, is a crime which is fully justified.
The guilt of Keitel in all these matters is certain.
In Document F-673, Exhibit Number RF-392-and this will be the end of my statement-there is a -strange document which is signed by him. It was drawn up on 5 March 1945. It concerns alleged executions, without trial, of French citizens. You will find it on Page 177. It will show the Tribunal the manner in which these criminal inquiries were conducted, on orders, by the German Army, following incidents as grave as that of Oradour-sur-Glane, which had to be justified at any price. In this document, which should be cited in its entirety, I wish only to look at the next to the last paragraph. It was in the German interest to answer these reproaches as promptly as possible.
THE PRESIDENT: This is not a document of which we can take judicial notice and therefore if you want to put the whole document in you must put it in.
M. DUBOST: I am surprised, Your Honor; you have already accepted it. This is Document F-673. It was submitted as Exhibit Number RF-392 and is the whole bundle of documents of the Wiesbaden German Armistice Commission.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but is it a public document? It is not a public document, is it?
M. DUBOST: Am I to understand that the Tribunal wants me to read it in its entirety?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, F-673 seems to be a very large bundle of documents. This particular part of it, this document signed by Keitel, is a private document.
M. DUBOST: It is a document. which comes from the German Armistice Commission in Wiesbaden, which was presented several hours ago under Exhibit Number RF-392, and you accepted it.
THE PRESIDENT: I know we accepted its being deposited, but that does not mean that the whole of the document is in evidence. I mean, we have ruled over and over again that documents of which we do not take judicial notice must be read so that they will go through the interpreting system and will be interpreted into German to the German counsel.
M. DUBOST: I am therefore going to give you the reading of the whole document.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
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M. DUBOST: "The High Command of the Wehrmacht, Headquarters of the Fuehrer, 5 March 1945. WFST Qu 2 (1) Number 01487/45-g; By Captain Cartellieri. Secret. Subject: Alleged executions of French citizens without trial.
"I. German Armistice Commission.
"2. High Command West.
"In August 1944, the French Commission attached to the German Armistice Commission addressed a note to the latter, giving an exact statement of incidents concerning alleged arbitrary executions of Frenchmen from 9 to 23 June 1944.
"The information given in the French note was for 'the most part so detailed that verification from the German side was undoubtedly possible.
"On 26 September 1944 the High Command of the Wehrmacht entrusted the German Armistice Commission -with the study of this affair. The said commission later requested High Command West for an inquiry on the incidents and an opinionon the facts submitted in the French note.
"On 12 February 1945 the German Armistice Commission received from the Army Group B (from the President of the Military Tribunal of Army Group B) a note stating that the documents referring to this aff
air had been since November 1944 with the Army Judge of Pz. AOK 6, and that Pz. AOX 6 and the Second SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' had in the meantime been detached from Army Group B.
"The manner in which this affair was inquired into causes the following remarks to be made:
"The French, that is, the Delegation of the Vichy Government have in this memorandum brought on the German Wehrmacht the grave charge of having carried out numerous executions of French subjects, executions which are unjustified by law and therefore murders. It was in the interest of Germany to reply as promptly as possible to such charges. In the long period which has elapsed since the receipt of the French note it should have been possible, in spite of the development of the military situation and the movement of troops resulting there from, to single out at least part of these charges and to refute them by examination of the facts. If merely one fraction of the charge had been refuted"-this sentence is important "it would have been possible to show the French that all their claims were based upon doubtful data. By the fact that nothing at all was done in this matter by the Germans, the
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enemy must have the impression that we are not in a position to answer these charges.
"The study of this matter shows that there is often a considerable lack of understanding of the importance of counteracting all enemy propaganda and charges against the German Army by immediately refuting alleged German atrocities.
"The German Armistice Commission is hereby entrusted to continue the study of this matter with all energy. We ask that every - assistance be given them for speeding up this work now, within their own field of duty. The fact that Pz. AOK. 6 is no longer under High Command West is no reason for impeding the making of the necessary investigations for clearing up and refuting the French charges."
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, you stated, I think, that this document implicated Keitel.
M. DUBOST: It is signed by Keitel, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Signed by him, yes, but how does it implicate him in the affair of Oradour?
M. DUBOST: Mr. President, the French Commission, together with the de facto Vichy Government, frequently brought to the attention of the German authorities not only the atrocities of Oradour-sur-Glane, but numerous other atrocities. Orders were given by Keitel that these facts, which constitute absolute reality not merely in the eyes of the French but in the eyes of all those who have objectively and impartially inquired into the matter, should be examined for the purpose -of refuting part of these charges. This letter refers to the protest lodged earlier by the French, and we read part of it before you in the course of this examination of the question, particularly the facts noted in the letter of General Bridoux which mentions the murder of French people at Marsoulas in the department of Haute-Garonne, among them fourteen children.
THE PRESIDENT: I think you said that that was the last document you were going to refer to?
M. DUBOST: It is the last document.
THE PRESIDENT: Ten minutes past five. Shall we adjourn? M. Dubost, could you let us know what subject is to be gone into tomorrow?
M. DUBOST: Crimes against Humanity, by my colleague M. Faure. If you will allow me to present my conclusion this evening, it will not take long. Our work has been delayed somewhat this afternoon.
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THE PRESIDENT: How long do you think you will take, M. Dubost, to make your concluding statement?
M. DUBOST: I think by five-thirty I shall be through.
THE PRESIDENT: I think perhaps, if it is as convenient to you, we had better hear you in the morning. Is it equally convenient to you?
M. DUBOST: I am at the orders of the Tribunal.
[The Tribunal adjourned until 1 February 1946 at 1000 hours.]
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