July 28th 1947, UNITED NATIONS WAR CRIMES C(MOSSICN. (Research Office) 7 A R CRIMES NEPS DIGEST* C .2 2 3 : The above title replaces that of Press SunnoiyNows used in the early nubbers of this series* For internal circulation to the Cocjnisaion._7 CONTENTS* Page. sroiAJgo p Evarrsi EUROPE. ••• ••• ••• ••• • •• 1• MISCELLANEOUS... ••• ••• ••• ••• 12. THE PAR EAST. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 3 . PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/9b3890/ SUMMARY OF EVENTS. EUROPE. AUSTRIA. Lenient treatment of ex-Nazi a. The Vionna correspondent of theC .S . Monitor (14*6.47) «rote that undue leniency v^s being shown to higher Nazi officials« He olted the case of Rudolf PAUSFERTL, District Inspector of Gendarmerie, the investigation of whose crimes was suspended;Franz RICHTER, Standart- ®nfuhrer,SS; WITZANY and Otto HARTMANN whoso esoapes were apparently connived at* £ RICHTER, WITZANY and HARTMANN were recaptured^ The.article contained the following figure*; Austrian* registered as Nazis, under the Anti-Nazi law; 556,660« Of this total 377*266 were parly members; 61,198 belonged to the S.Af and 22,729 to the SS. BELGIUM. War Crimes Trials. Reuter reported (9«7*47) from Brussels that Belgium's war crimes trials wero expected to begin on September 15th« It has not yet been decided whether the German war criminals who are to be tried would be allowed to seleot German lawyers or whether Belgian latgrers would bo appointed* GERMANY. TRIAL3 BY GERMAN COURTS. Denazification plan drawn up, .News of Germany reported( 2 .7 .4 7from ) Stuttgart that General C IAI, U .S. Military Governor, had rovoalod at a pross oonforonce that a new plan calling far a uniform denazification system in all four ocoiqaation zones was drawn19 ty tho foreign ministers' conference at Moscow and - submitted to tho Alliod Control Counoil. Progress of Denazification. It was officially stated in Berlin (2.7.47) that denazification courts of the U .S. zone had cocpletod 44,000 oases in May 1947* This total raiaod the number of cockleted cases to 324,920 sinco the courts bogan functioning in June 1946« Hie May 1947 report of Spruchkanaer activities indicated that 1,409,646 persons, chargeable under the denazi- /-fication « •••• PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/9b3890/ i c - y /■> ^-2 - GERMANY. TRIALS BY GERMAN COURTS (CONT) Progress of denazification, (Cont) ficaticn law, remained to be tried. Another 1,500,000 had been spared trial on grounds of youth and acne sties. Arrest of. all members of "Criminal Organisations*. The Bona German News Agency reported ftron Frankfurt (16.7.47) that General CIAY, U.S. Military Governor in Germany* bad ordered all former members of Nazi organisations which were declared criminal at Nuremberg to be arrested and transferred to inter, xaent camps if they had not yet been tried by denazification tribunals. The order was signed on July 9th and sent to a l l directors of American M ilitary Government in the various states. , Arrest of Frits Wiedemann. Reuter reported fron Frankfurt (18.7*47) that ifcitz WIEDEMANN, described as Hitler's farmer adjutant, had been arrested by order of the denazification court. £ Fritz WIEDEMANN was former German Consul in the United States and A.D.C. to HITL3R._7 PTau Vagier sentenced. An Agency message (1 .7.47) stated that i*au Winifred WAGNER, daughter-in-law of Richard WAGNER, was olassifiod as "active Nazi" by the denazification court at Bayreuth. She was ordered to surrender 6q£ of her fortune and to work for 450 days for the comunity* Sohacht to appeal, (see No. XXVIII, p. 2 of this Digest) The Daily Telegraph reported from Munich (9*7*47) that the Military Government had announced that Herr SCHACHT, fornor German Ministor of Finance, who was sentenced to eight years* imprisonment by a denazifi­ cation court, had been granted a review of the sentence. The hearing will take place next month. AMERICAN ZONE. THE SECOND NUREHBERG- TRIAL3. Judicial Appointment. News of Germany reported from Berlin ( 2 3 .6 .4 7 ) that Janes BRAND had boen named presiding judge of M ilitary Tribunal H I replacing Carrington MARSHALL, retiring because of ill health. JUstico William HARDING, until now an alternate, had been added to the panel. /Logal PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/9b3890/ GERMANY. AMERICAN ZONE (CQNT) THE SECOND NURBfflERG TRIAIS. Jtegal meaning of "Conspiracy" . A speoial session of a l l Nureriberg tribunals was ocnvenod on JUly 9th,at T/hich the use of the legal tern "conspiracy" w»s to bo disoussod. Defence counsel had repoatedly requested that the tern should be dropped froo indiotnents as it was unkncr./n in Ge^an law* £ For text of Genoral Telford TAYLOR's statement on tho subject see doounent R7/US/14/7B; available in the Secretariat,^ The Trial of the 23 Doctors and Scientists, (Case 1#) 8eo XTV,0 f this ^ A special release No, 135 dated 14,7*47 said that in ti»8** ■flunnation spoech" delivered on that day, tho prosecution enphasised that the evidence had shovm that tho subjects of the experiments were not voluntoers and that tho medical leaders not only knew of the experi- nents but personally took part in then. Theprosecution ridiculed the attempt of Dr* BRANDT to pose as a "stenographic automaton " , and argued that, though the State ordered tho experiments, it could not oxeqpt the doctors who performed then from their responsibility. £ For list of the defendants see Rosearch Circular No* 24*_7 The I.G. Ptxrbon Caso. (Case Ho. 6.) see No, XXVII, p*3 & XXVIII, p*3* As mentioned in No, XXVIII of this Digost the indictnent in this case was filed, on 3*5*47 (For list of the defendants see Research Circular No* 24). A U .S . special reloase No* 131 roforring .to tho indictment said : "Tho indictment charges that I.G. Ruben had close connections with HTMMUBR and his associates through which tho firm obtained slave labour, A letter written by Baron von SCHROEDER to HIHMLHRin ifay 1944 contains a l is t of members of tho so-called "H im lo r C irc lT *, a select group of prominent Industrialists who subsidized HDJMLER and his organi­ sations to tho tune of about 1,000,000 narks a year. The list indicates that two of the defendants »Heinrich BUETEFESCH and Dr* Hornann SCHMITZ, acting on behalf of I.G.ihrbon, contributed altogother 100¿000 Reioh- narks during that year. At tho regular meetings of the Circle BUETE- PISCH met both HIMMUSR himself and also one of the chief assistants, the S3 General Kurt WOLFF." "The importance of thoso nootings becomes clear from tho indictment, whioh charges that General WOLFF arranged with tho I.G . Rxrbon o ffic ia ls in Berlin to furnish the Combine with concentration camp labour at tho prico of one and a half narks per day per porson. The indictment further assorts that the defendant Otto AMBROS, the Rxrben expert on buna rubber who had been a school-mte of HBliLER's and knew him personally, had roconnended tho Auschwitz sito and had called attention to tho availability of concentration labour. It is maintained that AMBROS, when in chargo of the Auschwitz plant, used his connections with HD&'LER to assure tho continous supply of slave labour fron the camp. " /The PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/9b3890/ AMERICAN ZONE (CQNT) SECOND NUREMBERG TRIAIS (CONT) The I.G.PUrben Case. (cont) The Homing Advertiser (16.7*47) ropcrtcd that 30 British, ooc- prisoners had responded to the appeal far witnesses broadcast by the B.B.C an 21.6.47 ( see Research Circular No. 23.) and that 5 or 6 of than would go to Nuronberg to give evidence. The report continued; "Mr- E.E. KENSKOFF, legal adviser to the U.S. Treasury, on loon to the War Crimes Commission as assistant prosecutor at the trial, will take statements fron ex-prisoners of war at their hones in Durham, Manchester, Bristol, Dorchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Cardiff and Gloucester* He told a Hom ing Advertiser" reporter: " A conservative estimate of the workers from I.G.Firben who died was between 22,000 and 25,000»” Mr* MINSKOFF said that about 2,000 British prisoners of war were eqalcyed by I.G. iUrbenindustrie in factories and nines* " Nows of Germany (9*7*47) reported Mthatslx BHUGGS uANN, former director General of I.G.Forbon, one of the defendants, had been s.mt to a sanatorium in the Britiah zone suffering fron heart diaeaae. It waa not know whether he could take his place with the 23 other defen­ dants* ¿ “The trial was expected to begin on 15*8*47^7 The "Hostages" Case. (Case No. 7*) see XXVIII, p* 3 of this Digest. Field liar aha 11s LIST and von WEICHS and the other generals accused in this case were arraigned on 8.7*47* The Trial begin on 15*7*47 before Tribunal V, consisting of Judge WENNERSTRUU (president), judge CARTER and judge BURKE* A special release No*136 of 15*7*47 aaid that in opening the prosecution General Telford TAYLOR, U.S. Chief of Counsel, stated that the defendants wore not accused as being responsible for occasional outrages by their troops but of having inaugurated a deliberate programme of terror and extermination. He contested the view that, military men wore a race apart, not responsible for their acts, because thoy had to obey orders, and citod the German arry code which nade it the duty of a soldier to refuse to obey orders which he knew to be criminal. Mr. Clark DENNY, who continuod the prosecution, ‘cited Harshal von WEIdE* order of 28,4*41 that 100 Serbs wore to be shot for every soldier injured by surprise attacks by the Serbs; he quoted a report nade by KUNTZE to the O.K.ff.