The Soviet prisoners of war were left without
suitable clothing; the wounded without medical care; they were
starved, and in many cases left to die.
On 17 July 1941, the Gestapo issued an order providing for the
killing of all Soviet prisoners of war who were or might be dangerous
to National Socialism. The order recited:
"The mission of the Commanders
of the SIPO and SD stationed in Stalags is the political
investigation of all camp inmates, the elimination and further
'treatment' (a) of all political, criminal, or in some other way
unbearable elements among them, (b) of those persons who could be
used for the reconstruction of the occupied territories .... Further,
the commanders must make efforts from the beginning to seek out among
the prisoners elements which appear reliable, regardless of whether
there are Communists concerned or not, in order to use them for
intelligence purposes inside of the camp, and if advisable, later in
the occupied territories also. By use of such informers, and by use
of all other existing possibilities, the discovery of all elements to
be eliminated among the prisoners must proceed step by step at once .
. . ."
"Above all, the following must be
discovered: all important functionaries of State and Party,
especially professional revolutionaries . . . all People's Commissars
in the Red Army, leading personalities of the State . . . leading
personalities of the business world, members of the Soviet Russian
Intelligence, all Jews, all persons who are found to be agitators or
fanatical Communists. Executions are not to be held in the camp or in
the immediate vicinity of the camp . . . . The prisoners are to be
taken for special treatment if possible into the former Soviet
Russian territory."
The affidavit of Warlimont, Deputy Chief of Staff of
the Wehrmacht, and the testimony of Ohlendorf, former Chief of Amt
III of the RSHA, and of Lahousen, the head of one of the sections of
the Abwehr, the Wehrmacht's Intelligence Service, all indicate the
thoroughness with which this order was carried out.
The affidavit of Kurt Lindown, a former Gestapo
official, states:
" . . . . There existed in the
prisoner of war camps on the Eastern Front small screening teams
(Einsatz commandos), headed by lower ranking members of the Secret
Police (Gestapo). These teams were assigned to the camp commanders
and had the job of segregating the prisoners of war who were
candidates for execution according to the orders that had been given,
and to report them to the office of the Secret Police."