“Further executions were later carried out. Thus, for instance,
11,034 Jews were executed on 9 November 1941 in Dünaburg. In the
beginning of December 1941, as a result of an operation carried
out in Riga and following the order of the Higher Chief of the
SS and Police, 27,800 persons were executed, and in mid-December
1941, in Libau, 2,350 Jews were executed. At present there are
in ghettos, besides the Jews from Germany, about 2,500 Latvian
Jews in Riga, about 950 in Dünaburg, and about 300 in Libau.”
THE PRESIDENT: Can you tell me where these figures come from? Are they
in an official report, or are they German figures?
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: These are the data published by the Germans
themselves. This particular document was discovered in the Gestapo
archives. It was brought out of Latvia by troops of the Red Army. I
request Your Honors to take note that this document covers only the
period between 16 October 1941 and 31 January 1942. This is therefore
not conclusive data but merely data connected with one German
operational group during this particular period of time.
Have I your permission to proceed, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: I quote one line only from the subparagraph
entitled “Lithuania,” which is on Page 173 of the document book,
Paragraph 3:
“In numerous individual operations, 136,421 persons were
liquidated all told.”
I request the Tribunal to allow me to quote in greater detail from the
next subparagraph of the “A” group report, entitled “White Ruthenia.” I
quote the last paragraph on Page 5 of the Russian text; Page 174, last
paragraph, of the document book:
“The final and definite liquidation of the Jews remaining in the
territory of White Ruthenia, after the arrival of the Germans,
presented certain difficulties. As a matter of fact, it is
precisely in this territory that the Jews constitute a high
percentage of specialists and are indispensable for lack of
other reserves. Moreover, Einsatzgruppe A took over the
territory only after the hard frosts had set in, a fact which
hampered the carrying out of the mass executions very seriously
indeed. A further difficulty consists in the circumstance that
the Jews are scattered all over the territory. Bearing in mind
the fact that distances are vast, road conditions bad,
transportation and petrol lacking, and the forces of the
Security Police and SD insignificant, the executions could be
carried out only by a maximum effort. Nevertheless, 41,000 Jews
have already been shot. This figure does not include the persons
executed by former Einsatzkommandos.”
I interrupt once more and proceed to read from the following
paragraph—this corresponds to Page 175, Paragraph 2 of the document
book. I begin the quotation:
“The Chief of Police in White Ruthenia, despite the difficult
situation, has been given orders to solve the Jewish question as
soon as possible. All the same, this calls for about two months’
time, according to the weather.
“The distribution of the remaining Jews in special ghettos of
White Ruthenia is nearing its end.”
In order to show how mass executions of the Jews by the German criminals
were carried out, I present to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number
USSR-119(a) (Document Number USSR-119(a)) a photostatic copy, certified
by the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union of an original
German document. This is the conclusive report of the commander of one
of the companies of the 12th Regiment of Police, which carried out the
mass extermination of the Jews assembled in the ghetto of the town of
Pinsk. On 29 and 30 October 1942, the criminal elements from the 15th
Regiment of Police murdered 26,200 Jews in Pinsk. This is how Company
Commander Sauer described the crime. I shall not quote the document _in
toto_ since it is rather long, but I shall quote a few excerpts. The
passage I am about to read—and I ask the Tribunal’s permission to read
it into the record—is on Page 177 of your document book, Paragraph 3. I
begin the quotation:
“The ordered encirclement of the districts was accomplished at
0430 hours; owing to the personal investigations made by the
commanders and to the manner in which the secret was kept, the
encirclement was carried out in the shortest time imaginable and
it was impossible for the Jews to flee.
“The combing of the ghetto was to begin at 0600 hours, but owing
to the darkness it was postponed for another half-hour. The Jews
had noticed the proceedings and began to assemble voluntarily in
all the streets. With the aid of two Wachtmeister (Staff
Sergeants) it was possible to bring several thousand Jews to the
assembly point within the very first hour. When the remaining
Jews realized what was coming, they too joined this column, so
that the screening planned by the SD at the assembly point could
not be carried out in view of the enormous multitude which had
gathered. (For the first day of the comb-out only one to two
thousand persons had been counted on.) The first comb-out ended
at 1700 hours without any incident. About 10,000 persons were
executed on this first day. That night the company was standing
by, ready for action, in a soldiers’ club.
“On 30 October 1942 the ghetto was combed a second time. On 31
October it was combed for the third time and on 1 November for
the fourth time. About 15,000 Jews were rounded up, all told.
Sick Jews and children left behind in the houses were executed
on the spot in the yard of the ghetto. About 1,200 Jews were
executed in the ghetto.”
I request the permission of the Tribunal to allow me to continue quoting
the second page of the document which corresponds to Page 178 of the
document book, Paragraph 6. I quote two points from the section
“Experiences.” I begin to quote:
“3) Where there are no cellars and a considerable number of
persons are huddled together in the small space between the
floor and the ground, these places must be broken into from the
outside, or else police dogs sent in (one police dog, Asta, put
up a remarkably good performance in Pinsk), otherwise a hand
grenade should be thrown in, after which the Jews invariably
come out into the open.”