Posted on 09/11/2012 4:17:43 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Richard Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/sep42/f11sep42.htm
Allies stop Japanese advance
Friday, September 11, 1942 www.onwar.com
In New Guinea... The Japanese are halted in Owen Stanley Range at Ioribaiwa.
I posted this a while back, but it might have more relevance for this post:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
September 11th, 1942
GERMANY: The commander of U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg) died in a unique incident on 11 Sept. He allowed his crew to swim in the sea and when he was about to dive from the tower the boat moved and he hit the saddle tank being badly wounded. He died the next day.
U-533 launched
U-196 commissioned.
(Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: The ruined city of Stalingrad is tonight in immediate danger of falling to the Germans. German 6th Army commander General Friedrich Paulus has fought off Zhukov’s hastily-prepared counter-attack and is working his way towards the heart of the city against stubborn resistance. Russians guns, safe on the eastern bank of the Volga, are pounding the Germans, whose latest communique says that the “fortified belt of steel” around Stalingrad has to be taken “piece by piece” from the Russians, “who resist fiercely and desperately to the end.”
Paulus is summoned to “Werewolf” to explain to Adolf Hitler why 6th Army hasn’t taken Stalingrad. Paulus tells Hitler that an attack will go in with 11 divisions, three of them panzer, on 13 September. The Russians have only three infantry divisions, parts of four others, and two tanks brigades against him. Stalingrad should crack, he says and Hitler is pleased. (Jack McKillop)
Finnish s/s Hera and s/s Jussi H sunk in Gulf of Bothnia by sub. S 13. (Dave Shirlaw)
LIBYA: New Zealand raiders of the Long Range Desert Group attack the Italian air base at Barce and destroy 23 Italian aircraft on the ground. (Jack McKillop)
BURMA: RAF bombers attack Japanese positions in Prome, Mandalay and Rangoon.
SOLOMON ISLANDS, GUADALCANAL: Colonel Oka, in command of Japanese forces west of the Lunga perimeter, issues his attack plan for the attack on the west side of the Perimeter. This morning he reached the naval ground forces under Capt. Monzen near the mouth of the Matanikau River. He also has the 3rd Btn 4th Regiment which was landed last night. Accompanying them was Colonel Matsumoto, advance man for Japanese Army HQ.
General A.A. Vandegrift, Colonel Edson and Colonel Gerald Thomas know the Japanese will attack soon.
Edson picks a ridge one mile south of Henderson Field. The 1st Marine Raider Btn. dig in.
General Kawaguchi issued his attack plan on the 7th which calls for his forces to split into three groups. One would attack the east side of the Perimeter, the other two would surprise the Marines by attacking from the south. This main attack would cross a ridge, known to the Japanese as “The Centipede”. This ridge will become known to history as “Edsons” or “Bloody” ridge. The forces are almost in place for battle tomorrow night.
12 USMC F4F Wildcats intercept 26 IJN G4M “Betty” bombers and 8 A6M “Zeke” fighters at about 1200 hours. The Marines shoot down 6 G4Ms and 1 A6M but loose 1 F4F. In the afternoon, 24 F4Fs of the USN’s Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5), which is part of the Saratoga Air Group, land at Henderson Field to augment the defenses.
In what becomes a standard scene in a number of Hollywood submarine movies, Pharmacist’s Mate First Class Wheeler B. Lipes performs an appendectomy on Seaman First Class Darrell D. Rector, 19, on board the submarine USS Seadragon (SS-194) while she was en route from Australia to French Indochina. He is assisted by R. Franz P. Hoskins (d. 2001) who acts as an anaesthesiologist, without training when he administered three pints of ether in the operation. (William L. Howard)
NEW GUINEA: An Australian force surrounded four days previously fights its way out of the Japanese encirclement. But the Australians are forced to pull back again, and the Japanese 18th Army is only 32 miles (51 kilometres) from Post Moresby. (Jack McKillop)
In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders hit Efogi and Menari in the Owen Stanley Range and Buna Airfield; B-17 Flying Fortresses, along with RAAF Hudsons, attack 2 IJN destroyers 20 miles (32 km) east of Normanby Island; a B-17 scores a direct hit on the stern of the destroyer HIJMS Yayoi, which later sinks. (Jack McKillop)
PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Saury (SS-189) sinks a Japanese aircraft transport approximately 30 miles (48 kilometres) off the west coast of the Celebes, in central Makassar Strait, Netherlands East Indies. (Jack McKillop)
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutians: US 11th Air Force weather, photo, and patrol aircraft draws AA fire over Chichagof Harbor, Attu Island and also covers Tanaga, Amchitka, and Semichi Islands.
CANADA: With so many young men involved in the war effort, there was a critical shortage of labor across the country and the government announces that all women, single and married, born between 1918 and 1922, are required to register with the Unemployment Insurance Commission. The Calgary, Alberta, manager of the Commission explains that the women would not necessarily be given employment immediately, but that their experience and skills would be classified in case they were required for necessary war work.
Across the Canadian prairies, hundreds of people, including teachers, bankers, lawyers, clergymen and schoolchildren, volunteer to assist with bringing in the harvest. In Drumheller, Alberta, as in towns all across the prairies, the local Board of Trade organized busses and cars to take the volunteers to farms where they worked with local farmers to harvest the grain and build granaries to store it. (Jack McKillop)
Whilst escorting convoy QS.33 which had lost 5 merchantmen, Flower class corvette HMCS Charlottetown is torpedoed and sunk by U-517 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at 49 12N 66 48W. Charlottetown was returning to Gaspe, Quebec. (Alex Gordon)(108)
Minesweepers HMS Mary Rose (ex HMCS Toronto), HMS Moon (ex HMCS Mimico), HMS Providence (ex HMCS Forest Hill), HMS Regulus (ex HMCS Long Branch, HMS Serene (ex HMCS Leaside) and HMS Seabear (ex HMCS St Thomas) ordered from Toronto Shipbuilding.
Corvettes HMCS Charlottetown, Weyburn and minesweeper HMCS Clayoquot devlivered Convoy SQ-35 to Red Islet. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: President Roosevelt presented the Norwegian Navy with a new submarine chaser. “It is today the privilege of the people of the United State’s, through the mechanism of the Lend-Lease Law, to assist this gallant navy in carrying out its present heavy duties”.
Submarine USS Steelhead launched.
Destroyer USS Davison commissioned.
(Dave Shirlaw)
CARIBBEAN SEA: Canadian merchantman SS Cornwallis (5,458 GRT) damaged in the Caribbean Sea in position 13.05N, 059.36W by torpedoes from U-514. Cornwallis was repaired and returned to service but was lost later due to further German action. U-514 was a long-range Type IXC U-boat, built by Deutsche Werft AG, at Bremen. She was commissioned 24 Jan 42. U-514 conducted four patrols and compiled a record of six ships sunk for a total of 24,531 tons and two ships damaged for a further 13,551 tons. U-514 was sunk on 08 Jul 43, northeast of Cape Finisterre, Spain, in position 43.37N, 008.59W, by rockets from a specially modified RAF ‘Liberator’ patrol a/c from RAF 224 Sqn that was conducting an operational trial at the time of the engagement. All 54 of U-514’s crewmembers were lost. KptLt. Hans-Jürgen Aufferman was her only CO. Hans-Jürgen Auffermann was born in 1914, at Göttingen. He joined the navy in 1934 and tranfered to the U-boat Force in Jan 41. After conversion training, he served as the first Watch Officer in the Type VIIC boat U-69 from Apr to Oct 41 under the command of the ‘ace’ KptLt. Jost Metzler, Knights Cross, until he became ill and Auffermann assumed command for the last four days of the patrol. He completed this tour of duty under the command of KptLt. Wilhelm Zahn. He was promoted to KptLt on 01 Sep 41. Auffermann was selected for command and underwent his U-boat commander’s course from Nov 41 to Jan 42. He was appointed to commission U-514 on 24 Jan 42. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-96 sank SS De Laes.
U-218 damaged SS Fjordaas in Convoy ON-127.
U-404 damaged SS Marit II in Convoy ON-127.
U-584 sank SS Empire Oil in Convoy ON-127. (Dave Shirlaw)
Thanks. I forgot to listen to it the last time. Now that Gracie has explained the reason for it gasoline rationing will be easier to take. Maybe you should post it again on December 1. Isn't that the original broadcast date?
"Arab resentment against the British role in the Middle East increased as more European Jews sought a homeland in Palestine, requiring British troops to keep peace between Jews and Arabs.
Nonetheless, some Jews and Arabs were sympathetic to the British and joined the fight against the Nazis and Fascists.
Arab leader Fakhri al-Nashashibi even urged his followers to join the British Army.
Here, a squad of Arabs belonging to the Palestine Regiment is shown on parade after completing six months of training."
"The Muslim grand mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini (pictured, left) was a nationalist Palestinian religious leader.
In the 1930s he organized Arab attacks against the British and Jews in Palestine and Iraq. Fleeing British authorities, Husseini was greeted with open arms by the Nazis in Berlin.
"During World War II Husseini sympathized publicly and privately with the Nazis' antisemitism as well as with their anti-British policies.
He spent most of the war in Berlin and reportedly visited several camps.
Husseini obtained a promise from Hitler that after Germany conquered the Middle East, the Jews who resided there would suffer the same extermination as the European Jews.
"Husseini recruited thousands of European Muslims for service in the Waffen-SS.
He escaped trial for war crimes, and after 1946 he spent the rest of his life entertained in various Middle Eastern capitals."
The following case records contain graphic and explicit case histories of Soviet atrocities committed against German soldiers and airmen on the Eastern Front during World War 2.
It is being posted for a couple of reasons. First, it was incidents such as these that helped turn the Eastern Front into the vicious, inhuman and terrifying fighting conflict it ultimately became. Most German fighting men viewed the war in Russia with hatred, revulsion but, most of all, terror. It also was a large reason why so many German soldiers fought to the death rather than surrender to an enemy who would shoot them down the minute they surrendered, if they were lucky. Rumors quickly spread among the Wehrmacht fighting units of the tortures their sick and wounded comrades had endured at the hands of the Soviet enemy. Not only were most of these horrors true, they were abundant. The German fighting man may have had mixed feelings about their Russian enemy at the start of the war but after hearing some of these terrible stories that quickly changed, particularly during the early years of the war. Another reason these are posted is that many of these incidents are virtually unknown to us in the west. While Soviet atrocities were somewhat familiar to the higher-ups in Washington and London very little news of these horrifying events reached most of the Allied people until very late in the war. Since the Soviet Union was the one responsible for keeping the large bulk of the German Army and Luftwaffe pinned to the Eastern Front and since the Russians were paying the price in millions of causalities a year-it was felt that opening this can of worms was not worth the price. Anyone who doubts the authenticity of these terrible stories is just fooling themselves-I have read a large part of the extra documentation that goes with many of these incidents (transcripts and judicial proceedings) and in my opinion they are largely accurate.
Out of respect for the dead, the names of victims were abbreviated in all cases. The full names are available for consultation in the Freiburg Military Archives by document volumes. By contrast, the names of all judges, witnesses, and experts-where I include them, etc. are given in full.
One further thing-there are a massive amount of these cases so I have left out a huge number but have tried to include only a moderate amount that are interesting (if one can use that word when dealing with these horrors)-even with that I have had to break up the cases into separate postings on different days. For those of you who feel I have included too much information-I apologize ahead of time.
Lieutenant General von Hubicki, Commander of 9th Panzer Division and members of staff being briefed about the possibility that German airmen have been executed in the city of Lemberg (Lvov), which has just been seized by German forces.
Two German fliers, a First Lieutenant and Wachmeister (Cavalry Sergeant)were captured by the Russians after bailing out of their burning plane on 22 June 1941, southwest of Lomza, in the vicinity of Zambro.
One of the two fliers had a serious knee injury after bailing out and also had suffered a wound in the face, which seriously hindered his vision due to severe bleeding. Immediately after being taking prisoner, Russian soldiers tore off their clothing down to shirt and underclothing. All their private property was confiscated. They were insulted and finally forced to walk for two hours, clothed only in shirt and underclothing, barefoot, with their hands up, in front of the Russians on poor, rutted paths through the fields for approximately two hours. Whenever they allowed their hands to drop due to exhaustion, they were jabbed with rifle barrels. One of the two German prisoners, a First Lieutenant was even whipped with a Nagaika by a Russian officer. After painful hours, they reached the village of Sambridze-Stare. There they were interrogated by high-ranking Russian officers. They were interrogated as to their membership as German troops. When the two Germans refused to give information, they were led to a fenced-in potato patch one of the roads from Ostrow-Maz.-Bialystok, where there was a barn on the side opposite the road. They were ordered to stand with their backs up against the barn. They were guarded by mounted sentries armed with carbines, on both sides of the field. When the area suddenly came under fire, obviously by German forces, one of the sentries aimed his carbine at the Wachmeister (cavalry sergeant) and shot him in the thigh and immediately afterwards shot him again in the upper arm. When the Wachmeister called out to his superior First Lieutenant, Im hit!, he received no answer, because the First Lieutenant had also been fatally shot in this same moment by a shot in the back. The Russian sentries ran away. During the night, Russian officers appeared and checked to be sure that both POWs were dead. Since they both looked dead, they went away again. The survivor succeeded in reaching German lines again the next day.
Case 002
On 22 June 1941, a wounded German soldier in the municipality of Mosty-Male (on the demarcation line) had to be left behind in the company of an unwounded German soldier. Both men were to be rescued soon afterwards. Before this could be accomplished, Russian troops reached Mosty-Male. A Russian officer and two soldiers visited the Mayors office, found the wounded German soldier lying there, and shot him dead, although his status as a wounded man was clearly discernible from his bandages. The unwounded German soldier only escaped the same fate because he was concealed by members of the municipality. After the withdrawal of the Russians, the members of the municipality buried the murdered German POW in their cemetery. Establishment of the facts concerning the wounded German soldier is based on the sworn testimony of the rural innkeeper, Michajlo, and the rural innkeeper, Wasylyna, as well as the daughter of the house, Huta, in Mosty-Male.
Case 003
The Russian POW, Colonel Antonoff, tank liaison officer with the 10th Russian Army in Bialystok, made the following statement under interrogation: On 22 June 1941, a German flier was shot down over Bialystok. The pilot saved himself by bailing out. He was captured and interrogated. After the interrogation he was shot for no special reason.
Case 004
Flight Lieutenant T. who bailed out near Dziembrov on 22 June 1941, was beaten after being taken prisoner on the same day in Dziembrov, tied up with his hands tied behind his back, and transported to Minsk, together with Russian or Polish civilian prisoners, where he was shot in a house at no. 10 October Street on 25 June 1941, according to information from the Russian school inspector Dajnako. These facts are proven by the testimony of the bookkeeper Michael Zmarzly and master butcher Antoni Rodziewicz.
Case 005
At Smigliai, likewise on the same day as the outbreak of the German-Russian war, four German soldiers captured by the Russians were found dead by advancing German troops shortly afterwards. They had been murdered by shots in the back of the neck, two of them furthermore with numerous additional bullet wounds (sworn testimony of Lieutenant Zernack).
Case 008
On 24 June 1941, a German military aircraft was hit by Russian fire west of Minsk. The crew, consisting of Lieutenant Sch. as pilot, Corporal W as radio operator, Gefreiter H as mechanic and Feldwebel Aubeck as observer, were forced to bail out of the burning plane.
The witness Feldwebel Aubeck, upon whose testimony the following description of the facts of the case is based, met Lieutenant Sch and Corporal W soon after hitting the ground. They decided to try to reach a forest lying in a western direction, but as a result of the swampy terrain they made only slow progress. In this situation, they were suddenly surrounded by four Russian soldiers, armed with weapons, machine guns and other heavy weapons. Since resistance was completely hopeless, they gave themselves up by raising their hands. The Russians nevertheless continued to fire their weapons at the downed fliers, but without hitting them. They were then taken prisoner by the Russians, and Lieutenant Sch was tied up with his hands crossed behind his back by means of a leather strap. After a short march they were loaded onto a vehicle with and tied to the vehicle with ropes. About an hour another two German fliers were brought up. The fliers, now five in number, were then loaded onto a truck under the escort of a Russian flier lieutenant and a large number of Russian soldiers. But first they had all their private property taken away. Two Russian women, who were present when the fliers were taken prisoner, rode shotgun on the truck as well. Shortly before reaching Minsk, all the POWs were blindfolded. The further procedure after their arrival at Minsk was described by Feldwebel Aubeck in his testimony of 20 October 1941:
The truck stopped suddenly and we were pushed out of the truck onto the ground with kicks. There I was grabbed by the collar and, as I could perceive despite the blindfold, pushed into a house. Then we went up some stairs, during which I was pushed once against the wall or against the landings, another time I received a blow to the back of the knee, so I fell on the floor. Finally we were brought into a room in which the only talking was in a whisper. There my straps were loosened, but immediately tied up again, even tighter than before. My arms were bound against my back, first beneath the elbows and then the hands were crossed. We were then pushed down the stairs again. I heard that a flier, who was unknown to me by name, expressed pain due to the swelling of his knees, which he had drawn together. The Russians obviously didnt like that, since I immediately heard him receive a blow to the head with a rifle butt after which he was pulled downstairs by his legs. I could see out from beneath my blindfold, and was able to observe for a moment the manner in which aircraft officer was dragged past me. We were led through a type of cellar passageway into an unlit courtyard. They forced us to lie down in a corner by the wall. I immediately lay down voluntarily, since I had given up all hope of life and only wished to lose consciousness as quickly as possible. I deliberately lay down in such a way that my face on the ground and turned to the wall, because I did not wish the first blows to hit me in the face. While on the ground, I pushed my blindfold upwards, and lost it on the ground. As my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, I could see what was going on in my immediate vicinity. At first, I immediately received a blow with a hard object; I had the impression that it was a brick. In the meantime I turned somewhat and saw behind me Corporal W, now without blindfold, who had sat up, and said Goodbye to me. Immediately afterwards, I only heard a gurgle from him. I then received a blow. On the other hand, I saw how Lieutenant Sch lay near me, rolled over on his back, his face upwards. A Russian repeatedly stomped Lieutenant Schs face with the heel of his boot. At first, Lieutenant Sch kept saying to him, Youre crazy, youre crazy, until he, too, could only gurgle. I myself alternated between consciousness and unconsciousness. I then still saw the manner in which the pilot, who was not known to me by name, received a blow in the back. As he writhed around and groaned, a Russian stuck his bayonet in his side several times.
I was afraid that I might be buried alive, so I attempted to receive a fatal blow as quickly as possible. I also saw a Russian standing on Lieutenant Sch, with one foot on his mouth and one foot on his stomach. In the effort to receive a decisive blow, I straightened up and first received a blow with a boot against my mouth and nose, so I fell over again, with my face to the wall. I then received a powerful blow to the left side of my skull, as a result of which I lost consciousness.
I regained consciousness the next morning, mainly as result of the heat, due to the fact that the Russians had set fire to the entire area. My whole face was swollen, until I had only a slit for a left eye, allowing me to see a little bit. I only came to slowly and gradually and I finally remarked that I was lying between Lieutenant Schws legs. I finally succeeded in getting to my feet. I saw that Lieutenant Sch was still warm, but that he was dead. He was no longer breathing and gave no signs of life when I shook him. On the other hand, Corporal W. was still alive and asked me where Lieutenant Sch was. The other pilot was still giving signs of life, while his radio operator lay dead. I couldnt see the Russians any more, except for one Russian prisoner, who was also tied up, almost naked, and trying to remove his ropes by rubbing them against some roof guttering. I dragged myself into the house to look for a knife. At the same time, I noted that the house was a prison. Finally, the only useful object I found was a rusty knife; I dragged myself further along with the knife, until I came to a washroom in which there was an old chaise longue with a hole in it. I stuck the handle of the knife into the hole, put the edge between my ropes, and sawed them through. Then I ran back to the courtyard. I saw how the captured Russian and a German, whom I took for Corporal W, lay in the courtyard. I dragged the German quickly into the house after loosening his ropes. I placed him on top of some laundry lying there, in a room in which I had found water. I went back out to the courtyard to look after the other one. But I saw that the corner where we wanted to break out was already enveloped in flames. So I went back and hid in the room in which I had hidden my comrades. On the third day, I noted that the comrade whom I had saved was not Corporal W, but rather the pilot from the other machine. He died during the night of the third day. The next morning, I laid him on a bunk in a cell. I maintained what was left of my vital energy by calculating that the Germans could be there by the sixth or seventh day. On the seventh day after I crash-landed, I actually heard the sounds of fighting and dragged myself outside, until I saw German tanks on a street, and the tanks picked me up.
Case 007
In the region of Suwalki, on the morning of 23 June 1941, four German soldiers traveling by truck towards Kalwarja were compelled by sudden heavy Russian fire to leave the vehicle and seek cover in ditches alongside the road. Since they were unarmed, they were forced to surrender to a force of approximately 25 Russians. There were forced to raise their hands and led into the Russian position. There were forced to take off their shirt and boots, their personal property, in particular, watches rings, handkerchiefs etc. was taken away, and they were briefly interrogated. Finally, they were compelled to sit down at the edge of a ditch, where they were blindfolded. The Russian position then came under unexpected German fire. The Russians began to vacate the position. In any case, Gefreiter Roeben who has reported these events as a sworn witness, decided, from the actions of the Russians, that the Russians intended to withdraw. The Russians started their vehicle and fired six another shots before they drove away. The witness immediately had the feeling that they had killed his three comrades with two shots each, and was waiting for them to kill him, too, which they didnt, however. Very distinctly, he heard his comrades death-rattle and death struggles, and one of them spoke to him after that, until all was still. After other Russians repeatedly appeared during the night without discovering him, he was found by German comrades. He then found that his three comrades had been killed by the withdrawing Russians.
Case 009
On 2 July 1941, it was my task to view captured vehicles on the river bank opposite Kernarava (northwest of Vilna). In the forest, I was told that the body of a German soldier had been found by the side of the road.
I found it by accident.
The uniform was open, the hands and elbows were tied together, and the skull had been smashed in (apparently) with a spade. The brain lay approximately 1 meter away from the body. Judging by the uniform he was a Gefreiter 2 from the Anti-Tank [Company] [?] of the 253rd Division. In the piece of forest in the direction of the Fort, another Anti-Tank [specialist] was found murdered in the same manner. He lay only a few meters from the piece of ordinance, which he had apparently been attempting to use to fire on enemy batteries approximately 70 m away. On 3 July 1941, the locals reported that pieces of German uniforms had been found in a ditch. The ditch was immediately opened and several other anti-tank soldiers were also found, also bound. The first had been killed by several stab wounds in the breast, while the second was without any lower jaw. The above mentioned corpses were photographed by myself. On the location of the two graves were two pools of blood, one of which I also photographed. The graves were photographed according to location and marked by stacks of roots, enabling them to be found again. A total of 14 bodies were found in the graves, as established by a Lieutenant of the Anti-Tank unit, who then secured the bodies and buried them in the cemetery at the transfer site of Division P. According to his testimony, all bodies exhibited leg wounds, and all the bodies had been tied up at a later time, and were later obviously tortured to death, as shown by the mutilations. Their hands were tied together so tightly that the skin was wrinkled and loose on the flesh. An examination of the Russians personal effects showed pictures of Mongols, and postcards from Finland and Poland. According to the testimony of the locals, the Russians had bivouacked there for 3 days, and were then disturbed by the Anti-Tank Division. The latter were ambushed and shot at from 3 sides. At the vehicle parking area at the Fort, a number of bodies were found, also mutilated, but not tied. They were locals captured by the Russians. The personal effects of several soldiers from the regimental staff were found at the locations shown on the sketch. They were buried. The location of the bodies is unknown to me.
Case 012
The bodies of three German fliers were found in the 14th military hospital in Lemberg, after the capture of the city. The former Russian divisional advisor of the same field hospital, by the name of Pilichiewicz, as well as the Russian physician Dr. Sadlinski, testified as follows in the sworn interrogation of 4 July 1941.
the witness Josef Pilichiewicz:
I am employed as the caretaker of the surgical division. On one of the first days of the war, two wounded German officers were delivered to the surgical division, guarded by several Soviet soldiers. It was at any rate said that these were German officers, they might have been non-commissioned officers or enlisted men. They were no longer wearing a uniform when they were brought in. They were clothed in their shirts. Both were only slightly wounded. I cant say which type of wounds they had, since I didnt see the wounds myself. Dr. Sadlinksi will provide information as to the type of wound. A few days later a third wounded German soldier was brought in. It was also said of this one that he was an officer. I am unable to say what type of wound he had. The guards who delivered the soldiers indicated that all three wounded men were fliers. The plane was said to have been shot down and the fliers were said to have bailed out. Whether they were really fliers I do not know from my own observation. The responsible divisional doctor did not take any particular care over the wounds. Dr. Sadlinksi, a civilian physician employed here, took over the wounded men and visited them from time to time. When Dr. Sadlinksi proposed to the divisional physician that the wounded should receive medical help, the other wouldnt talk about it. At first, the medical personnel were still allowed to talk to the wounded men, but soon afterwards but this was soon forbidden by the divisional commissar. When Lemberg was evacuated by the Russians on Sunday 29 June, the Russian wounded were carried into the courtyard. When the last vehicle was loaded, the medical personnel was released from the hospital and immediately sent home. At this time, I remained in the vicinity of the operating room, which was located on the ground floor. It might have been eleven oclock German time. When everything had been loaded, I saw commissars Loginow and Moslow enter the hospital through the central door. They both had a Nagan in their hand. They went up to the first floor. After a short time I heard several shots. I hurried up the stairs, to reach the first floor. After a short time, I heard several shots. I hurried up the stairs to reach the first floor. As I came out onto the stairs, both the two above mentioned commissars came out towards me. Besides myself, the administrator, named Litoszewski, was also on the stairs with a pistol in his hand. All three left the hospital without saying a word to me. I then went back into my warehouse. There was no doubt in my mind that the commissars had shot the wounded men. I never went back into the room myself, but rather went straight home, because the Soviets were shouting that they would shoot anybody still in the hospital
Witness Dr.Czeslaw Sadlinski:
On one of the first days of the war two German fliers were delivered to the local hospital. They were only slightly wounded. I wish to correct that, I cant say with certainty that they were members of the Luftwaffe. But they talked about it in the hospital. Nor can I say that they were officers. I myself had the opportunity to see both the German soldiers in the hospital. Their wounds were not very serious. One soldier had a wound in the chest, the other only had a skin abrasion the size of a hand on his knee joint. Both wounded men were placed in Room 21. I myself was not the acting physician. A Soviet Russian military doctor was responsible for the treatment. Out of interest I visited the two German soldiers for approximately two days after their delivery to the hospital and kept myself informed as to their state of health. Both explained to me that they were doing well, and that their bandages had even been changed. On the date of the evacuation of the hospital, I went to the room of the German wounded, in the morning, to see how they were. A third wounded man had also been delivered in the hospital. He was also a member of the Luftwaffe. I dont know his rank. I know he had the following wounds: a dislocation of the left shoulder joint, a fracture of the left upper arm, and a tarsus. I suggested to the acting physician that the shoulder should be manipulated back into its socket, and be placed in a cast. But I received no answer. When I mentioned it a second time, the physician explained to me it was the Captain (Medical Corps) Sambor OK, OK. I myself had attempted the manipulate the shoulder back into the socket. But it didnt work, since everything was swollen and this would only have been possible under anesthesia. When I again suggested that the patients be brought into the operating room so as to perform the manipulation under anesthesia, I only received the answer OK, OK. After this incident, I didnt see the wounded men any more. I can give no further factual information. Employees of the hospital later told me that the wounded men had been shot by Russian commissars.
The nurse, Gryglöwna, also fully confirmed the testimony of the two other witnesses reproduced above. The names of the three murdered German fliers were still visible in the hospital bath book.
Case 020
On 27 or 28 June 1941, at the fortifications of Skomorochi, approximately eight to ten kilometers northeast of Sokal on the Bug, five German officers or Corporals and Gefreiters were cruelly mutilated by Russian troops after being wounded in combat.
Major Ss left eye was put out, in addition to which the bone of the lower jaw was exposed by a smooth cut from ear to ear, exposing the upper and lower jaw bones.
Stabsfeldwebel Ps right eye had been put out, his left eye seriously injured, and the left ear cut off, by a crescent-shaped cut from below, in addition to which the upper arm joint was crushed. Wooden splinters in the right eye socket appear to justify the assumption on the part of the Surgeon Major*,* Dr. Stankeit, that the eye had been put out with a piece of wood. Gefreiter Sch. had also had his left eye put out, while Stabsfeldwebel W had lost the right eye. Corporal L. exhibited smooth-edged cuts around both eye sockets; the interior of the eye socket hung torn to pieces, hanging by a piece of flesh. In the expert opinion of the medical expert, the fact that, in all cases, serious bleeding from the eye sockets was visible, indicated that these mutilations had been inflicted prior to death.
Case 015
For the record: My name is Friedrich Bauer, I am 27 years old, of the Catholic faith, First Lieutenant and Company Chief of the 2nd Company, 90th Anti-Tank Division.
On the facts: I heard by written report from Lieutenant Rolf that he had found the bodies of 5 German soldiers in the vicinity of a house approximately 800 m north of the Rozana-Slonim road, in the section of his platoon, all of whom had obviously been killed by shots to the back of the neck and stab wounds; all the bodies had been plundered.
I went to the location, and found what had been reported. I forwarded the report to my division. Approximately one hour later, my commander appeared. Major Knape, together with First Lieutenant of the General Staff Baierlein, on behalf of the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Panzer Group, and visited the location where the bodies were found, together with myself.
They also became convinced of the correctness of the data of Lieutenant Rolf of the General Staff. First Lieutenant Baielein, in his presence, took several photographs of the bodies, particularly, those which had been tied up.
After returning to my command post, I ordered medical orderly Corporal Schönborn to examine the wounds on the bodies once again, and to gather the personal effects. I sent the personal effects, already gathered by Lieutenant Rolf, to the responsible agencies. The bodies were buried at my order on the same evening.
Read out, approved and signed. Bauer
The witness was legally sworn.
1. Stabsfeldwebel Lützig:
Case 018
During an attack on 26 June 1941, Feldwebel Krieg suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach. Medical orderlies J. and J. attempted to care for him and other wounded men. At this moment, Russians reached them in sudden advance and killed them with cudgel blows to the head, or bayonet wounds to the back of the head, although both medical orderlies were clearly identified as medics by their Red Cross armbands. The Russians had no reason to doubt that the men killed were acting in the line of duty as medics. Feldwebel Krieg, despite his serious wound, received two blows with a cudgel on the head. Many other wounded and defenseless members of the 2nd Police Security Regiment were beaten to death or killed during the same fire-fight.
Case 024
In the fighting near Mosty and Rozanka on 27 June 1941, four German officers and soldiers who fell into Russian hands in a wounded and defenseless condition were also cruelly murdered. Proof of this was provided, not only by members of the German unit involved, but by Russian or Polish civilians who were eyewitnesses to these events. Russian POWs from the 20th Infantry Regiment, opposite the German 7th Infantry Regiment, explained to Lieutenant Radeck that they had received an order to shoot all captured or wounded German soldiers. This order had been obeyed. The farmer Stefan Bawinski, according to his sworn statement, had seen two German soldiers being led to a high-ranking Russian officer with their hands tied and crossed behind their backs, after which the officer shot them at point-blank range, one after another, with three shots each, each time walking away about ten meters, then approaching once again and firing another shot. These torments were witnessed by a great many high and low-ranking officers, including a major and commissar. As the German soldiers fell to the ground, all the Russians nearby, including the officers, stomped on them with their boots.
. Case 025
The tragic death of the four German fliers is reported in the record on the examination of the bodies dated 5 July 1941. The record shows that the four German fliers, most of whom were obviously seriously injured during their emergency landing, but who had succeeded in bandaging each other in a provisional manner, were then captured by the Russians, cruelly mistreated and then shot by the Russians in Drohobycz. One of these four fliers bore a provisional splint on the left leg, while another bore a so-called Kramer splint on the broken upper arm. The field pack bandage wrapped around the arm was German. Both his thighs had been provisionally splinted with box slats, the bandages around his thighs were also German. All four, including the most seriously injured, had had their hands tied behind their backs. All four fliers were killed by the Russians by means of gunshots to the back of the head. Two of them had also suffered other wounds.
Case 028
On the night of 28th - 29th June 1941, an anti-tank platoon was compelled to take evasive action due to overwhelming Russian superiority. In so doing, a severely wounded soldier who, at first could not be found, was left behind. On the next day, he was found in a rifle pit.
The testimonies in this regard are as follows:
There appeared (before the court) Lieutenant Georg Klümpel,1st Company, 111th Anti-Tank Co, born 12 July 1914, and stated as follows:
During the night of 28-29 June 1941 I led the 3rd platoon of the 1st Company, 111st Anti-Tank [Division] near Dubno. We then had to withdraw due to the overwhelming superiority of a Russian tank attack, with the exception of the severely wounded Z, whom we could not find. He was at an artillery emplacement which had received a direct hit. On the evening of the 29 June, we were advancing again to retrieve the artillery gun and, on the morning of 30 June we found Z, in a rifle pit almost as deep as a man. The dead mans thigh had been torn off by a grenade fragment. A reconnaissance troop which had been sent forward during the afternoon under Feldwebel Buchold was unable to retrieve either Z or the artillery gun. When we found Z in the early hours of the morning of 30 June, in addition to serious wounds to the thigh, the right half of his face had been split in half with an axe other sharp object, and the forehead had been crushed inwards with a blunt object or the heel of a boot. The corpse also exhibited a through-and-through bullet wound to the left hand. It must therefore be assumed that the severely wounded man had lain in the rifle pit and was murdered by the Russians while he was bandaged and unable to defend himself. Z must have been bandaged by third parties, since he would have been unable to bandage himself since the thigh was completely severed. On the other hand, the other wounds were not bandaged. The thigh had been bandaged to keep him from bleeding to death. The Hitler Youth insignia which he wore had been violently torn off of the left breast pocket. The rifle pit was so deep and undamaged that the already seriously wounded man could not have been struck by grenades or rifle or machine gun fire in the rifle pit, but, rather, must have been murdered by the Russians.
Case 021
Near Sobrasl, on 28 June 1941, the bodies of approximately twenty severely mutilated German soldiers were found, after being wounded in combat and attempting to bandage themselves with their field pack bandages, but were then captured by the Russians.
Some of these wounded German soldiers had their eyes poked out, one of them was castrated, and, others were stabbed to death with their own bayonets.
Case 023
On 28 June 1941, north of Bialystok, at least eighteen wounded German soldiers who had been left behind by retreating German troops were murdered by Russian troops by means of gunshot wounds to the head, blows with cudgels, and stab wounds with their own bayonets.
Case 027
Lieutenant Czaplinski of the 206th Anti-Tank Division (Co) reports the following on another case of bestial cruelty of Russian troops against German soldiers:
On 29 June 1941, a fire-fight occurred between a German advance division, including the third platoon of my Company, under the leadership of the Stabsfeldwebel Marquardt, and a Russian division near the locality of Mitkiskes, south west of Vilna. During the fire-fight, twelve members of the third platoon were found to be missing. In addition, the 206th Reconnaissance Squadron, which also belonged to the advance division, also had two men missing. On 1 July, we found, in searching the battle field, one of our soldiers, whose own bayonet been stuck into his buttock up to the handle.
We also found, on the same day the Leading Aircraftman (Luftwaffe) [Obergefreiter] G. who had been wounded with a shot in the leg, and who had several bayonet stab wounds in the chest.
The body also exhibited cutting wounds to the wrists. Another German soldier, whose identity we were unable to determine, was tied to a tree. The skull had obviously been split open with an axe
Two days later, that is, on 3 July, approximately three kilometers west of Mitkiskes, off the battlefield, we found the bodies of our missing comrades, who had all been covered with earth.
Russian local residents and an official of the Heimat vehicle fleet showed us the place. Based on the pay books and identity tags, we could determine the identity of the dead, who had been mutilated beyond recognition.
Corporal Sch had obviously been buried alive, since the body showed no exterior wounds, but was blue all over.
Corporal K had his entire chest ripped open. Rifleman F. was missing the upper part of his head, while Rifleman W had had his entire head smashed flat, Gefreiter D had part of the head smashed away, and one soldier from the reconnaissance squadron was completely lacking his chin. The bodies of Riflemen K and W also exhibited severe cranial injuries, which were doubtless inflicted with blows with hard objects. Gefreiter H had had obviously had his eye poked out with a sharp object.
Almost all the dead men had bayonet wounds in the chest, some had multiple fractures to the arms. That the comrades might have been honorably killed in battle is impossible, since the horrible mutilations indicate, beyond doubt, that they were bestially murdered. This is revealed, most significantly, by the fact that we didnt find the bodies on the battlefield, but rather, some distance away. I assume that a higher-ranking staff had been located here, since we found a radio device, telephone lines and writing booth material lying around. Any doubt as to the identity of the dead must be ruled out, since it has been determined with the greatest exactitude based on pay books and identity tags
Case 032
On the Rozana-Slonim road, on 30 June 1941, as a result of treachery, men from a signal squad were captured by Russians who had equipped themselves with German riflemens coats and German helmets.
Shortly afterwards, 14 men from a signal squad were found with cruel mutilations: the arms were mutilated, the throats cut, the faces smashed; one severely wounded man had seven bayonet wounds, a crushed skull and a through-and-through bullet wound in the upper thigh.
Case 034
Also in the record of 14 August 1941, that the shooting of a German ambulance, perfectly well marked with the Red Cross, and the killing of the driver and passenger as well as several wounded soldiers being transported in the ambulance, is reported by the witness Lieutenant Hering, who states that he found four bodies whose arteries to the hand had been severed.
Case 035
The Russian POW Petro Jaremynko, as a member of a Russian unit in the vicinity of the small city of Mikolojow, on or about 1 July 1941, during witnessed the manner in which three German soldiers with their hands tied behind their backs were led by two Russian soldiers to the column of his battalion. Behind the soldiers followed the Russian captain Malezki, the Battalion commander of his battalion. In the vicinity of the column stood captain Malezkis grooms. As the captain passed by the grooms he was given his saber. The captain then had the three prisoners led to one of the depressions in the ground in the vicinity and had them lined up. Then the captain drew the saber and struck at the prisoners heads. With every blow one of the prisoners fell down. When the captain had killed the last one, he turned around and went back to his battalion.
Case 036
Pictorial documentation to Case 036
A dead German motorized rifleman, both of whose eyes were put out. His nose and tongue were cut off. In the region of the chin were other severe cutting wounds, exposing the bone; he had a round hole in the forehead.
There appeared Lt. Spengler Walter, 31 years old, Evangelical, 841st Heavy Artillery Division, and declared as follows:
When my division was marching northwards down the road from Dereczyn towards Kozin about 1 oclock in the afternoon today, an officer from our staff brought my attention to a dead German soldier who appeared to have been mutilated. I viewed the dead man and observed the following injuries on the body:
The eyes had been put out, his ears and nose had been cut off, in addition to which he exhibited such serious cutting wounds in the area of the chin that they exposed the bones. He had a round hole in his forehead, but I could not tell whether it was a bullet entry wound or some other kind of injury. He must have been wounded in the area of the breast, since his shirt was drenched with blood there. Closer examination of the pockets of the dead man showed that he only had a few screws in his pockets. In the opening of his motorized riflemans jacket, was a celluloid envelope with his pay book, the soldier drivers license, some correspondence and a few photos. Around his neck was a breast bag, still containing two zlotys and 50 pennies and a message with his home address: Gerhard B. Könitz bei S. Bahnhofstrasse 4 Th. These objects are hereby placed on the record. According to the pay book, the dead man was Rifleman Gerhard B. Field Post Number 38125, obviously a member of the 29th Division. I immediately ordered two photos made of the dead man by Gefreiter Eichert and Schmidt, at Unit Field Post Office 18047, and will have the films presented to the division for development and other proceedings. The dead man must have lain there for more than 24 hours when we found him, because an odor of decomposition became perceptible upon further searching. The dead man had neither his steel helmet nor his gas mask nor any weapon, but was completely dressed, in particular, with the motorized riflemans coat. I had the dead man buried immediately, and drew a map showing the burial location, hereby made available to you by myself, with the request that it be forwarded to the responsible burial officer.
Case 037
The shooting of at least nine German POWS by Russian troops in a barracks in Riga on 1 July 1941, is described in the record of interrogation of the local veterinary surgeon, Conrad Apinis, the caretaker, Adolf Zakis, the merchant, Martin Sipols, the construction worker, Janson, and the female witnesses, Anna Lapinsch and Milda Rudsit.
Case 038
The witnesses interrogated according to the following record also describe the murder of three German soldiers on 2 July 1941 in Wielec. The soldiers had surrendered to superior forces, were then tied up and shot and/or stabbed to death.
As to my person: My name is Kurt Stavenhagen, I am 34 years old, of the Evangelical faith, First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) with the Third Battalion, 51st (Motorized)**Infantry Regiment.
As to the facts: During the advance of my Battalion on 3 July 1941 in Wielec, we were informed by a German-speaking resident of this village that, on the previous day at around 15 hours, three German soldiers had been taken prisoner and murdered by Russian soldiers. I had these civilians to lead me to the spot where the murdered German soldiers had been found. We were able to observe the following:
In the ditch along the road lay a German side car (BMW), bearing the tactical markings of the 18th Reconnaissance CO. I no longer remember the unit to which it belonged. Diagonally across from this sidecar lay a dead German soldier, on his back, his hands tied together with leather straps, whom, based on the pay book found on the body, we identified as Obergefreiter Erhard St. 18th Artillery Division. He bore a bullet entry wound the size of a lentil in the region of the left temple. On the right side of his forehead was an exit wound about the size of the head of a baby, covered with bits of brain. From this discovery, we concluded that this mutilation of the skull had been caused by a bullet fired at point-blank range.
In the same ditch, at a distance of approximately 10 meters, lay another dead soldier who, as we could see from the pay book found on the body, had also been a member of the 18th Reconnaissance Division, named Herbert W. He lay with his back to the earth. I only took a closer look at this soldier after I had been with Obergefreiter St. and my companion had also examined W. As I came up to the body, his torso had already been laid bare. In the right side of the breast I observed three stab wounds with ragged, sharp-edges, probably caused by a Russian triangular bayonet. The corresponding stab wounds were also found in the front side of the field jacket.
Near soldier W. lay another dead soldier on his back. We were unable to observe any indication of this unit or his name, apart from a steel helmet with the inscription Henschel 10364. The only other thing we found on him was a smooth engagement ring on the left ring finger with the engraving LW 1939. On the exposed right side of the breast, I noticed a bullet entry wound the size of a lentil. I turned him over and was unable to find any exit wound. I dont know whether this wound entered through the front of the field jacket. I assume that the last named soldier, had been plundered, since, apart from the ring, there were no personal effects on the body.
Apart from the first named motorcycle sidecar, in the ditch along the road near the last dead man, lay a second motorcycle with sidecar. Both vehicles had been put out of action by shots to the gas tanks and tires as well as the violent destruction of the ignition. The civilians who went with us together to this place and then helped us bury the bodies, were very shocked by this incident. The women cried continually and the men indicated by means of signs as well as through the German-speaking civilian, that we were to do the same to the Russians. The civilians also proved themselves very helpful during the erection of grave markers. We noticed especially that the German-speaking civilian, at our request, immediately prepared a beautiful wooden cross with inscription board. Apart from myself, the following persons were present when these observations were made: Lieutenant Colonel Chrobek (wounded, repatriated to Germany); Lieutenant Schlegel, Adjutant, Third Battalion 51st Infantry Regiment; Lieutenant Wolf, at that time ordinance officer Third Battalion, 51st Infantry Regiment, at the present time platoon leader with the 9th Company, 51st Infantry Regiment; Feldwebel (Medical Corps) Oskar Fuchs, Third Battalion, 51st Infantry Regiment, And a number of soldiers from my battalion, now unknown to me by name. Photographs were taken of the tied up soldiers by Officer Maier, former Staff Third Battalion 51st Infantry Regiment, now wounded and repatriated to Germany).
Case 039
Court of the 4th Mountain Division Divisional Staff Headquarters, 9 July 1941
Interrogation: in response to an order, Dr Erich Koch, Second Lieutenant (Medical Corps) and Divisional Physician with the 94th Artillery Regiment, born on 19 September 1906 in Dillenburg (Hessen-Nassau) presently with Unit Field Post no. 27778, and stated as follows, according to his recollection of the truth, and after being apprised on the seriousness of the oath:
Shortly before Bryzezeny, on 3 July 1941, the Russians were withdrawing. The Reconnaissance Division was ordered to protect the right flank of the division. Upon carrying out this order our 1st Squadron came into immediate contact with the enemy. The squadron was partly cut off by the Russians. During this mission, a total of 17 members of the same squadron were killed. Of these 17, six were found in terribly mutilated condition. In detail. these six dead men exhibited the following injuries:
Two dead men had had their hands tied behind their backs. One had had his right eye put out and the face had been smashed in, probably with a rifle butt. The victim had had his tongue cut out and his throat cut at the level of the larynx.
The other 4 were also mutilated. One had had the right hand the right elbow hacked off, so that the hand and lower arm only hung together by a few pieces of skin. Another had had the right arm stabbed through several times with a bayonet or other stabbing weapon. The arm looked like a sieve. Another 2 soldiers exhibited stab wounds all over their bodies, inflicted with a bayonet. All 6 mutilated soldiers had been completely plundered, for example, even their pay books and identity tag had disappeared. 4 soldiers had also been plundered of their boots. The incident had taken place either during the late morning or afternoon of the. I only saw the bodies in the evening, when they were brought in. As a result of the darkness, no more photographs could be taken. Burial was urgently required. Both the soldiers found with their hands tied had fallen into enemy hands in an unwounded condition. The other 4 soldiers had obviously been wounded before being captured; one of them had even been bandaged by our people. I will inform the court of the names of the 6 above mentioned mutilated men and provide witnesses to the deed. The witness was legally sworn, and confirmed his statements under oath.
Case 042
The report of a political commissar of 27 July 1941 to the Chief of the Political Division of the Russian 28th Army contained the following sentence:
The shooting down of fascist aircraft with 76 mm guns lead to satisfactory results. Especially successful was the shooting of three fascist aircraft at 17:50 hours. Two fliers bailed out of an aircraft near the village of Kubarka. The first parachute didnt open, and the flier was killed. The parachute of the other flier opened, but the parachute was destroyed by heavy machine gun fire and the flier was killed. All documents found on him were sent to the Army Staff.
This report proves that a German flier was killed after bailing out in a parachute.
Case 043
The motorcyclist Kiesewetter reports on serious mistreatment and the attempted extortion of information as well as the shooting of approximately thirty German soldiers of all ranks in the courtyard of a prison near Smolensk, as follows:
In the late afternoon of 8 July 1941 I was instructed to bring the daily orders of the division from the divisional command post to the 52nd Rifle Regiment.
This was said to be bivouacked in a location near Orscha. My way there led through a forest, which I considered free of enemy forces, because German troops had overrun it.
Shortly before a place, where the Rifle Regiment was said to be bivouacked, two trucks crewed by Russians had placed themselves on the paved taxiway, into which I drove into them.
The Russians took me prisoner.
They first took away all the personal articles I had with me, such as my watch, photos, money and my letters. Then my hands were tied and I was placed on the truck on my stomach, on the bed of the truck, while one or two Russians kneeled on top of me. This is how I was brought out of the command post. There I had to get down from the vehicle and take off my uniform. At this point, they made me get into a rifle pit, where I lay in the dark in my shirt under guard. During the night, I was transported further away again. My arms were also tied to my legs, so I was tied up like a bundle.
In this condition, I was thrown onto a truck. I was also blindfolded. In the early morning I came to another command post, where I was interrogated three times during the day. I was questioned about all kinds of military details. Since I made no statement, I was once again transported away during the following night, in the same manner. At the new command post, they offered me something to eat. As I tried to take it, a soldier kicked me in the body and I got nothing to eat.
As the interrogation continued that evening once again without success, I was tied hand and foot and laid in a latrine. My further transport took place in the same manner as above. On this trip, I was struck several times and struck with a rifle butt. On the fifth day of my captivity, I was beaten after an unsuccessful interrogation and put in a dark room. There I was subjected to blinding bright lights and interrogated by two women. During interrogation I was threatened with a pistol, beaten with a riding crop, and received blows with a cudgel on the soles of the feet and blow to the back of the neck. These brutalities were carried out by Russian soldiers. After this interrogation, I was once again taken away during the night and on the sixth day of my captivity I came to a bigger command post located in a suburb of Smolensk.
There I was not interrogated. A lieutenant from the squadron Mölders was loaded on my truck during the further transport. After about one or two hours, I was taken down off the truck and put into a car. The lieutenant was tied to the spare tire and I had to sit in the middle of the car between two soldiers.
After rather lengthy period of time driving around, we stopped in front of a prison or penitentiary and the lieutenant and I were thrown into a cell. We were tied up as before. I was not allowed to talk to the lieutenant, and therefore did not learn his name. We were closely guarded. While the lieutenant and I were being brought into the cell, we saw about 30 soldiers of all ranks enter the courtyard of the prison, mostly tank crews and fliers. After we had been in the cell for a short time, we heard shooting in the courtyard, which lasted about half an hour. I assumed that the soldiers who had entered the courtyard had been shot. I did not see these shootings. On the next day, the cells were broken open by the Russian civilian population, and we were let out of jail. While we were hurrying out I saw that the big hole in the courtyard, which had previously been open, had been filled in. Everywhere in the courtyard lay spent cartridges and there traces of fresh blood. As we reached the street outside the prison, a German tank came up to us, and the lieutenant called to it. Since the tank shot at us, however, we were only wearing shirts, we got separated. I then ran into riflemen from the 29th (Motorized) Infantry Division and made a report. I lost sight of the lieutenant when we took cover during the shooting from the tank. I had nothing to eat or drink during my captivity.
Case 047
On 18 July 1941, near Korodonka, five wounded men from a German assault detachment were murdered by the Russians although they had already been bandaged by German medics, and were clearly recognizable as wounded. On 10 August 1941, near Luga, at least eight dead men from a reconnaissance division were found with their eyes gouged out and their skulls smashed in.
Case 050
A high-ranking Russian POW, in a report dated 5 August 1941, reports that, on 25 July 1941, a German soldier was taken out by a Second Lieutenant at about two in the afternoon into the courtyard of the so-called regional committee in Mogilev.
The prisoner was wounded in the thigh. The witness clearly saw that the prisoners trousers were torn and bleeding and that the soldier was wearing a bandage underneath. About half an hour after the arrival of the German prisoner, he was interrogated by a Russian Jewess. After abut another half hour, the witness saw that the second lieutenant and a Russian captain went over to the left side of the courtyard with the prisoner. After about two minutes, he heard two shots. In the view of the witness, the two officers had murdered the prisoner.
Both officers wore pistols on their belts, the captain also had a machine pistol. The witness assumed that the German soldier was buried in a ditch previously prepared in the courtyard. The assumption is confirmed by the autopsy performed on the same day, i.e. 5 August 1941.
The Russian POW also had the following to say:
It is further known to me that in saying this I must base my statements on conversations with Russian officers that eleven German fliers were held prisoner in Mogilev, in the house of the Special Division of the N.K.V.D. of the 161st Infantry Division in Lenin Street, next to the State Bank.
They were said to have been the crews of several German bombers who had bailed out after being shot down by the Russians. I can say nothing about their whereabouts now. I assume that they were shot as well, since there was no possibility of transport.
The proof of the correctness of the information given by the Russian POW is provided in full by further investigations: the bodies of the eleven murdered German soldiers were found in a common grave on the terrain at 72 Lenin Street and furthermore, four more dead soldiers were found also in a garbage ditch on the same piece of land. All the circumstances indicate that these POWs were horribly tortured before being murdered.
Case 051
On 22 July 1941, Obergefreiter Chubodba, acting as a dispatch carrier, was crossing the Dnieper Bridge during the attack on Mogilev. He and his platoon leader came under heavy machine gun fire and remained under cover. On order of the platoon leader, the platoon gradually withdrew. Suddenly, the witness noticed a wounded soldier, S. He buckled his belt on, in order to help him. At the same time, he saw five or six Russians approach Obergefreiter W, in front of him, and threw him over the railing of the bridge into the Dnieper. At this point, they approached and gave him a kick that laid him on his side. They then turned to the wounded soldier, who lay in a pool of blood, gouged his eyes out with his own bayonet, and likewise threw him into the Dneiper after emptying his pockets. The witness himself was taken by the Russians to an officer who interrogated him. When the witness refused to give the desired information, he was given time to think until the next morning. If he didnt give information regarding the German light signals, he would be thrown into the Dneiper like his comrades. During the night, they forced him to drag grenade munitions to the bridge, and from the house to the river bank to a cabin on the bridge itself. His Company, successfully liberated him from Russian captivity during the attack on the afternoon of the same day. In the record of 16 September 1941, Lieutenant von Mosch, as witness, confirmed having found the body of Obergefreiter W lying in the Dneiper. Both eyes had been gouged out and the scalp half had been torn off, from the forehead to about the middle of the skull. The body exhibited several injuries to the head, and especially the face.
Case O53
On 8 August 1941, in Hoffungsthal, near Zebrikovo, advancing German troops found a Russian field hospital in which there were no more Russian patients. On the other hand, the medical personnel was still on the spot. Towards evening, a ten year old German-speaking child appeared and reported that a German soldier in the field hospital had been beaten to death and buried by the Russians before their withdrawal. We found a cesspool about 2 to 3 meters deep, from which we were able to recover the buried body. It was only slightly covered with earth. The outer appearance of the body allowed one to conclude that death had occurred about two or three days before. On the right shoulder was an bullet wound, obviously not serious, which had been treated with a bandage. The skull and the back of the head had been completely smashed by serious violence, (blows with axe or entrenching tool). The brain was largely empty, the eye sockets deeply sunken. This was undoubtedly a case of violent murder of a very seriously injured man. The Russian male nurses questioned, in conclusion, reported that the soldier in question had only had a slight wound, and should never have died from it. The Russian soldiers had on the evening before their withdrawal drank a great deal. As the nurses and other hospital members came to the hospital at ten the next morning, the foreign soldier was no more to be seen. In view of the body, the nurses declared that it was the soldier described by them, who had had occupied a bed in the hospital. They also recognized the bandage on his shoulder and declared it possible that the soldier had not been a member of the German army but the Rumanian army, because he had spoken Russian as well as German and his uniform was very similar to the Russian uniform.
Case O54
The Russian POW Theodor Koslow reported a case which took place on 3 August 1941 in the vicinity of Jaswischtsche.
Court of the 26th (Motorized) Infantry Division Divisional Command Post, 14 August 1941
There appeared voluntarily at the location of the court martial, the Russian POW Feodor Koslow, reported to have a knowledge of the facts declared as follows after being warned to tell the truth, and advised of the significance of the oath and being informed of the object of the investigation: As to my person: My name is Feodoro Koslow, born 25 December 1918 in Rostow on the Don, divorced, employed by the state timber rafting installation, conscripted into the Russian Army since May 1939, now a member of the 94th Artillery Division (Staff Battery).
As to the facts:
I am Starschina with the 94th Artillery Division and did my service at the Staff Battery. I am responsible for provisions. I defected voluntarily on 10 August 1941 and surrendered because further resistance was hopeless. On 3 August 1941, I can no longer state the exact day, the following event took place at our squad: we were about 2 km from Jaswischtsche, in the forest. The Second Battalion 173rd Infantry Regiment was in position east of us, behind lay the 19th Artillery Division and the 1st Engineer Platoon. There was a surprise alarm, during which it was said that the Germans had penetrated the fortifications of the Second Battalion 173rd Infantry Regiment.
There were dead and wounded and the Germans were said to have surrounded the fortifications. We received orders to hurry and relieve the battalion. With 2 groups with a strength of 25 men, including myself, we approached the position the Germans were said to have penetrated. There we were told that there was a German signal squad there, with a strength of 9 men. An officer and one soldier were said to have been taken prisoner. We were said to have had one killed and two wounded. As I was there, I saw the following: a German officer stood upright on the forest road located in the vicinity of the Redkino-Jaswischtsche road. The witness showed the road on the map. The German officer didnt speak a single word. Next to him on the grass lay a wounded German soldier, of powerful build, groaning heavily and bleeding heavily from a breast wound.
I was about 4 meters from the two German soldiers. The wounded man had been bandaged by the German soldiers but apparently couldnt be transported away. The officer was not wounded. Suddenly a lieutenant from the 173rd Infantry Regiment grabbed a rifle, went to the German officer and hit him three times with the rifle but on the shoulder, the right upper arm and the head. The lieutenant approached from behind on the German officer and hit him, mostly in the back of the body. After the beating, the officer was bleeding heavily from the face but still stood upright. The Russian lieutenant drew his pistol revolver and shot the German officer through a shot in the neck. The Russian lieutenant was standing immediately behind the German officer. The German officer fell down from the shot and was dead. Before firing the shot, the Russian lieutenant said It makes no difference how we kill him. If we take him back with us, he can still get away from us. The Russian soldiers standing around wanted to steal the German officers boots, but they didnt dare do so in the presence of the lieutenant. The Russian lieutenant himself took the dead mans watch, pistol, binoculars and machine pistol for himself. The dead officer was dragged away and buried in a hole. The wounded German soldier was also dragged away. I didnt see him again, and I do not know what happened to him. From hearsay, I know that the German officers were beaten to death or shot when they fell into captivity. I have heard that common German soldiers were taken back to camp and were then sent to Siberia or Turkestan.
Today, the court, in the presence of the Russian interpreter Special Officer Favre and the Russian POW Feodor Koslow to the location designated by the POW Koslow at which the unknown German officer was shot and plundered by a Russian Lieutenant of the 173rd Infantry Regiment following capture.
The court, with the above named persons, went on foot through the southeast of Jasciwschtesche forest on the other side of the Peleda river. Koslow showed the way. After a march of 2 to 3 km through disassembled and abandoned and, in some cases, mined Russian forest positions, the location described by the POW Feodor Koslow was reached. He declared there, Here lies the dead German officer.
The dead German officer was found on the narrow forest path approximately 2m wide, surrounded by pines and forest foliage. The body was covered by two pine trees, which had been cut down. The trees were removed. The dead man was about 1.70 m high and of powerful build. He was already badly decomposed and lay long stretched out on his stomach with his face to the earth. The arms lay along the body, the backs of the hands were pressed into the ground. The body was clothed only in white underclothing, short linen underclothing and an undershirt. It was his own underclothing. There were no monograms
Pictorial documentation to Case 054 Body of the German officer clad only in his underclothing, beaten with three rifle butt blows from behind, then shot in the neck. The same Soviet lieutenant plundered the body of watch and binoculars. on his underclothing. Furthermore a camouflaged suspender lay over the upper body. It was recognizable that his uniform had been pulled off him. No other personal effects were found, either on the body or in the vicinity of the location of the body. The head, which still exhibited recognizable dark blond hair, was only loosely connected to the torso. The skull was of medium size, the back of the head was strongly developed. The legs were also strongly developed. No observations could be made on the ventral side of the body as a result of decomposition. There were no bullet wounds on the body. There was no exit wound in the brain-pan. There was no identification tag. The body was photographed after the examination in the presence of legal persons.
Case 055
Feldwebel Mothes, together with another member of his company, in the vicinity northeast of Uman near Kamenetschje on 6 August 1941, found four cruelly murdered German soldiers. One of them lay on his back with his arms extended and his eyes gouged out, the tongue cut out, and the mouth on the right side torn open, so that the teeth hung loose in the mouth. Furthermore, the dead man had several stabs wounds in the naked breast and another stab wound in the abdomen, as well as stab and cutting wounds on both hands. Another dead man, a corporal, like the first described body, lay with his arms extended and on his back. His eyes had also been gouged out. In the region of the abdomen was a wound about the size of a mans hand. His stomach lay open and the stomach content protruded. In the region of the abdomen was a triangular wound about the size of a mans hand. He also had stab wounds and cutting wounds on the hands. At a distance of about 200 meters from the above described body, Feldwebel Mothes and his companion found another two mutilated German soldiers in the same position, lying with the arms extended and on their backs, as described above. They had also had their breasts exposed. Both had had their eyes gouged out. The bodies also showed stab wounds in the breast and stab and cutting wounds in the hands. The mop of hair, together with the scalp, had been torn backwards on one of the dead men, and lay exposed towards the back of his head. The dead man had been scalped, so to speak. Obviously the four dead men had been plundered.
Case 056
On 4 August 1941, in the vicinity of the Catschinki-Bachani road, about a kilometer south of Catschinki, the pulled off skins of human hands and/or feet were found in, or next to, a disabled Russian tank.
The medical experts called upon First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) Krayer, who established that the skin had been removed from one left and two right human hands, as well as one left human foot.
The nails were almost completely retained and corresponded to those of an adult man. The cut had in the case of the hands and been made circular in the vicinity of the wrist. The cut ran rather straight, indicating the use of a knife. The skin of the foot was also cut in a circular manner, below the ankle. In the opinion of the experts, the possibility exists that the two members were held in boiling water beforehand, to facilitate pulling off of the skin. It was impossible to determine the identify of the victims of this Russia brutality. The following annex proves that brutal mistreatment and mutilation of German POWs through methods of the above describe manner were also established in other places along the combat front.
Court of the 112th Infantry Division
Local Bivouac, 10 August1941
Present Judge Advocate Dr. Reutter
The witness, Gefreiter Peter Schmitt appeared and testified as follows after being warned to tell the truth and informed of the significance of the oath. He declared:
As to my person: my name is Peter Schmitt, born 6 January1908 in Mulben Amt [?] Mossbach, now with the 2nd Company, 112th (Motorized) Medical Corps.
As to the facts: Our Company, is at the present time in the forest position about 1.5 km south of Catschinki. On 4 August 1941, I observed a Russian tank in a flax field about 1 km south of the Catschinki-Bachani road. I also inspected the tank on the inside. To the left, and next to the on-board cannon, is a niche in the tank tower. Right in the corner, pushed into this niche, lay something with little white worms crawling on it. I took a stick and took the object out. I then observed that it was the pulled off skin of a human foot and hand. The flayed skins of a human foot and hand also lay on the earth in front of the tank. Whether the skin lying on the earth had previously also laid in the niche, I dont know. I packed the 4 skins in a wooden box and brought it to the First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) Dr. Vieten of my Company.
The witness First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) Gerhard Krayer appeared.
He was shown the objects as forwarded by First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) Dr. Vieten, 2nd Company, 112th (Motorized) Medical Corps to the Third General Staff Officer of the Division, and made the following declaration in this regard:
a) As to my person: My name is Gerard Krayer, I was born on 28 December 1914 in Mainz. I am a First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) and Adjutant with the Divisional physician 112th Infantry Division. b) As to the facts: The skin consists of the epidermis pulled off one left and two right human hands, and one left human foot, mostly blackish colored.
The nails are almost completely retained and correspond to an adult man. The rest of the musculature or fat tissue is not present. The skin of the foot and one of the left hands is quite complete in their connection with a major defect contained in contrast to the two other hands. The cut must have been made in a circular manner in the region of the wrist. The cut runs rather straight (knife). The skin of the foot is also cut in a circular manner below the both ankles. The heel, with strong callouses, is completely retained.
Diagnosis: The skin consists of the skinned cuticle of one left and two right hands and one left foot of an adult man. It is possible that the limbs were first held in boiling water in order to facilitate pulling off the skin.
Read out, approved and signed. Signed: Krayer, Signed: Dr. Reutter, Judge Advocate. Certified: Secretary.
Field report of the commanding generals and commanders in chief Vienna, 21 October 1941 Present: Judge Advocate of the Luftwaffe for the duration Dr. Büttner, acting Judge. R.A. Hiller, Recording Secretary
In the investigation relating to violations of international law by Russian troops the following witness appeared in answer to a summons. He was informed of the significance of the oath and warned to tell the truth. Having been informed of the object of the interrogation, the witness stated as follows:
As to my person: My name is Horst Kuchler, Feldwebel of the Luftwaffe, staff of the 4th Luftflottenkommando, presently Air force Hospital of Vienna, Vienna XIX, Peter Jordanstrasse, 82, born 4 October 1914 in Lissa, Posen. I am of the Evangelical faith, married to Berta Kuchler, maiden name George, last peacetime residence Vienna IV, Mühlgasse 8/15.
As to the facts: I arrived on 6 July 1941, with the advance guard of the staff of the 4th Air Fleet at Krzemieniecz. I was Feldwebel at the Staff Headquarters. On 20 July 1941, the Staff Headquarters of members was informed of the discovery, by the 5th Company, 62nd Army Cavalry Hospital, as far as I know, of the body of a dead Feldwebel of the Air Force in the vicinity of the Titykewce estate. I was then ordered by the commander of the Staff Headquarters, Lieutenant Sklomeit, to undertake the burial of the dead man, together with a commando. Other members of the commando included, among others, Feldwebel Spiller, Feldwebel Kalisch, one officer, and another 20 men. Regimental Inspector Klamet joined the commando voluntarily. We carried out the order on the afternoon of 21 July 1941.
We arrived at the indicated location by lorry in the vicinity of the Titzkewce estate, which lay about 8 km from Krzemieniecz. We found the body in a corn field. The body was clothed in a flight suit, lying on its back. Under the flight suit, the dead man wore the uniform of an Oberfeldwebel of the Air Force. We did not remove the flight suit. The dead man was naturally searched, but we found nothing enabling us to identify him, with the exception of a note book containing his name. Based on the hand writing of the note book, we established that his name was Oberfeldwebel M, who, as we later established, was an Army scout. The front sides of the note book also bore data relating to the dead mans relatives, but we could not read any of it since it was all wet. We could only make out the place Frankfurt am Main, but no street, nothing else. We also found a weekly street car ticket for the Weimar-Nora (airport) run to Weimar. The belt lay next to the dead man. We found no weapon. The dead mans pistol was later brought to us by a Russian civilian. with ammunition and holster. It was an 08. The Russian replied to our questions in this regard that he had taken the pistol with ammunition from the dead man, to keep it for safekeeping. The Russian brought us the pistol next to the ammunition of their own free will.
From the surroundings of the place, from which the dead man lay, we could establish that a greater number of men had already been there before us, since the corn, which was almost ripe, was trampled under foot. From the condition of the body, we had to conclude that Oberfeldwebel M. had been tortured.
The skin on both hands had been pulled off, up to the wrist. The fingernails were torn away. On both hands were the raw flesh up to the bones was visible. The face was distorted and the teeth smashed in. We found the dead mans teeth next to the body. We found no bullet wound on the body. On the belt, which we found next to the dead man, we could see hair, however, which originated from the dead man, so we concluded that the dead man had been beaten with his own belt. We immediately took photographs of the dead man. I will present the photographs, which have not yet been developed.
No identification tag was found on the dead man. I assume that it has been taken way. We didnt find the pay book either. We found nothing, apart from the above mentioned note book and map. Russian civilians, whom I have mentioned by name in my report, told us at the time that they had seen a German aircraft make an emergency landing, after which the two men on board escaped. One of them ran towards the German lines, while the dead man had run away to the Titykewce estate. Both were killed, however. The civilians did not see how the two men were killed. I assume the red glove, a typical method of Russian torture, consisted of holding the prisoners hand in boiling water to facilitate pulling off the skin. After that, a circular cut was made on the lower arm, and the skin came away like a glove.
Case 057
The sworn record of 4 September 1941 on the interrogation of nine members of a German Infantry Regiment proves the murder of four members of German signal squad after being captured by the Russians on 5 August 1941. All four were obviously seriously mistreated first, especially beaten, then all bodies show blue spots on the head and body, which could only have been caused by beating. One of the dead men had his cheeks completely pierced through with a bayonet, another had had his left eye gouged out. Furthermore, all of them had had their fingers broken, since all the individual fingers could be moved in all directions. Lastly, the dead men must have bee shot to death by bullets in the back of neck, since all the dead man show a small bullet entry wound in the neck and a small exit wound in the face. They lay thickly piled up next to each other, or on top of each other, and were all had been plundered.
TO BE CONTINUED
Generalplan Ost, which called for, among other things, the death by starvation of all urban Russians, puts the Soviet war crimes against prisoners into context.
If Hitler’s goal was to defeat the Bolsheviks and set up a puppet Russian state without eliminating the Russians, he would have won in a cakewalk. In fact, many Russians would have welcomed the Germans as liberators.
The Japanese got perilously close to Port Moresby.
The statistics are:
In the end it is highly debatable as to which was the bigger monster, Stalin or Hitler.
I think Stalin was the Old Master, Hitler his precocious, energetic and creative pupil.
“Stalingrad should crack, he says and Hitler is pleased. “
Fodder for a Hitler rants video when it all falls apart.
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