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Kharkov under Nazi Occupation

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Roberto.rodohforum	Kharkov under Nazi Occupation		Lead	[-]
Posts: 264 Mar 13 12 1:37 PM	Tags : None Remove this ad Ereignismeldung UdSSR Nr. 164 vom 4.2.1942 Bundesarchiv R58/217 Operational Situation Report USSR No. 164 of 4.2.1942 Bundesarchiv R58/217 Quote: [...]Judenerfassung in Charkow Im Rahmen des S.K. 4 a wurden die umfangreichen Vorbereitungen, die im Rahmen der allgemeinen Judenerfassung in Charkow notwendig wurden, beschleunigt betrieben. Es galt zwar in erster Linie geeignetes Gelände für die Evakuierung der Juden im engsten Einvernehmen mit dem Quartieramt der Stadt zu ermitteln. Es wurde ein Geländeabschnitt gewählt, wo die Juden in den Baracken eine Werksiedlung untergebracht werden konnten. Am 14.12. 1941 erschien dann ein Aufruf des Stadtkommandanten an die Juden von Charkow, worin diese aufgefordert wurden, sich bis zum 16.12.1941 in die im Aufruf näher bezeichnete Siedlung zu begeben. Die Evakuierung der Juden verlief bis auf einige Plünderungen, die sich auf dem Marsche der Juden zu den neuen Quartieren ereigneten und an denen sich fast ausschließlich Ukrainer beteiligten, reibungslos. Ein zahlenmäßiger Überblick über die bisher durch die Evakuierung erfaßten Juden liegt noch nicht vor. Die Zählung der Juden ist eingeleitet. Gleichzeitig sind die Vorbereitungen für die Erschießungen der Juden im Gange. 305 Juden, die der deutschen Wehrmacht abträgliche Gerüchte verbreiteten, wurden sofort erschossen. [...] My translation: Quote: [...]Collecting Jews in Kharkov Within the scope of S.K. 4 a the extensive preparations required within the scope of the general collection of the Jews of Kharkov were carried out at an accelerated pace. The priority was to find an appropriate area for the evacuation of the Jews in close co-ordination with the quarters service of the city. An area was chosen where the Jews could be accommodated in the barracks of a labor settlement. On 14.12.1941 a proclamation by the city commander to the Jews of Kharkov appeared wherein they were called upon to move to the settlement described in the proclamation until 16.12.1941. The evacuation of the Jews was carried out without incidents except for some looting that took place on the march of the Jews to their new quarters and in which almost exclusively Ukrainians took part. A numeric overview of the Jews collected so far in the evacuation is not yet available. At the same time preparations for the shootings of the Jews are taking place. 305 Jews who spread rumors unfavorable to the Wehrmacht were immediately shot. [...] Protokoll der Auerordentlichen Kommission fr die Stadt Charkow zur Untersuchung der dortigen Verbrechen vom 5.9.1943 ZStdLJV, 4 AR-Z-269/60, Dokumentenband, Bl. 164-169, Zitat Bl. 164 f. Protocol of the Extraordinary State Commission For The City Of Kharkov To Investigate The Crimes There Committed, 5.9.1943 ZStdLJV, 4 AR-Z-269/60, collection of documents, pages 164-169, quote pages 164 and following. (ZStdLJV = Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen zur Aufklrung Nationalsozialistischer Verbrechen, Central Office of the Judicial Administrations of the Federal States for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes, Ludwigsburg, Germany) Quote: [...]Nach unvollständigen Angaben wurden allein im Monat Dezember 1941 und Januar 1942 in der Nähe des Vorwerkes Rogan, acht km von Charkow entfernt, in der sogenannten Drobizker Mulde über 15 000 Juden, Einwohner der Stadt Charkow, erschossen. Diese ungeheuerlichen Verbrechen an der friedlichen Bevölkerung werden bestätigt durch Zeugenaussagen, das gerichtsmedizinische Gutachten und anderes Dokumentenmaterial. [...] Am 14 Dezember 1941 wurde von dem deutschen Militärkommandanten der Stadt Charkow ein Befehl herausgegeben, demzufolge die gesamte jüdische Bevölkerung der Stadt innerhalb von zwei Tagen an den Stadtrand umziehen mute, in die Baracken eines Maschinenbaubetriebes. In dem Befehl hieß es, daß Personen, die dieser Aufforderung nicht nachkommen, erschossen werden würden. So bewegte sich einige Tage später in Richtung der Umsiedlungsstätte eine vieltausendköpfige Menge von Alten, Frauen und Kindern durch die Strassen der Stadt. Weil es verboten war, nach 16 Uhr durch die Stadt zu gehen, aber viele von den Umziehenden sich in dieser Zeit noch unterwegs befanden, kam die Bewegung zum Stillstrand. Die Leute übernachteten auf der Strasse, unter freiem Himmel, in dem eisigen Frost. Infolgedessen starben viele von ihnen schon auf dem Wege. [...] My translation: Quote: [...]According to incomplete data in the months of December 1941 and January 1942 in the proximity of the Rogan works, eight kilometers away from Kharkov, in the so-called Drobizk Ravine, over 15 000 Jews, inhabitants of the city of Kharkov, were shot. These monstrous crimes against the peaceful population are confirmed by the depositions of witnesses, the forensic medical report and other documentary material. [...] On 14 December 1941 the German military commander of the city of Kharkov issued an order, according to which the whole Jewish population was to move to the city periphery within two days, into the barracks of the works of a machine factory. In the order it was stated that people who did not follow this order would be shot. Thus several days later a crowd of many thousands of elder people, women and children was moving in the direction of the resettlement site through the streets of the city. As it was forbidden to walk through the city after 16 hours, but many of those to be resettled were still on their way at this time, the movement stopped. The people spent the night on the street, under open sky, in icy frost. Due to this many of them died already on the way. [...] Aussage von Phillip F, ehemaliger Angehöriger der 297. Infanteriedivision, am 23. Mrz 1961 HHStAW, 631 a, 1856, Bl. 223-227, Zitat Bl. 225 f. Deposition of Phillip F, former member of the 297th Infantry Division, on 23. March 1961 HHStAW, 631 a, 1856, pages 223-227, quote page 225 and following. (HHStAW = Public Prosecutors Office of the City of Hamburg) Quote: [...] Es war Mitte Dezember 1941, als ich mich für einige Wochen in Charkow aufhielt. Ich weiß heute noch ganz genau, daß es am 15.12.41 war, als ich in Charkow sah, wie ein mehrere Kilometer langer Zug von Juden in langen Reihen mit Handwagen und Gepäck von der Stadt sich Richtung Osten zur Traktorenfabrik bewegte. Das Traktorenwerk ist etwa 15 km vom Stadtzentrum entfernt. Unter den Juden befanden sich Männer, Frauen und Kinder. Einzelne Wagen wurden von kleinen Pferden gezogen, die teilweise unter ihrer Last zusammenbrachen. Auf den Fahrzeugen waren teilweise auf dem Gepäck Kleinkinder, Frauen und gebrechliche Personen aufgesessen. Dabei herrschte eine Kälte von ca. 15 Grad. Die vorüberziehenden Juden betrachtete ich eine volle Stunde und der Zug hörte immer noch nicht auf. Ich schätze die Anzahl der Juden, die an diesem Tag von Charkow zu dem Traktorenwerk geführt wurden, auf ca. 15 000 Personen. Ich habe noch in Erinnerung, daß der Zug von Uniformierten abgesperrt und bewacht wurde. Ich kann aber heute nicht mehr sagen, ob es sich dabei um SS-Angehörige oder ukrainische Hilfspolizei in Uniform handelte. Ich konnte nicht beobachten, daß dabei Mißhandlungen von Juden vorgekommen sind. Als ich am nächsten Tag mit meinem Fahrzeug von Charkow nach Tschugew fuhr, benützte ich dieselbe Strasse, die am Tage zuvor der Judenzug benützt hatte. Dabei sah ich unterwegs wiederholt links und rechts der Strasse Leichen liegen, die von dem Zuge der Juden stammten. Ob diese Juden durch Mißhandlungen bzw. Erschießungen oder an Entkräftung gestorben sind, vermag ich nicht zu sagen. Die Leichen lagen verlassen da, niemand hat sich um sie gekümmert. Ich weiß deshalb noch genau daß die Juden am 15.12.41 von Charkow zu dem Traktorenwerk geführt wurden, weil damals in der Stadt überall Plakate in deutscher und russischer Sprache aufgehängt waren, auf denen die Juden aufgefordert wurden, sich an einem bestimmten Platz der Stadt zum Abtransport zu sammeln. Von welcher Dienststelle die Plakate ausgehängt wurden, weiß ich heute nicht mehr. Es ist mir aber noch genau erinnerlich, daß als Versammlungstermin der 15.12.1941 genannt war. [...] My translation: Quote: [...] It was in the middle of December 1941, when I spent several weeks in Kharkov. I still know exactly today that it was on 15.12.41 when I saw in Kharkov how a trek several kilometers long of Jews in long rows with handcars and luggage moved from the city eastwards to the tractor factory. The tractor factory is about 15 km away from the city center. Among the Jews there were men, women and children. Some cars were drawn by small horses which sometimes broke down under their load. On the cars there were sometimes little children, women and sick people sitting on the luggage. The cold was about 15 degrees (celsius) below zero. I watched the Jews passing by for a full hour and still the trek didn’t end. I estimate the number of Jews who on this day were led from Kharkov to the tractor factory at ca. 15 000 persons. I still recall that the trek was secluded and guarded by uniformed men. I cannot tell anymore today, however, whether these were members of the SS or Ukrainian auxiliary police in uniform. I didn’t observe any mistreatment of the Jews during this. When on the next day I drove in my car from Kharkov to Tshugev, I used the same road that the trek of Jews had used on the previous day. On the left and right side of the street I repeatedly saw corpses that were from the trek of the Jews. Whether these Jews had died from mistreatment or shooting or from exhaustion I cannot tell. The corpses lay there abandoned and nobody cared about them. The reason why I know exactly that the Jews were led to the tractor factory on 15.12.41 is that at that time there were posters in German and Russian language hanging everywhere in the city, on which the Jews were called upon to gather at a certain place of the city in order to be taken away. I no longer know today what service had issued these posters. But I still remember exactly that 15.12.1941 was mentioned as the day of gathering. [...] Aussage des Karl G. ehemaliger Angehöriger des Polizeibataillons 314, 9 November 1964 HHStAW, 631a, 1868, Bl. 2551-2555. Zitat Bl. 2553 Deposition of Karl G., former member of police battalion 314, 9 November 1964 HHStAW, 631a, 1868, page 2551-2555, quote page 2553 Quote: [...] Ich bin der Meinung, da die Judenexekutionen bei Charkow zu Beginn des Jahres 1942 stattgefunden haben. Zumindest war ich vorher nie bei einer solchen Exekution zugegen. Die Juden waren in Charkow in einem Ghetto etwas außerhalb der Stadt gesammelt untergebracht und von uns bewacht worden. Eines Tages, es war sicher nach Weihnachten 1941, wurde ich zu einer Geländeabsperrung ebenfalls außerhalb der Stadt Charkow kommandiert. Unter welcher Führung ich damals stand, weiß ich nicht mehr. Wir wurden in ein hügeliges Gelände gebracht, wo wir einen großen Absperrungsring zu bilden hatten, der von der Zivilbevölkerung nicht betreten werden durfte. In dieses Gebiet wurden vom SD die Juden aus dem Ghetto mit Lastkraftwagen abtransportiert. Die Juden muten sich entkleiden und in der Nähe oder unmittelbar in Erdrissen niederlegen. Es handelte sich um natürliche Erdrisse und nicht etwa um Panzergräben oder sonstig geschaufelte Gruben. In diesen Gruben wurden die Juden vom SD erschossen. Die Anzahl der in diesem Gebiete erschossenen Juden ist mir nicht bekannt, doch glaube ich, da es eine größere Anzahl gewesen ist, weil die Erschießungen einige Tage dauerten. Ich habe nicht gesehen, daß Polizeiangehörige bei den Exekutionskommandos mitgewirkt hätten. [...] My translation: Quote: [...] In my opinion the executions of Jews at Kharkov took place at the beginning of the year 1942. At least I never was present at such an execution before. The Jews in Kharkov had been gathered in a ghetto somewhat outside the city and were guarded by us. One day, it was certainly after Christmas 1941, I was commanded to seclude an area also outside the city of Kharkov. Under what leadership I was then I no longer know. We were taken to hilly terrain where we had to form a huge seclusion ring that the civilian population was not allowed to enter. Into this area the Jews from the ghetto were taken with trucks. The Jews had to undress and to lie down nearby or right inside crevices in the earth. The crevices were natural ones and not tank ditches or other dug-outs. In these pits the Jews were shot by the SD. The number of Jews shot in this area is not known to me, but I think that it was a larger number because the shootings lasted several days. I didn’t see members of the police being part of the execution detachments. [...] Aussage der Viktor T., ehemaliger Angehöriger des Sonderkommandos 4 a, 25 Juni 1960 ZStdLJV, 4AR-Z 269/60, Bd. 1, Bl. 1-18, Zitat Bl. 16 f. Deposition of Viktor T., former member of Sonderkommando 4 a, 25 June 1960 ZStdLJV, 4AR-Z 269/60, Volume 1, page 1-18, quote page 16 and following Quote: [...] Mit einem LKW und verschiedenen PKWs, in denen die Führer fuhren, ging es zur Stadt hinaus in Richtung Traktorenwerk. Ca 5-10 km hinter dem Traktorenwerk hielten wir in einem freien Gelände an. Ganz in der Nähe des Exekutionsplatzes was eine Flakstellung. Die Juden befanden sich bereits am Platze. Es waren bereits Angehörige unseres Kommandos zugegen, welche die Juden bewachten. Die Erschießung dieser Juden wurde in einer Schneise durchgeführt. Es war eine Kluft, welche bis in die Mitte eines größeren Hügels ging. Ich wurde dem Erschießungskommando zugeteilt. Das Exekutionskommando in Stärke von 10Mann begab sich in diese Kerbe, die ca. 20 m in den Berg hineinging. Die Juden wurden in Gruppen von 20-25 man hineingeführt und muten sich dort auf den Boden legen. Sie wurden mit der Maschinenpistole durch Genickschuß erschossen. Die Erschießung dauerte nicht lange, schätzungsweise 1 Stunden. Der gesamte Vorgang dauerte länger, da wir durch russische Flieger laufend beschossen wurden. Bei dieser Beschießung wurde bereits ein Teil dieser Juden getötet. Auch ein Kdo.-Angehöriger wurde durch den Beschuß verletzt. Das Kdo., welches als Schützen eingeteilt war, wurde bei dieser Exekution nicht abgelöst. Die ansteigenden Wände wurden danach auf die Leichen gesprengt. In Charkow wurden aber m.W. noch vielmehr Juden liquidiert, wie in der Ereignismeldung angegeben sind. Die weiteren Exekutionen erfolgten nicht mehr durch Erschießen, sondern durch den Einsatz eines Gaswagens. Dieser Wagen, der bereits in Poltawa eingesetzt war, kam in Kiew und in der Folgezeit auch in Charkow in den Einsatz. [...] My translation: Quote: [...] With a truck and several passenger cars in which the commanders drove we went out of the city in the direction of the tractor factory. About 5-10 km after the tractor factory we stopped in an open area. Close to the execution site there was an anti-aircraft gun emplacement. The Jews were already at the place. There were members of our detachment present who were guarding the Jews. The shooting of the Jews was carried out in a ravine. It was a crevice which went up to the middle of a larger hill. I was ordered to the execution detachment. The execution detachment with a strength of 10 men entered the crevice that went about 20 meter inside the mountain. The Jews were led inside in groups of 20-25 people and had to lay down on the ground. They were shot in the neck with machine pistols. The shooting didn’t last long, approximately 1 hours. The whole procedure lasted longer because we were constantly fired at by Russian planes. Due to this fire a number of these Jews were already killed. A member of the detachment was also wounded by the fire. The detachment which had to do the shooting was not relieved during the execution. The rising walls were then blown up onto the corpses. As far as I know, however, more Jews were liquidated in Kharkov than are mentioned in the Operation Situation Report. The ensuing executions were no longer carried out by shooting but by using a gas van. This van, which had already been used in Poltava, was also used at Kiev and thereafter also at Kharkov.[...] The above texts were taken from: Verbrechen der Wehrmacht Dimensionen des Vernichtungskrieges 1941-1944 Ausstellungskatalog Pages 182 - 185 Custom Signature *Quote:* Denial of generally known historical facts should not be punishable. For those who maintain, for instance, that Germany did not take part in World War I or that Adenauer fought at Issus in 333, their own stupidity is punishment enough. The same should apply to the denial of the horrors and crimes of the recent German past. ~ A German jurist by the name of Baumann in the German juridical magazine NJW, quoted in: Bailer-Galanda/Benz/Neugebauer (ed.), Die Auschwitzleugner, Berlin 1996, page 261 (my translation).
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Posts: 264 Mar 13 12 1:40 PM	What follows is an excerpt from: Kogon/Langbein/Rckerl et al, Nationalsozialistische Massentötungen durch Giftgas, Pages 94/95 Quote: […]In den letzten Dezembertagen des Jahres 1941 und Anfang Januar 1942 wurden die Gaswagen zur Vernichtung der Charkower Juden herangezogen. Drei Mitglieder des SK 4 a bekundeten, da bei dieser Exekution auch mindestens ein Gaswagen eingesetzt war. Die Juden wurden im Traktorenwerk verladen und auf dem Weg zum Exekutionsort vergast. (StA Darmstadt, AZ: Ks 1/67 (AZ. ZSL: 204 AR-Z 269/60, Bd. XI, Bl. 2390 ff). Einer dieser Augenzeugen berichtet über den Einsatz eines Gaswagens: Bereits vorher waren die Juden in einem Ghetto am Stadtrand von Charkow untergebracht worden, und zwar in arbeitsdienstbarackenähnlichen Gebäuden, die von Schutzpolizei bewacht wurden ... Ich schätze, daß die Gesamtzahl der dabei erfaßten Juden ungefähr 10 000 betragen hat. Die Erschießungen wurden in derselben Form wie in Kiew vorgenommen. Der Gaswagen war gleichzeitig im Einsatz. In ihm wurden ca. 30 Personen jeweils befördert. Soviel ich weiß, wurden die Insassen des Gaswagens durch einströmende Abgase getötet. Meines Wissens war in Charkow der Fahrer des Gaswagens Oberscharführer Findeisen mit einem Beifahrer. Ich selbst habe den Gaswagen nur von außen gesehen. Er sah aus wie ein großer Kastenwagen. (ebenda, Bd. II Bl. 469) Nach der Großaktion fanden in Charkow noch kleinere Exekutionen statt. Die Opfer waren durchweg Juden, die sich verborgen gehalten hatten; zur Räumung von Gefängnissen wurden Gaswagen eingesetzt. (ebenda, Bd. I, Bl. 345, Bd. III, Bl. 571, Bd. IV, bl. 735, Bd. VII, Bl. 1372, Bd. XXXI, Bl. 19). Der Zeuge Willi Friedrich, Anführer des 3. Zuges in der 2. Kompanie des 3. Polizeibataillons, wurde jedesmal zur Absperrung des Gefängnisbereichs und des Entladeplatzes beordert. Er sagte aus: Tatsache ist aber, da ich etwa im Zeitraum von Februar bis Mai 1942 auf Befehl von Blobel bzw. seines Nachfolgers Dr. Weinmann mit meinen Leuten Absperrdienst für den Einsatz des Gaswagens verrichten mußte. Meiner Erinnerung nach waren es fünf bis sechs solcher Einsätze, die sich etwa alle drei Wochen wiederholten. Wo der Standort des von mir erwähnten Gaswagens war, kann ich nicht sagen. Ich erinnere mich aber, da ich den Gaswagen mehrere Male im Gefängnis von Charkow gesehen habe. Dort wurde ich auch mit meinen Leuten hinbeordert, um außerhalb des Gefängnisses eine Absperrkette zu bilden. Der Wagen fuhr in das Gefängnis von der rückwärtigen Seite hinein, und manchmal sah ich auch, wie russische Zivilisten, Männer wie Frauen, darauf verladen wurden. Der Gaswagen sah aus wie ein großer Möbeltransportwagen. Der Fahrer des Wagens war ein gewisser Findeisen, der ebenfalls zum SK 4 a gehörte. (ebenda, Bd. V, Bl. 777) Nach der Befreiung Charkows gelang es den Sowjetbehörden, einige der für die Morde Verantwortlichen festzunehmen; 1943 begann ein öffentliches Gerichtsverfahren in Charkow. Am 19 Dezember verteilte die Presseabteilung der Auswärtigen Amtes eine Nachricht von Reuter aus Moskau, in der über den Prozeß berichtet wurde. Drei Deutsche, darunter der stellvertretende Kommandeur der Gestapo Charkow, Hans Rietz, waren darin namentlich erwähnt: Die Anklage, die gegen die drei Deutschen vorlag, war die, da sie während der zeitweiligen deutschen Besetzung der Stadt Charkow in diesem Jahr sich an der brutalen Massenvernichtung friedfertiger sowjetischer Bürger mittels Gaswagen und anderer Methoden beteiligten. (Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes Signatur K-206638). Das EK 5 wurde als mobile Einsatztruppe Ende 1941 aufgelöst. Einige Truppenteile wurden zur Unterstützung der Sicherheitspolizei nach Rowno, Shitomir und anderen Orten gesandt; die übrigen 25 Leute arbeiteten in der Zentrale des KdS Kiew weiter.[…] My translation: Quote: [...]In the last days of December 1941 and at the beginning of January 1942 the gas vans were used to annihilate the Jews of Kharkov. Three members of SK 4 a stated that in these executions there was also at least one gas van in operation. The Jews were loaded up at the tractor factory and gassed on the way to the execution site. (StA Darmstadt, AZ: Ks 1/67 (AZ. ZSL: 204 AR-Z 269/60, Volume XI, pages 2390 and following). [StA Darmstadt = Public Prosecutors Office of the city of Darmstadt] One of these eyewitnesses testified as follows about the use of one gas van: Before the Jews had already been accommodated in a ghetto on the periphery of Kharkov, in buildings similar to barracks of the labor service which were watched by the order police. I estimate the total number of Jews collected at about 10 000. The shootings were carried out in the same way as in Kiev. The gas van was in operation at the same time. About 30 persons were transported in it. As far as I know those inside the gas vans were killed by exhaust streaming in. As far as I know the driver of the gas van was Oberscharführer Findeisen with someone at his side. I myself only saw the gas van from the outside. It looked like a huge box van. (as above, volume II page 469) After the great action there were still smaller executions in Kharkov. The victims were usually Jews who had remained hidden; gas vans were used to clear out prisons. (as above, volume I, page 345, volume III, page 571, volume IV, page 735, volume VII, page 1372, volume XXXI, page 19). The witness Willi Friedrich, leader of the 3rd platoon of the 2nd company of the 3rd police battalion, was each time ordered to take part in secluding the prison area and the unloading site. He stated the following: The fact is, however, that about in the period between February and May 1942, at the order of Blobel or his successor Dr. Weinmann, I had to do seclusion service with my men for the use of the gas van. As far as I remember there were five to six such assignments, which repeated themselves about every three weeks. I cannot say where the gas van I mentioned was kept. I remember, however, that I saw the gas van several times at the Kharkov prison. I was ordered to go there with my men to form a seclusion line outside the prison. The van drove into the prison backwards, and sometimes I also saw how Russian civilians, men as well as women, were loaded onto it. The gas van looked like a huge furniture transportation van. The driver of the van was one Findeisen, who also belonged to SK 4 a. (as above, volume V, page 777) After the liberation of Kharkov the Soviet authorities managed to detain some of those responsible for the murders; in 1943 a public trial began Kharkov. On 19 December the press department of the diplomatic service distributed a communication by Reuter from Moscow with a report about the trial. Three Germans, one of them the deputy commander of the Kharkov Gestapo, Hans Rietz, were mentioned by their names therein: The accusation against the three Germans was that during the temporary occupation of the city of Kharkov this year they had taken part in the brutal mass extermination of peaceful Soviet citizens by means of gas vans and other methods (Archive of the Diplomatic Service Signature K-206638). Einsatzkommando 5 was dissolved as a mobile special unit at the end of 1941. Some parts of the unit were sent as reinforcements of the security police to Rovno, Shitomir and other places; the remaining 25 people worked at the headquarters of the Commander of the Security Police in Kiev.[...] Custom Signature *Quote:* Denial of generally known historical facts should not be punishable. For those who maintain, for instance, that Germany did not take part in World War I or that Adenauer fought at Issus in 333, their own stupidity is punishment enough. The same should apply to the denial of the horrors and crimes of the recent German past. ~ A German jurist by the name of Baumann in the German juridical magazine NJW, quoted in: Bailer-Galanda/Benz/Neugebauer (ed.), Die Auschwitzleugner, Berlin 1996, page 261 (my translation). Edited 1 time by Roberto Mar 13 12 1:43 PM.
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Posts: 264 Mar 13 12 1:41 PM	The following depositions were taken from: Ernst Klee/Willi Dressen, «Gott mit uns.» Der deutsche Vernichtungskrieg im Osten 1939-1945, 1989 S. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt a.M. Aus der Aussage des Wladimir Sergejewitsch Ossadtschuk vor der Außerordentlichen Staatskommission, 21 September 1943, Verfahren Js 4/65 GStA Ffm., russ. Akten, Bd. I From the deposition of Vladimir Sergejewich Ossadtchuk before the Extraordinary State Commission, 21 September 1943, procedure Js 4/65 GStA Ffm., Russian files, volume I (GStA Ffm = Public Prosecutors Office of the city of Frankfurt on Main) Quote: [...]Nach den Explosionen im deutschen Stab in der Dserdshinskijstraße und in den Kasernen auf dem Feierbachplatz am 16.11. verhafteten die Deutschen 1 000 Menschen. Es waren alles friedliche Bürger der Stadt, darunter alte Männer, Frauen mit Säuglingen und Halbwüchsige. Außerdem wurden 250 friedliche Bürger verhaftet und auf den Plätzen und in den Strassen der Stadt erhängt. Manche dieser Bürger erhängte man an den Balkonen der Häuser und an den Bäumen. So hingen in der Swerdlowstraße mehr als 30 Leichen, auf dem Tewelkaplatz 13, auf dem Dserdshinskijplatz 10 Menschen, in der Smiewskistraße 4, und so weiter. [...] My translation: Quote: [...]After the explosions at the German staff in the Dsershinskij Street and in the barracks on the Feierbach Square on 16.11. the Germans arrested 1 000 people. All of them were peaceful citizens of the city, among them elder men, women with babies and adolescents. Furthermore 250 peaceful citizens of the city were arrested and hanged in the squares and streets of the city. More than 30 corpses hung in the Swerdlov Street, 13 on Tewel Square, 10 people on Dsershinskij Square, 4 on Smiewski Street and so on. [...] Aus dem Tagebuch des Leiters der Abteilung II b (Minzenmay), Generalkommando Charkow, Verfahren Js 4/65 GStA Ffm, Bd. XX, B. 4331 ff. From the diary of the Head of Section II b (Minzenmay), General Command Kharkov, procedure Js 4/65 GStA Ffm, volume XX, page 4331 and following Quote: [...] 14. November : Heute nacht tat es einen dumpfen Knall: Obwohl das Gebäude der Roten Armee nach allen Schikanen durchsucht worden ist, flog es heute nacht mit dem Stab der 60. Div. in die Luft, Div. Kdr. Chef d. St., Ia und 4 Schreiber wurden furchtbar verstümmelt tot aufgefunden. Im Laufe des Tages sind noch weitere 4 Gebäude in die Luft geflogen: das Timoschenko-Haus, die Brücke über den Lopan [...] Als Repressalie wurden 200 Kommunisten erschossen oder erhängt und 1 000 Geiseln festgenommen. [...] My translation: Quote: [...] 14 November : Tonight there was a deep bang: Although the building of the Red Army had been searched for all devices, it blew up tonight with the staff of the 60th Division, the division commander, the chief of staff and 4 clerks were found horribly mutilated and dead. In the course of the day another 4 buildings blew up: the Timoshenko House, the bridge over the Lopan [...] As a reprisal 200 communists were shot or hanged and 1 000 hostages were taken. [...] Aus dem Protokoll der sowjetischen Kommission über die Besetzung der Stadt Charkow vom 20.2.1944, Verfahren Js 4/65 GStA Ffm., russ. Akten, Bd. I From the protocol of the Soviet Commission on the Occupation of the City of Kharkov, 20.2.1944, procedure Js 4/65 GStA Ffm., Russian files, volume I Quote: [...]An Hand von noch längst nicht vollständigen Angaben ist es der Kommission gelungen, festzustellen, da im Dsershinsker Rayon 353 Menschen - Zivilbürger - von den Deutschen erschossen und gehängt wurden; auf das Gelände des Traktorenwerks abtransportiert und bestialisch umgebracht wurden 268 Menschen. 48 Menschen starben den Hungertod. Auf dem Gelände der Klinischen Siedlung erschossen die Deutschen mehr als 1912 verwundete kriegsgefangene Rotarmisten und Offiziere. Diese begangenen Verbrechen, das Wüten der deutschen Okkupanten - alles trug den Charakter einer organisierten Vernichtung des sowjetischen Volkes. Mit sadistischer Grausamkeit vernichteten die deutschen Schergen nicht nur die erwachsene Bevölkerung, sondern auch Kinder sowie wehrlose alte Männer und Frauen. [...] Unmenschliche Grausamkeit zeigten die deutschen Eroberer den russischen Kriegsgefangenen gegenüber, sie setzten sich über alle internationalen Abmachungen in bezug auf Kriegsgefangenen hinweg [...] My translation: Quote: [...]On hand of by no means complete data the Commission has been able to establish that in the Dsershinskij Rayon 353 people - civilians - were shot and hanged by the Germans; 268 people were taken to the area of the tractor factory and brutally killed. 48 people died of starvation. On the area of the Clinical Settlement the Germans shot more than 1 912 wounded Red Army soldiers and officers. The crimes committed, the raging of the German occupiers - all bore the character of an organized extermination of the Soviet people. With sadistic cruelty the German henchmen annihilated not only the adult population, but also children as well as defenseless old men and women. [...] Inhuman cruelty the German conquerors showed towards Russian prisoners of war; they broke all international conventions in regard to prisoners of war. [...] Custom Signature *Quote:* Denial of generally known historical facts should not be punishable. For those who maintain, for instance, that Germany did not take part in World War I or that Adenauer fought at Issus in 333, their own stupidity is punishment enough. The same should apply to the denial of the horrors and crimes of the recent German past. ~ A German jurist by the name of Baumann in the German juridical magazine NJW, quoted in: Bailer-Galanda/Benz/Neugebauer (ed.), Die Auschwitzleugner, Berlin 1996, page 261 (my translation).
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Posts: 264 Mar 13 12 1:42 PM	Excerpt from: Alexander Werth, Russia at War 1941-1945, 2000 Carroll & Graf Publishers New York, pages 607/608 Quote: […]There had been 900.000 people in Kharkov before the war, but when the war spread to Ukraine, and the refugees started pouring in from the west, this figure swelled to 1,200,000 to 1,300,000. Later, in October 1941, with the Germans approaching, the evacuation of Kharkov began in real earnest. Most of the larger plants were more or less successfully evacuated, among them the great Tractor Plant, with nearly all its workers. By the time the Germans came, some 700,000 people had left the city. Now there were only 350,000. What had happened to the rest? According to the Russian authorities, the disappearance of half the population of October 1941 is accounted for as follows: it has been established that 120,000 people, mostly young people, had been deported as slaves to Germany; some 70,000 or 80,000 had died of hunger, cold and privation, especially during the terrible winter of 1941-2; some 30,000 had been killed by the Germans, among them some 16,000 Jews (men, women and children) who had remained behind in Kharkov; the rest had fled to the villages. Various checks I made in the next days suggested that the figure for deaths from hunger, et cetera, was slightly, but not greatly, exaggerated; so too was the figure for non-Jews shot, but the figure for the Jews was correct. On the other hand, the figure for slave-labor deportations was, if anything, an underestimate.[…] Custom Signature *Quote:* Denial of generally known historical facts should not be punishable. For those who maintain, for instance, that Germany did not take part in World War I or that Adenauer fought at Issus in 333, their own stupidity is punishment enough. The same should apply to the denial of the horrors and crimes of the recent German past. ~ A German jurist by the name of Baumann in the German juridical magazine NJW, quoted in: Bailer-Galanda/Benz/Neugebauer (ed.), Die Auschwitzleugner, Berlin 1996, page 261 (my translation).
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Posts: 264 Mar 13 12 1:44 PM	Excerpts from The People's Verdict: a full report of the proceedings at the Krasnodar and Kharkov German atrocity trials Ignatik Fedorovich Kladov; Ivan Fedorovich Kotomtsev, defendant; Reinhard Retzlaff, defendant.; Wilhelm Langheld, defendant. (NY: 1943, 1944). Courtesy of Scott Smith [pp. 7-9] Quote: THE TRIAL In the case of the Fascist Invaders and their Accomplices in KRASNODAR and Krasnodar Territory July 14 to 17, 1943: On 14 July, 1943, in the city of Krasnodar, in the North Caucasus, the trial was opened before a military Tribunal presided over by Justiciary Colonel N. Y. Mayorov, President of the Military Tribunal of the North Caucasian Front, of the case of the atrocities perpetrated by the German fascist invaders and their accomplices in the area of the city of Krasnodar and the Krasnodar Territory during the period of their temporary occupation. Justiciary Major General L. I. Yachenin acted as State Prosecutor. The defendants in the case were: I. Kladov, I. Kotomtsev, M. Lastovina, G. Misan, Y. Naptsok, V. Pavlov, I. Paramonov, N. Pushkarev, I. Rechkalov, V. Tischenko and G. Tuchkov. They were charged with committing crimes covered by Articles 58-1a and 51-1b of the Criminal Code of the R. S. F. S. R., i.e., treason to the country. The accused were defended by Advocates A. I Nazarevsky, V. I. Yakunenko and S. K. Kaznacheyev as appointed by the court. The morning session on the 14th was taken up with the preliminary formalities. At the afternoon session the indictment was read and before the court there was unfolded a frightful picture of the wholesale murder of innocent Soviet citizens who were killed in thousands by the German fascist invaders during their temporary occupation of Krasnodar Territory. The preliminary investigation, the indictment stated, had revealed that all these acts of murder, outrage, violence and plunder were committed by the punitive units of the German 17th Army, commanded by Colonel General Rueff. The immediate supervision and execution of all these acts of brutality were vested in the Krasnodar Gestapo, headed by the German Chief of the Gestapo, Colonel Christmann. The Gestapo had under its command a special punitive unit of the Secret Police called the Sonderkommando SS-10-a, which was immediately responsible for the perpetration of all atrocities. The investigation revealed that persons under arrest were tortured and that prisoners confined in the cellar of the Krasnodar Gestapo were burnt to death; that patients in the Krasnodar Municipal Hospital, at the Berezansk Medical Colony and also in the Territory Children’s Hospital at Tretya Rechka Kochety Farm, in the Ust-Labinskaya District, were killed wholesale. Lastly, the investigation revealed that many thousands of Soviet citizens were put to death by asphyxiation by means of carbon monoxide in motor vehicles specially equipped for this purpose, known as murder vans. The Sonderkommando SS-10-a was a punitive unit of the Gestapo, numbering about 200 men. The head of this Sonderkommando was Colonel Christmann, a German, Chief of the Gestapo. His immediate assistants in the work of exterminating Soviet citizens were the German officers: Rabbe, Boss, Sargo, Salge, Hahn, Erich Meier, Paschen, Winz and Hans Mnster, the German Army Surgeons in the prison and the Gestapo, Herz and Schuster and also officials of the Gestapo, the interpreters Jakob Eicks and Scherterlan. Furthermore, the following traitors, now before the court as defendants in the case, were recruited by the Gestapo and participated in the perpetration of all the aforementioned atrocities: V. Tischenko, G. Tuchkov, I. Rechkalov, M. Lastovina, N. Pushkarev, G. Misan, J. Naptsok, I. Paramonov, I. Kotomtsev, V. Pavlov and I. Kladov. The investigation revealed the following definite cases of atrocities perpetrated by the German fascist invaders in the Krasnodar Territory: Soon after the occupation of Krasnodar, the cellar of the Krasnodar Gestapo was crammed with prisoners as a result of systematic raids upon and the wholesale arrest of the peaceful inhabitants. No investigation whatever was made into the cases of the hundreds and thousands of innocent people thus arrested. The latter were subjected to the most brutal violence and torture. Their fate was decided arbitrarily by Colonel Christmann, Chief of the Gestapo, who personally issued the orders for their physical extermination. In the autumn of 1942, the Germans began to utilize specially equipped motor vehicles, which the population called murder vans, for the purpose of doing away with Soviet citizens. These murder vans were covered five-ton or seven-ton grey-painted motor trucks, driven by Diesel engines. The interior of these vans was lined with zinc-plated sheet iron. At the back they had double doors which closed hermetically. The floor consisted of a grating, beneath which there was a pipe that was connected with the exhaust pipe of the engine. The exhaust gas from the Diesel engine, which contained a high concentration of carbon monoxide, penetrated the interior of the van, causing the rapid poisoning and death from asphyxiation of the prisoners confined in it. Several times a week, and in January, before the Germans retreated from Krasnodar, two and three times a day, the murder vans were filled with people confined in the cellar of the Gestapo, which was situated in 61 Orjonikidze Street. The loading of the vans was usually supervised by Captain Rabbe, Deputy Chief of the Gestapo and Governor of the Gestapo prison. Before being dragged from the cellar the prisoners were stripped of their clothing; then they were bundled into the murder van 60 to 80 at a time. The doors of the van were then hermetically closed and the engine started. After standing with the engine running for several minutes, the van would drive to an anti-tank trench which had been dug outside the Measuring Instruments Factory on the outskirts of Krasnodar. As a rule, the murder vans were escorted by a convoy of police from the Sonderkommando SS-10-a. By the time the vans reached the anti-tank trench the people were asphyxiated by the gas. The bodies were flung into the trench and buried. Men, women and children were bundled into the van without discrimination. In the course of time, in spite of the efforts the Germans made to keep this fiendish method of exterminating Soviet citizens a secret, the inhabitants living in the neighborhood of the Gestapo premises, and through them, the entire population, learned of the use to which these vans were being put. The prisoners in the cellar of the Gestapo also learned of the purpose of the murder vans, and on being loaded into them they offered resistance. At the time of loading the courtyard of the Gestapo premises echoed with their shrieks and wailing. Owing to this they were seized and dragged into the van by force. Soon after the engine was started the shrieks of these unfortunate people gradually subsided as they succumbed to the gases. [pp. 110 111] Quote: Morning Session, 17 December, 1943. Findings of the Commission of Medico-legal Experts: The Medico-legal experts examined in Kharkov and neighboring localities the scenes of the crimes of the German fascist invaders – the places where they carried out the extermination of the Soviet citizens. These included the burned-out block of the army hospital, where they shot and burned war prisoners – severely wounded personnel of the Red Army; the place of the mass shooting of the healthy and sick, of small children, juveniles, young people, old men and women in the forest park of Sokolniki, near the village of Podvorki, in the Dobritsky gully, and in the therapeutic colony of Strelechye. At these sites the medico-legal experts examined the grave-pits and exhumed bodies of Soviet citizens shot, poisoned, burned or otherwise brutally exterminated. The medico-legal experts examined the places where the German fascist invaders burnt bodies to destroy evidence of their crimes - the poisoning with carbon monoxide. This is the site of the conflagration on the territory of the barracks of the Kharkov tractor plant. Examination of territories on which bodies were burnt or buried, examination of the grave-pits and positions of bodies in them and comparison of material thus obtained with data of the Court proceedings, provide grounds for considering that the number of bodies of murdered Soviet citizens in Kharkov and its environs reaches several tens of thousands, whereas the figure of 33,000 exterminated Soviet citizens given by accused and some witnesses is only approximate and undoubtedly too low. In the 13 grave-pits opened in Kharkov and its immediate vicinity were found a huge number of corpses. In most graves they lay in extreme disorder, fantastically intertwined, forming tangles of human bodies defying description. The corpses lay in such a manner that they can be said to have been dumped or heaped but not buried in common graves. In two pits in the Sokolniki forest park bodies were found lying in straight rows, face downward, arms bent at the elbow and hands pressed to faces or necks. All the bodies had bullet wounds through the heads. Such a position of the bodies was not accidental. It proves that the victims were forced to lie down face downward and were shot in that position. In the grave pits where the bodies lay and in places where the bodies had been burnt the medico-legal experts found articles of everyday use and personal effects, such as bags, sacks, knives, pots, mugs, spectacles, fasteners of women’s handbags, etc. The fact revealed by the investigation namely, that before being murdered Soviet citizens were stripped of their footwear, is fully confirmed by the medico-legal examinations: during exhumation the experts in most cases discovered naked or half-naked bodies. In order to ascertain which Soviet citizens were exterminated and in what manner, the experts exhumed and examined 1,047 bodies in Kharkov and its environs. These included the bodies of 19 children and adolescents, 429 women and 599 men. The dead ranged in age from two to 70 years. The fact that the bodies of children, adolescents, women and old men as well as invalids were discovered in grave-pits with civilian clothes and articles of domestic use and personal effects on the bodies or near them, proves that the German fascist authorities exterminated Soviet citizens regardless of sex or age. On the other hand, the fact that [on] the bodies of young and middle-age men were found clothes of military cut worn in the Red Army, also articles of military equipment (pots, mugs, belts, etc.) is evidence of Soviet war prisoners. The extermination of Soviet people (civilians and war prisoners) was effected by means of poisoning with carbon monoxide, shooting, burning, and killing with blunt, hard and heavy instruments. All this has been established absolutely and irrefutably, by the material of the preliminary investigation, the Court proceedings, and proved by the medico-legal experts with scientific objectivity. The depositions of the accused and the witnesses state that in various parts of the temporarily occupied territory of the U.S.S.R. the German fascist invaders used specially equipped large vans in the bodies of which Soviet citizens were murdered by exhaust gases containing carbon monoxide. The medico-legal experts proved this beyond doubt for the first time when examining bodies exhumed in the town of Krasnodar and in its vicinity. At the same time the presence of carbon monoxide was irrefutably established by a combination of physiological, chemical and spectroscopic tests of the blood in the tissues and organs of the corpses. The same method of poisoning with carbon monoxide as was used in Krasnodar has been proved by medico-legal examination of some of the bodies exhumed in Kharkov. The lorry which came to be known as the gas van or murder van, designed to exterminate people inside its air-tight body by means of exhaust gases, must be regarded as a mechanical method for the simultaneous poisoning of large groups of people. Investigation and medico-legal examinations has established that in addition to poisoning with carbon monoxide, the Germans applied on a large scale, in Kharkov and its environs, mass shooting from automatic firearms, firing as a rule into the back of the head, the back of the neck and the spine. Examination of bodies has also proved that there were cases of killing by means of the smashing of the skull and destruction of the cerebral cortex by blows by blows from blunt, hard and heavy implements. It should be noted that in Kharkov gravely wounded Soviet war prisoners were exterminated in an especially painful manner by means of burning in combination with shooting. This has been proved by the data of the preliminary investigation, the Court proceedings, and also by medical examination of parts of corpses found on the site of the burnt-down block of the army hospital when, in particular, soot was discovered in the respiratory tract of a charred body, which indicates that the victim was subjected to the action of smoke and fire when still alive. The German fascist invaders tried to cover up the evidence of their crimes, in the first place of poisoning with carbon monoxide, by burning the bodies of poisoned persons. However, the material of the investigation and discovery of portions of skeletons of bodies which were burnt on the territory of the barracks of the Kharkov tractor plant, prove the fact of the burning of bodies. On the basis of all the combined data of their proceedings the medico-legal experts have established the presence of: (a) A vast number of burial sites in the city of Kharkov and its immediate environs. (b) A huge number of bodies in the grave-pits. (c) Varying times of burial in various graves. (d) Varying degrees of preservation of the bodies in the same graves. (e) Distinction of bodies in regard to sex and age. (f) Uniformity of methods of extermination of human beings. We regard the above as proofs of systematic, methodically organized, mass extermination of Soviet civilians and war prisoners. Chief medico-legal expert of the Peoples Commissariat for Health Protection of the U.S.S.R., Director of the State Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Medicine under the Peoples Commissariat for Health Protection of the U.S.S.R. Prozorovsky. Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Second Moscow Medical Institute, Doctor of Medical Science Smolyaninov. Snr. Staff Scientist of the tanatological department of the State Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Commissariat of Health of the U.S.S.R, Dr. Semenovsky. Chief medico-legal expert of the 69th Army, major of Medical Service Gorodnichenko. Pathologist-anatomist Major of Medical Service Yakusha. After the translation of the finding of the medico-legal experts in to the German language, the President, Justiciary Major-General Miasnikov, declared the Court proceedings concluded. Custom Signature *Quote:* Denial of generally known historical facts should not be punishable. For those who maintain, for instance, that Germany did not take part in World War I or that Adenauer fought at Issus in 333, their own stupidity is punishment enough. The same should apply to the denial of the horrors and crimes of the recent German past. ~ A German jurist by the name of Baumann in the German juridical magazine NJW, quoted in: Bailer-Galanda/Benz/Neugebauer (ed.), Die Auschwitzleugner, Berlin 1996, page 261 (my translation).
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Posts: 264 Mar 13 12 1:49 PM	Footage related to the German atrocities in the Kharkov area is included in the Soviet wartime documentaries Битва за нашу Советскую Украину, aka Fight for Soviet Russia, aka Ukraine in Flames, Kampf um die Ukraine and The Atrocities committed by German-Fascists in the USSR Images showing victims of Nazi crimes in the Krasnodar area are linked to in the blog June 22, 1941 Custom Signature *Quote:* Denial of generally known historical facts should not be punishable. For those who maintain, for instance, that Germany did not take part in World War I or that Adenauer fought at Issus in 333, their own stupidity is punishment enough. The same should apply to the denial of the horrors and crimes of the recent German past. ~ A German jurist by the name of Baumann in the German juridical magazine NJW, quoted in: Bailer-Galanda/Benz/Neugebauer (ed.), Die Auschwitzleugner, Berlin 1996, page 261 (my translation).
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