We shall limit cur presentation to the destruction of Rotterdam at a time when the city had already capitulated and when there was only the question of the form of capitulation to be settled. Secondly, we shall describe the inundations which the German Army caused without any military necessity of any sort in 1945 on the eve of her destruction when that Army already knew that the game was lost terrorism of the German Army in the West. We have taken the inundations because, without her dykes, Holland ceases to be. Holland disappears when her dykes are destroyed, and those are the fulfillment of the project of destruction of the enemy formulated long since by Germany, as already shown by the citation from Hitler with which I opened my presentation, and which was carried on to the very last minute of Nazi Germany's existence, as proved by the inundation of Holland.
We place before the Tribunal Document F-790 under No. page 38, if you please of the second document book, which comprises a Dutch report on the bombing of Rotterdam and the capitulation of the Dutch Army.
"Extermination of Innocent Populations" is on the title page, Your Honor. On page 38 and 39 are copies of the translations of documents exchanged between the commander of the German troops before Rotterdam and the colonel who was in command of the Dutch troops defending the city. which ended by the bombing. At 10:30 a German representative appeared with an ultimatum, unsigned and without any indication of the sunder, demanding that the Dutch capitulate before 12:30 noon. This document was returned by the Dutch colonel, who asked to be told the name and the military rank of the officer who had called upon him to surrender.
At 12:15 Captain Bakker appears before the German lines and was received by a German officer. At 12:35 he had a conversation with the German officers in a creamery. A German general wrote his terms for capitulation on the letter of reply, which the representative of the Dutch General Staff had just brought to him.
At 13:20 Captain Bakker left the place where the negotiations had taken place with the new terms, to which reply must be given. Two German officers escorted him. These escorting officers were protected by the flight of German aircraft, and red fuses were fired by the Germans, at 13:22 and 13:25.
At 13:30 the first bomb fell upon Rotterdam, which was completely set on fire.
On Page 41 -- The entry of the German troops was to take place at 18:50, but it was brought forward to 18:20 hours. Bakker that the red fuses had for their purpose the avoidance of the bombing. However, there had been excellent wireless communication from the ground to the aircraft. Captain Bakker expressed his surprise that this should have been done by means of fuses. The document the Tribunal will find on page 7, I believe, of the document book.
"Today German soldiers appeared on the Polder, gave orders, and caused the town to be under guard."
Paragraph 2 of Page 7:
"On 17 April 1945 at 12:15 the dyke was dynamited so that two parts of the dyke were destroyed up to a heighth somewhat higher than the surface of the water of the Ijsselmeer."
Paragraph 2, the last paragraph of Page 7. That is in the second document bock, the one which bears the title, "Extermination of Innocent Populations."
On Page 7 of this, last paragraph:
"As for the population, they were alerted during night of 16 to 17 April; that is, at the time when the water was about to invade the Polder. In Wieringenrwerf the news was transmitted from house to house that at noon the dyke would be destroyed. The great Polder, of 20,000 litres, took 9 1/2 to 10 hours to evacuated. Telephone communications had been completely interrupted, and it was impossible to utilize automobiles. This meant that the few individuals who received warning did not receive it until eight o'clock in the morning."
Page 8, if you please, paragraph 2:
"The time given to the population was, therefore, too short to permit the evacuation of the Polder."
The next to the last paragraph. The looting in the flooded Polder has already been mentioned. During the morning of 17 April, on the day of the disaster, groups of German soldiers began to steal. These soldiers came from Wieringen. Moreover, they broke everything that they did not want to take.
On Page 10, Paragraph 1. The Polder by itself covers half of all the flooded lands in Northern Holland. The Polder was flooded on 17 April, when defeat was already a fact as far as the German Army was concerned. The Dutch people are seeking, with courage, to recover the land which they have lost, but it is an immense loss which the German Army imposed upon those people.
the West. On 10 February 1944 -- A document C 45, which we place under the number 410 and which is the first in the document book of the Tribunal -C 45, page 1, paragraph 1, small (a), shows that the repression, in the minds of the leaders of the German Army, is to be carried out without regard for any factors.
On page 1 of the document book, small (a):
"One must immediately retaliate with weapons. If as a result innocents are struck, this is to be deplored, but it is exclusively attributable to the terrorists." General Staff of the German Military Command in Belgium and Northern France. This officer has never been condemned by his superiors.
F 665 we place before you under Number 411. Page 2 of your document book. The last paragraph:
"The search of suspected villages requires experience. The force of the SD should be called upon, as well as the forces of the Secret Police. The accomplices of the Partisans must be unmasked and apprehended without any weakness. All collective measures against the inhabitants of entire villages, including the setting to fire of these villages, are to be taken only in exceptional cases and must be ordered exclusively by divisional commanders or by chiefs of the SS and of the Police."
This document is dated 6 May 1944. It comes from the High Command of the Wehrmacht, and it, or at least the letter of transmittal, is signed by Jodl. Labor Service; that is to say, Sauckel; and the Todt Organization; that is to say, defendant Speer.
In the next to the last paragraph we can read:
"The present notice is applicable to all of the Wehrmacht and to all organizations which exercise their activities in occupied territories; that is to say, the Labor Service and the Todt Organization."
civilian populations, will be carried out strictly, but this will be as a result of collusion between the German Army, SS, the SD and the SIPO.
We place before the report of General Brodowsky under No.405, an excerpt of which is to be found on pages 3, 4 and 5 of the book of documents. It shows on page 3, the penultimate paragraph -- page nine of the German text, second paragraph starting from the top states that repressive operations were carried out and action was undertaken in the southwestern area of the Department of Dordogne m. Lalinde, in which took part a company of Georgians, gendarmes and members of the SD. of the destruction of Oradour. I shall come back to the destruction of this village. Six hundred persons were killed, writes General Brodowsky. It is underscored in the text. The whole male population of Oradour was shot. Women and children took refuge in the church. The church caught fire. Explosives had been placed in the church. All the women and children died. We shall let you know the results of the inquiry on the destruction of Oradour. described in the just cited terms Oradour. Page 5, paragraph 2.
"On 9 June 1944 the barracks occupied by the 13-95 section was attacked by terrorists."
"The struggle was terminated, thanks to the support of units from the Panzer Division Das Reich. One hundred twenty male inhabitants of Tulle were shot, and 1,000 turned over to the SD of Limoges for inquiries." show presently.
THE PRESIDENT: M. Dubost, could we see the original of this document?
M. DUBOST: I showed it to you this morning, Mr. President. I placed it before you this morning. It is a rather large document, if you will remember, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. We would like to see it.
DR. SERVATIUS (Counsel for defendant Sauckel): I should like to rectify an error now before it is carried any further. The prosecuting attorney spoke previously of various people -
THE PRESIDENT (Interposing): It is not coming through. The translation is coming through to the Russian members in French.
DR. SERVATIUS: The French Prosecutor pointed out that certain people were put at the disposal of the Arbeitsdienst. I should like to point out that the Arbeitsdienst is not to be confused with the Arbeitseinsatz. The Arbeitseinsatz was directed by Sauckel, whereas the Arbeitsdienst had nothing whatsoever to do with Sauckel. I should like to ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of that distinction. That is what I wished to state.
THE PRESIDENT: It still isn't coming through correctly to the Russian members. The Tribunal will adjourn for five minutes.
(Whereupon a recess was taken from 1450 to 1535 hours).
THE PRESIDENT: The attorney for Sauckel, I think, was addressing the Tribunal.
DR. SERVATIUS: I had pointed out the difference between the Arbeitsdienst and the Arbeitsseinsatz. The French prosecuting attorney apparently confused the Arbeitsdienst with the Arbeitseinsatz, for he said that the Arbeitsdienst was in some way connected with Sauckel. That is not so. The Arbeitsdienst is an organization that existed before the war started, in which young people had to do a certain length of service as preparation for their military training and they were later inducted into the army. The Arbeitsseinsatz was concerned solely with the recruiting of labor service for the furthering of the war effort. It follows, therefore, that Sauckel cannot be associated with the objections that were made in this connection. That is what I wanted to say.
M. DUBOST: The German words were translated in an identical manner in French. A verification having been made, the remarks of the defense are correct and Sauckel is not involved, only the army is.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
M. DUBOST: When we were interrupted by this technical difficulty, we were about to present a few examples of terrorist exterminations in Holland, in Belgium, and in other countries of the West.
of Putten of 30 September 1944. They are Included in document No. F 719, which we place before you under No.409, and which is to be found on page 46 of the document book before the Tribunal. On 30 September 1944 an attempt was committed by members of the Dutch resistance against a German automobile in which there were two officers. The Germans concluded that the village was a refuge for partisans.
They searched the houses of the inhabitants; they gathered the population together. A wounded German officer had been taken prisoner by the Dutch resistance. The Germans declared that if the officer was released within twenty-four hours there would be no reprisal exercised. The officer was so released, after having been medically cared for by the soldiers of the Dutch resistance who had captured him. However, in spite of the pledge given, reprisals were visited upon the village of Putten, whose inhabitants were all innocent.
Paragraph 2 of the Dutch report which I now cite:
"The population which had gathered together in the church was informed that the men would be taken away; that the women had to leave the village; and that the village would be destroyed. One hundred and five houses were burned. It is estimated that the census of the village comprised 2,500 houses.
Eight persons who were seeking to take flight, amongst whom was one woman, were killed with shots."
In the third paragraph:
"The men were transported to the concentration camp of Amersfoort. Among them were many people who had entered the village and who could not leave it again. They were merely passing in the village. At Amersfoort they released fifty men. About twelve of them jumped from the train during the convoy. Finally, 622 men were tranpsorted to Auschwitz. The greater part of them had died at the end of the first two months. Of the 622 men who were taken away only thirty-two inhabitants of Putten and ten from other towns had returned after the liberation." No. F-685, already placed before the Tribunal under No. RF-394. This document is to be found on page 47 in your document book. The last two paragraphs describe the assassination of a young man who had sought refuge in a shelter. He was killed by the Germans who were looking for soldiers of the Belgiam secret army. lorry filled with people, civilians and killed them. Two civilians were killed by a tank on the same day.
On page 48, paragraph 1 and 2:
"Summary executions of members of the secret army."
Paragraph 3:
"At Anhee, shots having been fired upon them, the Germans crossed the Neuse River. They set fifty-eight houses to fire and they brought down thirteen men. At Annevoie, on the 4th, the Germans came across the river and burned fifty-eight houses." of view, in the five paragraphs which follow. Let us now proceed to the last paragraph.
"At Arendonck, on the 3rd, eighty men were killed; five houses were burned. At St. Hubert, on the 6th, three men killed; four houses burned. At Hody, on the 6th, systematic destruction of the village; forty houses destroyed; sixteen people killed. At Marcourt, ten people were shot; thirty-five houses were burned. At Nerdeteren, on the 9th, nine people were killed. At Oost Ham five persons were killed. At Balen-Neet, on the 11th, ten persons were shot." temporary stabilization of the front, the next to the last paragraph:
"At Hechtel, the Germans having withdrawn in front of the British vanguard, the inhabitants put out the flag. Then fresh German troops came to hold back the British vanguard and reprisals were exercised. Thirty-one people were shot; eighty houses were burned, and general looting took place. At Helchteren, under similar circumstances, thirty-four houses were set to fire and ten people were killed."
Paragraph 2 of page 50: "At Herenthout. The circumstances inwhich these men were executed are always identical. Ten Germans search the cellars, bring the men out, line them along the highway and shoot them, after having given them the order to run. Men with grenades are thrown into the cellars, wounding the women and the children."
Last paragraph:
"At Lommel, an unforseen return of the German soldiers found the village with flags out. Seventeen persons who had sought refuge in a shelter were noticed by a German. He motioned to a tank which came upon the shelter and maneuvered until he crushed the shelter, killing twelve people."
placed before you under No. RF-326, page 51 and 52 of your book. The first example, now quoting paragraph 2:
"On April 13, 1942, women of thirty years were shot at Reingeke. On 15 April, four civilians, of whom were two boys aged fifteen and sixteen, were shot at Aadal. One of the victims received a shot in the head and was wounded in the abdomen. On 19 April, four civilians, among whom were two women and a little boy thirteen years old, were shot at Ringsaker."
The last paragraph on that page -- page 51:
"To avenge the death of two German policemen killed on 26 April 1942 at Televaag, the entire town was destroyed; that is say, more than eighty properties with 334 buildings, causing a damage of 4,200,000 crowns." German atrocities committed in Norway without any necessity of military character, and merely for the purpose of maintaining the reign of terror. In France, massacres, destructions without military purpose, were extremely numerous, and all of them were linked together. We place before you F-243under No. 412. The Tribunal will find this document on page 178 of the document book. It is a long list drawn up by the War Crimes Research Service in France on the towns that were destroyed and looted without any military necessity. These enumerations go from page 179 to page 193 of the document book placed before the Tribunal. The Tribunal will undoubtedly be sufficiently enlightened by the reading of this document. We shall give but a few examples. As we place this document F-909 under No. RF-413, we intend to relate the conditions under which a whole section of Marseilles was destroyed -- pages 56, 57, and 58 of the document book which the Tribunal has in hand. Page 57, if you please. It is estimated that the number of 20,000 people were evacuated. This evacuation was ordered on the 23rd of January. It was carried out without warning during the night of the 23rd to the 24th.
"It is estimated that the number of people evacuated reached 20,000 from Frejus. Some of them were shipped by the Germans to the concentration camp of Compiegne."
On page 58, paragraph 2:
"The demolition operations began on the 1st of February at about 9 o'clock in the morning. They were carried out by troops of the German Engineer Corps."
"The area destroyed is equivalent to fourteen nectares; that is to say, approximately twelve hundred buildings. Inquiry was made to find those who were responsible for this destruction after the liberation of Marseilles: the German consul in Marseilles, von Speigel, was interrogated." His testimony is incorporated in document F-908, which we place before you under No. 414, page 53 of your document book. We will read only the last paragraph on page 54: Speigel stated:
"I know that a very short time after the evacuation of the old port, the rumor was prevalent that this measure had been brought about by financial interests. I am in a position to affirm that such a hypothesis is erroneous. The order came from the higher echelons or organizations of the Reich Government who invoked only two motives: Security of troops, dangers of epidemics." ted by the Germans but merely a few examples. Document F-600, page 59, we place this document before you under No. 415.
"At Ohis, Aisne, civilians sought to give something to drink to an American soldier. The Germans returned. The American soldier was taken prisoner and M. Hennebert was also taken away by the Germans to a spot designated as the "black market" in the Town of Origny in Thierarche where his body was later discovered partly hidden under a stack of wood. The body bore the trace of two bayonet wounds in the back."
At Lagniev -- document F-604, placed under No. 416, page 61 of the document book.
"A civilian was killed in his vineyard. Young people, young women, were killed on the highway."
At the bottom of page 61, before the certification formula: "Motive given: Presence of resistance groups in the region."
At Culoz, Document F-904, which I place before you under No. 417, page 62 of your document book:
"Young boys were arrested because they had taken flight at the sight of the Germans. They were deported." This is three paragraphs before the end of the page. I am quoting the next to the last paragraph:
"Not one of them belonged to the resistance."
At St. Jean Maurienne, Document F-906, placed before you under No. 418, page 63 of your book of documents, paragraph 3:
"The Gendarmes, on 23 July" -- I am now quoting -- "Chavanne and Empereur, dressed in civilian clothes, were arrested by German soldiers without reasonable motives. The lieutenant who was in charge of the Kommandantur promised the liberation of these three men to the officer of the Gendarmes. This German later surreptiously ordered his men to shoot these prisoners."
Page 64, paragraph 4, the 1st of September:
"Madamoiselle Perraud, twenty-one years of age, who was a maid at the Cafe Dentroux, was raped by a German soldier under threat of a pistol." page 68 of your book.
I come to the Vercors. This region was undeniably an important assembly center for French Forces of the Interior. Document F-611, which we place before you under No. 419, relates the atrocities committed against the innocent population of this region as reprisals because of the presence of the Maquis men. This document appears in your book under page 69, et seq. Paragraph 3 of page 69 is an enumeration of police operations in this area of 15 June, carried out in theregion of St. Donat, of rapes and looting; second, execution at Portes-Les-Valence on 8 July 1944 of thirty hostages taken among the political prisoners interned at Fort Montluc at Lyon; third, police raids carried out against the Maquis of the Vercors Region from 21 July to 5 August 1944; rapes and looting in the region of Crest, Saillans, and Die; bombing by aircraft of numerous villages in the Vercors and in particular Chapelle and Vassieux in Vercors; summary execution of inhabitants of these towns; looting, lynching of wounded men, execution after summary judgment of about a hundred young men at St. Nazaire; deportation to Germany of three hundred others from this region; murder of fifty gravely wounded individuals in the Grotte of La Luire.
Page 70, paragraph 1, on 15 June 1944; "Attacked by the German troops at St. Donat" -- I am quoting-- "which the Maquis had evacuated several days earlier."
Paragraph 5, page 54: I am quoting: "Fifty-four young women from thirteen to fifteen years of age were raped by the maddened soldiers." The Tribunal will forgive me if I avoid citing the atrocious details which follow.
Page 71, the last paragraph: "Bombing of the villages of Combovin, La Baume, Cornillanne, et cetera" -- I am now quoting:--"The losses caused by these bombings among the civilian population was rather high, for in most cases the inhabitants, caught by surprise, didn't have time to seek shelter."
Page 72, third paragraph: "Two women were raped atCrest." This in paragraph 3, and in the fourth paragraph the same thing, three women in Saillans.
Page 73, paragraph 4: I am quoting: "The young girl of twelve, who was wounded, was caught between beams and awaited death for six long days without being able either to sit down or sleep and without receiving any food, and that under the eyes of the Germans who were occupying the village."
Page 76; medical certificate from Doctor Nicolaides, who examined the women who were raped in this region.
I proceed: F-612, placed before you under No. 420, page 77: "To terrorize the inhabitants they hanged at Trebeurden people who were innocent, and the faces where slashed with knives."
I proceed: F-912, placed before you under No. 421, page 82 of your book: It is the recital of the massacre of thirty-five Jews at St. Amand Montrend. These men were arrested and assassinated with pistol shots in the back by members of the Gestapo and of the German Army. They were innocent of any crime.
I proceed: Document F-913, placed before you under No. 422, page 96 at the bottom of the page. I am quoting: "On 8 April 1944 German soldiers of the Gestapo arrested young Besiddon, eighteen years of age, dwelling at Oyonnax, whose brother is in the Maquis." On page 97: "The body of this young man was discovered on 11 April 1944 at Sieges (Jura) frightfully mutilated. His nose and tongue had been cut. There were traces of blows over his whole body and of slashes in his legs. Four other young men were also found at Sieges at the same time that Bessidon was. All of them had been mutilated in such a manner that they could not be identified, They carried no trace of bullets, which clearly indicates that they died from the consequences of ill-treatment."
I proceed: F-605, which I place before you under 423, page 98 of your document book. "Destruction of the village of Cerisay in the DeuxSevers Dept, page 100 of your document book, next to the last paragraph: "The fire did not cause any accident to persons, but the bodies of the two persons killed by German convoys and those of the two victims of the raids were burned."
This village was destroyed with artillery fire. One hundred seventytwo buildings were destroyed and five hundred fifty-nine people were left homeless. That is from the last line of page 100 of your document book.
We place before you Document F-919 under No. 424 and we shall quote only page 103 of your document book, paragraph 4:
"This is the murder of a young man of Tourack, in the Finistere Dept. The murderers compelled the mother to prepare a mean for them." I am quoting: "Having been fed, they disinterred the victim. They searched and found that the body bore a card of identity bearing the same name and address as his mother, brothers, and sisters, who were present and who were in tears. One of the soldiers, finding no excuse to explain this crime, said dryly before going away, "It is too bad," and the body was again buried.
Document F-616, placed before you under No. 427, page 104: This concerns the report of the operations of the German Army in the region of Nice around 20 July 1944, page 105 of your document book, second paragraph: I quote:
"Having been attacked at Presle by several groups of resistance in the region, by way of reprisals the Mongolian detachment, still under the orders of the SS, went to a farm where two French members of the resistance had been hidden. Being unable to take them prisoners, these soldiers then took the proprietors of the said farm, the husband and wife, and after exposing them to numerous atrocities, knifings, rapes, et cetera, they brought them down with sub-machine guns. Then they took the son of these victims, who was only three years of age, and after having frightfully tortured him they crucified him on the gate of the farmhouse.
I'll go on. We place document 914 under No. 426, page 107 of your document book. This was a long recital of the murders committed by the German Army in Rue Tronchet at Lyon without any cause whatever. Page 109 at the end of the last paragraph I now read: "Without preliminary warning, without any effort having been made to verify the exact act or accusation, and if necessary to see these who were responsible for the act, the soldiers opened fire. A certain number of civilians, men and women and children fell down. Others who were intact or only slightly wounded, fled in the house seeking refuge." testimony, or of the official testimony that was drawn up on occasion of the events. We place without quoting, which we ask you to take judicial notice of, only the minutes relating to the crimes of the German Army committed in the region of Loches Department and of Indre in Loire. Document F617 placed before you under No. 427 and on page 115 of your document book, Document F 607, placed before you under No. 428, which is on page 119 of your document book, describes the looting, rapes, and fires committed at Saillant during the months of July and of August in 1944. I quote the third paragraph: "During their sojourn in the region - "I mean the German soldiers," - three rapes were committed against women, three women in that area." No 429; a person was burned alive at Puisots at Vercors, on a punitive expedition. This person was innocent. it is at page 122 of your document book, the whole region of Vassieux in Vercors is devastated. This document No F610, is a report established by the Red Cross prepared prior to the liberation, or immediately prior thereto. Page 123 of your document book, I am quoting: "We find in a room a man wounded. He was struck by eight bullets in the following state. The Germans forced him to set fire to his own house, and they tried to prevent him from emerging from the place by shooting pistols at him. In spite of his wounds he was able to miraculously escape."
We place Document F 618 under No. 431, page 124 of the document book, also page 125, the next to the last line. I am quoting: "Concerning people who were executed." The next to the last line: "Before being shot these people were tortured. One of them, M. Duperrier Francis, with a broken arm and his face completely mutilated, and M. Perroud Plattet had been completely disemboweled with a piece of sharp wood. His jaw bone was also all crushed."
We place document 605 under number 432, page 126. This document relates and describes the burning of a hamlet, the place of M. Moutiers, in the Department of Savoy. I read at the beginning of the eighth line, the end of the second paragraph: "Two men and Mme. Romanet, 72 years old, and her daughter, age 41, were burned in a small house of a small place, in the dwelling where they had sought refuge. The man, Mr. Charvaz, was shattered by a bullet, who was found wretched in the same place and also burned.
We now place under No. 433 French document F 298, page 127, following in your document book, which describes the destruction of Maille' in the Department of Saint-Maure. That area was entirely destroyed on 27 August 1944, and a large number of its inhabitants were killed or seriously wounded. This destruction and these crimes were motivated by no terrorist action, by no act of French force of the interior.
We place before you F 007 under No. RF 434, page 132, following in your document book. This document relates to the crimes committed by the German Army at Montpezat. This is a letter written to the French Delegation by the Bishop of Montauban, Monsigneur Theas, on the 2nd of May. I quote: the second paragraph of page 132, "On 2nd May 1944 involving struggles against the Mighty-"
THE PRESIDENT: Can I see your document?
M. DUBOST: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dubost, how do you make out this exhibit? It is not the official document, is it, in any shape or form?
M. DUBOST: That is document F 673, page 139, of your document book, that we first refer to the events.
THE PRESIDENT: There is some other document you mean?
M. DUBOST: Document F 907 really explains Document F 673, which is on page 139 of the Document Book, and this is the document as Exhibit 3, prepared letter by Monsigneur Theas, who is Bishop of Montauban. I wish to present that by referring to Document F 673 if the Tribunal is not disposed to grant sufficient credit to that document F 907.
THE PRESIDENT: I think that would be better.
M. DUBOST: This first number, F 673, placed under No. 392, page 139 of your document book. This document relates to the incident following crimes by the Germans, which is represented in paragraph 1, page 139, that is a letter by the French Armistice Commission, and knowledge is from the German Army Commission in these documents.
"On the night of 6th or the 7th June last, at the time of an operation in the region of Montpezat-de-Quercy, German troops set fire to four farm houses which formed the hamlet designated as Perches. Three men, two women, and two children, 14 and 4 years old, were burned alive. Two women and a child of ten disappeared and probably were exposed to the same fate.
"On Saturday, 10 June, having been shot at by two refractories in the village of Marsoulas, German troops killed these two men. Moreover, they massacred, without any explanation, all the other inhabitants of the village that they could got their hands on.
"Thus were killed seven men, six women, and 14 children, most of them still in their bed at the early hour on which this crime took place.
"On 10 June, at about 1900 hours, five Luftwaffe fliers showered for one half hour the town of Tarbes with bombs and machine guns. Several buildings were destroyed, among them the hotel of Ponts et Chaussees, and the Academic Inspectorate. There were seven dead and about ten wounded who were naturally struck haphazardly amongst the population of the city.
"On this occasion the general in command of the VS-659 at Tarbes immediately announced to the prefect of the department of Basses-Pyrenees that the operation had been neither provoked nor ordered by him.
"Following each of these events the prefect of the Region of Toulouse addressed to the General commanding the H.V.S. 564, letters in which in dignified and measured terms he protested against the acts in question.
At a time when innocent women and children were deliberately put to death he formulated quite accurately the opinion that under no circumstances could children in the cradle be considered as accomplices of the terror raids. He requested finally that instructions be given to avoid the recurrence of such painful scenes.
"Answering in toto on the 19th of June, to the three letters of the Regional Prefect of Toulouse, the chief of staff of the general commanding the Principal General Staff Liaison 564 announced that'the position of principle' is taken by his chief. The latter justifies the acts of reprisal cited because of the following:
"The French population has the duty not only to flee from terrorists but also to render their operations impossible, which will avoid any reprisals against innocents. In the struggle against terrorism the German Army must employ and will employ all means at its disposal, even methods of combat new in Western Europe. The terroristic raids of the Anglo-Americans are now causing the massacre of thousands and thousands of innocent women and children in Germany. Their innocent blood has been shed by the guilt of the Army, and therefore the German soldier must use his arms in the South of France.
"I have the honor of requesting you, General Bridoux, from the German Commission whether the French Government is to consider the arguments cited above as reflecting accurately the position taken by the German High Command face to face with the fact that has been indicated in the first part of the present letter."
the document book, which describes the crimes committed at Ascq by a German unit, which, in reprisal for the destruction of the railway, massacred 77 men of all categories and all ages, among whom were 23 railway workers, employees, industrialists, businessmen and workmen. I quote the last part of the penultimate paragraph of Page 145:
"The oldest of these victims, M. Briet, retired, was 74 years old, having been born on the 3rd of October 1869, at Ascq. The youngest, Jean Roques, a student, son of the Raceveur financial secretary, was 15 years old, having been born on the 4th of January, 1929, at Saint Quentin. Father Gilleron, who was the priest of Ascq, and his two protegees, M. Averlon and sons, who were refugees from the coastal area, were shot down." at that time, to which the Commander-in-Chief von Runstedt replied on the 3rd of May 1944, Document F-673, which we have already placed before you. That is on page 154. Number 392 was the number under which it was placed before you. The reply of this superior officer of the German Army is the last paragraph of 154:
"The population of Ascq bears the responsibility for the consequences of the treacherous conduct which I can only firmly condemn." German Armistice Commission, was not satisfied with the reply given by Runstedt, and on 21 June 1944 he reiterated the French protest, addressing it this time to General Vogl, president of the German Armistice Commission. This is 673, Page 155, of your document book. I now quote the second paragraph of page 155:
"In all, from 10 October 1943 to May 1944, more than 1200 persons were thus made victims of these measures of repression."
The last two lines of page 155: "These measures of repression strike against innocents and strike terror amongst the French population."
Page 157, next to the last paragraph: "A great number of those that had been mentioned took place in the course of repressive operations directed against populations which were accused of having had relations with the Resistance.