“In the village of Gosteshevo, the Germans plundered the church,
broke up the holy banners, threw the books about, robbed the
Reverend Mikhail Strakhov and carried him off with them to
another district. In the village of Kholm, near Mozhaisk, the
Germans robbed and beat up the 82-year-old local priest. In
retreating from Mozhaisk, the Germans blew up the Church of the
Ascension, the Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Cathedral of
Nicholas, the miracle worker. As a rule, before retreating, the
Germans would drive part of the population of the villages
destroyed by fire into the churches, lock them up, and then set
fire to these churches.”
I am now reading into the record a short excerpt from Exhibit Number
USSR-312 (Document Number USSR-312), submitted to the Tribunal:
“In a north side-altar of the Znamensky Cathedral, the Germans
set up a latrine for the soldiers living in the crypt of the
cathedral.
“The Church of the Prophet Elijah on the Slavna was transformed
into a stable.
“Stables were built in the following Pskov churches:
Bogoyavlenie on Zapskovie, Kozma and Demian on the Gremiatchy
Hill, Constantine and Helen, and in the Church of Saint John the
Evangelist.”
The document which was presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number
USSR-279 (Document Number USSR-279) describes facts of blasphemous
mockery which took place in the town of Gjatsk where the churches were
transformed by the Germans into stables and warehouses. In the Church of
the Annunciation the Germans set up a slaughterhouse for horned cattle.
The document which I am now presenting to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number
USSR-246 (Document Number USSR-246) is a report of the Extraordinary
State Commission of the Soviet Union and contains general data relating
to the churches, chapels, and other institutions of religious worship
which have been destroyed or damaged. This document states:
“The German fascist invaders completely destroyed or partly
damaged 1,670 churches, 69 chapels, 237 Roman Catholic churches,
four mosques, 532 synagogues, and 254 other buildings for
religious worship.”
Your Honors will find in the document, submitted to the Tribunal as
Exhibit Number USSR-35 (Document Number USSR-35), these general data on
the subject. I will not burden the Tribunal’s attention by reading the
document into the record in full, but I should like to quote a few very
short excerpts from it. I quote:
“The material responsibility by the Germans cannot make complete
amends for the destruction of ecclesiastical buildings, and of
the most ancient historical monuments; the majority of these can
never be restored.”
Omitting the remainder of the page, as well as the first four paragraphs
of Page 91 of the report, I read the last paragraph of this page:
“Many churches, historical monuments of antiquity, were
destroyed by the German invaders in Bielorussia. Thus, in the
city of Vitebsk, they destroyed the Church of the Nativity, an
interesting monument of Bielorussian architecture of the 12th
century. They completely destroyed the wooden Apostle and Saint
Nicholas Churches, built in the 18th century.
“Almost irreparable damage was done to the
Voskresenko-Zaruchjevsky Church, built in the 18th century. This
church was an interesting example of the Bielorussian classic
style of architecture. In the same area, in the city of Vitebsk,
the Germans destroyed a Roman Catholic church built in the 18th
century. . . .
“In the town of Dyesna, of the Polotsk region, the Germans
burned a Roman Catholic church founded in the 17th century,
after plundering its property.
“Timoschel Rudolf, German garrison commandant of the town of
Rozhnyatov, in the Stanislav region, used three synagogues for
barracks and later on destroyed the buildings after plundering
the property contained therein.”