Sixty-Ninth Day:
Wednesday, 27th February, 1946
[Page 8]
You can find a confirmation of this fact in the Report of
the Extraordinary State Commission on Oswiecim, where
numerous statements of individual internees
[Page 9]
I quote two paragraphs:-
Witness David Suritz, from the town of Salonica (Greece),
stated the following:-
Hitler said to Rauschning:-
Sterilisation and castration became a criminal practice of
the Hitlerites in the occupied territories in Eastern
Europe. I beg the Tribunal's permission to draw its
attention to two of these documents.
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Smirnov, perhaps that would be a
convenient time to break off.
The Tribunal would like to know how long you think you will
take before you conclude your statement.
COLONEL SMIRNOV: I believe, Mr. President, that I will
finish my statement today.
I would like the Tribunal to allow me to question three more
witnesses today and I still have about one hour of reading.
But it is very difficult for me to determine the time
exactly, as that sometimes depends on other factors known to
you, which may force me to change my intentions.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now for ten minutes.
(A recess was taken.)
COLONEL SMIRNOV: I ask the permission of the Tribunal to
draw its attention to two very short German documents, which
we are submitting as exhibit USSR 400 in photostats
certified by the Extraordinary State Commission. They are
two reports submitted by Lieutenant Frank, head of a
Security Police division regarding the conditions under
which a gypsy woman, Lucia Strasdinsch had the right to
reside in the town of Libau.
[Page 10]
Security Police Post, Town of Libau.
Libau, 10th December, 1941.
It has been decided that the gypsy Lucia Strasdinsch will
be allowed to take up residence here again only on the
condition that she submits to being sterilised. She is to
be informed accordingly and a report on the result to be
rendered to this office.
Frank Lt., Security Police and O.C. Security Police
Post."
Paragraph 7:- "A series of other experiments - artificial
infection with malaria, artificial insemination and so
forth." [Page 11]
I submit these documents. The first document is submitted as
Exhibit USSR 397. The members of the Tribunal may find it on
Page 218 of the document book. I am quoting the text of the
document:-
(Signed) Kirste, SS Sturmbannfuehrer." [Page 12]
(Signed) Kirste, SS Sturmbannfuehrer."
(Signed) Kirste, SS Sturmbannfuehrer."
I would now request the Tribunal's permission to summon as
witness a Polish woman, Shmaglevskaia, to testify regarding
the attitude of the German fascists toward the children in
the concentration camps.
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(Part 3 of 9)
[COLONEL L. N. SMIRNOV continues]
"Professor Schumann (a German). These experiments were
carried out on fifteen girls of 17 to 18 years of age,
including Shishni, Bella, Buena and Dora, from Salonica
(Greece). Only a few of them survived, but unfortunately
they are still in German hands, and we have consequently
no objective data on these brutal experiments. However,
the following has been established beyond doubt: The
girls were placed between two plates within the field of
ultra-short waves; one electrode was place in the abdomen
and the other on the buttocks. The focus of the rays was
directed on the ovaries which were consequently burnt
out. As a result of the irregular dosage, serious burns
appeared on the stomach and on the buttocks. One girl
died of these terrible burns, the other girls were sent
to Birkenau to the medical unit or to working commandos.
A month later they were returned to Oswiecim, where they
were subjected to two operations for checking the
results; one, a longitudinal, the other a horizontal
incision. The reproductive organs were removed for study.
As a result of the destruction of hormones, the girls
completely changed in appearance and resembled old
women."
Experiments in sterilisation of women and castration of men
were carried out in Oswiecim on a mass scale beginning in
1942, and some time after the sterilisation, the men were
castrated for a special study of the tissues.
"Vilagora, who was subjected to such experiments, stated:-
I believe that it was not by accident that the experiments
on people began with sterilisation and castration. This was
a quite natural result of the theories of German Fascism,
interested in lowering the birth-rate of those people whom
they considered to be vanquished. It was a part of Hitler's
"depopulation technique" and in confirmation of this, I
would now like to quote a very short excerpt from
Rauschning's book, "The Voice of Destruction", which has
already been submitted to the Tribunal. This extract has not
yet been read into the record, and the Tribunal will find it
on Page 207 of the document book.
'A few days after I had been brought to Birkenau, I
believe, it was in the first days of December, 1942, all
the young men from 18 to 30 years of age were sterilised
by X-raying the scrotum. I myself was among those
sterilised. Eleven months later, that is to say, on the
1st of November, 1943, I was castrated. Together with me
on that same day two hundred persons were sterilised.'
'Toward July 1943 1 myself and ten other Greeks were
placed on some kind of list and sent to Birkenau. There
we were stripped and subjected to sterilisation by X-
rays. A month later we were summoned to a central section
of the camp where all those sterilised underwent an
operation for castration.' "
"And by 'destruction' I do not necessarily mean
extermination of these people - I shall simply take
systematic measures to prevent their procreation."
I omit the next three sentences and quote one more sentence:-
"There are many means by which a systematic and
comparatively painless extinction of undesirable races
can be attained, at any rate without blood being shed."
This excerpt is on Page 137 of the book, "Voice of
Destruction".
"To the prefect of the town of Libau.
The second document is a memorandum from the Prefecture of
Libau to the head of the Security Police Post.
"I herewith return your letter of 10th December, 1941
regarding the sterilisation of the gypsy Lucia
Strasdinsch and beg to report that this person was
sterilised in the local hospital on 9th January, 1942.
Pertinent letter No. 850 of 12.1.42 from the hospital is
attached."
In order to show the extent of the experiments which were
performed on live persons, I would ask your Honour to turn
to the Report of the Extraordinary State Commission. The
extract which I should like to quote, the members of the
Tribunal may find on Page 197 of the document book, second
paragraph. It is stated there that a statistical report by
the commandant of the camp has been discovered in the
archives of the camp, This report is signed by the deputy
commander of the camp Gella. It has a column under the
heading "Internees nominated for Experiments." This column
reads as follows:-
"Women subject to experiments: on 15th May, 1944 - 400
I would like to conclude this chapter on experiments on live
persons, with the following: I would like to quote the
memorandum of the report on Oswiecim camp. The members of
the Tribunal may find the passage on Page 197 of the
document book, paragraph 5. I omit the part which refers to
sterilisation and castration because I think that this
question has been sufficiently elucidated. I will quote only
points 4, 6 and 7 of the memorandum, which speak of the
researches carried out in Oswiecim with various chemical
preparations at the request of various German firms.
According to the testimony of one German physician, Dr.
Valentin Erwin, there was one case where the representatives
of a German chemical firm, Dr. Glauber, a gynaecologist from
Konigshhutte, and Chemist Gebel, bought from the
administration of the camp a hundred and fifty women for
such experiments. I omit paragraph 5 and I quote paragraph
6:-
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .on 15th June - 413
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .on 19th June - 348 " and so on.
"Experiments on men by applying irritant chemical
substances on the skin of the calf in order to create
ulcers and phlegmons."
I omit the three next pages of my statement which give the
particulars of these experiments. I would only like to draw
the attention of the Tribunal to other crimes perpetrated by
the German doctors, and, in particular, to the extermination
of patients in mental hospitals. I am not going to quote all
the examples which the Tribunal will find in the Report of
the Extraordinary State Commission, but will dwell on one
crime only, which was perpetrated in the city of Kiev. I
quote a paragraph from the Report of the Extraordinary State
Commission on the city of Kiev, which the members of the
Tribunal will find on Page 212 of the document book,
paragraph 6:-
"On 14th October, 1941 an SS detachment under the
leadership of the German garrison physician Rikowsky,
entered the mental hospital. The Hitlerites drove three
hundred patients into one building, kept them there
without food and water, and then shot them in a gully of
the Kirilovsky wood. The remaining patients were
exterminated on 7th January, 27th March, and 17th
October, 1942."
"During the German occupation of the city of Kiev, the
Kiev Psychiatric Clinic had to experience some very
tragic days, which culminated in the complete ruin and
destruction of the hospital. A crime was committed
against the unfortunate mentally sick people, the like of
which had not been known in history up to this time."
I omit the next part and I quote further on:-
"In the course of the years 1941-1942, eight hundred
patients were killed."
I omit the next two paragraphs and I read on:-
"On 7th January, 1942, the Gestapo men came to the
hospital. They posted guards everywhere in the grounds of
the hospital. To enter or leave the hospital was
forbidden. A representative of the Gestapo requested the
selection of the chronically sick people to be sent to
Zhitomir."
I omit the next sentence.
"What was in store for the sick people was carefully
concealed from the medical staff. After that, special
vehicles arrived at the hospital. The sick people were
pushed into them, some sixty to seventy persons into each
one. Everyone could see these atrocities, which were
perpetrated in front of the ward windows. The patients
were pushed into the vehicles and were murdered. Their
corpses were thrown out on the spot. This awful deed went
on for two days, and three hundred and sixty five
patients were exterminated. The patients who could think
soon realised the truth. There were heartrending scenes.
For example, a young girl, patient Y., in spite of all
the efforts of the doctor, understood that death was
awaiting her. She came out of the ward, embraced the
doctor, and quietly asked him, 'Is this the end?' Pale as
death, she went to the vehicle and, refusing any
assistance, climbed inside. The entire staff was told
that any criticism or any expression of displeasure would
be completely out of place and would be regarded as
sabotage."
I shall quote one more sentence from this report:-
"It is a characteristic detail that these unprecedented
murders were committed on Christmas Day, when Christmas
trees were being distributed to the German soldiers, and
the inscription 'God with us' sparkled on the belts of
the executioners."
I think it possible to omit the following four pages of my
speech because they deal with similar cases of the murder of
mental patients in other parts of the country. Similar
methods were used for these murders as those used in Kiev. I
will request the Tribunal to accept as evidence the
photostats of three German documents, certified by the
Extraordinary State Commission, which testify to the fact
that special official formulas were worked out for the
murder of the insane by the German fascists.
"To the Registrar's office in the town of Riga:"
I omit the next paragraph.
"I hereby certify that 368 incurable mental patients,
whose names appear on the annexed list died on 29th
January, 1942.
"I hereby certify that 243 incurable mental patients,
whose names appear on the enclosed list, died on 14th
April, 1942.
The third document is submitted as exhibit USSR 398. This is
a report by the head of the Security Police and SD, Latvia,
dated 15th March, 1943. I will read into the record one
paragraph of this document:-
"I hereby certify that 98 incurable mental patients whose
names appear on the enclosed list, died on 22nd October,
1942.
I think I can also omit the next one and a half pages of my
statement, but I would request the Tribunal to accept as
evidence the following document without reading it, as proof
of the experiments carried out on live persons. I submit as
Exhibit USSR 406 the data about the experiments carried out
in another camp, the Ravensbruck camp. It contains the
results of the investigation by the Polish State Commission.
The photographs contained therein are very characteristic
and I need not comment on them, they are self-evident.