Now I wish to read to the Tribunal extracts from two letters addressed
to the German Armistice Commission at Wiesbaden by the ex-Ambassador
Scapini, both dated 4 April 1941. The Tribunal will find them reproduced
in the document book before them, Pages 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22:
“4 April 1941.
“M. Georges Scapini, Ambassador of France.
“To his Excellency Monsieur Abetz, German Ambassador in Paris.
“Subject: Men captured after ‘the coming into force of the
Armistice Convention and treated as prisoners of war. . . .’”
At the bottom of the page:
“I. The Geneva Convention applies only during a state of war as
far as captures are concerned. Armistice, however, suspends war
operations; therefore, any man captured after the Armistice
Convention came into force and treated as a prisoner of war, is
wrongfully retained in captivity. . . .”
Page 17, third paragraph:
“The Armistice Convention, in its second paragraph, states only
that the French Armed Forces stationed in regions to be occupied
by Germany are to be brought back quickly into unoccupied
territory and demobilized, but does not say that they are to be
taken into captivity, which would be contrary to the Geneva
Convention. . . .”
Fifth paragraph of the same page:
“1. Civilians. If it is admitted that civilians captured before
the armistice cannot be treated as prisoners of war, as
discussed in my previous letter, surely there is all the more
reason not to consider as such those captured after the
armistice. I note in this respect that captures, some of which
were collective, were carried out several months after the end
of hostilities. . . .”
Then on Page 18, the top of the page:
“To the categories of civilians defined in my first letter, I
wish to add one more—that of demobilized civilians who were
going back to their homes in the occupied zone after the
armistice and who, more often than not, were captured on their
way home and sent into captivity as a result of the initiative
of local military authorities.
“2. Soldiers. As such I would define, by convention, men who,
though freed after the armistice, could not for some reason—due
to the difficult circumstances of that period—be provided with
the regular demobilization papers. Many of them were captured
and taken into captivity under the same condition as those
mentioned above. . . .”
I think the Tribunal will not require the reading of that example, but
if the President wishes, I shall read it.
THE PRESIDENT: No.