“Over 2 years of Hitlerite rule in Novgorod brought about the
ruin of many other wonderful, ancient monuments of Russian
architecture. . . . By order of the commanding general of the
18th German Army, Generaloberst Lindemann, the German barbarians
dismantled and prepared for removal to Germany the monument to
‘a thousand years of Russia.’ This monument was erected in the
Kremlin Square in 1862 and represented, in artistic images, the
main stages of the development of our native land up to the
sixties of the 19th century. . . .
“The Hitler barbarians dismantled the monument and smashed the
statuary. They did not, however, succeed in shipping it off and
melting down the metal.”
Citizen Youri Nikolaievich Dimitriev, in his affidavit, gives a very
detailed account of the barbarous destruction by the Germans of the
monuments of ancient Russian art in the cities of Novgorod and Pskov.
Dimitriev, since 1937, was the custodian of the Ancient Russian Art
Section of the Russian State Museum in Leningrad. He began the study of
the historical monuments of Novgorod and Pskov in 1926. As a great
expert in this particular sphere of art, he was asked by the
Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union to participate in the
investigation of the crimes of the German fascist invaders.
I submit to the Tribunal the original of Dimitriev’s depositions, duly
certified, in accordance with legal procedure in the U.S.S.R., as
Document Number USSR-312 (Exhibit Number USSR-312). You will find it,
Your Honors, on Pages 335 and 347 in your document book. In submitting
his affidavit, I shall omit facts already known to the Tribunal from the
report of the Extraordinary State Commission previously read into the
record. I quote only a few short excerpts which will be found on Pages
336 and 339. Mr. Dimitriev stated as follows—I read:
“The greater part of Novgorod is razed to the ground; only a few
districts were left by the Germans and even these were in ruins.
Pskov was also left in ruins by the Germans; during their
retreat they blew up the buildings and monuments. Of 88
buildings of historical and artistic value in Novgorod only two
buildings are without grave damages. . . . Only a few isolated
monuments in Pskov were left undamaged.
“In Novgorod and Pskov the Germans deliberately destroyed
monuments of historical and artistic value.”
And further:
“The German Army, while destroying and damaging monuments of
historical and artistic value, plundered and carried off works
of art and valuable objects which formed part of, or were
contained in, these monuments.
“At the same time the German troops profaned and desecrated
several ecclesiastical monuments of historic and artistic value
in Novgorod and Pskov.”
Day by day for 26 months, the Hitlerites systematically destroyed one of
the most ancient Russian cities, Smolensk.
The Soviet Prosecution has presented to the Tribunal a document as
Document Number USSR-56, containing the report of the Extraordinary
State Commission of the Soviet Union. I shall not quote this document;
but I shall only refer to it and endeavor, in my own words, to emphasize
the fundamental points of this document, dealing with the reported theme
now.
In Smolensk, the German fascist invaders plundered and destroyed the
most valuable collections in the museums. They desecrated and burned
down ancient monuments; they destroyed schools and institutes,
libraries, and sanatoriums. The report also mentions the fact that in
April 1943, the Germans needed rubble to pave the roads. For this
purpose, they blew up the intermediate school. The Germans burned down
all the libraries of the city and 22 schools; 646,000 volumes perished
in the library fires.