THE PRESIDENT: I do not think you ought to omit the first four lines of
Page 5.
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: I omitted it inasmuch as I read this document
into the record yesterday, but if the Tribunal wishes—I shall gladly do
it.
THE PRESIDENT: If you read it yesterday, do not read it again. I do not
remember. Was it read yesterday?
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Yes, I read this into the record yesterday.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
I am told that—and I think—that you did not read those lines “from 10
October 1941” at the top of Page 5. I think you had better read them. I
am referring to the order of 10 October 1941, which is set out in your
exposé.
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: This is the excerpt from the order given to the
6th German Army, on 10 October 1941, signed by Von Reichenau. This
document is presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-12
(Document Number USSR-12). I quote:
“The troops have an interest in extinguishing fires only
inasmuch as military quarters have to be conserved. Otherwise
the disappearance . . . also of buildings, is within the limits
of the fight of extermination.
“At the end of 1941 and the beginning of 1942 the German command
issued a number of orders instructing German army units to
destroy, in the course of their retreat under the pressure of
the Red Army, everything that had remained unscathed during the
occupation. Thousands of villages and hamlets, whole city
blocks, and even entire cities are reduced to ashes, blown up,
or razed to the ground by the retreating German fascist army.
The organized destruction of Soviet towns and villages has
become a special branch of the criminal activity of the German
invaders on Soviet territory; special instructions and detailed
orders of the German command are devoted to methods of
devastating Soviet populated centers; special detachments,
trained in this criminal profession, are set up for this
purpose. Here are some of the many facts which are at the
disposal of the Soviet Government:”
Once again I refer to the order addressed to the 512th Infantry Regiment
already presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-168 (Document
Number USSR-168).
“This order . . . is an exposition, consisting of seven typed
pages of the most precisely detailed plan for the methodical
destruction of village after village, from 10 December to 14
December inclusive, in the regiment’s area. This order, which
follows a model used throughout the German Army, states:
“‘Preparations for the destruction of populated centers must be
carried out in such a way that:
“‘(a) No suspicions whatever be aroused among the civilian
population prior to its announcement;
“‘(b) The destruction should begin and be carried out in a
single blow at the appointed time. On the day in question
particularly strict watch must be kept to see that no civilians
leave this place, especially after the destruction has been
announced.’
“An order of the commander of the 98th German Infantry Division,
dated 24 December 1941, after listing 16 Soviet villages
designated to be burned down, states:
“‘Available stocks of hay, straw, foodstuffs, _et cetera_, are
to be burned. All the stoves in dwelling houses are to be
wrecked by placing hand grenades in them, thus making further
use of them impossible. This order under no circumstances is to
fall into the hands of the enemy.’”
The following order of 3 January 1942, issued by Hitler, is of the same
nature. The order states:
“‘Cling to every populated center; do not retreat a single step;
defend yourself to the last soldier, to the last grenade. That
is the requirement of the present moment. Every point occupied
by us must be turned into a base, which must not be surrendered
under any circumstances, even if outflanked by the enemy. If,
however, the given point must be abandoned on superior orders,
it is imperative that everything be razed to the ground, the
stoves blown up. . . .
“‘(Signed): Adolf Hitler.’
“Hitler felt no embarrassment about publicly admitting that the
devastation of Soviet towns and villages was carried out by his
Army. In his speech. . .”
THE PRESIDENT: That order of 3 January 1942, signed by Hitler, is that
in the official Soviet State report? Where did it come from?
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: This order is incorporated in the note of
People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov. I quote an excerpt from
it, a document which was presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number
USSR-51(3).
THE PRESIDENT: That is Mr. Molotov’s report?
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Yes, this is a note of the Foreign Commissar,
Molotov.
THE PRESIDENT: All right.
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: “. . . In his speech of 30 January
1942, Hitler stated:
“‘In those places where the Russians have succeeded in making a
break-through and where they thought that they would once again
be in possession of populated centers, these populated centers
no longer exist; they are but a heap of ruins.’”
While retreating from the Kuban under the thrust of the Red Army, the
German High Command worked out a detailed plan of operations which bore
the code name of “Movement Krimhild,” and a considerable part of this
plan, a whole section, in fact, is devoted to the demolition plan. I
omit one paragraph of my report.
This plan is mentioned in a two-page secret document transmitted by
telegraph to the chiefs of the higher staffs. The document is signed by
Hitler and has the following heading on the first page: “Top secret (A)
2371; 17 copies.” The document which we submit to the Tribunal as
Exhibit Number USSR-115 is the 17th copy of the Hitler order. This
document is listed as Document Number C-177; in your document book it is
contained on Pages 31 to 33. I shall read into the record the second
point of this document:
“2. Demolitions in case of retreat.
“(a) All structures, quartering facilities, roads,
constructions, dams, _et cetera_, which may be useful to the
adversary have to be thoroughly destroyed.
“(b) All railroads and field railways are to be either removed
or completely destroyed.
“(c) All constructed corduroy roads must be torn up and rendered
useless.
“(d) All oil wells in the Kuban bridgehead must be entirely
destroyed.
“(e) The harbor of Novorossiysk will be so demolished and
obstructed as to render it useless to the Russian fleet for a
long time.
“(f) Extensive sowing of mines, delayed-action mines, _et
cetera_, also come under the heading of destruction.
“(g) The enemy must take over a completely useless,
uninhabitable desert land where mine detonation will occur for
months hence.”
Many other documents bear witness of similar orders, but I want to draw
the attention of the Tribunal to just two of them. I refer to an entry
in the diary of the Defendant Frank which dealt with this subject in
particular, as well as a directive issued by the commanding general of
118th German Jäger Division which operated in Yugoslavia.
In Frank’s diary, which has already been submitted to the Tribunal,
there is the following entry for 17 April 1944, contained in the volume
which was started on 1 March 1944 and ended on 31 May 1944, entitled,
“The Business Meeting at Kraków on 12 April 1944.” Your Honors will find
the quotation on Page 45 of the document book. I read:
“It is important that the troops be given an order to leave only
scorched earth to the Russians. In cases when it becomes
necessary to withdraw from a certain area, no distinction should
be made between the territory of the Government General and any
other territory.”
May I remind the Tribunal that according to Exhibit Number USSR-132
(Document Number USSR-132), which is a secret instruction issued to the
118th German Jäger Division with the signature of Major General Kübler
and was captured in June 1944 by units of the Yugoslav People’s
Liberation Army, the troops were to treat the population “ruthlessly
with cruel firmness” and to destroy the inhabited localities which were
abandoned.
May it please Your Honors, in concluding this part of my report I deem
it necessary to draw your attention to another circumstance. The
destruction of peaceful towns and villages was not only planned, not
only carried out deliberately and with exceptional ruthlessness, but was
executed by special detachments created by the German High Command for
that very purpose. By way of evidence I shall quote several excerpts not
yet read into the record from official Soviet Government documents.
In the note of 27 April 1942 is stated—I quote an excerpt which is on
Page 9 of your document book:
“The special detachments set up by the German Command for the
purpose of setting fire to Soviet populated centers and for the
mass extermination of the civilian population during the retreat
of the Hitlerite Army, are perpetrating their sanguinary deeds
with the cold-bloodedness of professional criminals. Thus, for
instance before their retreat from the village of
Bolshekrepinskaya, Rostov region, the Germans sent down the
streets of the village special flame-throwing machines which
burned 1,167 buildings, one after the other. The large,
flourishing village was turned into flaming bonfires which
consumed the dwellings, the hospital, the school, and various
other public buildings. At the same time machine gunners,
without any warning, shot at inhabitants who approached their
burning houses; some of the residents were bound, sprayed with
gasoline and thrown into the burning buildings.”
I omit part of Page 9 of my report and pass on to the next, to the last
paragraph on that page of my report. The report of the Extraordinary
State Commission of the Soviet Union which was presented to the Tribunal
as Exhibit Number USSR-46 (Document Number USSR-46) states:
“In their insane fury against the Soviet people, which was
caused by defeats suffered at the front, the commanding general
of the 2d German Panzer Army, General Schmidt, and the commander
of the Orel administrative region and military commander of that
city, Major General Hamann, had created special demolition
commandos for the destruction of towns, villages, and collective
farms of the Orel region. These commandos, plunderers, and
arsonists destroyed everything in the path of their retreat.
They destroyed cultural monuments and works of art of the
Russian people, burned down cities, towns, and villages.”
In the document submitted to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-279
(Document Number USSR-279), the following facts are described—I read:
“In Viazma and Gjatsk, the commanding generals—Major General
Merker of the 35th Infantry Division, Major General Schäfer of
the 252d Infantry Division, and Major General Roppert of the 7th
Infantry Division—organized special incendiary and demolition
commandos to set on fire and blow up dwellings, schools,
theaters, clubs, museums, libraries, hospitals, churches,
stores, and industrial plants, so that only ashes and ruins
would be left in the wake of their retreat.”
In the document which is presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number
USSR-2 (Document Number USSR-2) there are several depositions of German
prisoners of war. I shall quote one of these depositions. I read at the
end of the page:
“Herman Verholtz, a private first class, from the 597th Infantry
Regiment of the 306th Division of the German Army, deposes as
follows:
“‘As a member of a demolition squad I took part in setting fire
to and blowing up government buildings and dwellings on First
Line, the main street of Stalino. My job was to place the
explosives, which I then ignited and thus blew up the buildings.
Altogether I participated in the demolition of five large houses
and in the burning of several others.’”
Your Honors, one could go on with the same kind of quotations. I repeat
that scores of them are contained in the documents and depositions which
we presented to the Tribunal, but I consider that there is no necessity
to do that. What has already been read into the record permits us to
conclude that the premeditated and deliberate devastations which were
carried out by the Hitlerites in the occupied territories were really a
system and not individual acts, and that those devastations were not
perpetrated only at the hand of individual officers and soldiers of the
German Army, but that these devastations were carried out on the orders
of the German Supreme Command. Therefore, I omit Page 11 of my report,
and I begin with Page 12.
In the criminal plans of the fascist conspirators, the devastation of
the capitals of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Poland occupied a
particular place. Among these plans the destruction of Moscow and
Leningrad received special attention.
Intoxicated by the first military successes, the Hitlerites elaborated
insane plans for the destruction of the greatest cultural and industrial
centers dear to the Soviet people. For this purpose they prepared
special task forces. They even hurried to advertise their “decision” to
refuse the capitulation of the cities which never even took place.
It is necessary to note that such expressions as “raze to the ground” or
“wipe from the face of the earth” were used quite frequently by the
Hitlerite conspirators. These were not only threats but criminal acts as
well. As we shall see from the subsequent presentation, in some places
they did succeed in razing flourishing towns and villages to the ground.