In this connection it is characteristic to note the directive of Fieldmarshal Von Reichenau, army group commander, addressed to his soldiers: “The soldier in the eastern territories is not only a warrior skilled in the art of warfare but a bearer of a merciless national ideology.” And elsewhere, calling for the extermination of the Jews, Von Reichenau wrote: “Thus the soldier must be in full cognizance of the necessity for harsh and just revenge on those sub-humans, the Jews” (USA-556).
As another, example the order of Fieldmarshal Von Mannstein addressed to his soldiers can be referred to. On the basis of the “political aims of the war” the Fieldmarshal cynically appealed to his soldiers to wage the war in violation of the “recognized laws of warfare in Europe” (USA-927).
Thus, in the course of the hearing of evidence it has been proven beyond, all, doubt, that the General Staff and the High Command of the Hitlerite Army comprised a highly dangerous criminal organization.
* * * *
I consider it my duty as a Judge to draw up my dissenting opinion concerning those important questions on which I disagree with, the decision adopted by the members of the Tribunal,
| Soviet Member, International Military Tribunal, | |||
| Major General Jurisprudence. | |||
| /s/ | I. T. Nikitchenko | ||
1 October 1946
SENTENCES
In accordance with Article 27 of the Charter, the President of the International Military Tribunal, at its concluding session of 1 October 1946, pronounced the sentence on the defendants convicted on the Indictment: