Kube, as well as the Defendant Rosenberg, was of the opinion that he had the right to monopolize the stolen treasures and complained—I quote the second part of the second paragraph of this letter:
“General Stubenrauch has taken a valuable part of this collection and has carried it off to the area of military operations. Sonderführer, whose names have not yet been reported to me, have carried off three truckloads (without receipt) of furniture, paintings, and objects of art.”
Having, along with other fascist leaders, robbed the people of Bielorussia, and taken a direct part in the mass ill-treatment and extermination of the Soviet population, Kube hypocritically declared—I quote the last paragraph of this letter:
“Bielorussia, already poor in itself, has suffered heavy losses through these actions.”
And Kube recommended to Rosenberg—I quote:
“I hope that experts will be appointed beforehand to prevent such happenings in Leningrad and Moscow, as well as in some of the ancient Ukrainian cultural centers.”
That was the ultimate goal of their ideas. It is now universally known what meaning the Hitlerites attached to the word “measures” when applied to the occupied territories. It meant a regime of bloody terror and violence, of unrestricted plunder, and arbitrariness.
On breaking into Minsk, capital of the Bielorussian Republic, the German fascist invaders attempted to destroy the culture of the Bielorussian people and to turn the Bielorussians into obedient German slaves. As has been established by a special investigation, the Hitlerite military authorities, acting on direct orders from the German Government, ruthlessly destroyed scientific research institutes and schools, theaters and clubs, hospitals and polyclinics, kindergartens and day nurseries.
I am reading into the record an excerpt from the document which was presented by the Soviet Prosecution as Exhibit Number USSR-38 (Document Number USSR-38).
“For 3 years the German fascist invaders in Minsk set out to destroy, systematically, the scientific research institutes, institutions of higher education, libraries, museums, institutions of the academy of science, theaters, and clubs.
“The Lenin library in Minsk was a foundation more than 20 years old. In 1932 the work was completed by the construction of a special new building with a large and well-equipped depository for storing books. From this library the Germans carried off to Berlin and Königsberg 1½ million extremely valuable books on the history of Bielorussia. . . .”
I omit the end of Page 73 of my report.
“In their attempt to eradicate the culture of the Bielorussian people, the German fascist invaders destroyed every cultural and educational institution in Minsk. . . . The libraries of the Academy of Science, containing 30,000 volumes, of the State University, of the Polytechnical Institute, and the medico-scientific library and the public library of the city, A. S. Pushkin, were carried away to Germany.
“The Hitlerites destroyed the Bielorussian State University together with the Zoological, the Geological, and Mineralogical, the Historical, and Archaeological Museums as well as the Medical Institute with all its clinics. They also demolished the Academy of Sciences with its nine institutes.”
I omit the remainder of this paragraph.
“They destroyed the State Art Gallery and carried away to Germany paintings and sculptures by Russian and Bielorussian masters. . . . They plundered the Bielorussian State Theater of Opera and Ballet, the First Bielorussian Dramatic Theater, the House of National Creative Art, together with the houses of the unions of writers, artists, and composers.
“In Minsk the fascists destroyed 47 schools, 24 kindergarten schools, the Palace of the Pioneers, 2 lying-in hospitals, 3 children’s hospitals, 5 municipal polyclinics, 27 nurseries, and 4 children’s welfare centers; the Institution of Infant and Maternity Welfare was reduced to a heap of ruins.”
The Prosecution has at its disposal Document Number 076-PS which is a report entitled, “On Minsk Libraries,” by a German private first class, Abel. This private had investigated all the libraries in Minsk and stated in his report that nearly all of them had been destroyed.
I present this report as Exhibit Number USSR-375 (Document Number USSR-375). I consider, Mr. President, that it will be quite sufficient to read into the record individual excerpts from this report. There is no need to read the report in its entirety. It is stated, on Page 75 of my report, that:
“The Lenin library was the central library of Bielorussia. It is difficult to estimate the number of volumes, but the number of books is approximately 5 millions. . . . The depositories for storing books present a desolate picture. . . .”
I omit two paragraphs of my report, and I quote further:
“The library of the Polytechnical Institute in the basement of the left wing, as well as a great number of laboratories, were devastated beyond hope and left in complete disorder.”
The report concludes with the following sentence, which I quote:
“The purpose of this report”—wrote the German private—“can be achieved only if submitted to the Supreme Command and when the command will issue the necessary orders plainly forbidding the German soldier from behaving like a barbarian.”
But such orders never followed and never could follow, since fascism and barbarism are inseparable; fascism, in fact, means barbarism.
THE PRESIDENT: What were you proposing to do after the adjournment this afternoon?
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: After the recess I shall present several written documents pertaining to the destruction of cultural valuables in the Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian Republics and later, with the permission of the Tribunal, I should like to present a documentary film, so that at the close of the session all presentation of evidence would be completed and my report finished.
THE PRESIDENT: How long will the film take?
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: The presentation of the documentary film will take about 30 to 35 minutes.
THE PRESIDENT: Do you not think that after the vast amount of damage and spoliation to which you have drawn our attention in some detail it would be sufficient if you were to summarize by telling us the countries in which similar spoliation had taken place? It is difficult to assimilate all this vast amount of detail.
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: I have in mind, Mr. President, to present to the Tribunal a document which will serve as a summary and in which all the general totals will be given.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well. We will adjourn now for 10 minutes.
[A recess was taken.]
MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: I wish to draw the attention of the Tribunal for a few minutes to the fact that before presenting the conclusion of this document I should like to read into the record a German document referring to the subject.
Having occupied the Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian Soviet Republics, the German fascist invaders attempted to reduce the Soviet Baltic provinces to the status of a German colony and to enslave the people of these republics. This criminal design of the Hitlerite Government found its full expression in universal plunder, general ruin, violence, degradation, and in the mass murder of old men, women, and children.
In order to germanize the people of the Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian Soviet Socialist Republics, the Hitlerites destroyed, by all possible means, the culture of the peoples of these republics. I skip the remainder of Pages 76, 77, and 78, and from Page 79 I quote one paragraph only:
“The capital of Soviet Latvia, Riga, was declared by the occupational authorities as the capital of ‘Ostland’ (Eastern Territory) and the seat of Staff Rosenberg.”
In the documents presented to the Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution as Document Number USSR-7, Document Number USSR-39, and Document Number USSR-41, there are a number of facts which do not and cannot exhaust the crimes perpetrated