“On 8 April 1944 German soldiers of the Gestapo arrested young
André Bézillon, 18 years of age, dwelling at Oyonnax (Ain),
whose brother was in the Maquis. The body of this young man was
discovered on 11 April 1944 at Siège (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 Siège at the same time
as Bézillon. 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-Sèvres). I quote:
“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 Finistère. 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.
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 Maillé 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 F-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 Théas, 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
Hôtel des Ponts et Chaussées, 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-Pyrénées 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 HVS-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
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 protegées, 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 Bérard, 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. . . .
“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 Bérard’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 in
seizing the greater part of the town of Tulle 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 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 arms 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 Rochechouart was able to go
to Oradour and report to his chief on the following day that the
village, which comprised 85 houses, was 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 man’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 material 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.
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.
M. DUBOST: “The High Command of the Wehrmacht, Headquarters of
the Führer, 5 March 1945. WFST Qu 2 (I) Number 01487/45-g; By
Captain Cartellieri. Secret. Subject: Alleged executions of
French citizens without trial.
“1. 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 opinion on 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 affair had been since November 1944 with the
Army Judge of Pz. AOK 6, and that Pz. AOK 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 therefrom, 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 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.