Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume III

by Various

The report of the Paris Conference of 1919, referred to above, listed 32 crimes as constituting “the most striking list of crimes as has ever been drawn up, to the eternal shame of those who committed them.” This list of crimes was considered and recognized by the Versailles Treaty and was later recognized as international law in the manner herein above indicated. Among the crimes so listed was the “deportation of civilians” from enemy occupied territories.

Control Council Law No. 10 in illustrating acts constituting violations of laws or customs of war, recognizes as war crimes the “deportation to slave labour or for any other purpose of civilian population from occupied territory.” (Art. II, 1(b).) C. C. Law 10 [Article II] paragraph 1(c) also recognizes as crimes against humanity the “enslavement, deportation, imprisonment * * * against any civilian population.”

The IMT held that the deportation of inhabitants from occupied territories for the purpose of “efficient and enduring intimidation” constituted a violation of the laws and customs of war. The deportation for the purpose of “efficient and enduring intimidation” is likewise condemned by C. C. Law 10, under the provision inhibiting “deportation * * * for any other purpose, of civilian population from occupied territory.”

Also among the list of 32 crimes contained in the Conference Report of 1919 are “murder and massacre, and systematic terrorism”. C. C. Law 10 makes deportation of civilian population “for any purpose” a crime recognized as coming within the jurisdiction of the law. The admitted purpose of the Night and Fog decree was to provide an “efficient and enduring intimidation” of the population of occupied territories. The IMT held that the Hitler NN decree was “a systematic rule of violence, brutality, and terror”, and was therefore in violation of the laws of war as a terroristic measure.

The evidence shows that many of the Night and Fog prisoners who were deported to Germany were not charged with serious offenses and were given comparatively light sentences or acquitted. This shows that they were not a menace to the occupying forces and were not dangerous in the eyes of the German justices who tried them. But they were kept secretly and not permitted to communicate in any manner with their friends and relatives. This is inhumane treatment. It was meted out not only to the prisoners themselves but to their friends and relatives back home who were in constant distress of mind as to their whereabouts and fate. The families were deprived of the support of the husband, thus causing suffering and hunger. The purpose of the spiriting away of persons under the Night and Fog decree was to deliberately create constant fear and anxiety among the families, friends, and relatives as to the fate of the deportees. Thus, cruel punishment was meted out to the families and friends without any charge or claim that they actually did anything in violation of any occupation rule of the army or of any crime against the Reich.

It is clear that mental cruelty may be inflicted as well as physical cruelty. Such was the express purpose of the NN decree, and thousands of innocent persons were so penalized by its enforcement.

The foregoing documents show without dispute that the NN victim was held incommunicado and the rest of the population only knew that a relative or citizen had disappeared in the night and fog; hence, the name of the decree. If relatives or friends inquired, they were given no information. If diplomats or lawyers inquired concerning the fate of an NN prisoner, they were told that the state of the record did not admit of any further inquiry or information. The population, relatives, or friends were not informed for what character of offense the victim had been arrested. Thus, they had no guide or standard by which to avoid committing the same offense as the unfortunate victims had committed which necessarily created in their minds terror and dread that a like fate awaited them.

Throughout the whole Night and Fog program ran this element of utter secrecy. This secrecy of the proceedings was a particularly obnoxious form of terroristic measure and was without parallel in the annals of history. It could have been promulgated only by the cruel Nazi regime which sought to control and terrorize the civilian population of the countries overrun by its aggressive war. There was no proof that the deportation of the civilian population from the occupied territories was necessary to protect the security of the occupant forces. The NN plan or scheme fit perfectly into the larger plan or scheme of transportation of millions of persons from occupied territories to Germany.

C. C. Law 10 makes deportation of the civilian population for any purpose an offense. The international law of war has for a long period of time protected the civilian population of any territory or country occupied by an enemy war force. This law finds its source in the unwritten international law as established by the customs and usages of the civilized nations of the world. Under international law the inhabitants of an occupied area or territory are entitled to certain rights which must be respected by the invader occupant.

This law of military occupation has been in existence for a long period of time. It was officially interpreted and applied nearly a half century ago by the President of the United States of America during the war with Spain in 1898. By General Order No. 101, 18 July 1898 (U. S. Foreign Relations, p. 783), the President declared that the inhabitants of the occupied territory “are entitled to the security in their persons and property and in all their private rights and relations.” He further declared that it was the duty of the commander of the Army of Occupation “to protect them in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights,” and that “the municipal laws of the conquered territory, such as affect private rights of persons and property and provide for punishment of crime, are continued in force” and are “to be administered by the ordinary tribunals, substantially as they were before the occupation.” The President referred to the fact that these humane standards of warfare had previously been established by the laws and customs of war, which were later codified by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, and which constituted the effort of the civilized participating nations to diminish the evils of war by the limitation of the power of the invading occupant over the people and by placing the inhabitants of the occupied area or territory “under the protection and the rule of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience.”