KATYN: How the Soviets Manufactured War
Crime Documents for the Nuremberg Court
Translator's note:
The following is is a typical example of Nuremberg "evidence".
The "testimony" consists of "written statements" said to have
been signed by "eyewitnesses", but which are simply "quoted"
in a "report" written by the Stalinists and read aloud (in excerpt
form) by the Soviet prosecutor. The "statements" are not attached
to the report, the "witnesses" do not appear in court, and the
"original documents" are not attached.
The Soviets were assigned by the Nuremberg Tribunal with the
task of introducing all the evidence of German atrocities in
Eastern Europe. Nearly all Nuremberg evidence is of similar
quality, if not worse.
The "forensic report" quoted in this "report" was the ONLY forensic
report ever introduced into evidence at Nuremberg.
The victims at Katyn were buried in greatcoats and boots
in perfect condition. If they had been alive doing heavy road
construction work for another year and a half, from April 1940
until September 1941 as claimed by the Russians, these articles
would have shown severe wear. And, of course, the victims would
have been sending and receiving correspondance for another year
and a half. The 15,000 victims must have had hundreds of thousands
of relatives, friends, and acquaintances in Poland, yet nothing
was heard from them after April 1940; no letter or postcard
written by any of these men after April 1940 has ever been produced.
All mail sent to them after April 1940 was returned by the Russians,
marked "Return to Sender Gone Away".
Parts of this document have an air of very great realism,
even though it is known to be false from beginning to end: the
Soviets admitted their guilt for the Katyn shootings in November
1989. The report describes how perjured statements are obtained
using procedures which are identical to those of the witchcraft
trials of the Middle Ages. This is why civilized countries have
rules against oral and written hearsay and prior consistent
statements (i.e, the multiplication of "evidence" by repeating
the same thing 10 times), and a requirement that cross examination
be permitted in some form.
Personally, I consider this document by far the most important
document ever introduced into evidence at Nuremberg, and possibly
in any other war crimes trial as well.
Note the constant references to totally irrelevant factual
material (such as the title and author of a science book possessed
by one of the Russian "witnesses") just as if they were really
proof of something. It reminds one of the joke: "My dog treed
a 300pound possum last week, and if you don't believe it, I'll
show you the tree he treed him in."
Carlos W. Porter
DOCUMENT 054USSR
Report by a Special Soviet Commission, 24 January 1944, concerning
the shooting of Polish officer prisoners of war in the forest
of Katyn. The executions had been carried out in autumn 1941
by the German "Staff of the Construction Battalion 537". In
spring 1943 the Germans, by blackmailing witnesses into giving
false evidence and by other means, had tried to make it appear
that the Soviet NKWD was responsible for the shooting of the
11,000 victims.
Description
Brochure in the Russian language from the year 1944. 56 pages
in octavo format, later bound. Signature of German translation.
REPORT
of the Special Commission for the examination and investigation
of the circumstances of the shooting of Polish prisoners of
war in the Katyn forest by the German fascist invaders.
The Special Commission for the examination and investigation
of the circumstances of the shooting of Polish prisoners of
war in the forest of Katyn (near Smolensk) by the German fascist
invaders was formed by order of the Special State Commission
to examine and investigate the atrocities of the fascist German
invaders and their accomplices.
The Commission consists of the following persons:
Member of the Special State Commission, Academician N.N. BURDENKO
(President of the Commission);
Member of the on the Special State Commission, Academician ALEKSEJ
TOLSTOI;
Member of the Special State Commission, Mythropolitos NIKOLAI;
President of the AllSlavic Committee, Lieutenant General GUNDOROW
A.S.;
President of the Executive Committee of the Association of the
Red Cross and Red Half Moon, POLESNIKOW S.A.;
People's Commissar for Education of the RSFSR <Russian Soviet
Federal Socialist Republic>, Academician POTEMKIN W.P.;
Chief of the Forensic Head Office of the Red Army, CoronelGeneral
SMIRNOW E.I.;
President of the Executive Committee for the Region of Smolensk,
MEINIKOW R.E..
To deal with the tasks laid before the Commission, the Commission
called upon the following forensic experts:
Superior Forensic Expert of the People's Commissariat for Health
Matters of the USSR, Director of the Scientific Research Institute
for Forensic Medicine PROZOROWSKI W.I.; head of the Professorship
of Forensic Medicine of the 2nd Moscow Medical Institute, Doctor
of Medical Sciences, SMOLJANINOW W.M.; eldest scientific expert
of the State Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Medicine
of the People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR,
SEMENOWSKI P.S.; eldest scientific official of the State Scientific
Research Institute for Forensic Medicine of the People's Commissariat
for Health Matters of the USSR, Professor SCHWAIKOWA M.D.; chief
pathologist of the Major Front of the Medical Service, Professor
WYROPAIJEW D.N..
The extensive material laid before his associates and the forensic
medical experts who arrived in the city of Smolensk on 26 September
1943, immediately after the liberation of the city, and who
conducted the preliminary study and investigation of the circumstances
of all atrocities committed by the Germans, was made available
to the Special Commission by Member of the Special State Commission,
Professor BURDENKO N.N..
The Special Commission carried out on-the-spot investigations
and found that the graves of the Polish prisoners of war shot
by the German occupiers are located 15 kilometres from the city
of Smolensk, on the Witebsker highway, in the region of the
Katyn forest known as "Kosji Gori", 200 metres southwest of
the highway, in the direction of the Dnjipr river.
The graves were excavated by order of the Special Commission,
and in the presence of all members of the Special Commission
and the forensic experts. A great number of corpses in Polish
uniforms were discovered in the graves. According to the calculations
of the forensic experts, the number of corpses amounts, in total,
to 11,000.
The forensic experts thoroughly examined the disinterred corpses
and all objects and exhibits found in the graves and on the
corpses.
Simultaneous with the excavation of the graves and the examination
of the corpses, the Special Commission carried out interrogations
of the numerous witnesses and the local populace, whose testimonies
precisely established the time and circumstances of the crime
committed by the German occupiers.
The following is clear from the testimonies of the witnesses:
The Katyn Forest
The Katyn forest was always a favourite holiday spot for the
people of the city of Smolensk.
Those who lived in the vicinity pastured their livestock in
the Katyn forest and cut wood. There were no restrictions or
prohibitions against entering the Katyn forest.
This was the case in the Katyn forest until the outbreak of
the war. The "Promstrachkasse" combat engineers camp which was
only dissolved in July 1941 was still located in the forest
in the summer of 1941. Following the occupation of the city
of Smolensk by the German invader, quite a different system
prevailed in the Katyn forest. The forest began to be guarded
by reinforced patrols, and numerous warning notices appeared,
stating that all persons who entered the forest without special
permits would be shot.
Especially strictly guarded was that part of the Katyn forest
known as "Kosji Gori", as well as the region along the banks
of the Dnjepr, where a summer house rest centre for the NKWD
offices at Smolensk was located 700 metres from where the graves
of the Polish prisoners of war were discovered. After the arrival
of the Germans, a German office was created at this location,
called "the Staff of the Construction Battalion 537".
Polish prisoners of war in the region of Smolensk
The Special Commission has established that, prior to the conquest
of the city of Smolensk by the German occupiers, Polish prisoners
of war, officers and enlisted men, worked on the construction
and repair of the highways in the west districts of the region.
The Polish prisoners of war were housed in three camps, i.e.,
camp no. 1ON, no. 2ON, and no. 3ON, which were located approximately
2545 kilometres west of the city of Smolensk.
It has been established, based on the testimony of witnesses
and documentary proof, that the above named camps could not
be evacuated in time due to the unfavourable conditions after
the commencement of military operations.
All Polish prisoners of war, some of the guard personnel, and
the camp employees, fell, for this reason, into German captivity.
The former head of camp no. 1ON, Major of Security WETOSCHINIKOW
W.M., interrogated by the Special Commission, stated:
"I awaited the order relating to the dissolution of the camp.
But <phone> connections with the city of Smolensk were interrupted.
Therefore I drove together with a few fellow employees to Smolensk
to clarify the situation. I found the situation in Smolensk
tense. I turned to the head of railway traffic for the Smolensk
stretch of the western railway, Comrade IWANOW, with a request
to provide the camp with <train> carriages to evacuate the Polish
prisoners of war. Comrade IWANOW answered, however, that I could
not count on that. I made attempts to get in connection with
Moscow to obtain permission to cover the distance by foot, but
I was not successful.
"At this time, Smolensk was already cut off from the camp by
the Germans, and I don't know what happened to the Polish prisoners
of war and the guard personnel who remained behind in the camp."
Engineer IWANOW S.W., head of traffic for the Smolensk stretch
of the western railway in July 1941, stated to the Special Commission:
"The administration of the camp for Polish prisoners of war
contacted my office with a request to obtain train carriages
for the evacuation of the Poles, but we had no carriages available.
We were furthermore unable to direct any carriages to the Gusino
stretch, since the stretch was already under fire. For this
reason, we could not consider the request of the camp administration.
Thus, the Polish prisoners of war remained behind in the region
of Smolensk."
That the Polish prisoners of war remained behind in the camps
of the region of Smolensk was confirmed by the testimony of
the numerous witnesses, who had seen these Poles in the vicinity
of the city of Smolensk in the early months of the occupation
until the month of September 1941.
The female witness SASCHENEW Marija Akeksandrowna, a teacher
at the primary school of the village of Senjkowo, stated to
the Special Commission that she had hidden one of the Polish
prisoners of war in the attic of her house after he had escaped
from the camp.
"The Pole wore a Polish military uniform, which I immediately
recognized since I had seen the groups of Polish prisoners of
war in 1940-41 on the highways, working under guard. I was very
interested in this Pole since he, as it turned out, had been
a primary school teacher in Poland before his callup. Since
I had myself graduated from teacher's training college and wanted
to be a teacher, I struck up a conversation with him. He told
me that he had attended a teacher's training college in Poland,
then went to a military school and became a lieutenant in the
reserve. Upon the outbreak of hostilities between Poland and
Germany, he was called up for active military service. He was
in BreskLitovsk and was taken prisoner by units of the Red Army.
He stayed in a camp near Smolensk for over a year.
"When the Germans came and occupied the Polish camp, a hard
system prevailed there. The Germans did not consider the Poles
to be human beings, and pushed them around and mistreated them
in every possible way. There were cases in which Poles were
shot without any reason. So he decided to escape. He told me
of his own accord that his wife was also a teacher and that
he had two brothers and a sister."
When he went away the following day, he mentioned a name which
SASCHNEWA noted in a book. The book, presented <to the Special
Commission> by SASHNEWA, "Practical Exercises in the Natural
Sciences" by Jagodowsky, contains the following note on the
last page:
"LOECK, Jusef and Sophia, city of Smostjie, Agorodnaja Street
no. 25."
The list <of Katyn shooting victims> published by the Germans
contains the name LOECK Jusef under no. 3796 as having been
shot in the spring of 1940 at Kosji Gori in the Katyn forest.
From the German reports, it therefore appears that LOECK Jusef
was shot one year before his acquaintance with the female witness
Saschnewa.
The witness DANILENKOW N.W., a farmer from the "Krasnaja Zarja"
collective farm and a member of the village council of Katyn,
stated:
"In the months of August September 1941, when the Germans came,
I met Poles working on the highway in groups of 1520 men each."
Similar statements were made by the witnesses:
SOLDATENKOW, former village elder of the village of Borock,
KOLATSCHEW A.S., doctor of the city of Smolensk,
OGLOBLIN A.P., priest,
SERGEEW T.I. railway master
SMIRJAGIN P.A., engineer,
MOSKOWSKAJA A.M., resident of the city of Smolensk,
ALEKSEJEW A.M., foreman of the collective farm of the village
of Borock,
KUTZEW I.W., technician of the water services,
GORODEZTKIJ W.P., priest,
BASEKINA A.T., bookkeeper,
WITROWA E.N., teacher,
SAWWATEJEW I.W., duty officer at the railway station at Gnesdowo,
among others.
The raids in search of Polish prisoners of war
The presence of Polish prisoners of war in the region of Smolensk
in the autumn of 1941 was also confirmed by the fact of the
German raids in search of prisoners who had escaped from the
camps.
The witness KARTOSCHKIN I.M., carpenter, stated:
"The Germans not only searched for Polish prisoners of war in
the forests in the autumn of 1941, but there were also police
house searches carried out at night in the villages."
The former village elder Nowie Bateki SACHAROW M.D. testified
that the Germans, in the autumn of 1941, "combed" the villages
and forests feverishly in search of for Polish prisoners of
war.
The witness DANILEKNOW N.W., farmer on the "Krasnaja Zarja"
collective farm, stated:
"In our region, special raids were carried out in search of
escaped Polish prisoners of war. Such searches were conducted
two or three times in my house. After one house search, I asked
the village elder, SERGEJEW Konstantin, whom they were looking
for in our house. Segejew said that an order had been issued
by the German commander to search all houses without exception,
since Polish prisoners of war who had escaped from the camps
were said to have hidden themselves in our village. Some time
later the searches stopped."
The witness FATJKOW T.E., a farmer at the collective farm, stated:
"Raids in search of Polish prisoners of war were carried out
several times. This was in the months of August September 1941.
After the month of September 1941, the raids stopped, and no
one saw any more Polish prisoners of war."
The shootings in the Katyn forest
The above mentioned "Staff of the Construction Battalion 537",
located in the summer house at Kosji Gori, did no construction
work. Its activity was carefully kept secret.
What this "staff" actually did was testified to by many witnesses,
including the female witnesses: ALEKSEJAWA A.M., MICHAILOWA
O.A., and KONACHOWSKAJA S.P., residents of the village of Borock
of the village council of Katyn.
Upon order of the German commandant of the settlement of Katyn,
<transmitted> by the village eldest of the village of Borock,
SOLDATENKOW W.J., they were sent to the summer house <of Kosji
Gori> to serve "staff" personnel.
After arrival at Kosji Gori, a number of regulations relating
to their behaviour were communicated to them through an interpreter.
It was most severely prohibited to stray away from the summer
house and into the forest, to enter rooms in the summer house
without being asked and without the accompaniment of a German
soldiers, or to approach the region of the summer house during
the night. Only one particular path to the workplace and back
was permitted, and only then when accompanied by the soldiers.
ALEKSEJAWA, MICHAILOWA AND KONACHOWSKAJA were instructed in
this regard through an interpreter directly by the head of the
German office, Lt. Col. ARNES, the women having been called
in solely for this purpose.
As to the personnel making up the "staff", ALEKSEJAWA A.M. stated:
"In the Kosji Gori summer house, there were always about 30
Germans. The oldest of them was Lt. Col. ARNES; his adjutant
was Lt. Col. REKST. There were also a Lt. HOTT; a Sgt. LUEMERT;
a noncommissioned officer for economic affairs ROSE; his representative
ISICKE; Staff Sergeant GRENEWSKY, who headed a power plant;
a photographer; a lance corporal, whose family name I can no
longer recall; an interpreter from the Volga German republic,
his name seems to me to have been Johann, but we called him
Iwan; the cook; a German named Gustav; and many others, whose
first and last names are not known to me."
Soon after their entry into service, Aleksejewa, Michailowa,
and Konachowskaja began to notice "some sort of dark doings"
going on the summer house.
Alekskaja A.M. stated:
"We were warned several times by the interpreter Johann, on
behalf of ARNES, that we were to keep quiet and not blabber
about anything we saw or heard in the country house. Otherwise,
we noticed several things that made us understand that the Germans
were carrying on dark doings in this country house.
"At the end of August and during more than half of September
1941, several trucks arrived almost daily at the Kosji Gori
summer house. At first, I paid them no attention; later I noted
that, when the trucks arrived, they always stopped somewhere
on the path leading from the highway to the summer house for
half an hour or a full hour. I drew this conclusion because
the noise of the motors went silent for some time after the
trucks entered the grounds of the country house. At the same
time, individual shots began to be fired. One shot followed
another in short but regular intervals. Then the shooting stopped
and the trucks drove to the country house. German soldiers and
noncommissioned officers got down off the trucks. They talked
in loud voices, went in the bathroom, and then drank wine. The
bathroom was always heated on these days. On the days when the
trucks arrived, soldiers also entered the summer house from
some other unit. Beds were laid out for these soldiers in the
soldiers' mess hall, which had been opened in one of the rooms.
On these days, there was a great deal of cooking in the kitchen,
and double portions of spirits were brought to the table.
Shortly before the entry of the trucks, the soldiers went into
the forest, probably to where the trucks were stopped.
After half an hour or a full hour, they came back on the trucks,
together the soldiers that lived in the country house. I would
probably never have observed this or noticed when the noise
began and went silent again. But every time the trucks entered,
if we (myself, Konachowskaja, and Michailowa) were in the courtyard,
we were driven back into the kitchen or not allowed to leave
the kitchen if we were in there. Through this circumstance,
and through the fact that I several times noted fresh bloodstains
on the clothing of two corporals, I was compelled to take careful
note of everything that went on in the country house. I then
noticed the strange intermediate pauses in the movement of the
trucks and their behaviour in the forest. I also noticed that
the bloodstains were always on the clothing of the same two
men, two corporals. One of them was a big one with red hair;
the other, of medium build, was blond. For this reason, I drew
the conclusion that the Germans were bringing people to the
summer house by truck and then shooting them. I even guessed
where everything was happening and, when I left the house or
came back to it, I noticed earth thrown up at several places
not far from the highway. The places where the earth lay got
bigger from day to day. In the course of time the earth at these
spots nevertheless took on its usual shape again.
To the question by the Special Commission as to which persons
were shot in the forest near the country house, Aleksejewa answered
that Polish prisoners of war were shot there; and to confirm
her testimony she stated:
"There were days on which the trucks did not enter the country
house. The soldiers however left the country house and went
into the forest. From there, frequent shots could be heard.
After their return, the soldiers always went into the bathroom
and then they drank.
"And then there was another such case. Once, I stayed longer
than usual in the country house. Michailowa and Konachowskaja
had already gone away. I was not yet finished with my work,
I had stayed for that reason, when suddenly a soldier came up
to me and said I could go. In so doing, he made reference to
Rose's order. The same soldier accompanied me to the highway.
"After I passed the curve in the highway 150200 metres from
the country house, I saw a group of about 30 Polish prisoners
of war marching along the highway under reinforced guard.
"That they were Poles I already knew, because I had already
met Polish prisoners of war on the embankment roadway before
the outbreak of the war <between Germany and the USSR> and for
some time after the Germans came; the Poles always wore the
same uniform, with a characteristic fourcornered cap.
"I remained by the edge of the road to see where they were being
taken, and I saw them turn aside at the curve to our Kosji Gori
country house.
"Since I had already carefully observed all events from the
country house before this time, I took great interest in this
event on that day; I turned back a short distance on the embankment
roadway, and hid in the bushes by the side of the road to await
further events. 20 or 30 minutes later, I heard the characteristic
individual shots which were so well known to me.
"Then everything came clear to me, and I went home quickly.
"From this fact, I concluded that the Germans not only shot
the Poles during the day, when we were working, but also at
night, during our absence.
"This became still more clear to me when I remembered that the
entire staff of officers and soldiers living at the country
house, except for the guards, slept until late in the day, and
only woke up around 12 noon.
"Sometimes we could tell when the Poles were arriving at Kosji
Gori, from the tense atmosphere which prevailed in the country
house on such days.
"All officers then left the country house; only individual duty
officers remained behind in the building, and the duty officer
controlled all posts by telephone without interruption..."
Michailowa OA stated:
"In September 1941, very frequent shots could be heard in the
Kosji Gori forest. At the beginning, I took no particular notice
of the trucks arriving at the country house; they were covered
on all four sides, painted green, and accompanied by noncommissioned
officers. Later I noticed that these trucks were never parked
in our garages, and were not unloaded either. These trucks arrived
very often, especially in September 1941.
"Among the noncommissioned officers who always sat in the cabin
next to the driver, I noticed one tall one with a pallid complexion
and red hair. When these trucks came into the country house,
all the noncommissioned officers, as if they were obeying an
order, went into the bathroom, washed themselves for a long
time, and then drank in the country house.
"Once this tall redhaired German left the truck and went straight
into the kitchen, where he asked for water. As he drank the
water from the glass, I noticed a bloodstain on the right cuff
of his uniform."
Michailowa O.A. and Konachowskaja S.P. once saw with their own
eyes how two Polish prisoners of war were shot after apparently
escaping the Germans and had being recaptured.
Michailowa stated the following in this regard:
"Once Konachowskaja and I were working in the kitchen as usual,
and we heard noise not far from the house. When we came out
of the kitchen, we saw two Polish prisoners of war surrounded
by German soldiers, explaining something to noncommissioned
officer Rose. Then Lt. Col. Arnes came up and spoke a few words
to Rose. We got out of the way, since we were afraid Rose would
shoot us for our curiosity. But we were noticed anyway, and
the mechanic Linewski chased us away on Roses order into the
kitchen, and then he led Poles away from the country house.
After a few minutes, we heard shots. The German soldiers and
noncommissioned officers, who returned shortly afterwards, were
talking to each other excitedly. Konachowskaja and I were driven
to leave the kitchen once more by the desire to find out what
the Germans had done with the Poles whom they had arrested.
Arnes' adjutant, who went out with us at the same time, asked
Rose something in German, whereupon the latter answered in German
"Alles in Ordnung <everything OK>". I understood these words,
because they were often used by Germans in conversations with
each other. I concluded from all these events that the two Poles
had been shot."
Similar statements were made in this regard by Konachowskaja
S.P.:
Intimidated by what was going on in the country house, Alekskaja,
Michailowa, and Konachowskaja decided to quit their jobs at
the country house on some pretext. They used the salary cut
from 9 to 3 marks monthly, implemented at the beginning of January
1942 and, upon Michailowa's suggestion, did not go to work.
The same evening, a car arrived; a man took them to the country
house, and locked them in a cold room for punishment. Michailowa
was locked up for 8 days; Aleksejewa and Konachowskaja for 3
days.
After they had undergone this punishment, they were all released.
During their work in the country house, Aleksejewa, Michailowa,
and Konachowskaja were afraid to exchange their observations
of what was going on in the country house.Only in confinement,
when they were all locked in, did they exchange their thoughts
during the night:
Michailowa stated during the interrogation of 24 December 1943:
"That was the first time we spoke of what was going on in the
country house. I told everything I knew, but it turned out that
Konachowskaja and Aleksejewa were already aware of all these
things. But they were afraid to speak to me about them. Here
I found out that the Germans in Kosji Gori were shooting Polish
prisoners of war in particular, since Aleksejewa told how she
was going home from work once in the autumn of 1941 and personally
saw the Germans herding a big group of Polish prisoners of war
into the Kosji Gori forest. Some time later she heard shots
at that spot."
Aleksejewa and Konachowskaja testified to the same effect.
Aleksejewa, Michailowa, and Konachowskaja came to the firm conviction,
after comparing their observations, that mass shootings of Polish
prisoners of war were being carried on at the Kosji Gori country
house in August and September 1941.
The testimonies of Aleksejewa are confirmed by the testimony
of her father Aleksejew Michail, to whom she reported her observations
concerning the crimes being committed by the Germans at the
country house in the autumn of 1941 while she was still working
there.
"For a long time she didn't say a single word," Aleksejew Michail
testified, "Only when returned from her work, she complained
that it was strange to work there and that she didn't know how
she could get away. When I asked her what made it so strange,
she answered that shots could very often be heard in the forest.
Once, when she came back home, she told me confidentially that
the Germans were shooting Poles in the Kosji Gori forest. After
listening to my daughter, I warned her most severely not to
speak to anyone else about it. otherwise the Germans would find
out about it and our whole family would suffer."
The testimony concerning the transport of Polish prisoners of
war to Kosji Gori in small groups of 2030 men under a guard
of 57 German soldiers is made by other witnesses interrogated
by the Special Commission: KISSELEW P.G., farmer from the Kosji
Gori dairy farm; KRIWOSERZEW M.G., joiner from the station Krasnyi
Bor in the Katyn forest: IWANOW S.W., exforeman at Gnesdowo
station in the region of the Katyn forest; SAWWATEJEW IW, duty
officer at the same station; ALEKSEJEW M.A., president of the
collective farm at the village of Borok; OGLOBLIN A.P., priest
of the church of Kuprin, and others.
These witnesses also heard shots resounding from the Kosji Gori
forest. An especially great breakthrough for the investigation
of the events at the Kosji Gori country house in the autumn
of 1941 was provided by the professor of astronomy, Director
BASILEWSKI B.W., of the observatory at Smolensk. Professor Basilewski
was appointed representative of the head of the city (the mayor)
by force during the first days of the German occupation of Smolensk,
while the lawyer MENSCHAGIN B.G. was appointed head of the city
by the Germans, who later took him away with them. MENSCHAGIN
was a traitor who enjoyed the special trust of the German command,
and especially that of the commandant of Smolensk, von SCHWEZ.
In early September 1941, Basilewski asked Menschagin to ask
commandant von Schwez to release the teacher SCHIGLINSKI from
prisoner of war camp no. 126. In fulling this request, Menschagin
talked to von Schwez, and then told Basilewski that his request
could not be granted because, as von Schwez said, "an order
had come from Berlin prescribing the immediate application of
the strictest regime relating to prisoners of war and permitting
no indulgence in this matter."
"I couldn't help objecting", testified witness Basilewski, "'But
What could be stricter than the regime prevailing in the camp
now?'" Menschagin looked at me strangely and, coming very close
to me, answered softly, "'It can be <a lot tougher>. The Russians
will at least die off by themselves, but as for the prisoners
of war, it was simply proposed to exterminate them.'"
"'How? How am I to understand that?'" I cried.
"You are to understand it literally. There is such an order
from Berlin," answered Menschagin, requesting me, 'for God's
sake', not to say a word about it to anyone."
"Two weeks later, after the above mentioned talk with Menschagin,
when I was again received by him, I could not help asking him:
'What have you heard about the Poles?'
Menschagin hesitated a little and then answered, 'It's all up
with them. Von Schwez told me that they have been shot somewhere
in the vicinity of Smolensk.'
"Since Menschagin noticed my excitement, he warned me again
of the need to keep this matter strictly secret, and then he
began to explain the German manner of procedure in this matter.
He said, 'the shooting of the Poles was a link in the whole
chain of anti-Polish policies carried out by the Germans, which
was to be especially tightened up in view of conclusion of the
treaty between the Russians and the Poles.'"
Basilewski also told the Special Commission about his conversation
with the Special Leader of the 7th Division of the German commander
Hirschfeld, a Baltic German who spoke good Russian:
"Hirschfeld cynically explained that the perniciousness and
inferiority of the Poles had been historically proven, and that
the reduction in Polish population figures would serve to fertilize
the soil and provide a guarantee for the expansion of German
living space.
"In this connection, Hirschfeld bragged that nothing was left
of the intelligentsia in Poland, since they had all been hanged,
shot, or taken away to concentration camps."
The testimony of the witness Basilewski was confirmed by the
witness, physics professor Jefimow J.E., interrogated by the
Special Commission, to whom Basilewski told of his conversation
with Menschagin in the autumn of 1941.
The testimony of Basilewski and Jefimow is strengthened by documentary
evidence in the form of handwritten notes by Menschagin, in
his own handwriting, jotted down in his notebook.
This notebook, containing 17 full pages, was found in the files
of the city administration of Smolensk after its liberation.
The fact that this notebook belonged to Menschagin, and was
also in his handwriting, is confirmed both by the testimony
of Basilewski, who was well familiar with Menschagin's handwriting,
and by graphological reports.
As may be seen from the dates contained in the notebook, the
contents concern the period from the early days of August 1941
until November of the same year.
Among the various notes with regards to economic matters (wood,
electrical energy, commerce, etc.) there are a number of notes
concerning instructions from the commander of Smolensk, made
by Menschagin in order not to forget them.
From these notes, it may be clearly seen that the city administration
was concerned with a number of matters as the body carrying
out all the instructions of the German command.
The first of the three pages of the note book describe the organization
of the Ghetto and the system of reprisals to be carried out
relating to the Jews. Page 10, dated 15 August 1941, states:
"All escaped Polish prisoners of war are to be arrested and
brought to the command post." Page 15, (without date), states:
"Are there any rumours circulating among the populace of shootings
of Polish prisoners of war at Kosji Gory (to Umnow)?"
From the initial notes, it may be seen that, on 15 August 1941,
the Polish prisoners of war were still in the region of Smolensk,
and that they were furthermore being arrested by the German
authorities.
The second note proves that the German command, disturbed by
the possibility of the existence of rumours among the civilian
population about crimes committed by the Germans, gave special
instructions to investigate the matter.
Umnow, who is mentioned in the note, was chief of the Russian
police in Smolensk during the first months of the occupation.
Beginning of German provocation
In the winter of 1942-43, the general military situation changed
fundamentally, and not in favour of the Germans. The military
power of the Soviet Union was constantly increasing, and the
alliance between the Soviet Union with the Allies was strengthening.
The Germans decided to initiate a provocation by taking the
atrocities which they themselves had committed in the forest
of Katyn and accusing the Soviet authorities of having committed
them. They thus intended to divide the Russians and the Poles
and wipe away the trace of their crime.
The priest from the village of Kuprino, district Smolensk, A.P.
OGLOBLIN, testified:
"The Germans took up this matter after the events at Stalingrad,
when they were feeling unsure of themselves. Among the people,
it was said that the Germans were attempting to improve their
position."
Concerned with expanding the Katyn provocation, the Germans
first began to search for "witnesses" able to offer the testimony
desired by the Germans, under the influence of promises, bribes,
or threats.
The farmer KISSELEW Parfen Gawrilowitsch, born 1870, who lived
closer to the Kosji Gori country house than anyone else, attracted
the attention of the Germans. Kisselew was told to report to
the Gestapo as early as the end of 1942, and after under the
threat of reprisals was requested to offer perjured testimony
about the matter, stating that he knew that the Bolsheviks had
shot the Polish prisoners of war in the Kosji Gori country house
of the NKWD in early 1940.
Kisselew testified in this regard:
"In autumn 1942, two policemen came to my house and said I had
to report to the Gestapo at Gnesdowo railway station.
"The same day, I went to the Gestapo, which was housed in a
twostory house next to the railway station. In the room which
I entered, there was a German officer and an interpreter. The
German officer began to interrogate me through the interpreter,
asking how long I had lived in the district, what I did, and
my financial situation. I told him I had lived in the farmstead
next to Kosji Gori since 1907 and worked on my property. About
my financial situation, I said I was having difficulties, because
I was already old and my sons were in the army.
"After this short conversation, the officer explained to me
that the Gestapo had reports stating that members of the KNWD
office had shot the Polish prisoners of war in the Katyn forest
not far from Kosji Gori in 1940. He asked what testimony I could
make about it. I answered that I had never heard anything about
the NKWD office carrying out any shootings in the Kosji Gori.
I furthermore explained to the officer that I considered it
impossible to carry out shootings there, since Kosji Gory was
very openly exposed, and thickly populated. The whole populace
in the neighbouring villages must surely have known of it.
"The officer answered that I was to make such a statement, since
the aforementioned fact had allegedly really taken place. A
big reward was promised me for this testimony.
"I repeatedly explained to the officer that I had heard nothing
of the shootings, and that something like this could simply
not happen at all before the war in our region. The officer
nevertheless insisted that I was to make the perjured statement.
"After the first conversation, of which I have already spoken,
I was called to the Gestapo for a second time in February 1942.
"At this time, it was known to me that other residents of the
neighbouring villages had also been ordered to report to the
Gestapo, and they had been ordered to make the same testimony.
"In the Gestapo were the same officer and interpreter who had
interrogated me the first time.
"Again they demanded that I should testify that I was an eyewitness
to the shootings of Polish officers allegedly carried out in
1940 by the NKWD.
I explained to the Gestapo officer once again that this was
a lie, since I had heard nothing of the shootings before the
war, and that I would not make the perjured statement. But the
interpreter refused to listen to me, took a handwritten document
from the table, and read it to me. It said that I, KISSELEW,
lived in the farmstead not far from Kosji Gori, and had myself
seen employees of the NKWD shooting the Polish officers in 1940.
After the interpreter had read it to me, he suggested that I
sign the document. I refused. The interpreter tried to force
me to sign by means of threats and insults, Finally he said,
'Either you sign immediately, or you will be killed. You have
to choose!'
"I was now afraid, and signed the document, figuring that the
matter was at an end. After the Germans organized the visit
to the graves of Katyn by various 'delegations', I was forced
to speak before the Polish 'delegation.'"
Kisselew forgot the contents of the statement signed in the
Gestapo office, got mixed up, and finally refused to speak.
Then the Gestapo had him arrested, and, by beating him for a
month a half without mercy, forced him to agree to appear again
in public.
In this regard, Kisselew testifies:
"In reality, it happened differently. In the spring of 1943,
the Germans announced that they had discovered the graves of
the Polish officers in in the Kosji Gori region of the Katyn
forest, after having been allegedly shot by the NKWD.
"Soon afterwards, a Gestapo interpreter came to my house and
drove me into the Kosji Gori region of the Katyn forest. After
leaving my house, the interpreter warned me privately that when
I was in the forest, to say everything just exactly as stated
in the statement signed in the Gestapo office.
"When we got to the forest, I saw excavated graves and a group
of persons unknown to me. The interpreter told me they were
'Polish delegates' who were coming to view the graves.
"When we approached the graves, the 'delegates' began to ask
me various questions in the Russian language relating to the
shooting of the Poles.
"But since over a month had passed since I was told to report
to the Gestapo, I had forgotten everything contained in the
document signed by me. So I got mixed up and finally said that
I didn't know anything about the shooting of the Polish officers.
"The German officer got very angry, and the interpreter pushed
and pulled me brutally away from the 'delegation'. The next
day, a car with a Gestapo officer in it came to my house. When
the officer found me in the courtyard, he explained that I was
under arrest, put me in the car and took me to Smolensk prison.
"After my arrest I was often called for interrogation, but they
beat me more than they interrogated me. During my first interrogation
they beat me badly and accused me of slandering them. Then they
brought me back to my cell.
"In the next interrogation, they told me I had to declare publicly
that I was an eyewitness to the shootings of the Polish officers
by the Bolsheviks and that I would not get out of prison until
the Gestapo was convinced that I would fulfil my task to the
best of my ability. I told the officer that I would rather rot
in prison than pull the wool over people's eyes. After that,
they beat me very badly.
"These interrogations, in which I was beaten, were repeated.
The result was that I completely lost my strength, partially
lost my hearing, and could no longer move my right arm.
"Approximately a month after my arrest the German officer called
me to him and said, 'Now, you see, Kisselew, what your obstinacy
has cost you. We have decided to carry out a death sentence
upon you. Tomorrow you will be driven to the Katyn forest and
hanged. I asked the officer not to do that, and tried to convince
him that I was unfit for the role of eyewitness to the shootings,
because I simply could not lie and would therefore simply get
something mixed up again. But the officer stuck to his insistence.
"A few minutes later, soldiers came into the room and began
to beat me with rubber truncheons. I could not stand the beatings
and mistreatment and agreed to confirm the perjured statement
regarding the shooting of the Polish officers by the Bolsheviks.
Then I was released from prison. At the same time, they told
me that I had to speak in front of the 'delegates' at the first
request of the Germans in the Katyn forest. Each time, before
we drove to the excavated graves in the Katyn forest, the interpreter
came to my home, called me out into the courtyard, took me aside
so that nobody could hear us, and made me learn everything by
heart for half an hour, completely and in detail, that I had
to say about the alleged shootings of the Polish officers by
the NKWD in 1940.
"I remember that the interpreter told me <to say> approximately
the following:
"'I live on the farmstead in the Kosji Gori region not far from
the KNWD country house. In early 1940, I saw how them bringing
the Poles into the forest and shooting them there every night.'
I also had to repeat word for word that this was the work of
the NKWD.
"After I had learnt by heart everything the interpreter told
me, he drove me into the forest to the excavated graves and
told me to repeat everything in the presence of the visiting
'delegation'. My remarks were strictly noted and orchestrated
by the Gestapo interpreter.
"Once, when I appeared before a 'delegation', they asked me
whether I had ever seen the Poles before they were shot by the
Bolsheviks.
"I was not prepared for this question, and declared that I had
seen the Polish prisoners of war before the beginning of the
war engaged in road construction work, which was also true.
At this, the interpreter pushed me aside roughly, and chased
me home. Please believe me when I say that I was constantly
tortured by remorse, because I knew that the Polish officers
in reality were shot by the Germans in 1941; there was no other
way out for me, since I was afraid of repeated arrest and torture."
The testimony of Kisselew P.G. regarding his visit to the Gestapo
and subsequent arrest and beatings are confirmed by his wife,
Kisselewa Asksinija, born 1870, who resides with him; his son,
Kisselew Wassili, born 1911; and his daughterinlaw, Kisselewa
Maria, born 1918; as well as railway master Sergejew Timotej
Iwanowitch, born 1901, who also lives with Kisselew at the farmstead.
The injuries inflicted upon Kisselew by the Gestapo (injured
shoulder, significant hearing loss) were confirmed by forensic
examination report.
In the search for 'witnesses', the Germans then took an interest
in the workers at Gnesdowo railway station, located two and
half kilometres away from Kosji Gori.
The Polish prisoners of war first arrived at this station in
the spring of 1940, and the Germans obviously wished to obtain
corresponding testimony from railway workers. To this purpose,
the Germans, in the spring of 1943, ordered the former station
master of Gnesdowo, IWANOW S.W., and the duty officer SAWWATEJEW
I.W., among others, to report to the Gestapo.
Regarding the circumstances of his visit to the Gestapo, Iwanow
S.W., born 1882, stated:
"...It was in March 1943. A German officer interrogated me in
the presence of an interpreter. He asked me through the interpreter
what I did, and what my job was at Gnesdowo before the occupation
of the area by the Germans; the officer asked me whether I knew
that the Polish prisoners of war arrived by railway in early
1940 in Gnesdowo in large groups.
"I said, that I knew nothing about it.
"The officer then asked me whether I knew that the Polish officers
were shot by the Bolsheviks in the year in question, the spring
of 1940, soon after their arrival.
"I answered that I knew nothing about it, and that this could
not be true, since I had seen the Polish officers who arrived
at Gnesdowo in the spring of 1940 doing road construction work
in 194041, until the city of Smolensk was taken by the Germans.
"The officer then told me: 'If a German officer says that the
Poles were shot by the Bolsheviks, then that corresponds to
the facts. Therefore', the officer continued, 'you need have
no fear; you may sign the statement with a clear conscience,
stating that the Polish prisoners of war were shot by the Bolsheviks,
and that you were an eyewitness to it.'"
"I answered that I was an old man, 61 years old, and didn't
want to burden my soul with sins. I could only testify that
the Polish officers actually arrived in the spring of 1940 in
Gnesdowo.
"The German officer then attempted to convince me to make the
desired statement by promising to transfer me from my present
job as intermediate station master to another post, and to make
me station master at Gnesdowo, which is what I was under the
Soviets, as well as taking care of me from a financial point
of view.
"The interpreter emphasized that the German command placed great
value on my testimony as former railway employee at Gnesdowo,
the station nearest the Katyn forest, and that I would not be
sorry if I made the desired statement.
"I saw that I was in an extremely difficult position and that
a sad fate awaited me, but I still refused to make the perjured
statement to the German officer.
"The officer then tricked me. He threatened me to have me beaten
or shot, declaring that I did not understand my best interests.
But I stood resolutely by my refusal.
"The interpreter then wrote a short statement in the German
language, one page long, and told me what it said. The interpreter
told me it only contained the fact that the Poles arrived in
Gnesdowo. But when I asked to sign my statement not only in
German, but in Russian as well, the officer lost his temper,
beat me with a rubber truncheon, and threw me out."
SAWWATEJEW I.W. born 1880, testified:
"...In the Gestapo, I said that the Polish prisoners actually
arrived in the spring of 1940 at Gnesdowo with their own railway
transport, and that they continued by motor transport, where,
I don't know. I also added that I later saw the Poles several
times on the MoscowMinsk highway doing highway repair work in
small groups.
"The officer told me that I was mistaken, and that I could not
have seen the Poles on the highway, since they had been shot
by the Bolsheviks. He asked me to make a statement about this.
I refused. After many threats and attempts at persuasion, the
officer consulted with the interpreter about something, speaking
in the German language. The interpreter then wrote a short statement
and presented it to me for signature, saying that it contained
<only> the statements I had made. I asked the interpreter if
I could read it through for myself, but he interrupted me with
insults and ordered me to sign the document immediately and
to get out. I hesitated a minute; the interpreter grabbed a
rubber truncheon hanging on the wall and raised it to hit me.
I then signed the statement which had been placed before me.
The interpreter told me to get out, and not to blab anything
to anybody or they would have me shot..."
In their search for "witnesses", the Germans did not stop at
the above mentioned persons. They tried to find former NKWD
employees and force them to make the perjured statements desired
by the Germans. The Germans then arrested the former NKWD garage
worker for the region of Smolensk, IGNATIUK E.L., and tried
very hard, through threats and beatings, to force a statement
out of him saying that he was not a garage worker, but a driver,
and had personally driven the Polish prisoners of war to the
location of the shootings. IGNATIUK E.L., born 1903, stated:
"During my first interrogation by police chief ALFERTSCHIK,
he accused me of antiGerman slander activity, and asked me what
my job was with the NKWD. I answered that I was employed in
the NKWD office, region of Smolensk, as a worker. During the
same interrogation, Alfertschik asked me to make a statement
saying that was I employed in the NKWD office not as a worker,
but as a driver. When Alfertschik failed to obtain the desired
statement, he became enraged and tied me up, him and his adjutant,
whom he addressed by the name "Schorsch", tying a rag around
my head and mouth; they took down my pants, laid me on a table
and beat me with rubber truncheons. They then called me to interrogation
once again, and Alfertschik asked me to make the perjured statement
that the Polish prisoners of war were shot in the Katyn forest
in 1940 by the Bolsheviks, and that I knew all about it since
I had driven the Polish officers to the Katyn forest and was
present during the shootings. If I agreed to make such a statement,
Alfertschik promised to release me from prison and give me a
job in the police, where living conditions were very good; otherwise,
he would have me shot. The last time, I was interrogated in
the police station by the examining magistrate ALEXANDROW, who,
like Alfertschik, demanded the desired perjured statement from
me. But I refused.
"After this interrogation, they beat me repeatedly and brought
me to the Gestapo. In the Gestapo, they demanded that I make
the perjured statement about the shooting of the Polish officers
in the Katyn forest in 1940, that it was done by the Soviets,
and that as a driver I allegedly had to know all about it."
In the book published by the German Foreign Office, containing
material falsified by the Germans on the "Katyn affair", the
above mentioned KISSELEW P.G., among others, is presented as
a "witness". The following persons are also cited as "witnesses":
GODOSOW (identical with GODUNOW), born 1877;
SILWERSTOW GRIGORI, born 1891;
ANDREJEW IWAN, born 1917;
SHIGULEW MICHAIL, born 1915;
KRIWOSERZEW IWAN, born 1915, and
SACHAROW MATWEJ, born 1893.
It has been proven by investigation that the first two of the
above mentioned persons (GODOSOW and SILWERSTOW) died in 1943
before the liberation of the region of Smolensk by the Red Army;
the three following persons, ANDREJEW, SHIGULEW, and KRIWOSERZEW),
either fled with the Germans or were taken away with the Germans
by force. The last named SACHAROW MATWEJ, former railway carriage
coupler at Smolensk railway station, who worked as village elder
in Nowye Bateki, was found and interrogated by the Special Commission.
Sacharow explained the manner in which the Germans obtained
the perjured statement on the "Katyn affair".
"In early March 1943," Sacharow stated, "a Gestapo worker from
Gnesdowo, whose name I can no longer remember, came to my house
and said that a German officer wanted to see me. When I got
to the Gestapo, the officer told me through an interpreter:
'We know that you worked as a railway carriage coupler at Smolensk
railway station, and therefore you must testify that the railway
carriages with the Polish prisoners of war came through the
city of Smolensk to Gnesdowo station in 1940, and that the Poles
were then shot in the forest in the region of Kosji Gori'. To
this, I answered that the carriages with the Poles in them actually
came through the city of Smolensk in 1940 headed west, but which
station they got off at, was not known to me. The officer told
me that if I didn't make the statement of my own free will,
he would force me to. With these words, he took a rubber truncheon
from the wall and began to beat me. Then they laid me on a bench,
and the officer and interpreter both beat me. I no longer know
how many times they hit me, because I lost consciousness. When
I came to, the officer asked me to sign the statement. I allowed
myself to be intimidated by their blows and threats to shoot
me, made perjured testimony, and signed the statement. I was
then released by the Gestapo. A few days after my order to report
to the Gestapo, it was about midMarch 1943, the interpreter
came to my house and said I had to go to a German general and
confirm my statement. When we got to the general, the general
asked me whether I confirmed my statement. I said yes, because
the interpreter had told me on the way that if I didn't confirm
my statement, I would get even worse than the first time I went
to the Gestapo. Out of fear of torture, I answered that I did
confirm my statement. The interpreter ordered me to raise by
right arm and told me that I had just sworn an oath, and could
go home."
It has been proven that the Germans attempted to obtain the
desired statements from other persons as well, including the
former assistant director of Smolensk prison, KAWERSNEW N.S.;
a worker in the same prison, KOWALEW W.G.; and others, by persuading,
threatening and mistreating the above mentioned persons. Since
the search for for "witnesses" failed to bear fruit, the Germans
distributed the following leaflet in the neighbouring villages,
an original of which is contained in the files of the Special
Commission:
"NOTICE TO THE CIVIL POPULATION
"Who can testify to the mass shootings of Polish prisoners of
war and priests <!!??> committed by the Bolsheviks in 1940 in
the Kosji Gori forest on the GnesdowoKatyn highway?
Who saw motor transports from Gnesdowo to Kosji Gori?
Who heard about the shootings or was personally an eyewitness?
Who knows residents capable of testifying in this regard?
All information in this connection will be rewarded.
All communications should be sent to the German police, Museumstrasse
6, or, in Gnesdowo, to the German police, House no. 105 (at
the railway station).
3 May 1943
FOSS
Lieutenant, Field Police
The same notice was published in the newspaper "DER NEUE WEG"
(no. 35 (157) of 6 May 1943, published by the Germans, in the
city of Smolensk.
That the Germans promised a reward for the desired testimony
about the "Katyn affair" was proven by the Special Commission
through the interrogation of witnesses and residents of the
city of Smolensk:
SOKOLOWA O.E., PUSCHTSCHINA E.A., BYTSCHKOW J.J., BONDAREW G.T.,
USTINOW E.P., and many others.
The falsification of the graves at Katyn
Simultaneously to the search for "witnesses", the Germans began
a corresponding falsification of the graves in the Katyn forest.
They began to remove all documents dated later than April 1940,
i.e., originating from the time at which, according to the German
provocative slanders, the Poles had been shot by the Bolsheviks
from the clothing of the Poles shot by the Germans, that is,
all exhibits able to disprove these provocative slanders.
The investigations of the Special Commission have proven that
the Germans used approximately 500 Russian prisoners of war
recruited from camp no. 126 for this purpose. The Special Commission
has numerous witness testimonies at its disposal relating to
this matter.
The testimonies of the doctors from the above named camp merit
special attention; the doctor of medicine TSCHISCHOW A.T., who
worked in camp no. 126 during the occupation of Smolensk, stated:
"In early March 1943, a group totalling 500 men of the strongest
prisoners of war were selected in the prisoner of war camp no.
126 in Smolensk in order, it was stated, to send them to construction
work. Not one of these prisoners of war ever returned to the
camp."
The doctor of medicine CHMYROW W.A., who also worked in the
camp during the German occupation, stated:
"It is known to me that, approximately in the second half of
February or the beginning of March 1943, approximately 500 Red
Army prisoners of war from our camp were transported in an undisclosed
direction. These prisoners of war were said to be going to do
construction work, and therefore the Germans selected the most
powerfully built men."
Similar statements were made by the nurses SENKOWSKAJA O.G.,
TIMOFEJEWA A.J., the female witnesses ORLOVA P.M., DOBROSERDOVA
E.G., and the witness KOTSCHETKOW W.S..
Where these 500 Soviet prisoners of war were actually sent from
camp no. 126 is clear from the testimony of the female witness
MOSKOWSKAJA A.M..
MOSKOSKAJA ALEKSANDRA MICHAILOWNA, who live on the outskirts
of the city of Smolensk and worked in the kitchen of one of
the German troop divisions during the occupation, made a statement
on 5 October 1943 to the Special Commission for the Examination
of the Atrocities of the German Invaders, with the request to
be called upon to give important eyewitness testimony.
She told the Special Commission that once, in March 1943, upon
entering her shed, located in the farm on the banks of the Dnjepr,
she found an unknown person, who, as it turned out, was a Russian
prisoner of war.
MOSKOWSKAJA A.M. (born 1922) stated:
"From conversation with him, I learned the following:
"His name was JEGOROW, first name Nikolai, from Leningrad.
"Since the end of 1941, he had lived in German concentration
camps for prisoners of war in the city of Smolensk.
"In early March 1943, he was sent to the Katyn forest with a
column of 100 prisoners of war from the camp. There they were
all ordered, including Jegorow, to excavate graves containing
corpses in Polish officers's uniforms, to drag these corpses
out of the graves, and to remove all documents, photographs,
and other objects from their pockets. It was strictly prohibited
to leave anything in their pockets. Two prisoners of war were
shot because the German officer found some papers on the corpses
after the prisoners had already examined them. All objects,
documents, and letters removed from the clothing were examined
by the German officers. Then the prisoners of war were ordered
to put some of these papers back in the pockets of the corpses;
the rest were thrown onto a pile of objects and documents removed
from the corpses, and burnt soon afterwards. Furthermore, other
papers were produced from a chest or box that the Germans had
brought with them; these papers were placed in the pockets of
the corpses of the Polish officers. All the prisoners of war
lived in the Katyn forest under fearful conditions and under
strict guard.
"In early April 1943, all the work planned by the Germans was
finished; the prisoners of war were not forced to go to work
for three days.
"In the night, the Germans woke them all up and took them somewhere.
The guard was reinforced. Jegorow was suspicious, and took particular
note of everything that happened. They walked 3 to 4 hours in
an unknown direction. They stopped in a meadow in the forest
in front of a ditch. Jegorow watched as the Germans separated
a group of prisoners of war from the rest of the human mass,
forced them to the ditch, and then shot them.
"The prisoners of war were excited, and started shouting and
moving about. Not far from Jegorow, a few prisoners jumped a
guard, and the other guards ran to this spot.
"Jegorow took advantage of the momentary confusion to run into
the darkness of the woods; at the same time, he heard shouts
and shots behind him.
"After this fearful tale, which will remain seared into my memory
for an entire lifetime, I felt sorry for Jegorow and invited
him into my apartment so he could warm up and hide until he
regained his strength. But Jegorow refused. He said he absolutely
had to leave that night in order to cross the front line. But
he didn't leave that night. The next morning, I found him still
in the shed. As it turned out, he had made repeated attempts
to go away during the night, but after he had gone fifty steps
he felt weak and was forced to return. It was probably the result
of the continual malnutrition in the camp and the starvation
during the last few days. We agreed that he would stay one or
two days with me, in order to recover his strength. I gave him
food and went to work.
"When I came back that evening, my neighbours, BARANOWA MARIA
IWANOWNA and KABANOWSKAJA KATHERINA VIKTOROWNA, told me that
the German police had discovered a Red Army prisoner of war
in my shed during their patrol, whom they took away with them."
Since a prisoner of war had been found in Moskowskaja's shed,
she was told to report to the Gestapo, where she was accused
of hiding a prisoner of war. During her interrogation by the
Gestapo, Moskowskaja denied her relations with this prisoner
of war and claimed that she knew nothing of his presence in
her shed. Since Moskowskaja did not admit her guilt and the
prisoner of war Jegorow did not betray her, she was released
by the Gestapo.
Jegorow also told Moskowskaja that a group of prisoners of war
working in the Katyn forest, in addition to digging up the bodies
were further occupied with bringing corpses from other locations.
The corpses transported to the Katyn forest were piled up in
the graves, together with the corpses which had previously been
dug up.
The fact that a great number of corpses of persons shot by the
Germans at other locations were transported to the graves at
Katyn is also confirmed by the testimony of the mechanic SUCHATSCHEW.
SUCHATSCHEW P.F. (born 1912), a mechanical engineer from "Roskglawchjleb",
who worked for the Germans as a machinist in the city mills
of Smolensk, filed a request on 8.10.43 to be permitted to testify.
When he appeared, he stated:
"In the mill, during the second half of March 1943, I once talked
to a German driver who spoke a little Russian. After it came
out that he was carrying meal for a division in the village
of Sawenky and would be coming back to Smolensk the next day,
I asked him to take him with me in order that I might have the
opportunity to buy fats. In so doing, I was calculating that
riding in a German truck would eliminate the risk of my being
stopped at a checkpoint.
"The German driver agreed for a sum of money. We left the same
day at about 10:00 P.M., taking the SmolenskWitebsk highway.
"There were two of us in the truck: me and the German driver.
It was a bright night; the moon was shining, but the fog hindered
visibility. About 2223 kilometres from Smolensk, there was a
curve at a destroyed bridge with a rather steep embankment.
We left the highway and travelled down the embankment; then
a truck suddenly appeared out of the fog. Either our brakes
were not very good or the driver was not very experienced; we
could not brake the truck, and, since the road was rather narrow,
we had a collision with the truck coming in the opposite direction.
The collision was not a bad one, since the driver of the oncoming
truck succeeded in swerving out of the way, as a result only
scraping the sides of both trucks. The oncoming truck turned
over however, and fell down the embankment. Our truck stayed
where it was. The driver and I got out of the driver's seat
and went to the overturned truck.
"I immediately smelt a very strong stench of corpses, which
probably came from the truck. I came closer, and saw that the
truck was loaded with a cargo covered with tarpaulins and tied
down with ropes. The ropes broke due to the fall, and part of
the cargo fell out. It was a cruel cargo.
"They were human corpses in military uniforms. As I remember,
67 men, including a German driver and 2 Germans armed with machine
guns, stood around the truck. The others were Russian prisoners
of war, since they spoke Russian and were clothed correspondingly.
"The Germans began to curse my driver, then they tried to get
the truck back up onto its wheels again. After two minutes,
another two trucks arrived at the scene of the accident and
stopped there. From these trucks came a group of Germans and
Russian prisoners of war, a total of 10 men, and came up to
us. Using our combined strength, we began to lift the truck.
I took the opportunity and quietly asked one of the Russian
prisoners of war: 'What's that?' Just as quietly, he answered:
'I don't know how many nights we've already spent transporting
corpses into the Katyn forest'."
"The overturned truck was still not upright when a German noncommissioned
officer approached me and my driver, and ordered us to drive
on immediately.
"Since we had not suffered any real damage during the collision,
my driver turned the truck back onto the highway and then drove
on.
"As we drove past the two trucks that had arrived later and
were covered with tarpaulins, I smelt a fearful stench of corpses."
SUCHATSCHEW's testimony is confirmed by the testimony of Jegorow
Wladimir Afansjewitsch, who served in the police during the
occupation.
Jegorow testified that, at the end of March and the early days
of April 1943, as he guarded the bridges in the line of duty
at the intersection of the MoscowMinsk and SmolenskWitebsk highways,
he repeatedly observed large trucks covered with tarpaulins,
exuding the stench of corpses, passing in the direction of Smolensk.
Several persons, some of who carried weapons and doubtlessly
were German, always sat in the truck cabins and on top of the
tarpaulins.
Jegorow mentioned his observations to the chief of police at
the police station in the village of Archipowka, Golownew Kuzma
Demjanowitsch, who advised him to keep quiet about it and added:
"That has nothing to do with us, we don't need to get mixed
up in German affairs."
That the Germans transported corpses by truck to the Katyn forest
was also stated by JAKOWLEWSOKOLOW FLOR MAKSINOWITSCH, born
1896, former supply agent for the canteen of the Smolensk Trusts
for dining rooms, and chief of the police district of Katyn
during the German occupation.
He reported that, in early April 1943, he personally observed
four trucks covered with tarpaulins on which sat several men
armed with machine guns and weapons, turning off the highway
into the Katyn forest. A strong stench of corpses was perceptible
from the trucks.
All the above mentioned eyewitness testimony permits the conclusion
that the Germans also shot Poles at other locations. In bringing
the corpses to the Katyn forest, the Germans pursued a triple
objective: first, to wipe out all traces of their own crimes;
second, to blame all their crimes on the Soviets, and third,
to multiple the number of "victims of Bolshevism" in the graves
in the Katyn forest.
"Visits" to the graves at Katyn
In April 1943, after the German invaders had finished all preparatory
measures at the graves in the Katyn forest, they began a widespread
agitation in the press and radio, attempting to blame the Soviets
for the atrocities which they had themselves committed against
the Polish prisoners of war. One of their methods of provocative
agitation consisted of organizing "visits" to the graves at
Katyn by the residents of Smolensk and neighbouring areas, as
well as by "delegations" from the countries occupied by the
German invaders and in a position of subservience to them.
The Special Commission interrogated a number of witnesses who
participated in the "visit" to the graves at Katyn.
The witness, SUBKOW K.P., an anatomical pathologist working
in Smolensk in his capacity as forensic expert, testified to
the Special Commission:
"...The clothing on the corpses, especially the officers' greatcoats,
boots, and belts, held together rather well. The metallic parts
of their clothing, such as belt buckles, buttons, hooks, boot
nails, etc. were not completely rusted and still retained their
metallic lustre at places. The tissue of the corpses made available
for examination, the tissue of the face, neck, and hands, was
chiefly grey in colour, in individual cases greenish brown;
but there was no complete decomposition of the tissues, there
was no putrefaction. In individual cases, tendons lay exposed,
whitish in colour; a number of muscles were visible. During
my stay at the excavations, people were working on the floor
of a deep ditch, separating the bodies and carrying them up
out of the grave. They used spades and other tools to do so,
grabbing the corpses with their hands, and dragging them by
the arms, feet, and clothing from one place to another. In no
individual case could one observe that the bodies fell apart,
or that individual parts of them came away.
"With respect to the above, I came to the conclusion that the
period of time during which the corpses had remained in the
earth absolutely could not amount to three years, as the Germans
claimed, but must be much less. Since I know that the decomposition
of bodies in mass graves, especially without coffins, occurs
much more rapidly than in individual graves, I came to the conclusion
that the mass shootings of the Poles must have been carried
out about one and a half years ago, and must date from the autumn
of 1941 or early 1942.
"As a result of visiting the excavations, I became firmly convinced
that this gigantic atrocity was the act of the Germans."
Testimonies that the clothing on the corpses, the metal parts,
the shoes and the corpses themselves, were well preserved, were
offered by all the witnesses who had participated in "visits"
to the graves at Katyn and were then heard by the Special Commission,
i.e.,: the foreman of the Smolensk water pipeline network, KUTZEW
J.S.; the female head of the school at Katyn, WETROVA E.N.;
the female telephonist of the Smolensk transport office, SCHTSCHEDROVA
N.G.; the resident of the village of Borok, ALEZEJEW M.A.; the
resident of the village of Nowye Bateki, KRISWOSERZEW N.G.;
the duty officer at Gnesdowo station, SAWWATEJEW J.W.; the female
resident of Smolensk, PUSCHTSCHINA E.A.; the doctor of medicine
from the 2nd hospital at Smolensk, SIDORUK T.A.; the doctor
of medicine from the same hospital, KESSAREW P.M., and others.
German attempts to wipe away the traces of their crime
The "visits" organized by the Germans failed to achieve their
aim. All persons who visited the graves became convinced that
they were witnessing the gross and obvious provocation of the
German fascists.
Therefore measures were taken by the Germans to silence all
doubters.
The Special Commission interrogated a number of witnesses who
have reported how the Germans persecuted persons who doubted
the truth of the provocation or did not believe it. They were
fired from their jobs, arrested, and threatened with shooting.
The Commission has established two cases of shooting of persons
who "couldn't keep their mouths shut". This tactic of violence
was carried out against the former German policeman SAGAINOW
and against JEGOREW A.M., who participated in the excavations
in the Katyn forest.
Testimonies relating to the persecution by the Germans of those
persons who expressed doubt after visiting the graves in the
Katyn forest were offered by:
The female attendant at pharmacy no. 1 of Smolensk, SUBAREWA
M.S.; the assistant to the doctor of hygiene for the Health
Division of the Stalinist District of Smolensk, KOSLOWA W.F.;
and others.
The former head of the Katyn police district, JAKOWLEWSOKOLOW
F.M. testified:
"A situation arose which caused the most serious disquiet among
the German command, and urgent instructions were issued to all
local police offices to prohibit all harmful talk and to arrest
all those persons who expressed mistrust regarding the 'Katyn
affair'".
"Such instructions were personally issued to me, as head of
the police district, by the following persons: at the end of
May 1943, by the German commander of the Katyn village, Lt.
Col. BRAUN, and, at the beginning of June, by the head of the
police district of Smolensk, KAMANEZKII.
"I issued instructions to the police in my district stating
that all persons expressing mistrust, and all doubters of the
truthfulness of the German communications on the shooting of
the Polish prisoners of war by the Bolsheviks, were to be arrested
and brought to police headquarters.
"In forwarding these instructions from the German authorities,
I hypocritically concealed the fact that I was myself convinced
that the 'Katyn affair' was a German provocation. I became completely
convinced of it after participating in the 'excursion' in the
Katyn forest."
When the German occupation troops noticed that the "excursions"
by the local populace to the graves at Katyn were not successful,
they issued an order in the summer of 1943 to fill in the graves.
Before their withdrawal from Smolensk, the Germans hastily began
to wipe away the traces of their atrocities. The country house
occupied by the "Staff of the Construction Battalion 537" was
burnt to the ground. The Germans searched for the three girls,
Aleksejewa, Michailowa, and Konachowskaja, in the village of
Borok, in order to take them with them or to annihilate them.
They also sought their "chief witness" KISSELEW P.G., who was,
however, successful in concealing himself and his family. The
Germans burnt his house.
They also attempted to arrest other "witnesses": the former
foreman of Gnesdowo station, IWANOW S.W.; the former duty officer
of the same station, SAWWATEJEW J.W.; and the former railway
carriage coupler at the station at Smolensk, SACHAROW M.D.
.
During the very last days before the withdrawal from Smolensk
the German fascist occupiers also searched for the professors
Basilewski and Jefimow. These only succeeded in escaping kidnapping
or death by hiding themselves in the nick of time.
But the German fascist invaders were still not successful in
covering their traces and concealing their crime.
Forensic examination of the exhumed corpses proves with irrefutable
clarity that the shooting of the Polish prisoners of war was
committed by the Germans themselves.
We proceed now to the files of the forensic expert Commission
Files of the forensic expert Commission
By order of the Special Commission for the examination and investigation
of the circumstances of the shooting of the Polish officer prisoners
of war by the German fascist invaders in the Katyn forest (in
the vicinity of the city of Smolensk), the forensic investigative
commission, consisting of: the superior forensic expert of the
People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR, Director
of the State Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Medicine
of the People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR,
W.J. PROZOROWSKI;
Professor for Forensic Medicine of the 2nd Moscow State Medical
Institute, Dr. W.M. SMOLJANINOW;
Professor of anatomical pathology, Dr. D.N. WYROPAIJEW;
the eldest Scientific Official of the anatomical medical division
of the State Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Medicine
of the People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR,
Dr. P.S. SEMENOWSKI;
the eldest Scientific Official of the anatomical medical division
of the State Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Medicine
of the People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR,
Professor Ph.D. SCWAIKOW;
with the participation of:
the head forensic medical expert of the West front, Major of
the medical services, NIKOLSKI;
the forensic medical expert for Army N., Captain of the medical
services, BUSSOEDOW:
the chief of the anatomical pathology laboratory 92, Major of
the medical services, SUBBOTIN;
the Major of the medical services, OGLOBIN;
Doctor of medicine and Lt. Col. of Medicine, SADYKOW;
Lt. of Medicine PUSCHKARJOWA;
The exhumation and forensic examination of the corpses of the
Polish prisoners of war from the grounds of Kosji Gori in the
Katyn forest, 15 kilometres from the city of Smolensk, was carried
out in the period from 16 to 23 January 1944. The bodies of
the Polish prisoners of war were buried in a common grave measuring
60 x 60 x 3 m, in addition to another grave measuring 7 x 6
x 3.5 m. From the graves, 925 bodies were exhumed and examined.
The exhumation and forensic examination of the bodies were carried
out to determine the following:
a) the identity of the dead
b) the cause of death
c) the length of time they had been in the ground.
The circumstances of the matter (see document of the Special
Commission);
Objective data: (see the record of the forensic medical examination
of the bodies).
CONCLUSION
The forensic medical expert commission, based on the findings
of the forensic medical examination of the bodies, came to the
following conclusion:
Following the excavation of the graves and exposure of the corpses,
it was established that:
a) among the great number of bodies of the Polish prisoners
of war were corpses in civilian clothing, the number of which,
compared to the total number of the examined bodies (2:925 of
the exhumed bodies) is slight; the bodies wore military footwear;
b) the clothing of the dead prisoners of war testifies to their
belonging to the officers and noncommissioned officers of the
Polish army;
c) incisions in the pockets, which were turned inside out, as
well as in the boots, were discovered during the examination,
revealing, as a rule, traces of previous examination of the
articles of clothing (military greatcoats, trousers, etc.) on
the bodies;
d) in some cases, the pockets of the articles of clothing bore
no incisions. In these cases, just in the pockets which had
been cut or torn open, inside the jacket linings, trouserbands,
foot rags and socks, newspaper clippings, brochures, prayer
books, postage stamps, opened and unopened letters, receipts,
medals, and other documents such as valuables (1 gold piece,
golden dollars, tobacco pipes, pocket knives, cigarette paper,
handkerchiefs and other articles, were discovered;
e) some of the documents (which were not subjected to any particular
examination) exhibited dates from the period between 12 November
1940 to 20.6.1941;
f) the material of the clothing, especially the military greatcoats,
jackets, trousers, and underwear, are well preserved and could
only be torn by hand with difficulty;
g) a small number of bodies (20:925 of the exhumed bodies) had
their hands tied behind their backs with white braided cord;
h) the condition of the clothing on the bodies, particularly
the fact that the jackets, shirts,military belts, trousers,
and underwear were buttoned up, boots or shoes tied, neckerchiefs
and neckties bound around the necks, suspenders buttoned up
and the shirts tucked into the trousers, shows that no exterior
examination of the torso and limbs had been undertaken;
The wellpreserved condition skin tissues of the head, and the
nonexistence of any incisions therein or in the skin tissues
of the chest or abdomen (except for 3:925 cases), or other signs
of expert activity, shows that the bodies had not been subjected
to forensic examination, a conclusion confirmed by an examination
of the bodies exhumed by the forensic expert commission.
The exterior and interior examination of the 925 bodies justifies
the statement that the bodies exhibit gunshot wounds on the
head and neck. In four cases, these are accompanied by damage
to the skull caused by a hard, heavy object. In addition, some
cases of injury to the abdomen, together with injuries to the
head, were established. As a rule, there was one entry hole,
more rarely two, in the back of the head near the nape of the
neck, in the cavity in the nape of the neck, or the edge of
the same cavity. In some cases, the entry wounds are on the
back of the neck, at the height of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd cervical
vertebra. Most frequently, the exit holes are in the forehead,
but, more rarely, in the temple or crown of the head, or in
the face or neck. In 27 cases, the bullets remained in the body
(without exit holes). At the terminus of the entry wound channel,
under the soft tissues of the skull or bones thereof, in the
cerebral membranes, or in the cerebral matter, deformed, slightly
deformed, or severely deformed jacketed bullets were discovered,
such as are used as ammunition for submachine guns, mostly of
7.65 m, The number of entry holes in the bones of the neck justifies
the conclusion that, during the shooting, firearms of two different
calibres were used, most frequently, of less than 8 mm, i.e,
7.65 mm or less; in a few cases, calibres of more than 8 mm,
i.e., 9 mm, were used.
The state of the fractures of the bones of the skull, and, in
many cases, residues of gunpowder discovered on the exit holes
or immediately close by, show that the shots were fired at point
blank range, or very close range. The superimposition of the
entry and exit holes shows that the holes must have been fired
from behind when the head was bent down. The entry channel traversed
vital parts of the brain, or immediately adjacent to these,
so that the destruction of the tissues of the brain must have
caused death.
The injuries observed in the bones of the top of the skull,
caused by a blunt, hard, and heavy object inflicted simultaneously
with the gunshot wounds to the head, could not, by themselves,
come into question as the cause of death. The forensic examinations,
carried out during the period from 16 to 23 January 1944, revealed
that the 925 bodies were neither in a state of decomposition
nor putrefaction, i.e., they were in the initial stages of the
loss of moisture (most frequently and particularly visible in
the chest or abdominal regions; fat and wax separation was most
particularly visible in bodies which had lain in direct contact
with the ground); i.e, the tissues of the bodies exhibited a
loss of moisture and a separation of fat and wax. Particularly
worthy of note is the fact that the muscles of the torso and
limbs retained their macroscopic condition perfectly, while
their former colour was almost perfectly retained; the interior
organs of the chest and abdomen were also well preserved in
relation to their configuration; the heart muscle, upon incision,
clearly retained its usual structure and colour. The brain exhibited
characteristic structural conditions, with a clearly recognizable
border between white and grey matter.
In addition to their macroscopic investigation of the tissues
and bodily organs, the Forensic Expert Commission took material
for the subsequent microscopic and chemical laboratory examination.
The condition of the earth at the burial site must have played
a certain role in the preservation of the tissues and bodily
organs.
After the excavation of the graves and exposure of the corpses,
the condition of the bodies, following exposure to the air for
a period, began to influenced by the warmth and moisture of
the spring and summer of 1943, a factor which could strongly
encourage the process of decomposition. But the degree of moisture
loss, and the fat and wax separation in the bodies, the especially
good preservation of the muscles and interior organs, as well
as the articles of clothing, justify us in stating that the
bodies had only been buried a short time. If we compare the
condition of the bodies in the graves at Kosji Gory with the
bodies found at other burial sites in the city of Smolensk and
the near vicinity (GEDEONOWKA, MAGALENSCHTISCHINA, READOWKA,
camp 126 at KRASNYI BOR, etc.) (see the Report of the Forensic
Medical Expert Commission of 22 October 1943), we must conclude
that the bodies of the Polish prisoners of war in the Kosji
Gory region were interred about 2 years ago. This is also confirmed
by the findings of the documents in the articles of clothing,
indicating that an earlier point in time for burial cannot be
considered (see point e, page 48, and documentary table of contents).
Based on the findings of the examination, the Forensic Medical
Expert Commission has established that:
1) the killings of the officer and noncommissioned officer prisoners
of war took place by shooting;
2) that the shootings took place during a period approximately
2 years ago, that is, in the months of SeptemberDecember 1941;
3) that the valuables and documents dating from 1941 and discovered
by the Forensic Expert Commission in the articles of clothing
on the bodies, are proof that the German fascist authorities
failed to carry out a thorough examination of the bodies in
the spring and summer of 1943; the documents discovered prove
that the shootings took place after the month of June 1941;
4) that the Germans dissected only a very small number of the
bodies of Polish prisoners of war in 1943;
5) that the manner and type of shooting of the Polish prisoners
of war is identical with the shooting of peaceful Soviet citizens
and Soviet prisoners of war. This type of shooting was practised
by the German fascist authorities on a broad scale in the temporarily
occupied regions of the USSR, including the cities of Smolensk,
Orel, Kharkow, Krasnodar, and Woronesch.
The Superior Forensic Official of the People's Commissariat
for Health Matters of the USSR, Director of the State Scientific
Research Institute for Health Medicine of the People's Commissariat
for Health Matters of the USSR, W.J. PROZOROWSKI;
Professor of forensic medicine at the 2nd Moscow State Medical
Institute, Dr. W.M. SMOLJANINOW;
Professor of anatomical pathology, Dr. D.N. WYROPAEW;
The eldest scientific official of the Thanatological Division
of the State Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Medicine
of the People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR,
Dr. P.S. SEMENOWSKI;
The eldest scientific official of the forensic medical division
of the State Scientific Research Institute for Forensic Medicine
of the People's Commissariat for Health Matters of the USSR,
Prof. M.D. SCHWAIKOWA.
Smolensk, 24 January 1944.
Documents found on the corpses
In addition to the information proven in the documents of the
forensic medical report, the time of the shootings of the Polish
prisoners of war by the Germans (autumn 1941, not the spring
of 1940, as claimed by the Germans), was also established by
documents discovered during the excavation of the graves, dating
not only from the second half of 1940, but also from the spring
and summer (March -June) of 1941.
Among the documents discovered by the forensic experts, the
following merit particular attention:
1) on body 92:
A letter from Warsaw in the Russian language addressed to the
Central Office for Prisoners of War, Moscow, Kuibuschewstreet
no. 12. In the letter, "Sophie" asks "Sigon", to let her know
the whereabouts of her husband, Thomas Sigon. The letter is
dated 12.9.1940. The envelope bears German postage cancellation
"Warsaw IX40", and cancellation "Moscow Post Office 9 Expedition
28/IX40", as well a notice written in red ink, in the Russian
language, reading "Find camp and deliver 15/XI40" (signature
illegible).
2) on body 4:
A registered postcard no. 0112 from Tarnopol with cancellation
"Tarnopol 12/X40". The manuscript text and address are obliterated.
3) on body 101:
Receipt no. 10293 dated 19.XII.1939, issued in camp Koselsk,
for pawn of a gold watch accepted by LEWANDOWSKY EDUARD ADAMOWITSCH.
The reverse of this receipt bears a note dated 14 March 1941,
stating that the watch had been sold to "Juwelirtorg".
4) on body 46:
A receipt issued in Starobelskyi camp on 16.XII.1939 for the
pawn of a gold watch accepted by ARASCHKEWITSCH WLADIMIR RUDOLPHOWITSCH.
The reverse of the receipt bears a note dated 25 March 1941,
stating that the watch had been sold to "Juwelirtorg".
5) on body 71:
A devotional image of paper with a picture of Jesus, discovered
between pages 144 and 145 of a Catholic prayer book. The reverse
of the devotional image bears a legible note with signature
"Jadvinja" and date "4 April 1941".
6) on body 46:
A receipt issued in camp no. 1ON on 5 May 1941 for the deposit
of a sum of money in the amount of 225 rubles accepted by ARASCHKEWITSCH.
7) on the same body (46):
A receipt issued in camp no. 1ON on 6 April 1941 for the deposit
of a sum of money in the amount of 102 rubles accepted by ARASCHKEWITSCH.
8) on body 101:
A receipt issued in camp no. 1ON on 18 May 1941 for the deposit
of a sum of money in the amount of 175 rubles accepted by LEWANDOWSKY.
9) on body 53:
An unforwarded postcard in the Polish language with the address:
Warsaw, Bagatelja 15, house 47,
Irene Kutschinskaja, date: 20 June 1941.
Sender: Stanislav Kutschinskij.
Conclusions
From the totality of material available to the Special Commission,
particularly from the testimonies of the 100 witnesses interrogated
by the Commission, the facts of the case as examined by the
forensic experts, and the documents and valuables taken from
the graves in the Katyn forest, the following conclusions may
be drawn with irrefutable clarity:
1. The Polish prisoners of war in the three camps west of Smolensk
were housed there until the beginning of the war, were engaged
in road construction work, and remained there even after the
invasion of Smolensk by the German conqueror, until September
1943.
2. In the autumn of 1941, mass shootings of Polish prisoners
of war taken from the above mentioned camps were carried out
by the German occupying power in the Katyn forest.
3. The mass shootings of the Polish prisoners of war in the
Katyn forest was carried out by the German armed forces under
the cover name "Staff 537 of the Construction Battalion", led
by Lt. Col. Arnes and his associates Lt. Reckst and Lt. Hott.
4. As a result of the deterioration of the general military
situation for Germany in early 1943, the German occupier took
measures, provocative in nature and intended to attribute their
own crime to the Soviets, with a view to causing hostility between
the Russians and the Poles;
5. To this purpose,
a) the German fascist invaders attempted, through the use of
persuasion, threats, and barbaric tortures, to find "witnesses"
among the Soviet citizens from whom perjured statements were
extorted to the effect that the Polish prisoners of war had
been shot by the Soviets in the spring of 1940;
b) the German occupation authorities, in the spring of 1943,
transported the corpses of Polish prisoners of war from other
locations and shot by them at other sites, and laid them in
the excavated graves of the Katyn forest in an attempt to wipe
away the traces of their own bestiality and to increase the
number of the "victims of Bolshevism" in the Katyn forest;
c) while the German occupation authorities spread their provocation,
they used approximately 500 Russian prisoners of war for the
job of excavating the graves at Katyn in order to remove all
documents and exhibits which might prove German authorship of
the crime. The Russian prisoners of war were shot immediately
after termination of this work.
6. The findings of the Forensic Expert Commission have established
beyond doubt:
a) the time of the shootings: the autumn of 1941;
b) the German executioners, in shooting the Polish prisoners
of war, used the same methods (pistol shots in the back of the
neck), as in the mass shootings of Soviet citizens in other
cities, particularly, Orel, Woronesch,Krasnodar, and Smolensk.
7. The conclusions drawn from the statements of eyewitnesses
and the forensic report on the shootings of the Polish prisoners
of war by the Germans in the autumn of 1941 are fully confirmed
by the exhibits and documents discovered in the graves at Katyn.
8. In shooting the Polish prisoners of war in the Katyn forest,
the German fascist invaders were pursuing a consistent policy
of the physical extermination of the Slavic peoples.
President of the Special Commission, Member of the Special State
Commission, Academician BURDENKO;
Member of the Special State Commission, Academician ALEKSEJ
TOLSTOI;
Member of the Special State Commission, Mythropolitos NIKOLAI;
President of the AllSlavic Committee, Lieutenant General GUNDOROW
A.S.;
President of the Executive Committee of the Association of the
Red Cross and Red Half Moon, S.A. POLESNIKOW;
People's Commissar for Education of the RSFSR, Academician W.P.
POTEMKIN;
Chief of the Forensic Head Office of the Red Army, CoronelGeneral
E.J. SMIRNOW;
President of the Executive Committee for the Region of Smolensk,
R.E. MEINIKOW.
Smolensk, 24 January 1944
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