Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-07-59.08
Last-Modified: 1997/10/10

I think we can now pass on at once to the general
conclusions and to read into the Record to this end
Subparagraph g on Page 39 Page 287 of the document book:--

     "The above-mentioned treatment of Polish prisoners
     of war by individuals as well as by the German
     military authorities, flagrantly violated the
     articles of the Geneva Convention of 1929, Pages
     2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 29, 30, 50 and 54. The Convention
     in question had been ratified by Germany on 21st
     February, 1934."
     
                                                   [Page 19]
                                                            
Soldiers of the Yugoslav Army, captured by the German
troops, were subjected to unbridled ill-treatment by the
fascist invaders. Ill-treatment, torture, and torment,
together with mass executions, were introduced as a part of
the system. Here too, the Hitler criminals were perfectly
aware of what they were doing. To white-wash themselves, if
only a little, in the eyes of the world, they referred, in
all documents concerning the destruction of Yugoslav
prisoners of war, to the officers and men of the Yugoslav
Army as "bandits."

The second paragraph from the bottom of Page 23 of the
official Yugoslav report with regard to the above matter,
reads as follows (I quote Page 23 of Exhibit USSR 305. This
quotation begins on Page 326 of your document book):--

     "...Everywhere where the Germans used the so-
     called actions against 'bands and bandits' as a
     pretext for the annihilation of the civilian
     population (women, children and old people), units
     of the Yugoslav National Army of liberation and
     partisan units had actually been involved....
     
     Being under military command and wearing
     recognizable military emblems and insignia, they
     conducted an armed struggle against the fascist
     occupational forces and, moreover, they were fully
     recognized by all the Allies. Besides, we will see
     later on that in some of its documents, the German
     Command itself unmistakably recognized this fact,
     yet in its attitude towards the Yugoslav warriors
     it continued unrestrainedly to violate the
     principles of the International Law regarding
     conduct of war."

As an additional confirmation of the report, the form of
which is in accordance with the requirements of Article 21
of the Charter concerning the admissibility of evidence, I
also submit to the Tribunal Exhibit USSR 305 (Yu-68). This
is an excerpt from the report by the Yugoslav State
Commission concerning the determination of crimes committed
by the occupational forces and their accomplices. The State
Commission reports that there is at its disposal a secret
report by Lieutenant-General Hoesslin, the officer in
command of the 188th Mountain Infantry Reserve Division,
numbered 9070/44. The report is of great importance because
of the following considerations which I will explain to the
Tribunal in the terms of this document. I quote:--

     "Although the report refers to our divisions,
     brigades, and artillery battalions under their
     proper names and proper numbers -- in cases of
     military engagements -- our whole army is called
     in this report by the general name of 'bandits,'
     and for the very simple reason that by so doing
     they are attempting to divest us of the rights of
     belligerents, they themselves assuming the right
     to shoot prisoners of war, to kill the wounded and
     to have a pretext for employing repressive
     measures against the peaceful non-combatant
     population, allegedly because of their assistance
     to the 'bandits.' Lieutenant-General Hoesslin
     admits that the combat group of Colonel Christel
     after 'a night engagement with weak bandit forces'
     -- these are the precise words of the report --
     burnt down Laskovitz, Lazna, Lokva and Cepovan,
     and destroyed a hospital. In General Hoesslin's
     report it is further stated that the division,
     together with the 3rd Brandenburg Regiment and
     other German and Police units, participated in 'a
     free-for-all manhunt for bandits in the
     neighbourhood of Klan' (Operation `Ernst')...."
     
I submit to the Tribunal Exhibit USSR 132 (Yu-67), Page 363
of your document book. This represents an excerpt from the
directives issued by Major-General Kuebler concerning the
conduct of troops in action, an extract which was certified
by the Yugoslav State Commission. I read these excerpts into
the record:--

                                                   [Page 20]
                                                            
     "Secret;
     118th Jaeger Division; ABT Ic
     Br. B. No. 1418/43 secret
     Div. Hqs., 12.5.1943
     for the Conduct of Troops in Action.
     
     2. Prisoners:
     
     Anyone having participated openly in the fight
     against the German Armed Forces and having been
     taken prisoner is to be shot after interrogation."
     
I further submit to the Tribunal Exhibit USSR 304 (Yu-56)
the excerpt from Memorandum No. 6 of the Yugoslav State
Commission for the determination of the crimes committed by
the occupational forces and by their accomplices.

In the last paragraph of this excerpt (Page 2 of the Russian
text) is stated as follows  (your Page 365 of the document
book):--

     "On 3rd May, 1945, the Germans brought from one of
     the Partisan hospitals thirty-five manacled
     patients and hospital orderlies. Ten of the
     patients who were unable to walk were stood
     against the wall and shot. Their bodies were piled
     in a heap, covered with wood and set on fire."
     
As Exhibit USSR 307 (Yu-73), I submit another extract from
statement Memorandum No. 6 of the same State Commission.
This statement is found on Page 85 to 115 of the first book
entitled "Memoranda on Crimes Committed by the Occupation
Forces and their Accomplices." I shall now proceed to quote
a part of this extract:--

     "On 5th June, 1944, Hitler's criminals captured
     two soldiers of the Yugoslav Liberation Army and
     the Slovene Partisan Detachments. They brought
     them to Razori, where they cut off their noses and
     ears with bayonets, gouged out their eyes and then
     asked then [sic] if they could see their comrade
     Tito. Thereupon they assembled the peasants and
     beheaded the two victims in their presence....
     They then placed both the heads on a table."
     
In accordance with their usual practice of photographing the
bodies of their victims, the fascists then took photographs,
and, as is further stated in the extract quoted by me:--

     "Later, in the course of the fighting, the
     photographs were found on a fallen German. From
     this it can be seen that they confirm the incident
     at Razori which has been described above."
     
These pictures will be submitted to the Tribunal together
with other Yugoslav photographic evidence.

Under Document USSR-65/a (Yu-69) I submit to the Tribunal an
announcement signed by the Commander of the S.S. and Police
Detachments of the 18th military district, S.S.
Gruppenfuehrer and Lieutenant General of Police, Roesener. I
shall now proceed to read into the record a part of this
announcement. You will thus be able to see that the warriors
of the Yugoslav Armed Forces who were taken prisoner were
either hanged or shot. This document is on Page 367 of your
document book.

     "In view of various clashes between police
     detachments and Yugoslav units..."
     
I omit several sentences of this document concerning a
description of the encounters between detachments of Polish
and Yugoslav units:--

     "Eighteen bandits were recently killed in action
     and a considerable number taken prisoner. The
     following bandits, who were among the prisoners,
     were publicly hanged at Stein on 30th June,
     1942.... "
     
This statement is followed by the names of eight Yugoslav
soldiers between the ages of twenty-one and forty years. I
will not read this list into the record. On Page 36 of our
Exhibit USSR 36 (your Page 339), the first paragraph from
the bottom reads:--

                                                   [Page 21]

     "We can find identical evidence in a collection of
     official notes on the staff conferences of
     Gauleiter Ueberreiter... Thus, for example, it is
     stated in the minutes of the conference held on
     23rd March, 1942:

     "Fifteen bandits were executed in Maribor today."

I omit some sentences from the minutes of the conference
held on 27th July, 1942:--

     "Many bandits have been shot recently."

The minutes of the conference of 1st December, 1942, contain
a passage:--

     "Since the bandits started their activities in
     July, 1941, 164 have been shot by the uniformed
     police and 1,043 by special procedure
     (Sonderverfahren)."

The minutes of 25th January, 1943, state:--

     "The number of guerilla troops liquidated on 8th
     January, 1942, by the Security Police and the
     uniformed branch is eighty-six, including wounded
     and prisoners, seventy-seven of whom were killed."
     
Such notes can be found in almost every one of the minutes
of these conferences held by Ueberreiter.

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