Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 1, p. 363
		Among the most brutal OKW directives concerning the treatment of prisoners of war one must consider the order entitled "Kugel (bullet)". The reasons for resorting to capital punishment for prisoners of war were offenses, which according to international conventions, generally should not carry any punishment (for example, escape from the camp). Another order, "Nacht und Nebel", states: "Penalty for such offenses, consisting of loss of freedom and even a life sentence is a sign of weakness. Only death sentence or measures which entail ignorance of the fate of the guilty by local population will achieve real effectiveness." (L-90, USA-224; Transcript, Afternoon Session, 25 January 1946) In the course of the present Trial a great deal of evidence of application of the "Kugel" order has been submitted. One of the examples of this kind of crime is the murder of 50 officer-pilots. The fact that this crime was inspired by the High Command cannot be doubted. OKW also distributed an order for the destruction of the "commando" units. The original order was submitted to the Court (PS-498, USA-501). According to this order officers and soldiers of the "commando" units had to be shot, except in cases when they were to be questioned, after which they were shot in any case. These orders were unswervingly carried out by the commanding officers of Army units. In June 1944 Rundstedt, the Commander-in Chief of the German troops in the West, reported that Hitler's order in regard to "the treatment of the 'commando' groups of the enemy is still being carried out" (PS-531, USA-550). 3. The High Command, along with the SS and the Police, is guilty of the most brutal police actions in the occupied regions. The instructions relating to special regions, issued by OKW on 13 March 1941, contemplated the necessity of synchronizing the activities in occupied territories between the army command and the Reichsführer of the SS. As is seen from the testimony of the chief of the 3d Department of RSHA and who was concurrently chief of the Einsatzgruppe "D", Otto Ohlendorf, and of the chief of the VI Department of RSHA, Walter Schellenberg, in accordance with OKW instructions there was an agreement made between the General Staff and the RSHA about the organization of special "operational groups" of the Security Police and SD - "Einsatzgruppen", assigned to the appropriate army detachments. Crimes committed by the Einsatzgruppen on the territory of the temporarily occupied regions are countless. The Einsatzgruppen were acting in close contact with the commanding officers of the appropriate army groups. 363
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 1, p. 363     Last modified: January 2, 1999 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.