There is no reason to suspect the author of that letter of piling on the agony, or of having any liking for the Soviet people. On the contrary, there is every reason to state that the question has not yet been fully elucidated. This document, addressed by one defendant to another, enables us to imagine the acts that took place in the camps for Soviet prisoners of war.
I began by presenting to you documents of German origin, and this with a definite aim in view. After you have been informed of the attitude of the Hitlerites themselves towards the Soviet prisoners of war and as soon as you have learned however briefly, what the camps for the Soviet prisoners looked like from the words of the Hitlerites themselves, it will be easier for you to estimate the probative value of the documents of non-German origin.
I stop, because it seems to me the Tribunal wants to adjourn.
THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps that would be a convenient time to adjourn.
[The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours.]
Afternoon Session
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel, the Tribunal proposes to adjourn at half past four this afternoon, as they have some administrative work to do.
COL. POKROVSKY: I return to the report of the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union for the investigation of atrocities committed by the German fascist invaders in Smolensk and in the region of Smolensk. The greater part of this report is dedicated to the mass annihilation of prisoners of war by the Germans. I should like to read into the Record excerpts from this document, submitted to you as Exhibit Number USSR-56 (Document Number USSR-56), Page 6, Paragraph 4 from the top; you will find it on Page 58 of our document book. It reads as follows:
“The German fascist invaders systematically exterminated the wounded and captured Soviet citizens. Physicians A. N. Smirnov, A. N. Glasunov, A. M. Demidov, A. S. Pogrebnov, and others, formerly interned in the war prisoners’ camp, stated that on the road from Vyasma to Smolensk the Hitlerites shot several thousand people.