Fifty-Ninth Day:
Thursday, 14th February 1946
[Page 39]
On 28th August, 1941, German fascist troops
attempted to force the river Ipput. Powerless to
overcome the stubborn resistance of the Red Army
[Page 40]
The same dastardly crime against the civilian
population was repeated by the German Command in
the Vybori Collective Farm Sector of the Leningrad
region as well as in the district of Yelna, in the
region of Smolensk. The fascist thugs continue to
resort to this brutal and cowardly method right up
to the present day. On 8 December the Hitlerites
made use of the local civil population to cover
their retreat from the village of Yamnoye, in the
region of Tula. On 12 December, in the same
region, they assembled 120 persons - old people
and children - and made them march in the
vanguard of their troops during engagements with
the advancing units of the Red Army. In the fight
by our troops for the liberation of the city of
Kalinin, units of the German 303rd Regiment, 162nd
Division, attempting to launch a counter-attack,
assembled the women of one of the suburban
villages, placed them in the vanguard of their
troops, and then went into action. Fortunately the
Soviet troops succeeded, when beating off the
attack, in driving a wedge between the Hitlerites
and their victims, thereby saving the lives of the
women."
I will quote an extract from the second part of this note,
which the Tribunal will find on Page 2 of the document book,
Paragraph 4.
With a complete disregard for age or conditions of
health, the Soviet citizens were compelled, under
threat of torture, shooting or death by
starvation, to perform, gratuitously, various
kinds of heavy work, including work of a military
nature. In a number of cases, civilians employed
on one or another job of a military nature were
summarily shot to ensure secrecy.
Thus, for instance, in the village of Kolpine, in
the region of Smolensk, the invaders drove all the
farmers off to work on building bridges and
dugouts for German units. Upon the completion of
the construction of these fortifications, all
these farmers were shot."
COUNSELLOR SMIRNOV: Yes, sir.
(The Tribunal adjourned until 15th February, 1946 at 1000
hours.)
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(Part 15 of 15)
[COLONEL L. N. SMIRNOV continues] "In addition to all that has already been stated,
the Soviet Government has in its possession
documentation bearing on the monstrous atrocities
systematically repeated by the German fascist
command, such as the use of Soviet civilians to
cover German troops during battle with the Red
Army.
In order to satisfy the needs of the German fascist armies
and in violation of all International Conventions, the
criminals employed the civil population for particularly
dangerous work, especially for clearing the mine fields.
"Wherever German troops and German authorities
made their appearance on Soviet territory, a
regime of brutal exploitation, tyranny and
arbitrary rule was immediately established as far
as the defenceless civil population was concerned.
THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps this would be a good time to break
off.